Top Chef Miami

Bad timing

Not sure why the powers that be at Bravo decided to run a reunion cookoff episode - a repeat, at that - in the middle of Top Chef 3 action. Guess they want us to lose interest? They certainly lost momentum. Once a week is little enough. Probably had something to do with Glad Family endorsements.

Tre sought out by Bravo

CHOW has posted an interview with Tre, who tells the podcast interviewer (with the flack's OK) that he  was specifically sought out by the "Top Chef" folks and didn't have to go through the open casting call. He also says he is part of a generation of chefs who works out and eats healthy. Wants to beat the perception that all chefs are fat. He also thinks CJ may have been trying to save himself by letting Tre be exec chef at April. If such strategies are necessary to win, then Tre doesn't want to be a part of that game. The guy's got class. His Dallas restaurant, Abacus, looks really cool, too. Check out the interview here:
http://www.chow.com/stories/10697

Zakarian speaks

Had a nice chat with Geoffrey Zakarian, guest judge from last night and chef/owner of both Town and Country in NYC. Top Chef got some serious star power this week (Boulud was quite a coup too).

Zakarian is a busy guy. His wife gave birth to  a daughter four months ago and I read in New York magazine that he and designer Thierry Despont (who did the Carlyle Hotel and Gordon Ramsay’s restaurant in London)are teaming up with playboy hotelier Vikram Chatwal (Night, Dream hotels) for a place called the Lamb's Club, opening on W. 44th Street in August of next year.

Town's kitchen hasn't suffered. The New York Times writes that the hotspot in the the hip Chambers Hotel  is "a civilized, adult setting that suits Geoffrey Zakarian's elegant, clean cooking, which seems almost effortlessly assured."

Mr Z manages to find time to watch Top Chef every week and enjoyed being a judge and would do it again in a heartbeat.

"What's good about the show is that producers have a knack for getting the most out of the contestants, who can be really strong one week and then get thrown a curve ball,'' he say. "I was impressed by the professionalism. The guys and girls really go at it. It's honest."

Other comments:

Tre: "You don't shoot the soldiers, right? So Tre had to go. He's a level headed, mature guy. He'll be a better chef for it. People don't realize how difficult the challenges are. The chefs are really cooking under those time constraints. When a chef gets nervous, they can't edit their food. With his salmon he kept layering ingredient upon ingredient and kept going and going. Bread pudding is one of the simplest dishes to prepare. It's hard to mess up. But he had a total meltdown. It was very dry. Though the tableside service was nice. Chefs should come out - not too often - and finish the dish."

CJ: "He had the ability to help out and decided not to. You need someone to watch your team if you're not firing on all pistons, had a fight with your wife or you're hung over, which doesn't happen often. I don't think CJ is a leader. He wouldn't help you over the wall. He'd jump over and say Call me when you get here. His lobster salad was something you'd throw together at your house in the summertime. You have to be really careful when you dress something, keep tasting it. And if it's too salty, throw it out. It's like he just thought, Well, everybody likes lobster, so I'll do this."

Howie: "I like that guy. He's honest, gruff like a blunt instrument. But he's a gentle soul and consisent cook." When he found out Howie was in New York, he asked me for his info. Would like to do lunch with him or at least a coffee. Howie, are you out there?

Sara N: "She and Howie are one and the same. They both have big egos and they collide."

Dale: "He looked too casual to be front of the house. You should always try to dress better than the patrons. I have a real problem with sweating, too. Get a grip. "

Hung: "I know I said his tuna was a cliche but it was delicious, my favorite dish. It was a very nice starter - clean, appropriate. Hung is very talented. Also has a big ego. But did you see the way he chopped up that chicken?"

   

Tre took it like a man

For once, I wasn't even mildly shocked about an elimination.

Tre thought he could breeze through this second challenge, even declaring "I could do bread pudding in my sleep." Those in your sleep comments usually sink you. And it's rare you hear the words "dreadful" uttered - how Town's Geoffrey Zakarian described Tre's salmon with pesto. Excuse me while I swallow my bile.

