We already know the set up of Quickfire, beat Chef Tom's time making a dish. Of course Tom's little quickie is edited to look like it was all smooth sailing. We get lots of comments in the one on ones from the chefs watching, talking about how organized Tom is, how each step is planned out. Turns out not so much. What we don't see is Tom's tub flipping over and spilling olive oil all over everything, him running back for more oil and who knows what else. Perhaps they are saving that for the Reunion show. They also don't explain this:
Seriously what is she looking at because it's not Tom and his dish. Not that it matters, the chefs now have to match Tom's time of eight minutes and thirty seven seconds. Of course no judge tastes his dish to say whether it's too salty or missing acidity or the sauce was bland. We're just to take their word that it's a good dish. Otherwise it's a straight forward Quickfire, cook a winning dish with what's in the pantry in the time allotted. No tuna tartare because if you can't make tuna tartare in less than ten minutes you don't belong on Top Chef. To add even more pressure the prize for winning the Quickfire, besides Immunity, is a car.
Wow, if that's the prize for the Quickfire, can't wait to see what the prize is for the Elim. Padma calls time and every chef but one hauls ass for the refrigerator. What did that last chef do? The smart thing, of course.
Talk about outside the box thinking, Marcel whips over to Tom's leftover fish and snags it for his dish surprising everyone including some unsuspecting (and not planning to be on camera) production people...
...who almost get a fish oil treatment up close and personal. See what I mean about Tom not having to worry about stuff like this? So the chefs get to whipping up their own quickies, not having had the two days to think about what dish they could make. Despite Tom's admonition not to, Angelo thinks he can win that car with a crudo...which is just a version of tartare. Turns out he almost doesn't have enough time to finish his dish which would have been hilarious considering it's a pile of raw fish. Who else is in the weeds? Jamie, who I think actually signed up for Top Chef Cooking Light because she's still not bringing it with her serving of ONE clam. Joining her in the weeds is Dale who I think just tried to do too much and lost it. For the most part everyone else put some decent food on the plates which in my book makes them more accomplished than Tom. The top three dishes come from Richard, Marcel and Mike. To me it's between Marcel and his fish in dashi broth, chili oil and bok choi,
and Mike's fish with black olive and caper stew.
Who ends up driving the car down the streets of New York in their very own Pimp Mobile?
That would be Mike Isabella, Car, Immunity, Happy Man.
However if he read the fortune cookie for his future it might have read:
The moment she said Jamie was the weakest member of the team and that she would try and stay away from her I knew she was a goner. While they still reward good dishes but weak team play (see last week's elim with Dale and Angelo) they never really save weak team play and weak dishes. I think Tiffani is a great chef, she just didn't have a very strong game this time around. I hope she finds that perfect spot to land for her passion and talent.
Jamie, on the other hand, didn't do herself any favors with her run here on Top Chef All Stars. Constantly telling the camera you don't really care may be honest but will give your real world customers pause at eating at your restaurant. People like to see you have passion and dedication to your craft. Not aloofness. However that does mean we have a vacancy for the Villain Chef. Any suggestions on who is best suited for that role?
