The chefs line up to hear the results. The bottom three are Erik (for his "trainwreck" of a presentation), Lisa (for her chew toy consistency steak), and Ryan (for his messy, paper-wrapped tacos). The top three are Twitch (who is visibly shaking), Richard and Evangelos. Richard gets the win (plus immunity and his dish on Rick's overpriced menu), while Evangelos bitches that he deserved it, and Manny realizes that his mom is going to slap him silly when he gets home.
Hello. My name is Manuel Trevino. You disliked my tacos. Prepare to die.
Padma announces that the chefs have to divide themselves up into two teams, and many of the chefs immediately gravitate towards Richard. Evangelos and I agree that this probably isn't a great strategy, but it has nothing to do with "the law of averages" as he suggests - it has more to do with the fact Richard knows he's safe and may not be on the top of his game. The red team is the lesbian lovers, Dale, Twitch, Evangelos, Ryan and Erik. So much hate for one little team. Zoi comments that she and Jennifer "Beast" Biesty know each other's palates better than anyone else, and I'm not really sure what their alone time has to do with this Elimination Challenge. The blue team is Yoda, Nikki, Antonia, Mutton, Manny, Lisa and Richard.
The teams hop into their cars for a field trip, and pull up in a random residential neighborhood. Scar greets them and announces the details of the EC: basically, the teams will be catering a neighborhood block party for 40 adults and 70 children, using the food they find in the homes of local residents - by banging on their doors and demanding supplies. You've gotta assume these residents have been given a heads up for this. If the chefs stopped by my place right now, they'd get some saltines, popsicles, and spoiled strawberries. I could also spare some cat food if they're feeling brave.
The red team ("Team Sexy" as they call themselves) sends Ryan out first, wisely realizing that his pretty face is their best bet of not getting a door slammed in their face. I'm sorry, but if Twitch showed up at my door, I'd assume he's a crackhead selling magazine subscriptions, a la Office Space. So the teams invade the homes, digging through fridges, giving residents awkward hugs, and scaring children. Among the pilfered goods are lots of pastas, jarred sauces, and canned veggies. Evangelos plays a little dirty, telling the blue team that certain houses were totally cleaned out even though there was actually plenty left. I hope this bites him in the ass, because I'd love for someone on his team to go home.
Hmm, this is about the size of that closet my parents used to lock me in...
The teams reconvene to try to figure out what they can make from the food. Both teams decide to do upscale takes on block party classics, but it looks like the blue team may be aiming a little higher with the judges in mind, while the red team sticks to more traditional fare with a few twists for the residents.
The next morning, the teams arrive at the kitchens for three hours of prep. Of note on the blue team is Nikki's macaroni and cheese made using primarily Velveeta. If nothing else will ever convince you that Velveeta is a one-way trip to Cloggedarteryville, watching Nikki cut logs of it into slices will. She's already worried that the sauce will congeal in the pan before they can serve it at the block party, giving residents an unpleasant preview of their intestinal systems. Teammate Richard's making paella, which he knows is a risk with the commoners at the party, but he hopes will go over well with the judges. See, this is why I wouldn't want to be on his team - unnecessary risks due to immunity. When over half your guests are kids, you don't serve something most of them are going to refuse to eat. Hell, I wouldn't want to eat that at a block party.
Over on the red team, Zoi is pissed off that she's making a pasta salad, having been stuck with that dish while she was distracted by Beast's palate. She knows that such a simple dish is not likely to win over any of the judges, and concedes that it's her own damn fault for not speaking up when things were assigned. So quit yer bitching!
Just a mere two inches more and we'd be in business...
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Comments (14)
Great recap, LoLo! Loved the Princess Bride reference!
1 of 14 | Posted by kdfinjpn | Posted on March 29, 2008 1:02 AM
I'm surprised Erik lasted as long as he did. The souffle w/the tortilla chips was horrid last week. I don't understand why these people can't figure out how to make their food work when it has to sit for a couple of hours! Soggy corn dogs, watery chicken salad, chewy mac n cheese - ugh! Twitch and Spike drive me nuts, but they are kind of fun to watch together! Great recap, LoLo, your screen recaps are the best!
2 of 14 | Posted by valmommyt | Posted on March 29, 2008 4:41 AM
I thought Daddy Tom should have thrown out Twitch just for his comment!! I couldn't believe he said that. Upscale bar-b-que? I think not, they could have done so much better with what they had and I'm talking about both teams. There is nothing upscale about corndogs, pasta salad, mac and cheese...
Great and funny recap! I was sad to see Eric go though, although besides Twitch, I'm not sure who should have been packing.
3 of 14 | Posted by featherhead | Posted on March 29, 2008 4:46 AM
I agree that it was Erik's time to go but I must say he did a 180 for me from that first episode and I actually think he seems nice and a relatively calm influence in the kitchen.
I think there is a shot at a woman winning this season- richard is going to be difficult competition but he is too much like Hung and Marcel.
I think in the top tier will be Antonia (she hasn't done poorly yet and she keeps her shit together) Yoda-if she can stay cool under pressure which almost definitely won't happen, and Jennifer- I think she has a lot of potential and is going to come out as a big winner soon.
or I could end up totally eating my words next week. get it? EATING my words...
4 of 14 | Posted by chunkymonkey | Posted on March 29, 2008 7:55 AM
my boyfriend has a didjeridu. its the frickin sweetest thing ever.
thats not important or relevant, but seriously that thing ROCKS. everyone needs one.
