by Gina Scarpa

Tonight, on Top Chef: Las Vegas, the chefs head to the Venetian, where they receive a phone call from Padma.  She wants breakfast in bed, which brings us to tonight’s quickfire challenge.  Padma is just chillin’ in her hotel room with Nigella Lawson, a very famous British cook and author.  If only everyone looked like these two do first thing in the morning! 

I’d like to take this moment to say that I know that there are a lot of people who feel that Robin should not still be there but that doesn’t give them the right to treat her like crap.  Every week, it seems that someone is being rude to her or treating her like she’s not one of them.  I’m feelin’ for her…

Time to deliver some good news and some bad news.  First, the bad.  Bryan and Robin fail to impress while Kevin and Eli are Nigella’s favorites.  The winner is Eli.  Much as I love Kevin, it’s nice to see someone else win.  Eli’s recipe will be in the Top Chef Quickfire Challenge Cookbook and he will be the only chef this season featured in it.  Cool.

Tonight’s elimination challenge will require the chefs to draw inspiration from the Vegas strip.    They’ll have to visit a casino and base their dish off of that.  They draw knives and are then hit with the news that they’ll be serving 175 people later on. 

Robin keeps attempting dishes that she hasn’t really done before and perhaps that’s been her problem in this competition.  There’s something to be said with sticking with what you know.  Eli’s dish looks really fun, but then again, he did draw Circus Circus.  It seems that everyone else can go really high class with their dish and Eli will be in a category of his own.

Here are the dishes served:
Bryan: Escabeche of Halibut with Bouillabaisse Consomme, Parsley Coulis, and Garlic Chips (Mandalay Bay)
Eli: Caramel Apple Peanut Soup with Popcorn Raspberry Froth (Circus Circus)
Jennifer: NY Strip with Red Wine Reduction, Beets, Truffles, Herbs (Excalibur)
Kevin: Wild Alaskan Sockeye Salmon with Napa Cabbage and Cucumber (The Mirage)
Michael: Boneless Chicken Wing Confit with Curry and Blue Cheese Disc (New York New York)
Robin: Panna Cotta (Bellagio)

Google moment of the night: Escabeche.  What the hell is that?  For this, I head to Wikipedia.  Escabeche is a typical Mediterranean cuisine which refers to both a dish of poached or fried fish that is marinated in an acidic mixture before serving, and to the marinade itself.  I feel smarter.

Eli’s risk doesn’t go over well with the judges.  While they admire his risky move, it really doesn’t pay off.  Robin and Jennifer fail to impress as well and when she realizes she’s in the bottom again, Jennifer looks like her life is over.  The three best dishes come from Kevin, Michael, and Bryan.  I know.  Shocking, right?  Michael is the winner and receives a bottle of Terlato wine and a trip to Napa Valley.  The judges decide that it's (finally) Robin's time to go.  We know it's her time to go but more important, she knows it's her time to go.


Top Chef: Las Vegas airs Wednesdays at 10pm ET on Bravo.

(Image courtesy of Bravo)


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