What a relief that Daniel Boulud’s reputation is intact: he liked Hung’s cooking. Hung didn’t win anything, but Boulud called his quick-fire burger “very good,” and Mr. Hubris' tuna tartare was probably the most successful of all the elimination-challenge dishes.
What was Daniel Boulud doing there? It wasn’t to promote his book “Letters to a Young Chef,” a hardcover copy of which he awarded to each of the contestants; the book was published in 2003.
And it wasn’t to deodorize his image after he agreed, two weeks ago, to settle a discrimination lawsuit brought against him by Latino and Asian workers at his flagship restaurant Daniel in New York who claimed that they were denied opportunities to advance to higher-paying positions within the organization; the episode was shot months ago.
In any event, he inspired the quick-fire challenge—create a knock-out burger—an homage to the burger served at his DB Bistro Moderne: A sirloin patty filled with boned short ribs braised in red wine, foie gras, black truffle and a mirepoix of root vegetables, served on a homemade bun and topped with toasted parmesan and layered with fresh horseradish mayonnaise, tomato confit, fresh tomato and frisée lettuce. The DB burger goes for a cool $29.
CJ won the challenge with a scallop-mousse-and-shrimp burger topped with tangerine. No immunity was awarded; CJ’s prize was to select his own team for the elimination challenge. He picked Tre, Casey and Brian and in an act of true humility, appointed himself sous chef and asked Tre to command the kitchen of Restaurant Alison. Which turned out to be a mistake. Tre turned out a lackluster menu distinguished by criminally over-smoked potatoes. Brian, out in front, failed to manage the room well, and set the tables with dusty plates.
Meanwhile, over at Garage, Sara M decided that she, a cheese maker if I remember correctly, would run the kitchen. Howie went along, probably thinking that she’d hang herself. In fact everyone on Team Garage except Hung hung himself. Sara presided over a heavy, un-seasonal menu, Howie turned out a leaden risotto (which Tom, correctly, pointed out should not have contained cream), and Dale made perhaps the biggest mistake of the episode—if not the season, program, the network: he festooned the dining room with vanilla-scented candles.
Both teams lost, no one was sent home, and next week they have a chance to open their restaurants a second time.
In a nod to the blogosphere, Andrea Strong of the food blog The Strong Buzz turned out to have been one of the civilian diners. Grub Street's Josh Ozersky wrote on his blog that there "was supposed to be a whole table of bloggers — Daniel Maurer and I for Grub Street, Eater, Restaurant Girl … but they wanted us to not write about Top Chef at all, and that couldn’t happen. Only Andrea took the pledge."
To read Strong's own account of the experience, click here.
Padma read aloud selections Strong’s musings at the Judges’ Table, relieving Ted of the burden of coming up with all the zingers. For more zingers, check out Anthony Bourdain’s blog.