Welcome to Top Chef, Not Top Scallop, the world’s greatest Top Chef recap blog. This is a recap of Portland’s Last Chance Kitchen, “Who Will Return To Top Chef, pt. 1 and 2.” Read my recap of last week’s LCK here and of this week’s Top Chef episode here. You can watch the latest LCK here.
So, we’ve got two episodes of LCK to unpack here. The first? Well, it was supposed to be Jamie defending her title against Gabriel and Nelson, but the knee Nelson tweaked during the Fruit Loop challenge has become unbearable. In order to avoid inflaming it that much more, he bows out. A shame, but cooking isn’t a sedentary activity. There’s a reason everyone’s always huffing and puffing when they serve their dishes, especially in these super-sized COVID kitchens.
That leaves a steely, determined Gabriel to square off against the Tickle Me Elmo doll that is Jamie. “You just awoke the beast,” he says in a futile effort to convince us there is a beast of any kind inside this man:
That said, his entrance prompts palpable shock among the chefs. Even Jamie, who’s never not mid-giggle, looks intimidated.
Melissa joins Tom, who’s on his best behavior in these episodes, to introduce a simple challenge: Cook using the ingredients you used to make the first dish you ever cooked. For Gabriel, that’s eggs. For Jamie, that’s rice. This is just a starting point, Tom tells them. Jamie sticks close to the nostalgic roots of the challenge, opting to make an elevated version of the fried rice she first made as a child. Hers is a “deconstructed” version that crisps the rice while folding in snow crab, scrambled eggs, and lap cheong (Chinese sausage).
Gabriel, meanwhile, wants to show technique. Instead of emulating the omelette that was his first dish, he fetches a cut of filet mignon, confits some tomatoes, and pairs it all with a corn custard and a porcini and anchovy butter that Roscoe calls “sexy sexy.” (Roscoe has been a consistent delight on the sidelines.)
Both look amazing:
Melissa praises the umami flavors of Gabriel’s dish, but Tom dings it, as he’s dinged so many before him, for its lack of seasoning. “It’s really flat,” he says, causing Gabriel’s soul to flee his body and dive into a vat of fryer oil.
Look at the psychic chaos when Jamie’s announced the winner:
Gabriel’s gonna flog himself, isn’t he?
Or maybe not! Because the journey’s not over. The first part of this two-part LCK ends with Uncut Colicchio briefly surfacing to tease that “we have some business to attend to.”
“Who wants a comeback?” he asks, Joker smile firmly in place.
The next episode begins with Tom explaining that Nelson’s departure has opened the door for any of the previously eliminated chefs to again reign over LCK. What results is a five-way battle to see who will lead the charge in LCK’s second act. It’s genuinely thrilling—ya know, in that Top Chef kind of way—to see Sasha, Kiki, Brittanny, and Roscoe suit up again, ecstatic at having the opportunity to compete one last time. “Welcome to Last Last Chance Kitchen,” says Tom.
There’s no parameters to the challenge, really. Just cook something you feel deserves to bring you back into the competition. Sasha and Brittanny both make up for having not previously cooked their specialties—pasta and schnitzel, respectively—while Kiki and Gabriel make it a point to prepare lighter dishes than they’ve served in past challenges.
For Gabriel, that’s a watermelon and tomato salad that he jazzes up by toasting some spices and smoking feta. Kiki, meanwhile, knocks Tom on his ass with a sardine and yogurt dish that looks as delicious as it does fuckin’ weird.
Roscoe showcases his lowcountry style of cooking again with a hearty faro and shrimp dish that utilizes upon the techniques of South Carolina’s Gullah community. Here’s a great 2016 article about Gullah cuisine, which is also the subject of an episode of Padma’s Taste The Nation.
Tom describes it as “lowcountry meets Italian.”
Brittanny specializes in German and Alpine dishes that she never really got to flaunt on the show. Here, she makes a crispy pork schnitzel with brown butter that the other chefs, by virtue of their awed asides, wanted to snatch up and eat like a Pop-Tart.
The winner, however, is Sasha, who made cavatelli in 30 minutes and draped it in “funky” fontina and a harissa, chili, and tomato sauce. It looks fucking divine.
This doesn’t mean Sasha is back in the competition just yet, only that she’ll face the next eliminated chef as LCK rolls on.
It does mean, however, that Gabriel will be flogging himself.
Also, I made a GIF of Tom casually walking between two stations. He’s so cool.
Programming note: I am going to Mexico next week so my recap will be arriving on Friday afternoon instead of Thursday evening. Don’t be mad!
I was bummed that Roscoe didn't win. I think his commentary was the best. But he can keep up his one-liners from the sidelines!
This only further reinforces my belief that Sasha was eliminated well before her time. Unfortunately, I don't see a viable path for her reentering the competition—a goddamn shame considering that she's an absolute delight to watch.
I know Gabriel is emphatically disliked by most Top Chef fans, but I actually felt some sympathy for him here. He looked truly exhausted and defeated, and it's hard to blame him. He was required to enter the Last Chance Kitchen just minutes after a full day of cooking and an elimination that was largely his teammate's fault. Meanwhile, Jamie and the other chefs were well-rested and full of pep.