Top Chef Power Rankings

Top Chef - S4E2 Power Rankings

One thing that I've enjoyed quite a bit early in this new season is perusing the recipes on the Bravo website. A couple of seasons back, the recipes were sparse. You could usually find the elimination winners and a few notable others, but the collection was by no means comprehensive. Contrast that with this season, where almost every single dish has a solid, detailed recipe for you to refer to. Not only does it really help you to get a sense of what these chefs are doing, but in the event of one of my Top Chef pet peeves -- the dishes that are never even mentioned -- it's the only way to find out what they're making.

And speaking of that pet peeve, this week's quickfire was a particularly egregious example. Fully seven -- nearly half -- of the dishes were never named, shown or discussed in any way on the show. Though having now perused the recipes, I kind of understand why. It's a litany of steaks, with exactly half of the dishes involving grilled beef. It's tough keeping them straight when you have the recipes laid out in front of you, to say nothing of what it would be like to do so if they're flitting by on screen. But still, you're left wondering what the heck these guys are cooking. Fortunately for you, the author of the power rankings has done his research and left no stone unturned, so that when he gets to the tightly-grouped middle of the pack and starts making arbitrary decisions, at least he can say he isn't making calls out of ignorance.

It's only week two. The standings are volatile...

Wins

Top

Bottom

1 Mark Quickfires 2 2 0 Last Week: 8 Eliminations 0 1 1 I like a little stability in my power rankings, but it's only week two, so I'm not going to agonize over the top spot just yet. A great week for Mark earned him a huge jump. Not only did his sirloin with mushrooms, peaches, turnips and butter earn him another quickfire win (though there was no "winner" last week, he was one of two singled out for praise -- I'm counting that), but he did it despite leaving behind his mizuna greens, and he managed to stand out despite the fact that, as mentioned above, the kitchen was filled to the rafters with grilled beef. And what a great idea that crispy quinoa croquette with marinated anchovy "nigiri" was. It didn't bring home the elimination challenge win, but it seemed clear from the judges' comments that he was right there at the top and I loved the concept and recipe. Four challenges, and Mark's managed to rack up a win, a pseudo-win, and a near win. So despite getting a little goofy with the duck last week, it's hard not to give him the top spot.

2 Richard Quickfires 1 1 1 Last Week: 1 Eliminations 0 1 0 Even though Dufresne called him out in the quickfire, I'm reluctant to drop Richard too far based on the strength of his cooking last week. Had weeks one and two been reversed, he'd definitely be battling Mark for the top spot, so I don't see why this should be any different. It's hard to say what Dufresne didn't like about his "Chicken Soup" with apples, apple cider and eucalyptus. We didn't get much in the way of commentary. But a couple of judges commented on the strength of his bison tartare with tarragon coulis, and I thought it looked like a neat recipe. My hunch is that if he were on a different team, he'd have been in the running for the win. In any case, he still looks strong to me despite the minor stumble, and he hangs onto number two.

3 Antonia Quickfires 0 1 0 Last Week: 4 Eliminations 0 1 0 Antonia didn't make a big splash this week, but she put together two more solid dishes and answered some of the questions I had about her last week. Though it didn't make the show, her ribeye with celery root gratin, Brussels sprouts and brown butter was one of the more interesting quickfire recipes I perused. And her lamb and edamame in lettuce cups with soy marinade, chopped cashews and crispy rice noodles was the lone success on the otherwise pitiful Team Gorilla. Again, it was fairly straightforward, but it was out of the Italian palette this time, and Gail seemed to really enjoy it. Add to this the fact that she just seems cool and confident, and while I'd like to see a lot more creativity out of her, she's just looking rock solid right now and I can't drop her.

4 Dale Quickfires 0 1 0 Last Week: 3 Eliminations 0 0 0 Dale, on the other hand, I need to move down a notch. I'm still waiting for him to make a splash, and I feel like it's coming, but he needs to make a move soon or he'll start sinking more rapidly. Dufresne seemed to really enjoy his mushrooms with shallots, radishes, eggs and butter. And while his elimination dish didn't receive much attention (owing, I believe, to the fact that he was teamed with Nikki), his venison loin was a really complex little bite that sounded wonderful to me. It was skewered along with honeyed roasted squash, and topped with a port and berry reduction, a gin crème fraîche and "juniper dust". But he also got into it with Nikki (who totally deserved it -- more below -- way below), and even if it wasn't his dish, adding cheese to the mushrooms without tasting them was just stupid. So I'm going to let him slip a spot.

