For this week's challenge, each team gets an iconic food neighborhood of New York to visit, make a dish from, and conduct a tour of. Giada's team gets Little Italy, there's a surprise. Bobby's team gets Harlem, and Alton's team gets a Jewish part of the Lower East Side. No one gets Chinatown, really? Chinatown has basically taken over Little Italy, for heaven's sake!
(Byko: Yeah, no kidding! A friend of mine just came back from NYC and agreed that Chinatown was bigger than Little Italy. At least they did pick three areas that have natural culinary bents, even if neighboring-Gossip-Girl-land didn't immediately sound Jewish to me. And seriously, Alton, a southerner just doesn't sound right talking in Yiddish! Remember, just say no.)
Emily gets excited about matzah and the Willy Wonka Matzah Factory. Not sure how she's gonna work that into her updated 50's POV. She ends up making a matzah seder meatloaf, but she also is feeling carsick during her presentation. Justin wonders how he's going to work his rebel with a culinary cause POV with an iconic bagel derivative. He ends up making bagel chips and does well. Marti likes to talk more about herself than her pastrami, although she does rein in the rambling on the bus. She doesn't actually tell the group what she's done to make her sandwich, though. Judson is NOT excited about pickles, and his presentation falls VERY flat.
(Byko: Willy Wonka-esque? You CAN'T pull that term out if there are no oompa loompas, not that I necessarily want to think too hard about Jewish midg-, er, little people! On the pickle district: yeah, that could be a tough sell, but I like the sweet-and-sour approach that Judson is taking: it could definitely be memorable, especially with the bow tie. Justin, I agree a certain look, but am I the only one who thought his presentation was flat? Apparently so. Martie, great job: loved it! Emily, I feel so bad for you right now, and for me to say that really takes something! Judson, I couldn't agree with Justin more: all we needed was a "Can I get an amen for the pickle?!")
Michele does not find catfish as sexy as mussels, so we'll see what she does with them. Catfish sliders, apparently, with collards and a side of lying on the bus to say she loves catfish. Malcolm has a butcher shop. Eric has a bakery that specialized in danishes, and he makes a cheese turnover with espresso caramel. The sound of espresso caramel makes me wish I liked coffee! And of course we can't cover Harlem without chicken and waffles at Melba's! Unfortunately, Kara doesn't like waffles and then she's very awkward in her presentation. Nikki talks about Dinosaur BBQ and has a smooth but forgettable presentation and dish.
(Byko: Okay, sorry about the stereotyping here, but seriously, Nikki, I just don't see you and BBQ working well together; you just don't look like a BBQ girl to me. I love how the varied ethnic butcher shop has a guy with a REALLY thick New York accent. Eric, there are limits to how far to go in making things difficult for yourself: did you learn nothing from making your own ricotta last week? That's gonna knock you out one of these weeks. Kara, sorry girl, but you've got the toughest job because even I, Mr. I-don't-know-New-York, readily associate "chicken and waffles" and Harlem. Too bad Gladys Knight wasn't around to give inspiration! Michele, we KNOW you don't like catfish: you told us it's muddy already. PLEASE don't do that on the bus! Kara, PLEASE tell me you did some sort of twist on the chicken and waffles or you are GUARANTEED to fail! Malcolm, your authenticity truly exudes in your presentation: great! Michele, well, at least you made a good effort on the catfish. Nikki, I'll admit I was wrong: that was really better than I thought, and even though the judges didn't care for you and the audience didn't remember you, I loved how you described Dino BBQ; it really made me feel like I was there. Eric, I think you hit it out of the park, but on this show, doing that right from the beginning usually does NOT bode well! Kara, um, thanks for stopping by the booth.)
Ippy gets a place known for their eggplant parm, and he makes a derivative of pasta e fagioli. His presentation has the audience laughing and happy. Linkie gets a pastry shop specializing in cannolis, so let's see if she can avoid ruining another dessert. She gets feedback from Giada but decides to ignore it in favor of what she wants to do in the first place. That rarely ends well. She ends up presenting well and incorporating Giada's advice into the presentation much more than she incorporated it into her dish. Her cheesecake is better than cafeteria food, though, so that's a start. Martita gets a fish market known for littleneck clams and wants to make a ceviche. Josh gets a sausage shop and wants to try cooking his in wine or champagne. He makes a *very* simple sausage and pepper crostini and tells a story that goes on and on...and on...and on... Ivan makes an antipasto with fresh mozzarella that the judges find too simple.
(Byko: So I think Giada is giving more and better tips to her teammates than Bobby or Alton are. I wonder how that's going to play out through the rest of the competition. It's definitely clear that Linkie really has a self-confidence issue, though the fact that she didn't realize that she can use ricotta with cream cheese for her dessert is another problem altogether. Yvan's dish definitely looks WAY too simple: good to see that Bob agrees. Ippy definitely looks like a very solid contender for a while, which I'm happy to see, though that could just be because of my penchant for Hawaii. Josh, um, where are you going with your storytelling? And how the heck does it relate to your food? Better than the first time we met him? Um, if that's better, GET OFF MY TELEVISION! Martita was solid: I wonder if the judges will tend to show any favoritism because of their supposed strong desire to have a Mexican cuisine personality arise. Linkie was good: not great, but that's a starting point.)
Giada's team wins and is safe. Kara loses for Bobby's team and Judson loses for Alton's team despite Emily's presentation flopping from sickness. Their producer challenge is to make the most memorable potato dish they can. Kara makes a lovely twist on twice-baked potatoes. Judson makes a salmon dish with potatoes and sounds very fake...I think he's going home. Each coach is given a chance to advocate for their player; I don't remember if that happened last week or not. Bobby emphasizes Kara's genuineness, knowing how much the selection committee hates it when people are fake. And yet, they send Kara home. Really?!? Wow. We'll see if Judson can redeem himself next week.
(Byko: Yeah, no surprise that Team Giada won, and Kara and Pastor Judson go up for elimination. Potatoes: well, there are more boring ingredients out there...like celery. When Judson started talking about using the potato as a crust for the salmon, I expected it to be in some form other than as a plain slice like it appeared he was cooking it. Then again, Kara's mashed potatoes didn't sound like anything exciting, at least from how Bobby was talking. It's really cool to see the differences between Bobby's style of mentoring and Alton's; I think I like Alton's style a bit more, even though it's less personal. Maybe I just expect a Food Network Star coach to be kind of a hard-ass. Kara's reaction makes the rest of this seem anti-climactic, though; to quote Gordon, "What a shame." Kara's presentation isn't bad, but Bob's comment seems spot-on to me: I'm just not seeing the twist she keeps talking about. I can't say Judson's presentation excites me at all, and once again, Bob's observation is on target: adding the mascarpone cheese seems to be too much when making the potato the star. Honestly, I won't be too disappointed to see either of them go home at this point; whoever survives this week probably won't be around long without a big makeover. Kara's facial expression, though, really says it all; even as Bobby's talking, she just doesn't look confident at all. Interesting comment: "which one is the better gamble?" They're not expecting to see either one around long. I kind of agree with their decision: Kara's potential peak is probably lower than Judson's. Besides, could they really knock Alton's team down to three people against two teams of five right at the start? Giada, next week, you'd better make sure your team wins, or your worst is going home!)
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