This was the first challenge in Bravo's Top Chef competition where everyone truly had to work together. The task was certainly the largest to date, though last week's restaurant design challenge was not at all easy. The quickfire and main challenges were combined, for this episode, though the chefs did not know that when they started out. If they had, things would have gone a little differently.
Upon arriving at the quickfire challenge, the chefs were introduced to Scott and Scott, a gay couple that would be having their commitment ceremony very soon. They were asked to create a wedding menu for 100 people with 5 courses, including an hors d'oeuvre that used prawns and a wedding cake, all on a $3,000 budget. "The Scotts" asked for something with an Asian flair. Everyone had imaginative ideas, though the other chefs criticized Dave's menu for being too simplistic. Dave, on the other hand, was the only one who had substantial catering experience and he had purposely designed his menu to be relatively simple and full of dishes that almost anyone would enjoy. In the end, the Scotts choose LeeAnne's menu (after her joke about being the only actual Asian competitor), which was as follows:
- Shrimp Toast with Scallop Mousse
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Salmon with Green Papaya Salad
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Seafood "Lover's Nest" with Vegetables
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Ginger-Scented White Cake with Passion Fruit Filling.
Once the menu was chosen, the chefs were told that they would be preparing it for the Scotts' reception in 16 hours.
After some general panic from the chefs, they tried to regroup and LeeAnne assigned dishes to everyone. The first thing that they decided to do was to use cake mix for the wedding cake, since none of them trusted their baking abilities. The team hit the grocery store to shop after much griping about how difficult it would be to work with grocery store products and prices for catering a party of this size. The difficulties weren't limited to the cash register, either. The woman at the fish counter only had sub-par fish and actually refused to sell it to Harold. No doubt her logic was that she would have no fish left to sell if he bought it all. It failed to occur to her that the fish would still be sold, apparently. Harold did get the fish, and everyone headed to the kitchen at the Hotel Monaco, where the reception was to be held.
They cooked through the night, deciding that it was better to be tired than rushed. Unfortunately, they were tired, rushed and falling asleep by the end of the day. Tom Coliccho, one of the judges, walked into the kitchen and spotted the cake mixes, but said little to the chefs about them after Tiffani tried to defend their decision to use them. When it came time to serve, the chefs realized that they didn't have enough appetizers, so Dave whipped up a tuna variation of his appetizer from the quickfire challenge, prawn bruschetta, just in the nick of time. Stephen spent quite a lot of time directing the front of the house and wine service, while the other chefs spent more time rushing around and panicking in the kitchen. The dishes often came out with problems, like being too greasy or too cold. One guest actually found egg shell in the wedding cake.
The whole project was overly ambitious and poorly handled. Tom Colicchio is absolutely right in pointing out that the chefs should have taken the time to, say, sleep instead of working all night. Time is no substitue for planning and the quality of their work would have been much higher if they were well rested - just ask any college student who has ever pulled an "all-nighter" during exam season.
When it came time for the judging, the dishes proved to be unmemorable, though they were received as well as could be expected by the guests, with the exepetion that Gail saw one guest actually walk out. The Scotts had a wonderful day despite any errors in the kitchen and commented that they enjoyed several of the dishes. The most popular dishes with the Seafood Lover's Nest, cooked by LeeAnne and the appetizer trio, prepared by Stephen.
The judges were very impressed by the way Stephen had directed the wait-staff to deliver the plates to the tables, but were not happy at all that Stephen was absent in the kitchen much of the time. Dave, the only one with catering experience, might have stretched himself a little thin in the kitchen trying to help out, but he did a great job and really rose to the occasion. LeeAnne didn't direct the team as well as she could have and Harold's dish - the salmon - was flavorless. No one said too much about Tiffani's preparation of the beef, except to not that it was "not stellar", but since she seemed to be primarily responsible for mixing the cake batter, the egg shells may have been her fault. As usual, she said that she knew there were problems in the dishes, but the judges called her out and told her to take more responsibility instead of waiting for things to fail.
In the end, since he had received a warning about his tendency to work the front of the house, Stephen was the one sent home. He left the viewers with a final promise to bring restaurants to a new level during his career, as he has dreams of becoming more of a restaurateur than a chef.
And then there were 4, but only three will go on to the finale in Las Vegas. To review:
Episode 1 recap
Episode 2 recap
Episode 3 recap
Episode 4 recap
Episode 5 recap
Episode 6 recap
Episode 7 recap
Episode 8 recap
Episode 9 recap
Reunion show recap
Finale part 1 recap
DIY Foods: Making homemade sausage
Cakes so amazing they'd be hard to cut into
Fruit juice: An invitation to diabetes?
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
4-30-2006 @ 7:38PM
Heidi said...
...and he is finally gone! My favorite part of his leaving comment was "i will bring a level of excellency that is just not found in the industry in this country."
Anyone else notices that when takes a sip of expresso that he uses his retro-nasal tasting before swallowing.
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4-30-2006 @ 8:08PM
Christine Coleman said...
