On last night's episode of Top Chef, contestants traveled to Puerto Rico for an Elimination Challenge that determined which chefs are this season's final three.
If you watched it, you know what went down, so let's get angry.
We'll rehash the Quickfire and the technicalities of the Elimination Challenge in a bit, because what we all really want to discuss is that Antonia left and Lisa slipped through once again. Seriously, the girl has been in the bottom during the past four challenges. I'm not saying that Antonia didn't mess up, but it saddens me to see Lisa in the final three because it feels like the show just wants to infuriate its viewers and cause drama. I'm all for drama, just not when it compromises the competition. And because it didn't seem like there was a clear loser in terms of the taste of the dishes, I keep thinking that it would have been nice for the judges to just push Antonia through because she has been consistently solid and Lisa has been consistently sub-par. It almost reminds me of last season, when Dale somehow ended up in the final three, and competed well there, even though he was never considered among the strongest contenders throughout.
My favorite part of the episode was at the very end, when Richard and Stephanie clearly couldn't hide their disappointment at Antonia's departure, and Lisa confronted them for not congratulating her. Stephanie and Richard looked so confused at her accusation that I had to laugh. I understand why the show might want to keep her around, though I'm not sure I can stomach her harsh words for another entire episode.
Okay, back to business. For the Quickfire Challenge, chefs created two dishes of frituras for Padma and guest judge Wilo Bennet. Stephanie won her first Quickfire ever for making tostones with seared tuna and pork and shrimp fritters, even though she commented that plantains were among her least favorite dishes with which to work. Lisa also did well in the challenge, whereas Richard's pork meatballs and fried plantain chips were less loved.
For winning the Quickfire, Stephanie was allowed to decide which eliminated cheftestant would serve as sous-chef to the remaining four in the Elimination Challege -- taking an entire pig and turning it into three pork dishes for a VIP garden party at the home of the Puerto Rican President. She paired herself with Dale, Antonia with Nikki, Richard with Spike, and Andrew with Lisa. Unlike Spike who in the past has tried to hurt the other contestants with his advantage, Stephanie did a nice job of pairing everyone except for Andrew and Lisa, though there was really no one with whom Lisa would have matched well. It turns out that Dale and Stephanie have actually known each other for 10 years.
All was going well with preparations for the garden party, until it was discovered that Dale left Stephanie's pork belly out of the refrigerator overnight, and she had to come up with a third pork dish at the last minute. Though it flustered her a bit, the judges love the salad with chicharrones that she eventually came up with. She and Richard were the top two, and Richard won for a lovely combination of dishes: fresh ham with local beans, pressure cooked pork belly with pickled watermelon rinds, and pork ribs with malta glaze. Oh yeah, he won a car.
We all know what happened with the elimination and I'm too sad to go over it all again. I don't think I'm alone, so show me some support! Lisa should have gone, right? Or do I just love Antonia too much to see that she deserved to leave?
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