OK, let me get this out of the way. I don't like Eli. There, I said it. The guy's just not cool. He isn't nice. He's arrogant AND he's not the best chef in the competition. So, all of that combined makes Eli my favorite to get canned. He will.
Now, the crew had Charlie Palmer, owner/chef of Aureole, as guest judge. Charlie Palmer is HUGE! He's a pioneer. He legitimized the American Chef. In many people's eyes he is legendary. So, you can imagine the pressure that reputation brings. The Voltaggios had extra pressure as they once both worked for Chef Palmer. Bryan for ten years and Mike for a year as Executive Chef.
The Quick Fire Challenge was about pairings. The cheftestants had to pair food with the Alexia snack food of their choice. Apparently, these snacks have been provided to the chefs since the beginning of the competition, so they are familiar with the flavors. Basically, the snacks are flavored waffle fries, onion or potato strips. Eli comes out on top with his potato clam salad. Sounds horrible to me, but Palmer loved it. Eli, who at 25 lives with mommy and daddy rent-free, gets his first win. It only serves to make his head bigger than it already was.
For the Elimination Challenge, everyone drew knives. Each knife has a different pig body part on it, except for the lovely and talented Jennifer's. She had "Wild" on hers. Yes, wild indeed. However, it referred to the fact that she could choose whatever pig body part she wanted. She chose "belly". The task at hand was to participate in Palmer's "Pigs & Pinot" fund raiser. It's an annual Share Our Strength fund raiser near and dear to Charlie Palmer's heart. The challenge was to pair the pig with a Pinot Noir of their choice. The cheftestants are taken to Palmer's Aureole at Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino with its three-story wine tower. Remember Season Four of the "Next Food Network Star"? They did Lisa Garza's "commercial" in that tower. At Aureole, everyone gets to sample a smattering of Pinots selected by the Aureole's Master Sommelier William Sherer. Pinots get picked and, of course, Eli has to berate some with bad palates as the camera pans to Robin.
The next day four hours of prep and cooking is ahead for everyone. The time includes the brothers Voltaggio scuffling over plastic wrap. Brothers will always be brothers no matter the age. It seemed like braised pork belly was a popular dish and, of course, Eli had the belly, as well as the love of my life Jennifer who picked it. Jen gets herself into the top four while Eli comes back to reality and is not in the top picks. Jen, the Volataggios and Kevin are the top rated dishes. Kevin did a yummy looking pate. Bryan braised spare rib while Mike V did pork cheek. In the end, Kevin came out on top. I like this guy. He makes fabulous food. These four are the top four contestants, in my opinion.
Robin, who the others wish is going home ("I hope they send grandma home," someone said), Laurine and Ash are on the bottom. These three have been here before and unfortunately for Ash, he got sent home. He never seemed to get untracked. He pined away that he never really cooked his food and as a matter of fact when he told Charlie Palmer how he really wanted to prepare his dish, Palmer answered, "Why didn't you? That sounds delicious." Woulda, coulda, shoulda.
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