Well...kinda represents?
It's a battle of the Philly Jennifers: in this corner, weighing approximately, uh, 115 pounds stands Jennifer Carroll, chef de cuisine at Eric Ripert's 10 Arts. And in this corner, (relatively) new mom and former executive chef of El Camino Real (my fave happy hour spot) is spicy Jennifer Zavala.
My initial thoughts: One Philly chef - awesome. Two Philly chefs and both female? Double awesome. Follow up: while El Camino may have nailed veggie buffalo wings and inexpensive margaritas, I wouldn't call the food revolutionary. And both food and service are completely inconsistent (i.e. soupy mac 'n cheese, dry burgers).
Jenn C. managed to kick major tutti in the season opener, winning the quick fire with her simple ceviche (that she kept calling "saveesh" - is that right or is it pronounced "saveetchay"?) and pretty much nailing her "vice" dish interpretation, even if she didn't win. Wolfgang Puck pronouncing that your halibut can't get any closer to perfection? That's a prize in itself.
Unfortunately Jenn Z. just couldn't keep herself in check and chose to make a seitan chile relleno as her vice dish. I'm all for taking risks but I just didn't think seitan was the way to go in this instance, and certainly not in the first challenge (and DEFINITELY not in front of Wolfgang Puck). So you can guess what happened. I had a bad feeling about her pretty much throughout the whole episode, especially when she said she works with seitan all the time. It felt kinda like the "i'll be right back" moment in horror movies - you just knew she had to be doomed. I really wish she could've stayed a little while longer; it would have been interesting to see what she's capable of.
As for Jenn C...if the first episode is any indication, she should go far in the show. Side note: her bio on the Top Chef site mentions her "favorite simple summer recipe" as "Compressed Watermelon, Chesapeake Bay Jumbo Lump Crab, Fennel Pollen and Wild Boar Prosciutto Chips." Whoa dude. If that's her idea of simple, what can't she do? I must admit I'm a smidge jealous, not only of her kitchen finesse, but also for the fact that she's probably spent many an hour in close, hot, steamy kitchen quarters with Eric Ripert...
Sigh.
