On last week’s episode of Top Chef: New York, three of the strongest competitors were in the bottom and ultimately, Jeff McInnis was sent home. Carla Hall is elated from her victory, which was a quick turnaround after she was almost sent home during Restaurant Wars.
Quickfire Challenge
The six remaining contestants enter the Top Chef kitchen and are greeted by host Padma Lakshmi and Chef Eric Ripert, of the famous Le Bernadin Restaurant in New York. Knowing that Chef Ripert is famous as a seafood chef, they assume that some sort of seafood challenge is here. Chef Ripert is also known for his classic technique and precision, so this week’s Quickfire Challenge is a fish filleting tournament.
In the first round, the chefs are given five minutes to perfectly butterfly two sardines. Carla and Jamie Lauren are eliminated and the other four chefs continue on to Round 2, where they must clean and filet an arctic char. Only Hosea Rosenberg and Stefan Richter survive this round. They go head to head, cleaning and filleting a freshwater eel. Stefan has dealt with eel his entire life while Hosea has never cleaned one. Ultimately, Stefan is declared the winner of this challenge.
Elimination Challenge
Chef Ripert invites all the chefs to lunch at Le Bernadin, where they sit down with him and head judge Chef Tom Colicchio for a six-course meal. After tasting each seafood course, the chefs are informed that their Elimination Challenge will be to replicate one of the six dishes. As the winner of the Quickfire Challenge, Stefan gets to choose which course he will create. He chooses a baked lobster served with asparagus and hollandaise sauce, leaving the other chefs to draw knives.
All the ingredients for the dishes are laid out in the main kitchen, where they are given two hours to prep and try to recreate the dish. Chef Ripert walks through the kitchen, tasting dishes and answering questions from the chefs. They are then each given fifteen minutes to fire their dish in the kitchen for the private dining room. All of the dishes are tasted head-to-head with the same dish prepared by Chef Ripert’s staff.
Judge’s Table
Stefan, Carla, and Fabio Viviani were called to the Judge’s Table first and informed that they were the top three of the day. Each one produced a dish that was remarkably similar to Chef Ripert’s original dish, despite only having tasted them once. Stefan is declared the winner and awarded a copy of Chef Ripert’s latest cookbook, On the Line. He also is invited to shadow Chef Ripert for a week at three restaurants and the Food & Wine Festival in Pebble Beach.
The winning three returned to the stew room and asked Jamie, Hosea, and Leah Cohen to return to the judges table. Jamie and Hosea made mistakes in the execution of their dishes, while Leah seemed to just misunderstand the concept of the original product. Jamie was asked to pack her knives and go, and wasn’t surprised about the decision.
Stay tuned for the next episode of Bravo’s hit reality series, Top Chef: New York when five chefs compete to make it to the finals. New episodes air on Wednesday nights at 10 PM. Visit the Top Chef: New York Page for episode summaries, cast profiles, and more.
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