“God, That was Good!”: Top Chef All Stars LA Episode 1 Recap

The venerable Top Chef hit the ground running Thursday night, as returning chefs faced the fire during the premiere of Top Chef All Stars LA. (Spoilers Ahead!)

“Please sir, I want some more.” – Oliver Twist

These were our exact thoughts as the closing credits rolled on the season premiere of Top Chef All Stars LA. And while there was no hot sausage and mustard, oh was there ever food glorious food!

With that food came 15 chefs, some who felt like old friends, others who appeared to have changed a bit, and still others who are exactly who we’ve always thought they are. Hello Brian Malarkey? Angelo Sosa?

The festivities began at Los Angeles’ Griffith Observatory overlooking the city and beyond, where chefs were met with a variation on the mise en place challenge theme for their Quickfire Challenge. Under the exacting eye of Tom Colicchio, the cheftestants raced to trim three artichokes, supreme five oranges, and perfectly crack 20 almonds, with speed determining three teams of five for a continuation of the challenge.

QUICKFIRE CHALLENGE

Red Team: Kevin Gillespie, Jamie Lynch, Joe Sasto, Melissa King, Bryan Voltaggio

• Char-grilled artichoke with sumac, yogurt & tahini
• Tortellono with artichoke barigoule in pancetta brodo

Blue Team: Nini Nguyen, Lisa Fernandes, Stephanie Cmar, Karen Akunowicz, Brian Malarkey

• Artichoke tempura with citrus aioli
• Crispy artichokes with mint vinaigrette

Green Team: Lee Anne Wong, Gregory Gourdet, Angelo Sosa, Eric Adjepong, Jennifer Carroll

• Artichoke crudo with carrot & fennel gremolata
• Almond-crusted fried artichoke with orange aioli

Outcome: Highlighted by Bryan Voltaggio’s first-ever Quickfire Challenge win and on the strength of their Char-grilled artichoke dish, the Red team prevailed and earned the advantage of captaining smaller, winning chefs-selected teams of three for the Elimination Challenge.

https://twitter.com/BravoTopChef/status/1240826582022918144

ELIMINATION CHALLENGE

LOCALE: Cabrillo Beach in San Pedro, California

CHALLENGE: Seafood feast using only an open-fire as a heat source for cooking

GUEST JUDGE: Jeremiah Tower

GREEN TEAM: Melissa, Karen, Angelo

• Grilled swordfish with hot & source sauce, ember-grilled radicchio, fresno chiles (Melissa)
• Grilled scallops, gingered plums, nuoc cham & napa cabbage salad (Karen)
• West coast oyster with smoked bacon rice porridge (Angelo)

RED TEAM: Joe, Lee Anne, Brian

• Sea urchin, spot prawns with hibiscus ponzu & burnt avocado (Brian)
• Sesame & semolina flatbread with clams, fried garlic, sea urchin, pickled peppers & miso parmesan aioli (Joe)
• Shoyu tare-glazed halibut with charred sweet corn & cabbage, sea urchin, uni miso beurre blanc (Lee Anne)

YELLOW TEAM: Jamie, Gregory, Stephanie

• Charred salmon with grilled peaches & roasted chili dressing (Gregory)
• Steamed mussels with ember-scalded cream, toasted bread (Jamie)
• Brined prawn with charred tomato sauce & roasted corn dressing (Stephanie)

BLUE TEAM: Nini, Jennifer, Kevin

• Spiced tuna loin over grilled kale with red pepper tahini sauce (Jennifer)
• Grilled scallop, carrots, tomatoes, with charred brussels sprout & fennel salad (Nini)
• Eye of swordfish braised in chorizo with coal-roasted onion, olives, peas (Kevin)

AQUA TEAM: Bryan, Eric, Lisa

• Charred shrimp & scallop ceviche with candied squash, mushrooms, avocado (Lisa)
• Sablefish with corn porridge & charred leeks (Bryan)
• Chesapeake boil with grilled prawn (Eric)

JUDGES’ TABLE: While the judges singled out Melissa’s grilled swordfish and Jennifer’s spiced tuna loin, the Yellow team won, with Guest Judge Jeremiah Tower describing Gregory’s charred salmon as “technically perfect” in declaring him the winning chef.

On the flip-side, the Red team’s dishes were deemed the judges’ least favorite, leaving Brian, Lee Anne and Joe up for elimination. Click below to see which chef was sent home and for the first edition of our HEAT INDEX chef rankings:

LAST CHANCE KITCHEN QUALIFIER: On the “strength” of his flatbread that Tom Colicchio said had “too many ideas crammed on one piece of bread”, Joe Sasto was the first All Stars LA cheftestant asked to pack his knives and go.

CHEF DISH: As referenced earlier on, it didn’t take long for Brian Malarkey and Angelo Sosa to remind us why we’ve never been numbered among their fans. Malarkey bordered on whiny, while Sosa looked like he’d rather have been anywhere else on earth than competing on Top Chef again.

Surprisingly, one of our all-time favorites left us rethinking our opinion of him, as Kevin Gillespie appears, at least based on this one episode, to have lost the southern charm that we found so appealing in favor of a bit more attitude and ego.

https://twitter.com/BravoTopChef/status/1240828350442209280

SNARK ATTACK: Despite moving into a home in the Hollywood Hills that would seem more fitting for the rose ceremony on another show, our friend Malarkey quipped “if you like to cook, you too one day might be able to compete on Top Chef and live in a bunk bed” while checking out the accommodations.

HEAT INDEX

EN FUEGO:

• Gregory, for obvious reasons as the first Elimination Challenge winner.

ROLLING BOIL:

• Jamie, whose inclusion on the winning team inevitably earned him momentum going forward.
• Stephanie, a chef we consider to be an underdog in the competition and who seems both relaxed and thrilled to be back on the show after unfortunate circumstances sent her home during Top Chef: New Orleans.

https://twitter.com/BravoTopChef/status/1241062820541796352

BRING TO A SIMMER:

• Lee Anne, who had a rough episode 1 all around, having struggled with her tempura batter during the Quickfire Challenge and over-fired halibut at Cabrillo Beach.
• Brian, despite the fact that the judges didn’t hate his dish, but because he was on their least favorite team.
• Kevin, about whose dish Tom Colicchio said “that swordfish was hammered, man”.
• Angelo, whose oyster compelled Tom to say “your oyster was like a bit of phlegm. It was not pleasant at all”.

And with that, Top Chef All Stars LA is underway and we couldn’t be happier, almost as giddy as Elimination Challenge guest Chef Marcus Samuelsson, whose elation was off-the-charts throughout the meal, but especially after tasting Melissa’s grilled radicchio. His reaction to that component of her dish, “god, that was good!”, echoes our sentiments about episode 1.

Which Top Chef All Stars LA chefs do you think are en fuego? Has anyone made the mistake by coming back?