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Restaurant Wars!

Oh wait, I am technically a week early. Restaurateur Danny Meyer, who helped mold the career of one Tom Colicchio, is the special guest judge for the Elimination challenge. He informs the chefs that they are preparing for Restaurant Wars. The catch is that rather than grouping together immediately, each chef has a different assignment from previous seasons. This time, they must create a restaurant concept and prepare a thematically appropriate meal that sells the concept. In addition to the regular judges, the customers at Bite of Seattle, a huge annual event in the city, also get to sample the fare.

Padma Lakshmi announces that this challenge will conclude with a pair of winners, both of whom will earn $10,000. They will also be the captains for Restaurant Wars in the next episode. We can start placing bets on Brooke vs. Kristen in about 20 minutes.

Most of the chefs compose great ideas for their meals. Micah goes an entirely different way with it. He describes the dietary change he made that enabled him to lose over 20 pounds. His daily menu was altered to enjoy raw meats and fishes. His plan for a restaurant concept is to focus upon similar fare.

Stymied in an attempt to purchase raw meat at the grocery store, Micah chooses sashimi instead. He seems thrilled with the product and expresses confidence in his preparations. I am flabbergasted by this. I simply do not understand how a chef can impress the judges by not cooking any food for the Bite of Seattle. And I am not just saying this because I hate rate fish the way that Gargamel hates Smurfs.

Since the chefs have such pressing issues with their meals, the remaining eight players are allowed to share four sous chefs. Chrissy, Kuniko, Carla and Eliza make their return to the Top Chef Kitchen. Alas, any hope of Carla becoming an issue once again quickly vanishes. The four helper bees are seen and not heard for the rest of the episode. This is normal behavior for the other three women but a shocking change for Carla.

Tom also arrives in the kitchen. His mission is to investigate the planning phase for each meal. What he reveals with his comments is that he believes that Brooke and Kristen are head and shoulders above their counterparts. Tom even patronizes Stefan a bit about his struggles. And speaking of Stefan and the birthday curse from a few episodes ago, Sheldon turns 30 today! Uh oh. I love Sheldon. Please do not eliminate my Sheldon.

At Bite of Seattle, there is very little preparation drama. Nobody is in danger of burning anything, only one blender explodes in Stefan’s face and Carla must not be miked. The only interesting encounter occurs between Danny Meyer and Tom Colicchio as they reminisce about the good ole days. A shocking picture is shown of Tom; he had hair! He probably used shampoo and everything!

The gentlemen recount that their first introduction occurred at a “big food event." Tom wanted to impress the noted businessman. Colicchio crafted a sea urchin dish that still puts stars in Meyer’s eyes 25 years later. Our beloved head judge also notes that he still serves that dish in his restaurant. Clearly, their bromance has stood the test of time. It helps that they made each other insanely wealthy.

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