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Review Thu Nov 13 2008
Top Chef, Season 5: It's Baaaaack
Yes, it's Top Chef time again. Though with New York playing host this year and only one Chicago cheftestant, I already feel like some of the magic is gone. The never-ending cavalcade of Glad products, the ever-shifting landscape of Tom Colicchio's facial hair, Padma and her seductive temptress ways... And this year, self-proclaimed "Team Rainbow" has taken weeks of exciting guesswork off our hands. At least the food still looks as good, if not better, than ever.
Radhika Desai of Between Boutique Cafe and Lounge in Bucktown is our city's lone hope this year. Following Stephanie Izard's rise all the way to the top can't be a fun act to follow, and indeed Radhika landed in the bottom four for the first quickfire challenge (this year with extra-anxiety when it's announced not everyone is even going to make it through the apple-massacring challenge), and lost her take on Jamaican cuisine (jerk rubbed halibut with an accompanying ginger cocktail that I never saw nor hear tell of during the episode itself...curious...conspiracy?!) in the head-to-head Cuisines of the World - I mean City - I mean World elimination. All is not lost, and we wish her best of luck next week.
Meanwhile, Stefan the Finn has already asserted himself as ass-iest cheftestant and vinaigrette-defender of the year (though dammit, the man seems to be able to cook, ensuring weeks of strong dishes and various abusive insults directed towards my TV-screen, I'm sure). Hawaiian cheftestant Eugene accidentally and adorably re-created a classic Indian dish without entirely knowing what he was doing. And if nothing else, my favorite part of Top Chef season is the return of some heavy posting on this blog. God bless you, Amuse Biatch.
