Tuesday, November 9, 2010

Celebritea or Tea Bagging Your Way to the Top

Gail is so excited. Gail has invited her mentor to pimp Food and Wine Magazine host a tea party and have the chefs make tea nibbles. But since that wasn't special enough they decide to make it a Celebritea party.


Really? This is the Elimination Challenge you come up with following Dessert Wars? I could see the tea party challenge but celebrities? Why in holy hell are we pimping the obscenely overly pimped? I officially hate this challenge.


Morgan's not too impressed either. He may be a jack wagon but at least he's totally clueless when it comes to celebrities. So much so that during the shopping trip he finds inspiration from the magazine rack.

Which explains why they could never shoot this scene at Whole Foods. Normally shopping is pretty uneventful but particular attention is being paid to the amount of chocolate the chefs plan to use for their tea nibbles. Not surprising when one is your sponsors is Godiva Chocolate. Zac and Danielle seem to be the only ones going the non-chocolate route. Eric, who says he's making brownies, buys this???

Why? I'm dying to know what role potato kugel mix plays in the modern pastry chef's repertoire? Back at the kitchen, the pantry holds another mystery.

Now they have to make tea nibbles, using twisted celebrity inspiration....without chocolate.

Guess who's sitting in the catbird seat now? Eric, Morgan and Yigit try and process the new twist. It's not working too well for Eric and Yigit. Danielle? She's still mugging away up in Danielle world. Onto the party.

The brightly dressed Dana Cowin. Now check out the tea table.


It's freaking massive! I find it amusing that much of the criticisms of the upcoming tea nibbles centers on size, tea nibbles supposedly only being one bite but are being served on this gigantor thick old growth tree trunk table.


Eric's shortbreads. Really plain.

Zac's yummy cheesecake and Pavlova nibbles.

Danielle and her spicy strawberry cake.

Morgan's bitter macaron.

Side note:

Macaroon

Macaron
One "o", two totally different pastries.

Yigit's down in the doldrums yogurt cake.

Judge's Table is pretty much what you expect, Morgan, Zac and a surprising Danielle who looks like she's not sure why she's there.


In the end it's Zac who beats his nemesis, Morgan, and wins the challenge.

Let's hear it for cute little Cap'n Crunch.

Of course that means Yigit and Eric are left to fight it out for the title of crappiest tea nibbles.

Gail is not amused by the plethora of excuses that fall from the lips of both Eric and Yigit. Frankly she looks like she wants to throw a shoe at them but then we'd be lurching into Hell's Kitchen territory and we can't have that. Finally they put Eric out of his Just Desserts misery...


...and I can go back to ignoring all the stupid celebrities ever mentioned in this episode.

5 comments:

Making Space said...

Heh - Eric looks about as happy as Zac in your screencap.

Danielle. Ha.

Tea party. Blech.

moi said...

Tea parties are totally silly to begin with and one that pays homage to a bunch of celebretards? Off the charts silly.

If it were possible that anything sweet could actually turn my stomach, then that macaron whatever confection is a first. Thing looked like congealed Pepto-Bismol. Yigit's limp cake and oogy-looking gelee on top of that squirt of dulce de poopie was a close second.

I'll miss Eric the Baker, though. Too bad he just didn't have enough flare.

LaDivaCucina said...

More than anything I was annoyed by the *Renowned*Cake*Decorator's haughty pronunciation of the word "Devonshire." I could hear my English and Aussie friends laughing all the way from here.....wanker.

I am also highly annoyed that woman from Daily Candy is a regular judge. Why? For THIS REASON. Anyone that promotes necklaces made with straws on leather does NOT get my vote for fashion plate or good sense or the ability to judge anything. hmpf.

Big Shamu said...

Actually Moi, the macarons seem to enjoy a rainbow of colors. Unless you're talking about Zac's Pavlova which was also pink. Yigit definitely phoned it in this episode.
You know I don't think it was that Eric didn't have enough flair/flare (?) it's that he just got way too much inside his head especially when they throw a twist into a challenge. I think he has talent galore but just needs a lot of time and space to flesh out his ideas and creations. The cauldron that is a Top Chef competition just wasn't the best arena to do that.

La Diva, as you may have noticed, said judge gets no play here. Then again neither does Hubert Keller and I love him. That third judge's slot is really a killer, split between two people and not much face time to really make a lasting impression.

LaDivaCucina said...

I know. I just wonder how someone that writes for an email PR company gets the same air time as Hubert Keller as a judge for a cooking contest?