Top Chef Boston: Day One And You Have a Gun To Your Head

Thursday, October 16, 2014

Byron Beck, GoLocalPDX Features Editor

Departure's Gregory Gourdet

Within the first 20 minutes one of Portland's top chef's head was already on the chopping block. Sort of.

Departure's Gregory Gourdet was forced in a sudden death competition after one of his teammates, a chef named George Pagonis from Washington D.C., was named the slowest on the slowest team in a quick fire competition.

Chef Pagonis from D.C. was so upset that Gregory made him do the clams in the quick fire competition that he picked Gregory as 'pay-back' in a sudden death competition. If Pagonis won he would stay in the competition. If Gourdet won, Pagonis would have to pack his knives and leave immediately. Gourdet's head wasn't on the chopping block, but if he failed, Gregory would be off to a bad start.

Gourdet went big and decided to make not one, but a trio of dishes for the sudden death match. Pagonis did just one dish. Both sudden death dishes were well received. After 20 minutes Portland's own Gourdet beat the D.C. chef, forcing Pagonis to pack it up.

Whew, and we haven't even hit the half-hour mark.

As for the other chef from Portland, Imperial's Doug Adams, seemed to hit his stride early and played well with others. He did indicate the being of smaller stature did make it easier for him to do his work.

Doug did ask Food and Wine's Gail Simmons to call him "Dougie" during a competition that served as a Top Chef Food Festival so there was that too.

Gourdet's dish during that competition received a "strange and funky" review from host Padma Lakshmi who said his spicy Haitian inspired dish from his childhood was somewhere near the verge of hating and loving it.

Both "Dougie's" and Gregory's dishes were well received by the judges. They both ended up in the top three of the best dishes but did not win the first elimination of the season. That went to Mei Lin of Los Angeles, California. Portland for the (almost) win.