Last week on Top Chef, 1,379 chefs competed for 16 spots on the show. The people who sucked were sent home. The people who only kinda sucked were placed “on the bubble” and sent to the Mulligatawny Stew Room.
This week, 10 chefs remain for Round #3, and 4 chefs are on the bubble. BTW – shouldn’t it be “on the cusp” or “IN the bubble” or “I’m on the edge of glory and I’m hanging on a moment of truth”?? “On the bubble” just sounds weird.
Anywhore, the final group - #3 – enters the Top Chef kitchen, where they are greeted by Tom, Padma, and new judge Hugh Acheson. Chef Hugh, btw, talks and acts strangely like a robot – I keep expecting him to fuss at R2D2 for disobeying Master Luke.
The chef’s introduce themselves, and then Padma tells them the challenge: There are 10 ingredients on the table. Each chef will pick an ingredient. Each ingredient is also paired with one of those silver Room Service lid thingies, which they cannot lift up yet.
Everyone picks and ingredients and lifts their lids to find an amount of time to cook said ingredient (either 20, 40, or 60 minutes).
Cooking begins and Chef Tom and Chef C3PHugh lurk in the kitchen, bothering the busy cheftestants.
Cook cook cook. Cute and likeable Chaz has selected the RISOTTO OF DEATH which can only mean one thing: he is going home.
20 Minute Group results:
Greasy Lamb Gal – out
Big Burly Texas Bear – bubble
Food Truck Dude – in
40 Minute Group:
Cute Chaz – It’s risotto, people! – homeslice is OUT.
Short Rib Chick – out
French Guy – bubble (pronounced “BOOB-el”)
Private Chef Dude – out
60 Minute Group:
Clueless Pressure Cooker Chick – out
Southern Gal – in
Korean Gal – in
The “In Crowd” goes to the Top Chef House – where Groups #1 and #2 are already getting their drink on.
Meanwhile, back in the Mulligatawny Stew Room, Intense Korean Guy is plotting ways to kill his Bubbly competitors. Padma calls the Bubbles into the kitchen before he can act on his plan.
There are 6 Bubblers and only 2 remaining spots left. Each will have 45 minutes to prepare any dish they’d like, using any ingredients in the kitchen.
During the cooking, we find out a little bit more about some of the Bubbly Ones. Lesbian Gal was broken up with OVER THE PHONE after NINE YEARS with her partner. Ouch. All Grayson wanted to do was drink when she was 15 years-old (whatever happened to going to the mall???). And Intense Korean Guy cuts himself and pretty much reacts like THIS (go to 1:25):
After the cooking is done – the chefs talk to the judges and then head back to the Dinty Moore Beef Stew Room. Eventually they are called back to stand in front of the judges.
Results:
Cruise Ship Soup Nazi – out
French Dude – out
Bloody Intense Korean Dude – in
Big Burly Texas Bear – out
In the end, it’s down to ‘Drunk-At-15 Grayson’, and ‘Single and Ready to Mingle Lesbian’. I though, for sure, that the Lesbian would get the final spot – as the Sisters of Sappho have a long and storied history on Top Chef…
But they give the final chef coat to Grayson – who immediately runs to the Top Chef House to get her drink on with the rest of them.
