‘Top Chef Seattle,’ Ep. 11: Outlaw Josie Wails

David Moir/Bravo - Did Tom see anything that indicated Josie, center, undermined Kristen during Restaurant Wars?

So, which restaurant won? Urbano. Sheldon wins a car and the whole team seems shocked they won. Padma tells Stefan he’s lucky they won, implying he’d have been on the chopping block. They head back to the Stew Room while Kristen’s team stays with the judges.

Tom tells Lizzie and Brooke they’re safe. He then asks more questions about the bouillabaisse sauce and why they couldn’t execute it properly, with gelatin. Kristen explains it was a timing issue and that she made the decision to use cream instead of gelatin because that dish was behind schedule. Josie bumbles around and fake-cries while trying to pass the blame, and Kristen steps up and take responsibility; the dish concept was her idea, and she was the one that saw the plates go out to the judges. Friends who’ve been on “Top Chef” say that Judges’ Table can last hours and hours, so who knows what was really said in what order and what the real story was in how this all played out in the final cut of the Kristen vs. Josie segment.

VIENNA, VA, JANUARY 9, 2013: Winter salad of shaved cucumber, radish and endive with lemon vinaigrette. Dishware courtesy of Crate & Barrel. (Photo by ASTRID RIECKEN For The Washington Post)

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The women get sent back to the Stew Room so the judges can deliberate.

Tom raises the very good point that while chefs need to be leaders, one person can’t do everything — concept, menu planning, prep, execution — and that Kristen didn’t leave enough room for interpretation among her team members to execute their own dishes. Which. Come on. That wasn’t true for Brooke’s and Lizzie’s dishes, obviously. Just Josie’s. Funny how that happens . . . how that always seems to be the case with her, huh? Gail and Padma fight with one another over whether Kristen or Josie should be blamed for the bouillabaisse cock up. Gail clearly wants Josie to go home — says she’s skating by. Padma clearly wants Kristen to go home. What a surprise: Padma guns for the pretty, skinny girl on the show. Tom and Emeril say they’re torn.

So who’s outta there? Kristen. She’s gone.

Wow, Top Chef. Just ... wow.

And what was maybe even worse than the actual choice was the edit. The first thing out of Padma’s mouth is, “Josie...” followed by “you’re safe; Kristenpleasepackyourknivesandgo.”

Up Next Week: Fried chicken and sushi. And a big old slice of bull pie.

Further reading:

* ‘Top Chef Seattle,’ Ep. 10: On the ‘War’ path

* ‘Top Chef Seattle,’ Ep. 9: Memory Eraser

* ‘Top Chef Seattle,’ Ep. 8: Rinksmanship

* ‘Top Chef Seattle,’ Ep. 7: Berry basic

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