Top Chef Holiday Special
Posted by Chris Perrin on Edible TV
I have yet to see if Bravo is going to have another Top Chef Christmas episode. If they are, their website is not saying. However, this is in no way keeping me from thoroughly enjoying last year’s Christmas special which pitted eight Top Chef alumni from seasons one, two, and three against each other in a culinary battle royale for a twenty thousand dollar prize.
For those of you who have not yet seen this Top Chef-tastic holiday special, picture this: Tiffani, Stephen, Marcel, Tre, Betty, C.J., Josie, and Sandee come together into one house. The night before they are to cook, each is given a present to reflect their time on the show. C.J. is given broccolini in honor of, as Tom put it, the worst dish he had ever had on Top Chef. Stephen is given a tie. Marcel receives a can of foam. They make a meal and relax, but this is the calm before the storm.
The next morning they go to the Top Chef kitchen where they are greeted by Padma and Santa Claus (whose real identity I will not reveal.) They then play a game to see what Quickfire ingredient they will have to cook. C.J. ends up the winner and is given immunity for the day’s events.
Flash forward to the elimination challenge. Each person is asked to make a three course meal for nine judges, but as Padma likes to say, “There’s a catch.” After each course, two contestants will be eliminated meaning that at the end, there will be only two left standing. From these two, the judges will pick the final winner.
The show then becomes Top Chef’s usual whirlwind of ingredient buying, veggie chopping, weird flavor mixing, flame-shooting good fun. The format of two contestants being eliminated each round makes the competition very interesting. For example, Betty, who did not buy yeast, sabotages her third round dish in order to offer something great in the first round. She knows that if she does not get started with a bang, she will not even need to worry about the third round.
Of course, when the show narrows down to the final two, there is a big surprise, but I am not going to reveal it here. You will just have to wait and see, but suffice it to say, it sends the final contestants into a panic. This, of course, makes for excellent television.
The Top Chef Holiday Special should run again between now and Christmas. Check BravoTv.com for show times.
Photo courtesy of RealityTVMagazine.com.
