Buh-bom, ching! Yes, last night’s ep focused on offal, and it also focused on Rick Bayless a whole bunch. I thought they were going to pull one of the Bravo switch-a-rooskie, where they show one person every five seconds and then someone else comes out on top. Was that the case? Jump for the recap.
Chefs this week:
Wilo Benet: “first celebrity chef from Puerto Rico,” according to Tom Colicchio. Owner of Pikayo in Puerto Rico.
Rick Bayless: Chef/owner Chicago’s Frontera Grill and Topolobampo.
Cindy Pawlycn: Chef at Napa Valley’s Mustards Grill and cookbook author.
Ludo Lefebvre: French chef, formerly at L’Orangerie, now at Ludo Bites at Breadbar in LA.
So, we meet the chefs and Kelly comes in to announce the Quickfire. The chefs draw colored knives, and they must cook a dish using that color only. French Ludo tells us (with subtitles that seemed a little unnecessary to me) that he is happy he drew red because it’s intense, and so is he. Yes, that becomes very clear from the get. Bayless gets green, Cindy gets yellow, and Wilo gets orange. They cook. Rick says he’s “all thumbs” in a kitchen that’s not his. Lemme tell ya, if that’s all thumbs, then I’m all feet and legs in the kitchen. He looked pretty good to me. Anyway, judges are a food stylist, a cookbook author, and a photographer. Cooking begins and Ludo throws the first of approx 500 evil glares Rick’s way. He should have spent more time cooking, since Cindy jumps in to help him plate and he still forgets one of his components (a tomato). He is cursy and snarly. I don’t like him.
I had to take the dog out during the judging but Wilo won with his smoked salmon tartare. Everyone was grossed out by Ludo’s beet gazpacho. Ha.
Next up, the Elimination Challenge. Chefs must prepare a street food dish to serve at Universal Studios using–wait for it–offal. Yes, “the viscera and trimmings of a butchered animal removed in dressing,” according to Merriam-Webster online. Cindy gets tripe, Rick gets tongue, Wilo gets heart and Ludo gets pig’s ear. At this point I touched my fingertips together in the “this is the church” position and wiggled them in anticipation of a tough challenge. They head to Whole Foods and Cindy tells us that back home, she and her girls have a group called “Girls Who Eat Guts.” They get together and eat offal and stuff. How awesome is that? They get their ingredients and of course Ludo is overbudget but he figures it out. Cindy is making menudo, Ludo is making quesadillas, Rick is making tacos, and Wilo is making a Puerto Rican street food called “tripletas.” Ludo is convinced that Rick stole his idea and is only doing tacos because Ludo told him he was doing quesadillas. Hello, Ludo? This is common sense calling. Rick Bayless has kinda got this taco/quesadilla market cornered, if you haven’t heard…he makes approx 100,000 tacos by hand everyday, so, um, he’s proly not stealing your ideas, m’kay? Cooking begins. Cindy is concerned about using a pressure cooker because she’s never used one before. Wilo is concerned because he’s never cooked a cow’s heart before. Rick just smiles. Ludo steams and his head pops off. Well, not quite yet. You see, everyone takes on the challenge and cooks to the best of their ability and gets all ready to go, except Ludo, who is totally struggling and when the chefs offer to help him, he gets all defiant and says he wants to be left alone. He’s just a jerk. Some people probably like that kind of attitude but it’s just not for me. He’s not even an interesting villian.
So, the chefs head to Universal Studios and set up their stations. Cindy’s got it all wrapped up with her little bowls of soup (thank G it’s cold in LA that day). The judges think it’s good but underseasoned. Bayless is piling up his tongue tacos with potatoes, chorizo, bacon, and guacamole, so tasting the tongue is going to be pretty impossible. He makes about 50 “slip me the tongue” jokes, but this guy is on. The judges come around and Gael wants seconds. Others like it too. Wilo is also working the crowd with his heart tripletas, doing a little Cocktail impression with his bottles of spicy sauce and generally charming everyone. The people seem to like it, but the judges are meh because the heart is chopped so finely you can’t tell it’s there. Ludo is still struggling to make his quesadillas. The judges wait…and wait…and finally he serves them up what Oesland describes as a “grilled cheese with pig’s ear.” Jay likes it. Ludo attempts to flirt with Gael but she is impervious to French charms after all these years in the food biz.
Now for the Judge’s Table. Cindy gets knocked for her broth. They wish Wilo would have grilled his pita but they still liked his dish. Jay says Rick’s dish is “big, bright, and lovely,” and Rick does the thing where you touch your fingertip to your tongue and then sizzle it on your shoulder. Ludo’s pig ear is well-cooked, but the dish just didn’t work for them in general.
Winner: Rick. He beat Wilo by three stars. Pretty much kicked booty. Next week, three words: Neil.Patrick.Harris.
