Top Chef Canada recap, episode 12: family-styled
TOP CHEF CANADA
Season 1 | Episode 12
Season one of Top Chef Canada has been all about head judge Mark McEwan’s approach to cooking: luxurious ingredients, simply prepared with exceptional technique. Last night’s episode felt like a master class in that philosophy, so it was only appropriate that the chefs started out chatting with McEwan over brunch at his Yorkville mainstay One. Sure, the conversation might have veered toward the painfully awkward, and sure, McEwan dropped some obviously scripted hints about this love of family-style presentation. But there was still something charming about seeing the four remaining contestants—Dustin Gallagher, Dale MacKay, Connie DeSousa and Rob Rossi— yammer on about their love of food and cooking. Of course, it was all went downhill from there. After the jump, our recap of an episode that featured some high-calibre guests, a tortured quickfire concept and some strangely disappointing cooking (not to mention a Toronto Life shout-out).
Quickfire
Host Thea Andrews introduced the guest judge we’ve been waiting for all season: Gail Simmons, a former Toronto Life intern, current Food and Wine staffer and judge on the U.S. version of Top Chef. Unfortunately, her first duty (after striding in with great purpose) was to setup an epically lame quickfire, in which the chefs were asked to prepare a dish inspired by, ahem, “well-known Canadian films.” At least two of the four contestants hadn’t seen their assigned movie, so it’s a good thing they were all provided with synopses.
Inspired by Naked Lunch, DeSousa prepared a delightful-looking spread of what she called “really addicting foods” like popcorn, chips and peanut brittle. Gallagher, who hadn’t seen My Big Fat Greek Wedding, made grilled calamari with a hidden tomato side, symbolizing the main character’s hidden, non-Greek love (despite the mediocre food, Simmons clearly couldn’t resist the Gallagher Grin: “You have a cute smile on your face—I’m impressed!”). Rossi, who also hadn’t seen his flick, Bon Cop Bad Cop, made shrimp two ways, one bon and the other spicy. But it was MacKay who took the win for his take on the cult werewolf movie Ginger Snaps: blood-red salmon and goth-black squid-ink risotto. Said Simmons: “I liked the kind of violence you showed on the plate.” (Note to Top Chef Canada producers: more Gail Simmons next year, please.)
Elimination
For their elimination challenge, the chefs—surprise, surprise—were asked to cook a three-course meal, served family style for a “dinner party” McEwan was throwing—for his sake, we sincerely hope his dinner parties don’t normally consist of picking apart a spread of dishes at the Top Chef Canada judging table. Joining him, the most Toronto Life–tastic group of judges ever: Simmons, the former intern; foodie-about-town Jacob Richler, who contributed to the July issue; trend-spotting writer Amy Verner; and David Lee, whose Nota Bene, Andrews pointed out, was named 2009’s best new restaurant by us (check out our look inside Lee’s hyper-organized fridge).
Throughout the challenge, the chefs disastrously took the “family style” brief as an invitation to play it safe (instead of an invitation to present their food on serving platters). For his starter, MacKay served up two kind of oysters with two simple mignonettes. McEwan was unimpressed: “Everything about it is clumsy, right from the plating to the final choice of ingredients.” Gallagher offered two big sloppy bowls of overcooked and under-flavoured homemade pasta. DeSousa impressed on the first course with an elegant beet salad with homemade fresh cheese that stunned both Lee and Simmons.
The second course was a battle of roast fish between Rossi—whose seared perch with gnocchi and peas drew adulation from the judges—and Gallagher, who served a whole, messy grilled lake trout. Quoth McEwan: “The juvenile nature of the trout really stands out.” DeSousa, meanwhile, removed her dead-simple roast chicken from the oven to find that the breast was totally uncooked. And while we applaud her emergency save—she plonked her halved chickens right into the deep fryer—we can’t believe such a highly trained chef could mess up a roast chicken. MacKay, for his part, sailed by with an inoffensive dish of diver scallops with asparagus purée and white asparagus.
The third course was an even safer mixed bag, with two chefs going savoury and two making dessert. Richler, a big steak fan, was disappointed with MacKay’s seared rib-eye, which he served at various cuissons, all of them bland. Rossi’s third course, braised lamb neck with roasted mushrooms and baby beets, went over much better (a dish Simmons called “inventive,” the first and last time that adjective was applied in this episode). DeSousa made up for her disastrous chicken with a chocolate ganache tart that looked as delicious as it was simple (“I could have another piece of that in a second,” gushed Verner). Bizarrely, Gallagher wasted his last dish on a roasted fruit salad with some cardamom and pistachios. Simmons, once again, said it best: “I’m totally confounded by the fruit plate. This is your last chance to wow us….I actually think it’s absurd.”
