A Meal fit for a King (Of Junkanoo) Welcome to the Bahamas
The finale took place in the beautiful Bahamas, starting with this first episode in Nassau. Antonia arrived first, followed by Richard, Carla, Mike and Tiffany. Richard had a small beard, which he said he wouldn't shave until he won. His wife, Jazmin, was at that time about to have a baby girl named Embry. Richard said the worst that could happen would be that he lost TC AND missed the birth of his baby. Mike revealed that he had been sitting in at various DC restaurants, training and learning – and now believes he is a much better chef than when he left.
They arrived at Fort Charlotte (the largest of three forts located in Nassau) and Padma Lakshmi, Tom Colicchio and Eric Ripert were waiting for them, along with past TC winners Michael Voltaggio, from Mike's Season 6, Kevin Sbraga, from Tiffany's S7, Stephanie Izard, from Richard and Antonia's S4, and Hosea Rosenberg, from Carla's S5. The Quickfire Challenge was for the chefs to cook against their season winner head to head, with the winner of each contest winning $10,000. Tom chose the proteins for the challenge and said that he wanted to see them featured.
When they opened their boxes, the S4 competitors had a rack of veal, S6 had a whole duck, S5 a leg of lamb and S7 pork hindquarters. They were required to butcher the meat down and cook in 45 minutes.
Head to head, Kevin made Barbeque Pork, with Cilantro, Celery, Shaved Onion and a Citrus Salad, while Tiffany made Pork Stew, with Potatoes, Peppers, Citrus and Allspice. The two dishes were very close in quality, but Tiffany was given the win. ("I needed this! She tells Kevin") From S5, Hosea made Braised Lamb in Red Chili Broth, with Olive, Mint, Goat Cheese and Rosemary Polenta, while Carla made Jollof Rice and Harisa Lamb, with Peppers, Onions and Lime. Her rice was undercooked because of difficulty with the equipment. She put it in with her soup and it didn't finish in time. Hosea easily got the win.
From S4, Stephanie made Veal Scallopini, with Tapenade and a Poached Egg, while Antonia (who also had equipment issues) made Roasted Veal, Leek and Almond Puree, with Sauteed Mushrooms, Arugala, and Raisins. Although there were problems with both dishes, Stephanie was given the win, in spite of her over-busy plate, because Antonia's meat was a little tough. Richard made Seared Veal Loin and Braised Veal Cap, with Raisins, Carrots, Potatoes and Mushrooms and easily bested Stephanie's over-complicated dish.
Last of all, from S6, Michael V. made Duck Breast, with Duck Leg in Bacon Vinaigrette, with Burnt Leek and Coffee Pesto to go against Mike I. with Cashew-Dusted Spiced Duck Breast with Duck Leg and Mushroom Jus. In a very close call, Mike I. was given the win. In the aside interview, Mike was already beginning to crow over an impending victory over Blais. Likewise, Richard seems to be worried about Mike I. beating Michael Voltaggio (which was actually quite a strong accomplishment).
The Elimination Challenge would happen the next day when the chefs were told that they would cook a meal for "Bahamian Royalty". It is obvious that the contestants did not read up on the Bahamas before coming or they would have learned that the form of government is a constitutional parliamentary democracy. There is no "Bahamian Royalty". Nevertheless, all five chefs prepared as if they were cooking for it. That evening, the chefs checked into their hotel and relaxed a little bit. They stayed at The Cover Atlantis, a posh resort hotel near the beach. One presumes this is also where their kitchen and Judge's Table were located, but no reference was made to that. Richard revealed that if he were to win, he would like to start the restaurant of his dreams. I had rather thought that he must be doing significantly well as a consultant and television personality, but we shall see which road his life follows.
The next day, the chefs were given two and a half hours to prep. Richard, Mike and Antonia had planned refined meals, while Carla and Tiffany opted for simpler meals. No big surprise there, but Mikey somehow used up all of the good karma he won in Episode 12 by demeaning Carla, Tiffany AND Antonia for cooking simple foods all season just to get to the finals. Someone should give him a copy of the season just so that he can figure out what actually happened.
In the kitchen, Carla and Antonia shared a unguarded moment when Carla told Antonia, "I psyche myself out." She went on to say (almost tearfully) that she does much better as an underdog and is cooking for all of the underdogs in the world.
