Top Chef Masters Review - Episode 2 Recap

Episode 2 of Top Chef Masters started out with the introduction of tonight's chefs, Suzanne Tracht, Graham Elliot Bowles, Wylie Dufrense, and Elizabeth Falkner. All four chefs tried to make a case of why they will win tonight's challenge.

Suzanne Tracht was described as serving simple straight forward unpretentious food that is simple yet elegant. The youngest contestant of all of the chefs, Graham Elliot Bowles, the self proclaimed punk rocker said that his inspiration to win was for bragging rights to say that he beat he good friend Wylie. He had another inspiration and that was his nephew that is on a waiting list for a heart transplant, that is why he is cooking tonight for The American Heart Association. Wylie Dufrense specializes in molecular gastronomy at his wd-50 restaurant in New York. He said that with this level of competition he would need to," Go big or go home." The final contestant tonight was Elizabeth Falkner, she was described as, " America's greatest avant garde pastry chef."

The QuickFire Challenge was recycled from Season 2 of Top Chef, create an amuse bouche form items purchased out of a vending machine. The judges for the challenge were Ilan Hall, Betty Frasier, and Michael Midgely. All 3 of these judges participated in the original challenge. Graham made a Tuna Salad with pickled shallot, ginger, orange bubbles and beef jerky miso powder. His creation was well received and Betty Fraser said that it was tuna salad from an Ivy League school. Wylie's amuse bouche was a Red Onion and grilled cheese sandwich with Dr. Pepper reduction. All of the judges like it's presentation. Suzanne presented fried shallot rings, salad and Dr. Pepper aioli. Once again the dish was well received and one of the judges was caught licking the bowl. The final contestant, Elizabeth, presented Braised Beef Jerky with orange juice, lemon and horse radish ice cream.

The winner of the Quickfire was Suzanne Tracht with 5 stars. Graham was next with 4 1/2 stars then Elizabeth with 3 1/2 and bringing up the rear was Wylie with 3 stars.

The Elimination Challenge was to cook for the Producers and Writers of the hit show "Lost". The competitors were given a choice of island ingredients such as Wild Boar, fish and chicken. The twist this week was that on their shopping trip they could only purchased canned and preserved ingredients that were on a list approved by the "Darma Initiative". They were given 45 minutes and $200 to prepare their meal. During the shopping trip Graham and Wylie kept Suzanne laughing the whole time. She said that they had a Mutt and Jeff type of thing going on.

Elizabeth Falkner made an Ancho-beer braised Boar loin, coffee scented and also a Poached Boar loin and yam papaya pudding. Several comments were made about the pudding comparing it to baby food. The other problem she had was she did not get to put her sauce on the plate. Jay Rayner, one of the critics, commented on the lack of sauce and that he thought this might have helped to pull the whole plate together.

Graham Elliot Bowles presented the critics with a Tuna Trio: Maki Roll with tuna a dehydrated pineapple, Tuna Nicose, and Tuna a la Plancha. Each one of these dishes played on an international theme based on where he had lived growing up, Asian, Mediterranean and South American. Every one really liked his dishes and one of the critics said that the Tuna Nicose was a well executed piece of seared tuna.

Wylie Dufrense made a Roasted Chicken with poached egg, beets with dried corn and Plantain puree. He used an immersion circulation cooker to poach the eggs. He cooked them low and slow and it gave them a consistency of pudding, with all of the critics seemed to like. One in particular, James Oseland, commented that he had never been a great fan of molecular gastronomy but that Wylie had changed his mind. They said that he cooked from the brain and the heart.

Suzanne Tracht cooked Risotto with Uni, Clams and Prawns, Wild Boar strip with oyster beer sauce and mango corn salad. Most of the critics stated that they thought that she had put too much on the plate but when they ate, they felt that everything worked together and made for a very enjoyable meal.

In the end Suzanne Tracht won the competition with 22 1/2 stars. The other contestants got 16 1/2 stars for Elizabeth Falkner, 20 stars for Wylie Dufrense, and 20 1/2 stars for Graham Elliot Bowles.

Even though Suzanne Tracht won Episode 2 of Top Chef Masters the real winner was her charity JFS/SOVA Community Food and Resource Program.