5 Stephanie Quickfires 0 0 1 Last Week: 2 Eliminations 1 1 1 Stephanie should probably be dropped further after a rough week and a narrow escape, but here's the thing. When I went to Scylla last year, one of my friends had a dish that I think was Stephanie's ill-fated roasted pear and crab salad with celery root. Or if not, it was something very similar. And it was AWESOME. So call it insider information if you must, but if she hadn't gotten stupid and decided to toss it ahead of time, I don't think the improvement would have been small. Luckily for her, that banana bread bailed her out. I suspect her mother will be getting flowers for that one. Stephanie's clearly dealing with her nerves, and she's going to have to get them under control. But if she can, I think she has the best shot at giving us a female winner. IF.

6 Andrew Quickfires 0 0 1 Last Week: 11 Eliminations 1 1 0 The other big jump of the week, Andrew came across as a totally different chef (and person) in week two. As grating and arrogant as he was at the outset, he seemed downright cheery and playful this week. And his food seems to have come around as well. His lamb chops with balsamic peach chutney, onions, mint and potatoes looked like a solid dish. He was just too tweaked to realize he was using too many ingredients. And a charred squid ceviche with soy balsamic tapioca? I couldn't pass that up if I saw it on a menu, and apparently the flavor matched the uniqueness. The yuzu mint glacier was just the icing on the cake. If he keeps having fun like this, he's going to be around for a while. I may have judged too soon. Suddenly I'm very curious to see what he'll do next week.

7 Jennifer Quickfires 0 1 0 Last Week: 5 Eliminations 0 1 0 Jennifer drops a couple of spots here through no fault of her own, but rather because a couple of others made a splash. She's still flying under the radar, quietly cooking dishes that look great on the website, even if they aren't getting the editors' love. Her quickfire was one of the steaks, a grilled sirloin with a charred pepper and tomato sauce. And while her elimination dish was kind of dismissively mentioned as "roasted zucchini", that belies the sophistication of the dish. In reality, the recipe is a full-on grocery list, including an artichoke stuffing, anchovy aioli and olive tapenade. Not the flashiest in terms of flavor palette, but more complex than the show made it seem. She's one of the middle of the pack dark horses who I suspect will make a splash sometime soon.

8 Lisa Quickfires 0 0 1 Last Week: 9 Eliminations 0 1 0 Another of the middle-packers who I suspect we haven't really seen yet is Lisa, who showed a little more than she did last week. Another of the grilled meats that didn't survive the cutting room floor, her quickfire dish actually struck me as one of the more interesting ones, and given that Dufresne didn't call it out on the bottom, I have to believe it succeeded on some level. She did a ribeye with sautéed leeks and a beet caramel sauce. I would have liked to see Dufresne's take, and it's too bad we didn't. And in the elimination, she showed a little range, going Asian with her Thai shrimp and crab salad with tempura watercress. Plus, crispy watercress at a catered event? Nicely done. I'm looking forward to a breakout dish from her.

9 Spike Quickfires 0 1 1 Last Week: 6 Eliminations 0 0 0 I still think Spike shows potential, but he stumbled a little on the quickfire and his offerings this week didn't strike me quite like the ladies above. It's possible that you can write off the failure of his T-loin tips with apples, bread and rosemary to unexpected meat, but he should've known better anyway. A nice-looking elimination dish keeps him hanging in the pack, though. His salmon a la plancha with pickled vegetables and fresh herbs in a lettuce cup was an excellent choice for this type of event, and he seemed to have pulled it off nicely. I suspect he, like Dale, was hurt somewhat by having Nikki on his team. Otherwise, we might have heard a little more praise. In any case, he's the third of the middle four who have yet to distinguish themselves.

