Richard Blais Takes Top Chef All Stars
Just a quick note to congratulate Richard Blais for winning Top Chef All Stars. Your life is about to change. Enjoy the ride, chef.
For those who missed the fireworks last night on Bravo here is a nice breakdown from TVfanatic.com:
The Final Challenge
No Quickfire, there’s just too much to do! The finale seemed a bit rushed to me, but at least Mike and Richard got to open up the restaurant of their dreams, with eliminated foes as their sous chefs. In an interesting twist, the chefs could not directly pick the latter; instead, the sous chefs “auditioned” for Mike and Richard.
While it’s a fun twist, I wonder how happy the eliminated chefs must be to cook for the finalists. The fact that chefs who aren’t chosen seem rather excited to enjoy their time in the Bahamas probably makes Richard and Mike more nervous.
The chefs are apprehensive, of course, because in addition to gems like Angelo and Antonia, there is also Jamie and Marcel. Richard gets Antonia, Spike, and Angelo, a fairly strong team, while Mike picks Jaime (ouch!), Carla, and Tiffany.
Richard’s Restaurant: A surf and turf restaurant named Tongue & Cheek. So Richard!
Menu:
- Amuse Bouche: Raw Oyster with Lemon Horseradish Ice Cream and Salsa Verde.
- Raw Hamachi with Fried Veal Sweetbreads, Asian Pear, Pickled Radish, and Garlic Mayonnaise
- Pork Belly with a Black Cod Cutlet, Bone Marrow, Beets, Brussels Sprouts, and Kumquat
- Beef Short Rib with Mushrooms, Red Cabbage Marmalade, and Celery Root Horseradish Puree
- Cornbread with Foie Gras Ice Cream and Whipped Mango
The food is generally well-received by the judges, although they seem a bit confused by the foie gras ice cream. I’m awfully curious to know what that tastes like.
Mike’s Restaurant: An Italian-themed restaurant named Iz, as his mother called him Izzie while growing up.
Menu:
- Spiced beets with Mozzarella, Chocolate, and Truffle Vinaigrette
- Halibut with Kumquats Marmalade, Cauliflower Puree, and Pancetta Crumbs
- Braised Pork Shoulder with Pepperoni Sauce, Roasted Cabbage, and Turnips
- Rosemary Caramel Custard with Pine Nuts, Citrus, Cherry and Apple
Mike’s restaurant gets rave reviews, as well, although his dessert isn’t as well-received.
RichardBlais
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ICA: Flay vs. Stone – Outcome
SPOILER ALERT: The following information is the outcome of Flay vs. Stone. If you want information on the combatants click HERE. If you are only interested in the outcome read on.
Judges for Battle: Skipjack Tuna were John T. Edge, Cady Huffman and Jeffrey Steingarten. A special condition was that each course had to feature a grilled item. Chef Flay was once again assisted by blonde bombshell Sous Chef Renee Forsberg (Senior Chef Tournant at Mesa Grill). Chef Renee was sporting her signature Pocahontas ponytails. Also adding heat to Flay’s kitchen was the adorable Christine Sanchez, Culinary Director of the Iron Chef’s company, Bold Food.
Flay Stone
Taste: 26 Taste: 19
Plating: 12 Plating: 10
Originality: 11 Originality: 8
Total: 49 Total: 37
Winner: Iron Chef Flay
If you haven’t already, be sure to check out my exclusive interview with Iron Chef Bobby Flay.
Flay and Stone have now teamed up for NBC’s new reality competition America’s Next Great Restaurant.
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