Top Chef - S9E5 Last Chance Kitchen

Okay, Chuy in Keith's chef's coat is a devastatingly funny visual.

Who'da thunk this week's LCK would be better than the regular episode?

I love that they're throwing a little variety into LCK. For those who can't access the video, Chuy and Keith participated in a bare bones (ha!) tomahawk chop throwdown. They picked up their rack at a premium meat market, butchered five tomahawk chops, and were tasked with cooking one to a perfect medium rare.

Maybe I'm just a sucker for skills challenges, but I love this. THIS is what I like to see more of on the show... not cooking in a cornfield with canned goods. And it's extra satisfying when both chefs do an excellent job and the margin is so narrow. Though I'm definitely with Tom on one thing. It pains me to see Chuy remove the cap.

Anyway, I still don't think we're at the point where these guys have any prayer of making it to the finish line, but Keith's respectable first streak comes to an end, and a no matter how far he goes, Chuy earns a little bit of redemption.

Discuss!

Comments

[Bob]

Loved the plug for the trunk space in the Prius V. Richard Blais would have been proud! Only thing better would have been to strap the un-butchered racks to the top of the car, and have it roll over, Flintstones-style.

[Bart]

Thought it was great. Go Chuy!

And, is it just me, or isn't his name pronounced Chooy (rhymes with "goy")? Tom kept pronouncing it "Chewie" (like Chewbacca from Star Wars).

[Libster]

I didn't know who to root for :/

This really showed how much of a sweetheart Keith is. "I've got to up against my friend" and then him giving Chuy his Chefs jacket was just so darn cute.

In the beginning I was calling Chuy "Chooy" as well but it seemed like everyone was pronoucing it "Chewie" So I switched to that. Which one is right?

[Independent George]

I thought 'Chewie' was just a nickname; if I'm not mistaken, has called himself 'Chewie' on a number of occasions.

[ally]

yes, chuy is pronounced like chooey. it's a pretty common mexican name.

[ally]

to be clear, i meant chooey as in rhymes with gooey, not goy.

[Kathy from Austin]

It does indeed rhyme with "gooey." A very common Texas name.

http://www.chuys.com/

[Karen B]

Chuy is the common nickname for Jesus...pronounced Hay-sus, and Chuy is pronounced chewy.

[Duffy]

Is this correct that Dallas paid a couple hundred grand with no editorial control over how the city would be publicized?? And then got sued by the Elves over the hoopla?? I bet there are some red faces and burnt rear ends around city hall over this mess. Hooray for Houston for saying a polite no thank you to a similar deal.

[Anon Man]

See, I wanted to beat Tom upside the head for picking Chuy. Not because I dislike Chuy, but because I think Chuy's error, removing the cap, is way more of a crime against steak than simply having it seared on one side slightly more than another. I know that't one of his big nits, but it seems far less of an error than hacking off the cap.

[garik16]

Duffy certainly seems that way. It's a bullshit deal for the city. I'm surprised any of the cities have paid....Chicago, NY, Miami, and probably Vegas could easily say we don't need you if you don't want to film here. (They might not have paid, to be fair. I have no idea).

[Kathy from Austin]

My understanding (reported in the Austin Statesman) is that all three participating cities paid, but Houston refused. The producers (elves) are currently suing one or another of the cities to keep the amounts confidential.

[lamelama22]

Haha yea Dom I totally agree this was better than the actual episode. Maybe the (idiot) producers thought that it was too much of a redux of that tomahawk steak quickfire in the episode before the finale in Season 4, and so thought it would be better online than on TV? Or maybe they just wanted to show part of the Texas culture on TV? Or Andy Cohen wanted to try & crossover Top Chef & The (Un)Real Housewives of Who Cares? Ugh. I've never had a tomahawk chop steak and I really want one now thanks to Top Chef... :)

[Skillet Doux]

Anon Man... I'm totally with you, I'll take one with the cap that's done slightly more on one side than one without the cap any day. Heck, I loved that at the French Laundry, one of the dishes we were served was just the cap :-) But slightly overdoing it on one side not only can't be passed off as a stylistic choice, it's something they were specifically instructed to avoid. Whereas I'm unsure whether a capless tomahawk chop could be classified as "wrong," no matter how sad it makes you or me.

[momjamin]

This travel to different TX cities has me very curious about the logistics, especially with LCK. The meat market seemed to be in San Antonio -- so did Chuy get his letter in Dallas, then have a nice little rest/ride back to SA, where Keith was waiting? Are they always going to send them back to SA first, or will there be a secret posse following the chefs around for each LCK? How many sequester houses are there?

[gilmore]

momjamin - exactly my questions. Chuy was eliminated in Dallas. The meat market and the challenge were in San Antonio (The kitchen was the San Antonio one). The drive between the two is about 5 hours. Are they flying Coliccio down between eliminations?

[Rab01]

momjamin & gilmore - I completely missed the geography of the LCK. I guess that means that they probably film a few LCKs back-to-back. They could probably knock out 3-5 of them in one day of shooting. It's probably cheaper that way.

[Vncntdl]

Momjamin/Gilmore/RabO1: I guess this clears up (to some degree) the issue that someone previously raised about the unfair advantage that the reigning LCK chef has over the just-eliminated TC chef. Despite the way its edited (to look as though the eliminated chef immediately returns to the kitchen to compete on LCK) there seems to be some obvious delay – perhaps they even shot them all near the end of the sequestering period?

[momjamin]

I don't think there's any reason to think each LCK is consistent. Until this episode, they were all in the same city, after all. Too soon to say, but I hope on a blog or an interview or even an Andy Cohen thingie, some of the logistics become clear.

[kimberly]

I had the impression that this Dallas episode was a "road trip." I'm thinking they might be back in San Antonio for this weeks episode.

[nomnomnom]

The next two episodes are in DFW for sure. The following one is still not announced officially.