by Chandra Clewley

Top Chef Masters Season 2 begins this week’s episode with 5 new chefs fighting for 2 spots.  Marcus Samuellson, David Burke, Monica Pope, Carmen Gonzalez and Thierry Rautureau are introduced.

The Quick Fire challenge is to make a grilled cheese sandwich for Kelly Choi in 20 minutes and they must make it their own with their own styling’s. The winner of this challenge gets $5000 for their charity.

Out the gate, Carmen cuts her finger, pretty badly. She bandages it up and gets back to work. She turns out an Italian baguette with Manchego, Garlic, Cilantro and Lime.David serves a Triple Cream Cheese with Prosciutto, Almonds, Tomato and Rosemary. Marcus makes a Gruyere and Cheddar with Gazpacho and Salad. He is trying to express a world cuisine flavor. Thierry has a Taleggio and Goat Cheese with Olives, Harissa, and Pear, Pine Nut and Arugula Salad. Monica serves a Feta and Farm Cheese with Dates on Raisin Nut Bread and Herb Salad. In the end, Monica takes the win for the Quick Fire Challenge.

Marcus seems pretty upset that he didn’t win the challenge and that Monica won above him. There seems to be a weird rivalry between the two. 

For the Elimination Challenge, they will be catering a celebrity birthday party for Mekhi Phifer of ER fame. Mekhi likes Soul Food and asks the chefs to make their own version of soul food for the party. Monica feels really comfortable making Soul Food since her restaurant in next door to a Soul Restaurant and she is very familiar with the concept. She also has an advantage, so at Whole Foods, she gets to pick her protein first and none of the other chefs can use that protein in their dish. She ends up picking shrimp.

Thierry is thrown off by his inability to use shrimp. When he looks at his ingredients, he knows he can make a gumbo with pork shoulder instead. The chefs have one hour to prep at the Top Chef Masters kitchen and then will be finishing their meals at the Bond St. kitchen, where the party is being held. Marcus is challenged because he is originally from Africa, was adopted very young and raised in Sweden and really doesn’t know Soul Food.

Once in the Bond St. kitchen, Carmen soon realizes she left her main ingredient, the soup, at the Top Chef Masters kitchen which is 16 miles across town. There is nothing she can do, she has to go get it. The rest of the chefs want to help her but they are all in the weeds and have to focus on their own dishes. Once they have a second, Monica and David jump in to help Carmen by boiling the yucca for her stew. They end up burning it though.

There are 30 minutes left and Carmen finally shows up. She verifies that she cannot work with the burned yucca and tries to finish the stew. As they head towards the rooftop, she says if it isn’t right, she is going to pull out.

For the challenge the chefs put forth some great food.

Monica serves Shrimp and Grits “Mac and Cheese” style with okra and tomato jam. The judges think hers is the most soulful although the shrimp was a bit undercooked.

Marcus makes BBQ Chicken with Macaroni and Cheese and Collard Greens. The judges think that the greens are too fussy and overly complicated.

Carmen’s Oyster and Hot Sausage soup with cilantro goes over great and none of the judges missed the yucca, although they were a little disappointed that the sausage wasn’t homemade.

David’s sweet potato custard with crab falls a little short, but his hush puppies and pickled watermelon rind go over excellent.

Thierry makes Moroccan pork shoulder, faro, roast cauliflower, and Brussels sprouts slaw. The judges felt it was good, but there was too much on the plate.

Carmen gets 15 ½ stars and wins to move on. David gets 10 stars for being overly ambitious, Thierry gets 11 stars because it wasn’t edited enough, Monica gets 13 stars and Marcus takes the 2nd win, with 14 ½ stars.

So, Carmen and Marcus move on to the next level.

Next week, there will be some returning chefs from season 1.

Top Chef Masters Season 2 airs on Wednesday night, 10/9 c on Bravo.

(Image courtesy of Bravo)

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