10 Zoi Quickfires 0 0 1 Last Week: 10 Eliminations 0 1 0 The last of this waiting to bust out group, holding steady at 10, is Zoi. Her quickfire dish, not shown, was a grilled hen of the woods mushroom with squash puree, sautéed kale and chestnuts and balsamic vinaigrette. The presentation was fairly sloppy, but hey, it wasn't grilled beef. Her Moroccan-spiced lamb meatball with ricotta cream, pomegranate syrup and pistachio, however, looked like a great dish and got some high praise. My sense is that she won't be around for too long, but that's more by virtue of my belief that the solid but unspectacular crowd is going to be scraping the bottom of the barrel very soon. In any case, with the understanding that anybody can make a dumb mistake and blow it, Zoi's going home before her partner.

11 Ryan Quickfires 0 2 0 Last Week: 14 Eliminations 0 0 1 Hey, what do you know? It looks like Ryan decided to stick around for a bit. While he didn't have the same kind of turnaround that Andrew did, Ryan had a pretty solid week. His sirloin with lettuce, radishes, potatoes and dijon wasn't exactly reinventing the wheel, but Dufresne singled it out for praise, so he must've done something right. And his beet bite at the zoo soiree got a lot of good play, and I thought it looked like a neat recipe. The beets were dressed with five(!) types of citrus, goat cheese and ras el hanout, and the judged seemed to really enjoy it. I can't get past his piccata debacle, so I'm not going any higher than 11, but we'll see if he continues to come back or if he reverts to his previous bumbly state.

12 Manuel Quickfires 0 0 1 Last Week: 12 Eliminations 0 1 0 Manuel didn't have a bad week, but I'm just not getting a survivor vibe from him. His quickfire dish, which went unseen, was a lamb-stuffed Anaheim chile with onions, mint and a tomato puree. I could be wrong, but that sounds like it needs more. And his elimination bite was similarly minimal, consisting of chicken braised with a little tomatillo and garlic, and spiked with jalapeno, lime and cilantro. That's all fine and good for the Mexican joint down the street, but I just don't see how it's going to stand out here. And despite his insistence that he's well-versed in Italian and trained in French, so far he's showing a remarkable lack of range. I don't know if he's just afraid to step out of that comfort zone, but he's going to have to do it soon or he's going to get into trouble quickly.

13 Erik Quickfires 0 1 1 Last Week: 15 Eliminations 0 0 1 Erik moves up a couple of notches this week, mostly by virtue of not being Valerie or Nikki. His quickfire really was puzzling. A pile of lamb, a pile of carrots, a pile of potatoes, each dressed in garlic and mint. When you have so few ingredients to work with, you can't start deconstructing stuff. You have to find a few distinctive flavors that work well together and marry them with skill. His was a cop-out dish. Whether he was driven by fear or a lack of skill, I don't know, but either way that isn't going to cut it. His elimination dish sounded a little better, but it's hard to say because I don't think we saw or heard a single solitary thing about it. The recipe struck me as unremarkable. Chicken satay with a red curry marinade, and a simple tropical salsa. I'm sure it was perfectly edible, but it's also the kind of thing that Chili's is putting out these days. That won't get you noticed. He's called himself a soul chef, but I don't see that comforting warmth so far. I just see boring.

14 Nikki Quickfires 0 0 1 Last Week: 7 Eliminations 0 1 1 Yup... that's what I thought. Setting aside for a moment the fact that she'd be gone if she'd been on Team Gorilla, she just turned out two clunkers. The mushroom appeared to be pretty miserable all around, but it actually wasn't as embarrassing, in my opinion, as her unshown quickfire dish. She sautéed peppers, mushrooms and eggplant, tossed them with olive oil and mizuna greens, and served them on a premade flatbread. Assuming the produce was good, I'm sure it was tasty, but come on... you have to do something more than that. Plus, she seemed willing to let the team take the fall for her mushrooms, and was telling them to put ingredients back so she could get flowers for the table. Sure, table presentation is nice, but not at the expense of your food. I think she showed her true colors this week, and she won't be around for long. First upscale creative challenge, she's done -- unless Erik beats her to it.

