Friday, January 21, 2011

Review: Top Chef - Restaurant Wars: One Night Only (8.7)

Justo Thomas is frightening. If they ever make Finding Nemo 2 (which I hope they don't, its one of my favorite movies ever), Justo Thomas could be a great villain to all sea creatures in the Pacific Ocean. While the chefs were cutting up their fish in the Quickfire I knew the top few were going to have to make a dish out of it. I'm sure most of them had that in the back of their minds as well. What a great twist to force them to cook with the leftover parts, making sure no one had decent pieces to work with because they were the best at cutting their fish. It really shows how much Top Chef has stepped up its game for their All-Star Season.

It was so great knowing that Restaurants Wars was coming this episode. Seeing the reaction of all the chefs got me extra excited for what was beginning. Dale won this challenge right away by putting Marcel in charge of his opposing team. Marcel didn't help himself by picking who he thought were the best technical chefs with the best techniques, just like how he views himself. Dale looked at this challenge and picked people who viewed would help run a restaurant together as a team. It was clear right away who would end up winning, but by how much?

Knowing that this challenge isn't just about the food, but about atmosphere and service as well, picking Fabio was definitely the best pick after Richard. Ending up with both of those guys on one team shows how wrong Marcel was when it came to making the right decisions this week. In case anyone was unsure how valuable Fabio is in a challenge like this you just need to look at the judge's faces when they enter the losing restaurant and Tiffany isn't there to seat them. They were in the weeds right from the start and something like that often leaves more of a bad taste than any food will.

In the end Marcel went home because he spent most of his time boosting up his own ego rather than direct a team of professionals. Never listening to the judges about what he does wrong didn't help him one bit either. It was only last week they all groaned when they saw yet another foam sitting atop Marcel's dish. No one understood why it was there other than its easier for Marcel to make it than it his from him to write his name in puree on the plate so you know he made it. If Marcel somehow stuck around after this week it would have been terrible for the show. Sure he creates a lot of drama but after a certain amount of time it becomes so one-sided it is no longer fun to watch. He lasted just long enough for everyone to remember why they never wanted to see him again to begin with.

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