Top Chef 5 New York: Restaurant Wars!

January 23, 2009 by Lynn

This week on Top Chef, the guest judge is a very prestigious chef and is the owner of Starr Restaurants, Stephen Starr. For the Quickfire Challenge, the cheftestants were tasked with creating a tasting item to present to Chef Starr as if he were a potential investor in their restaurant. They were given only 30 minutes to create their dish. The pressure was really on.

Here were the chefs’ dishes:

Carla: Cod Seared in Tomato Oil with Italian Salsa & Mache Green Salad
Hosea: Shrimp with Morel Mushroom Cream Sauce, Garlic Potato Puree & Poached Asparagus
Leah: Tempura Poussin with Dashi, Soy Sauce & Rice Wine Vinegar
Stefan: Fried White Asparagus with Trout, Asparagus Salad & White Asparagus Soup
Jeff: Grilled Salmon with Sunchoke & Artichoke Puree, Grilled Corn & Asparagus Salad
Radhika: Pan-Seared Cod, Butter Braised Corn, Spinach & Chorizo with Cream Sauce
Jamie: Chilean Sea Bass with Creamed Corn, Bacon, Peas & Garlic Scape
Fabio: Tuna & Swordfish Carpaccio, Roasted Vegetable Salad, Filet Mignon Sandwich

After tasting them all, Chef Starr said that his least favorites were the dishes by Jeff & Fabio. He announced his favorites were the dishes by Radhika & Leah. They were both made the team leaders for the Elimination Challenge, which was the traditional Restaurant Wars. These were the two teams:

Sahana: Radhika, Jamie, Carla & Jeff
Sunset Lounge: Leah, Hosea, Fabio & Stefan

The night before the Elimination Challenge, Leah & Hosea were lying together, snuggling and kissing on the couch. They both have a significant other back home and it seemed like behavior that would be way over the line… They both called it “flirting.” I think most people would call it much more than just flirting.

The next morning, they were both regretting their behavior with each other the night before and they were distracted by their concern for how it would affect their relationships back home when the show aired. (Well, duh!!) So it took them both off their game.

They had to plan menus, buy linens, dishes, décor and food. Then they had to set up a restaurant and get ready to serve people all evening. Fabio & Radhika were both the ones to work the front of the house.

In the front of the house, Radhika was awful, she spent more time in the kitchen than in the front and she didn’t lead her team at all. Fabio really rocked the front of the house and impressed the judges with his personality.

Here were the dishes created in each restaurant:

Sahana

Curried Carrot Soup
Grilled Scallop with Chickpea Cake
Braised Lamb Shank
Seared Snapper
Baklava
Chocolate Cake
Frozen Yogurts

Sunset Lounge

Egg Roll
Sashimi Two Ways
Short Ribs
Coconut Curry Bisque
Seared Cod
Chocolate Parfait
Panna Cotta

After all was said and done, the judges were split in their decision about which team was best. The comment cards from the rest of the patrons were ever so slightly in favor of Sunset Lounge, so they won the challenge. Since Stefan’s desserts were the most amazing part of the dinner, he was announced to be the challenge winner and received a full set of professional kitchen appliances.

When the Sahana team came in, the judges told Jamie and Jeff that they were not the losers since their dishes were great. It all came down to Carla for her two failed desserts and Radhika for her poor front of house and team leadership performance. Radhika was told to pack her knives and go.

I was a bit torn to see the two at the bottom this week being Radhika and Carla. I like them both. But having worked in restaurants “back in the day,” I do know that Radhika really did botch the front of house. Sadly, she was the right person to go. I also really like Jamie and hope she goes to the end. Even though Stefan seems like a real jerk, he also seems to be a very good chef. i wouldn’t be surprised if he goes to the end too.

Who is your favorite so far this season? Who do you hope goes home next? Who do you think is going to win it all? Leave a comment to let us know!