Before we get into the actual episode, a brief note about Emeril Lagasse: Our relationship with the exuberant Food Network chef has undergone something of a rebirth of late. We can't understand what happened exactly -- we used to find all his wild gesturing and bellows of "Bam!" to be excruiating, but then, two weeks ago, we were at the gym and found ourselves mesmerized by his preparation of fried cheese bread with andouille sausage. Then, the other day we were making chicken soup in the kitchen, and we turned to our boyfriend and said, "Sometimes I just say to myself, 'Self...ANOTHER NOTCH!!'" before chucking more sliced jalapeño peppers into the pot. Our boyfriend was weirded out, but it was then we realized that we'd come to love Emeril in spite of ourselves.
In the same vein, our Emeril love fest continued last night during part one of this year's Top Chef finale...
The final four (Hosea, Fabio, Stefan, and our girl Carla) arrived in New Orleans all studied up on Cajun flavors and southern comfort food recipes. No sooner had they arrived at the site of their first challenge, then Padma informed that they wouldn't be competingin a quickfire at all. Instead, three previously eliminated chefs (Jamie, Leah and Jeff) would battle it out for a chance to get back in the game. None of the final four looked all that psyched on this idea, and Fabio -- festooned in a pastel pink cashmere scarf and leather jacket -- looked positively murderous. In the end, Emeril liked Jeff's crawfish dish the best...
Not a big surprise since, per usual, Leah fell apart, and Jamie copped attitude about the ingredients. Although, on the plus side, both Leah and Jamie looked extra made-up and pretty in that way you would if you'd watched a dozen episodes of yourself sweating and running around the kitchen, and you've been given a second chance to prove your hotness.
Jeff's win secured him a place in the elimination challenge and the ranks of the remaining chefs swelled from four to five. However, Jeff's "deal with the devil" required him to win the elimination challenge (catering a masquerade ball at the New Orleans Museum of Art) in order to stay in the game.
In the end, even though Jeff gave it his all (in addition to giving us a much appreciated glimpse of a calmer, happier, more zen Jeff), his efforts weren't quite enough to win the challenge. That said, Emeril seemed genuinely sorry to seem Jeff go -- he's so kind and jolly, that Emeril!
While we enjoyed Jeff a lot in this episode, imagine our delight as Carla's tortoise run for the finish line continued...
The judges raved unanimously about her trio of Big Easy-inspired delectables, and we did a victory dance around the room. Sadly, Fabio couldn't quite infuse his Italian techniques and recipes with southern flavors and soul. Also, we thought his presentation was off -- his dishes looked a bit like stuff you might get in the school cafeteria...
Finale bound: Carla, Hosea, Stefan.