Around the World in 80 Plates – Gamba Roja!

Recaps

By Foggywood | Tuesday, May 29, 2012 | 10:55 pm | 7 Comments
Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
Posted in: Around the World in 80 Plates, Recaps

The guests arrive and Chev/Kev/Gollum has yet to appear front of house. How will you ever be embraced, C/K/G? The kitchen is open and in full view of the dining room, so of course the Red team decide to bicker incessantly with much of the drama coming from silver medalist Chaz. Jenna seems to be doing a good job actually, despite not actually cooking anything. One thing she knows how to do is talk so she is in the right position.

Cat arrives with Curtis. Phew! I feel much better. They are with Jose Andreas from Top Chef Masters (I think) and the twins that own the host restaurant. They discuss the red shrimp and its importance in helping the Red team win.


Screw up the Gamba Roja and suffer the wrath of Jose!

1st course goes out – Black team wins! And yes, the Red team failed in the red shrimp department.

2nd course – Red team wins! Nick’s dish pulls out the victory.

So it comes down to the 3rd course – dessert. Surprise! Drama ensues… Liz’s dessert was advertised as a brulee with figs, BUT they can’t get a burn on the custard because it hasn’t had enough time to set. Horror of horrors. Jenna of course takes this opportunity to stage a mild freakout. She doesn’t know how she’ll face the diners after she told them she would be serving a brulee! Long story short, Liz puts a light burn on the figs instead. Disaster avoided, until Jenna smarts off and makes Liz cry. Really? Put on your big chef panties, ladies! This is Bravo, for crissakes!


Nobody likes a poopy face, Liz!  Wait, that’s your name, right?

In the interstitial they advertise Top Chef – the Tour! Whaat? Is that the best thing in the world or the absolute worst?

Next we have Jose making fun of Cat’s lack of a Catalonian accent. Aw Cat, no wonder you don’t want to leave your hotel room.  The locals make fun of you.  :(


Laugh it up, fuzzball!

Uh-oh, Liz is now in full breakdown mode. I once broke down in a restaurant work situation and it was not pretty. All the pressure and adrenaline and feelings hit you at once and it’s pretty hard to bounce back from it. It certainly wasn’t over a silly dessert though! I think I dropped a tray of drinks on someone’s head. Oops!  But also – HAHAHAHA!  The good ole days…

While the judges deliberate, the teams stew. It’s pretty clear that the Red team is pissed at Chev/Kev/Gollum. Nookie reports to the news to the girls, calling him “the Rabbi” because he’s always preaching…or something? This bugged me. C/K/G kicked off the whole Jewish jokey stuff with his holocaust comment, so who knows if he was called the Rabbi at other times as well. In any case, Nookie didn’t come off too well in this isolated comment.

Judging! To reiterate, the Red team’s first course featuring the red shrimp and Chaz’s mangled ceviche was terrible. But for the 2nd course, Nick’s monkfish was amazing. For some reason, Chaz gives Nick a crazy punch. What is wrong with these people? Like no social skills whatsoever. Nick gives Chaz the stink eye.

When it gets time to judge the dessert, Liz immediately begins to cry. Oh honey, I feel for you, but get yo’self together! And guess what? They loved it! The Black team wins!

Hilariously, Chaz immediately begins defending himself. No one likes the smell of desperation, Chaz. Even from a Junior Olympic silver medalist.


This is Chaz’s expression 97% of the time

And the Nooks wins immunity. Of course he does. And he did deserve it – especially for his fish skills (skills, not gills) and his knowledge of the culture. As for his social game, he’s a former professional gambler, whaddya expect?

The Red team heads out to the patio to discuss the vote. Basically it comes down to two points: Chev/Kev/Gollum sucked at front of house, while Chaz’s mosaic appetizer was ridiculous.

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Foggywood
About

Jonathan Mallen grew up in San Francisco, went to college at Santa Clara, and has spent the bulk of his youth living and dying in LA.  Don't worry, mostly living.  He has worked as an actor, teacher, limo driver, waiter, personal assistant, office assistant,  script reader, retail associate, etc etc AND etc...  Very glamorous, he knows.  He is very happy to add blogger to his illustrious resume.

7 Comments

  1. 1
    LAC LAC
    Posted May 30, 2012 at 9:14 am

    Great recap!! Yeah, the jokes write themselves…or appear on reality cooking shows. BADA BING!!

    Ok, I will stop….

    Happy for the outcome – Kevin Cheven was muy annoying and mas muy delusional. However, there is not much to like on either team. Jeanna needs to have a 16 ton weight fall down on her. All the hyperventilating about a change in a dessert. Jaysus, does this never happen at a restaurant? And her face when Liz got accolades instead of the doom she predicted was priceless. I thought she has pooped a buick. Nookie… ugh…just when I started to warm up to him, he makes me go on the hate train. First, the “rabbi” comment and then the “there’s no crying in the kitchen” analysis of Liz. You idiots are stressing her out with your doom and gloom crap. And given that your client base is a bunch of overpaid, overfed athletes whose team motto of late has been “meh”, I will take your assessment with a grain of salt.

