8/26/2009

in

Brothers outdo each other in this weeks episode

Thomas Vo

The second episode of [Top Chef: Las Vegas](http://weblogs.baltimoresun.com/entertainment/realitycheck/blog/2009/08/top_chef_las_vegas_a_tale_of_two_brothers.html) broke the contestants into two teams: men versus women. In this challenge the contestants must work as a team since the winners will be chosen from the winning team and the losers from the losing team. Todd English was guest judge on this episode.  
  
**Warning: spoiler alert.** The quick fire challenge made use of a very well known Vegas prop: a craps table. The contestants all rolled two dice; the added value is how many ingredients they must use in the challenge, with salt, pepper, and oil being freebies. [Michael Voltaggio](http://www.fredericknewspost.com/sections/news/display.htm?StoryID=94388) came out on top with his gazpacho that was frozen with liquid nitrogen. His brother, Bryan was in the top three.  
  
Not to be outdone, his brother, [Bryan](http://weblogs.baltimoresun.com/entertainment/realitycheck/blog/2009/08/top_chef_las_vegas_a_tale_of_two_brothers.html), put his best effort forward in the main challenge and the effort paid off since he was able to pull off a victory. The main challenge was to pair food with shots for a bachelor/bachelorette party. The winning dish was a sweet and sour macaroon filled with guacamole, corn nuts, and corn puree, which got rave reviews from the judges for its innovation and interesting take on the "chips and salsa" theme.  
  
Eve Aronoff was the unlucky contestant this week. After serving poorly cooked shrimp in the last episode, she repeated the mistake with a bland shrimp ceviche. Judge [Tom Colicchio](http://www.freep.com/article/20090827/ENT/308270002/1035/ENT/Ann-Arbor--Top-Chef--contestant-didn-t-make-cut) calls it like he sees it, "You knew the shrimp didn't have flavor. So why didn't you do something about it?" Eve is the second contestant to have to "pack her knives and go" for this season.