I Refuse to Call Them Cheftestants: Week 7

I was very relieved to have been on honeymoon vay-kay when the sixth episode of Top Chef aired. If I had written a blog, I would have been filled with plenty of piss and vinegar over the lack of elimination and the continued poor performance of the chefs. Thankfully, you the reader get to hear a slightly more optimistic review over the seventh episode.

The Quickfire was a good challenge except for the ludicrous Diet Dr Pepper product placement. I suppose I should be happy that it wasn’t a required ingredient. Of course, someone should have told old lady Arianne who fell back into week 1 habits. It just pains me to watch Jamie make continued mistakes as her Quickfire dish was such a poor concept. On the plus side, I thought that Radika did a nice job but her bread pudding seemed so boring. She is clearly getting a false sense of security and after seeing her Elimination Challenge dish, she should realize that.

I was as pleased as the chefs were at the idea of the Elimination Challenge. Finally, we get to see the chefs cook without restraint. Unfortunately, some of the chefs did not get the message. I can’t believe Jamie did scallops again (although this was a great dish) and on the plus side, it gave birth to the top line of the year from Fabio, “It’s Top Chef not Top Scallop.” Melissa’s uninspired taco dish was laughable. The challenge got even better with the addition of the hidden camera and the chefs tasting each other’s foods. Of course, since we’re talking about a fairly disappointing season this challenge couldn’t be perfect. The new judge Toby Young is just a gigantic blowhard. He’s clearly watched too many reality shows as his answers and comments seemed to come from the canned variety. I can’t believe they replaced the weakest judge (Gail) with an even weaker one. Just pony up the dump truck of money and get Anthony fucking Bourdain. I thought Jamie and Arianne really bounced back from the Quickfire and delivered good dishes. I was disappointed that Fabio screwed up his lamb because that dish looked amazing otherwise. The double elimination was also a good sign of improvement on the season. Unfortunately, I was sad to see Eugene go since his lack of training made him fun to root for. Melissa was a slam dunk to go. I’m glad Carla stayed if only for her crazy faces. All in all this episode showed signs of life for a season that has lacked creativity.