‘Top Chef’: Time to turn up the heat on its simmering feuds
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Foodie Fight is one of our favorite board games, a version of Trivial Pursuit that requires a deep knowledge not only of unfamiliar cooking techniques (define ‘churrasco’)but also of obscure restaurants (what was the deli in ‘Roseanne’?) and fermentation chemistry (how many bubbles in a bottle of Champagne?). A better gastronomical battle now can be found on ‘Top Chef,’ which in only its second episode has established a couple of kitchen clashes that have the potential to boil over real fast.
Angelo Sosa’s sandwich of flounder marinated in fish sauce, spicy Sriracha mayo, pickled red onions and herbaceous salad (prepared in a gimmicky quick-fire version of a potato sack race with Tracey Bloom) looked as good as Amanda Baumgarten’s braised chicken thigh in a Sherry jus appeared inedible (did Tom Colicchio really say it resembled a turd?).
As striking as that disparity might have been, however, what really stood out Wednesday night were the series’ looming personality conflicts, particularly one between two obviously talented chefs.
Having won immunity, Sosa, in a Machiavellian twist, drafted first episode standout Kenny Gilbert into his elimination challenge team to prepare a healthy, affordable school lunch. Sosa torpedoed his quartet’s chances by plating celery with peanut butter mousse, a desultory flop (intentional, perhaps?) that nearly cost Gilbert a quick trip home. The victim instead was Jacqueline Lombard, for serving up yet another grainy dish, this time a sugar-laden dessert that looked better suited to gluing acoustical tiles to the ceiling.
Sosa was caught whispering, ‘I don’t like Kenny,’ and it’s unclear if he’s put off by Gilbert’s superior knife skills or his cockiness. Either way, these two aren’t done wrestling. Gilbert said at the episode’s opening, ‘It’s irrelevant who gets immunity,’ but he’s clearly wrong, particularly if it gives Sosa the upper hand.
That’s not the only conflict on the horizon. Will Kelly Liken stop being that needy person you’re glad you never dated? Can Baumgarten realize that if she wants people to take her seriously as a chef she actually needs to prepare food fit to be eaten? And might Arnold Myint cease to spend more time on his absurd outfits (he confessed to hiring a wardrobe stylist for the show) than he does working on his cuisine?
Only the future can tell.
-- John Horn
