Top Chef Season Two Episode Two: Eastern Promise

Oh dear, wake me up at 4:30 a.m. for a trip to a fish market and I might be barfing in the alley like poor chef Mia. Tom Collichio, head judge "not a mentor", wakes everyone up at 4:30 for a fish market foray. As they explain to all the chefs outside the market that their quick fire challenge is to prepare sushi, you can see Mia urping a little and holding her fingers over her mouth. The other contestants head inside while Mia hustles behind a dumpster to lose it. Having to head into a fish market after that isn't too appetizing, I feel for her.

Back tot he product placed sponsored Kenmore Kitchen, we meet Hiroshi Shima and his interpretor. Chef Shima is a master at sushi apparently (I really don't know the world of chefs). The chefs work hard for their 30 minutes and we start with Frank's dish that the judge seems to like. Michael says he's never made sushi, except once in cooking school. Hmmm... need a little lesson about the meaning of never? Aww, he makes cute little fish shaped sushi...huh?

Presentation counts for a lot in the Top Chef kitchen, and we see Cliff present a very yummy looking (well, yummy if I actually like sushi), plate with oysters and some nice sounding flavors plus another dish. Oh, poor Mia...she said she was just trying to get through this one. Her sushi roll looks like a cigar, seriously. The judge shoves a big bite into Padma's mouth, who doesn't seem to be enjoying it. Then he says that he really didn't like the flavor.

Otto's plate is next, and he is complemented on the rolling of his sushi. Then he says something that sounds pretty obnoxious racially...but maybe just ill informed...he says "i'm just a round eye" and then says he's honored with the complement. Really didn't need to say that.

Chef Hiroshi gets all kinds of excited about Elia's dish, in which she adds olives and he says he likes the different flavor. Ilan then gets complements on his fresh and alive ingredients. Then we really don't see anyone elses dishes. I guess they needed more time for lycheegate later on. Cliff wins immunity. Good, I kinda like Cliff and his food looked good.

For the elimination challenge they split up into two groups to work as a team this time. One making Korean food, one making Vietnamese food. They must prepare tasting dishes for an event with 1000 people attending and many other tables with chefs and restaurants offering their dishes. The chefs will prepare two tasting dishes, and they're off to prepare their menus. At the end of the event, the judges will choose one team that wins, and one that loses. One chef from the winning team will be declared a winner and one chef from the losing team will go home.

Well, Team Vietnam is off to prepare their menu. Team Korea seems to be off to prepare sangria first, and lots of it. Mia and Marissa get all kinds of pissed off at the men for not doing the menu first, and rightfully so. No one seems to be leading this group. On the other hand we see Team Vietnam having a round table type discussion. The caterers in the group, Mia and Betty, are explaining they only need to make full servings of half the amount of spring rolls and then cut them in half and they get twice as much. Sam mutters something about "caterers", but seems to appreciate the logic. They make Josie their leader because she has worked with Vietnamese chef (or something like that)...she's experienced with Vietnamese food.

The next day we catch up to them all shopping. Team Vietnam looks like they have a precise shopping list and get through it all quickly. Drinking team Korea seems to have no real plan for shopping, end up going over on their budget and take a few things back before leaving the store. Here is where the big controversy comes in. We are shown them loading up their SUV with supplies and Otto says "hey, I think we got a case of lychees for free"...no one else says anything so he loads it up and they head off. Remember this, any one of them could have said "we'd better take them back inside" although Otto really should have. This all could very well be producer manipulation too, which is why I don't really like reality shows...you never see the real story.

Back in the kitchens: Team Vietnam is making spring rolls, a pork dish, and adding a refresher drink to their menu. Team Korea is making braised pork, kimchee (which is a fermented cabbage), and a panna cotta. Panna cotta? Italian dessert...but they are adding 'traditional" Korean twist to it...traditional because jasmine and lychee pearls are so Korean...not so much. This sounds interesting.

Back in Korean kitchen, Marissa complains to Ilan that they look like cheaters because fo the lychees (pronounced either lee-chee or lie chee...take your pick) and they shouldn't use them She is all kinds of indignant about it, which makes me wonder...you were shown commenting on it At the Store...why not be indignant then?

So they go on cooking and prepping and head chef Collichio walks in. Elia and Marissa feel totally compelled by guilt to tell chef that one of our members took something without paying for it. Umm...didn't all of you, really? Marissa goes on about Otto and how he said "I got us a whole case of lychees and we didn't pay for it, we didnt' have to pay for it". Twist the words a little there honey? Or is it something the producers decided not to edit in? ugh, reality tv makes my head hurt. But she's sooooo bitchy about the whole thing and self righteous and schoolyard tattletale. Heh...she says "shit" when Colicchio calls the others over to investigate. Just WHAT did you think he would do, call them in his office one by one quietly so no one knew it was you, on camera that complained. I hate tattletales. Otto says yeah, he knew at the store outside they weren't paid for. Collichio makes him return them right then and there and Otto grabs them from under the counter, where they had apparently all decided to put them after deciding NOT to use them, and heads off. So team Korea is down a chef. Way to screw your entire team honeybunch.

