Two things happened on Top Chef episode 10. Both Casey Thompson and Sylva Senat got eliminated from Top Chef Season 14. And, Top Chef host, Padma Lakshmi, showed that she can definitely pull off a hat.
The episode began with a Quickfire Challenge, and the contestants had to prepare dishes with shrimps. Casey Thompson prepared a wonderful dish—shrimps with coconut broth. The only glitch in her dish was the seasoning, or rather the ‘over-seasoning’ of the broth. Thompson got heavy-handed with the seasoning of the broth and this gave the other contestants an upper hand. That one tiny mistake cost her, and the judges put her in the bottom three.
The Quickfire Challenge round wrapped up with Casey Thompson, Sylva Senat, and Shirley Chung in the bottom three. Sheldon Simeon won the round with his delicious tomato water-poached shrimp roe. The Sudden Death Quickfire round started on a jaded note.
The Sudden Death Quickfire Challenge
In Sudden Death Quickfire Challenge, the bottom three contestants had to serve a dish from the boat’s bycatch. Casey Thompson chose the squid. With limited time on the clock, she served an under-cooked plate of chewy squid. The judges ruled her out on the basis of the squid’s texture. Casey, a Top Chef former finalist, left this season disappointed and a bit annoyed.
Still reeling from Thompson’s sudden elimination, the other contestants geared up for the Elimination Challenge round. In the Elimination Challenge round, the remaining Top Chef contestants had to feed an innovative brunch to an undisclosed number of guests at a fashionable hat party.
The Elimination Round: The Hat-Brunch Party
The task was to creatively invent a dish with a savory and sweet taste at the same time. Most of the contestants managed to figure their way out of the challenge. Once again, Sheldon Simeon shone with his Korean fried waffle chicken with seaweed butter. The judges unanimously complimented his dish as “cravable” and scored points for creativity as well.
Unfortunately, Sylva’s arctic char frittata failed to impress the judges, and had to pack up his knives at the end of the show. Casey and Sylva were two talented chefs on Top Chef Season 14, and they will surely be missed.
Don’t miss the “Last Kitchen Chance” episode of Top Chef, where three chefs will battle in their last chance to redeem themselves. Maybe your favorite chef has a chance.
Catch the next episode of Top Chef Season 14 on Thursday night at 11/10c only on Bravo TV.
Sources:
Colburn, R., “Inspired by the cronut, the chefs need to get creative in this week’s Top Chef,” A.V. Club web site, February 3, 2017; http://www.avclub.com/tvclub/inspired-cronut-chefs-need-get-creative-weeks-top–249649, last accessed February 6, 2017
Sugar, R.,“Top Chef Charleston Recap: Shrimp Boats and Cronut Aspirations,” Grub Street web site, February 3, 2017; http://www.grubstreet.com/2017/02/top-chef-charleston-episode-10-recap.html, last accessed February 6, 2017
