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"Top Chef All Stars" Season 8, Episode 14: It’s a shark eat shark world
We join the final four, Antonia, Tiffany, Mike and Richie as they reminisce this season. Many intense moments were had throughout the competition along with a number of fond memories, too. They gather in the Atlantis kitchen and Padma introduces Lorena Garcia, soon to be host of a new NBC cooking show, “America’s Next Great Restaurant.” For the Quickfire portion of the competition they divide into two teams that must make 100 identical dishes in one hour. Consistency is key for this challenge. It ends up a women v men contest with the women preparing beef tenderloin salad and the men serving up pork bolognese with macaroni. Richard comments on the weakness of the ladies’ entry, insisting he and Mike are taking a risk. Lorena compliments the guys on their dish and she and Padma move on to the girls. Lorena appreciates the fact there are four components on the plates. Ultimately she awards the win to Tiffany and Antonia. Mike is crestfallen, Richard head nearly turns inside out and Antonia calls the boys “sour grape, salty losers.” Mike retorts, “A beef salad wins? Whatever.” The ladies grab the $5K and skip around the room hand in hand.
The Elimination challenge involves a luncheon to celebrate Nassau Yacht Club’s 80th anniversary. The party’s theme is “deserted island.” Richard immediately has flashes of a “Lord of the Flies” scenario. Will he be smart enough to bring matches? To top off the challenge, a main staple for the Bahamas is conch and must be part of any meal the chefs serve. After a decent evening’s rest, the crew is met by a bikini clad Padma and instructed to jump onboard and head to an island where they will have three and one half hours to deliver beginning the moment their toes hit the sand.
The group hustles onto the beach to find an array of local produce and various proteins they need, well all except conch. What they do discover in place of the giant snails are swim masks and snorkels. Yes, they are heading back into the water headfirst. Richard gets a bit wiggy over the thought of seeing Mike shirtless while Tiffany ponders if Jaws is lurking with a photograph of her clenched between its teeth. She definitely doesn’t want to end up autographing anything in blood. Antonia realizes she’s out of shape and Richard bobbles like a buoy. The entire scene including watching the gang attempt to extract the sea snails from their shells was good for a laugh.
As the chefs get into a groove, they notice the wood burning grills are not cooking evenly or hot enough. We’ll see if this is a major issue later on. Each all star describes their dishes. Antonia is working with lobster and raw conch. Tiffany chooses to prepare a conch ceviche with conch and coconut chowder. Mike chooses wrapped grouper with a conch vinaigrette. Richard decides to use a novel approach with a linguine and conch dish that substitutes shaved sweet potatoes for the noodles. He realizes it’s risky, but this is Richard. Risk is his middle name and he’s sure the diners will love a dish that lends itself more toward the Hamptons than the Caribbean.
The fourteen guests arrive and it’s game on. Risky Rich’s dish is well received and a noodle discussion comes up. Tom is amazed the chef could prepare noodles on a beach. Gail figures out they are ribbons of sweet potato much to the surprise and delight of the other guests. By now there is a storm front heading their way, making it more difficult to keep the wood fires burning. Antonia delivers her seared snapper with a conch tartare and lobster nage. Her meal packs a punch and the diners adore the spiciness. However, the issue of undercooked and overcooked fish is addressed, never a good sign. Tiffany is up next with her conch and coconut chowder topped with sweet potatoes and conch ceviche. Her dish gets mixed reviews. The fact it arrives cold doesn’t play well. Finally Mike sends out his banana leaf wrapped grouper, braised pineapple and conch vinaigrette. Gail loves the fish, but another guest finds it to be overwhelmed by the toppings. The three-hour tour completed, reality sets in. Only three mates will be rescued from the island.
At judges’ table, the final four line up to hear their fate. Lorena gives Antonia props, but Padma finds the dish predictable. The chef twists the criticism into a compliment by suggesting that’s exactly what she wanted to convey. Take a taste and you know it’s a meal with her signature. Padma looks confused, ha! Up next is Richard who is delighted to hear Tom thought the sweet potato ribbons were actually noodles. Gail mentions it was not a dish she’d equate with the islands, but gives it a thumbs up regardless. Lorena found the conch cooked to perfection, but her lobster was not.
Tiffany finds herself explaining why the dish was cold. The wind whipped up as she was plating. Tom complains it was a bit on the sweet side. Mike explains his approach was to use as much of the local fare as possible. Gail once again comments on how much she enjoyed the braised pineapple and Tom compliments the banana leaf wrap although he was disappointed with the butter overkill. The judges put their heads together, batting back pros and cons in an attempt to give each chef a fair shake.
The moment of truth arrives with all the chefs exhibiting deer in the headlights demeanors. Mike wins the challenge and he skips off the stage like a kid who is first picked for the playground kickball team. Richard has been the man to beat all season and Mike revels in his triumph. The remaining three fidget while phrases such as too sweet, too cold, too spicy and too inconsistently cooked are tossed about. Tiffany is asked to pack her knives and go. I expect she saw this coming. Cold chowder is not going to get anyone to the finale.
In a teary talking head moment, she is disappointed but admits defeat in that she was simply out-cooked. Tiffany may be right and while she is no longer a contender, she certainly made a lot of Top Chef fans smile along the way. Her calm demeanor and subdued sarcastic wit was always welcomed throughout the season. Still, she heads back to Dallas as once again Antonia’s curse rings true. Will she ever live this down?
Meanwhile, Mikey runs off for a final fitting for his 20-gallon hat. Who will win bragging rights in the all-star finale? No doubt it will be an interesting end to the season. See you next week.
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