S17.E09: Cabin Fever

[FormerMod-a1]

Quote

The chefs head to the mountains outside of Los Angeles to go to a summer camp where they are challenged to an outdoor grilling Quickfire for Padma and "Top Chef" Kentucky winner Kelsey Barnard Clark.

Original air date: May 14, 2020

[Bastet]

It was nice to see Kelsey and Brooke again, two of my favorite winners.

I hate every kind of bean I’ve ever tasted other than edamame, so this is the first QF I haven’t drooled my way through.  Lots of visually appealing dishes, but none I’d actually eat.

I was really glad they were cooking for adults, not kids, at the camp.  But then it became immediately apparent the twist was going to be the ingredients available (personally, I'd have found getting up at 4:00 in the morning equally challenging).

A few of the dishes didn’t seem very brunch-y.  But I’m far from a brunch buffet expert; I’m not much of a buffet person in general, and I don’t like to eat in the morning.  A lot of the dishes looked great, though.

I couldn’t believe when Melissa was so blasé about just making a salad out of whatever was left.  If she said she was going to make a salad after shopping in Whole Foods or the TC pantry, I’d be greatly looking forward to it; it’s not the salad that gave me pause (a great salad is one of my favorite things, and Lee Anne just got praise for hers from Gregory’s restaurant).  But from what might be left in that camp kitchen?!  She made me so nervous.  Odd showing for her in this challenge.

But Lee Anne was the clear loser since both dishes had big problems.  I take their point about her concept being better than Malarkey’s and Melissa’s, but a major execution failure on both dishes seals the deal.  She went out with a great attitude.

I knew Bryan was going to be the winner because he’s the only one of the top three where they really liked both dishes, rather than just being blown away by one and “that was fine” about the other.  Cooked carrots don’t excite me (in fact, I generally don’t eat them), so I’d have liked to try that dish to see if he’d created the one variation that would.  I really wanted that bacon dish, because, well, bacon.  Served pretty.  Sign me up!

[Nordly Beaumont]

I want Bryan Voltaggio's laugh for my ringtone. It cracks me up every time!

[Sew Sumi]

Just now, Nordly Beaumont said:

I want Bryan Voltaggio's laugh for my ringtone. It cracks me up every time!

His laugh totally creeps me out! 

[riprock]

Voltaggio's fan club - it’s a good thing there was no formal fan vote, for Karen and everyone else’s sake. And how does he call that a bean dish? He’s gotten away from the prompt a few times now. He might win if he makes the finale but he’s close to not getting there.

I really loved the plating on Lee Anne's donut. It’s too bad that it had issues. I knew right away from Tom's reaction, so it’s funny that someone else at the table had to ask!
I like Brooke because she's a prodigy. Her stint on Guy Fieri's Tournament of Champions impressed me.

Karen's corn cake came off well for something that she just kind of threw out there.

[CoyoteBlue]

10 minutes ago, riprock said:

And how does he call that a bean dish? He’s gotten away from the prompt a few times now. He might win if he makes the finale but he’s close to not getting there.

I adore the man, but he cannot highlight an ingredient intentionally or hit a challenge to save his life. After a dozen "Delicious! But WTF does this have to do with the task?" you'd think he'd learn.

Please learn before it takes you out, Bryan!

[Ashforth]

This episode was a dud for me.

I missed the first few minutes of the quickfire, but did I miss much? Probably not. 

The challenge was bullshit. Make two brunch dishes for 200 people each, and your ingredients are severely limited and you have to fight for them! How is it possible that no one managed to make eggs? WTF? If I went to a brunch buffet (or cafeteria line if we're being real) I would be seriously disappointed to have NO EGGS. 

This one left a sour taste in my mouth. I'm just happy that Melissa didn't get PYKAG'd.

