The latest episode of Top Chef All Stars started off with Dale winning a strange Quickfire Challenge. The Chefs had to slice up 2 fish to frying portions, approved by a master fish slicer, Justo Thomas of the famed Le Bernardin.
The top 4 slicers then had to cook a dish using the remains of the fish they had just gutted. Dale Talde used the liver in the dish he made, which seemed to be what gave him the win.
Then it was off to Padma who informed them that the Chefs were about to fight in Restaurant Wars. As part of his Quickfire win Dale got to lead one restaurant and pick the other restaurant's leader.
Dale wisely picked Marcel to lead the other restaurant, obviously figuring that Marcel would self-destruct. Which is what happened.
Marcel has zero leader skills. He is good at pissing people off.
The restaurants had to be something called a "Pop-Up" Restaurant, that I really did not understand. The guest judge was a volatile Frenchy who we saw be volatile on Top Chef Masters, Ludo LeFebvre, who, apparently has a successful "Pop-Up" Restaurant.
Dale's restaurant was called Bodega. Marcel's was Etch.
The guests did the judging in this Restaurant Wars.
As the restaurants opened and Etch spun out of control, it was fairly clear that Bodega was a smoother operation, with Fabio running the front like a master, while Tiffany was Etch's greeter and a disaster at it.
Back at Judges' Table Padma called Etch first to the table, giving them some hope they'd actually won. This hope was quickly dashed. Meanwhile back in the Stew Room, Richard Blais was sure Bodega had lost.
At first the losers were reticent to point fingers. Then Marcel said yet one more dumb Marcel thing, which set off everyone, but Angelo, pointing at Marcel as the cause of their epic fail.
In the end, Richard Blais won Restaurant Wars and $10,000, while Marcel Vigneron was sent packing.
In his Bravo Top Chef Blog, Anthony Bourdain is amusing, as always, in his blogging about Restaurant Wars he is particularly amusing about what it must be like to live in "Marcel Land."
