Nookie Going Strong on Bravo's ATW in 80 Plates

Fenway Park chef Steve "Nookie" Postal has lived to fight/cook another episode on the Bravo show Around the World in 80 Plates. This time, Nookie and his team had to answer a series of wacky food-related challenges in Tuscany, which provided plenty of opportunities for grove and vineyard porn. Also, a little sunset porn. There's so many shaky, hand-held camera shots of the contestants running around that one suspects that Bravo is targeting the jogging demographic, and why is it that contestants hug the chef who votes them off the show the longest? The show axes one chef each episode, but once again, Nookie came out on top. It was Nookie who figured out a faster way to harvest olives, saying "Come back to Italy in ten years, and everyone's gonna be using the shirt technique." The scene brings a fellow cheftestapant to reminisce about the movie/book Under the Tuscan Sun, though she adds "there is nothing romantic about olive harvesting next to Nookie."

Gary, another contestant, makes his once-per-episode fat joke slung in Nookie's direction, saying that he expects Nookie will eat all of the olives instead of harvesting them, never mind the fact that you can't eat an olive off the tree. Karma has its revenge, and Gary gets cut.

Nookie also continues his effective method of running around town squares and simply yelling the name of who or whatever it is he's supposed to find - "Fellipio!" and is then chastised for not demanding that a tiny, old Italian woman do a cooking demonstration even though she couldn't understand a lick of English. Curtis Stone, one of the show's hosts, seemed really disappointed as he strikes a pose next to an attractive spray of rosemary. Nookie does his usual sneaky alliance building and accuses one of his rivals of not deserving her Most Valuable Chef status: "Really? 'Cause she made good, salty balls?"

Next stop, Bologna. Whatever Nookie's doing, it's working.

· All coverage of Steve "Nookie" Postal on Eater [~EBOS~]