‘Top Chef’ 21 episode 2 recap: In ‘Living the High Life,’ the cheftestants raised the bar on bar snacks

“Top Chef” wasted no time throwing the contestants’ into the heat of the competition, going straight into the Elimination Challenge in last week’s season premiere, “Chef’s Test.” Some chefs passed their test with flying colors while others struggled. So who went out in episode two, “Living the High Life”? Read on to find out.

David Murphy was the first chef ousted from the competition, leaving 14 on the main show competing for a chance to win a feature in Food and Wine magazine; an appearance at the Food and Wine Classic in Aspen, Colorado; and $250,000 in prize money: Manny Barella, Kaleena Bliss, Kevin D’Andrea, Alisha Elenz, Danny Garcia, Valentine Howell Jr., Dan Jacobs, Savannah Miller, Kenny Nguyen, Laura Ozyilmaz, Charly Pierre, Amanda Turner, Rasika Venkatesa and Michelle Wallace.

Manny won the Elimination Challenge in “Chef’s Test,” so he has immunity from elimination, but he doesn’t want to get too relaxed. Michelle is flying high though, having landed in the top three with a pasta dish despite her limited experience with pasta. “Bananas!” she says about that outcome. She didn’t start her culinary career until her 30s, so this gave her confidence to believe that she belongs in this career.

Quickfire Challenge

“I have no idea how to work with these things,” says Manny when he sees hops on the table as the 14 chefs enter the kitchen. “Beer is what has made Milwaukee famous,” host Kristen Kish explains. “It’s called Brew City for a reason … Hops can produce all kinds of flavor profiles, floral to earthy, peppery and citrussy.” As she announced last week, there is no immunity for winning the Quickfire challenge, but this week’s quick-cash prize is $5,000. They have just 30 minutes to complete their hops dishes.

The guest judge for this Quickfire is Joe Flamm who, like Kristen, was eliminated from his season, won “Last Chance Kitchen,” returned to the show, and ended up winning the grand prize. He’s already acquainted with this season’s cheftestants Dan and Alisha, the latter of whom worked under him and was encouraged that she could work hard and succeed even if she didn’t go to culinary school.

Kevin has never cooked with hops before. He’s planning to make a dessert; he owns a pastry company. Danny is trying to figure out how to navigate the kitchen; he’s obsessed with cleanliness, so the chaos of “Top Chef” might be a struggle for him; he’ll be using hops in a sauce, so he’s going to steep them like tea, but when he tastes it, it’s completely “unpalatable” and “bitter.” Laura is taking a chance by making a rice pudding in just 30 minutes, but she opened a beer restaurant in San Francisco, so she has experience with hops. Kenny’s brain is fried after last week when he was in the bottom three and had to survive a 20-minute cookoff to avoid elimination; he makes faro that comes out al dente, but he’s determined to get something on the plate after his incomplete dish almost got him sent home last week.

Amanda: Cured Rainbow Trout with Hop Dashi, Grapefruit and Blood Orange

Laura: Hop-Infused Rice Pudding with Berries

Danny: Grilled Rack of Lamb with Hops Au Poivre

Michelle: Grilled Flank Steak, Strawberry and Shallot Salad with Strawberry and Hops Vinaigrette

Alisha: Grilled Peaches, Whipped Goat Cheese with Hops and Aleppo Chili Honey

Dan: Charred Cabbage Salad with Citrus, Herbs, Hops and Alpine Cheddar Cheese

Kevin: Roasted Blackberries and Raspberries with Fleur De Sel Crumble, Whipped Cream and Hops-Infused Oil

Charly: Lambic Hop Braised Haitian Fried Chicken with Pikliz and Plantains

Manny: Roasted Pork Loin with Sweet Potatoes and Shishito-Hops Chimichurri

Savannah: Crab Salad with Hops-Infused Corn Puree

Kenny: Hops and Kombu Broth with Farro, Maitake Mushrooms and Burrata

(Kenny is asked how he found the time limit. He got everything on the plate this time, but he needed to “twerk” … uh, he meant “tweak.”)

