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Dinner and a Movie

Top Chef 4 Chicago Episode 4
Reel Food

Previously on Top Chef: Erik is dogged by too mushy block party food. The chefs miss the “guy with the big heart,” and hope he travels better than his corndog.

Quickfire: Padma introduces the chefs to this week’s guest judge, Daniel Boulud, adding, “If you don’t know who he is, you may as well leave the kitchen.” They all stick around, and it turns out that two of them – Ryan and Richard – have even worked with the renowned French chef in the past. This, he assures us, will not affect his judging of the quickfire challenge.

Which is, finally, a techniques challenge. The chefs are instructed to make a vegetable tray, using at least three techniques and the foods provided in baskets around the kitchen or from the Top Chef pantry. And our thirty minutes? Starts now.

During the course of the blanching, poaching, and knifing, we get confessions from Ryan, Lisa and Nikki that technique isn’t their strong suit. Padma and Daniel make their way through the veggie plates, starting with Zoi’s, where Daniel compliments her paper thin chiffonade of radicchio. She ends up in the top three, with Richard, who claims “restraint” is a technique in his plank of vegetables, and winner Dale, whose vegan sashimi platter secures him immunity. Bottom of the barrel, technique-wise, belongs to Manuel (who apparently only showed two real techniques), Nikki (who grilled without seasoning), and Lisa.

Elimination: The chefs (except winner Dale) are instructed to pull knives numbered one through six. This will pair them up as well as give them the course they will prepare for a six-course dinner that will be served at a party movie critic Richard Roeper is giving for his friend (and sometimes fellow movie critic) Aisha Tyler (whom I will always remember as the shop clerk who didn’t know she was dead in the season finale of “The Ghost Whisperer”). The chefs are instructed to choose their favorite movie and cook a course inspired by the movie. Teams turn out to be Richard and Andrew (1), Manuel and Spike (2), Jennifer and Nikki (3), Mark and Ryan (4), Antonia and Zoi (5) and Lisa and Stephanie (6). Dale, as a bonus for his win, is allowed to join any team he wants – and he immediately chooses Team Richard, which has Andrew bustling.

GO!

The trio decide on Willie Wonka and the Chocolate Factory for their first course, which allows a lot of creativity and fun (and, of course, chocolate). Spike declares he’s a pro in Vietnamese food, so his favorite movie suddenly becomes “Good Morning Vietnam.” Jennifer and Nikki hold true to their Italian roots with “Il Postino,” while Antonia and Zoi choose “Talk To Her,” embracing the two “strong heroines” of the story (without ever mentioning that both are comatose throughout the movie). Stephanie and Lisa, stuck with the last course, make it known they’re not doing dessert again. Instead, they choose to do a short ribs and beef plate in honor of the “nursing calves” scene in “Top Secret.”

And Mark and Ryan go back and forth, teetertotting between “To Kill a Mockingbird” and “Dumb and Dumber,” before somehow ending up with the holiday classic, “A Christmas Story.”

As everyone prepares for the party, Andrew suggests Team Richard dresses as Oompa Loompas to connect their dish to the movie. Which, no. Thankfully, Richard and Dale both find a way to shoot him down kindly. Instead, the trio serve a smoked salmon dish with wasabi and white chocolate, faux caviar (tapioca pearls), and a whimsical drink of pear and celery soda, which they declare a take-off of the fizzy lifting drink. Everyone likes the taste, the connections, and the whimsy, and the dinner is off to a good start.

The Vietnamese summer rolls don’t go over as well, and Padma calls the twosome on choosing a movie to match Spike’s menu, not vice versa. Nikki and Jen serve a rustic pasta dish which Colicchio deems “good, not great,” while Mark and Ryan present quail with cranberries and carrot puree as their nod to the “Asian restaurant duck instead of turkey” scene in “A Christmas Story.” (I would have served ice cubes that stuck to the tongue. How cool would that be?)

Zoi and Antonia serve thinly sliced twin lamb chops with cauliflower and saffron, talking again about the representation of the two strong heroines and the colors of Spain, while Stephanie and Lisa finish the meal with a short rib creation topped with a Vietnamese caramel sauce, jus reduction and fresh apple juice. (To my questionable palate, their meal sounded absolutely delish, and the caramel-apple combo was a sweet nod to the dessert course.)

The judges choose Team Richard as the winner, with Richard (natch) getting the win. Lisa and Stephanie are also called in for kudos. Then the bottom teams are announced: Antonia and Zoi and Manuel and Spike. The women are really there because they sold their dish as a colorful representation, which it simply wasn’t. Slapped on the knuckles (no, not really!), they’re safe.

Unfortunately, the summer roll of the GMV team was not only the least favorite of the judges; it was the least favorite of all the diners. Ouch. Leader Spike is criticized for choosing something he’s comfortable doing, then messing it up anyway, while Manuel is dinged for lacking drive and determination. Ultimately, Manuel is given his walking papers.

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