Kudos to the program for bouncing patronizing, self-important Stephen. In Episode 7, you could see patrons trying mightily not to show their extreme irritation before the cameras as Stephen condescendingly insisted on force-feeding them unwanted excruciating details about the wine instead of just pouring it and bringing out the d--n food. His posturing caused courses to be served late and sometimes cold. In Episode 8, he became the Omarosa of Top Chef by lying about being out of the kitchen for only "five minutes" while the film crew consistently showed only four chefs busting their butts in the kitchen on the day of the wedding. Stephen was filmed patronizingly lecturing a resentful wait staff on needlessly esoteric details of the wines they would be serving. As the self-appointed liason between the kitchen and the dining hall (a stunningly presumptious posture that simply shut out the experienced wait captain), he evidently appeared in the kitchen on wedding day only to issue orders, including imperiously directing the other chefs to fire up Harold's course just as the toasts began, causing Harold's dish to be held and not served fresh from the grille. We actually jumped up and screamed our cheers when the judges canned him. And, in a striking contrast to previous departures, all the contenstants hung back and made it clear from their body language that they were pissed and angry and no way would be hugging Stephen goodbye. Only Harold finally stuck out his hand for a short and gentlemanly handshake when it became clear that Stephen just wasn't leaving until someone did something in front of the camera to give him a tribute. But then Stephen baldly proclaimed his virtues on the way out, demonstrating once again the "I'm magnificent beyond your comprehension" attitude that irritated everyone so thoroughly. His insistent force-feeding of "see how smart, elegant, and sophisticated I am" details at every turn will almost certainly drive customers away and make him a distinct liability to any venture. And, of particular note: The Top Chef judges who post blogs on Bravo TV's website also departed from their usual genteel and often affectionate goodbyes to the losing chef. In their Episode 8 blogs, they bashed Stephen soundly, letting their extreme irritation show. Stephen richly deserved it. By his selfish and self-important actions, he undercut the other chefs, hurt the quality of the food that went out of the kitchen, and highly embarrassed Chef Tom, who had sold the wedding couple on using the Top Chef contenstants for their special day. Stephen's defensive comments during the evaluation about how everybody was "hosing" him made it clear that this pig-headed contenstant "just didn't get it." Chef Tom put his finger on it when he said that Stephen evidently thought the contest was about something else. Stephen selfishly insisted on using the program as a showcase for his many self-perceived virtues regarding restaurant management, and instead accomplished little more than demonstrating what a complete jerk he is. He soundly deserved all the bashing he received and plenty more as well.
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4-30-2006 @ 11:37PM
tr said...
very well put, christine. and yes, i also cheered when they canned him. what got me was when they asked him if he had anything to say, and he just said "no". what an ass.
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5-01-2006 @ 4:13AM
Runeman said...
Yes Stephen was an irritating and pompous jerk, but you have to admit, it was fun watching him piss off everyone around him. I am glad he lasted this long because I doubt I would have gotten as into the show as I am now if it hadn’t been for his antics. This competition would have been incredibly boring without him. Just think how exciting it is going to be when Harold, LeeAnne, and Tiffani battle it out in the final. Good food, but boring television. Can you say “YAWN”!!!!!
All in all a very good and well edited show.
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5-01-2006 @ 10:55AM
janine said...
One of the things I like about Top Chef is that they seemed to actually care about more than drama. It was when they got rid of Ken that I admired the producers for being at least a little serious. In the replay, they really liked Dave's food: both his appetizers and his truffles. That fact got overshadowed by the mediocrity of the rest.
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5-01-2006 @ 2:30PM
Tina said...
Ding dong the witch is dead; the wicked witch Stephen is dead!!!! YIPPPEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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5-01-2006 @ 10:04PM
perspicacious said...
oh you guys! dissing Stephen. I actually liked his arrogance-- I suppose I'm one of those oddlings whom find such confidence attractive? lol. I must admit at times he WAS pretty pompous-- however. does he not remind you of a little boy? hahaha. so adorable! and his presentation is magnificent! so he was a bit off... lol. he seems like a great chef! perhaps the best! just... unfocused. heh. but he was kinda jerky when he didn't make any comments to the judge (like thank you or something).
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5-10-2006 @ 5:47PM
Cass said...
I was tooling aronud on the internet when I came across this ad that Tiffani Faison of Top Chef posted - doesn't sound like she won, does it to you?
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5-14-2006 @ 6:59PM
Maggie B said...
Great observations from the show! As much as Stephen's immaturity irked me at times, I really found him quite amusing as he pranced from task to task oblivious to the real top chef's work. Many comments about his food were spot-on, especially about his wee oysters that appeared to be a painting. lol Not much substance there Stephen. An enthusiastic lad with much to learn.
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5-14-2006 @ 7:09PM
diane said...
I think Stephen is a very smart and professinal chef
he may be frank and bold. However he did not need to
spend so much time training the staff. I think his
dishes all looked good. I little fancy and self important. He just needs to take a step back he will be a top chef some day.
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5-17-2006 @ 3:35PM
Maggie B said...
oui Diane, made some comments to you the other day and hit send only to lose my internet connection. :(
After watching some of the recaps i've noticed that ovens were tinkered with many times. My gut tells me this was no accident. Tiffany always comes to mind when I see her poor attitude towards the other chefs. The reunion show with her stomping off when this was mentioned made her look very guilty.
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