by Gina Scarpa

 

Last night's Top Chef: Texas starts off with a delivery to the contestants - the Modernist Cuisine book series by Nathan Myhrvold. Lo and behold, Nathan is waiting for them with Padma the next day at the Quickfire challenge. The chef who best demonstrates a dish showcasing modernist cuisine will win the books and immunity as well.

 

While the dishes are being prepared, I can't help but wonder what modernist cuisine is. The internet tells me that it's contemporary cooking and the book series is "the cookbook to end all cookbooks". I'll take your word for it, Wikipedia.

 

While Nathan felt that, overall, the chefs did well, of course there are some that fell short - Paul, Beverly, and Grayson. They just weren't flavorful and inventive enough. Ty finds himself at the top of the pack again, along with Sarah and Chris J, who seems like he's been waiting for this challenge his whole life. Unfortunately, his bubble is burst when Ty-Lor takes another win.

 

Many of the cheftestants are excited to find out that the Elimination Challenge will feature something Texas is famous for: barbecue. They get to pick their own teams, which helps soften the blow of group challenges. They settle on Chris C, Chris J, and Beverly; Grayson, Paul, and Lindsay; and Ed, Sarah, and Ty-Lor.

 

In order to barbecue properly, the chefs can cook all night and that takes a pretty big toll on them, especially given the heat in Texas. Like Chris C said, it feels like sitting on the surface of the sun and between that and the lack of sleep, these cheftestants look like they've seen better days. They do perk up (slightly) when Tom shows up to let them know that the winning team will get $15,000.

 

The effects of the heat and smoke take its toll on one cheftestant in particular, Sarah, who ends up being carted off to the hospital.

 

At the barbecue, Nathan in particular does not look happy that Paul's team went the way of Asian barbecue but the panel seems to have no complaints when they actually sit down and taste their dish. Tom is disappointed that the white team (Beverly, Chris, and Chris) served chicken that lacked flavor and smoke. Sarah returns from the hospital but Edward has no interest in incorporating her into the service and is unbelievably rude. Perhaps the team dynamic has something to do with it, but the judges don't seem to enjoy their dish very much.

 

At panel, Paul's gamble pays off and his blue team wins the barbecue challenge. The other two teams are called in as the least favorites, with both teams coming under a lot of fire. It seems like the white team took the bigger hit, for their unoriginal and overly salted food and Chris C ends up taking the fall for it. Was anyone else hoping to see him make it further?

 

Next week - RESTAURANT WARS!!

 

Top Chef: Texas airs Wednesdays at 10/9c on Bravo.

 

(Image courtesy of Bravo)

 

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