Top Chef – Restaurant wars is here and Marcel is an ass

Before they got to Restaurant Wars, the chefs had to clean and portion fish at Le Bernadin, one of the best seafood restaurants in the world. It’s also the restaurant of past judge Eric Ripert, who’s also good friends with present judge Anthony Bourdain. And Bourdain was hosting the quickfire, so you better not mess up! The former culinary student I am, I know how hard it is to properly break down a fish. It’s also a lot harder when you’re being judged on perfection, so watching this quickfire, I could empathize with the chefs.

OH, BUT IT GOT BETTER! The four best chefs then had to make a dish out of the fish parts that were left — the head, the fins, the bones, what have you — and the winner got immunity. Again, bravo to producers and whoever have been coming up with the challenges this season. Really, really cool. Dale won, which pissed Marcel off — who could have seen that coming?

So Dale was the head of his team on Restaurant Wars. He also got to choose the leader of the other team, and he chose Marcel. The egomaniac he is, Marcel acted like it was an honor to be chosen, but it’s quite obvious Dale just wanted to make sure he didn’t have to work with the guy. The stakes were very high — the guests would choose the winning and losing teams and one chef would win $10,000. Dale’s Team, “Bodega,” was humble food with a whimsical twist, which I worried could become convoluted. Marcel’s team, “Etch,” was more-or-less Mediterranean flavors, which has been done on Restaurant Wars before.

God help me, I love Carla. Even with all the drama in this episode she genuinely wished the other team good luck. All the previews made it seem like Dale was going to completely freak out on the servers, but he seemed to have just lost his temper a little bit. Fabio did what he needed to do as the front-of-the-house manager and calmed his team member the hell down. Working the front of the house means having people skills with both your guests and your servers. If you haven’t noticed from this show, not every chef has these important skills. Fabio made it look effortless. And he did a delicious, Italian-inspired dessert on top of that. Good job, Fabio!

Tiffany’s front-of-the-house performance didn’t compare to Fabio’s, but her teammates were just a mess, too. Let’s face it, a lot of the drama and chaos came from Marcel because he IS Marcel. Every person on his team snapped at him at least once during service. He’s just so very abrasive and I can’t imagine working for him. Before service he was flat out rude to Tom Coliccio. Oh, and he still made a foam, even though 1) It almost got him sent home last week and 2) He promised his teammates he wouldn’t make one!

I thought Fabio should have won, but each person on that team did a great dish, so I have a feeling Richard’s win was by just a hair — and I admit, his “tuna in a can” concept was pretty clever. The losers panel was just painful to watch. Just lots of yelling and more yelling and far too much of Marcel’s voice. I had celebrated when Marcel was sent home, and yet the asshole had the nerve to say it wasn’t his fault … that he just picked the wrong team. You know what, it doesn’t matter; I don’t have to see Marcel for the rest of the season. I don’t know about you, but I think Top Chef has just become much more watchable.

Winners (59 votes)

Carla

Richard – Winner

Dale

Fabio

Tre

Losers (17 votes)

Marcel – Sent home

Antonia

Angelo

Tiffany

Mike

Normally I don’t add many quotations to the reviews, but Bourdain was on fire with great lines last night. I had to share (NSFW).

“It’s fucking baby food.” – Bourdain on Marcel’s dish

“It’s a perfect screw-up of fucking awfulness!” – Bourdain on Marcel’s dessert

“I thought your egg dish was stoner food at its finest, and I mean that in the best possible way.” – Bourdain on Dale’s dish

“Prison breaks are organized with more efficiency and team work!” – Bourdain on Marcel’s team

Clacked by Katie Schenkel
on Jan 20, 2011 @ 11:00 EST5EDT