Postcard from Chicago

I hope you are having an excellent Valentine's Day.  If you're like me, you are at work. Nice!  High five.

Anyway, off to the Windy City.  You know why it's so windy, right?  Because when best friends get together, they basically do nothing but constantly gab.  Gab while putting together furniture, gab waiting in line at a trendy torta spot, and gab while run/walking along Lake Michigan on a balmy winter's day (around 33 degrees).

After Home Depot, a snack, and a waddle, we enjoyed brunch at home.  Made up squash hash topped with over easy eggs. T chopped all the veggies ahead of time, so this was quick, packed with nutrients, and obviously delicious.  Pita bites, hummus, and sheep's milk feta on the side.  Wait--you don't buy sheep's milk feta in a two-pack from Costco?   Oh.  T doesn't understand you, then.

I was so looking forward to XOCO for dinner--it's the casual Rick Bayless sandwich shop next to Frontera and Topolobampo. 

I would love to try XOCO for breakfast.  Keep in mind that it's closed Sunday and Monday - that would be disappointing to find out at the door.  :(

Ever since I had goat at Komi I've been dying to have it again.  It's such a tender, delicious meat (when cooked well).  The goat barbacoa sandwich was the special torta for Saturday--a mild tomatillo salsa, avocado, onion, and cilantro rounded this sucker out.  The bread's texture is awesome--it's crispy and chewy the way toasted bread should be, and everything about this sandwich makes you think about how you want to eat it every single day.  Dang.  So satisfying, so comforting, just so everything.

This sandwich--the ahogada (pork carnitas, pickled onions, spicy tomato broth, etc) is the first thing T ordered at XOCO, and the second time she naturally decided to have something different.  Although it seemed like a good idea at the time, she had major ordering regrets once she realized Choice 2 wasn't as awesome as Choice 1.  On her 3rd visit she went back to the favorite, and even got to taste my torta.  The tomato broth here was way too spicy for me, I was on fiya.

Just so you know the drill, you wait on line to order, and you can get a beer or something while you wait.  Even if you get to the front of the line, you can only order if you have a table number.  We got to the front of the line before being given a table number, so we just sort of waited.  A few minutes later we got a number, ordered, then were led to our table by one of the runner/hosts.  

Dessert rounds out a meal.  Also, sandwiches are on the smaller side and we didn't have any accompaniments.  T had the churros on a previous visit, and while there was nothing wrong with them, they didn't send her senses flying.  We opted for this ginger lime tres leches cake, and it was fantastic.  The cake itself was cool, sweet, and wet, and the topping was marshmallow (!!) and some candied lime.  T wishes she had a bag of that candied lime; she is so predictable.

Cocktail time--hello, we are ladies on the go.  We headed over to Sable Bar & Kitchen for drinks after torta heaven.  The huge drink list had something for everyone, and the lounge environment was comfy.  They had tall bar tables and a long bar with stools, but also big, high-backed leather chairs.  This would be a great spot to grab apps and drinks with a friend.  It reminded me of our late dinner of appetizers in Pittsburgh. 



Breakfast the next morning found us at The Bagel.  T had heard from a coworker that they had great bagels, and she goes there all the time, etc etc.  Now, this coworker is likely not from the east coast.  I don't want to be a northeast liberal elitist snobaholic in your business, but T and I are Jersey Jews, and if anyone knows a bagel, it's us.  I'll show you a bagel.  Exhibit A: I present the cinnamon raisin bagel from Wonder Bagels in Jersey City, NJ.

I know.  Try to get a hold of yourself.

So The Bagel turns out not to be a bagelry at all.  And that's ok, it just wasn't what we were expecting.  It also wasn't the tastiest place ever.  I probably should have Yelped or something, but I didn't.

The bagel chips were sort of a redeeming factor; the baked goods just weren't very fresh.

I got whitefish salad; it would have been better if I didn't find a handful of little bones in it.  Choking hazard says what??

T's Greek omelet was kind of sad, too.  I know it's not really time for tomatoes, but these put the worst ones to shame.  Omelets are tough sometimes, especially if you are a really good cook (like T), because if it's not good you are just thinking "I could have made something much better at home."  Bummer.

Also, the service was odd.  People kept coming by and filling our water and T's iced tea to the point where it overflowed, which was messy.  But when we needed more napkins to clean that up, no one could be flagged down or found.  I can't stand when you take one sip of water and someone refills it, it means people are allllways at the table.  Stressful.  But The Bagel will survive; there were lots of families and regular-looking people around. 



So you all know how I feel about Top Chef.  I'm a fan.  I loved Stephanie Izard as a contestant, and I was super happy when she won.  I follow her on Twitter.  I knew that booking my Southwest flight to cChicago would be shortly followed by booking a rez over at Girl and the Goat.

I love the goat image that's all over the place.  Cute and delicious at the same time.  Real napkins were a nice touch. 

T and I like almost all the same foods, so we picked 4 "small plates" to share.  The dishes weren't all that small, and 4 was perfect for us.  We didn't have room (or time) for dessert on this particular late afternoon.

We started with the shaved squash and kohlrabi salad with fennel, almonds, and ginger dressing. Crunchy, flavorful, and cold, this could decorate our plates any night of the week.  Have I mentioned that we love ginger?

We had a list of daily specials, including breads.  This was super toasty crusty bread invaded by peanuts with a miso butter and a lemony dip (sort of).  It was the bomb.  Get a bread for sure.

Below is the sunchoke soup with olives and red grapefruit.  I'm not as olive-friendly as T, but the different flavors and textures here were delicious.  Salty? Check.  Sweet? Check.  Creamy?  Check yet again.  Also you can add this to the long list of Things T and I Would Share That J Wouldn't Touch With a Ten Foot Pole.

Lamb sausage stuffed calamari with sweetbread crisps (those little guys on the bottom right).  The calamari here is a casing for really flavorful, well-seasoned (but not salty) lamb meat, and there's a currant situation that sweetly contrasts.

Everything so far was so good.  But lastly came this goat masala pizza with farm fresh cheeses and the house yogurt.  (We made sure to ask whether goat meant goat like bleat bleat or like goat cheese--it meant bleat bleat.)  It was so good.  I could eat this "pizza" on a regular basis.  Somehow we stopped ourselves from eating the last few pieces.  I had a plane to catch, and I knew I'd be uncomfortably full if we went on.  Also, I knew this meal was so good that T would enjoy eating leftovers for breakfast (and she did). 

I imagine The Goat would be a great place to grab a few plates to share and some beers after work.  I know I'd go back soon if I could, but maybe you Chicago people can go in my place.



I think J and I will go back to Chicago this summer to enjoy what the area has to offer in the nice weather and visit our dear T.  By then she'll be well-versed in brunch options, late night drinks, and everything else going on, but we'll still explore and try new things because that's what friends are for.

