The heat in the kitchen got too hot for restaurateur Kym Clement on Tuesday night (16 August) when she became the latest casualty on Top Chef SA.
Here's a recap of events by the show:
Episode 6
The Pretoria-based chef, who owns two restaurants, underwhelmed the judges in the Elimination Challenge which saw them recreate and improve on a fast food meal that they randomly selected from a bunch of brown paper bags.
With just nine cheftestants at the start of the episode they were all vying for the immunity that came with winning the Quickfire Challenge
. Speed was of the essence and their butchery skills were put to the test as they competed to see who could debone a chicken the fastest.
Cheftestant Phillip Nel bagged his third immunity of the series so far by winning the challenge in just a few short minutes.
In the Elimination Challenge, the judges were joined by guest judge comedian Deep Fried Man. The panel of judges challenged the cheftestants to elevate a regular fast food meal into something special. Having to put their own unique spin on plain hamburgers, toasted cheese sandwiches, chicken chow mein and deep fried chicken in just an hour saw them have to think creatively.
The difficulty of the challenge was increased with five minutes in the pantry and fridges to grab their ingredients. Things quickly got heated after Hezron took the bulk of the chicken from the Top Chef fridge and then, when the pantry had already closed, Linda and Ayanbonga confronted him.
It was guest judge Deep Fried Man who lightened the mood by getting the cheftestants to smile despite the pressure they were working under.
None of the cheftestants, besides Phillip who had immunity, felt secure when presenting their dishes before the Judges Table.
It was Annemarie Robertson’s duck version of chicken chow mein that took the top spot, while fellow cheftestents Hezron Louw’s deep fried chicken wings and Sachin Gosai’s lamb sliders with a kick and smoked chips were also named among the three favourite dishes.
In the bottom four were Kym, Phillip, Ayabonga Gope and Devin Hogan. Kym’s burger with a wild mushroom and chorizo basil sauce was, according to the judges, the most disappointing dish of all four.