[buttersister]

Over-react much, chefs? Ha, from Eggapalooza to an egg desert. Did no one see that happening? Did Melissa not think to adjust the greens and pop a fried egg on that salad? Ok, Gregory suffers an eggtastrify, but recovers brilliantly. Brooke and Kelsey are pretty meh to me, always have been. 

[GaT]

This felt like another Top Chef gimmick show. If I go on a cooking competition, I don't want to have to go zip lining or climb trees.

[Brookside]

I had to spoil myself after seeing Melissa's salad, I was so worried she would be going home.

I hated the challenge.  Maybe do it at the beginning of the show, but the lack of fresh ingredients was ridiculous to me at this stage of the game when they're constantly being asked for elevated food.   While using canned baked beans and sad salad.

 

[novhappy]

Bryan V summed that challenge up perfectly- it was a quick fire. 
melissa totally shoulda put an egg on her salad but I don’t know about egg and grapefruit?!

even Tom seemed to be irritated by the challenge being so lame. I fast forward through all the extra stuff like car rides and activities, I only watch the cooking and eating. This was a throwaway episode. 

[Msample]

Leaned finally had to PYKAG, but had the quote of the night . It was a quick off camera “shut up Malarkey” after his endless whining. 
 

 

[avecsans]

I would think that when you get to this point in the competition, you would think to check the settings on the oven. I’m sure Lee Anne is a nice person, but she often seemed to find others to blame for her failures.

 I was so afraid for Melissa and that sad salad. And I would be seriously bummed if I went to brunch and there were no eggs.

[wlk68]

Glad to see Bryan finally get a win. He has the cooking chops but he's been struggling this season. Maybe Restaurant Wars really did light a fire in him as he said in his talking head.

He won an EC during an overnite camping trip back in Season 6 as well.

And if I recall correctly, he's done a very well received carrot dish in the past but I'm struggling to recall the circumstances. And you can never go wrong with bacon. Especially during a brunch. 

[Domenicholas]

The elimination challenge felt like something from Cutthroat Kitchen:

And now you have to cook

- 2 dishes for 200 people each

- with little sleep

- with crappy, limited options that you’ll have to bargain for and which you won’t know about until you actually have to cook them!

[BlackberryJam]

This episode felt like a big nothing for me. I am not a fan of beans so was uninterested in the quickfire dishes and then the brunch just didn't look good either. I want eggs and waffles at brunch. Not carrots and a limp salad. 

[CrazyInAlabama]

I loved seeing  Kelsey back.   Her restaurant, bakery, and catering company here in Dothan just reopened, and I'm really pulling for her restaurant to get back to normal.    

I think the reason Tom didn't say anything about Leanne's dishes is that he was trying to swallow his mouthful of the dish.   He really looked disgusted at the taste of the dish.     I think without cameras, he would have been spitting the stuff out.   I think he wished he had only taken a tiny sample of it.   

I figured Leanne would go, because both of her dishes failed.   The other two chefs only had one failed dish.     I didn't like the pantry challenge at all.  They should have supplemented the pantry to give more options.   

I really wonder how the camp served 200 campers for three meals a day out of that pantry.  I'm sensing producer shenanigans. 

Edited May 16, 2020 by CrazyInAlabama

[sugarbaker design]

Felt a little hometown pride this episode when Karen mentioned being a cheerleader in Kearny NJ.  

I was surprised Steph wasn't in the bottom 3.  The highlight of the show was Karen's reaction to the BV fan club!

[catrice2]

I don't eat eggs so.....no big deal to me!  I realized that if and when Gregory goes I am going to feel sad!  I am secretly hoping for Stephanie to make it to at least the top 4.  My top four at this point would be Melissa, Stephanie,Gregory and BV.  Oh, I hate Last Chance Kitchen...I think once you go you should be out!!!  

I really liked the idea of Gregory's spiced salad and liked his dish more with the spinach instead of the eggs.  So was BM just middle of the road? He was not in the bottom, but not in the top?  

