The finalists for the show get narrowed down to 16… wait, 17?
I’m officially saying for the record that I’m worried about the integrity of Top Chef as a show. I’ve loved the reality cooking competition from Season One because it is the highbrow alternative to such low brow sister shows both on Bravo and other networks (like Hell’s Kitchen).
When the always classy Padma Lakshmi joined the show as the host in Season Two, she clicked with core judges Tom Colicchio and Gail Simmons and together their chemistry, and the clever challenges, set the show apart from the competition cooking pack. Now Top Chef is in its Ninth Season and while it’s always good to change things up, I’m concerned that the Top Chef producers have gone the way of Food Network and Fox gimmickry.
This time around Top Chef: Texas has changed the opening of the show to feature three rounds of face-off cooking competitions to whittle the pack of 29 chefs down to the traditional group of 16. Instead of Quick Fire rounds, we get a flurry of desperate chefs trying to stay alive just to make it to the big show. Last week, 10 chefs got their aprons while four were put in the stew room bubble purgatory to wait for one last elimination round competition. It all feels very desperate and sweaty for a show that’s always been about focusing on culinary talent instead of cheap tricks and high concept busyness.
They’re also using a fourth revolving judge including Emeril Lagasse or Top Chef Master Hugh Acheson. It’s a lot of chaos right off the bat and that doesn’t feel like Top Chef to me. To make it worse, for the first time Top Chef is sending viewers to its website to watch a face-off challenge which really breaks the implied rule that a TV series should not create ancillary, mandatory spin offs that require you to watch in another medium to get caught up with the show’s narrative. A webisode with interviews or behind-the-scenes material is additional and fine, but an actual cooking face-off segment online? I call shenanigans, Bravo!
Regardless, episode two kicks off with Group 3 competing for the last few remaining aprons. The challenge consists of a variety of single ingredients paired with a covered cloche. Each chef is allowed to select the ingredient of their choice and when everyone has selected the covers are drawn exposing a timer with counts of 20 minutes, 40 minutes or 60 minutes. As expected some ingredients suffer with the lack of assigned time, such as risotto or ox tail, causing plenty of the chef’s to break out into cold sweats. But the timers start ticking and the crazy begins as everyone races to prepare their ingredient the best way possible in the allotted window.
The 20-minute chefs are Kim who cooks lamb, nervous Andrew who has mushrooms, and Paul who cooks trout. Paul blows the judges away with his tasty fish and gets an apron. Kim’s lamb is lacking and she’s out. Andrew’s dish is 50/50 so the judges put him in the bubble room.
The 40-minute chefs include Berenice who cooks a poorly marinated short rib, Laurent who sort of fails his dish, Jonathan who cooks Brussels sprouts and funny Chaz who miscalculated his time so he never plated his risotto. The judges send him home and they send Berenice and Jonathan with him. Only Laurent gets another bubble spot based mostly on his reputation. Those French chefs get all the breaks!
Lastly the 60 minute club includes Ashley who pressure cooks ox tail, Lindsay who ran away from Tom so she didn’t waste a second on her veal to chatter, and Beverly who cooks octopus for the very first time. Ashley doesn’t impress with the ox tail but Lindsay and Beverly win aprons.
The new additions to the final 16 have some champagne and meet their fellow housemates while the six bubble chefs – Edward, Molly, Janine, Grayson, Laurent and Andrew – are challenged to a final cook-off for two last spots in the season. Emeril shows up to judge and they give all the chefs 45 minutes to make the dish of their choice to convince the panel they belong on the game.
One of the most driven, Edward, slices his hand in the speed of the prep and won’t stop even as an EMT works to patch him up. That’s dedication! Meanwhile, Andrew is worried and doesn’t want to go home. Molly, a cruise cook, feels she has to prove her mettle. By the end of the timer, everyone plates and presents.
Winged Edward makes a duck dish that the judges find bold and risky. He gets an apron. Molly’s prawn is overcooked and she’s out. Janine makes a well executed but flawed scallop with watermelon relish. She’s out. Grayson wins an apron with her fig polenta. Laurent makes two scallops – one cooked and one tartar – and splits the judge’s opinions so he’s sent home. Lastly Andrew presents overly complicated mussels which also send him home. BUT….that’s where the online cook-off comes as Andrew and Janine are brought back to cook once more for one last chance at the game. Overkill? Yes. Again, I respect the commitment to ingenuity but I think it’s at the expense of a very streamlined, classy show.
Top Chef, you don’t need the layers. You’re beautiful just the way you are.
This review originally appeared on TV Geek Army.