15 Valerie Quickfires 0 1 1 Last Week: 13 Eliminations 0 0 1 Repeat after me, Valerie: BLI-NI. BLI-NI. Two syllables, not three. Is that so har-- hey... where'd you go? I thought she'd probably stick around for a few weeks, but I can't say I'm surprised. She got off to a decent start, and that rib eye with peaches and sweet potatoes looked mighty tasty. But she made a dumb decision with the blinis and just wasn't skilled enough to make up for it. For those who are wondering why she went home instead of Nikki, I believe it's because the judges first chose the Gorillas as the losing team, and then selected their ultimate loser from that team. That's how they've always handled eliminations for team challenges, and this one's no different, though the teams were very small. No matter. I think Valerie was clearly chaff, and the fact that she beat a couple of other less deserving individuals to the bottom doesn't change the fact that she probably wasn't long for this competition anyway.

My feeling is that barring a big mistake, the middle of the pack is probably still safe for next week. And though I have him pretty low, my sense is that Manuel is consistent enough that he probably isn't in any danger for a couple more weeks. So I'm going to say that Ryan, Erik and Nikki are the ones in danger next week -- Nikki and Erik because they just don't have it, and Ryan because, at the very least, he looks to be wildly inconsistent.

Discuss!

Top Chef - S4E1 Power Rankings

Over the past few years, as much as possible, I've tried to keep Skillet Doux focused and avoid drifting too far from the food. But with the fourth season of Top Chef now underway in my beloved hometown of Chicago, and working with the knowledge that pretty much every food-obsessed person I know is watching this show anyway, I've decided to get over my hangups and fully embrace what I've come to learn is the most important aspect of reality TV -- Monday morning quarterbacking and snarkiness.

To that end, allow me to introduce the Top Chef Power Rankings -- some thoughts on the week's show, followed by a top to bottom ranking of the remaining contestants. The rankings won't be a strict tabulation of wins and losses, or even who I necessarily think has the best shot at winning. As with its sports analogues, record is a factor, recent performance is a factor, intangibles is a factor and potential is a factor. And though the criteria may be fuzzy, hopefully the power rankings will capture who's awesome and who isn't. At least as far as I see it.

But first, some thoughts on the new season. If I wasn't already missing home badly, all of the B-roll would have quickly taken care of that. In general, I think this crowd looks strong. There's some chaff that'll be sifted out pretty quickly, but my first impression is that we're only going to need to get four or five weeks into this before the decisions start to get tough. A nice start with the challenges, too. That they felt obligated to open with deep dish pizza (something with which a lot of Chicago food nerds already have something of a love/hate relationship) was somewhat groan-inducing, but as a blank slate "get to know you" challenge, it's actually a pretty good choice. Of course, most of the contestants approached the crust purely as a vehicle for whatever they wanted to do, ignoring the spirit of the dish completely, but I'm surprisingly okay with that. As for the elimination challenge -- great start! Throw these folks against each other right away. Have a challenge that immediately identifies who's working from a well-rounded background and who might have some gaping holes in their repertoire. I think season four is definitely off to a good start. And so, without further ado, the rankings:

Wins

Top

Bottom

1 Richard Quickfires 1 1 0 Last Week: n/a Eliminations 0 1 0 I realize he didn't win the inaugural elimination challenge, but it sounds like the decision was a close one, he was singled out for praise in the quickfire, and the guy just looks strong out of the gate. It's also worth noting that he could almost be considered a ringer. Richard has an impressive resume and is no amateur. And it shows. What his sausage, peach, taleggio and sweet tea reduction dish had to do with pizza, I have no idea. The fact that he actually used the word "traditional" in describing his approach was... puzzling. But damn, if it didn't look good. And in the elimination, he showed exactly the kind of skill and creativity that is needed to win this thing. His crabcake with Brussels sprouts and apple slaw and ras el hanout smoke was a fun take with a little flash, but unlike Andrew, he demonstrated that he knew a crabcake has to be about the crab. I thought using the mustard -- a common traditional crabcake component -- as a bridge to the slaw ingredients was nice touch. And while the smoke was perhaps a little over the top (and the presentation thereof was definitely clunky), the consensus among the judges seemed to be that it worked. First impression? This is the guy to beat.

