Top Chef Chicago: Andrew Gets a Raw Deal

Posted by Jacci Lewis Categories: Drama, Food & Home, Prime Time, Reality, Bravo, Cable, Top Chef, Editorial, News

If three previous seasons of Top Chef have taught contestants anything, it is that you always have to follow the judges’ rules for each challenge. If you don’t, you are the most likely target to be sent packing. In Top Chef, taste is subjective. So all things being equal, the rules are the deal breaker.

Andrew is the latest chef to learn that lesson the hard way. His over-confident attempt to create a healthy sushi box lunch for Chicago cops (???) fell flat with the judges, both because it didn’t taste very good and also because it was missing a food group required for the challenge.

The spastic 30-year-old New York sous chef joins Nikki who went home last week after her ineffectual role in the “Wedding Wars” episode. That leaves just six chefs left to fight it out for this season’s title.

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Top Chef Chicago: Mark Out, Antonia Back in the Game

Posted by Jacci Lewis Categories: Food & Home, Kids, Prime Time, Reality, Bravo, Cable, Top Chef, Editorial, News

Time now to check in on what’s cooking in the Top Chef Chicago kitchen. The last two weeks have seen pretty boy/chef Ryan and the remaining half of the lesbian couple/competitors, Jen, go home. (Girlfriend Zoi went home in episode 5.)

This week New Zealand native and resident mop head Mark got the axe but not before questioning whether head judge Tom Colicchio, likes him personally. Sadly Mark, I think it might just be your food. This week’s challenge involved cooking for kids and he made vegetable curry, you do the math.

This week also saw single-mom Antonia get back in the game in a big way (last week she nearly went home thanks to a badly improvised dish involving polish sausage). That was then, this is now. Last night, Antonia won both the Quickfire and Elimination challenges.

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Top Chef Chicago: Manuel Packs His Knives and Goes

Posted by Jacci Lewis Categories: Food & Home, Prime Time, Reality, Cable, Top Chef, Cable/Satellite, Editorial, News

Episode 4 of Top Chef Chicago on Bravo TV was all about meshing technique with imagination. In the end, gentlemanly chef Manuel paid the price for his partner Spike’s lack of both. Manuel is out and classically trained molecular gastronomist Richard was Top Chef of the night thanks to his team’s whimsical take on a salmon dish inspired by Willy Wonka and The Chocolate Factory.

This episode began with a rather mundane Quickfire Challenge. Guest judge, French Chef Daniel Boulud, asked them to create a vegetable plate showcasing classic techniques, including three specific techniques designed to impress the reknowned French chef. Boulud says technique is the foundation of any worthy chef.

We learned that front-runner Richard and pretty boy Ryan both worked for Chef Boulud at some point in their careers. But Ryan brushed it off saying his stint with Boulud didn’t last long because it wasn’t his style of cooking. (For a short biography of each chef competing in season 4 click here .)

Most of the chefs seemed intimidated by this challenge. Lisa said “classical” isn’t her style. (I’m getting the feeling that applies to ANYTHING she doesn’t like to do.) In the end Chef Boulud’s least favorites were Nikki’s use of endive as a boat (too simple). Lisa’s plate was deemed too cluttered and unfocused and Manuel’s plate did not express enough technique. Chef Boulud called it “level one”.

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