by Gina Scarpa

 

It's down to the final four on Top Chef: All Stars but only three will make it past this round of the competition. The chefs meet up with Padma and Lorena Garcia (of America's Next Great Restaurant) at the Bahamian Club for their next Quickfire challenge. This challenge is all about consistency so, competing in pairs, they'll have to create 100 identical dishes in an hour for a group of hungry diners. Lorena and Padma will taste a random dish so every single one will have to be perfect.

 

Michael and Mike pair up to take on Antonia and Tiffany. The guys present Pork Bolognese with fresh macaroni (impressive) and pecorino cheese. The girls prepare a Beef Tenderloin Salad with cilantro, mint basil, and chimichurri sauce. Antonia and Tiffany ended up taking home the win... for a salad... which the guys aren't too happy about, understandably.

 

Winning a Quickfire is nice, especially when you get $5,000, but it's the Elimination challenges that matter most. For their next challenge, they'll have to get their own conch, sea snail, out of the ocean to pair with some fabulous looking fish. They'll be cooking these dishes on a wood fire grill with some pots and pans and a table out on the beach - no souped-up kitchen for them.

 

These chefs look like axe murderers trying to break the conch out of their shells! Cooking on the beach is definitely a challenge, especially with so much on the line. Here are the dishes.

 

Richard: Sweet potato linguini with conch and spiny lobster
Antonia: Red snapper with conch tartare and lobster nage
Tiffany: Conch and coconut chowder with sweet potatoes and conch ceviche
Mike: Banana leaf-wrapped grouper, braised pineapple and conch vinaigrette

 

At Judges' Table, Padma calls Antonia's dish predictable but she takes it as a compliment. She wants people to taste her dishes and know that it's hers. Fair enough. Tom loved Richard's pasta but Gail felt that his dish didn't represent the Bahamas, even if it did work. Lorena felt that Tiffany's dish was cooked perfectly but Gail was not too thrilled that her dish, intended to be hot, came out cold. Tom called Mike's flavors "mysterious" but didn't love the use of butter.

 

The judges decide that Mike is the winner and Tiffany will be headed home.  Her spirit and her energy will definitely be missed.  You gotta give it up to her.  She's never worked for a big name chef, like many of her competitors.  She made her own way and it took her damn far in the world of Top Chef.

 

 

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

 

(Image courtesy of Bravo)

 

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