by Gina Scarpa

 

Top Chef fans who watched Stefan during season 5 will remember the birthday curse. Whenever a cheftestant was celebrating their birthday, their present was that they were told to pack their knives and go. Who knows WHY it happened but it did and with Stefan's 40th looming, he's understandably a little superstitious.

 

Padma and guest judge Daisley Gordon (local chef and owner of Marche and Cafe Campagne) meet up with the contestants at Pike Place Farmer's Market. Divided into teams of two, they must cook breakfast on a stick for the staff. On a stick?! I'm still trying to figure out how Josh and John ended up together, since they can't stand each other. Bart gets unnecessarily aggressive in the store while shopping for cookware and shoves past CJ. I guess his pushiness pays off because his sandwich on a stick with Sheldon ends up being the winning dish.

 

 

Meanwhile, Danyele and Lizzie disappoint with their fair simply berries and pacetta dish, along with Josie and Eliza, whose ricotta pancake was hard to eat. These teams probably would be happier not working together, along with Josh and John (who almost won), but they are forced to stay together for the elimination challenge. Teams draw knives with an ingredient that can be found in the market and must impress the person who made it, along with the judges. They'll only get two hours to do it so it's time to get a move on!

 

While cooking pork medallions, John is concerned Josh isn't getting a hard sear but doesn't say anything, which makes no sense. You can't hang someone out to dry when you're competing with them.

 

First up to serve their dish is Stefan and Brooke. Gail thought their rose petal glazed duck was ambitious but didn't really taste the jelly, and Tom felt it shouldn't be so sweet. The artisan who created the truffle popcorn John and Josh used for their grits was looking for more flavor. Hugh took a more blunt approach and said they sucked. Micah and Kristen go next with their cheese curd made three ways. Not surprisingly, the judges felt there were too many components going on.

 

Bart and Sheldon present next, with their candied salmon and sweet and sour salad. Tom wanted more and Gail loved the texture, but party pooper Hugh didn't think it celebrated the main ingredient enough. CJ and Tyler make a pork burger to highlight a fried pickle, which is deemed unoriginal and not that tasty. Josie and Eliza's curry cardamom broth with salmon has great flavor according to Gail but gets mixed reviews from others. Lizzie and Danyele finish things up with a coconut curry chocolate tart for dessert, which Gail said was one of her least favorites overall.

 

Before Judges' Table, Josh didn't like that Tyler said that if he was eliminated, it was his time to go and there was nothing he could do about it. I'm not sure why that pissed off Josh so much. What does he care if Tyler is eliminated or how he feels about it, so long as it's not him right?

 

Quite shockingly, the judges are so disappointed in all the dishes that nobody wins this week. Stefan and Brooke, Josh and John, and CJ and Tyler land in the bottom. Stefan defends his overly sweet cabbage, Josh tries to blame John for the pork, and CJ tries to throw Lizzie and Danyele under the bus by saying their dessert was bad. Hugh quickly fires back with, "Your burger was even worse." He told you, CJ! As if that wasn't rough enough, Padma tells CJ and Tyler to pack their knives but in Last Chance Kitchen, they get a little redemption and, as a team, defeat Kuniko.

 

 

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

 

(Image courtesy of Bravo)

 

 

Follow Gina @ginascarpa