Top Chef New Orleans Episode 3 Recap and Review

Top Chef New Orleans Episode 3 Recap and Review

On Top Chef New Orleans Episode 3 we see an elimination Quickfire Challenge, the cheftestants had to create dishes based on guest judge Dana Cowan’s dislikes. More specifically, food trends she feels are as dead as fried chicken such as eggs on top of everything, smoked food, kale salads, and bacon with everything.

Shirley won immunity with a dish that reminded Dana why eggs paired with dishes became a trend in the first place. So, does this mean it’s OK for chefs to keep cranking out this tired fad?

Aaron was sent home because his kale dish was too salty. Maybe they should have kept him to help balance the seasoning in the Elimination Challenge?

For the main Elimination Challenge, the cheftestants did research by having a meal at Commander’s Palace, which is probably a nice restaurant because it had porcelain dishes, silver-toned flatware, and cloth napkins. The actual challenge stipulated the competitors recreate the dishes they ate both in taste and presentation. Just to add more pressure, the actual dishes from Commander’s Palace were prepared by the restaurant’s chefs so the judges could compare everything side by side and the creators of each dish were doing the tasting along with Hugh Acheson, Emeril Legasse, Padma Lakshmi, and Tom Colicchio.

The winning team presented Tory McPhail’s lovely dessert of strawberries three ways, including a cocktail which was said to be a difficult one to prepare (how difficult is it to mix strawberries and booze?). The judges felt Justin executed every component of the dish the best way, so he won the challenge.

In the end, the judges felt Bret just didn’t prepare his veal chops the right way (underseasoned and no grill marks on the meat) and asked him to pack his knives and go.

Next week, the cheftestants get a crash course on Vietnamese cooking and do battle with Vietnamese food.