So We Think We Can Cook Masters

While we wait for the next season of Top Chef (in Washington D.C.), Bravo is tiding us over with another season of  Top Chef Masters, in which restaurateurs of good repute go head-to-head for charity. The structure is different than plain ol' Top Chef, in which all the cheftestants are whittled down one by one over the course of the season. Sure, they still get to do the quickfire and the elimination challenges--and often these hearken back to notable challenges from Top Chef--but for the Masters, a group of chefs (four to six) compete per episode, with the winner(s) of each episode going on further in the competition.

Last year, Rick Bayless took home the big prize, so he's not back this season, but a whole bunch (six) of his previous competitors are, including Wylie Dufresne and Graham Elliot Bowles. (Check out the quick and dirty facts on the cheftestants over at Eater.) Plus, there's three Seattle chefs competing for the title of Top Chef Master: Maria Hines of Tilth, Rover's Chef in the Hat Thierry Rautureau, and Jerry Traunfeld from Poppy. The latter appeared on Wednesday's premiere of Top Chef Masters season 2, along with Ana Sortun, Jimmy Bradley, Susan Feniger, Tony Mantuano, and Govind Armstrong. Traunfeld's competing for the International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission, and you can check out his tour of Poppy in the video above.

Let's get ready to Quickfire! The chefs get paired up, and working on a team, especially when you've got a big reality tv personality, is never easy. They all "jump into their Lexus" (gag) and head to LA's Chinatown--but wait, they're not going to a Chinese restaurant or market!  They're going to a gas station. Top Chef TWIST! Ah yes, the Masters have to prepare a gourmet dish using items bought at a Kwik-E-Mart (à la Season 1 of Top Chef), just like how last year's Masters faced the vending machine challenge.

And their dishes are going to be judged by The Bravery?  Who have been on Tony Mantuano's iPod for years?  Guh?  Anyway, they've got 15 minutes and $20 at the gas station, so the chefs are picking up Cheetos and Clamato and whatever other semi-edible foodstuffs they can find. 

Back in the kitchen, the chefs have 45 minutes to make their gas station masterpieces.  Govind and Jimmy are making Cheetos macaroni with grilled Slim Jims, except Jimmy accidentally picked up the Flamin' Hot variety of Cheetos.  HA ha, you don't know your junk food.  So he's got a bright red cheese sauce.  Susan and Tony are attempting to make a bread pudding out of gummy white bread.  Good luck with that.  Jerry and Ana are making a rice cake with a romesco sauce with Clamato (a "Clamesco").

Time to taste these garbage dishes.  Bring in the Bravery!  After all, they are gas station experts.  Something that I like about Top Chef Masters is that they often don't allow the contestants to be present for their quickfire their judging; nope, they make them watch it backstage on the teevee without the ability to have their say. 

Susan and Tony's maple bread pudding with caramelized bananas comes out first, and it gets mixed reviews.  Then there's Govind and Jimmy's Flamin' Hot (which they keep calling "Fiery Hot") Cheetos macaroni with grilled Slim Jims and a little cup of tomato soup with Slim Jim bread crumbs.  Again, the dish gets mixed reviews, and now the chefs are getting uppity that this band ("these kids") are judging them.  Finally, out comes Ana and Jerry's crispy rice cake with the clamesco sauce.  This impresses the Bravery that it came from a gas station, but one guy still thinks it's bland.  Sorry, Bravery, but NO.

The Bravery tallies up their scores (zero to five stars) and their averaged scores are given to the teams.  Ana and Jerry get 3 stars, Govind and Jimmy get 3.5 stars, and Susan and Tony get 4 stars.  So Susan and Tony get $5000 for each of their charities.  Thanks, Lexus!

The chefs find out that they're still stuck together in pairs for the elimination challenge as well, with both members of the winning team moving on to the next round (as well as getting a cool $10K for their charities).  The challenge is to cook a romantic first date duo dish for thirty couples.  The chefs head to Whole Foods and work on their menus in the car.  It's a challenge for these chefs to come up with separate dishes that will go well together, especially Susan and Tony, who have such different styles, though Tony is confident since he's cooked for the Obamas on their date nights at Spiaggia.

Ana and Jerry are going to work with duck and flowers, which Jerry has plenty of experience with, since both at the Herbfarm and at Poppy he's grown his own herbs and flowers to incorporate into meals.  Govind and Jimmy are making a lamb duo, carpaccio and chop, while Susan and Tony have shrimp and scallops and pasta.

The dishes are plated and all the first dates are in the restaurant. Govind and Jimmy's dishes go to the judges first.  (The judges for Masters are: James Oseland of Saveur Magazine, NYC restaurant critic Gayle Greene, and Jay Rayneur from The Observer. They don't let host Kelly Choi, the poor man's Padma Lakshmi, have a vote.)  Ah yes, Govind and Jimmy's lamb duo: seared lamb carpaccio with baby arugula and herb salad, and roast chop with cauliflower couscous, swiss chard, and a pomegranate reduction.  Govind recommends the judges eat the chop with their hands, which is an interesting suggestion on a first date (the judges think it's "sexy," but that's just another way to say messy).  Jimmy's dish goes over well, while Govind's chop is a little chewier.  Still, everyone seems to be happy.

Ana and Jerry's dishes are next.  Jerry's is a lavender duck breast with red cabbage, pomegranate, and golden beets, while Ana did a crisp duck leg in vermicelli with orange blossom and smoked cinnamon almonds.  Everyone loves Jerry's dish--they call it beautiful and romantic.  Ana's dish tastes good, but looks ugly and is hard to eat in a graceful way.

Finally, Susan and Jimmy's dishes look kinda sloppy. Susan made black pepper shrimp and scallops, accompanied by Jimmy's homemade pasta filled with cheese, mushroom, and truffles.  The pasta is a little heavy but delicious and rich.  The shrimp is a little overcooked and maybe overspiced, but the judges like the heat and the intensity of both dishes. 

The dates and judges score the dishes.  Nothing was a trainwreck, which makes judging difficult.  At Critics' Table, the chefs are asked to comment on their dishes and speak to the pairings, and the judges really only have nice things to say, which, y'know, isn't that interesting.  Each judge's individual score plus the average of the diners gives the final score, which determines who moves on in the competition.  Jerry and Ana get 15 stars; Jimmy and Govind only get 12.5 stars, so they're out already, while Susan and Tony need more than 15 to win.  They get 16 stars, so they're the ones moving on to the Championship Round--which means Jerry returns to Seattle and his herb garden.

Next week: The next set of Masters (including The Chef in the Hat) are cooking for Mekhi Phifer's birthday party.  Of course.