Edited May 16, 2020 by catrice2

[dleighg]

12 hours ago, Bastet said:

Cooked carrots don’t excite me (in fact, I generally don’t eat them), so I’d have liked to try that dish to see if he’d created the one variation that would. 

I ate at VOLT some years ago and the dish I remember most was a vegetarian carrot dish!

I chuckled at seeing Melissa ladle up what looked like a slop of salad, while they showed this beautifully plated "glamour shot" of the "same" salad. On the other hand, all of Bryan V's plates LOOKED like glamour shots!

And I was honestly surprised that this was NOT a tie-in to the other Bravo show that just started: Camp Getaway (which I have not watched). 

Edited May 15, 2020 by dleighg

[BlackberryJam]

Malarkey was in the bottom 3. Stephanie got no feedback at all. I enjoyed Padma being amazed that she was enjoying Stephanie's food.  

[seltzer3]

3 hours ago, Domenicholas said:

The elimination challenge felt like something from Cutthroat Kitchen:

And now you have to cook

- 2 dishes for 200 people each

- with little sleep

- with crappy, limited options that you’ll have to bargain for and which you won’t know about until you actually have to cook them!

I really hated this challenge.  Everything that you listed above (including lack of buffet serving space), just seemed like a ploy to get a bunch of tired people to fight each against each other and boost ratings.  Like Melissa said, it felt like Hunger Games.  For the most part the cast was pretty mature, so we did avoid that situation.

Also, with those challenge parameters, you knew at least one person was going to get screwed over hardcore with limited ingredients.  Melissa settling for salad gave me back flashbacks of her getting screwed over by that stupid artist in her season.  Especially since a lot of things I saw she could have used (eggs, avocados, bacon, corn, fruit) was all being used by everyone else.

 

[BlackberryJam]

Once Melissa had what she wanted for her congee, she was pretty much like, “I don’t care, I’ll take whatever’s left.” I don’t think that’s getting screwed over at all. I think that’s phoning it in. 

[catrice2]

So it was Stephanie that was middle of the road?   I mostly forget the episode after I watch..  I am just hoping Gregory makes it to Europe.  Will it be the final 5, 3 or 4 that go overseas?

[gorgy]

The villain of the season turned out to be the editor constantly getting in Bryan Voltaggio's laugh. A little goes a long way

The challenge was... not good. It's one of those end of the season things where the producers feel they have to up the ante and it becomes more of a deterrent than a challenge. It was like two too many obstacles for the sake of it, and it ultimately leads to unsatisfying results for everyone, especially the viewers. 

 

Edited May 15, 2020 by gorgy

[SemiCharmedLife]

Whew!  That was a close call for Melissa, who I want to see in the finale.  I can't fault her for her salad- there weren't any other ingredients left to elevate it...and then two of the chefs didn't use the coveted eggs they took!  

[PamelaMaeSnap]

Stephanie was the "middle of the road"-er but it weirdly was never mentioned ... no "Stephanie, you're safe" before they announced the top 3. No "Stephanie, you're safe" before they announced the BOTTOM 3. It's like she didn't exist. Also seemed like their announcement of the B3 was really rushed as if we already knew who they were, and then Mr. Snappy and I saw Stephanie standing there like the cheese (ricotta perhaps) standing alone. I think it may have been a weird edit but who knows?

I also think (totally spitballing here) that the judges could have PYKAG'd either Lee Anne or Melissa, based on the critiques (I think Malarkey was probably safe either way) ... and they were able to make the choice based on ... who they liked more overall? Who had performed better along the way? I have no idea ... but they could have made a case for Lee Anne over Melissa had they chosen to based on her taking bigger risks with two more ambitious dishes ... I'm glad they didn't because I lurve Melissa, but I think they left themselves that room to take previous/future considerations into their decision. 

