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Top Chef All Stars LA episode 2 recap: City of Gold

By Brad Cramer

TOP CHEF -- "The Jonathan Gold Standard" Episode 1702 -- Pictured: (l-r) Melissa King, Bryan Voltaggio, Lisa Fernandes, Jennifer Carroll, Gregory Gourdet, Nini Nguyen, Stephanie Cmar, Jamie Lynch -- (Photo by: Nicole Weingart/Bravo)
TOP CHEF -- "The Jonathan Gold Standard" Episode 1702 -- Pictured: (l-r) Melissa King, Bryan Voltaggio, Lisa Fernandes, Jennifer Carroll, Gregory Gourdet, Nini Nguyen, Stephanie Cmar, Jamie Lynch -- (Photo by: Nicole Weingart/Bravo) /
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Top Chef All Stars LA
TOP CHEF — “The Jonathan Gold Standard” Episode 1702 — Pictured: (l-r) Eric Adjepong, Lee Anne Wong, Karen Akunowicz, Melissa King, Lisa Fernandes, Jennifer Carroll, Nini Nguyen, Stephanie Cmar, Jamie Lynch — (Photo by: Nicole Weingart/Bravo) /

With GPS in-tow, groups of Top Chef All Stars LA cheftestants fanned out across Los Angeles to experience some of the city’s top 101 restaurants.

Episode 2 of Top Chef All Stars LA felt more like a tribute show to iconic restaurant critic Jonathan Gold than a traditional installment, even eschewing a Quickfire Challenge in favor of sending a visual and culinary love letter to the late Pulitzer Prize-winning Los Angeles Times writer.

We’ve made no secret of the fact that we wear our love of Top Chef on our sleeve, so it pains us to say that we feel, strongly, that the omission of the Quickfire Challenge threw off the show’s flow. In concert with that sentiment, we also felt that the first 30 minutes as a whole lacked the perfect pacing that usually exists.

As fans of Jonathan Gold, this isn’t an either-or. Instead, we simply wish the producers had whisked the tribute into the tried and true Top Chef recipe that makes the show so special instead of dedicating half the show to dining at a handful of places on his Top 101 Restaurants list.

ELIMINATION CHALLENGE

LOCALE: Union Station in downtown Los Angeles

CHALLENGE: Create a dish inspired by chefs’ visits to some of Jonathan Gold’s favorite restaurants

GUEST JUDGE: Ruth Reichl

  • Halibut, turmeric & tomato broth with chiles, lime & pineapple (Gregory)
  • “Masa ball soup” with coconut-ginger chicken broth (Nini)
  • Pickled chili salad with spicy caramel duck (Lisa)
  • Mala beef tartare, anchovy aioli & five spice potato chip (Melissa)
  • Ethiopian braised red cabbage & seared scallop with Kitfo oil (Eric)
  • Crudo of tuna with chilled turmeric coconut broth & jicama (Angelo)
  • Cumin lamb dumplings with roasted chili oil & pickled cucumbers (Karen)
  • Duck mole taco, lime crema & fire-roasted chili salsa (Jamie)
  • Fried rice beef tartare with kimchi vinaigrette, “peanut crack” & fermented egg yolk (Brian)
  • Chickpea & navy bean stew with hominy, herb yogurt, cashews & pickled red onion (Jen)
  • Short rib with charred eggplant puree, fermented radish & butternut squash vinaigrette (Bryan)
  • “End of summer” hayashi with black plums, tomato-seaweed gelee, mozzarella & king crab vinaigrette (Lee Anne)
  • Grilled naan with curried peas, crispy lamb, carrot relish & cheese (Stephanie)
  • Roasted pork, mushroom & black currant terrine with “Granny’s” apple butter (Kevin)

JUDGES’ TABLE: With Gail Simmons citing “that absolutely pristine technique” while praising Bryan’s short rib dish and Tom Colicchio telling Nini “I had someone sneak back there and bottle up” some of her “Masa ball soup” for him, there was no clear-cut winner, but Kevin’s roasted pork took the honors, with Guest Judge Ruth Reichl telling him that “you’ve gotta bottle that apple butter!”

Singled out for having made the judges’ least favorite dishes, Stephanie, Eric, and Angelo faced elimination. Click below to learn who was eliminated from this Top Chef All Stars LA episode:

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