5 of 14 | Posted by aman | Posted on March 29, 2008 9:19 AM
Long time lurker here, first time poster - Awesome recap! LoLo, you rock on this and you can tell that you're totally into the show. :) By the way, I think Richard said he was using a jicama to wrap his tacos in the QF, although I missed the beginning so I can't tell you for sure. Those are yum yum good, btw, and eaten raw taste like the result of a warped marriage between a carrot and a water chestnut. Good snack!
6 of 14 | Posted by teri00 | Posted on March 29, 2008 10:53 AM
You're right Teri -- it was jicama and it actually looked really refreshing to me. It sort of looked like a Vietnamese spring roll rather than a taco though.
I can't tell two of those guys apart -- the one that you had like 50 screencaps of is Spike, right? So is he who you call Twitch? The other is Evangelos? I seriously cannot tell the two apart when they are onscreen, and the added nicknames just make it more confusing for my poor addled brain.
But, that doesn't prevent me from saying: great recap! I love this show -- thank you for making it even more entertaining!
7 of 14 | Posted by zbird | Posted on March 29, 2008 12:09 PM
Hey everyone! Thanks as always for the comments -- I love having you guys to watch and discuss this show with!
Teri, Zbird, you're both right -- it was a jicama that Richard used, which I mistakenly thought was a kind of potato. I should have double checked that one, so thanks for catching it!
As for the nicknames, Spike and Evangelos are the same guy. He said in the first episode that his real name is Evangelos, and since he drives me nuts, I'm perversely calling him that because it was clear he's embarrassed by it. Twitch is Andrew, the chef who won last week's EC. They do look an awful lot alike and they hang out together too -- sometimes the only way to tell them apart is look to see who's shaking uncontrollably (and that would be Twitch).
Hope that clears things up!
8 of 14 | Posted by LoLo | Posted on March 29, 2008 12:43 PM
Does anyone else think twitch looks and acts like the actor from alpha dog, not sure the name ...but if you recall the movie it was his younger brother that was the plot of the movie and got killed. we def need a screen cap/movie clip of the 2 side by side
9 of 14 | Posted by Anonymous | Posted on March 29, 2008 5:38 PM
Rick Bayless is a douchbag! What is up with the weird looking beard and when he smiles it's scary! Like serial killer scary! And one more thing Rick, shut up! He was way over-the-top negative and the other "real" judges just had to sit there while he flapped on and on. Me thinks he is trying for his own reality show...
I think the bad pasta salad making girl chef should have gone home.
10 of 14 | Posted by bingo blog boy | Posted on March 31, 2008 8:08 AM
grr this episode made me mad.
Obviously I wasn't there to taste the food, but for a block party I definitely found the red teams menu to be more appealing. The way the judges were mad because their food was so low brow- it was dissapointing. THey had to cook for kids. Kids don't enjoy a lot of what was on the blue menu. And also the judges didn't pay for the food, the guests of the block party did, it was their food and they really should have taken a vote from the crowd, because every time they interviewed them they seemed to prefer the red team over the blue.
11 of 14 | Posted by tvkitty | Posted on March 31, 2008 8:51 AM
Did anyone notice the really gross thing that richard did while making his taco? He put the mixing spoon in his mouth, then right back into the bowl. I DVR'd it to make sure. Didn't the first ever contestant on Top Chef get booted for licking his finger, then putting it back in the sauce?
12 of 14 | Posted by misswatchsomuch | Posted on March 31, 2008 9:35 AM
Awesome recap yet again! Even though the entire thing is funny, LoLo is the screencap master! Especially the brilliant: (Evangelos) Just a mere two inches more and we'd be in business...friggin awesome!
I had some mixed thoughts on this episode. I was actually impressed with how well the red team seemed to work together, I mean, there was like no blaming someone else when one of them fucked up, or anything! That being said though, I completely agree with Ted, if you're gonna make simple, everyday food like mac&cheese and salad, it better be the best shit they've ever tasted (ahem..Nicki)
Since I've brought her up, let me rant on how much Nicki pisses me off - so far she's made, pizza, mushrooms, lasagna, and mac&cheese. Umm...seriously? If anyone tells me that she is the "Italian" chef, I will cry, because besides the lasagna she basically has proved that she's qualified to cook lunch at an elementary school - Nicki, please cook something that hasn't already been perfected by Chef Boyardee or Red Baron. If she makes Beefaroni next week I'm gonna kill myself.
Anyway, I still like Beasty and Antonia. They seem to take challenges and roll with it while not being complete shitters.
Again, loved the recap! (...and Richard agrees that his favorite kind of party is a sausage fest. - awesome!!)
13 of 14 | Posted by carmelicious | Posted on March 31, 2008 2:34 PM
I haven't been to a sausage party in a long time--sounds good to me. I agree with Dick Tracy--Evangelous looks like a douche--esp in his hat. I don't know why people listen to the other teams, esp when they say it's cleaned out--like they would help them not waste time.
Aren't there a few other dishes that can be made with weiners--i'm just sayin'
Beyond Stupid for Erik to plow through knowing full well--I was really not impressed with his cooking at all . . . deserved to go.
Good call on Nicki, Carm. Once again, mac and cheese--is there nothing else that can be made with velveta besides edible underwear--oops, that's my trick!
Thanks for the recap LoLo!!! I like your nicknames, makes it easier for me, esp w so many chefs at this point!
Twitch is a dick too--"my house" puuuleeese!!!!
14 of 14 | Posted by juddfan | Posted on March 31, 2008 4:52 PM