Top Chef Episode 14 Recap: The Finale

We start at The Elimination Challenge.  The chefs are tasked with making a four course meal wherein they all use the same proteins and must make a vegetable dish, fish, meat, and dessert.  And they get sous chefs--previous winners Hung, Mike Voltaggio, and Ilan the half-Israeli minx.  Ilan and Hung don't get last names because--please.  Ilan and Hung.  Fun fact:  Ilan is Hebrew (or to get real, Aramaic) for "tree."  And that's enough linguistics for now.

2/3 finalists got their top choice to work with--drawing knives didn't change destiny.  Hung + Angelo; MVolt + Kevin (and turns out they know each other from a previous life, in a good way); Ilan + Ed.

Eric "The Ripper" Ripert and Tom are picking the proteins at the market, and they come back with some doozies and some snoresies: pork belly, cuttlefish (or cuddlefish, right Lauren?), duck, cockles, lobster, and rouget.  We've heard a lot about cockles, but I've never seen one (except on TV).  What are they like?

So I haven't mentioned yet that Angelo was ill.  It's unclear what the diagnosis was, but he was aching all over, he had migraines, and he looked like crap.  Somehow his 7pm shadow stayed well-groomed and in line.  I feel bad for him because he's sick, and the other cheftestants do a great job of being like "Oh I wish he was at his best because I want to compete against everyone at 100%" etc.  BS.  You are happy he is aching like me 1 week into swim practice circa 1999.  Hung and Angiepie communicate by phone for menu planning, shopping, and prep. 

Speaking of shopping, VIVOMART: GIANT SUPERMARKET.  That's all about that.

Angelo gets clearance to cook on the day of service, and he springs into action.  I did feel for the guy.  I've been sick during crunch time and had to keep my game face on. 

Meal-time.  First thing is first, Padma is wearing her favorite color dress, but no bib necklace.  Instead, a bumpit. 

Overall the meal went really well for all for all of them--no major disappointments.  A few complaints though: they didn't love Angelo's cherry shooter "palate cleanser."  Tom didn't like Ed's too-safe dessert.  Ripper wanted Kevin's vegetable terrine to have more heat, but they loved his duck.  They loved his Singapore Sling. 

Favorite veggie dish was Ed's, Angelo's fish dish seems favorite, I think both Kevin's and Ed's duck, and Kevin's dessert.  They keep talking about how important dessert is, which is hilarious.  Obviously "Just Desserts" premiers next.  And Kevin wins.  He took the most risks.  He brought his A game.  He worked really hard, went with things he knew but did stretch outside his comfort zone, and at the end of the day he works in New Jersey and that makes him great.  I'm not surprised at all.  In fact, the editors didn't try to twist and turn us in this episode.  Listen to the judges' discussion and you'll hear "we thought Kevin had the 2 of the best dishes out of four."  And he took risks that paid off.  P

So to recap the recap:  Kevin Sbraga, the self-identified "first African-American Top Chef," executive chef at Rat's Restaurant at the stunning Grounds for Sculpture in Hamilton, NJ, is Top Chef.  I've been there!  Well, Grounds for Sculpture, not Rat's.  When I lived in the Garden State I wasn't so blasé about spending big cheese on fancypants dinners. Hah!

Best quotes:


"I liked it when I used to fillet the fish and you pulled out the bones.  Remember those days?" MVolt to Kevin.


"I want to sacrifice every part of me to be Top Chef."  Angelo, keep the limbs attached.  We don't want 'em. 


"Very complicated dish.  I need a user menu."  Seetoh on Ed's dish.


It's been great recapping with y'all.  I was a bit apathetic about this season, but I thought this was a really fun finale.  My hope for next year is that Padma gets a new favorite color and we get some more lovable personalities (like JEN!).  Maybe less crying/yelling, too. 

Top Chef Episodes 12 and 13

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 [This photo has nothing to do with anything except for the US National Whitewater Center and my personal Labor Day weekend.]

Why are we watching two episodes several days before we'd be 3 eps back?  Because we just don't find this season that exciting.  I wouldn't wait this long to watch Mad Men, that's for sure.  Below is the low-down in case you want to just skip 'em and clear out the DVR.

So.  Only 5 chefs are left at the start of Ep 12.  Kelly is crying because she misses her husband--never a good sign! 

The Quickfire: Dana Cowin is in the house.  Create an amazing dish to pair with one of the wines in front of you.  Prize is a trip to London.  All you need to know is that Padma's weird tuxedo jacket/skinny tie situation was unattractive and Angelo took the trip to London with his sauteed foie gras with fennel salad and blacksalt something or other. 

The finale is in...SINGAPORE!  Which I knew from my Twitter feed for the past week and a half.  And it's my own fault, I waited this long to watch--can't whine about spoilers on this one.

Elimination Challenge: NASA.  The chefs head to the Goddard Space Center to meet with the head of dining.  Obligatory video of weightless people.  The winning spaceworthy dish must be freeze-dry-able, and it'll go to the training center in Houston.  Big pieces don't freeze-dry well, and the astronauts lika the spiiiicy.  Table of 8 will include the judges, astronauts, and scientists.

Anthony Bourdain, Eric Ripert, and Buzz Aldrin are among the guests.  Ed's Middle Eastern lamb dish and Kelly's halibut are both well-received, but there are questions about the freeze-drying process.  Kevin's NY strip had the same result.  Tiffany was bummed about her mussels being absent from the plate, and the guests didn't love it (except Bourdain, who said the fish sauce "sung to [him]."  Angelo's short ribs may have been too sweet, and the pickled mushrooms were too acidic for The Ripper. 

So nobody bombed.  But somebody has to go home.  It's not Angelo--he wins!  Double-winner!  His food is going to outer space and he gets a brand new Toyota Avalon.  This is fitting, because I'm pretty sure he's an alien.  The judges barely have anything negative to say about anybody.  Tom is being particularly complementary, and then Tiffany has to pack her knives and go. 

"I'm shocked by Ripert's dark, cynical, snarky, negative worldview."  Anthony Bourdain.

"Have you been to Provence?"  Perhaps the best compliment ever, from Ripert to Kelly.  He loved her artichokes.


EPISODE 13

Welcome to Singapore!  Ed already has sunburn 5 minutes in.  We're in an open market checking out chefs cooking in tiny stalls. Seetoh (see here, here, and here).  Ed is wearing v-neck, which is probably a mistake.

The Quickfire: Padma in ANOTHER bib necklace and navy dress.  Enough.  Obviously the next street food she'll taste will be from the chefs, using a wok and only a wok.  Winner gets immunity, which is huge this late in the game.  Obviously Angelo is pumped to use a wok.  He decides to make frog legs.  They are all sweating profusely.  Padma is mad at Kevin for never using a wok despite his knowledge that he was heading to Singapore (I gather they were home for a bit).  Ed wins with his elevated street food flavors, and he secures his spot in the finals.

