This week on Top Chef,Restaurant Wars was on deck with the Quickfire challenge determining which two of our budding chefs would be the team leaders here. Padma and guest judge Steven Starr(a big restaurant mover & shaker kind of guy)had everyone make a mini version of a signature dish that would define the type of eatery they would like to open up.
Leah was chosen to lead one team,thanks to the fried poussin with soy sauce she whipped up. Along side her were Fabio,Stefan and Hosea(more drama about the two of them later)and the name of their place was The Sunset Lounge. Not a great pick,in my opinion-it sounded like a retro Miami Vice bar than a nice restaurant.
The other team had Radhika as their boss,due to her pan seared cod with chorizo that Steven Starr was very impressed with. Joining her were Carla,Jamie and Jeff. Their place was called Sahana(a Sanskit word meaning strength)and the intended theme for the food was Old World Spice.
Team Sahana's food was deemed to be the best out of the two,from the curry carrot soup to the braised lamb shanks(which there was some early concern about them in the kitchen since they were brought frozen and having them thawed on time was an issue)and the seared scallop. However,Radhika took the front of the house duties and she was lousy at it.
The food at Team Sunset Lounge was rather mediocre,with Leah's cod being sent back to the kitchen for being undercooked. Fabio was the front man there and his natural tendency to verbally schmooze folks came in handy there. That guy must have been a used car salesman in another life,I swear.
Ultimately,the choice came down to desserts and service. Team Sunset Lounge was saved by Stefan's panna cotta and chocolate orange parfait(plus,Fabio's smooth handling of the foor)and he received a special prize for that,a complete set of kitchen ware.
Carla made both of the Team Sahana desserts,which were frozen yogurts and a chocolate spice cake. The yogurts were melting before they even got sent out and the cake was bland city. She did have trouble with the fridge,but so did Stefan and he managed to save his dishes,so there's not much of an excuse there. Carla insisted that she sent the food out with "love"(rather vehemently to Judge Tom)but no one could taste that,Carla,seriously.
Radhika went home,not only for her poor front man abilities but her lack of leadership behind the scenes. She hasn't been the most aggressive or productive chef for awhile now,so this was inevitable. However,I do think that if's it between good main meal and so-so dessert vs. crappy dinner with great dessert,I would rather make a reservation at the place with the better entree.
Hosea and Leah,listen up. The two of you have significant others,so stop messing around with each other! Hosea,when you(by your own admission)spend TWO HOURS on a couch with a gal cuddling and kissing,that is NOT just "flirting that went too far". That is beyond flirting,buddy boy. Don't act all innocent over there,Leah-just take a cold shower or something,jeez!
Next week,the theme is the Super Bowl,with a team of former TC chefs taking on the new bunch-should be fun:
More bad singing on American Idol this week,with Akilah and her Chatty Cathy approach combined with her anatomy diagrams making quite the impression on the judges.
Unfortunately,it was not a good one. Watch for the part where she mentions that Paula had a hit song"when I was just a child"-Paula's expression is priceless!:
Dollhouse,the new action series helmed by Joss Whedon,is finally going to be seen on Fox with February 13 as it's start date. Eliza Dzuku(aka Faith,the bad girl slayer from Buffy & Angel)stars as Echo,an operative for a secretive company that rents out people for exclusive clients. The catch is,the agents are implanted with specific personality traits and talents necessary for their assignment and then are brain wiped clean,thanks to a handy little techno device.
The show sounds cool,but I'm not sure that I want to invest my time into it. For one thing,Whedon and Fox have a bad track record when it comes to keeping an interesting concept on the air(Firefly,anyone?)and as much as I would love to
explore an new chapter of the Whedonverse,I would also hate to get into something new and exciting and then get the rug yanked out from under me. We shall see:
RANDOM NOTES:
LEGEND OF THE SEEKER: Yep,I'm really getting into this show and this week's episode looks like a real doozy. We have folks out to sacrifice a newborn baby who may be destined to do evil and Kahlan having to go undercover as a Mord Sith,one of those freaky leather pain magic gals who gave Richard quite the hard time. Things are never dull on this series,I tell you!:
I've been really hesitant about watching new things since they seem to get cancelled just when I start really loving it :(
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