Top Chef - Season 5 - "Focus Group"

The quickfire challenge was to create a sweet treat without using any sugar. This is a tough challenge because as I have said deserts kill people on Top Chef all the time. The only difference here is that they all have to do desert so it's not just one standing out. The least favorites were Carla, Ariane and Jamie. Radhika, Leah and Jeff were the top of the group. The favorite went to Radhika, so she will have immunity for this challenge.

Toby Young is taking over Gail Simmons's judge spot for the remainder of their time in New York. The challenge will be judged blindly (they will not know who's food they are judging) but the contestants will allowed free range to cook whatever they choose. Moreover, since they did not eliminate a person after the last challenge, they will be eliminating two people instead of the usual one.

Since the group is divided into two groups (because the kitchen is smaller) Radhika gets to choose which group she wants to cook with. She chooses to go with the group that does not include Stefan because she feels he adds a lot of tension to the kitchen.

Of course, this being Top Chef, there is an added twist. The opposite groups get to judge the other groups food.

The top 3 were Stefan, Jamie and Ariane. Not that surprising because these three have been proving themselves throughout the challenges. However the winner of the challenge was Jamie. A nice win for Jamie.


The bottom of the group was Melissa, Eugene and Carla. They were sending 2 people home and the judge decided to send Melissa and Eugene home. I picked these two as the ones to go but after listening to the judges I thought Eugene might be staying and Carla going. Turns out my initial guess was correct. Melissa's whole appearance on this show was uninspiring. She never stood out and never grabbed any attention so I am only surprised she lasted this long. Eugene has shown some glimpses of talent. He has worked his way up from the bowels of the kitchen so he has nothing to be ashamed of. As Tom said he needs his skills to catch up with his creativity. Carla has always seem scattered and a bit of a mess to me. She has not been a favorite of mine from the beginning. I would not be surprised to see her on the cutting block in the next episode.

We are almost done trimming the fat from these contestants. Once Carla is gone and probably Leah we will have strong cooks left.
If I had to rank the remaining chefs I would put them in this order.
1) Stefan
2) Jamie
3) Ariane
4) Fabio
5) Jeff
6) Hosea
7) Radhika
8) Leah
9) Carla

I hate Stefan's personality (as do the other chef's apparently) but he has been winning. Really though I think the top three are interchangeable at this time. The key is that I think the 5 are strong and I am still undecided on 6,7 and 8. So it will be interesting to see if there any upsets in the next week or two.

Labels: Television, Top Chef

- posted by Doug @ 8:37:00 PM