I obviously misunderstood the commercials that Bravo was running to promote the "two hour Las Vegas finale" for the show, Top Chef. You see, I assumed that the two hours would be run consecutively. I was wrong. This week only featured the first half of the finale and was based around one very long challenge.
When the chefs arrived in Las Vegas, the found themselves staying in the ultra-posh Skylofts at the MGM Grand, where guests get flowers and their initials monogrammed onto their pillows. As they caught up with each other, we learned that Dave's restaurant had been sold, Tiffani has must been working as usual and Harold is trying to open his own place in New York City. The chefs had some wine and were right to worry about the challenge the next day because the quickfire challenge this week was actually an elimination challenge.
For the challenge, which featured guest judge Hubert Keller, the chefs had to prepare 3 separate room service orders for three separate sets of clients, making sure to meet the needs of those clients based on the judge's descriptions of them. The worst part was that they had only 10 minutes to familiarize themselves with the massive kitchen that they were to work in and only 30 minutes per order to come up with an idea, cook it and plate it. Of course, all the chefs hate these heavily time-based challenges, but they settled in to give it their best.
For the first order, to a VIP suite, the chefs had to prepare two seafood dishes, one hot and one cold.
- Dave made Crab Stack & Prawns with Court Bouillon and Cinnamon Nutmeg Rubbed Opah
- Tiffani made Campeche Carpaccio Crudo and Roasted Lobster and Fennel
- Harold had another raw seafood dish with his Snapper Crudo, followed by his Mussel and Smoked Paprika Soup
The "guests" in the suite were actually Stephen, LeeAnne and Miguel, who said "where's the caviar?" before critique the dishes. They liked the flavors of Dave's food, but didn't think the plating was fancy enough for VIPs. Tiffani's Campeche was poorly sliced and Harold's only needed a bit of lime to spice up his Snapper. Overall, they picked Harold's dishes as the best.
The second order went to a room full of world champion poker players. It seemed that all the chefs play poker and considered themselves to be authorities on what poker players like to eat.
- Dave made fried shrimp, egg rolls, salami panini and chocolate covered strawberries.
- Tiffani made potato chips, tomato and cheese sandwich stacks, cheese crackers with quince paste and herbed grissini.
- Harold went for the classics: onion rings, beer-battered chicken wings, mini pizzas and mini grilled cheeses.
The players loved Harold's chicken wings, though they simply came out of a bag in the snack pantry of the kitchen. They thought his food was what they would expect to be served while playing. They thought Tiffani's food was too "sophisticated" for poker, since you really needed a fork to eat it; it wasn't snack food. Dave's food was a huge hit, with the players raving about the flavors and appreciating the inclusion of the sweet berries. Overall, Dave won this round
The final order was for the performers of Cirque du Soleil, who requested high-protein, high-carb and very low fat foods. The chefs really seemed to have a problem with the low fat part, especially since all of the chose to serve Kobe beef, which is prized for its unusually high fat content.
- Tiffani whipped up some Kobe Rib Eye w/ Tomatoes and Balsamic, Karabuto Pork Milanese and Blue Crab & Caviar Salad.
- Harold's dishes were Roasted Chicken with Gnocchi, Seared Kobe Beef on Toasted Bread and Lobster Fettulini with Orange Tomatoes.
- Dave, accidentally, only made two dishes for this service: Pasta Marinara with No Oil and Seared Kobe Tenderloin w/Balsamic Fig Sauce.
The performers did not like Tiffany's rubbery pork, too-rare beef or fishy pasta dish. They really enjoyed the fact that Harold used a chicken dish to introduce some lean protein to his meal. Dave's food was their favorite, though, and even the performers who weren't red meat fans liked his no-oil grilled Kobe, which they said was very moist. Dave would have won this round, too, but because he lacked a dish, Harold was the winner again.
Throughout the final, official judging, Tiffani kept mentioning how she "knows" Vegas and what the people who work and play there want. Though she does work in Vegas, since she didn't win any fans with her dishes, it's pretty clear that she doesn't necessarily know what they want as much as what she thinks that they should want. She wouldn't answer the judges' questions directly, either, as she was so convinced that she was correct in her assessments of the tastes of the city of Vegas. Dave, on the other hand, accepted responsibility for his error in the Cirque du Soleil dishes, instead of making excuses. Harold, the only chef with no errors (beyond using frozen chicken wings and onion rings in the poker challenge, which none of the chefs liked very much), was declared the overall winner.
Despite the fact that Dave won the poker tasting and nearly won the Cirque du Soleil tasting, he was still eliminated because his failure to produce the third dish in the final component of the challenge couldn't be overlooked by the judges, so Tiffani, along with Harold, will be competing again next week in the second part of the finale.
Read through the whole season here:
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
10 More Dirty Restaurant Tricks
5 Things You Didn't Know About Turducken
10 Catchiest Food Jingles We Love to Hate