Elimination Challenge:  A team challenge to create a cohesive menu for 80 guests of Dana Cowin, made a la minute, made to order.

Tom questions their plans to do one dish apiece, and that's when Ed drops the bombshell that he was always planning on doing two (despite that the chefs agreed to each do one because of a time issue).  Damn, Ed!  Jerk.  He acts like a dick the entire episode, basically taunting everybody--especially Angelo--by gloating about immunity and being super sarcastic.  Not classy. 

The judges really like everything.  They honestly say something positive about every single dish.  Nobody bombed.  Service did have its issues though--the chefs had no time to train the waitstaff, and their lack of training + language barrier = confusion. Ed wins, a double.  Of course, see above, Angelo won the Quickfire and Elimination in Ep 12.  Kelly heads back to Vail, and it's an all-male final. 

"Everybody's heart's on the line.  This could be the last beat."  Deep, Angelo.  DEEP!

Top Chef Episode 11 Recap

Yes, we're just watching it now.  Don't tease us.

Open on Ed walking around in Tiffany's floor-length yellow maxi dress.  Amanda thinks Angelo's weird, which may be true, but at least he can cook.  Zing!  Later he says she's a "dark horse," even though other chefs talk trash about her.  Aww, how you gonna feel about saying bad stuff about him NOW, Amanda!

The Quickfire: Rick Moonen is in the house for a seafood challenge.  Challenge Food Idioms. A dish inspired by idioms that are around for the taking, including Hide the Salami, The Big Cheese, Hot Potato, and Spill the Beans.  Winner gets their meal in a frozen Schwan's situation.

Amanda, The Big Cheese, wants to put together an awesome mac & cheese--with a side of pork chop.  Tiffany, Spill the Beans, figures beans + fish = awesome.  Kevin, Bring Home the Bacon, is making bacon three ways--but froth can't be frozen.  Ed, Hot Potato, is making gnocchi in an hour.  Sounds good and looks good, too.  Kelly, Sour Grapes, did a grilled chicken with a grape sauce or something.

Rick's least favorites were Kelly's chicken/Brussels sprouts/grape puree and Amanda's heavy-handed dish.  His favorites were Kevin's (much to Angelo's surprise, not to mine--that with the most bacon usually wins) and Ed's fab gnocchi spring dish.  Obv Ed wins because his makes the best frozen meal, which I could have told you.

Elimination Challenge: Take Me Out To The Ballgame, serving high end concession stand food at Nats Stadium.  Team challenge, which isn't so awesome.  Kelly is bossing everyone around, like she's some sort of team leader.  Last time she took charge she ended up winning.  I think there's going to be some tension between what's more baseball food, and the more high-end stuff.  Amanda's making tuna tartare--this seems like a bad idea.  Raw, outdoors, large quantities, potential heat...sounds gross.

Angelo decided he'll take the orders, because they aren't sure if they have staff.  Then he realizes he can't cook, plate, and take orders at the same time.  Ed is going to take care of Angelo's pork dish for him.  Amanda's tuna is starting to oxidize and turn gray.  Ew.  Told ya.

Long lines, ballplayers jokin' around (and loving the meatballs from Tiffany, obvs), and Padma in uniform. 

Too much stuff at the house.  Too much background, like this is part reality show and part cooking competition.  Not interested.  Don't care.  Showing the stew room while other people are at Judge's Table?  Stop that.  You too, Project Runway.

Kelly's open-face crabcake sandwich, Tiffany's meatball sub, Amanda's tuna tartare

Everybody went into Judges' Table at once.  First was a long boring explanation/argument about Angelo being expediter.  The judges liked Ed's molten aroncini and Tiffany's messy juicy meatballs.  Ed pulls out the win with his 500+ risotto balls.  He gets Chef Moonen's cookbook (zzzz) and A TRIP TO AUSTRALIA.  Jealous?

The judges liked that Amanda tried to do something different, and her veggies were nicely cooked. She looks flabbergasted.  Kevin's chicken was boring, and too short for the skewer.  I always felt like the skewer was more an easy way to cook and handle it, and less of a lollipop sort of thing.  I never go end-first into my mouth with a sharp skewer!  Kelly's was too salty, but I know they didn't hate it as much as the others.  Angelo's was too sweet, his proportions were off with the bread (and he owns a sandwich shop!), and they felt sad about it generally.  Amanda goes home.  Finally.  Since bothering me in Episode 3, she's gone nowhere but downhill in my mind. She's all rationalizations on her way out (I'm the only sous chef here, competition was really fierce, yada yada).

Quote of the Ep is between two:  "I could actually see his face on the packaging.  He kind of looks like a potato."  Angelo on Ed, who won the quickfire (and thus will have his dish made into a frozen Schwan's dinner).   "Raw fish at a stadium--that takes some baseballs."  Rick Moonen.

And, bonus information:  Top Chef won the Emmy for best reality show.  Congrats, guys!

Top Chef Episode 10 Recap

 [Conch fritter at Cafe Atlantico.  Read on to see why it's featured.]

Scene:  And the crew is still reeling from Alex's save and Kenny's demise.

The Quickfire: Wylie Dufresne is in the house--molecular gastronomist extraordinaire and former Top Chef Masters contestant.  Create a dish with contents of mystery boxes.  More mystery boxes will arrive while you're cooking, and you need to incorporate everything.  I haven't seen Mr. Dufresne since his guest appearance on Treme.  Winner gets $10K.  Angelo lets on that he has a bride-to-be on the way from Russia--so he has a kid, and now a fiancee?  Who knew?  Various boxes had fish, hominy, oysters, black garlic, squid, ramps...some chefs were unfamiliar with one or more ingredients.

Alex's dish was all over the place, and he and Amanda were at the bottom--her dish was too oily.  Wylie's favorites were Tiffany's fish stew (great broth) and Kevin's seared rockfish (puree at the bottom, his dish just looked NORMAL!).  Tiffany takes it home! 

Elimination Challenge: Off to Langley for the Secret Agent Challenge (laaaaame).  Disguise a classic dish while keeping it's flavors.  What, like it looks like a hot dog but it's really a cake?  Don't play games with me, Padma.  They are cooking for CIA officers and Leon Panetta.  Winner gets a trip to Paris.

As I told J to begin with: I want Amanda to make a fritter with a liquid center of French onion soup-iness.  I <3 liquid center, take a page from Chef Andres girl!

Cooking is a little crazy, and Kelly has a rice-cooking issue that Tiffany helps her solve.  Chef Ripert is back.  And Angelo is having an existential crisis. 

Angelo's Beef Wellington "tartlet" was deemed a poor disguise by Mr. Panetta.  It was also "salty, and the pastry was a little hard."  Kelly's spicy shrimp broth with the Kung Pao spin fared pretty well--good disguise, and people liked it, but there may have been too much broth.  Tiffany's roasted leg of lamb, a deconstructed gyro, and Ripert calls it "the most elegant gyro I've ever had in my life."  They loved it.  Then I caught a glimpse of someone I wish I knew!  Kevin's Cobb salad was good, but not so hidden.  Amanda's marmalade was like "honey and lemon cough syrup" according to one guest.  It looked pretty but wasn't good.  Alex's veal Parmesan was very tough, but a good disguise.  Ed's chicken cordon bleu was tasty but not well-disguised.