2 Stephanie Quickfires 0 0 1 Last Week: n/a Eliminations 1 1 0 Though Stephanie was singled out for criticism in the quickfire and didn't seem to bring much of a wow factor, it's tough to put the first winner any lower than two, and I won't try. Besides which, I've actually eaten at her (recently demised) restaurant, Scylla, and the girl can cook. Her pizza seemed to have an awful lot going on. Tomato, melon, goat cheese, basil, mint, prosciutto, arugula and olives? Hard to say without tasting, but it seemed a little scattershot. And Rocco is dead on when it comes to cooking prosciutto. Cook it too aggressively, and it gets kind of funky. If it's on a Neapolitan pizza that's getting a quick 90 second shot in the oven, that's one thing, but a deep dish needs to stay on the heat a whole lot longer than that. By my count, Stephanie was one of three who used prosciutto, but she was the only one singled out for it -- editing, perhaps? In any case, she came back strong with what looked like a really nice, straightforward duck dish. Using the whole duck and making spring rolls is a lot of balls to juggle, but the judges all seemed to feel that she just nailed it. I'm curious to see how creative she'll be going forward. If she pushes a little but not too much, that might serve her well in the wake of Marcel and Hung. As long as the jitters don't get the best of her, I suspect she'll still be around near the end.

3 Dale Quickfires 0 1 0 Last Week: n/a Eliminations 0 0 0 This might be a questionable call, as I'm not sure his results merited the third spot on the list, but I have a good feeling about this guy. Start with a pizza that incorporated pickled kohlrabi and a sriracha tomato sauce but still tickled the judges' fancy, and he makes it clear that he can make unconventional work. Then take the elimination dish, where he illustrates the truism that you can get away with breaking the rules as long as what you do works. His steak au poivre with parsley puree and bok choy was no less deconstructed than Mark's duck a l'orange, but Mark's dish was savaged while the judges seemed surprised that Dale pulled his off. Confounding the judges' expectations and getting away with it is a great way to go far, and I suspect he will.

4 Antonia Quickfires 0 1 0 Last Week: n/a Eliminations 0 1 0 Both of Antonia's dishes seemed fairly straightforward, but it also seems that she executed them extremely well. Her pizza with burrata, prosciutto, roasted tomatoes and arugula was the only one of the prosciutto pies that made the cut for the top half. So while the approach was fairly conventional, she apparently executed better than the others. Her elimination dish was similarly straightforward, but the judges seemed very impressed with how well it came together. It looks like she's going to be technically sound (or perhaps, being Italian, she's just very comfortable with pizza and pasta), so we'll have to see how she does with less conventional dishes. For now, however, she's earned number four. Even if I would have immediately axed her for calling the pasta "parpardelle". Eeeeeeugh.

5 Jennifer Quickfires 0 1 0 Last Week: n/a Eliminations 0 0 0 Jennifer didn't exactly make a big splash, but both of her dishes just looked great to me. Her pizza with bacon, fontina, rosemary and grapes was a great combination, if not a huge stretch, and I wager that topping a hot, salty, gooey pizza with some juicy fresh fruit probably made for a great textural contrast as well. And even if she lost her head-to-head matchup with Nikki, by all accounts she was a strong loser. Her pasta with meat ragu, autumn vegetables and mint verde was rooted in tradition, but just far enough out of the box to be interesting. And it sounds as though the judges' decision might not have been so easy if not for some issues with her rutabaga. It's early, and she's flying under the radar a bit, but I thought she looked strong.

6 Spike Quickfires 0 1 0 Last Week: n/a Eliminations 0 0 0 I feel much the same way about Spike as I do about Jennifer. He was another strong loser in the elimination challenge who stretched a little but not too far on his pizza. He made the pizza his by doing it Greek-style, with sausage, fennel, onions, olives and feta, but still kept it in the Mediterranean. And I get the impression that were it not for Lisa's formidable technical skill with breakfast, he might've upended her with his lemongrass sabayon. And thought it went unreported on the show, his side of fresh figs, bleu cheese and thyme sounded like a nice pair. Call this one more of a hunch, but I think he made a strong showing.