When prep was finished, they were picked up with a police escort, sirens screaming. They expected to be taken to a palace, but instead arrived in a restaurant district and stop at a noisy celebration. It turned out that this was the end of Junkanoo, a Bahamian celebration similar to Carnival. After an abortive attempt at dancing by Mike and a successful one by Carla, Tom showed up and revealed that the "royalty" they would be cooking for was the King of Junkanoo and his entourage and that they would be cooking in a small restaurant, Twin Brothers. Tiffany thought that this change of plans would work to her advantage since she had planned a simpler dish all along.
I’m sure the producers were pleased with this swicheroo, but it didn’t resonate with me. They’ve now had so many bait and switch situations that they are so old as to hardly be noticeable, just perhaps a bit annoying sometimes. This one was not annoying, but it wasn’t inspired either. A miss.
The chefs had one hour to cook at Twin Brothers, preparing for fifty diners. Things went well until Antonia noticed one of the deep fryers smoking. Carla tried to turn it down, but it caught fire and so the Nassau FD showed up to spray chemicals over stuff and ruin the food (although the smoke would have probably been enough to do that). Waiting in a booth to find out what was going on, Richard grilled Antonia, who said flatly that she didn’t do anything. In an aside interview, Richard revealed that he was trying to get into Antonia’s head and psyche her out a bit. Bad form, but well… it is a game. Richard just hasn’t played this way before and it was a disappointment to me.
Tom explained to them that the kitchen would have to be scrubbed down and that while that was going on, they would go back to the kitchen and re-prep with fresh ingredients. Richard asked if they could change their dishes and Tom said that they could. This amounted to a complete re-set of the challenge and put them all back on equal footing, something that Tiffany didn’t like. I was happy with the change, however.
When they returned to the kitchen, Richard and Antonia decided to go with completely different dishes more appropriate to the diners, while Mike, Carla and Tiffany decided to stick with their original ideas. Back at Twin Brothers, we discovered that Carla actually did decide to change her dish a little. Instead of cooking medallions of pork, she decided to fry the entire tenderloin and then cut it to portions. It became obvious that the exhaustion was beginning to catch up with everyone at this point and it became a matter of survival to deal with it. Carla’s tenderloin came out raw in the middle, so she cut it and began trying to finish it on the grill. It looked to me that the portions were way too big to be successful with that – I thought she should have cut the portions smaller (closer to what was actually on the plate).
When service was started, we were given descriptions of each dish and Gail Simmons joined the judges and the King for dinner. Carla started the meal with Fried Pork Medallion, with Sweet Potato Puree, Apple Sauce and Apple Chip. Ripert thought it was too sweet, more like a dessert, but Gail turned her medallion over and it was raw in the center. Not good at all.
Antonia next served Crispy Shrimp and Grits, with Cilantro and Pickled Vegetables. Ripert remarked that the shrimp was overcooked and Tom made a remark about Howard Johnson’s wanting their garnish back. Gail thought the shrimp was buried and tasteless. Once again, not a good reception. Next, Mikey presented Sous Vide Chicken with Mushrooms, Yams, Lobster Sauce and Lobster Hash. This dish was received well by everyone. Richard followed with Roasted Lamb Loin and Malted Braised Leg with Pickled Turnip and Mustard. The dish also featured a cannelloni wrapping lamb and it was also well-recieived, but Ripert did not like the cannelloni.
Tiffany served last with Roasted Spiced Pork Tenderloin, Dirty Rice, Curried Slaw and Tomato Jam. While everything tasted okay, the judges felt there was a lack of inspiration and finesse in the dish. Simple was what Tiffany went for, but it was too simple.
Dominic Armato has discussed his feeling that the judges have been moving away from creativity and toward taste as the final determination of success, but this decision on Tiffany, putting her in the bottom for a dish that essentially had nothing wrong with it but a lack of creativity makes me wonder if they are moving the creative aspect back for the finals.
In a cutaway between commercials, they showed the chefs discussing Richard’s theory about nuts. He was comparing them to musical genres and offered the following comparisons: Peanuts are like rock n’ roll, walnuts are like British rock, almonds are like ballet or classical and pistachios are like pop music and finally, that hazelnuts are “hippy nuts.”