Wow, I really went into some detail here--but that's because we have a reasonable number of people who prepared a reasonable number of dishes.  We can get into the knitty gritty!

Tiffany, Kelly, & Ed are on top.  My bets are on Tiffany from the start, and if the too-much-broth and not-good-enough-disguise are enough to down K&E, T will win again.  WOOT!  Tiffany wins the quickfire AND the elimination challenge.  It's basically episode 8 all over again!  And considering Tiffany is the only one I really like, I'm rooting for her big time these days.

Angelo, Alex, and Amanda are on the bottom.  All kinds of problems, from Angelo's lack of imagination and crappy frozen pastry dough to Amanda's weird sweet marmalade and Alex's tough veal.  Alex goes home, which is good, because nobody likes him...except Amanda.

QOTD goes to Amanda: "I really like Alex.  He's like the wise old Jewish uncle that I never had."  I have a lot of Jewish uncles, and I'm glad they're nothing like Alex.  Runner up for QOTD was Eric Ripert: "Angelo's beef wellington would make Julia Child very sad."  Agree.

Things That Surprise Me:
- OMG.  Alex used to video bar mitzvahs and weddings.  I'd like to see some of that footage, y'all.
- Amanda wants to carry a gun in her garter; TMI babe.
- Ed has a girlfriend.

We watched some No Reservations: Rome and all I want to do is cut open a wheel of 2007 Parmesan and eat from the middle of it.  Sigh.

Top Chef DC Episode 9 Recap

 [Bethesda Lane in June 2010]


The Quickfire:  Tag-team cookoff--each team member gets 10 minutes to cook, and they each have to pick up where the last left off.  Those not cooking are blindfolded.  Immunity is off the table, but the winning team gets $10K.   Kenny is the Preppin' Weapon.

Order of cooking:
Prep/heating pans: Kenny and Tiffany
Second: Amanda and Alex (Alex seasons the fish even though he won't be cooking it--whaaa)
Third: Kevin and Ed
Fourth: Kelly and Angelo

Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi arrives in a fabulous pantsuit to taste the dishes.  Padma makes NP look short! 

Team K Cubed + A: Sauteed shrimp with a mustard sauce and a tomato basil salad.  The speaker is impressed with their al dente pasta.

Team TAEA: Red snapper with broth and shiitake mushrooms.  A little salty.

Team K Cubed + A pulls it out. 

Elimination Challenge: Restaurant Wars.  Before it even starts I'm wondering who is going to be front of house, who is decorating, etc.  The cheftestants take over the enormous Redwood in Bethesda.  J and I don't <3 Redwood so much, but there's no denying that the space is enormous, and they have that open the giant windows and it's like you are eating outside sort of thing going on.  Frank Bruni, former restaurant critic from the New York Times and author of Born Round is the guest judge.  The Terlato brothers are part of the prize package and will be supplying the wine for the challenge. 


First the judges go to EVOO* with TAEA:  Crudo of fish, tomato confit (Angelo's soup), pan-seared bass (Tiffany), slow-baked turbot (Ed), pan-seared lamb chop (Alex), ribeye steak.  Angelo is executive chef.

Alex is front of house, and he is a major dick to the servers.  For no apparent reason.  He also misses it when the judges walk in, and they sort of stand around awkwardly--that happens to me sometimes, I hate it!  Then he doesn't say goodbye when the judges leave.  Angelo is also yelling at the servers.

Next, 2121 with K3A: Chilled corn soup (Kelly), beet salad (Kenny), strip steak (Amanda), halibut (Kevin), ganache torte (Kelly), cheese course (Kenny).  Kenny is executive chef.

Kelly seems to be a good hostess.  She's warm and attentive.  Amanda has trouble cooking the grass-fed beef because it turns out it behaves differently than other beef.  The judges really like Kevin's dish in look and taste.  But they hate the goat cheese dish that Kenny prepared.

Better service at 2121, but neither restaurant really stuck to the theme they threw out there.  Both had hit dishes and some misses.  At Judge's Table TAEA/EVOO is on top.  They really liked their food, but the winner is Ed for the delicious turbot.  He wins a trip to the Terlato vineyards in Napa. 

So someone from 2121 has to go home.  The judges have a lot of complaints, including thin soup and crappy beef.  Eventually Kenny starts blabbing that the other team didn't act like a team, and Kevin starts saying Alex should go home because he's the one who didn't do anything.  They go back to the stew room and Kevin is pissed, there's cussing and shouting.  Unbecoming!  C'mon, Jersey, behave!  Kenny is sent home, a shock to many people, including him.  He was uberconfident, and an early frontrunner.

Overall a pretty good episode.  I didn't miss the decorating portion that we usually need to watch for RW, I guess because they took over Redwood instead of decorating a big empty space.  Back to the weekend, everybody!!!

*A note on the name EVOO (which was not E-V-O-O but "e"-voo, according to Angelo.  A lot of people were yammering about this being an annoying name because they hate Rachael Ray, etc.  I don't.  I really don't hate Rachael Ray.  I feel like a traitor saying it because it seems to be popular to talk smack about her, the way it's cool to be obsessed with Meyer lemons. 

Top Chef DC Episode 8 Recap

[In honor of today's guest chef, I bring you Café Atlantico and tiny pretty jicama-avocado ravioli.]


The Quickfire: Marcus Samuelsson doles out the challenge--immunity to the person who makes the top Ethiopian-inspired dish.  INJERA! We love it.  But is it kosher for Passover?  Careful not to overspice, ever'body!  Angelo, Ed, and Kenny are all somewhat familiar with Ethiopian cuisine, so Kenny feels confident.  Kelly's never eaten Ethiopian food.  Umm.  Most of Samuelsson's comments as he went to each station were about how much or little heat there was.  At the bottom were Kevin (dish was shy), Stephen (interesting but meatballs were juicy), and Alex (stew was too dry).  Favorites were Amanda (yummy spicy tomato), Angelo (knowledge came through, it was beautiful), and Tiffany (modern approach).  Tiffany won immunity!  And she's from Dallas, and said there's not much Ethiopian food there.  But she used the spices, balanced up her flavors, and BAM she wins. 

The Elimination Challenge: In rolls a giant map.  They each need to choose a dish from a country represented on the map.  100 portions of each dish, served at the Meridian International Center to diplomats and such.  Plus, no kitchen--just sternos.  Tiffany draws the #1 to pick her country first, and grabs Mexico.  It is her day. 

