Top Chef, Week 4, Season 4

The judge of the quickfire challenge this week was Chef Daniel Boulud. His challege to the contestants was to make a "beautiful vegetable plate" that was technical and classical. Chef Boulud announced that both Richard and Ryan had worked with him at his restaruant as employees but indicated he would not show any favoritism to them. Lisa said this type of cooking is not in her style, Zoi said she is not classically trained but she considered doing a shaved asparagus salad. Lisa did poached egg and zucchine, Dale concentrated on daikon maronated avocado which the judge later commented was impressive. Richard did raddish blanched mushrooms, Spike did a cucumber dish, Manuel offered blanched asparagus, and Nikki did blanched green beans. Chef Boulou said that they should have taken 5 minutes to think of a plan before jumping in to the challenge. He didn't like Nikki's green beans, or Lisas poached egg, and he did not like Manuel's asparagus. His favorites were Zoi's poached eggs, Dale's daikon marinated in tobanjan tournee of avocado and cucumer (yes, I looked that up; no I didn't remember it; or might I add know what it is) and Richard's mushrooms but the winner was Dale (thought I should know the actual dish since he was the quickfire challenge winner) who got immunity for the elimination challenge.

Next the show moved on to the elimination challenge which was to make a dinner where each course was inspired by your favorite movie. They went to Gallary 37 to work in their kitchen and serve a dinner for twelve hostedc by film critic Richard Roper and actress Aisha Tyler, along with the judges, Tom Colicchio, Padma Lakshmi, Ted Allen, and guest judge Chef Daniel Boulud. They split the contestants into teams of two, except for one team which included Dale who had immunity. Dale was allowed to choose which team he wanted to be a part of and decided to join Andrew and Richard's team as he felt they were both really top cooks. The team of Andrew, Richard and Dale served the first course. They decided on "Willy Wonka" for their inspiration and they served smoked salmon with faux caviar and white chocolate wasabi sauce. A few of the oher contestants were shocked by their mixing of salmon and white chocolate in their mock caviar and spring rolls, however, the judges loved it. Richard tried to use his smoker again but it stopped working so they lit a piece of wood and held the wood over the rolls to get the smoky flavor. Ted Allen extolled this serving and the meal started off magnificantly.

It must have been difficult for Spike and Manuel to follow that but they did and picked "Good Morning Vietnam" as their movie serving summer rolls with Chiliean sea bass in a Vietnamise style. The judges were not impressed, they didn't like the fish and felt that Spike and Manuel had choosen the movie only because they wanted to serve Vietnamise food. Jen and Nikki were the creators of the next plates to be served and their movie was "Il Positino"serving Italian food with the intention of trying to show a romantic side with the feel of the mountains of Italy. They served wine with it and that added to the romantic feeling, however the judges said the tortellini was good but not great and although it was rustic it was a "one note" dish. Tortellini with cavolo nero ricotta, pecorino squash and peppercorn. The next up was Ryan and Mark whose movie was "Christmas Story" the "you'll shot your eye out" movie, but instead of Duck (which the family ended up having in the movie after a pack of dogs ate their Christmas dinner, they used quail and cranberries. Their sping rolls were loved by the judges and everyone else at the table. Quail Brest with carrot puree, cranberry chutney and quail spring rolls were served to the enjoyment and admiration of the judges. Zoi and Antonia were next with "Talk to Her" as their movie which they said is a Spanish film. They served rack of lamb with saffron cauliflower puree, romesco and gramalata, trying to bring to it the spice and color of Spain. According to the judges, the lamb dish was good but not good enough to compete with the other dishes and the lamb was not especially liked nor did they feel it had the color of Spain

Lisa and Stephanie chose "Top Secret" and made New York strip steak, braised short rib and apple potstickier with carmal sauce. The New York strip steak and wonton showed the asian flavors. Chef Tom loved it thought it went above and beyond what was expected and that it was a classic dish. The other judges called the dish flawless. This certainly was another case where Stephanie shined before the judges and now we have high hopes for her.

At the Judge's Table, they called in Richard, Dale, and Andrew as one of their favorites, along with Stephanie and Lisa, but it was Richard who won the challenge with much praise. Then they called in Manuel and Ryan along with Zoi and Antonia for their least favorite dishes. They said the lamb had no vibrant colors and that is what they didn't like about Zoi and Antonia's dish but the admitted that the lamb was cooked perfectly although it was sliced too thin. It was Manuel and Spike to took most of the heat from the judges because they didn't like the summer rolls and the story didn't match the dish. Hey, these judges are serious about these challenges. The contestants have to follow the precept layed out for the challenge if they want to win. They told Manuel that he shouldn't have let himself be led into something he didn't want to do by Spike and it was Manuel who was sent home. Upon being told he was to leave he told them what an honor and privilege it was to work them these talented and brilliant chefs and that it had been a phenominal experience.

This weeks show was a pleasant break where we saw eyes shining and lips smaking with delight over obviously wonderful dishes (recipes on Bravo.com) but the coming attractions for next week when they will have to cook for 320 people looked brutal so we will see what happens and we will probably try to recreate the good stuff from this week's show while waiting. See you next week Top Chef!