Rasika: Hops-Infused Green Chermoula Crab Salad and Watermelon Ponzu

Kaleena: Hop-Cured Tuna with Hop-Infused Dashi and Raw Hops

Valentine: Hop-Smoked Duck Breast with Berbere Spice and Tomato Nage

The judges’ least favorite dishes were from Kenny (the farro was undercooked, as he expected), Danny (the sauce didn’t come out well, and the black pepper was wild, Danny isn’t surprised) and Valentine (smoking it for longer would’ve helped). The best dishes are from Laura (rice pudding with the hops was a good way to infuse the flavor), Michelle (sauce with strawberry was a great way to highlight the hops) and Kevin (smart to infuse the oil, then work the dish almost backwards from the oil). But the winner of this Quickfire Challenge is … Laura! Michelle, however, is setting herself up nicely for the season with a top-three dish in last week’s Elimination Challenge and now a top-three dish in this Quickfire.

Elimination Challenge

More beer for the Elimination Challenge. Sort of. Kristen and Joe talk about Miller High Life and the Miller brewery, but this challenge is really all about bar snacks. The cheftestants need to take the salty snacks you’d find at any bar and feature them in an elevated fine-dining dish. Oh, and this is a team challenge! So each team must present a seven-course progressive meal featuring seven different bar snacks: popcorn, pickles, pretzels, mixed nuts, potato chips, olives and toasted corn kernels.

Time to draw knives. The Yellow Team and the ingredients they agree on are Rasika (pretzels), Michelle (corn), Dan (popcorn), Alisha (olives), Kenny (potato chips), Savannah (pickles) and Manny (nuts) — Kenny has no idea what the hell he’s supposed to do to elevate potato chips. The Red Team and their ingredients are Kevin (olives), Danny (pickles), Valentine (corn), Laura (nuts), Amanda (pretzels), Kaleena (popcorn) and Charly (potato chips). Alisha notices that many of the opposing team’s members have fine-dining backgrounds, while her team skews more rustic. However, Alisha’s team does have two of last week’s top three chefs, so maybe that’ll be an advantage?

They only have 10 minutes to plan their menus, and then they’ll have $500 for the entire team to shop for food. The teams go shopping with slightly different strategies: shop solo and work it all out at the register or break up into smaller groups to shop strategically. But both end up with a few more grocery items than they can afford and have to leave something behind, but (hopefully) nothing they’ll regret.

That night as the chefs discuss the difficulties of this challenge — trying to express yourself in your dish while providing what your team specifically needs — we learn a big secret about Dan: seven years ago he was diagnosed with Kennedy’s disease, which is a neuromuscular disease similar to ALS that is causing him to lose some basic motor functions. He thinks it’ll be important to tell his fellow contestants eventually, but not now. He doesn’t want them to look at him differently.

On the day of the cook, Kenny feels good about the Yellow Team and how their dishes progress, despite his early uncertainty about using potato chips. But Alisha thinks Rasika’s dessert sounds “crazy” because it includes mustard. On the Red Team, meanwhile, Amanda is taking inspiration from her best friend and dungeon master in “Dungeons and Dragons”: “He describes playing the game as beer and pretzels when people aren’t taking it seriously.” For a second there I wasn’t sure what kind of dungeon master she’d be talking about.

Meal Service

The diners arrive at the Miller Cave, the location for this meal. Guests include Quickfire judge Joe Flamm, Kenny Knall (chef and owner of Birch Restaurant), Charles Berens (“The Champagne of Comedians”), Carol Walker (Miller High Life representative), Luke Zahm (chef and owner of Driftless Cafe) and of course Kristen, Tom Colicchio and Gail Simmons.

First Course:

Savannah (Pickles): Cucumber and Melon Salad, Shredded Pickles and Cream Cheese

Kevin (Olives): Canapes — Olive Tapenade and Toast, Tempura Olive Stuffed with Bell Pepper, Green Olives with Parmesan Cracker

Savannah’s dish has a nice balance, but could have used more pickle flavor. Kristen didn’t want to start with dairy, though. Kevin’s dish was too salty, however. A lot of textures, but all you can taste are olives. Yellow Team definitely sounds like the winner of this pair.

Second Course:

Alisha (Olives): Smoked Salmon Rillettes with Lavash and Olive Chimichurri

Danny (Pickles): Cured Salmon with Yogurt and Dill Sauce

Danny’s dish is refined, ate clean, but it could have been cured more. Charles asks for anyone who doesn’t want their salmon to pass it over to him. Alisha’s chimichurri wasn’t refined enough; she just took a bar snack and turned it into another snack instead of elevating it. So Red Team comes out ahead for round two.

