Grimey

Hello my little Gulf shrimp! I was -- at the recommendation of my fellow editors -- going to simply post this image of Anthony Bourdain and Eric Ripert from our foodie book club Q+A today with the caption " 'nough said."

Hopefully some of you sent in your questions regarding Bourdain's book, Medium Raw. If you did, we probably asked it! We'll get that video up soon. Even though I see Eric every week, I've actually never met Anthony before. I was the kind of anxious I used to feel before the first day of school. I couldn't sleep. When Tony arrived at the interview, all my anxiety suddenly went away, but not my glee. The banter between Anthony and Eric was a joy to watch, and I can't wait for you all to enjoy the video.

Despite my exhaustion afer experiencing such intense silver fox-itude, I must comment on this week's episode, because the Quickfire bothered me so much -- I can't ignore it. Padma introduces everyone to Paula Deen, the Queen of Butter. I don't know that I've ever watched a complete episode of Paula's show. My arteries are so clogged after watching Guy Fieri, that I think Deen's show would put me over the edge. I obviously know what she's all about, though, and you know what? I can get down with it. I probably eat way more fried food than I should. And, although Padma once said that a toe would taste good fried, apparently some things just taste better. And so the chefs were asked to create fried dishes.

The chefs fry everything from avocadoes to mayo (which I want to try.) In the end, Mike Isabella wins with his fried chicken oyster. And herein lies my anger. The minute Mike started explaining to the camera his plan, I thought to myself, "That sure sounds like something Richard would make." I'm not saying Mike isn't creative, but the entire play on words concept sounded like Richard. And sure enough, the dish was straight out of Richard's idea book. Should Richard be showing his book to others? No. Did Mike execute the dish well, whether he saw a picture of it or not? Yes. Was what Mike did -- as Top Chef Kevin Sbraga might say -- totally grimey? Yes. I'm sure we'll be divided on this, but the whole scene left a bad taste in my mouth.

After I virtually consoled Richard and we both picked up the pieces of our broken hearts at Mike's culinary betrayal, we moved on to the Elimination Challenge, where the chefs would cook for a Gulf coast charity event hosted by Paula and chef John Besh. I won't go on and on about Besh and the amazing meal I had at Restaurant August two years ago, but if you find yourself in New Orleans, and want at least one fine dining experience while you're there, try August.This time, our weary chefs had a little help in the form of eliminated chefs. Each chef was presented with a possible sous and a protein. Some chefs chose to make their ingredient choice paramount, while others chose based on who they did or did not want to work with (ahem, Marcel, ahem.) Ultimately, the sous-chefs were the most helpful to Antonia and Mike in that both implemented their sous' ideas and were praised for those particular elements in their dishes. Richard surely benefited the most in that he won the challenge with his play on surf and turf. Unfortunately, Dale went home. I mean, yeah, his dish was bad, and he knew it, but it doesn't make it sting any less. He starting crying, and I kind of did too!

Angelo's elimination last week, Dale's this week... I'm a broken woman! I don't know how much more of this I can take! Actually, I do, because I've gotten the chance to peep the next few episodes, and, well, they're kind of awesome.

So, tell me, are you as upset as I/Anthony Bourdain are that Dale's gone? And, I love hearing what you're cooking, and where you're eating, so keep sharing! Until next week, Happy Noshing!