Tonight was the debut of the new Bravo series Top Chef Masters. This show is a spin-off of the hit series Top Chef. They have taken the same concept except that they are pitting well known chefs against each other rather than unknown chefs. The premiere show featured Hubert Keller ,
Christopher Lee , Michael Schlow , and Tim Love.
The show started out with a new host Kelli Choi. She introduced the first quick-fire challenge. This challenge she said has always been a favorite on Top Chef because it strikes fear into the hearts of the competitors. She let the chefs know that there quick-fire challenge was to come up with a dessert. Michael Schlow echoed the sentiment of previous cooks when he stated that desserts were the bane of his existence. Kelli then revealed that they were going to be judged by people that knew a little something about sweets, she then showed 4 Girl Scouts on a monitor and told the chefs that they were to be the judges.
Tim Love, owner and chef at The Lonesome Dove Western Bistro in Fort Worth, TX, set himself up as the underdog by stating that all of his fellow cooks had either graduated from somewhere famous or had worked for someone famous, then he declared that he had done neither.
The chefs were only given 60 minutes to prepare their desserts and then they watched on the monitor as the Girl Scouts critiqued them. Michael Schlow made milk chocolate cake, peanut butter chocolate candies and honey almond cream. One of the judges said they taste like Tag-a-Longs. A reference to one of the flavor of Girl Scout Cookies that they sell.
Tim Love made strawberries 3 ways: 1) chocolate dipped strawberries, 2) strawberry milkshake and 3) chicken fried strawberries with whipped cream. Hubert Keller, famed chef from the Fleur de Lys restaurant in San Francisco and Las Vegas, put together a chocolate mousse swan, whipped cream mouse, and fruit with orange sabayon. This seemed to be the crowd favorite and one Girl Scout commented that she liked the mouse with the chocolate tail. The last chef, Christopher Lee from Aureole in New York, made french toast with caramelized banana, orange sauce and maple syrup fluff.
The Girl Scouts were very tough critics, one in particular. It was mentioned that she will be a New York Times Food Critic in 20 years.
Scoring: Michael Schlow - 2 1/2 stars
Tim Love - 3 1/2 stars
Christopher Lee - 3 1/2 stars
Hubert Keller - 5 stars
Kelli Chou then introduced the Elimination Challenge: Create 3 courses using only a toaster oven, microwave and a hot plate. They were to cook for college students and 3 food critics.
They were given a budget of $150 and 15 minutes to shop and 2 hours of prep time. Tim Love ran into a problem when he couldn't find ground pork for his pork chili. He had to improvise. Then things got worse for him. He put his food in the freezer rather than the cooler and when he went to take it out the next morning everything was frozen. His comment was that this was, "A true holy s**t moment. The next twist was not only were they cooking for college students they had to cook in the dorm rooms.
Michael Schlow cooked Salmon Crudo, Cabbage Soup with Bacon and Pork a la Apicius. Tim Love ended up making Scallop Carpaccio, Squash and Corn "Pozole" and Skirt Steak and Braised Kale. Hubert Keller started with a fresh Scottish Salmon, then Carrot and Pea Soup with Cinnamon Croutons and finished with Macaroni and Cheese with Prawns. He had to drain the pasta in the shower and then used the cold water from the shower to cool down the macaroni. The last competitor, Christopher Lee, made Red Snapper Ceviche, Creamy Risotto and finished with Pan Roasted Pork Chop.
Christopher Lee , Michael Schlow , and Tim Love.
The show started out with a new host Kelli Choi. She introduced the first quick-fire challenge. This challenge she said has always been a favorite on Top Chef because it strikes fear into the hearts of the competitors. She let the chefs know that there quick-fire challenge was to come up with a dessert. Michael Schlow echoed the sentiment of previous cooks when he stated that desserts were the bane of his existence. Kelli then revealed that they were going to be judged by people that knew a little something about sweets, she then showed 4 Girl Scouts on a monitor and told the chefs that they were to be the judges.
Tim Love, owner and chef at The Lonesome Dove Western Bistro in Fort Worth, TX, set himself up as the underdog by stating that all of his fellow cooks had either graduated from somewhere famous or had worked for someone famous, then he declared that he had done neither.
The chefs were only given 60 minutes to prepare their desserts and then they watched on the monitor as the Girl Scouts critiqued them. Michael Schlow made milk chocolate cake, peanut butter chocolate candies and honey almond cream. One of the judges said they taste like Tag-a-Longs. A reference to one of the flavor of Girl Scout Cookies that they sell.
Tim Love made strawberries 3 ways: 1) chocolate dipped strawberries, 2) strawberry milkshake and 3) chicken fried strawberries with whipped cream. Hubert Keller, famed chef from the Fleur de Lys restaurant in San Francisco and Las Vegas, put together a chocolate mousse swan, whipped cream mouse, and fruit with orange sabayon. This seemed to be the crowd favorite and one Girl Scout commented that she liked the mouse with the chocolate tail. The last chef, Christopher Lee from Aureole in New York, made french toast with caramelized banana, orange sauce and maple syrup fluff.
The Girl Scouts were very tough critics, one in particular. It was mentioned that she will be a New York Times Food Critic in 20 years.
Scoring: Michael Schlow - 2 1/2 stars
Tim Love - 3 1/2 stars
Christopher Lee - 3 1/2 stars
Hubert Keller - 5 stars
Kelli Chou then introduced the Elimination Challenge: Create 3 courses using only a toaster oven, microwave and a hot plate. They were to cook for college students and 3 food critics.
They were given a budget of $150 and 15 minutes to shop and 2 hours of prep time. Tim Love ran into a problem when he couldn't find ground pork for his pork chili. He had to improvise. Then things got worse for him. He put his food in the freezer rather than the cooler and when he went to take it out the next morning everything was frozen. His comment was that this was, "A true holy s**t moment. The next twist was not only were they cooking for college students they had to cook in the dorm rooms.
Michael Schlow cooked Salmon Crudo, Cabbage Soup with Bacon and Pork a la Apicius. Tim Love ended up making Scallop Carpaccio, Squash and Corn "Pozole" and Skirt Steak and Braised Kale. Hubert Keller started with a fresh Scottish Salmon, then Carrot and Pea Soup with Cinnamon Croutons and finished with Macaroni and Cheese with Prawns. He had to drain the pasta in the shower and then used the cold water from the shower to cool down the macaroni. The last competitor, Christopher Lee, made Red Snapper Ceviche, Creamy Risotto and finished with Pan Roasted Pork Chop.
The critics, Gael Greene, a famed New York City Critic, Jay Rayner, Restaurant Critic at The London Observer, and James Oseland, Editor-in-Chief at Saveur Magazine tasted the food along with the college students. They each awarded stars for each 3 course meal.
Michael Schlow got a total of 13 1/2 stars. Tim Love was next to be evaluated and he garnered 14 1/2 stars. Christopher Lee amassed 19 stars and the winner was Hubert Keller with a grand total of 20 1/2 stars. He gets to move on to the Champions Round and won $10,000 for his charity Make-A-Wish Foundation.
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