Episode 11 of “Top Chef” Season 21 is now in the rearview mirror and we are getting so close to the season finale. We’ve got a lean group of cheftestants left – Danny, Dan, Michelle, Savannah and Manny. The judges need to mix this up somehow, so Tom Colicchio shows off his cooking skills by making a lobster dish, which he, judge Gail Simmons and host Kristen Kish polish off. His inspiration is the wok. Why is this relevant? It forms the basis for this week’s Quickfire Challenge. Learn about this, the meat of the show – the Elimination Challenge – and other surprises in this week’s recap. As always, spoilers follow!
It’s time to pick your Milwaukee favorites for the year!
1. Someone returns to “Top Chef” from “Last Chance Kitchen.” Everybody’s favorite – Laura. OK, probably not. But she’s back and pumped from her time beating Soo and Amanda at LCK. So instead of five remaining chefs, we have six.
2. The cheftestants play 20 Questions. Colicchio doesn’t tell them he made a lobster stir fry. It’s up to them to figure out – from the remnants left on the plate – what he made and they each need to recreate it in the kitchen. That’s the Quickfire Challenge. The cheftestants truly are given 20 chances to find out more about the dish. They are also able to look at and smell what’s left on the plate. I’m not kidding. Some questions are smart, others are not. But they’re able to glean that it includes lobster, it has some Asian components and that it’s “a salad, of sorts.”
3. Only one chef gets the closest to Colicchio’s dish. Laura (“an overabundance of lime juice”) and Manny (“isn’t close”) are at the bottom. Savannah, the only chef who uses a wok, gets it, winning the challenge. Per a change made a few episodes back, the Quickfire Challenges now factor in when the judges are deciding who will go home. And by that, I do mean go home. ‘Last Chance Kitchen” has wrapped up for the season.
4. Another celeb guest judge is in for the Elimination Challenge. Curtis Duffy. If you don’t know him by his name, you might know him by his restaurant – Ever, a Chicago fine dining establishment that was featured in the second season of the Hulu show, “The Bear.” The 4-year-old restaurant has earned 2 Michelin Stars the last three years.
5. Host Kristen Kish tells the chefs to “throw the norm out the window and think beyond the plate.” For the Elimination Challenge, the chefs are asked to create a dish that’s served directly on – and meant to be eaten directly off of – a tabletop. If they decide to take it all the way, the trend gives the chefs the opportunity to play with their concept, their presentation and style.
6. Everybody interprets the Challenge differently. Manny decides to make risotto – which historically has never worked at “Top Chef.” Most recently, there was eliminated cheftestant Kevin … Michelle says she wants to do brunch. Savannah does a Zensai – a Japanese-style assemblage of small appetizers. Dan is on a beet kick. Danny’s kneejerk reaction is to do paella. And Laura is the one who grabs this challenge by the horns and has a blast with it. She makes a deconstructed baklava.
7. Dan coins the term “puffin.” So maybe he’s not the first person in the world to do this but … instead of making a straight-up pita bread for his beet tartare with beet puree with accoutrements, he does a cross between a pita and an English muffin. The crowd goes mad! It’s true. His Jackson Pollock-esque design wins raves from the judges. “You close your eyes and questions if it’s a beet or not from the smokiness,” says Duffy.
8. Danny builds a frame. He salvages burned black rice to create one of the judges’ favorites, a lobster and mussel paella inspired by the art of Jean-Michel Basquiat. “The sauce is the border – very clever,” says Duffy.
9. Savannah cooks an intelligent creature. Anyone who’s squeamish about octopus should look away. She boils and grills the cephalopod, presenting it with seared tuna, tempura shrimp and kombu cured salmon nigiri. Simmons says the tempura is greasy and Colicchio comments on the “overcooked” octopus.
10. Laura has her best day. She happily serves her baklava with sauces (sour cherry, honey, pistachio) meringue and a ring of crisp phyllo pastry she serves to each judge at the end. They are dazzled. It’s the “mark of taking risks,” proclaims Duffy.
11. Manny experiences the curse of the risotto. “This doesn’t seem intentional,” Colicchio says, calling the heat of the dish “too aggressive.” Gail likes the flavor of the risotto – which came with crab, shrimp and scallops – but says it “seized up” giving it a “tight” texture.
12. Michelle has a very not-so-good day. Her brunch creation occupies only a small part of the tabletop. This “feels weird,” says Duffy. The beet biscuit – served with salmon mousse, cured salmon and pickled beets – is uncooked, says Simmons. “This doesn’t feel like her,” Kish says.
13. That baklava is Laura’s ace in the hole. She wins the challenge. (Am I the only one who notices the look on Dan’s face?)
14. We say goodbye to another chef. It’s Michelle, whose gaffe is probably the only reason Manny is still there. Colicchio: “We had three things: brunch, mosaic, beets. I’m completely lost.” But Michelle leaves on a high note, thrilled she made it as far as she did. “I’m a badass!” she says.
15. And then, there were five. The clip for next week shows a blind taste test, and the return of some Milwaukee food world people (I spy Paul Bartolotta and Dane Baldwin). Until then!