Here's a little rundown of the assignments:

Alex - Spain - Veal, and a lot of other stuff.  Also we got to watch him fall while running in the kitchen.
Angelo - Japan - Tuna ribbons (?) with something avocado and something wasabi.
Ed - China - He's "had a lot of Chinese girlfriends," so he's got this.  Tea-smoked duck breast sounds interesting though.
Kevin - India - Oy.  Stewed chicken with parsnip, etc.  He's not totally sure.  Then we see him talking to his kid on the phone--that's never a good sign.
Kenny - Thailand
Amanda - France - Boeuf bourguignon
Tiffany - Mexico - Chicken tamales with radish pico de gallo. 
Kelly - Italy - Beef carpaccio; looks gorgeous.  A guy from the Italian embassy loved it.

Stephen - Brazil- Only good if he bought it from a cart for $5, says a Brazilian.

Setup is a little hectic, things are getting overcooked, dry, etc.  Tiffany is behind, still chopping things up.  Kelly's beef looks pretty awesome.

Guest judge José Andrés!!!  He tweeted about his appearance, so I was well-prepared.  Poor Alex, stuck with Spanish tapas.  Of the man from Oyamel and Cafe Atlantico and his own flippin' show about Spanish food. 

Kevin had no clue, but he did well--Chef Andrés  loves just the smell of it.  And he loves the look of Angelo's tuna--the color, specifically.  And Tiffany wins, too!  Guests, Chef Andrés, and Tom are all psyched.  Kenny's Thai is balanced and yum. 

A lot of people were good--our guess is that Alex or Stephen go home.  Maybe Amanda, but probably not.  And it's 9:42.

Kevin, Kelly, & Tiffany are brought in to Judge's Table, and you know they are on top.  Tiffany provided Gail's dream of a very meaty tamale.  Kevin's dish had great layers.  Kelly's food was great and she had that local spin--her beef was from the great Commonwealth of Virginia, and she made sure we knew it.  TIFFANY WINS!  And she is two for two today.  She gets an extra $10K from a sponsor, too, with $10K matched (by the sponsor or Bravo, I'm not sure) to DC Central Kitchen (which really touched Chef Andrés).  Extra mazel tov to her because that could have gone allll wrong with Chef Andrés there.

Alex (Chef Andrés wanted to enjoy it because it was Spain, but that wasn't possible), Ed (overpromised and underdelivered), and Stephen (badly-cooked rice, too much garlic) were at the bottom.  If it were up to me, just ax all three.  Why not?  Alas, it's Stephen. 

I'm glad we're whittling down here, but I have to say that I just don't see a star this season.  A Jen.  A Steph.  A Bryan.  A Kevin.  I don't love anyone.  But if Tiffany won, I think I'd smile.

Lastly, Padma, your necklace is crazy.  Not a fan of bibs.  Now we're watching a couple of married fitness instructors look for their ginormous second home in Fiji.  Jealous much?

Top Chef DC Episode 7 Recap

[In today's photo, let's celebrate the fact that I did NOT have to take the bar exam today, and that my friends who did are done...or at least, almost done.]


The Quickfire:
Republican Aaron Schock from the 18th District of Illinois 'splains the Toothpick Rule to the cheftestants. He's young, but he's smart.  He graduated college in two years. Create a whole dish packed into that toothpick bite in 30 minutes. J wants Andrea's fried chicken and waffle on a stick.
Alex, Ed, and Kelly were at the bottom.  Kevin, Angelo, and Stephen were at the top, and Angelo (and his cucumber cup) took it.  It was "like fireworks" in Rep. Schock's mouth.  Padma's braid is way too long, and she's wearing baggy cargo capris...eek.

Elimination Challenge: The Power Lunch.  They are going to take over The Palm.  They draw knives for the protein.  I think Kelly is right that Amanda will be slammed for breaking down the Porterhouses into filets and NY strips.  I'm not shocked at all that Angelo isn't familiar with the power lunch.  Anyone else digging the amped up music as the time ticked down?

Exec VP of The Palm lets them know that the winning dish is going on the menu in DC and their smiling face will go on the wall with the other famous photos.  There was a pea puree debacle.  The diners were Mark Warner, Mika Brzezinski, Joe Scarborough, John Podesta, and Bruce Bozzi (Exec VP).  Kelly O'Donnell, Luke Russert, Savannah Guthrie, and Art Smith (of the local Art & Soul and Obama Chicago favorite Table Fifty-Two).

Kelly and Amanda on the steaks, and Kelly's was a bit salty.  Andrea and Tiffany with swordfish; Andrea's is maybe too sweet and Tiffany's is great but overcooked.  Mark Warner's tie is zesty, and he thinks Tiffany's fish is, too!  Alex's salmon is well-received, and Stephen's is not in symphony like Alex's was.  It has a "heaviness to it."  Lobster from Angelo was chewy, and the foam was "strange."  Ed's lobster was better, but the peas were unnecessary.  Neither Kenny nor Kevin aced the lamb.

Alex, Tiffany, and Ed were on the top.  Chef Smith loved that pea puree, the one that everyone thinks Alex stole from Ed.  Alex's salmon and pea puree wins gold!  Awkward.

Kevin, Andrea, and Kelly were at the bottom.  Kevin's lamb was overcooked and tooo spicy.  Kelly was salty mcsalterson.  And Andrea cooked food that she's done before--if they wanted that food, they would have come to your restaurant (says the judges). Kelly cries--this is me not caring that you weren't sure about the lines between bland, zazzy, and totally overpowering.  Andrea goes home--bummer, she's a nice gal.  I think she never got over being slammed by Michelle Bernstein, her alleged Miami nemesis. 

"I guess that's what happens when you don't share.  She deserves to be on the bottom."  Amanda on Kelly, who apparently hoarded the salt (really? There wasn't enough salt in a friggin' steakhouse?).  Winner of Best Quote today.  Tom's been all about the semi-working lines leading to the elimination--this week it was "instead of a power lunch, we got a power nap!" or something like that.  

The most interesting thing about this week's episode was my daydream about eating the macaroni and cheese from Art & Soul.  Bubbbbbling over the side of the mini crock pot-like bowl.  WANT.  Eventually I'll stop going to the pool, knitting baby hats, and actually tell you about Pizzeria Orso, Jersey Shore Part II, Bibiana (swoon), etc. Small hats, as proof of my busy-ness [pattern for hat here and logos here.].

Top Chef Episodes 6, Better Late Than Never

[Today's photo was taken at Kenilworth Aquatic Gardens]

Between the show, the beach, and the cable outage (from the storm), we are just today (Wednesday July 28) watching Ep6.  So I'll give you the abridged version, and later we'll move on to the new episode.

The Quickfire: Michelle Bernstein (with some saucy photos on her page) is guest judge for the Nasty Proteins innovation challenge.  Snake, wild boar, crocodile, emu eggs, duck testicles, etc.  Knives are drawn to see who picks ingredients first.  45 minutes to cook.  Amanda saws at the emu egg.  We laugh at Alex with the foie gras--is that exotic anymore?  And then, they switch proteins after 15 mins.  I'm unclear about whether they are using part of their original stuff or just switched stations completely.

