Episode #7 - Fingers and Youth

After shopping around in my mind last night post episode seven I've decided its a good thing Anapol and Lisa were the yellow team because envy was a really bad color on them. And poor sportsmanship really doesn't flatter grey hair or old women very well either. I could not believe that Lisa could be so mean and angry, she was so nice to our faces that it was a shocker to see her bad attitude during confessionals. More on that later... I've decided that the most entertaining aspect of the entire show was actually the stuff they didn't show.

Once our challenge has been laid out for us the Executive Producers came over and explained the rules, budgets, time constraints, etc. Here is where the competition really began. If you remember I had received a $100 tip from Vinny in a previous episode, so this meant that Kelsey and I actually had $600 for this challenge and they only had $500. Anapol lost it, he didn't think it was fair we got to use that money, and we battled it out for a while before the producers were like sorry Charlie, its her money fair and square. Here is what they didn't show. While we were shopping at Eli's I decided to use the extra $100 to purchase the centerpieces for the restaurant we were to be sharing, so essentially I ended up using the extra money for both of us, which I think made Lisa and Anapol that much more annoyed with the whole situation. 

Looking back, Kelsey and I really never attacked anyone, we worked as a team, and we worked with other teams, we never had a bad attitude or conveyed poor sportsmanship. But it seems like every other team at every opportunity took a serious stab at Kelsey and I. Panya pulling the race card amongst other things out on me, Sam freaking out about how much cuter she is then me (even though she's not going to get into it), Lisa thinking Kelsey is an idiot, and the list goes on. It really is shocking for Kelsey and I as we watch because hand down every day we'd say hello, good morning, how are you to everyone, even giving them compliments having no clue they were all trash talking behind our backs. I guess killing them with kindness was really working.

Back to the action, during the 5 or 6 hours we had to prep for the dinner service Kelsey got started in the kitchen and I hit the pavement to get gold leaf and a cherry pitter. Those two things might have taken me 2 hours to get with traffic, but I knew that our dessert had to be amazing because it would be the last thing the critic would eat. And Anapol and Lisa were throwing a fit that I wasn't there to unpack dishes, but what would Anapol have been doing if I was there? I would have been unpacking boxes and he would have been folding napkins or something. Truth of the matter is that I can do things twice as fast as Anapol, we had 20 minutes before dinner service and I set the tables, folded the napkins and placed the centerpieces with no problem. Marco was testing us to see how we would work as a team, and Kelsey and I were going to support each other before anyone else, she needed these things for her dessert so I got them. 

Cut to wine pairing which was barely mentioned on the show. Front of house had to pair wines with each of the chefs dishes. I let Anapol choose first he decided on his wines and then I went with what was left. Anapol chose the Claret to go with Lisa's fillet which has a cab sav sauce, and the critic really let him have it for that choice. I mean hello, cab sav sauce, serve cab sav. And her comment about loving the sparkling with the cherry was great, I had planned that out. Champagne is sexy and fun, and so was our dessert choice and I wanted the critic to get that that's what Kelsey and I were trying to convey. 

Another thing that Kelsey and I found more then entertaining was how Lisa was always so quick to jump on things before Kelsey and how many times it bit her in the ass. Case #1: Kelsey does lamb and Lisa clearly stats, "I would never have done lamb in that kitchen but I kept my mouth shut" like she was sabotaging Kelsey. Then later when Marco talks about it she's like "oh yeah I thought about doing lamb" it's like make up your mind and be honest with yourself. Case #2: then she bully's Kelsey so she can  be first on the menu. Dude, I watch top chef, I know going second is gives you far more of an advantage so when she came bolting up (behind Kelsey's back) to change the menu I was like game on bitches!!! 

The only thing that was blown out of proportion was Anapol throwing Kelsey and I under the bus for not knowing what her dish was and mis-explaining it to Marco and his date. I honestly think he just didn't know what it was, and instead of saying let me go check like a normal waiter would have done, he started an explanation and got stuck with it. I don't think he was trying to malicious at that point. However, I did hear him talking smack about Kelsey's food later on in the evening, and there really is no excuse for that he was straight up throwing us under the bus. Karma people...have you not been watching what happens to everyone else who is mean on the show....they get the boot!!!

Meanwhile, back in the kitchen, Kelsey and Lisa had set up a plan on how to deal with the small place and large quantities of food being served. They would plate their own dishes and then the other chef would help get them into the dumb waiter. Well the reason it looked like Kelsey was asking for help was because while she was plating her dishes Lisa wasn't loading them into the dumb waiter. End of day, Marco and Lisa can make Kelsey out to be helpless and weak all they want, but she continues to pull through and cook amazing food. Whether Lisa helped plate dishes or not it was Kelsey's recipe and natural talent as a chef that made the dishes what they were and that is what the critic was really judging. 

Post judgement, and thinking we had won the whole thing, we all walked outside. I congratulated Lisa on her hard work and effort and she wouldn't even look at me or respond. I don't care who the F you are, have some tact. I would have thought that after 30 years of being a chef at a million fancy restaurants and being accustom to working with high end clientele and having all that experience Lisa would know how to handle herself in this type of situation, not the case. People's true colors come out when they loose or are put up against a wall. I mean to talk all that shit and loose must have really hurt. Kelsey and I never counted our chickens before they hatched, we took everything as it came and enjoyed every opportunity we were given, I mean helloooo....people would die to be able to do what we were doing how could we be negative in a setting like the one we were in? It really bummed us out that she was such a poor sport. 

Restaurant or not, at least we still have our fingers and youth!