New at BOP: Review: Matrix Resurrections Movie Review: Moonfall Movie Reviews: Scream The #1 Movie in America November Forecast The Many Saints of Newark October Forecast New Trivia Question All site updates Share & Save   Tweet Print this column

As for the bottom of the challenge, it’s basically everyone else. Doug served a grilled oyster chowder with steamed clam broth that was simply too salty. Katsuji’s use of oysters in his chowder with poblano overwhelmed the clam flavor. Mei’s chowder was “the prettiest to look at,” but under-seasoned. Finally, Katie’s black tea and sourdough chowder was not pleasant to eat - her use of raw sourdough was overpowering and gave the dish a “gummy texture.” To the surprise no one, her dish is picked as the weakest of the day.

Which brings us to the sudden death part of this Sudden Death Quickfire. To the astonishment of all the chefs, Tom walks in holding a covered plate and followed by all of the eliminated chefs behind him.

The cheftestants have no idea what’s going on, so Padma quickly explains. Instead of Katie choosing the chef against whom she’ll battle to stay in the competition, the eliminated chefs will vote for who amongst their population will take on Katie for the opportunity to return to the competition. They cannot vote for themselves.

Rebecca goes first and votes for George, the first chef eliminated this season. As you may remember, George and Greg ended up on the losing side of the opening mise-en-place Quickfire. They cooked against each other in a SDQ and George lost. It seemed like a very bad win at first, but in retrospect, no one at the time knew that Greg was the best chef in the competition. Thus, it seems likely that any of the chefs that had cooked against Greg in that SDQ would have been eliminated right off the bat.

All of this is to say, in a long-winded way, that we actually have no idea how good or bad George is. We have reason to believe he’s not as good as Greg, but that pretty much describes everyone else that has appeared this season.

The voting continues. Stacy votes for Joy, Keriann votes for James, Ron votes for George, Aaron votes for George, Joy reciprocates and votes for Stacy, George votes for Aaron, and finally, James votes for George. With four votes out of the eight eliminated chefs, it’ll be George (a business partner with Mike Isabella from Top Chef: Las Vegas and runner up in Top Chef: All Stars) taking on Katie for the opportunity to get back into the competition.

And what will be their challenge? Padma tells them that they’ll need to “pull a rabbit out of their hat” - meaning, obviously, that they’ll be cooking rabbit. This is one of Tom’s favorite ingredients, as it can be used in a variety of different ways.

The pair gets cooking and both sides of the kitchen - the eliminated chefs and the active chefs - actively root for their “representative.” They offer advice, give tips, etc. It’s a very interactive process. Katie doesn’t seem to have much trouble pulling together a dish she’s happy with, but George (who’s cooking in only his second challenge ever on TC) finishes his in the nick of time.

Continued:       1       2       3       4       5