BY ANN CHRISTENSON AND CHELSEA MAMEROW
We’re just over half-way through this season of “Top Chef,” nine chefs remain, and what better time to shake things up than with a change of format? Episode 8 brought an extra helping of challenges with “Restaurant Wars,” the concept that forces the cheftestants to work in teams to create a restaurant – decor, food and all – in 24 hours. The two teams – one with four cheftestants, the other with five – were sent off on their quests to create a coherent concept, design their restaurant’s “look” and shop for ingredients to cook for the judges (guests included Stephanie Izard, the first woman to win “Top Chef; Kwame Onwuachi, also a former “Top Chef” contestant, and a James Beard Award winner; and Andrew Kroeger and Itaru Nagano, the James Beard Award winning owners of Madison’s Fairchild), along with a crowd of hungry “extras.” The judged meal was held at Milwaukee’s Discovery World.
Our art director Chelsea Mamerow was able to attend the “Restaurant Wars” taping last summer. Here she talks about her experience, plus some highs and lows from this episode, with dining editor Ann Christenson. Warning! Spoilers ahead.
It’s time to pick your Milwaukee favorites for the year!
Ann: Chelsea, what were your first impressions walking into Discovery World? And how much preparation did you have ahead of time?
Chelsea: As a fan of the show, I was so excited to be dining at Restaurant Wars, and it felt like everyone in the waiting area felt the same – the room was buzzing. This is kind of the pinnacle episode in a season, so it felt pretty special to be a part of it.
We weren’t given any info heading into the night about how many chefs were left or what kind of restaurant we would be eating at – even what time our reservation would be! We were asked to arrive at 3 p.m. and to block off the whole night for the event.
Ann: There were two restaurants – Channel (of which Milwaukee’s Dan Jacobs was a part) and Dos by Duel. Tell me which one you experienced, and what you were able to eat.
Chelsea: We were at Channel. I was super pleased to be able to eat Dan’s food (I missed his last time around!) and also just to see that he was still in the competition!
Ann: Dan made smoked walleye with labneh, potato cake and harissa. Kristen Kish said it had “sour cream and onion potato chip vibes.” What were the highlights of that meal?
Chelsea: It seems my husband Kevin picked all the best dishes, he had both Dan’s walleye and Danny’s carrots. We shared everything and can confirm that those were both delicious. I had Savannah’s mushroom and scallops, which I remember thinking, on first bite, was like a flavor explosion, delicious but so intense it was too much by the end. I also had Michelle’s catfish which was, as the judges said last night, excellent. You couldn’t tell, but that catfish dish was a huge portion – twice as much food as any of the other dishes.
Ann: Amanda made a vegan gumbo, which sounded risky. It included kombu. How was that?
Chelsea: I didn’t get to try that one! We were seated with [The Milwaukee Business Journal’s] Mark Kass and his wife, and she did have it. She said she enjoyed it; it was spicy! A funny thing I was surprised they didn’t show – this is a total side note: a lot of seasons, they show the teams agonizing over the design choices of their restaurants, table clothes, dishes, silverware, decor. We didn’t get any of that this time. The spoon that came with the gumbo was TINY. It was so strange. We commented on it, saw others commenting on it and then later, when we got to sit in the backstage press area and watch the judges eat at that restaurant, they commented on it, too! One of those things that falls under the radar when you are opening a restaurant in 24 hours.
Ann: That’s strange, Just peculiar design choices?
Chelsea: Yeah, that was the only really odd thing.
Ann: The judges were complaining a bit about how long it was taking for the food to come out. Did you notice any issues – was there tension?
Chelsea: We didn’t have any delays. We were called for our reservation really early in the night, maybe the second set of guests to be brought in. In fact, they had us walk toward the restaurants but stop short, and then the judges came up a few yards behind us. A camera crew came up, they gave us direction on when to start walking and said our group would lead the judges to the restaurant. They called “action” and everything. Michelle was prompt on greeting our table and was a really pleasant host.
