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'Top Chef': Design on a Dime

Posted by Harold Check, September 6, 2007 at 10:15 AM

After a one-week hiatus, Top Chef returned last night with a vengeance. Seven contestants remain, with no clear favorite now that viewer darling Tre has been sent packing.

The "Aisle Trial" Quickfire Challenge introduced the theme of the evening, which was to take limited resources and impress. Each chef was given $10 and assigned one aisle of the grocery store in which to acquire ingredients. After ten minutes of shopping and 20 minutes of cooking, they were supposed to have a dish worthy of oohs and ahs. Not easy, and the results would prove it. [Warning: Spoilers after the jump.]

Brian came out on top, giving himself an extra degree of difficulty by choosing the oft-maligned Spam as his main grocery ingredient. He dressed it up nicely, however, and indeed presented a dish that both looked good and, according to guest judge MIchael Schwartz, tasted great. On the other end of the Quickfire spectrum, CJ's dish was deemed only one short step up from Howie's offering, which was nothing. Nothing but an apology for being unable to come up with something he was willing to serve. Oops.

In an entirely other universe was Hung, who took raw material from the cereal aisle and created a pyschedelic candy-colored landscape that pretty much blew everyone's mind. Lost in the hilarity of Hung's kid-inspired creation was the fact that he actually produced something even stranger—an endearing sound bite. His interview clip during the Quickfire Challenge gave a rare glimpse into Hung's background, and it was a welcome relief from the usual puffed up bravado he trots out in front of the cameras.

The Elimination Challenge continued the day's motif: Produce lots of flash with very little cash. The entire crew was informed they'd be be working as caterers for a two-hour party in honor of fashion designer Esteban Cortazar. When they were told they'd have a total of $350 to spend on supplies, most of the chefs looked like they'd already been asked to pack their knives and go. No-one was happy about the cost cutting.

That said, Brian, who made himself squad leader after winning the Quickfire, was undaunted by the budgetary constraints or the idea of wrangling seven independent-minded chefs into one cohesive team. He marshaled his forces at the hotel the evening before the challenge and did a good job of letting everyone have a hand in planning the menu.

When it came time to actually shop, things got a little more dicey. It was clear that the budget was a serious obstacle when Howie had exceeded his $50 before buying even half of his ingredients. There were some serious negotiations at the checkout aisle and Dale got the short end of the stick by giving up goat cheese for his gougère and substituting yogurt.

In the galley (the event was thrown on a yacht), the chefs worked well together. No tantrums. No tough love. Howie explained that he was making an extra effort to be a team player. That's not to say everything went perfectly. Sara and Casey stepped out of their comfort zone, tried, but failed to make a chocolate mousse dessert, despite the fact that they'd bought a pre-made mix. Strange choice. Bad result. But luckily, both chefs had other dishes they'd prepared and the omission of the mousse was a good game-time decision.

The actual party went well enough, with the guests greedily devouring anything and everything that was sent topside. The empty platters illustrated just how far the chefs' budget needed to stretch to meet the basic requirements of the party. Head judge Tom Colicchio was critical of the team's decision to produce as many different dishes as they did, but it was clear that no matter how much variety they offered, the key challenge may have ultimately been quantity.

Of course, at the judges' table, it wasn't quantity that got put in the spotlight, it was quality. The panel was generally unimpressed with the originality of the items. They were clearly looking to be wowed by the dishes, while the contestants were just trying to pull off a decent party without the guests starting a revolt. Just about every chef was put through the wringer at judges' table this week, and it almost seemed like that was part of the challenge—to endure a high level of criticism without cracking. It that was the case, it was a smart move, because things sorted themselves pretty well.

Brian was severely chastised by taskmaster Colicchio for not "editing" the menu. Having taken on the mantle of executive, Brian was expected to be responsible for the entire presentation, top to bottom. He stumbled a bit trying to defend himself, but it was clear he was in no danger of dismissal when just about every other chef lauded his leadership and passed up any chance to fall in line behind Colicchio's criticism.

Hung was back to his usual stubborn self, defending the "classic" nature of his salmon mousse and caviar hors d'oeuvres. Guest judge Dana Cowin (editor of Food & Wine magazine) rolled her eyes at not only the dish, but at Hung's steadfast refusal to admit that it was a boring choice. The interchange between Hung and Colicchio on this point was a pretty great moment, and for a minute there it looked like Hung was going to crack and start yelling "You want me on that wall! You need me on that wall!" à la Jack Nicholson in A Few Good Men.

Ultimately, though, it was Howie who cracked. When it was clear that the judges were unimpressed with his two dishes—phyllo and bacon-wrapped aparagus "cigars" and mushroom tartlets—everyone's favorite sweathog decided it was time to fall on his sword and, in a classic Top Chef move, he tried to send himself home.

The judges wouldn't have it, however, and instead of letting Howie resign and remain the master of his own fate, they sent him back to the waiting room to stew, sweat, swear, and generally twist in the wind, waiting for the inevitable ax to fall. Which it did. Bye bye, Howie. You made it a long way, considering you messed up the first Elimination Challenge and could have gone home on day one.

On the flip side, Casey won the challenge, having come in on time and under budget and produced one of the only hors d'oeuvres that genuinely impressed the judges—a beef carpaccio with shiitake broth that you can find on the Top Chef website, nestled alongside a raft of new blog entries.

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Tags: Top Chef, TV