As the only chef without a major screw-up, Rossi took the quarterfinal win (in a reversal of the usual reality show hubris/downfall logic, he’d earlier exclaimed, “I’m not nervous in the slightest—this is my best meal”). The win sets him up nicely for the “new and exciting ventures” he promised us last week. It was pretty obvious by the end of the episode that Gallagher, grin and all, was headed for the chopping block. When Andrews handed the verdict down, he took it with grace, smiling and high-fiving to the end. He even declared to McEwan, “Chef, you’re like the father I never had!”
Next week on Top Chef Canada
The final showdown between the three remaining chefs: MacKay, DeSousa and Rossi. In keeping with Top Chef tradition, the finale episode involves a field trip, this time to a winery (which looked to us like either Peller or Vineland Estates, although all wineries sort of look the same). The last episode is where the gimmicks fall away and the chefs cook on their own terms. Which makes it curious that both DeSousa and Rossi accuse MacKay of cheating in the previews. With one week to go, it’s still too close to call, but with Rossi winning the last two episodes and announcing his departure from Mercatto, we’d say the last Toronto chef standing is the odds-on favourite.
Our weekly Top Chef Canada leader board:
![](http://www.facebook.com/sharer.php?u=https://torontolife.com/culture/top-chef-canada-episode-12/&title=Top Chef Canada recap, episode 12: family-styled&picture=https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/top-chef-canada-ep-12-tasting-624x368.jpg&description=[caption id="attachment_77244" align="aligncenter" width="656" caption="The chefs steel themselves before judges David Lee, Gail Simmons and Jacob Richler. (Image: Food Network Canada/Insight Productions)"][/caption]
TOP CHEF CANADA
Season 1 | Episode 12
Season one of Top Chef Canada has been all about head judge Mark McEwan’s approach to cooking: luxurious ingredients, simply prepared with exceptional technique. Last night’s episode felt like a master class in that philosophy, so it was only appropriate that the chefs started out chatting with McEwan over brunch at his Yorkville mainstay One. Sure, the conversation might have veered toward the painfully awkward, and sure, McEwan dropped some obviously scripted hints about this love of family-style presentation. But there was still something charming about seeing the four remaining contestants—Dustin Gallagher, Dale MacKay, Connie DeSousa and Rob Rossi— yammer on about their love of food and cooking. Of course, it was all went downhill from there. After the jump, our recap of an episode that featured some high-calibre guests, a tortured quickfire concept and some strangely disappointing cooking (not to mention a Toronto Life shout-out).
Quickfire
Host Thea Andrews introduced the guest judge we’ve been waiting for all season: Gail Simmons, a former Toronto Life intern, current Food and Wine staffer and judge on the U.S. version of Top Chef. Unfortunately, her first duty (after striding in with great purpose) was to setup an epically lame quickfire, in which the chefs were asked to prepare a dish inspired by, ahem, “well-known Canadian films.” At least two of the four contestants hadn’t seen their assigned movie, so it’s a good thing they were all provided with synopses.
[caption id="attachment_77445" align="alignright" width="208" caption="Dale MacKay’s riff on Ginger Snaps (Image: Food Network Canada/Insight Productions)"][/caption]
Inspired by Naked Lunch, DeSousa prepared a delightful-looking spread of what she called “really addicting foods” like popcorn, chips and peanut brittle. Gallagher, who hadn’t seen My Big Fat Greek Wedding, made grilled calamari with a hidden tomato side, symbolizing the main character’s hidden, non-Greek love (despite the mediocre food, Simmons clearly couldn’t resist the Gallagher Grin: “You have a cute smile on your face—I’m impressed!”). Rossi, who also hadn’t seen his flick, Bon Cop Bad Cop, made shrimp two ways, one bon and the other spicy. But it was MacKay who took the win for his take on the cult werewolf movie Ginger Snaps: blood-red salmon and goth-black squid-ink risotto. Said Simmons: “I liked the kind of violence you showed on the plate.” (Note to Top Chef Canada producers: more Gail Simmons next year, please.)
Elimination
[caption id="attachment_77262" align="alignleft" width="208" caption="Gail Simmons dissects Dustin Gallagher’s gummy pasta as David Lee looks on in horror. (Image: Food Network Canada/Insight Productions)"][/caption]
For their elimination challenge, the chefs—surprise, surprise—were asked to cook a three-course meal, served family style for a “dinner party” McEwan was throwing—for his sake, we sincerely hope his dinner parties don’t normally consist of picking apart a spread of dishes at the Top Chef Canada judging table. Joining him, the most Toronto Life–tastic group of judges ever: Simmons, the former intern; foodie-about-town Jacob Richler, who contributed to the July issue; trend-spotting writer Amy Verner; and David Lee, whose Nota Bene, Andrews pointed out, was named 2009’s best new restaurant by us (check out our look inside Lee’s hyper-organized fridge).