    Chaz – I need you to stop talking. That and the dramatic temper tantrums are canceling out any eye candy factor for me.

    Still got a girl crush on Avery.

    I was relieved to see Cat. I do not understand why she is MIA during most of the show. For making her pose in that dress, the least Bravo could do is let her be the lead for an episode or two.

    Loved that restaurant. It looked so chic. I am a fan of Jose Andreas. He has a couple of great restaurants here in the DC area and his enthusiasm for food is contagious.

    And that picture of Jenna and Nookie? No explanation needed, just some brain bleach. ;)

  2. 2
    icegirl
    Posted May 30, 2012 at 11:36 pm

    Ok sorry to correct you but Catalonian isn’t an adjective. The correct adjective is Catalan, as in a Catalan accent and a Catalan delicacy. Being of Catalan heritage and fluent in Catalan, this episode bothered me. The Catalan language and culture is not very well known and this episode didn’t portray it accurately and it is just giving people misconceptions. Jose Andres doesn’t have a Catalan accent either, he isn’t from Catalonia and cannot be considered a Catalan chef. If they wanted a Catalan chef they should have had someone like Ferran Adrià. What bothered me is that everything was Spanish. The diners didn’t even bother to speak Catalan when they were critiquing the recipes. If this episode wanted to educate people about Barcelona and the Catalan people then they shouldn’t have spoken so much Spanish.

    I really am starting to like Nookie but for the love of all that is holy Jenna needs to go!

  3. 3
    Foggywood Foggywood
    Posted May 30, 2012 at 11:57 pm

    @icegirl – thank you for correcting me on all of my Catalan fuck-ups. Next time you recap an entire season of a cooking show that travels to different countries every week without messing up here and there, let me know. Asshole.
    I get it dude. You’re Catalan. Get over it.

  4. 4
    ra
    Posted May 31, 2012 at 3:07 am

    @Foggywood,
    Chill out, I was just telling you the proper term. By the way I was not ranting about you. I was ranting about the shitty producers of this show portraying Barcelona and Catalan culture so incorrectly. You didn’t have to call me an asshole, douchebag.
    Your so welcome for my correction :D

  5. 5
    ra
    Posted May 31, 2012 at 3:07 am

    You’re* so welcome

  6. 6
    chaosbutterfly
    Posted June 1, 2012 at 3:30 am

    Maybe Cheven really is a rabbi, because he sure taught me that you never know what you’ve got till it’s gone. All this time, I thought I hated him but when he went home, I was genuinely sad. Like…who will I look at with a strange and bittersweet mixture of pity, amusement, disgust and irritation? Who will make me laugh with his delusions of grandeur? I was legitimately upset over here…getting ready to pour out a little sangria for my fallen homie. But then I realized that Chaz and Jenna are still there and they are more than up for the challenge. To use Cheven’s own words, they were just waiting for him to drop the reigns so they could reach over his shoulder and pick them right up. So instead of pouring my drink out, I lifted my glass, toasted to the health of the producers who cast these assholes for my entertainment, and gulped that shit down. Depression (and waste) averted.

    From Day 1, it was clear that Cat Cora was not really about to be in this show. I don’t know why she’s there…maybe for gender equality purposes, but it’s clear that she sure isn’t there to do stuff. Food Network knows what their viewers reallyyy want. *hungrily devours Curtis with my eyes*
    But I don’t feel bad for her at all…I wish I could collect a juicy check for barely showing up to work and only doing so to eat some hopefully delicious foods and wear fabulous cocktail dresses. That shit sounds like a dream come true.

    Also (and this is just a little constructive criticism, so please don’t beat me up like ra) I would like to formally put in a request for pictures of and comments about the food. It is a food show, so I think it would be nice to kind of put a little bit of focus on that.
    The end.
    So please don’t beat me up.

  7. 7
    snowshoecat snowshoecat
    Posted June 1, 2012 at 4:40 am

    Icey! Haven’t heard from you in a while! Missed you. Mmmmmwwwwwwwaaaaaa.

    And I really did enjoy and appreciate your rant. *grin*

    It is awful when producers are so sloppy in presenting a culture. I know that this isn’t National Geographic, but they can at least do some research. We have been doing a bit o’ ranting over at My Big Fat… Because the producers are making money by showing a spurious depiction of a culture that is actually harmful and perpetuates prejudice. Got my modifiers all skewed, but you get the idea.

    I didn’t take your explanation to be disrespectful to the recapper in any way.

    Out of curiosity and off topic… Sorta… Isn’t the fabulous Charo Catalan?

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