Top Chef: Military Edition

Last night's Top Chef: Las Vegas was pretty interesting. The quick fire challenge dealt with a potato theme while the elimination challenge revolved around the contestants feeding a group of 300 servicemen and women and their families. What made it fun was that group didn't have a state of the art kitchen in which to cook, it was more like a galley.

Jennifer won the potato quick fire challenge. There's something about Jennifer that gets under my skin and I can't quite figure it out. She seems to be well liked by the other contestants so maybe it's just me. In any event it gives me someone to root against! The girls are taking a beating so far this season (each elimination so far has been one of the girls) so maybe I should be rooting for one of the guys to be eliminated. I would root against Mike but I picked him in my final three the first week of the season.

Going into the elimination challenge I was sure team chowder (Jesse and Ron) was going to be on the losing end, especially since Jesse has been near the bottom of every challenge this season so far. She won't be lasting too much longer. While the judges weren't too thrilled about the chowder dish it seems they disliked the vegetarian pasta salad dish even more that was prepared by Preeti and Laurine. I liked how the girls didn't turn on one another when the judges questioned them on who was ultimately responsible for the dish so the elimination came down to attitude. Unfortunately Preeti bore the brunt of the judge's wrath by not being able to admit that anything was wrong with their food. I liked her as a contestant but she had been struggling the last two episodes.

One other things I found interesting was the judge's attitude at the elimination round. I don't know if it was the Nevada heat that was getting to them or what but Tom, Padma and Gail all seem to be super cranky. In fact I'm not sure I've ever seen them so snarly collectively! All in all, the best episode of the season so far I believe. I like the strong wills and opinions of the losing contestants and the judges this week. I'm also pleased that my first episode predictions are all still intact.