Heeyo I've had rattlesnake cake!  Stephen's frog legs, Alex's ostrich, and and Andrea's wild boar lost.  Kelly's omelet, Tamesha's duck tongue, and Amanda's llama were on top.  Kelly won and has immunity.

Elimination Challenge: Cold War.  Each making a dish that's best served cold.  Groups A and B will serve the other group + judges, and then each group nominates the best dish from the other team.  Kelly dines with both groups because she has immunity.  They ride the USS Sequoia while doing menu planning.  Angelo is telling everyone what to do, Ed & Tiffany are still bff.  Andrea is fighting the everywoman's battle.  Angelo's gentlespeak sort of reminds me of Michael Jackson.

The first group basically complained about every dish they tried.  They liked Kevin's dish the best, despite the lack of acid (which Tom refuted).  Obviously they all want Kenny gone, even though they should have chosen Amanda.  Gameplay! 

Apparently Ed was The Other Man with Angelo and his former gf.  Not cool.

Tiffany was the second group's favorite, and Tamesha was the thumbs down.  

Aaaaand in the stew room they are telling about who they picked as the worst and why.  Yikesasaurus.  Awkward!

Kevin wins, even after doubting himself!  He's off to the Hilton Hawaiian Village as a prize.  Tamesha's long pepper usage was outta control, apparently.  Kenny had too much going on and it wasn't cohesive.  Tamesha is going home, and now she regrets being part of Angelo's minion.

Best Quote winner this week is Stephen for his comment: "I went from crocodile to frog.  Not really a big leap, no pun intended."  -Stephen

Obviously we caught up on Mad Men before watching TCDC6.  There was never really any question...

Top Chef DC Episode 5 Recap

 [Today's photos are from our 2008 July 4th trip to Washington, VA...we stayed near the Inn, not in it, and it rained almost the whole time, making hiking less than desirable/safe.]

Or...Let's Talk About Feelings.  Ep 5 starts with who is friends with whom (Angelo->Tamesha; Ed->Tiffany). 

The Quickfire:  Patrick O'Connell from The Inn at Little Washington (you know, Washington, VA) challenges the chefs to cook some crabs!  We're calling it that Kenny is doing too much--tasting plate?  Obviously the Marylander Timothy Dean didn't fret about cleaning those pinchers.  The bottom = Andrea (too heavy with the potatoes), Amanda (out of balance), and Kevin (confusion, crab was lost).  The top = Ed (Thai-inspired simplicity), Kenny (trio), and Angelo (delicate).  ED wins and gets immunity.  Haha, he says he's "coming out of his shell."  Like that crab.

The Elimination:  Prepare a family-style meal in one giant team at a totally organic and humane farm in Virginia in one giant team.  The farm is just a bit past Middleburg.  No ingredients or cooking equipment will be known until they arrive.  They have a tough time figuring out who will do what and how--it's boring and annoying. 

They arrive at the farm and see grills, tons of produce, and of course the Toyota mobile pantry.  Cauliflower hits the farmground, Andrea reconciles the size of her pork loin with the cool air and the crappy grill, and Eric Ripert is wearing a scarf. Chef O'Connell is wearing an amazing outfit--lavender button-down and red and tan plaid blazer.  Everyone is layered. 

The interlude is everyone describing Kenny with various (sometimes moderately ethnically insensitive) nicknames. 

It seems like the judges enjoyed dishes from Kenny & Kevin's, Kelly & Andrea, Tamesha & Angela.  Kelly's last-minute dessert was a good move, a strawberry rhubarb crisp with lemongrass-basil whipped cream.

Judge's Table: Kevin (broccoli couscous) & Kenny (curry eggplant), Andrea (pork loin) & Kelly (beet thing and the dessert) had the best dishes.  Kenny takes the prize.

Stephen (turns out his salad sucked), Amanda (grandmotherly, unpolished, amateur minestrone), and Tim (lame-o) are at the bottom.  Tim was told to pack his knives and go.  Don't get too excited, Stephen.  It should have been you, and you're probably next.

"I basically made love to that duck, to be honest witchu."  Angelo wins Best Quote and Most Entertaining.

Not a bad ep.  I like RoVa.

Back to my Patagonia catalog...

The Most Gorgeous Day Ever?

[

 [pictured: giant pitcher of Pimm's Cup, giant pickles from the Jersey Shore]

Sunday, not Saturday, of course.  Although the rain on Saturday left a pleasant temperature that was sort of a relief for us while playing host/guide to my folks.

Top Chef fans were all a buzzin' about Bryan Voltaggio Bobblehead Night--I want to see one!  Anyone planning on going to the game for this collectible??

Kojo's piece on Transforming Urban Deserts - areas without a grocery store, without access to fresh produce, etc.  

Best wine books for beginners from Serious Eats. (h/t KT).

This article in the LA Times about the First Family's dining outings made my lips curl back a little--it makes it as though before Barack Obama stopped in for a burger, Michael Landrum just had a little burger shack, as opposed to a nicely formed Ray's empire including The Steaks, The Classic/The Bar, and Hellburger (with other plans as well!).  And Komi may be hidden inasmuch as it's unpretentious in a slightly-lit townhouse, but a place that books up before 3pm 30 days in advance and is Washingtonian's #1 restaurant several years running isn't really an up-and-coming hideout.  It already came, and believe me, Komi is up.  In fact, one of my favorite things about the President's visits to our local eateries is that he's chosen places that already draw lines and crowds.  So, LA Times, thanks for the rundown of where President Obama has been, but no thanks for making it seem like those places didn't exist before he stepped inside.  OK, end of diatribe.

Recipe-wise, it was totally Cocktail Week.  Not one, but two Boozy Arnold Palmers--one at Jersey Cook and one at Corcoran Street Kitchen.  Then there's the Pimm's Cup sort of situation at Smitten Kitchen.  And of course, with these drinks, play the WMATA Drinking Game from Washingtina.  Just not on the Metro--it's not allowed, as you know.

ALSO: The grilled haloumi and tomato skewers with honey-tahini sauce looks delectable at Cara's Cravings.

Well, another week.  At the end of which will come another weekend.  Thaaaaank goodness.  Have a great one!

Top Chef DC Episode 4 Recap

 Or, none of us was really good but none of us were really bad, either.  Can we get a cookie for that?

The Quickfire:  Create a dish that satisfies Tom & Padma and their babies--8 and 2 months, respectively.  Yummy "normal" and pureed.  Good luck!  Immunity is off the table, and they have 45 minutes to cook.  I was surprised by how many chefs have kids - sooo m/paternal!

