A couple of notes first before getting down to business:
• Finally, for the first time since I’ve started watching the show, I can say I’ve actually tasted food from a competitor. Here in Chicago, you can’t avoid Rick Bayless, whose Frontera Grill/Topolobampo storefront is a popular tourist’s destination and whose line of salsas and other fancy-for-a-grocery-store Mexican products are fairly ubiquitous. (Bayless’ Wolfgang Puck-like talent for self-branding made me a little wary of him, frankly.) The problem is one of access: Frontera is a more casual and has open seating, thus ensuring two-hour waits to get a table; Topolobampo is more intimate and refined, but it’s hard to book a reservation even months in advance. In any case, my wife and I finally took late reservation at Topolobampo a few months ago, and I’m not blowing smoke when I say it was one of the best meals that either one of us has ever had. (I’d have been severely disillusioned if Bayless hadn’t advanced out of the group tonight, and guessed that the only chance he had of losing was if he was knocked out of his Mexican comfort zone. That didn’t happen.)
• Hey, we have ourselves a villain! Two weeks into the competition, it looked like no one would break the congenial atmosphere between these professionals, but Ludo Lefebvre, clearly comfortable with the stereotype of the snooty Frenchman, came through big time with prickly remarks about the waiters, the judges, the great unwashed, and even the generosity of his fellow chefs. More on him later.
Chefs: Wilo Benet (Pikayo, San Juan), Cindy Pawlcyn (Mustard’s Grill, Napa Valley), Rick Bayless (Frontera/Topolobampo, Chicago), Ludo Lefebvre (Ludo’s Bites, Los Angeles)
Quickfire: The Quickfire was a throwback to Season Two, when contestants were asked to create a dish inspired by a certain color. It was a difficult challenge for several reasons: Some colors did not exist as often in nature as others, the dishes had to be both tasty and cohesive while conforming to the color restriction, and the art of plating was more of an issue than usual. A big surprise, then, that the Season Two winner was Michael, a lovable oaf whose utter lack of refinement led to Anthony Bourdain calling his all-starch Thanksgiving plate “Flintstone-ian” in execution. You’ll also recall that Michael won both the Quickfire and the Elimination challenges that week, despite suffering the effects of a grim-looking dental emergency. Good times.
This time around, the chefs aren’t nearly so flustered—or at least they’re not inclined to show any vulnerability. The color green certainly offers no challenge to anyone, least of all Bayless, who prefers to use green leaves over tortillas in his restaurants anyway. Ludo has his first meltdown when the waiter forgets to take out the beet gazpacho he wanted drizzled over his red dish like fresh blood over dried-up blood. The judges confirm that he was better off keeping it off the plate. Ultimately, the winner is the affable Wilo, whose smoked salmon tartare with coconut was said to have “big flavors,” and whose style throughout definitely suggests a bold, generous touch in the kitchen.