by Kylene Hamulak

 

"Forget Paris"

 

Bonjour - Episode Two comes to us from Lyon, France!

 

We catch up with our teams as they are preparing to embark, and Chaz, as the reigning Most Valuable Chef, is choosing which chefs he wants on his team. The new Black Team includes Keven (which is nice, considering his bread pudding is why Chaz won), Avery, Gary, and Nookie - all the chefs Chaz feel will get him back to the winner's circle.

 

As the Black Team enjoys the luxuries of first class, the new Red Team assembles in what I assume is the cargo area of the train. They're already a little snippy with each other and with Sai in particular, who is rolling her eyes every time someone makes a comment about being excited to go to France.

 

The Course begins as soon as they arrive, and they begin their races to the first destination in a couple of rental cars for each team. Keven volunteers to drive the "lead car" for Black (and then misses the turn, causing his team to lose their lead) while Sai allows Jenna to navigate for Red because, as she says, civilians can read maps too. Well, ok then!

 

Red arrives first at a beautiful farm on the French countryside, where they learn their first course - to identify six sheep cheeses among a total of 30 cheeses. Apparently identifying sheep cheeses is really difficult, but Jenna is sure she can do it. She's less sure by round, like, 11 of tasting, but they do manage to get them all before the Black team, but not by much.

 

Moving to the next course, the teams must herd four sheep into their pens without touching them. Even before they start, this task makes me giggle. Sheep are in, sheep are out, sheep are running, sheep are...pooping. And all these chefs are chasing them. Even though Keven let their first set of three sheep escape, Black manages to get their herd in the pen and are off to the third course before Red.

 

As they meet Chef Curtis on a barge, we learn the final course: pairing eight wines with the ingredients that make up their flavors. Gah, watching this is making me soooooo thirsty.

 

Black starts their tastings and pairings and get a couple of incorrect guesses before Nookie steps in to stop using his taste buds and start using math and logic. I might've insisted on taking a few more sips - you know, JUST to be sure - but his method works, and Black is done before Red even makes it to the barge. Their reward? The Exceptional Ingredient - a masterclass with Chef Joseph Viola, a very respected and very EXCELLENT chef and recipient of the MOF (which is French words that translate into Best Worker in France.)

 

The Takeover for this episode requires our chefs to plate four dishes of traditional Lyonnaise cuisine, one of which must be a quenelle. Apparently, this is an extremely temperamental and difficult dish to master (I wouldn't know - I had to hear them say it about 12 times before I could even look it up), so the Black team's time with Chef Joseph will be extremely valuable.

 

As they dine with him, the Red team seeks help from a local restaurant, jotting notes as they taste test. Jenna is taking over because she's the only one who speaks the language - I wonder how you say "mutiny" in French?

 

As the Takeover begins, the kitchens are busy with both preparation and dirty looks. Red is having problems with their quenelle, so they're trying to get clever with how to present it. The first dish out is their quenelle (dubbed a dumpling), by Nick and John, and most of the diners note that it is too dense. One even says it's like chewing gum - I'm no expert, but I feel like that's a bad thing unless you're Willy Wonka.

 

Nicole's haddock comes out next and gets two thumbs up (literally). The only problem? There's not enough of it. Sai's Salad Lyonnaise isn't much better, as preparation is backed up and not ready to be served, but when it does hit the table? It gets good reviews from those who matter.

 

The final dish served is a chocolate brownie from Jenna and Liz. It's good, but not Lyonnaise. In general, the judges agree that the food is better than some other restaurants in Lyon.

 

It's Black Team's turn to serve the judges next, and Avery is ready to go with her pike quenelle. Within seconds of arriving at the table, one of the judges remarks, "this is how it SHOULD look." That's a good start!

 

Keven's legume salad with ham comes out for the second course, but doesn't please the diners as much. A foie gras with onion jam from Nookie comes out next, and one diner says he's never tasted foie gras so good.

 

There is some tension over preparation of the final dish - a roasted chicken with truffle oil from Chaz - but Avery steps in to diffuse the situation before Chaz can freak out on Keven.

 

When dinner has finished, there doesn't seem to be a clear winner, as elements of both teams were mentioned by diners and the judges. Curtis tells the team that Red's Salad Lyonaisse was preferred, but running out of haddock was a problem. Black is criticized for the serving style (as a "tasting", per Gary's direction) and the portion size of the roasted chicken. When Chaz tries to take credit for the judgment call on reducing the portion size, Avery reminds him that it was her idea to do so.

 

Just when it seems Black may be ready to turn on each other, Curtis announces that the diners preferred their restaurant - they have won the challenge and safe passage to the next city. Avery is named Most Valuable Chef, and Chaz is being all sore about it. You stole the win last time, buddy. Deal with it.

 

As Red mulls over who to send home, several members of the team voice opinions on who should go. Nicole, Nick, Jenna, and Liz all choose Sai, while Sai chooses Nicole - Sai is eliminated.

 

I find it interesting that, for the second task in a row, the eliminated chef served a dish that was actually well received by the judges and diners. With that being said, it seems that Sai's constant reference to her Thai cooking skills may have hit a nerve with her teammates, as they viewed her as full of excuses.

 

Either way, the next stop on the journey? Barcelona, Spain. Which is good news for you guys because I totally took five years of Spanish, so I might throw some of that flavor in, if you're lucky.

 

Au Revoir from Episode Two!

 

 

Around The World In 80 Plates airs Wednesdays at 10/9c on Bravo.

 

(Image courtesy of Bravo)