Third Course:

Michelle (Toasted Corn Kernels): Toasted Corn Kernel and Crag Biscuit with Spicy High Life Honey Butter

Laura (Mixed Nuts): Badrijani Nigvzit — Georgian Eggplant Rolls Stuffed with Nuts

Michelle’s dish was confusing, but delicious, the High life honey drizzle was great, could have used the corn component more in the crab. Laura’s dish was beautiful, but too aggressive, and the Red Team’s progression so far is all over the map.

Fourth Course:

Dan (Popcorn): Popcorn Mousse with Clams, Roasted Corn and Basil

Valentine (Toasted Corn Kernels): Beer and Corn Soup, Pickled Fresno Peppers and Toasted Corn Kernels

I’ll say that Valentine definitely has the better presentation. Dan’s dish just looks like some popcorn clumped together, but I’m not the one tasting it of course. Dan pulled off the flavor, though, “weird but it works.” Valentine’s dish is thick, more of a sauce than a soup, not too much flavor. So never judge a book by its cover I guess.

Fifth Course:

Manny (Mixed Nuts): Guajillo and Mixed Nut Mole with Roasted Chicken

Charly (Potato Chips): Potato Chip Crusted Spanish Mackerel, Black Bean Puree and Beurre Blanc

Kristen loves Manny’s dish, it’s composed and you can taste the nuts, “very delicious.” Charly’s dish needed a lot more salt, the black bean puree wasn’t seasoned, and one of them ended up with raw mackerel.

Sixth Course:

Kenny (Potato Chips): Potato Chip Pave with Togarashi Yogurt and Beer Braised Short Rib

Amanda (Pretzels): “Beer and Pretzels” — Pretzel Beer Foam and Miso with Beer and Lime Granita

Amanda knows her dish is weird, and Tom is a little skeptical about her team doing a pre-dessert dessert as a palate cleanser. Will it really stand out enough? Kenny’s plate was spot-on, tastes like sour cream and onion chips. Amanda’s dish is a lot better in terms of flavor than other dishes they got up to that point. Incredibly balanced. So both of them seem to have redeemed themselves after landing in last week’s bottom three.

Seventh Course:

Rasika (Pretzels): Barley Pretzel Cake with Pretzel Granita and Honey Mustard Sabayon

Kaleena (Popcorn): Buttered Popcorn Budino and Salted Caramel Sauce with Chocolate and Caramel Popcorn

The two dishes were among the best of the day, according to one of them. Kaleena’s was elegant and simple, if safe. Tom thought her flavors were great, and it was a good dessert, but it wasn’t a good budino. Rasika’s dish was a huge risk that paid off, and you’d never get something like that without a challenge like this. Could be top three? Overall, Tom thought both teams embraced the challenge well enough, but there were some basic cooking elements that were “messed up.”

Judges’ Table

Before the judges convene, Dan opens up to the rest of the chefs about his illness, telling them they inspire him to keep fighting. Michelle is particularly moved, layered on top of the anxiety of waiting for the judges’ pronouncements.

The winning team is the Yellow Team! Not surprised because the other team had the progression problems that the judges pointed out. Rasika especially delivered on that original dessert incorporating mustard. Manny’s mole could be slathered on anything and make you happy, plus it really tasted like mixed nuts. Kenny’s pave was also a fun dish that felt like eating potato chips. He seemed like he was cooking with confidence, which is impressive considering how much doubt he had earlier about trying to elevate potato chips. But the winner of the whole challenge is Rasika! She now has immunity for the next Elimination Challenge, and gets $10,000 from Miller High Life.

Okay, time for the Red Team. Kevin, Charly and Valentine had the worst dishes on their team. Kevin’s dish wasn’t unique, just salty olive so it felt one-note. Charly’s flavors were kinda bland, surprising after his bold Quickfire dish. Valentine’s soup was too thick and lacked a toasted element for the toasted corn kernel snack he tackled. But Joe Flamm assures them all that there are no bad chefs in the room — sometimes bad dishes, but no bad chefs.

Ultimately the eliminated chef is Valentine. I’m a little surprised. I thought it would be Kevin based on the critiques. I’m gonna miss him — unless he returns through “Last Chance Kitchen.” The first two eliminations of the season were two of the most vibrant personalities in the competition. “I stand on what I put out. I can still walk away with my head held high,” says Valentine in his exit interview. “I’m going to fight like a pit bull to get back in this competition, and I know that my daughter is rooting for me back home.”

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