« All News

Search RealityWanted News

Loading

 

 

 

 


 



 


 

 

 

Around the World in 80 Plates: Episode 5 Recap

Posted on 06/07/2012 by Gina in Around the World in 80 Plates

| More

Around the World in 80 Plates

 

by Kylene Hamulak

 

"Tale of Two Villas"

 

If I was a chef on this show, Florence would be pretty high on my list of delicious destinations. Actually, even NOT being a chef (on or off this show), a visit to Florence seems like a really good idea.

 

As the roster of 80 Plates chefs gets smaller, alliances and strategies begin to have a larger role in how each of them is playing the game. To assign the new teams for the next assignment, Gary and Nick are named captains, as they were the surviving members of the losing team. Instead of picking their own teams, however, they will be designating members of each other's teams. Nick picks Liz, John, and Jenna for Gary on the Red Team, while Gary chooses Nicole, Nookie, and Avery for Nick on the Black Team.

 

The Course begins with the task for the chefs to find the men playing bocce ball at Terrazza Il Belvedere. For me, the best part of the car rides for each team is hearing Black talk about, basically, all of Jenna's annoying habits, then cuts to the Red Team car of Jenna...displaying all of those annoying habits.

 

They find the men and the next clue for the task, which sounds like a scavenger hunt First, they must "find Il Cernacchino Café and order the reboiled seasonal dish (ribollita)". Red Team makes it to the destination first and is on their way to the second destination before Black Team is anywhere in sight. At this point, Gary is confident that Jenna's knowledge will be invaluable for them.

 

The second task is to find Carapina and "order the tasty treat mistaken for cheese." Again Red makes it there first, but they can't decipher the clue. While they're looking for someone to help them, Black shows up and just starts yelling out random words. Now, I'd like to point out that I started yelling the ACTUAL answer (ricotta) as soon as I read the clue. I'm feeling pretty smart right now, and Black has taken the lead.

 

Task 3 is to find the map vendor Filippo Mannoni. As Black discovers, this literally means yelling out the guy's name until they find him. Which they do. Before Red has figured out the ricotta riddle, which is frustrating the team. That means they have a head start for the fourth task, which is to drive to Villa Del Cigliano. The drive through Tuscany - even on my tv - is breathtaking.

 

The next part of the course requires them to fill four crates with olives using the tools provided to them. It's tedious work, and Black only has one crate filled by the time Red has arrived. It takes both teams a while to figure out a more effective method of harvesting the olives, but at least I've learned that if I ever want to try it out, the best idea is to put a tarp under the tree and just rake the olives onto the ground.

 

Meeting Cat and Curtis at another villa, Black is the first to finish the course. They win a $10,000 prize, plus the Exceptional Ingredient. The Takeover will consist of serving three traditional Tuscan dishes (including the ribollita) and one dessert to the friends and family of the owner of the Tuscan villa they will be taking over. The Exceptional Ingredient? A NONNA! That's right, a little Italian grandma - Nara "Nonna" Romanelli - who will work with them as they prep for service.

 

Unfortunately, Nonna speaks Italian, and she speaks it fast, so Black has pretty much no clue what she's saying. They feel as though they're wasting time and missing a lot of what she's saying anyway, so they basically dismiss her. And that made me sad.

When the chefs are done in the kitchen, we see them all calling and skyping with their families. Many of them are getting homesick, and it shows. I think the gorgeous Tuscan sunset probably softened the blow a bit.

 

Until the next morning, because that's when John is alone in the kitchen and a shelf sends all the ribollita to the ground. Oops. Black is a little nervous about Nicole's dish, but not as tense as Red team is about their pasta. But very quickly, it's service time.

 

Red Team:

John (Bruschetta Trio): Cat thinks the dish is a little dry, and it gets a lukewarm reception from the diners as well. What did Nonna think? "Ehhhh..."

Gary (Ribollita): The diners enjoy his ribollita describing it as "very good."

Jenna (Gnocchi with Wild Boar): One diner notes that they usually grind it more.

Liz (Grape Granita): It is noted that granita is from Sicily, but Curtis does say he enjoyed it.

 

Before Black Team serves, Curtis and Cat ask Nonna about her experience with them and whether they asked her to demonstrate any of the cooking. They're shocked when she says no, and I'm wondering if they're going to suffer the consequences for it.

 

Black Team:

Nookie (Ribollita with Prosciutto & Basil): Nookie himself notes that his dish may not be traditional, but it IS good. One of the first comments made, however, is that it is intended to be a vegetarian dish.

Nick & Avery (Gnocchi with Squash Flowers, Truffles & Zucchini): The gnocchi itself gets favorable reviews, but the judges note that the dish seemed a little off in both presentation and ratio.

Nicole (Pork Sausage & Wild Boar Meatballs): The meatballs receive very favorable reviews - even from Nonna!

Avery (Pear Cake with Marscapone & Red Wine Syrup): Not one of Avery's best reviewed dishes, though diners did note the beautiful presentation.

 

When Cat and Curtis review what the diners had to say, Nookie is questioned about his ribollita. He tells them he thought it was good, but Curtis reminds him - it's actually a vegetarian dish. And now Nookie fears for his spot on the team. The Red Team, on the other hand, learns that their ribollita was a favorite of the diners, despite the issues they had. Overall, the Black Team was preferred by the locals, with Nicole winning immunity as Most Valuable Chef.

 

So with one member of the Red Team up for elimination and Liz having immunity, the votes will go to John, Jenna, or Gary. They're all nervous and a bit resentful about Liz's immunity. Liz votes for Jenna, Gary votes for John, John votes for Gary, and Jenna's final vote is for Gary as well.

 

Gary is going home.

 

The rest of the chefs? They're packing up for a road trip to Bologna, Italy. I mean...I love Italy and all and I'm hungry even thinking about it, but when does "the world" start to kick in?

 

 

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

 

(Image courtesy of Bravo)


  


Rate this article

  • Currently 5.00/5

Rating: 5.0/5 (1 vote cast) (Log in to vote!)


blog comments powered by Disqus

Go back to the previous page