In the meantime they show Team Vietnam having all kinds of fun together, acting like they like working together and such. They all move on to the event and prepare tables and food. Josie takes over from Michael who is just butchering the spring rolls...they fall apart into a mess when he slices them. She is fairly condescending to him (giving him the time out signal with her hands), but then again seems like he wasn't going to step away from making a mess. I see it as her saving the team's efforts. But man she has big teeth.

People arrive and begin eating. TEam Vietnam is working the table like nobody's business...Betty is up front, chatting, smiling and serving her drink. VERY appealing and friendly. Chef Ming Tsai, the guest judge, walks up for his taste. He corrects Josie on her pronunciation of pho (pronounced fuh?) but he complements them on their cucumber aloe refresher drink.

Team Korea looked all kinds of disorganized as they set up, then were seen arguing about something. Apparently their quick fix kim chee is pretty good, and Collichio tells them he's surprised. The Panna Cotta is very firm, and the judges are seen having to work their way into it...panna cotta is supposed to be a creamy dessert.

So at the judging table: Team Korea's pork dish seemed to be the taste winner but they think the rice was bad; Team Vietnam's pork was dry. Host Padma again gets to express a real opinion of the dishes. They LOVED Betty's service and think that counts for the team effort. All of them really liked the refresher drink that Betty served and prepared.

So Team Vietnam is called into the judging room. They are told the pork was dry, but quickly told that they won and much loud celebration is heard as we see Team Korea offstage hearing all of it. They rightly deduce that they didn't win, Cliff saying they didn't work as a team. Betty is given a gift as the best of the team, a ceramic limited edition sushi knife. She's so genuinely grateful, and seems genuinely embarrased to be getting this as part of a team effort, that I'm liking her a lot more.

Team Loser...eh...Korea is called into the room. Ilan speaks up first and says that he thinks their pork dish was far superior and that Vietnam's pho was a joke. The judges look surprised, not sure what to say. Gail then says that the food was not the only thing at stake in a team competition. Cliff comments to the judges when asked that he thinks they could have worked more as a team. They're told the rice was bad and shouldn't have been served. Then onto the hockey puck panna cotta (as Ming Tsai calls it). Marissa defends herself saying she got the proportions right of gelatin to liquid. Oh really...if the proportions were right, then why was it hard? Little Elia is asked if she liked it, and she tries to say that she doesn't really like gelatin desserts - she doesn't seem to be saying she didn't like the panna cotta, just justifying that she's not the best judge of a dessert she doesn't care for....but Marissa jumps all over her butt about it. "That's not what you said..blahblahlbah", brother...she's sorta like Tiffani from first season, misinterpreting things and lying her way through.

They move onto the lychee fiasco. Marcel says Otto was wrong. Elia says that it was difficult after the lychee thing. Colicchio asks if it's enough to get rid of Otto. Some say yes, some say no. Marissa gets all kinds of bitchy indignant and just goes off about how she respects these judges and blahblahblah...sorry, she's sorta boring in her self-righteousness...and just looks so unsexy, you "sexy" chef. I'm not standing up for Otto here, just against the chef who tattled and then made a horrible dessert. Frank stands up for Otto and is all Tony Soprano kind of mad about the team and standing up for the team. Ilan doesn't think it was one person that made it bad for the team.

They move out while the judges decide. Frank goes off on his teammates about this acting not like a team thing some more; Marcel is seen banging his head against a pole..hee... In judges chambers we see them discussing the panna cotta, and how awful it was and then Otto and the lychees. Here's where a lot of people are confused about the discussion, and I can only give my interpretation of it. I thought Collichio then says "if Otto admits to us his mistake and owns up to it, then we'll send Marissa home" (paraphrased). Others interpreted it as if Otto doesn't admit it, we'll send Marissa home.

So they are called back in, ask Otto about it again. Otto says that it was wrong, he disrupted the team and then he bows out of the competition. The judges look surprised, but accept his resignation. Marissa should kiss Otto for keeping her in for another week.

So weird looking little Otto is gone to save the world from hunger (actually, he has done a lot to work on hunger relief, very nice) and we're stuck with miss bitchy mcsexy pastry chef. She's made a calendar you know, with shots of her in the kitchen in a bathing suit...all kinds of poses I really don't want to see my chef doing, including a shot of herself with a cupcake on her, um, lap. Blech.

What will the next show bring? My favorites so far: Josie, Cliff, Betty. Who's Emily again? Maybe I'll remember her next week. Marcel and Marissa seem to be the bad guys right now, and I predict no one is trusting Marissa for a long time.