The whole April team looked anemic, Casey on the verge of tears while overcooking her monkfish; both Brian and CJ defeated. Question: How does someone screw up lobster? Answer: With too much salt. Zakarian ripped into the big guy. "You should have been watching his [Tre's] back!" I wouldn't want to be a line chef in the Town kitchen (I'm set to chat with Z tomorrow morning so will fill you in). He's a little scary.

The 4 from The Garage did a 180, worked hard, and it showed. If only Dale had worn a suit, or at least a guayabera. I think he wanted to show off his guns for Christopher Ciccone (does seem a little salty and just as affected as his sister).

Sara won her first challenge. I liked the way she ordered Howie around. He really needs to get bitch slapped once in a while. His lamb looked like it was about to bleat, but maybe that's just me. The poussin (a young small chicken raised on on select grains), seemed nicely done. Never had the pleasure. But just think how close they were to choosing rabbit if only Fresh Market had been fully stocked.

Hung is starting to annoy me less. When he takes a back seat he's not so obnoxious. Let's hope he stays that course.

The star of the show? Steve the Sommelier from Season 1. This guy should have his own reality show. 

Does that mean 2 go home next week?

This blog was brought to you by...

No seriously. I am getting a little weary of the constant promotions - as if the blaring ads weren't enough. This week Red Robin was the one to shell out the cash for the food, presumably. Never heard of them. Though I will probably seek them out now - I'm a sucker for frozen food. It really is shameless, though.

Truly surprised Daniel Boulud made the journey. You wouldn't think someone of his stature would be slumming it with reality chefs until all hours (these shoots can go until 4 a.m. or until a decision is made, I've been told) and would have a lot more to do with his time. Regardless, he seemed the most gracious of all the judges so far, actually telling the chefs who didn't win the Quickfire he was sorry he didn't pick them. All those burgers looked really good, by the way, EXCEPT CJ's, which won. I just can't imagine mousse in between two slices of bread. All I could think was good thing Micah wasn't there. She would have loaded hers with ketchup, which Americans *love.* Ha. Howie played it smart - using truffle butter. You can't lose with a Frenchman with that stuff.  As for his risotto, it looked really good with parmesan, heavy cream, butter and mushrooms. I wouldn't care if it was gummy with those ingredients. I'd drink it through a straw if I had to.

Three Questions mid-episode

1. Did Red Robin just say they serve a Whiskey River burger?! Sort of cheapens Willie Nelson's best song. Wonder if there are any surprise ingredients inside.

2. Can anyone out there identify the #$#%! at The Garage who said the food tastes like metal? He's such a jerk I wonder if he isn't an actor playing a part.

3. Has anyone else noticed that Season Three is no friend of the service at the Ice Palace complex. (That's the Miami event hall and production facility where the Top Chef kitchen is, not the Fontainebleau, even though the show's editors try to make it look like they're all cooking at the Miami Beach hotel.) In the reunion challenge, Dave complained the waiters and waitresses hired for the episode were horrible. Now Dale has just said the same thing. 

Barton G, with bite

When we last checked in with guest Top Chef judge Barton Weiss, the star Miami caterer and restaurateur was annoyingly politic and circumspect in recalling his time on the show. No snide remarks or insider dish on the contestants or celebrity judges.

Then we discover he's started a blog on the Bravo site that -- we say admiringly -- gets a little brutal. From his latest post:

As her parting shot, Sara declared “There’s a really fine line between being competitive and just being an asshole.” There’s an equally fine line between legitimate complaint and whining; Sara whined herself out of the competition.

Since she was so demoralized by unintentionally wearing a low-cut blouse to Fresh Markets, would the outcome have been any different if Dale had not dismissed one top she had considered wearing as too frumpy? Had she worn it, would she have been an enthusiastic and energetic part of the team?

Go get 'em, Barton. Read the rest at http://www.bravotv.com/blog/bartong

- ew

Just got off the phone with Govind. He still trembles at the thought of the ice cream quickfire challenge. Hung's offering, with cauliflower foam (espuma) and tempura flakes, and Casey's with red hot chili peppers. Baaaad combination!