7 Nikki Quickfires 0 0 1 Last Week: n/a Eliminations 0 1 0 I realize I have one of the four finalists at number seven, here, but I'm not sold on Nikki. By all accounts, that was a great lasagna. But here's my line of thinking. For starters, her pizza tanked. It used an absurd amount of dough, which might have been forgivable considering her lack of experience with deep dish, except that as Rocco pointed out, everything else was just dry. Plus, dried morels? On a pizza? Bad call. I have no doubt her lasagna was exceptional, but her creative twist was that she worked a little gouda into the béchamel. And I'm not impressed by fresh pasta for a lasagna. As far as I'm concerned, that's expected, not a bonus. My hunch? She happened to get a dish that was smack dab in her wheelhouse. And in the end, doing (nearly) straight-up traditional dishes will keep you afloat while some of the weaker elements are weeded out, that isn't going to take you to the top. It's early, and it remains to be seen what kind of range she has, but I didn't think she was as impressive as her final standing this week.

8 Mark Quickfires 1 1 0 Last Week: n/a Eliminations 0 0 1 I'm not sure what to make of Mark just yet. Chicken, zucchini and Marmite molasses sounds rather interesting, but then I've never had Marmite, so it's hard for me to do anything other than trust in those who were surprised that he pulled it off. And his elimination dish, the deconstructed duck a l'orange with enoki mushrooms, squash, tangerine soy and a saketini seemed more of a conceptual disaster than a culinary one (though Tom did feel the duck was overcooked). I don't think the deconstruction would have been that bad, actually, if it weren't for the fact that he had that bundle of enoki mushrooms just kind of hanging off in space. And the inclusion of the saketini just seemed totally unnecessary. But again, he seems to be doing some interesting things, and if he hadn't gotten a little carried away, I suspect there was a good dish in there.

9 Lisa Quickfires 0 0 1 Last Week: n/a Eliminations 0 0 0 Lisa's another one who was hard to get a bead on this week. We know she did an Asian BBQ duck pizza, we know she was in the bottom half on the quickfire, and that's all we know about it. And her elimination dish was very straightforward. Doing eggs Benedict with lobster and spinach is a little creative, sure, but no more creative than any upscale brunch spot. And she indicated that breakfast is right in her comfort zone, so it's hard to tell whether she's any good or if she just makes great poached eggs and hollandaise. More info needed.

10 Zoi Quickfires 0 0 1 Last Week: n/a Eliminations 0 0 0 If I may interject for a moment, I don't understand why soufflés have this reputation as such a crazy difficult thing to make. I've made 'em. I didn't have any trouble. And I'm not trained to do so. I can see how it might be a problem if you're on a show like this with no reference materials and the only way to know the proper proportions is memory, but when it comes to difficulty, I think the soufflé’s reputation far exceeds the reality. So she blew it (though I'm not sure precisely how -- the edited comments seemed scarce for her). She was in the bottom half on the quickfire, she was commended for a valiant failure given a difficult dish on the elimination, but again, more info needed.

11 Andrew Quickfires 0 0 1 Last Week: n/a Eliminations 0 0 0 Looks like we've identified this season's jackass, anyway. Andrew was a bottom halfer on the quickfire, with a prosciutto pizza made unconventional by his hickory smoked marinara (something I'm having a hard time tasting in my head). But by all indications, he was a pretty strong loser in his head-to-head matchup. The crabcake with cilantro-basil pudding, orange piri piri sauce and brûléed grapefruit sounds great on paper. The problem was that the guy obviously hasn't spent any time in Baltimore, and used way too much panko. Given that the judges seemed to feel he put together what was otherwise a very good dish, I would've ranked him higher except for one thing. How do you not know what mayonnaise is made of?!? I mean, really? Really? I'm just dumbfounded. I don't know how you can be a chef who's never made mayonnaise, to say nothing of not even knowing what's in it. I mean, that's just jaw-on-the-floor incredible. You have to believe that a guy with such a gaping, obvious hole in his culinary education is going to have others that will kill him sooner than later.

12 Manuel Quickfires 0 0 1 Last Week: n/a Eliminations 0 0 0 Manuel was another quickfire bottom halfer whose pizza with sopressata and raipini a la Siciliana didn't receive any love from the editors, so it's hard to determine much there. His take on steak au poivre, with mushroom ceviche, a guajillo sauce and a cilantro-scallion sauce seemed like a nice sort of rustic Mexican interpretation to me, and I was surprised it didn't get a little more love from the judges. I was also a little surprised that he was dinged for oversaucing since, in my experience, that's pretty much par for the course when it comes to Mexican (and not in a bad way, IMHO). But the judges didn't seem too impressed, and there wasn't anything that struck me as exceptionally interesting, so he languishes down at number 12 for the time being.