Finally, I AM SO JEALOUS (Mr. Snappy even commented that he knew this would make me jealous) of Mom Campers. I want to go to Mom Camp. I want to sleep in a bunk that smells like wood chips and have the loudspeaker announcing "Ziplining at 11 a.m.! Mani-pedis at 1 p.m.! Beadmaking at 3 p.m.! Wine-tasting at 5 p.m.! Dinner cooked for you by Top Chef finalists at 7 p.m. (yeah, I'm replacing that for brunch because I physically cannot eat anything before noon)."

Maybe by the time we move to California I will be able to go to Grandma Camp at Pali. All the same stuff that I listed above, but with reminders to take our pills. Plus, a slot written in for "Show everyone pictures of your adorable grandchildren."

 

[Miss chi chi]

Shut up LeAnne! You put your pans in the oven and clearly were shown setting it to 325 yourself! 
Really really glad Melissa didn’t nice herself into a PYKAG!!!! Get aggressive girl!!!

[Ashforth]

38 minutes ago, SemiCharmedLife said:

Whew!  That was a close call for Melissa, who I want to see in the finale.  I can't fault her for her salad- there weren't any other ingredients left to elevate it...and then two of the chefs didn't use the coveted eggs they took!  

It looked like there were plenty of eggs (unlike other ingredients - what a shitshow) but each chef was wary of doing eggs because other chefs were doing eggs. Then no one did eggs.

The whole idea of not being able to plan your dishes for 400 servings because the ingredients that would be available were a mystery and then were so limited that they had to be fought over was really insulting to this group of chefs, in my opinion. Then there was the limited space in which to execute service, so much that Malarkey had to create his own station. Really? Any expectation of fabulous dishes under those conditions was ridiculous.

[carrps]

Can't stand Kelsey (Kelly?), so I didn't care for this episode for that reason. Also, I loved how Brooke was dressed for the brunch (very camp-y), and Kel-whatever was all dolled up like she was going to brunch at Country Captain. I hated the Kentucky season and didn't even watch the finale. Don't want to ever be reminded of it again.

It was pretty obvious to me that Leeanne was the eliminated chef. She had two bad dishes -- mostly due to poor execution. Melissa seemed to still be holding the effects of RW, so I wasn't too surprised that she half-assed the salad. But the congee seemed to be loved by most folks so I wasn't worried for her. Malarkey? Eh. He could go or stay. Don't care.

Ha.  Tom teasing Bryan about the tweezers at the buffet was great.

[joanne3482]

13 minutes ago, Miss chi chi said:

Shut up LeAnne! You put your pans in the oven and clearly were shown setting it to 325 yourself! 

Is it possible, and I don't know how industrial ovens like that work, that the temperature and the cook type setting are different knobs? Like the oven was set to steam but you can also adjust the temperature?  Because I know Bryan had it pre-heating and she set the temperature, but maybe he had already set the steam portion? 

Like everyone else, glad Melissa didn't go. I would have LOVED to go to mom camp and done all the activities.  

I could have sworn someone else had hard boiled eggs in her dish, but that was what was defeating Gregory, having to do the peeling of 200 eggs. 

[biakbiak]

24 minutes ago, Miss chi chi said:

Shut up LeAnne! You put your pans in the oven and clearly were shown setting it to 325 yourself! 
Really really glad Melissa didn’t nice herself into a PYKAG!!!! Get aggressive girl!!!

She didn’t notice that the steam function was also on. I don’t think she was blaming anyone, just something she didn’t realize.

 

12 hours ago, buttersister said:

Did Melissa not think to adjust the greens and pop a fried egg on that salad?

Fried eggs for 200 would be a rubbery mess. Speaking of eggs how was Gregory planning on preparing his eggs, he told Brooke and Tom that everyone would get a half of an egg so I assumed it was going to be hard boiled but I don’t think that would have worked well with that dish.

[jackjill89]

8 minutes ago, biakbiak said:

She didn’t notice that the steam function was also on. I don’t think she was blaming anyone, just something she didn’t realize.