I’ve actually given Richard’s Nut Theory a little thought while writing the first draft of this review and it seems to me that peanuts are rather more like folk music, rooted deeply in all the people. I would say that walnuts could be rock, with pecans as British rock. I can accept almonds as classical and hazelnuts as psychedelic rock, but I think that pistachios are probably closer to being experimental music. What was really missing is that Cashews are definitely jazz. I would also say that Brazil nuts were salsa or samba music.
While waiting for Judge’s Table, the chefs looked exhausted and mostly defeated. Only Mike seemed to be pretty happy with where he was at. Richard said that he hated everything that he was cooking and couldn’t tell if a dish was bad or good anymore.
It seems to me like he has let the show get into his head, much as he was trying to get into Antonia’s head. Antonia, however, knew her dish had serious problems. Carla also felt terrible, but since everyone else was feeling so bad, she tried to shake it off, saying that she just needed to keep doing her cooking. Antonia stared down and remarked that that was her problem – this dish didn’t really represent her cooking.
As expected, at JT it was Carla, Antonia and Tiffany on the bottom and Richard and Mike on the top. Mikey won the EC (no prizes this time), with Richard second. When the three ladies were brought out at the end, the flaws in their dishes were rehashed and it was announced that Carla would go home. Antonia dodged a bullet and somehow Tiffany survived yet again with a completely uninspiring dish.
Carla was tearful in her exit interviews, but she knew that the tenderloin was not acceptable and that her time had come. She is one of those chefs who has a great comfort zone, a remarkable sweet spot as a cook, complex yet homey enough for anyone to want to eat. But this is now the second time that she has tried to do something outside of that comfort zone, particularly by trying something new. In the finals of S5, she had allowed Casey to talk her into doing something unfamiliar with the same result. At one point, Carla even asked herself, “Why do I keep doing this?”
One of the major differences between Carla and Richard is that Richard thrives on inventing new dishes off the cuff and part of his strategy on TC is to pull stuff out of the air. He did that again this episode by completely changing his dish before the second preparation. I must say that I think it was this strategy that brought him down at the end of S4. That season, I had expected him to arrive in the Bahamas with winning dishes ready at his fingertips, but in the end, he tried to pull something out of the air and had a bad day. I don’t mean any offense to Stephanie, who is a terrific chef, but Richard was more creative than her and probably deserved TC that season. He did choke.
Now we see Mikey coming in with recipes in his head, ready to execute them and Richard appears to be sticking with his strategy of invention. These two must now be considered the favorites and it will be interesting in the final two episodes to see which will prevail. Although it is still possible that Antonia will suddenly show up and blow something out of the water, it looks more and more like a showdown between Mike and Richard.
What IS Tiffany still doing here?
Next week, diving for ingredients and beach cooking. YUM!
1. Richard Blais.
Richard beat Stephanie head to head in the QF, with a dish that was considered quite superior, then managed to finish a strong second in the EC. Creatively, I put him ahead of everyone left, but it remains to be seen if his psyche will be his undoing. All of this talk of hating his food and not being able to tell if it is good or not shows me that he is very close to unraveling. And with his strategy of pulling rabbits out of hats, it is very possible that he might come up empty at any moment.
2. Mike Isabella.
That tendency of Richard’s to work off his cuff might turn to Mike’s advantage. It appears that he worked hard during the period before the finale and has some recipes up his sleeve. He may be a better game player than he appeared to be during the regular season. But Mike also has this tendency to blank out mentally sometimes and do something dumb. We’ll see which Mike makes it to the next episode.
3. Antonia Lofaso.
Maybe Richard is in her head, maybe not, but she definitely blew both challenges this time out and put the great finish to the regular season in jeopardy. She is definitely going to have to bring it this next episode just to survive and knock Tiffany out. It is still possible that she will bust out a great meal and move back ahead of Mike, but for now, she must be considered third.
4. Tiffany Derry.
Well, you have to give Tiffany some credit for beating Kevin, but you really can’t give her that much. It was a close call. And after finally busting out a great dish to end the regular season, she moved back again with an uninspiring dish in the EC. I’m afraid that when I do my final rankings of the 18 chefs based on creativity, knowledge, and technique, she will be ranked fairly low.
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