by Kylene Hamulak

 

"Ciao Down"

For the second episode in a row, the chefs will be cooking in Italy, and they'll also be keeping the same teams (Red Team: Liz, Jenna, John/ Black Team: Nookie, Nicole, Avery, Nick). In fact, there's no lead up to The Course at all - they jump right into things without much warning. As Nicole points out, the interesting part of this is keeping the same teams, particularly after the tension with Jenna on the previous challenge.

The Course begins with directions to drive to Modena (near Bologna) to find the instructions to their first task. That task is to find three wheels of cheese marked with a green triangle, which is an indication that they have not been aged properly. The winner wins not only the exceptional ingredient, but also $10,000. Seems like an easy enough task, right?

 

Maybe. Red is the first to find all three wheels, and Black is able to follow them without too much delay. The second part of the task is to deliver one cheese wheel to Tamburini Salumeria in Bologna. As the teams race around trying to find their destination, the cheese wheels are getting heavy and greasy...which leads to my favorite exchange of the episode. I couldn't quite pick up what Nick said after describing the cheese as "slippery and awkward", but since Nookie's reply was "That's...really inappropriate", I'll draw my own conclusions.

 

Black makes it to the Salumeria first and is given the next course - find twelve specialty items to be delivered to Ristorante Pappagallo. As both teams shop closely together, they realize they also have to visit other shops in the area for some of the items. While John is getting increasingly frustrated with Jenna on Red, Black races to the finish after Nicole crosses off everything on their shopping list.

 

Except for one issue - she crossed off parmigiano reggiano and they didn't actually have it. Black is rushing back to the restaurant with their missing ingredient, but they're too late - Red has already arrived with a completed order, and they're on their way to the final task of The

 

Course: Find Curtis and Cat at Piazza Maggiore. They're neck and neck for the finish line, but the Red Team wins The Course. Nookie is disappointed, not only because he lost, but because Jenna won. "No one wants Jenna to win," he says. "When Jenna wins, everyone loses."
Despite his Red Sox affiliation, this Yankee fan has to admit I kind of love Nookie.

 

For The Takeover, each team will be in a local restaurant serving Bolognese cuisine. The exceptional ingredient for the challenge? Time. Red will have an extra hour in the kitchen. They also have the option to have Black join them - choosing to keep their enemies close, Red elects to invite their competition to dinner.

 

As the teams dine together, there is some playful back and forth until Jenna pulls out her own exceptional ingredient - she is the only one who speaks Italian, so she asks the chef to tell her the secret to the dish in Italian so that no one else will understand. It's good strategy for the dishes, but it's not winning her any fans.

 

Black team is the first to get into their kitchen on takeover day, and there are some concerns. For one, Nick doesn't trust Nicole to prepare the rib eye the team will be judged on. Avery, meanwhile, is having problems with the crucial pasta dough...after she bragged about how easy pasta is to make. Meanwhile over on Red, Jenna is taking control of the kitchen. Shocking, I know.

 

Service begins with the Black Team:

Nick (Warm Mushroom Salad, Arugula Puree, Parmesan Cheese): High marks from the judges and the diners for the seasoning and the parmesan to balance the dish.
Nookie and Avery (Squash and Prosciutto Tortellini in Chicken Broth): The pasta dough is criticized by the diners and judges for being too thick, gummy, and tasting like the type you might get from a Chinese restaurant.
Nicole (Rib eye Medallions with Brussels Sprouts & Cauliflower Puree): Nicole has immunity for this challenge, so the fact that her teammates are concerned with her dish should be a concern for everyone. The diners don't love what they taste, saying it was too salty and probably could've rested a few more minutes.

 

Black knows their plates have not impressed the diners, and they are beginning to get concerned. Nicole notes that she's relieved to have immunity.

 

Red Team service is next:

 

Jenna (Four Cheese Plate with Mushrooms & Sweet & Sour Sauce): Though one diner notes that the presentation was better than the Black counterpart, the judges were not impressed with the dish as a whole.
John (Tortellini in Capon & Parmesan Broth): The dough and tortellini get much better reviews than Black, but the judges preferred the broth of the other dish.
Liz (Pork Loin with Romangholo Sauce & Eggplant): Liz's dish gets high marks from the judges table, and Curtis notes that most of the plates he saw around the room were empty - a sure sign of a good dish.

 

Red is more confident than Black that they did a great job, but Jenna makes no secret of the fact that she would vote for Liz.

 

When Curtis and Cat address the chefs, they commend Nick for his mushroom dish before questioning who was responsible for the tortellini.

 

Nookie explains he was responsible for the filling and broth while Avery handled the dough, and Curtis reveals that while Nookie's aspects got good comments, Avery's dough was a problem. Nicole's rib eye was another dish that was not well received.

 

Over on Red, Curtis questions Jenna's teamwork when she criticizes Liz's dish, particularly because the diners loved it. John's tortellini dish did get good reviews, despite some issues with the cheese that Jenna had included. Ultimately, Curtis tells both teams that diners preferred Red, meaning that Liz, Jenna, and John are all safe.

 

John is excited to not only win a challenge (finally!) but also be named Most Valuable Chef to win immunity on the next challenge.

As Black deliberates around the table, Nicole's immunity has created an interesting dynamic, as Avery, Nookie, and Nick are all strong chefs and likely would have survived this loss, particularly since Nicole's dish was not well-received. Nicole votes for Nick, Nick chooses Avery, Avery chooses Nick, and Nookie votes for Nick.

 

Nick is leaving the competition, and, again, this will play interestingly. I give Nookie credit for sticking to his alliance with Avery, and it will be interesting to see what this will mean for Nicole going forward.

 

The next stop on the journey? Thailand. As much as I've loved traipsing through Europe, I don't blame the chefs for being so excited to be somewhere totally new.

 

 

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

(Image courtesy of Bravo)