Within the first 5 minutes, Alex wants to win Creepiest Cheftestant (sorry KT!).  Babymaking talk, mentioning hookers...sorry.  Tamesha sounds like she's all clogged up--feel better, girl!  Stephen's daughters look just like him...sorry, girls.

Disappointing dishes were from Timothy (overcooked lamb), Alex (too herbacious and watery), Kevin (pool of blood under the duck), and Kelly (bland!).

Favorites: Lynne (hasn't won yet, CIA instructor); Tamesha (nice touch with the licorice oil); Angelo (baby food looked elegant and special); Kenny (great flavors, a little spice).  Tamesha is Tom's pick an Padma goes with Kenny - $10,000 each, but again, no immunity. 

Elimination Challenge:  Create a signature menu dish for Hilton Hotels, easily executed, portable, and delicious.  The chefs will make breakfast, lunch & dinner courses.  After each meal, two teams get saved, and the others move on--the opposite of Chopped. Mike I, Bryan Voltaggio, and Spike are all in the house--some of DC areas finest, along with someone from Hilton who I already forgot (but she looks nice).  Bryan was my favorite contestant of the three--handsome, humble, charming (at least via Bravo's editing).  ::blush::  Plus, I dig his food. 

Highlights from breakfast: Ed was kvetching about Alex's dish, and then he forgot to put the potato cake on one of the plates.  Um, ok.  Three teams in, and no one hits it out of the park.  Tim and Tiffany had the best looking dish (Louisiana-style eggs Benedict that "didn't need the potato hash"), and along with Amanda and Stephen (bacon-filled something or other) they had the best breakfasts.  Who said you can't taste with your eyes?


Lunch is next:  No one bombed flavor-wise, but some things didn't seem like they'd travel well or be easy to make.  The best lunches were Angelo & Tamesha (thin-sliced beef with kimchi vinaigrette), and Ed & Stephen (scallops, rabe, etc).

Dinner: 60 minutes to cook dinner, and they're cooking for their lives.   Two out of three teams make short ribs.  And someone "accidentally" turned down Lynne's oven.  Kenny & Kevin's has crispy horseradish and is well-liked by the judges.  Andrea & Kelly have better short ribs.  Pineapple red curry mussels with squid ink pasta from Arnold & Lynne, and the pasta isn't cooked enough.  That's funny, because Lynne was barking about how it would be overcooked. 

The winning team is Kelly & Andrea--getting to the dinner stage actually helped them, because the short ribs were shining.  Those saved at breakfast were unlikely to win Dish of the Day, let's be honest.  They win all kinds of traveling swag.  And it's Kelly's second win--remember when she was a bossypants?

Kenny & Kevin underglazed their short rib, and Lynne & Arnold cooked complicated food, except for the pasta, which they didn't fully cook.    Neither dish was a flop, and Arnold & Lynne get the axe.  I was sick of them both anyway. 

"I don't know what people might say, but they might think I'm more than a Louis Vuitton bag."  -Arnold gets Best Quote, and what does that even mean?

Favorite #topchefdc tweet on my feed was from ElyssaK: What the hell is Padma wearing? I looks like the vest you wear when getting x-rayed. #topchef
 
And Amanda?  Still annoying.  Why she was messing with Kevin in the stew room when he's got a head on the chopping block, THAT I do not know.  Leave those people alone to...stew. 

Performance of the day hands-down goes to Mark Renshaw. Oh wait, he's from the Tour de France.  Regardless, today Mark delivered Cav, the Manx Missile from the Isle of Man, with near perfection.  Follow Mark on Twitter.  Check him out at 8:45.

So no big WOWS this week (in Top Chef, that is), and no big fails either.  I'm still not in love with anyone.  Be more interesting; the angerball routine is old, and the overconfidence (Andrea: I was named best new chef at yada yada; Angelo's very existence) are just irritating.  Maybe that's what makes a great chef?  If so, I don't want any chefs as friends.  Ever.

Top Chef DC Episode 3 Recap

...or, the Not So Quickfire.

But first: We open with Angelo crying a river about something in his Zoolander accent with his weirdass hat, and Kenny thinking he has to win everything.  Male ego blah blah blah.

The Quickfire
Special Guest Johnny Iuzzini (James Beard award winner, hair G-d, and pastry chef at Jean-Georges.  Don't forget, he'll be a judge on Top Chef: Just Desserts along with Gaily Pie).  Cheftestants have two hours to make a pie.  Amanda doesn't like pie (hasn't she seen the data?).  There are some disasters; Tracey's is watery, Ed thinks celery has something to do with bananas (by the way, spuma is foam), and poor Kevin made a good-looking apple pie that we never saw/heard about.  Stephen, Kelly (yum-looking "chocolate pie" aka ganache tart) and Kenny were on top--Kenny's bananas foster pie won. 

Elimination Challenge
Make a dish for an intern cookout/picnic on Mount Vernon.  Four of us suggested Mt Vernon in the Capital Spice contest in December.  It's a no-brainer!  We know simply that there will be grills for cooking.  J suggests that there might be a twist about the number of grills or type--he's a tricky one, but no, there's a charcoal Weber (sponsorship HI!) at each station.  Top Chef Master and chef from Barbuto in NYC Jonathan Waxman is in the house.

The most interesting part of this challenge was Padma's yellow dress.  Otherwise barbecue this, burger that, flank steak here, skirt steak there.  The judge's didn't seem to love love anything.  Many dishes were written off as soggy, bland, chewy, etc.  Not the adjectives you're looking for as a chef, generally.  Alex was crass about his pork butt, Kelly's bison burger was pretty but simple and bland, Tamesha's steak is chewy, and the list goes on.

Judge's Table
On the top:
Ed - Middle Eastern tuna loin with lentil hummus
Amanda - ribs that were good, but the salad "didn't need to be there"
Arnold - lamb meatballs skewered with lemongrass (right up my alley, I love lamb meatballs!!!) and barley salad
Angelo - Vietnamese style beef lettuce wrap that is worth of a magazine cover, according to the judges

And Arnold takes the win.  Sounds right to me.

On the losing side we had Stephen (bacon-wrapped Chilean sea bass), Timothy (pork two ways and overcooked veggies with unseasoned rice), Kevin (super-safe Puerto Rican food), and Tracey (over-fenneled undercooked Italian sausage sliders).  And Tracey is out.  As J says, she should have seen it coming; she is clairvoyant, after all.

So to me, the Winner also won Most Annoying tonight, just edging out Amanda.  Arnold has an overdramatic defensiveness that is positively infuriating.  Just reeelax, man.  Coming from me that means a lot.

But still, Amanda.  Her excuses during the Quickfire ("I'm not a pastry chef."  Duh girl, none of you are), her running around freaking out constantly during prep, her screaming at poor Alex about how she "labeled" her oven, despite the lack of an actual physical label...girl is a mess.  Plus her TMI about how she used to be addicted to pills and coke?  She made it seem like after getting through what had to be a difficult time (obviously), she now can do anything, which apparently includes being a narsty biznatch.

