Top Chef – Recap & Review – Island Fever

photo: bravo

Top Chef
Island Fever

Original Air Date: Mar 16, 2011

Ryan O – Two Cents Senior Reviewer
ryano@thetwocentscorp.com

This episode was a little more fun than the last one. There’s no fire in the kitchen but then again, there’s also no kitchen. In the end, the person you thought would go home, does go home.

Quickfire
Lorena Garcia is the guest judge. The cheftestants have to pair off and then make 100 identical dishes in one hour that showcases consistency and precision. Padma and Lorena will taste plates picked at random.

Richard and Mike pair off and Antonia and Tiffany pair off.

Here’s what they made.
Richard and Mike: Pork bolognese with fresh macaroni and pecorino cheese

Padma says that the dishes have a similar look and taste.

Antonia and Tiffany: Beef tenderloin salad with cilantro, mint basil, and chimichurri sauce

Padma thinks all of their plates look very similar. Lorena likes that all of the slices of beef are the same thickness. She remarks that there’s actually more components to their dish and that made plating more difficult.

Antonia and Tiffany win! They each get $5,000. Mike is pissed. Too bad.

Elimination Challenge
They have to create a luncheon for the admiral of a yacht club. The theme is deserted island and that’s where they’ll be preparing the meal. They’re told to use conch, which is sea snail with the familiar-looking shell.

They’re sailing to the island and their time starts right when they hit the beach and they have 3 ½ hours. They get to the beach and they open a bunch of boxes, which are full of spiny lobsters, mangoes, and lots of other beautiful looking ingredients. However, in the box marked, “Conch,” is a bunch of snorkeling gear (although no flippers). They have to go diving for their own conch. Tiffany in particular is a little freaked. Richard is freaked for a different reason, “I don’t want to see Mike Isabella topless. And you don’t either.”

Antonia does pretty well. Eventually, Tiffany has fun with it. Mike looks like … well, Richard was right.

They’re cooking right on the beach just yards from the water. They have a wood-fire grill, some pots and pans, a table, and that’s it.

Antonia is positive everyone will have sand in their dishes. People are having a little trouble getting the conch out of their shells.

Here’s what they made.
Richard: Sweet potato linguine with conch and spiny lobster (he sliced the sweet potato into long, thin strips and then treated it like linguine)

Someone mentions that their lobster is undercooked. One of the yacht club members says they mostly eat conch raw but that Richard did a really good job of cooking it. The diners collectively come to the realization that the “pasta” is just sweet potato and they’re amazed.

As the rest of the chefs are prepping their dishes after Richard, it’s getting windier and windier.

Antonia: Red snapper with conch tartare and lobster nage (nage is poaching food, usually seafood, in a bouillon, and serving it with the bouillon and vegetables)

The ceviche (the conch) is very spicy. The locals love it. Gail is surprised by it. Tom says the conch is cut too small and it’s hard to taste and his fish was overcooked while someone else’s is undercooked. (Antonia was having problems getting her fire hot enough.)

Tiffany: Conch and coconut chowder with sweet potatoes and conch ceviche

Everyone comments that the chowder is cold. Tiffany finished plating the soup and still had more than two minutes left on the clock. Tom says it’s a nice dish but the flavor hasn’t been developed enough.

Mike: Banana leaf-wrapped grouper, braised pineapple, and conch vinaigrette

Tom says it didn’t need the butter. It had enough richness and earthiness without it. Gail loved the braised pineapple.

Judges Table
First thing, Tom says he was really impressed that there was no sand in anyone’s dishes.

Lorena says that Antonia found a nice balance between the sweet and the spiciness. She thought it was right on. Tom mentions he wished the conch was cut a little bigger. He did get like the sear on the fish. Padma didn’t like the conventionality of the dish.

Tom says he actually thought Richard’s “pasta” really was pasta since it was so tender. Gail thought the dish really worked despite not being an “island” dish. Lorena thought the conch cooked perfectly but the lobster was undercooked.

Lorena loved the combination of the conch with the fish and the cilantro was an excellent addition. Gail liked that Tiffany used the conch in two different ways. Gail does ask if she meant for it to be hot or cold. Tiffany says it was hot when plated but that it was very windy and it just got cold.

Gail thought the pineapple was amazing and that he made a really interesting dish. Tom liked the smokiness that came from the banana leaf. But, he didn’t like the butter.

The cheftestants return to the stew room.

The judges rehash their earlier criticisms of the dishes and then call the cheftestants back.

Mike wins. Fairly or not, after the incident where he flat-out stole Richard’s dish from his notebook, I can’t help but wonder who he stole the technique with the pineapple from. At this point, nothing he’s doing feels like his own dish.

Tiffany must pack her knives.

There’s not much to say except that Tiffany did well to get as far as she did. Still two more episodes to go to crown a winner.

What did you find to be tasty in this episode? Did you think anything was overdone? Give us your Two Cents below!