 

Fried eggs for 200 would be a rubbery mess. Speaking of eggs how was Gregory planning on preparing his eggs, he told Brooke and Tom that everyone would get a half of an egg so I assumed it was going to be hard boiled but I don’t think that would have worked well with that dish.

Leanne called out Malarkey at one point for switching it to steam.

Gregory was going to boil his eggs.

I didn't like the whole "fight for the ingredients" aspect. I wish they could have had some time to discuss and plan a little better. There were no egg dishes, 3 different salad type dishes -- it all seemed so random.

I don't know what about Brooke that bugs me so much. I've never been a fan. I know that she's an amazing chef, but I've never warmed to her at all. I hate her commercials that run during TC. 

[biakbiak]

2 minutes ago, jackjill89 said:

Leanne called out Malarkey at one point for switching it to steam.

I never heard her say Malarkey. She told Stephanie that she didn’t know Bryan had it on steam meaning Voltaggio not Malarkey because his dish was also in that oven and they call him Bryan and Malarkey, Malarkey. 

[Ashforth]

Gregory boiled his eggs (I assume soft-boiled) but realized that there was no way he could peel all of them in time.

Eggs do pretty much need to be cooked in real time unless in a quiche or something. I know that poached eggs can be held and then warmed in hot water to order. It seemed to me that it would have been possible to do that or have a skillet or griddle going, constantly cranking out eggs as the guests came through. But that would have brought its own set of risks. 

[jackjill89]

10 minutes ago, biakbiak said:

I never heard her say Malarkey. She told Stephanie that she didn’t know Bryan had it on steam meaning Voltaggio not Malarkey because his dish was also in that oven and they call him Bryan and Malarkey, Malarkey. 

Ok --I swore I heard her blame Malarkey -- because the first thing I thought was that she sure hasn't given up being mad at him from when he "drove the bus over her." 

Then again, maybe it was just me wishing he screwed up after his mini-tantrum over the buffet space. That guy works my last nerve. 

[Irlandesa]

2 hours ago, Ashforth said:

It looked like there were plenty of eggs (unlike other ingredients - what a shitshow) but each chef was wary of doing eggs because other chefs were doing eggs. Then no one did eggs.

There were.  Melissa (I think it was her) backed off of eggs because she thought there would already be two egg dishes.  Gregory backed off of eggs because of timing and Malarkey opted out of doing an egg dish because there weren't enough cans of tomatoes to complete the dish he had in mind.

2 hours ago, Ashforth said:

I know that poached eggs can be held and then warmed in hot water to order. It seemed to me that it would have been possible to do that or have a skillet or griddle going, constantly cranking out eggs as the guests came through. But that would have brought its own set of risks. 

I think that's the philosophy behind what Malarkey was going to do with his dish.  I don't recall but I suspect he was going to do some version of shakshouka. 

[carrps]

Just now, Irlandesa said:

I think that's the philosophy behind what Malarkey was going to do with his dish.  I don't recall but I suspect he was going to do some version of shakshouka. 

Yeah, he said he was going to make shakshuka.

[Bastet]

24 minutes ago, Irlandesa said:

Melissa (I think it was her) backed off of eggs because she thought there would already be two egg dishes. 

That was Karen.  She was late in deciding on her second dish, because everything she thought of doing involved eggs, and she thought that would make for too many egg dishes in one buffet.

4 hours ago, PamelaMaeSnap said:

Stephanie was the "middle of the road"-er but it weirdly was never mentioned ... no "Stephanie, you're safe" before they announced the top 3. No "Stephanie, you're safe" before they announced the BOTTOM 3. It's like she didn't exist.

That didn't seem odd to me, since they don't normally say anything to the middle group, they just announce the top three and the bottom three.  It's just that with seven contestants this round, the middle "group" was Stephanie.

