Top Chef Season Five - Episode 3
A Foo Fighters Thanksgiving: Celebrating with the Band
Dec 15, 2008
Bravo’s hit reality TV show Top Chef heads into its third week with Ariane Duarte frustrated with being at the bottom again during the previous week. Though she stayed and Jill Snyder was eliminated, her nerves are getting the best of her. The contestants head to the kitchen to find out the subject of their Quickfire Challenge.
Quickfire Challenge
Host Padma Lakshmi enters the Top Chef kitchen with guest judge and culinary superstar Grant Achatz. After announcing that the Quickfire Challenge is all about being able to “roll with the punches,” the knife block is brought out. The chefs each draw a knife with a seemingly random number on it. Padma explains that each number corresponds to a page in "Top Chef: The Cookbook." The chefs are challenged to create their own version of the recipe from a past season of Top Chef, and are given an hour to cook.
However, after a mere ten minutes of prep time, Padma and Grant return to the Top Chef kitchen and call for the chefs to stop what they are doing. Grant tells the competitors that they are in the mood for soup, and will need to create one using the ingredients they are already prepping. They have fifty minutes to complete the dish and a large supply of Swanson broth since they will not have time to make their own.
When time is called, Danny Gagnon, Jamie Lauren, and Leah Cohen are selected as the top three. Danny’s ham and egg soup intrigues the judges. Though she hates her featured ingredient, Leah’s chilled white asparagus soup based on a dish created by Hung Huynh is declared the winner.
Elimination Challenge
As a result of winning the Quickfire Challenge, Leah is given the privilege of choosing her teammates for the Elimination Challenge. She picks Fabio Viviani, Hosea Rosenberg, Jamie, Melissa Harrison, Radhika Desai, and Stefan Richter, who dub themselves Team Sexy Pants. This leaves the rest of the chefs on a team together, named Team Cougar. The contestants watch a video to explain their challenge, and learn that the band Foo Fighters are big fans of Top Chef. The chefs will be cooking a Thanksgiving dinner for the band and their entire entourage, which includes several vegetarians. The winning team will watch the concert while the losing team cleans up.
Each team has one hour to shop and a budget of $1200 to work with. However, there is one additional challenge to this Elimination round. The chefs will be cooking at an outdoor kitchen that does not have refrigerators, freezers, or stoves. They will have microwaves and toasters along with their prep tables. The teams have three hours to prepare their food, but are dealt an additional challenge of rain. Some chefs find creative solutions to the lack of cooking equipment, especially Eugene Villiatora who creates a makeshift grill with charcoal and a hotel pan.
Tom Colicchio, Gail Simmons, Padma, and Grant sit down with the Foo Fighters to taste both teams’ dishes. There are hits and misses on both teams. Ariane’s turkey is proclaimed a hit for Team Cougar. However, Leah’s Team Sexy Pants is named the winner and they head to the concert.
Judge’s Table
Team Cougar heads to Judge’s Table and expresses their surprise at being there. Danny, Jeff McInnis, and Richard Sweeney are the most seriously considered for elimination during deliberations. The team had the most problems because of their dessert course. Ultimately, Richard is asked to pack his knives and go for his lackluster banana s’mores.
All new episodes of Top Chef air on Bravo Wednesday nights at 10 PM. Stay tuned to see who is asked to pack their knives and go in next week's episode, "Today Show". Visit the Top Chef: New York Page for cast profiles, episode summaries, and more.