Ann: What was it like sitting in the backstage press area? You were able to watch them eat?
Chelsea: It was really cool, best part of the night. From our table, we could see [judge] Tom [Colicchio], [host] Kristen Kish and Andrew from Fairchild eating outside. (Another side note: It was SO cold that day, kudos to the judges for not showing it!)
Afterward, the PR folks gave us a tour where we got to see the kitchen area. Dan’s team was closest and seemed at ease – smiling and laughing. And then they took us to Video Village – they had a whole production area built out with a wall of screens showing the feed from every camera and a large group of producers sitting watching as it’s filmed. Then there was a small tent with 6-8 seats and a little mini video village for press to sit and watch the same thing. We got in the tent just as they were resetting for the judges to switch restaurants and we sat and watched for a really long time. I think there were six camera feeds we were watching? All with audio, so it was pretty nuts to try to follow along. Really fun to get that peek into how the show was made.
Ann: I’m trying to visualize this. Were the restaurants under tents? The kitchens, too? It was hard to tell as a TV viewer.
Chelsea: The restaurants were indoors. I believe it’s an event space right next door to the main Discovery World building. The kitchens were outside under tents.
Ann: It sounds fascinating. Were you able to be a fly on the wall for the other restaurant concept, or learn anything about it?
Chelsea: Yes, we were watching both sets of judges eat at the same time in that tent, so we heard them talk about the menu, and saw them all get antsy on that second service. They seemed to be enjoying all of the food they tried, just like how the episode aired – it was hard to tell who their favorite would be.
Ann: When I was watching the episode, the judges were finding problems at both restaurants. I actually wondered if either one would win. And as you say, it was hard to tell who their favorites were.
Chelsea: The concept was lacking at Channel; we talked about that at our table. The concept of water connecting everything didn’t feel strong enough. I haven’t talked about that buckwheat tea that they brought us when we sat down… super strange! But then they put it in the custard dessert and it was one of the better desserts I have ever had.
Ann: Buckwheat tea! That was Danny’s drink, right? Tom Colicchio seemed turned off by it. What did it taste like?
Chelsea: Like drinking hay. I drank more of mine than anyone else at our table. It wasn’t undrinkable, but not something I’d ever want again.
Ann: [Big spoiler here] The Channel team was named the winner. I was actually a bit surprised. Though the judges seemed to like Channel’s food more than Dos by Duel. Were you surprised?
Chelsea: It seemed like it could have been a toss-up. More criticism of the food at Dos by Duel, but disappointed by the concept of Channel. They seemed to be foreshadowing with the stress in the kitchen at Dos by Duel, but it kind of built and fizzled. No real issues on either team. There have been seasons where you really see clashing personalities – usually between the front of house and expeditor. Danny’s universal ticket idea really seemed to keep things smooth for Channel.
Ann: And Dan’s dish was named the individual challenge winner. You might not know this, but early on, he had wanted to do a beet dish. But his teammates talked him out of it. Walleye made much more sense for a seafood restaurant! He seemed so happy. Did you get to see them name the winner?
Chelsea: No, they keep that secret, so I found out when the episode aired, along with everyone else, which was fun.
Ann: As for who was told to pack their knives and go, I thought it would be Laura. I wasn’t expecting Kaleena – again. I thought Manny, too. But the judges loved the mole negro with his beef dish. Clearly there was a mix of good and not-so-good.
Chelsea: Yeah, we were throwing out guesses and mentioned Manny as a possibility, too. The only one we didn’t mention was Soo.
Ann: Any guesses what happens next? The clip of the next episode showed the judges in waders! And possibly cranberries as a piece of the puzzle.
Chelsea: I thought cranberries too! And it sounds like they’re changing up what food they are judged on moving forward – not just the Elimination Challenge dishes. Maybe looking back at the whole season? Or the Quickfire Challenges?
Ann: I can’t wait to find out!
