Block Party

Top Chef 4 Chicago Episode 3
Part 2 - Elimination

After the salsa is put away, the chefs are told to break into two teams - blue and red. Spike notes that a lot of people are trying to align with Richard, who just won immunity - making themselves bigger targets if the team loses. True dat. Anyway, Spike sticks with life partners Jen and Zoi, Ryan, Erik, Dale and Andrew (known as the red team, despite Spike's yellow Dick Tracy hat). The blue team consists of Antonia, Lisa, Manuel, Stephanie, Nikki, Mark and Richard the Immune.

Field trip! The teams take to the road, driving through the streets of Chicago trying to come up with ideas (for cooking, natch). They arrive at a neighborhood that could be Anywhere, USA, though of course we know it's in Chicago. This will be the site of a neighborhood block party - and of the elimination challenge. The chefs are to make it the most memorable block party evah!

But here's the twist - no shopping. Seriously. The chefs are told they must go door to door in the 'hood, getting the neighbors to contribute food for their dishes. The teams take off, with the red team using "pretty boy" Ryan as their begger....er, spokesman.

The chefs disperse and raid pantries, refrigerators, and school children's lunch boxes....anywhere there may be food. Richard mentions that the blue team wants to go upscale, while the red team is leaning toward traditional street fare (see how this all ties in with the Quickfire?).

The blue team's menu consists of BBQ pork, paella, cole slaw, macaroni and cheese,bean salad, fruit cobbler and an inside-out cookie. Richard emphasizes they should cook for the judges, and the people will fall in line (er, like it too). Stephanie decides to change the dessert, frying it in cinnamon and sugar to give it a Mexican touch. They also say they'll be serving a "sexy drink."

Team red will be serving sliders, pork skewers, corn dogs, Waldorf salad, pasta salad and taco salad. For dessert, they choose s'mores (which yay! And Disney does a great upscale s'more at LeCellier, so it can be done!). The red team will also be serving sangria.

Tom Colicchio shows up (because what's a street fair without him?) and makes the rounds. He's as curious as I am about the "sexy drink," which Nikki explains is carbonated syrup with fresh citrus and lavender. Tom's not sure what makes that sexy (the answer - the lavender, apparently).

The teams pack to travel, and the fears settle in. Nikki is worried her mac and cheese may dry out, while Erik's concern is the corn dogs will get soggy. They set up their tables and the neighbors cheer them on. (I wonder if any of them were repaid for their groceries 'cause have you seen supermarket prices? Just sayin')
Anyway, Erik was right - the corndogs are soggy, but he decides wasting food (by tossing the dogs) would be worse than serving it. (And I know we've heard about not letting substandard food out of your kitchen a million times on this show. Isn't Erik a fan?) And the mac and cheese did dry out, and Nikki decides to serve it anyway. When Top Chefwas on, she must have been out with Erik.

Spike seems in his element, serving up sliders to little kids and generally enjoying the presentation. Richard over on team blue isn't as jovial as he serves Ted some paella. Ted doesn't seem thrilled with it, but does enjoy the fruit crumble with cinnamon sugar wontons.

Over on the red team, the sliders with provolone and bacon (oh TED!) and the pineapple pork skewers are impressive. Padma drops her s'more on Ted's shoe. Ooops!

Although the red team seems very very confident (and the blue team very very nervous), the blue team is called to the judges' table first - and you know what that means! Although they're told it was very very close - and none of it was very very good - they are indeed the winners, and Stephanie nabs another win with her cinnamon sugar wonton dessert. (She's quickly becoming the front runner in this race - will there be a female Top Chef or a female president first?)

And although street food is indeed good for a block party, it has to be well-made street food, and the judges decide that the red team dropped the ball on that point. Most notably bad - Ryan's soggy Waldorf salad, Erik's soggy corn dogs, and Zoi's lackluster pasta salad. (Just typing that sentence made me lose my appetite.) Andrew makes a big show about how he's not going (shades of Jennifer Hudson!) and he's right, as Erik gets the knife.

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Block Party

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