We ventured out to Highland Village Farmers Market this Saturday and caught the grand opening celebration as well as Dylan Murray’s free cooking demonstration: local shrimp ceviche and beet salad. It was a wonderful start to the chef series, and a tasty way to get familiar with some of the great products available now at the market.

Dylan’s presentation was excellent and it was a pleasure to chat with him just after the demonstration, something that quite a few market-goers took the opportunity to do.

Navigating the vendor’s booths afterward, it was clear that a lot of people showed up to support the market earlier in the morning. Many of the vendors were running low on their products, if not completely sold out (I’m looking at you, Blue Heron Farm). We can’t wait to see what Chef Ryan Pera, of The Grove has in store for us next Saturday.

A word of advice… go early and get first dibs on what is shaping up to be a bountiful spring in Houston (especially if you want organic strawberries).

For our friends shopping at a farmers market in Houston on Saturday, make plans to stop by Highland Village Farmers Market. They are celebrating a grand opening event and kicking off 7 Chefs in 7 Weeks a series of cooking demonstrations that will feature some great names on the Houston scene.

These are the featured chefs:

• April 17 – Dylan Murray (Benjy’s)
• April 24 – Ryan Pera (The Grove)
• May 01 – L.J. Wiley (Yelapa)
• May 08 – Monica Pope (t’afia)
• May 15 – Randy Evans (Haven)
• May 22 – Michael Pellegrino (Max’s Wine Dive)
• May 29 – David Grossman (Branch Water Tavern)

They’ll prepare dishes at 10:00 am and again at 11:30 am, and they’ll be shopping the market and answering questions when they’re not cooking.

During the grand opening this Saturday, you can get a free jute market tote bag with a purchase of $20 or more at any vendor’s booth, in addition to other discounts and offers. And if the abundance of goods leaves you cashless, you can now purchase market tokens using a credit card. Enjoy! 

SPOILER ALERT: If you haven’t yet watched Episode 2 of Top Chef Masters, watch the video stream below to catch up. The rest of this post goes into the details of the episode. You’ve been warned.

The Setup

Last week’s episode (the season premier) introduced us to 6 chefs, who had to perform in teams of two. Only one team would move onto the next round, and the other four chefs would be sent home. This was a winner-take all scenario, which created interesting pairings, both in styles and personalities. While we enjoyed the episode, it felt awkward to watch the teams and difficult to feel much empathy for the chefs since they came across as operating in an ad hoc manner.

Showdown

Episode two was an entirely different experience, as each chef was competing individually. Things kicked off with a Quickfire Challenge: a grilled cheese sandwich to be judged by show host Kelly Choi. Each chef brought a distinctive flair to their grilled cheese creation, redefining the classic and in some cases creating something completely unrecognizable. Chef Monica took a simple approach that paid off in a win, earning her a $5,000 prize for Recipe for Success.

The elimination challenge was much more dramatic, as the chefs had to prepare soul food for a celebrity birthday party (Mekhi Phifer). One chef, Carmen Gonzales, forgot some key ingredients at the prep kitchen, forcing her to go back to retrieve them as the other chefs worked on their dishes. Most of the chefs were content to go about their business, but during the montage, Monica could be seen everywhere, working on her dish (shrimp and grits with pickled okra), and peeling and cooking yucca for Carmen, who was gone most of the two and half hours allotted to the chefs.

After the party, the judges scored Carmen first, giving her the highest score of the night (regardless of her incomplete dish) and sending her into the next round. That left one spot open for the four remaining chefs. It came down to Monica Pope and Marcus Samuelsson, of New York’s August. The final tally: Monica was awarded 13 stars to Marcus’ 14.5 stars, bringing her appearance to an end.

But even though we won’t be able to cheer her on as the competition continues, the cool, grounded demeanor that she brought to the competition and her selflessness in helping a fellow competitor were inspiring and evident to all. For those of us who know Monica, reality TV finally got something right.