13 Valerie Quickfires 0 0 1 Last Week: n/a Eliminations 0 0 0 Valerie is, undeniably, a Chicago girl who I could probably identify as such from 20 paces. As a personal chef, that also means history isn't on her side when it comes to survival. Her "meat and potatoes" pizza was completely ignored by the editors, and after peeking at the recipe on the Bravo website, I can see why. She did a pepperoni deep dish pizza with some sautéed potatoes layered in. Perhaps she was acting out of some sense of allegiance to her hometown in keeping it so traditional, but it also strikes me as dull. Then, even though she won her head-to-head match, it sounds like it was a weak winner. The judges didn't seem to think it was that tasty, and having looked at the recipe, calling it a piccata -- even a variation thereon -- is really a stretch. Swapping orange for lemon seems like it might be an interesting take, but then I'd think you'd want to use some kind of sour orange rather than a tangerine. She also used a veal demiglace and no wine of any kind, and the chicken wasn't pounded, so pretty much the only thing that made it piccata was the wrong kind of citrus and capers. Creative is good, but you have to at least honor the spirit of the dish you're riffing on. I'm pegging Valerie for an early exit.

14 Ryan Quickfires 0 1 0 Last Week: n/a Eliminations 0 0 1 Ryan's pizza with escarole, butternut squash and ricotta salata seemed to go over fine (though we didn't hear any comments about it), but talk about a total disaster of an elimination challenge. Here's one fellow who's lucky to still be around. It sounds to me as though his family's "chicken piccata" just wasn't chicken piccata at all, and the poor guy never learned otherwise. Hearing him talk it over while shopping was just painful. Eggs, yeah. Flour, of course. Breadcrumbs, tomatoes and rice... wait, what? And maybe he would've gotten away with it if the dish he did make was good, but by all accounts it wasn't. An embarrassing show all around, and while it's early, it doesn't bode well.

15 Erik Quickfires 0 1 0 Last Week: n/a Eliminations 0 0 1 Erik's pizza was a little more creative than its mushrooms, peppers, onions and sausage title would lead you to believe, but not much. Looking at the recipe, he used chanterelles and Polish sausage (?) to mix things up a bit. It doesn't strike me as a winner, but he made Rocco's top half, so he must've done something right. His pepper-jack soufflé with avocado crème fraîche, black bean sauce, salsa and tortilla strips, however, was just a sloppy mess. Bourdain was right on. What makes you think mashed potatoes is going to help a soufflé? A ponderous choice, to say the least. And note for the record that his official recipe includes a pack of taco seasoning. One Sandra is enough, Erik, thanks. The guy was clearly scared to death by the soufflé, so we'll see what happens, but he absolutely earned this spot.

16 Nimma Quickfires 0 0 1 Last Week: n/a Eliminations 0 0 1 Well, you can't expect to go far if you can't season properly. It's amazing how critical salt is to cooking. It's so essential, so indispensable, and the quickest and easiest way to completely ruin a dish by using too little or too much of it. Nimma did both. She grossly undersalted her hunter-style mushroom pizza with stracchino, thyme and rosemary (which otherwise sounded nice), and grossly oversalted her shrimp scampi with butter, garlic, thyme and cauliflower flan. That the flan failed and became a scramble only sealed her fate, I think. She might've been going home anyway. If you can't salt, you can't cook. That's all there is to it. Maybe the quickfire was an aberration, and then she freaked out and overcompensated on the elimination challenge. But we'll never know. And incidentally, I'm not sad to see her go. While it's true that a show like this needs great chefs, and that you can't just throw wacky personalities into the mix and expect it to be compelling, Nimma sure seemed like Exhibit A for the argument that personality still counts for something when it comes to reality TV. The angle the producers were setting up may have proven to be interesting at times, but I'm not so sure it would have been entertaining. Anyway, moot point.

Since it's still in the early stages where certain chefs have barely been featured, I'm going to hold off on elimination predictions for now. But after episode one, I'd peg Erik, Ryan, Valerie and Andrew as those I'd be least surprised to see in trouble next week.

Discuss!