Throughout the challenge, the chefs disastrously took the “family style” brief as an invitation to play it safe (instead of an invitation to present their food on serving platters). For his starter, MacKay served up two kind of oysters with two simple mignonettes. McEwan was unimpressed: “Everything about it is clumsy, right from the plating to the final choice of ingredients.” Gallagher offered two big sloppy bowls of overcooked and under-flavoured homemade pasta. DeSousa impressed on the first course with an elegant beet salad with homemade fresh cheese that stunned both Lee and Simmons.
The second course was a battle of roast fish between Rossi—whose seared perch with gnocchi and peas drew adulation from the judges—and Gallagher, who served a whole, messy grilled lake trout. Quoth McEwan: “The juvenile nature of the trout really stands out.” DeSousa, meanwhile, removed her dead-simple roast chicken from the oven to find that the breast was totally uncooked. And while we applaud her emergency save—she plonked her halved chickens right into the deep fryer—we can’t believe such a highly trained chef could mess up a roast chicken. MacKay, for his part, sailed by with an inoffensive dish of diver scallops with asparagus purée and white asparagus.
[caption id="attachment_77443" align="alignright" width="208" caption="Rob Rossi’s three winning dishes (Image: Food Network Canada/Insight Productions)"][/caption]
The third course was an even safer mixed bag, with two chefs going savoury and two making dessert. Richler, a big steak fan, was disappointed with MacKay’s seared rib-eye, which he served at various cuissons, all of them bland. Rossi’s third course, braised lamb neck with roasted mushrooms and baby beets, went over much better (a dish Simmons called “inventive,” the first and last time that adjective was applied in this episode). DeSousa made up for her disastrous chicken with a chocolate ganache tart that looked as delicious as it was simple (“I could have another piece of that in a second,” gushed Verner). Bizarrely, Gallagher wasted his last dish on a roasted fruit salad with some cardamom and pistachios. Simmons, once again, said it best: “I’m totally confounded by the fruit plate. This is your last chance to wow us....I actually think it’s absurd.”
As the only chef without a major screw-up, Rossi took the quarterfinal win (in a reversal of the usual reality show hubris/downfall logic, he’d earlier exclaimed, “I’m not nervous in the slightest—this is my best meal”). The win sets him up nicely for the “new and exciting ventures” he promised us last week. It was pretty obvious by the end of the episode that Gallagher, grin and all, was headed for the chopping block. When Andrews handed the verdict down, he took it with grace, smiling and high-fiving to the end. He even declared to McEwan, “Chef, you’re like the father I never had!”
Next week on Top Chef Canada
The final showdown between the three remaining chefs: MacKay, DeSousa and Rossi. In keeping with Top Chef tradition, the finale episode involves a field trip, this time to a winery (which looked to us like either Peller or Vineland Estates, although all wineries sort of look the same). The last episode is where the gimmicks fall away and the chefs cook on their own terms. Which makes it curious that both DeSousa and Rossi accuse MacKay of cheating in the previews. With one week to go, it’s still too close to call, but with Rossi winning the last two episodes and announcing his departure from Mercatto, we’d say the last Toronto chef standing is the odds-on favourite.
Our weekly Top Chef Canada leader board:
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Very sad to see Dusty go. Wish they would have eliminated Dale and his ego; I hate that look he gets whenever someone criticizes his food, it screams “F*** you and your opinion, you clearly just don’t get the awesomeness of Mackay dining.” I seriously hope he doesn’t win. Hopefully his alleged cheating next episode works against him. I really think Connie should take the title. She’s been the most consistently successful on the show (minus the last couple episodes), though I wouldn’t mind if she comes in second to Rob either.
Six Toronto chefs enter, one remains, and that one- Rob Rossi- is a former sous chef at Calgary’s outstanding Chef’s Table at the Kensington Riverside Inn. Connie De Sousa is, of course, co-exec at Charcut (enRoute’s #6 for 2010). So, really, hooray for Calgary, the city with Canada’s most vibrant new dining scene.
Season One of Top Chef Canada has been all about “luxurious ingredients simply prepared with exceptional technique”? What show have you been watching?
I really hope there will not be a season 2.
@Mattagascar, seriously get a life! Why must you be so negative about everything? STOP WATCHING THE SHOW! STOP COMMENTING ABOUT IT! Find something better to do with your time! If it is truly that horrible then why are you torturing yourself by watching it week after week and waiting for the recap to go up on TL so you can bash it! Ugh!
TC Fan:
If you stop feeding trolls, they generally they move on where there is someone who will ;)
Well put @Sandie!
I’m hungry all right…
But not for the stuff on the show.
Dale Mackay sucks, why is he still in? he clearly should have gone home episodes ago. Better chefs have gone home and that sore loser is still in.
