[Yak Nicholson]

This episode opens with the chefs discussing Spike’s elimination. While it was shocking, they all comment on how he lost control of his dish. For the Quickfire, Tom Collichio cooks a dish as fast as he can, that’s the time the chefs have to cook their own dish in. Tom is very prepared and focused, the chefs were*totally impressed with how organized he is. He knocks over a tub thingy, lol, at one point. Marcel says it’s “rad” seeing Tom cook. Times up and it’s 8:37, the chefs are in shock with that.

Chefs taste*his dish*and say it’s terrific for the time he took to cook it. Black sea bass with clams, zucchini and something else I missed.

Quickest quickfire ever, they have to cook it in less than 8:37 but they DON’T have to cook what Tom did. Winner gets immunity and a brand new Toyota Prius!!!

All chefs took off towards the kitchen except Marcel, who took Tom’s leftover fish, Trewas very impressed by this. The kitchen
erupted into a frenzy, EVERYONE wanted that car.

Angelo cooked a raw dish, even after Tom admonished them not to, saying that wouldn’t fly. He rationalized it by saying the methods he’d use would overcome the rawness of the food. One minute left and panic sets in. Time to judge the quickfire dishes. Dale is ticked, says he has nothing and it tastes like “doo doo”.

When they got to him, they noticed the lack of dish…it looked like a couple of noodles and a bit of sauce. Tom was impressed by Marcel’s use of his leftover fish as he tasted it. Tom said he was sympathetic to what the chefs were going through. Dale was at the bottom, as was Jamie. Angelo was at the bottom too for cooking raw.

The best dishes was Mike Isabella, Richard got props too. Marcel was given praise as well. The winner who got immunity and the Toyota Prius was Mike Isabella!!!

For the Elimination Challenge they were told they’re going to Chinatown. Very little English is spoken there, they were told they’d take over Grand Harmony and work as a team to serve Dim Sun options over a Chinatown lunch rush. Various pork, seafood, etc. dishes are what’s normally served. Dim Sun carts are served at all times, their job is to keep them filled. They were told they’d get to shop at a market tomorrow, and given that night to plan dishes. Mike got to ride back to their apartment in his new car!

The chefs then met to plan their menu. Jamie wanted to do scallops, which, if you remember her season, flopped big time on scallops and seemingly loves to cook them. Mike Isabella was chosen to do front of the house, others wanted Jamie to work the floor but she did not want to. Two chefs, Carla and Casey, decided to work the floor to take the carts around and describe the dishes to the customers. Dale and Angelo, as well as Jamie, decided to cook extra dishes.

The chefs got a bit goofy, including girls rubbing guys faces with bras! Carla said it was like roaches scattering after a light was turned on when they tried to do this. The next morning the chefs went to the supermarket. Fabio provided a bit of amusement, he saw turtles in a tank for sale (cooking) at the market and lamented this as he has a pet turtle at home. He even takes it for walks! Some chefs paired up to cook, Antonia and Jamie*being one pair.

The chefs had 3.5 hours to prep. Some of them had trouble finding things, as a Chinese kitchen isn’t exactly like their own. Dale felt as though this was his challenge to lose as this is what he does on a regular basis. 2 hours left to prep, and they have to make 180 Dim Sun portions (per dish). Dim Sun, by definition, is an array of little dishes. Jamie, of course, had problem cooking her dumplings; she and her partner did not have much done at this point with Jamie commenting she didn’t have time to talk about the second dish. Casey had an interesting time butchering her chicken feet, including getting the nails off.

47 minutes left. Carla is doing a summer roll, which is time consuming and she questioned it. Tre had trouble getting his dessert as cold as possible. Angelo talked about how he and his father cooked every Saturday and his ass was grass if there was one grain of black rice in their dish. Customers started arriving at this point.

