Brrrrr! Cheftestants offer cold criticism on 'Top Chef'

All’s fair in love and Cold War.

In stark contrast to last week’s love fest, the knives came out this week on “Top Chef: D.C.” With a slight twist — the cheftestants were judges of each other’s food — everyone’s true loyalties were revealed. And it showed Angelo might be more cunning than the already suspicious chefs think.

Strange times were had in this week’s Quickfire Challenge. The chefs cooked exotic selections of protein that included llama, rattlesnake and crocodile. Angelo picked the duck white kidneys, which to his surprise were actually duck testicles. (We don’t blame him. A Google search during the airing of the show revealed that most of the world didn’t know what duck white kidneys were either.) But the chefs didn’t have to rue their protein choices for long. Thirty minutes into the challenge, everyone was asked to switch ingredients, leaving Kevin to deal with the "kidneys."

Stephen managed to create “insipid” frog legs, according to guest judge Michelle Bernstein. (When will the almost-always-on-the-bottom chef be voted out instead of talented cheftestants such as Arnold?!) Bernstein, who hails from Miami like Andrea, criticized her fellow Floridian chef for not cooking her wild boar to completion. Andrea grimaced in horror, since Bernstein was one of her top rivals at home. Kelly kept things simple with a goat cheese emu egg omelet and won immunity.

1. More Entertainment stories
   1. Autistic ballerina dances her way into hearts
      

      In a popular YouTube video, the beaming little ballerina dances an entire four-minute routine seemingly perfectly, matchin...

   2. Every on-screen drink in 'Mad Men' in 5 minutes
   3. See the 'Dancing' stars' most memorable moves
   4. Emmy's biggest snubs? Cranston, Hamm, more
   5. 'Toy Story' toys burn up in prank on mom

Keeping with the political theme, the chefs were asked to complete a “Cold War” Elimination Challenge, which made each contestant vulnerable to his or her peers. The group was split into two teams that would taste and judge the other's food (except for Kelly, who got to taste food from both teams), and each cheftestant had to prepare a cold dish.

Group A and B were split against enemy lines: Angelo and Kenny were on separate teams. While Kenny chilled and relaxed for the challenge, Angelo ran his team and made suggestions for everyone’s dishes, adding spices and telling people what to do, putting some chefs on edge that he may have had sinister motives to ruin their dishes.

Ed stared longingly at Tiffany as they romantically discussed their dishes. Scenes from the next episode revealed that Tiffany is engaged, but it seems Ed likes the non-single ladies. He said he was seeing Angelo’s ex-girlfriend during their college days while Angelo was still dating her. Oh Ed, you sly dog!

Team A (for Angelo) was especially harsh with on the competition. Angelo lay into Kenny’s dish of lamb two ways, saying the combination of the lamb carpaccio and okra was slimy in his mouth. His team agreed, with Tiffany saying it was mushy. This sent Kenny to be judged for elimination, even though Amanda’s galantine had some chicken cartilage in it. Kevin was highlighted for his cold surf and turf dish, though most said it was too sour or not sour enough. He ended up winning a trip to Hawaii, and with these past two top dishes, hopefully officially ending his streak of bad plates.

Team B was a little nicer, but still critical. Tiffany offered a refreshing tuna gazpacho dish that received high honors, but we’re starting to wonder if she can do anything else besides soups. Kenny had some harsh words for Angelo’s dish (even though most people said they liked Kenny’s rival’s offering).

Alas, Angelo could not save a teary-eyed Tamesha, who was sent home for creating overly spiced scallops with a viscous sauce. Whether this spurs Angelo to avenge his lady love in the kitchen is something we’re keeping our eyes out for.