Connie Desousa….really? grow some backbone. She comes off so weak and fragile. And can’t cook CHICKEN…WTF?
hmmm? thats all i am left with after watching this episode.
DALE MACKAY GO HOME
if he wins it is not warranted
ohhh I forgot…DUSTIN and the fruit plate!!! lololololololololol omg REALLY!!!VERY LAME DUDE, ACTUALLY SO SO SO SAD. HE WAS ON THIS SHOW WAY TO LONG.
Villian Dale, Superwoman Connie (according to Connie) and relatively unknown Rob. Reminds me of the Season Hosa won. Message to producers: Connie is no Carla, Carla is a strong chef (gender not a factor).
THIS ROSSI SORRY EXCUSE FOR A CHEF IS A FAILURE, IN FACT THE WHOLE SHOW IS A TOTAL FALIURE…THERE ARE VERY MANY TALENTED CHEFS IN TORONTO AND ROSSI IS NOT ONE OF THEM,…..ROSSI IS AND ALWAYS WILL BE A GREAT DISHWASHER WHO BACKS STABS ALL THAT MOVES…..ROSSI LEARN TO SPEAK ITALIAN,…
yes! so sad to see Dustin leaving,he made mistake in the latest round,but honestly i want him to win or Connie they’re both have a unique style..its ok dustin..
it may have been frustrating to watch, the talent may not have been canada’s best(many had to quit or take unpaid leave to participate-although its nice to know the restos they come from) its nice to see that mark is still a self-absorbed douche, it is odd that my loblaw doesn’t carry similar ingredients as the queen’s quay location, thea made miss padma but i miss the sexual tension of katie lee and tom c from season 1 of top chef….but it has been a fun ride
I like Connie, I really do, but I’m growing tired of her always talking about her gender and about trying to be a strong female role model. Also, did I see on the previews for next week that she makes sausages AGAIN!??
Dale is sweet when he is always talking about his son, I think that’s really great but he’s a cocky thing with a bit of an attitude too.
I guess that leaves me hoping Rob will win.
i am soooo tired of dale talking about his son…he had to have mentioned him 3 times last night and at least twice in every episode…i think we have a new drinking game-take a shot of something everytime dale mentions his son!
pass the jager please.
I really felt family dining should have been skipped all together. Not too sure, if McEwan’s approach to cooking: luxurious ingredients, simply prepared with exceptional technique came to play. Some of the dishes were pretentious! Or that I could define family dining based on this episode or know what the judges actually expected as family dining. To me, presentation is one of the keys to family dining along with taste and technique, is the meal plated or is it served on platters or serving bowls depends on your guest or family needs or ages. Having everyone plate their own food before sitting down at a table is another presentation method. Platter of oysters was seen as clumsy and choices as unnecessary! I don’t about you but in family dining, everyone has and wants their special garnishes.
Crying Connie has gotten so far in the game with very little talent! C’mon, deep frying the undercooked roasted chicken?…that’s not a top chef move.
@Mattagascar:
I look forward to your comments every week; keep up the good work!
TC Fan – You don’t dictate what people are allowed to say. Grow up.
rob should be ashamed of himself.he called connie a TEXAN AND PROCEEDED TO RUN HER DOWN ON THE NATIONAL NETWORK!he is a twofaced —hole,then after cutting her up, HE SAID WHO AMI TO JUDGE? HE IS A BACK STABER I HOPE CONNIE HAS ENOUGH TIME TO PULL ALL THE KNIVES OUT OF HER BACK BEFORE THE NEXT SHOW.this COOK AND THAT IS A VERY LOOSE TERM FOR HIM SHOULD BE EXPOSED FOR WHAT HE REALY IS ON NATIONAL TV. AND SEE HOW FARES! THEN MARK MCEWAN SHOULD DISQUALIFY FROM THE SHOW!!!!! HOW DO FEEL ROB ABOUT SH—-G ON A FELLOW CHEF! HE MUST BE COMPELED TO APPOLOGIZE TO CONNIE AGAIN ON NATIONAL TV. HE SHOULD WIPE THAT STUPID SMILE AND LAUGH OFF OF HIS FACE. YOUR’S TRULEY TC.
Despite all the atrocities committed against the English language in that post (I’m still shuddering), I do agree with terry cole that Rob does seem to like insulting people a bit too much.
omg….please don’t call me a texan?????? the ultimate put down?
i can’t believe that the american networks keep cancelling afternoon soap operas given the level of passion for a tv show that miss cole seems to be showing….
I really wish people would stop commenting in all-caps. Makes me read it like you’re yelling with really bad grammar.
People keep questioning Connie’s abilities because she undercooked a chicken. These chefs are under so much stress, they’re on camera, in a hot kitchen- there are bound to be stupid, embarrassing mistakes. I think it’s mean to put her down based on that.
how can i get a friend on to your successful show..