And I'd be remiss not to mention Ed in this category.  Apparently because he's so much more accomplished than his dad was at his age, he's already Top Chef.  Mazel tov, buddy, because I think it's the closest you're going to get to the title.

"It wasn't a good day for American chefs. " Tommy C. won Best Quote when he basically called the chefs on the bottom unpatriotic for the bland, uninspired food they created.  George Washington would not be proud. 


And we're down another week.  What did you all think?  I'm personally looking forward to some better TV coming soon--the Tour and Mad Men. 

Top Chef DC Episode 2 Recap

Or, "Everyone is Obnoxious."

Special Guest: White House chef Sam Kass.

The Quickfire: Create a bipartisanwich.  30 minutes to make a sandwich in a 3-legged race style apron--one hand per chef, teams of two.  It seems almost as impossible to cook a delicious meal as it is to create meaningful legislation!  Zing!  P.S. they finally drew knives for this challenge. YAY.

In the quick skim around the room, I wanted to eat the lamb croque madame the most.  I love lamb.  I love eggs.  These are not secrets.  Tracey & Angelo and Kenny & Ed were on top, and T&A took it.  Third consecutive win for Angelo.  I guess it would have been embarrassing to lose since he owns  a sandwich shop in NYC.  I think his weird semi-accent might have to do with his parents' background and living abroad for a time.

Elimination Challenge:  Let's Move makes its TCDC debut.  Make a complete school lunch (with all the food groups + dessert) for 50 students at Alice Deal Middle School...on a budget of about $2.68 per student. [Then Kass took $4 from everyone's total, which is the reality our schools face.] The winning Quickfire team picks their team members first, then everybody else chooses on their own.  How...fair.  Odd.

During menu planning we see Kelly being super confident and trying to lead her group.  Tiffany is not a fan of this, and neither is Arnold.  In fact, Arnold hosts a nervous-yet-forward intervention to tell her There Is No I In Team.  She's shocked that people think that she thought that they thought...you get the point.  Amanda and Tamesha are all "bleep bleep bleep" during menu planning.  Go read a book and expand your vocab, bebz.

Speaking of Amanda, she's annoying me.  First the pottymouth during menu planning.  Then she decides to make chicken with a sherry au jus.  Is it okay to make something with alcohol in it for kids?  I know it cooks off, but it just seems wrong.  Seems like Amanda was annoying Tamesha, too. 

Next: Budget crises.  Everybody is over-budget.  So people scrimp and cut and change the menus.  Wuh oh.

Ultimately, the two losing teams were brought in first at judge's table, throwing EVERYONE off.  Angelo, Tracey, Kenny & Ed; and Amanda, Stephen, Tamesha, & Jacqueline.  Angelo's team had a handful of issues (umm I won't go into detail, but the sweet potato puree looked wrong), but the judges harped most on what was missing--there really weren't any vegetables.  Kenny was convinced that Mr. & Mrs. Immunity threw the challenge (which would explain Angelo's glorified ants on a log).  I was surprised the judges honed in on the tomato as fruit v. vegetable controversy (decided by the Supreme Court here).  Amanda's team was plagued by her "unappealing" chicken and Jacqueline's offensive banana pudding, which was starchy and filled with sugar.  Two pounds of sugar, to be exact.

The judges got to sit back and watch the contestants hash out the details FOR them when Stephen started bashing the other team's choices, kicking off some back and forth banter.  So immature and unprofesh!  Stick to your own teammates if you are going to get nasty, peeps.

I thought that one losing team would be picked, and one person from that team would get tossed.  Instead, 4 people (2 from each bottom team) were called to Judge's Table.  Here it was Kenny, Ed, Amanda, and Jacqueline...I think.  Most importantly, Jacqueline was tossed for her unhealthy dessert.  Dessert loses again!  Also, when you squint she looks a bit like Jenna Elfman.

So we're stuck with Amanda for another week.  Maybe she'll be edited into someone less annoying in the future.

On to happier times--the winner!  Kelly's team had the best offerings, despite her initial overbossiness.  Her dish won.  Unsurprising, considering she made the entree (pork tacos).  I'm not sure a side dish would have won a challenge like this.  And I know the dish wouldn't have won about 8 miles north!  Location, location, location.

So who DO I like?  No one.  Not that TCDC is completely devoid of anyone talented + likable, but the past few episodes have focused more on the haughty/cocky/dramatic.  Bring on the adorable! 

My favorite part of this episode was the teaser in between commercials where Padma was giving all the kids hugs. My second favorite moment was when one of the students talked about how funny it was to have ice cream with a vegetable (sherbet with sweet potato), but he liked it. 

Weekly Recap A Little Late - OR IS IT!

Wait, am I the only one who is still enjoying the weekend?  I took today off from work to play tourist with three of my lovely cousins.  Abe Lincoln, WWII Memorial, Old Post Office Clocktower---despite the super hot weather, we had a wonderful time and had a blue sky backdrop for our photos.  What more can you ask for? [...besides it being 75 instead of 95, of course.]

Let's quickly recap last week so we can move on to this week.  I just can't bear to skip it, because ever since I started these recaps out of boredom (THANK YOU SNOWPOCALYPSE) I just can't wait to tell you about my food news/bookmarked recipes/favorite stories of the week.  You know, just in case a) you don't follow me on Twitter (I'm heartbroken), or b) I was too lazy to find the link on my phone to copy and paste into my Twitter app.  It happens.

Top Chef started.  I feel like I'm the only one who wants the hashtag #TCDC to happen.  Why waste the characters with #TopChefDC?  But I'm alone (except for a few lovely friends).  OBVIOUSLY, we have our fair share of recaps going on.  The first three I read were We Love DC, Capital Spice, and Brightest Young Things. CS was more about the places featured in the episode and their history.  Learn something, will ya?  It's classy.  Oh, and Hank Stuever from the Post thought it was lame, in a nutshell.

Recently I've noticed apricots taking their share of the spotlight---fresh from Foodwanderings and dried from Passion Fruits.  I'm an apricot fan, and the other day on NPR I heard a story about a WOMAN named Apricot!  Good times.  Speaking of fruit, Cherry Pie from Adventures in Shaw is so gorgeous and so yummy looking.  I want to buy it. 

It turns out GW Law is not just a JD factory...it produces a disproportionate number of people who head toward the culinary arts (including a friend from my year! But he doesn't have a truck...yet.).  P.S., does Mr. Curbside Cupcake still use boxed mixes for his treats?  (h/t LB)

Tackle Box is coming to Cleveland Park.  One of my former favorite haunts.  Reasonably priced, usually yummy, but the real question is--who will be making the pie???  (add'l h/t to Komi to Marvin and Metrocurean)

Lunch joint in the sky (h/t EmGusk).  

And also, h/t to EmGusk for teaching me the abbreviation h/t.  Hat Tip.