4 hours ago, SemiCharmedLife said:

Whew!  That was a close call for Melissa, who I want to see in the finale.  I can't fault her for her salad- there weren't any other ingredients left to elevate it

I fault her because she wasn't forced to make her second dish out of whatever was left after everyone else picked through an already limited selection, she bizarrely chose to say eh, I'll just wait and see what's left.

[TaraS1]

Some of those moms were a bit much for me. 

But Malarkey, as usual, was even *more* much lol

[dleighg]

9 minutes ago, Bastet said:

she bizarrely chose to say eh, I'll just wait and see what's left.

and honestly it looked like slop on a plate (well the beauty shot looked nice)

I loved Tom saying "Moms are my fan base" while he twinkled those blue eyes!

[Ashforth]

15 minutes ago, dleighg said:

I loved Tom saying "Moms are my fan base" while he twinkled those blue eyes!

😍 Not a mom but definitely in the Tom demographic! 

[ProudMary]

How the hell could Lee Anne, who worked behind the scenes at Top Chef for several seasons and was WELL aware of past oven shenanigans, NOT double-check the settings on the oven??? Mental error, indeed. I knew Lee Anne was gone as soon as the camera shot lingered on the oven's settings panel. 

16 hours ago, GaT said:

This felt like another Top Chef gimmick show. If I go on a cooking competition, I don't want to have to go zip lining or climb trees.

Well, at least here the zip lining and tree climbing was purely recreational. The cheftestants didn't have to climb trees to obtain ingredients or zip-line to find potential cooking sites. I'm looking at you, Top Chef Texas!

Edited May 15, 2020 by ProudMary
Spelling. There's no N in camera!

[ChiefWiggum9-1-2]

Nice to see BV smile and laugh in this past episode. He usually is so miserable because of that stick up his butt. 

[Vermicious Knid]

Shout out to the chyrons, which kept updating, including dramatic strikeouts, as the chefs changed their dishes. Also throwing in the ???? when they hadn't decided what to do.

[Ciarrai]

What has Brooke done to her face? Sad to see her go the Botox over-plasticky route.

[ilovebeaarthur]

16 minutes ago, Ciarrai said:

What has Brooke done to her face? Sad to see her go the Botox over-plasticky route.

I’m so glad you said something. I thought maybe I was misremembering how she looked. Something seemed so off. 

I looked at old pictures, and it seems she had her lips done, maybe fillers? 

[rozen]

At least it wasn't recovering ingredients from an ice block using a pick, but this was so gimmicky. If I were a chef, I'd be pissed to get eliminated over a dumb challenge like this one. And then having to get up so early after listening to wine moms scream at karaoke all night...no wonder some folks were kind of snappy.

Malarkey getting shafted and throwing a tantrum which resulted in..the prettiest station of the whole crew was hilarious. He was fed up with everyone this episode, it was a nice change up from his admirable California Sunshine persona. 

That was an impressively undiverse group of moms. And they all looked so hungover, but were still trying to bat their eyelashes at Bryan and Tom 🤣🤣. Karen's despair at everyone giggling around the school QB was the highlight of the episode for me.

[buttersister]

Glad Leeann won the ten grand! It was time for her to go.

Concerned for romaine-grapefruit Melissa. Not the first cheftestant (tm TWOP) to tire out and fizzle—hope she got a good night’s sleep.

[Fostersmom]

9 hours ago, rozen said:

That was an impressively undiverse group of moms. And they all looked so hungover, but were still trying to bat their eyelashes at Bryan and Tom 🤣🤣. Karen's despair at everyone giggling around the school QB was the highlight of the episode for me.

Yeah.... I might have made a few totally inappropriate comments about how white that moms group was. I'm pretty sure the one one eating who wasn't white was Padma. I'm white, but that mom's camping things was some white woman shit for sure. 

This whole episode was a waste of everyone's time. Chefs, judges, and us. Oh, and a waste of the 200 eggs Gregory boiled, but didn't use.