Top Chef Serves Those Who Serve Our Country

By Sarah Matheny on September 3rd, 2009

This week’s Top Chef was all about honoring those in the military who serve and protect American every day, giving their lives so that we may enjoy our freedom. What better way to honor our military heroes than BACON?!

The Elimination Challenge featured the chefs cooking a meal for 300 airmen using only ingredients and equipment found in a military pantry and kitchen. The chefs worked in teams of two, with each team responsible for a dish. They picked the teams schoolyard style, with the worst performing chefs thus far, Jessie and Ron, left standing as the last team. When the two chefs chose to cook clam chowder on a scorching hot summer day, the writing seemed to be on the wall for their departure.

The only thing that could save these two would be if a) a team chose to use the dusty can of Spam from the military pantry or b) a team chose to (gasp!) make a vegetarian dish. Chefs Preeti and Laurine made a ho hum pasta salad with farfalle pasta, broccoli, sundried tomatoes and roasted red peppers. The dish was meat free, but also flavor free, in contrast to Mike V.’s winning dish, a braised pork belly lettuce wrap. In a somewhat surprising twist, Mike V.’s partner, Mike Isabella was in both the top 3, before the judges realized he did nothing but carve the pork in his contribution to the winning dish, and the top 3, for a bland Greek salad and threw together as an “extra” dish. Mike Isabella was shocked and pissed, and I was pleased that this cocky cook was put in his place.

While I was baffled by why judge Padma Lakshmi was dressed like a prostitute, I was also torn (and hungry) when trying to guess who’d pack their knives and go. There were three equally as dangerous kisses of death for the chefs:
1) Laurine said she forgot it was a competition,
2) Preeti “stood by” her terrible dish
3) Mike was a hothead while defending his half-assed attempt to kiss up by doing something he didn’t have to.

In the end, Preeti’s failure to acknowledge her less than stellar perfomance sealed the deal like the Glad Ware products that Top Chef not so subtly encourages us to buy each week. I may not be running to the store to buy some Glad Press and Seal right now, but this episode did leave this vegetarian aching for some bacon. Hold the pasta salad.