Mike then went upstairs, when he got up there he had all the customers staring at him. First dishes went out at this point. Guest judge was Susur Lee. He was on Top Chef Masters. They were served Tiffani R, Fabio’s and Carla’s dishes, as well as Angelos and Marcels. Then the runners ran into trouble getting food out for the customers. Back at the judges table, Angelo’s dish got early praise, as did Fabio. Richard’s dish was said to have alcohol remaining on it, Marcel’s dish was deemed to be a bit bland. Tiffani F’s salad, one judge said was just a plate of sesame. Carla’s roll was said to be beautifully wrapped but they only tasted the rice noodles.

The poor customers kept having to wait and wait, the chefs had big trouble getting their plates done on time. Some chefs joined the floor to serve. Jamie/Antonia’s dish was up, as well as Dale’s and Tiffani D’s. Tre’s dish went out too. The judges then noticed that the customers were having to wait and some weren’t happy with their dish, one even said it was Caucasian Dim Sum. Dale/Angelo’s dish was said to be good, Dale’s lone dish was deemed good too. Antonia/Jamie’s dish was overcooked and greasy. Tiffani D’s dish was said to have done nice, Tre’s dessert got the comments that it was too runny and not cold enough.

Upstairs certain dishes didn’t come up, but when they did they didn’t look good. Casey’s chicken feet weren’t heated right, she was upstairs serving and the others were supposed to help her. Customer’s then started to leave, so Collichio went downstairs to basically rip them a new one. The other chefs commented on how Dale worked in this environment, yet was the slowest….even stopping to clean his shoes. Then customers started grabbing things off the cart without being served by the chefs as they’d waited a long time. Casey’s dish was served next, as was Antonia’s lone dish, Mike’s was served and Jamie’s lone dish too. Mike’s dish was said to be too strong in salt/soy. Antonia got good marks. But Casey’s dish was said to not be deep fried, and her chicken foot was left untouched. Jamie’s dish was said to not work for the judges.

At the end of service they started to pick up a groove but it was a bit too little, too late. Time for judges table! Tonight’s quickfire code is Chinatown, text to 27286 for a chance at getting a meal for 10 cooked by the winning chef!

The chefs said it was the most chaotic challenge they’d ever experienced. Judges table now……the biggest remarks was that there wasn’t a sense of urgency in that kitchen. Called in first were Casey, Antonia, Carla, Jamie and Tre. From the earlier comments it’s not likely they were the best dishes of the night. Jamie had her usual defiant stance, they were told they were there b/c there didn’t seem to be a plan for speed at all. Padma then said they had the least favorite dishes and didn’t get the most dishes out. Jamie admitted her dumplings weren’t good at all. Antonia was said to be conflicting b/c one dish was great and the other wasn’t good at all. The judges told Casey a lot of chicken feet were left on the tables. Her pancake was deemed to be like lead. She then said that Antonia made her dish while she was upstairs, and she didn’t want to comment on how it was made……Tre said it was really hot in the kitchen and his dish didn’t stand up well to the heat. He was told the idea was good but he didn’t deliver. Carla said she over-soaked the rice noodles, she was told she got too caught up in making her dish dainty and her noodles were bland…..they were asked to send back some of their colleagues. Tiffani D, Angelo, Dale and Fabio were sent back in being proclaimed the best dishes of the night. Tiffani’s dish was said to be great, flavorful and bright. Dale’s
rice was said to be great. Angelo was told his spring rolls kept authenticity but he also gave them textural integrity. The winner of the challenge was Dale! He said he felt like they robbed the bank on this challenge, but he’d take the win.

The judges next deliberated who should go home. And that chef was………Casey. Personally, that was shocking because while her chicken feet were said to be bad, her track record as far wasn’t bad at all whereas Jamie has cooked very few dishes and the ones she has cooked weren’t good whatsoever. So what do you think? Join us in our forums*here*to let us know how you feel. Next week they go to a city near New York that I have no clue how to spell……however if you remember the episode of Friends where Phoebe drives to meet her father, well it’s that one, and it’s a double elimination! We see the chefs fishing, and I guess they’re cooking what they catch. Marcel was seen ranting at Dale, who said he’d beat his ass if he didn’t shut the bleep up. Fun night, see you next week!