by Gina Scarpa

 

Happy Thanksgiving from RealityWanted and Top Chef! Before we get to their holiday themed elimination challenge, things kick off with a Quickfire with guest judge Dana Cowin, editor-in-chief of Food and Wine magazine. In front of the cheftestants is a map of the world and on Padma's go, they must run and grab a knife magnet that lists a country and a dumpling from that country. Seems easy enough, except the rush that resembles the opening of a WalMart on Black Friday to grab an ideal dish.

 

The challenge is definitely a disaster for some. They were given five minutes to read the recipe on a Kindle Fire but Carla didn't get a chance to check it out before starting her food. Brooke isn't able to track down any flour so she has no wrapper for her dumping, and Kuniko loses track of time and fails to plate anything for Padma and Dana. Not surprisingly, they end up being the bottom three. The standouts were Josie, Stefan, and Micah, who ended up with Kazakhstan but made it work. The winner, though, is returning contestant Josie, with her Korean dumping stuffed with pork, tofu, and shitake mushrooms.

 

 

On to the Thanksgiving themed Elimination Challenge! The cheftestants are split into two teams, gray and red, with none other than Tom Colicchio and Emeril Lagasse leading them. They'll prepare a Thanksgiving feast for the FareStart staff, a non-profit that provides meals to those in need in the Seattle area. Emeril wants a New Orleans themed Thanksgiving feast, while Tom sticks with what he knows best - Italian American.

 

In the kitchen, Stefan gets cranky after feeling like the other team was taking up too much space. CJ takes it upon himself to be the second in command to Tom, checking on everyone's dishes and trying to maintain order. When he tries to taste Carla's dish, she screams that men call her honey and baby, instead of chef, and then want to babysit her while she's cooking. Meanwhile, on the red team, Josie worries that her turkey may be too dark and overcooked. We'll see when cut into it at dinner service.

 

Along with the regular panel and Dana Cowin are Megan Karch (executive director of FareStart), and Theirry Rautureau (local chef and owner of Rover's and Luc). The red team is up first and Josie's turkey isn't overcooked, which is the good news. The bad news is that it's UNDERcooked, pink in fact. Danyele's stuffing goes over well, and the judges love John's cornbread stuffing as well. Kristen's veggies were underseasoned, Tyler's gumbo lacks flavor and depth, and Kuniko's potato pave is undercooked. This isn't going well. Thankfully, they finish up dinner with Brooke's buttermilk biscuits, Chrissy's warm bread pudding, and John's deconstructed pumpkin pie, which all win favorable reviews.

 

The gray team kicks off their service with a bang, with CJ's turkey both moist and delicious. Emeril loves Carla's carrot soup, and the diners feel that Bart's greens are well dressed and a good palate cleanser. Josh's ravioli is definitely not his best work and the dough is tough. Micah's brussell sprouts and Lizzie's potato puree both have the judges wanting more, but Stefan's panna cotta does not go over well. He's 0-2 so far in the competition and needs to get it together. Eliza's chocolate tart wraps up the meal, which started good, but then the judges found it to be too hot.

 

The red team ends up winning the challenge, with Carla having the favorite dish. Well, that shut CJ up, didn't it? Over on the gray team, Tyler, Kuniko, and Josie land in the bottom. Once again, Josie is defensive about her dish and seems unable to comprehend that the judges wouldn't love her dish. Thankfully, she's immune which leaves the panel to turn their attention to Kuniko. How quickly a chef can fall from the top to the bottom. Last week, she won both the Quickfire and Elimination. This week, she fails to plate her dumpling, then gets eliminated because of undercooked potatoes.

 

Afterwards, John acts like a jerk in the stew room about Kuniko's elimination, rubbing people the wrong way. Something tells me the Most Hated Chef in Dallas is making some enemies in Seattle too.

 

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

 

(Image courtesy of Bravo)

 

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