Top Chef Texas: Remember The Alamo

On last week’s episode of Top Chef, the cheftestants catered a Healthy Choice block party and Paul won with a delish (and healthy) Asian dish. Chris J, on the other hand, was sent home for having a ridiculous pigtail on the top of his head. And also for dry-ass chicken salad. 

This week, the chefs enter the Top Chef kitchen and are greeted by a table full of Padmas and a pancake (or vice versa, my notes are sketchy). Pancake Padma explains that they’ll be making the favorite food of today’s guest judge. Grayson immediately thinks they might be cooking for Miley Cyrus, but if that were the case there would be Funyons and cigarettes on that table instead of pancakes. Duh. 

The next thing we see is the guest judge riding in on his shiny bike – and it’s Pee-wee Herman!!! The Quickfire this week will be to make Pee-wee some pancakes in 20 minutes. 

Cook cook cook – pancakes pancakes pancakes. After the 20 minutes are up, Padma and Pee-wee feast on the flapjacks. Pee-wee tells everyone that their pancakes are the best he’s ever eaten. Hey, he’s a loner … a rebel … Pee-wee can do or say what he wants. 

And the winner is … Ed for his burnt pancake bits and pieces! Seriously, he didn’t make pancakes; he made pancake leftovers and won. Whatevs. 

Padma explains this week’s elimination challenge. Poor Pee-wee has bad memories from the Alamo (it’s a long story involving a stolen bike and a non-existent basement), so the chefs need to create a great lunch for Pee-wee at the Alamo in order for him to finally have some good memories of the Texas monument. 

But it’s not going to be easy. The cheftestants will be going on their own big adventure… they’ll be given a bike, a map, and 100 bucks to create lunch. They’ll have to buy their ingredients and find a kitchen to cook in on their own. The chefs meet briefly with Pee-wee to find out his likes and dislikes. FYI: he likes pretty much everything. 

The next morning the chefs set out on their big adventure. They each have a bike waiting for them outside of their house … and they’re off. They will have 3 hours to shop, cook and return to the Alamo to plate and serve lunch. 

Bike bike bike … shop shop shop. Everyone heads to the farmers market first and then it’s off to finagle their way into a random restaurant kitchen to cook. 

Paul finds a Belgian waffle place, Ed finds a Bed & Breakfast and Grayson barges in to a Mexican restaurant. Lindsay finds a place called “Mad Hatters” but leaves to buy more ingredients. When she returns, Sarah is already cooking there – so Lindsay is the last to start cooking (in another restaurant). 

Cook cook cook. The highlight of this segment was when the Bed and Breakfast owner made Ed cook eggs for one of his guests. "Give me Adam and Eve on a raft and wreck 'em!"

Bike bike bike … back to the Alamo. Lunch is plated and served to the judges (Pee-wee, Pancake Padma, Tom, Gail Simmons, and Gail Simmons’ boobies). 

Eat eat eat. The judges and Padma seem to enjoy the lunch – even though almost everyone served Chicken. 

Padma: “So Pee-wee, what will you think of when you remember the Alamo now?” 

Pee-wee: “Chicken” 

Padma: “I know you are, but what am I”. Touché, Pancake. 

Service is over and the chef’s gather in the Stew Room. Padma enters and asks them all to come to the Judges Table. 

Judge judge judge … Paul is safe and Lindsay wins. Ed, Grayson and Sarah are on the bottom. 

And … Grayson is sent home for a chicken dish with too many ingredients. 

But wait, there’s more! Padma tells the “final four” to come back to the Judges Table, where she and Tom begin to explain the whole “Last Chance Kitchen” thing… 

… and then my friggin cable froze!!!!! Seriously, I have no idea what happened during the last minute of the show. Did I miss anything??? 

Anywhore, what did YOU think about last night’s episode – please leave a comment.