Episode two was...interesting. I thought that there were some surprises, especially in the elimination challenge in regards to their final dishes. Sara N. was probably the most surprising, only because of the clips that Bravo showed of her leading up to the tasting and judging. However, I know someone who told me that she will surprise some people, even though she may fly under the radar. Well I hope so considering she's a Sous Chef at Jean-Georges in NYC. If not, she'll be the first contestant who works at a high-profile restaurant that gets knocked off before the final six.
Tre is really, really inconsistent. It's kind of mind blowing how in the first four competitions, he has two wins but then he's also been in the bottom 3/4 in the other two. I don't think they've ever had someone who was that hot and cold in such an extreme. And being from Texas and being in the bottom of a BBQ challenge...that would be like Thomas Keller entering a competition with French food being the theme ingredient and being in the bottom...or Wylie Dufresne being in the bottom of a Molecular Gastronomy challenge...
I'm trying really hard to like Howie, but the guy just cannot execute to save his life. He has good concepts, but his technical execution has so far been horrible. First not being able to just put one frog leg on the plate in episode 1, and then pre-cooking the meat (pork tenderloin of all things!
) and then pre-slicing it?! WTF? You know, you practice what you preach. I hope this isn't how they treat the proteins at his restaurant. At least he told Joey off. I'll give him props for that.
Speaking of Joey, what in the **** was that dish he made? It looked like crap, his concept was crap. I guess his dish just reflects his attitude and personality. Hopefully he'll be gone soon. One thing I hate is crybabies. Man up or shut up. I mean c'mon, $200 plus 4 hours total prep/cook time and he makes chicken drumsticks and a corn salad. This isn't bush league, you gotta bring your "A" game.
Didn't think Sandee was going to last until the final 6 or 7 but I was kinda surprised that she was out this soon. I was also surprised by her choice of dish for a BBQ theme. What was she thinking? Pre-poaching and then grilling? Lobster with dates? Dates are something you pair with a strong flavored protein like lamb, quail, etc. I think she was trying to be too overly creative and different and ended up cooking herself into a hole. Lobster would have been fine, but she should have just grilled it and served it sans dates. Plus she's from the South so she's in the same boat as Tre.
Interesting what Tom said in the previews about seeing who's going to try and play it safe and stay in the middle of the pack until more people are eliminated because I was thinking the same thing while they were cooking during the second elimination challenge. I wondering what I would do? I probably would play it semi-safe. I mean I would still try and put out cutting edge dishes that would fit the theme, but I wouldn't overextend myself and try a combination of flavors that I never did before. I would probably stick to what I know would work but present it so that it would look more high-end. That's something which was missing from the BBQ challenge with a lot of the chefs. If they had just changed up their presentation, or bought another ingredient or two, it would hav elevated their dish that much more.