Thoughts on Top Chef Season 7 Episode 9: Restaurant Wars

If you have not seen this week’s episode of Top Chef, read no further. This post contains spoilers!

How’d you guys like this Top Chef episode? Here are my random thoughts. Would love to hear yours!

Restaurant Wars time!

Red and blue aprons with blindfolds! Tag team cook-off, nice! Each team has 40 mins to cook a dish. I loved last season’s tag team cook-off.

Alex gets picked last. Yes, Alex the Pea Puree thief. Okay so he’s not really the thief. Or yes.

So the teams are Kevin, Kenny, Kelly and Amanda (Blue). Tiffany, Ed, Angelo and Alex (Red). Kenny’s happy that Amanda’s caught on the pasta dish he’s preparing.
Wow, lots of tasting with my fingers going on here! Chef Hubert Keller would be pissed!

The red team looks like they’re oversalting their fish. Tiffany’s salted it, Alex as well, then Ed, then Angelo. Yikes.

To taste the dishes, it’s a special judge! I’m thinking Bryan from last season but ah okay, it’s Congresswoman Nancy Pelosi, Speaker of the House.

Blue Team’s Dish: Sauteed Shrimp, Angel Hair Pasta, Mustard Sauce and Crispy Basil — yum! It gets top scores from the Speaker!

Red Team’s Dish: Roasted Red Snapper, Wilted Greens and Maitake Mushrooms — Speaker calls out the saltiness even if it’s delicious.

Team Blue wins! They share $10,000! $2500 per winner, not bad! Elimination Challenge time! Restaurant Wars!

We’ve got guys from Terlato Vineyards who share two lines each. Hello!

Angelo and Ed decide to put Alex in front of the house so they don’t deal with him in the kitchen.

The Red team looks they’re all over the place.

Cooking time! Angelo says it naturally fell into place, so Angelo’s Executive Chef. And there’s lamb with pea puree as part of their menu. Ah pea puree. You are the ceviche of this season.

Alex is assigned the butchering and Angelo isn’t happy. Red team’s running around while the blue team’s all organized. Dun dun dun.

The next day, the team heads over to Redwood and takes over the kitchen.

Tiffany realizes that the fish Alex was supposed to prepare for her wasn’t scaled or deboned well. Tsk tsk.

Angelo’s all agitated. Is his irritation with Alex getting the worst of him?

The Blue Team does the tasting with the servers. This is the first time that I’ve seen a briefing like that.They look pretty organized.

Alex is pretty rude with the servers. Maybe the assertive kind of boss is kind of style, but his manner of talking’s so bad. I wonder how he’ll treat the guests.
The servers are being yelled at by Angelo too.

Uh oh the judges are here and Alex isn’t there to welcome them. Eating time!

EVOO is the name of the Red Team’s restaurant. Their dishes:
Confit of Tomato Soup, Squash and Olive Crouton (Angelo) – Frank Bruni enjoys it.
Crudo of Black Bass and Yellowtail Sanpper with Meyer Lemon-Caper Relish (Tiffany) – Gail calls out its saltiness.
The second course is taking too long to come out. Tsk tsk.
Striped Bass, Stewed Spinach, Chorizo and Clams (Tiffany)
Slow-Baked Turbot, Eggplant Caviar and Black Olive Jus (Ed) – High praises for this one from the judges! Very Mediterranean.
Third course!
Pan-Seared Lamb Chop (which Alex first introduces as Pork Chop), English Pea Puree, Smoked Bacon and Parmesan Foam (Alex) — Ah, pea puree! On Alex’s dish! Are you guys convinced yet that he has a special connection with pea puree?!? – Tasty but lacks texture say the judges
Seared Rib Eye Steak, Crushed Walnut Potatoes and Balsamic Fig Reduction (Angelo and Ed)

Service was hit and miss says Frank Bruni. Water glass is half-empty. Alex doesn’t see the judges out. Tsk. The judges head over the Blue Team, Progressive American cuisine. The name is Twenty One 21.

Chilled Sweet Corn Soup with Maryland Blue Crab Salad (Kelly) – Soup was very thin, no flavor. According to one diner, the broth didn’t add anything to it.
Beet Salad with Chorizo-Citrus Vinaigrette (Kenny) – Too much going on.
Oakwood Grilled Strip Steak with Roasted Sunchoke and Maitake Mushrooms (Amanda) – Cut too thin, sauce was good.
Pan-Roasted Halibut, Fennel Marmalade and Tomato-Fennel Emulsion (Kevin) – Pretty dish, lot of flavor, really good sauce
Crispy Aged Goat Cheese and Strawberry-Rhubarb Relish (Kenny) – It looks great! It’s awful according to the judges. Too big for one person. A cheese stick with strawberries says one diner, which isn’t dessert. Uh oh Kenny’s dishes both got terrible feedback.
Dark Chocolate Ganache Tart with Blackberry Chocolate Chunk Ice Cream (Kelly) – great tart, no flavor

Padma would like to see the Red team. Uh oh. The RED team wins. Ah. Tiffany’s bass and Ed’s turbot were highly praised. The winner is Ed? Ed? ED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Wow good for him! He wins a trip to the Terlato vineyards in Napa, and gets a huge bottle of Terlato wine. Good going!

The Blue Team is aghast they’re the losing team. I guess cool and collected doesn’t win the race.

Kelly’s “clumsy charisma” worked. Soup was too thin though. Kenny had too many things going on with his salad. Execution was terrible. Kevin’s dish got good feedback. Amanda’s beef was overcooked and was shocked about it.

Now the Blue Team disses on how Alex didn’t do anything, and how Ed and Angelo did his dish.

Deliberation time. Kenny’s going home I think. Or maybe Amanda. Hmm.

Please pack your knives and go… Kenny. Aaaaack.

This is SAD. Everybody’s shocked. Hey I’m sad too. Alex is like the Robin of last season. They both are getting really lucky. That’s from my perspective as a viewer only of course.

Next on Top Chef: CIA!!!!!!!!!!! Wow! Is Chuck going to be here? Heehee.

“I know what it is. But for once I know something you don’t,” says Chef Wylie to the CIA head. Funny!

The dish I want to taste: Kevin’s Halibut dish since it got so many praises from the judges, and the sauce looked awesome. The pic’s not up in the Bravo site yet though.

Hi! I'm Toni Tiu, and I've been blogging at at Wifely Steps since 2003. This started as a blog to help newly weds adjust to married life. It has evolved into a home and parenting blog. I write about things close to my heart -- good eats, good reads, family, marriage, and the little things that make everyday happy.