Weddings are wild contradictions, since they are simultaneously one of the most personal things a couple will ever do together, as well as one of the most public. A woman, as we all know, begins dreaming of the big day as soon as mommy fills her head with ideas about growing up beautiful and marrying a rich doctor who will give her everything her bastard father never provided his family. A man, on the other hand, grows up with the assumption that eventually he'll have to settle down, since reproducing outside of marriage results in child-support payments and some goon who was "saved" in rehab teaching your progeny about right and wrong. In other words, two very different mindsets have to come together to plan a wedding day that means everything to both, while also making the invited masses appropriately envious of the couple's superior planning skills and, of course, joy together. Nothing about this sounds as fun as it should according to the myths suggesting that your wedding will be the "happiest day of your life," which is why I have to wonder why the hell a successful couple would agree to let Top Chef cater their wedding and then televise their very personal day to the entire frigging world. This, I dare say, is why extremist groups are trying to destroy America.

The cheftestants were split into two teams for the Elimination Challenge; Nikki, Spike, Lisa, and perpetually cantankerous Dale preparing the groom's appetizers and buffet, and Richard, Andrew, Antonia, and Stephanie doing the same for the bride -- a task which the latter team chose for themselves, despite how demanding you would imagine a bride would be. She was not demanding at all. In fact, neither party seemed especially concerned with anything except getting food on the tables. Most couples devote long conversations to what they would like to be served at their weddings; these two made the decision in like fifteen minutes. I hope my future bride is this easy (though I know she won't be).

The groom's team wound up with an Italian-themed menu, which worked out since Nikki's this season's Italian-cooking guru, while the bride's team cooked up a Midwest-meets-the-South fusion menu. The twist was that the chefetstants only had fifteen hours to prepare the meal; cots were even provided to rest as they worked through the night, but nobody used them. In the end, the bride's team won with their crowd-pleasing comfort-food dishes and beautiful wedding cake, with Richard yet again taking home the top honors -- though he insisted on splitting it with Stephanie, who had so heroically pulled off the tiered cake.

The groom's team imploded as soon as they came before the judges, with Nikki trying to deflect responsibility for the dishes she conceived and Dale and Spike going at it over who worked harder on everything from toasting bread to cutting vegetables. The judges were left scratching their heads, but, of course, didn't ask either to pack their knives; drama keeps ratings up, especially when Dale likes to punch lockers. Nikki, who had never actually produced a good dish, was sent home instead. The wedding couple they catered for presumably doesn't mind the fact that today everyone in Chicago will be pointing at them, asking, "Aren't you the couple who sold your dreams on Top Chef?"

Recommend (0) |

Comments (0) |

Email  |

Share

Share  Facebook Digg del.icio.us