Casey's was the first dish Govind tried. "It was repulsive, shocking,'' he says. "You couldn't prepare yourself for something like that. I was like, oh no, I have like 10 to go. I couldn't block that one out. There were potato chips in there too so it had this bitter, spicy, Asian flavor. "

Even Casey admitted at the time, "Wow, I made Govind Armstrong shudder."

And Hung's, while creative,  again didn't work. "I could see where he was going,'' he says. "But it was too heavy on the savory. It was hard to eat, hard to swallow. I'll give him the benefit of the doubt because he is very creative, he just pushes the envelope a little too far. Not everything he does makes sense."

That's why Dale's peach cobbler with a nutty, oatmeal crust tasted so refreshing and won him immunity and a tasting dinner at Table 8 that night. "It was marketable, and he kept it simple," Govind says. The two shared a Porterhouse for two, a variety of seafood dishes and 12 year old scotch. "Yeah, he got spoiled. I'm sure the others weren't too happy but..."

Govind has his initial doubts about Howie's berry dessert. He said little cameras are set up so you can see the chefs in action. "I was watching the whole process and I got a little worried when I saw him with the torch, charring the berries. In the end though the fruit became almost like a sauce and it worked really well with the balsamic and sea salt. Impressive."

He has his thoughts about the How-ster, who amazingly made it another round with that attitude that does seem to get worse every week.

"Howie's food is consistently and conceptually good, but for some reason, thinks he needs to be an a--hole. That's part of his character. Sometimes that kind of attitude has its place but not in this kind of setting, he's got to grow up and put his ego aside."

As for Sara leaving, "It was real close tossup. But as a judge you don't really have the say. You just give your input."

Did she deserve to go?

"I can see why some of them were upset. They all work really, really hard and [with the offer of going out clubbing] saw the light at the end of the tunnel, then got hosed. I think it was clever of the producers, though, because it created a little bit of drama. But Sara went in sulking and wasn't able to shake it. This is a passionate profession. If you have a bad day, you put out bad food.

"She's a little green and I think it was good lesson for her to learn."

Govind couldn't heap enough praise on Tre. 

"The grits and bacon wrapped shrimp were flawless, incredible. He executed it without any problems. He was all into it, smiling in his wifebeater shirt. He also got the concept. People at the end of the night want to eat food that's a little bad for them. Like in LA, outside the clubs there's a guy who sells Danger Dogs, wrapped in bacon with cheese and onions and all kinds of disgusting stuff. The cart must make a mint." 

"Demoralized" Sara gets the boot

Sara never recovered from the shock of dressing up, showing off cleavage, and having no place to go - except a mobile kitchen outside Nikki Beach, feeding late night drunken clubgoers. So she had to say bye bye. More tears!

I hate to say it, Sara, but once you realize that you were sold out (even tho the judges played dirty pool) you just have to deal with it - this isn't a vacation but a fricking reality show.

Even so, Howie has to take a large chill pill. The guy really doesn't work well with others. Sheesh. I really thought he was gonna get hacked after he told Sara she was the baby of the group and had to have everything done for her (but man maybe he was right; she was sulking like a child pretty much the whole show). Maybe she was jealous her "gay boyfriend" Dale got to hang with Govind and back out of that whole mess. There was only room for 4 in that mini kitchen anyway.

Did Sara mess up the milkshake? Howie wanted her to just ice cream - sounds yummo. She wanted ice in there. The sliders were underseasoned and just not coming out on time. Howie should know better than to serve subpar Cuban sandwiches - the shame! Casey and CJ (also perturbed about her cleavage showing while cooking and shopping - understandable) seemed to take a backseat to the whole mess. CJ is really emerging as a supercool guy. Just refreshingly normal, if a tad wimpy.

Tre's grits and bacon wrapped shrimp won him Govind's book and a global VIP membership to Nikki Beach? I'd rather take a bottle of wine (like Howie got) or an opp to stage at Gotham (like Howie got). Oh well, there's a few more next times.

Judge Govind

We're all set to talk to Govind Armstrong, top toque at Table 8 on the  beach. Look for the interview Thursday. Here he is in all his glory: