by Gina Scarpa

 

This week, Nicole Straight, Corey Roberts, and Ayinde Howell are invited to cook and compete on Rocco's Dinner Party. For their signature dishes, Nicole works on a pan roasted salmon, Ayinde cooks up a vegan Texas barbecue, and Corey prepares fried prawns. At first, he wouldn't reveal what he was making as if it matters one way or the others if the other contestants know. No one was even working on shrimp! He was just being dramatic for the sake of being dramatic.

 

Rocco called Ayinde's flavors "jarring" but smiles and says he loves boldness in a dish. Oh Rocco - you love to make people nervous! When it comes to Nicole's dish, he thought the salmon was cooked perfectly but had inconsistent seasonings. Corey's plating is definitely the most interesting and creative but Rocco was a little disappointed in the dish itself.

 

Apparently, Ayinde's seasonings were TOO bold for Rocco's palette and he is sent home from the party early. Corey's shrimp earns him the win and he'll face off against Nicole for the dinner party, where the theme is "Town and Country". Corey is assigned town, while Nicole is given country.

 

Corey decides to have his party on the terrace and wants people to feel like they stepped right into the old country - he's going for a rustic theme. Nicole meets Jes in the formal dining room and wants the theme to be spring in the city, with a whole lotta white.

 

While Nicole and Corey prepare in the kitchen, Rocco surprises them with Chef Terrance Brennan. He is known for his cheese so, of course, they ask the chefs last minute to add a cheese dish to their menu.

 

Rocco's other guests this week are: Melissa Joan Hart (actress), Deborah Cox (singer/actress), Christian Cambell (actor - Big Love), Mo Rocca (host - Foodography), and Tiler Peck (New York City Ballet dancer).

 

Things start off at Corey's dinner party and he made fresh jam for his guests to take home - smart... and yummy! His amuse-bouche, some fried cheese, goes over extremely well. He repeats his fried shrimp, which most like, but Terrance asks for salt. The apple pie and macadamia nut tart are a hit with all of the guests. Overall, it seems like he did a solid job but I could've done with his attitude in the kitchen towards his waitstaff.

 

At least Nicole offers her staff a disclaimer beforehand that she might get a little stressed. The guests are immediately drawn to her "summer in the city" theme and her cheese dish, soup and crostini with goat cheese, receives positive feedback. A wall of smoke pours out of the kitchen, and Rocco heads back to make sure everything is okay. Seems Nicole is having a little bit of trouble keeping everything under control.  Deborah sends back her filet mignon, feeling it was too rare, and even though her chocolate dessert went over well, it seems too little too late at this point.

 

Back in the kitchen, Rocco names Corey the winner and he leaves the loft with $20,000!

 

Rocco's Dinner Party airs Wednesdays at 10/9c on Bravo.

 

(Image courtesy of Bravo)

 

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