Ariane Sent Home Thanks to Lazy Partners on Top Chef

On the last Top Chef New York a new judge was brought into the mix while two chefs were sent home: Chine and Melissa. The morning after it was time for the next Quick Fire challenge with season three winner Hung as the guest judge. Hung loves fish so everyone knows that fish is Hung's favorite food to work with BUT that's not the challenge. They had to make the most delicious dish from ingredients from a pantry. Oh and they only have in fifteen minutes to do so. Everyone ran off right away with how little time they had. Everyone was used to fresh ingredients and using canned foods was not common to many. Many like Hosea and Stefan ended up using spam, including the same spam, which was somewhat entertaining to see. In the end Leah, Radhika and Jamie were selected as the worst dishes, putting the top three ladies down to the bottom. Hung liked Hosea, Stefan and Jeff were selected as the top three with Stefan winning the battle. It's his second time getting the immunity, catching up to Radhika. It's also hilarious since Hosea GAVE him the spam to use. Had he not let him borrow the spam he wouldn't have won. Simple as that.

With the Quick Fire over it was time for the elimination challenge. They were going back to basics with teams being: Hosea/Leah/Ariane, Carla/Stefan/Jamie and Radhika/Jeff/Fabio. Their meals were based upon a staple meat and they had to serve it family style. Leah and Hosea felt they were good working together but let Ariane work on the beef. Stefan and Jamie ended up fighting, once again, and Stefan loved it. He loves the drama while Carla just sat back and watched. Over at Team Pork Fabio was working as the leader and wanted it simple without their norm. Later that night Carla and Jamie started changing the menu without Stefan. When he finally found out he wasn't too happy and wouldn't change the food. He had immunity, which Jamie pointed out, and still wouldn't let her change the menu. It's true that he shouldn't care what is on the menu since he's safe but I think he's doingit just to send Jamie over the edge. Oh the foodie drama.

Hosea woke up the next morning freaking out about the "seasonal" themeof the challenge. He didn't feel like their menu fit the bill and he agreed, with Leah's help, that the menu should change. Leaving Ariane out of the mix and foreshadowing a Leah/Hosea loss. While on the way to the grocery store the chefs realized they weren't off to Whole Foods but rather Dan Barber's restaurant. It's a farm for fresh ingredients which screwed up some of the menus... since well they aren't getting what they thought they could. Jeff ended up finding some green tomatoes and added it to the menu. Team Sheep then headed out to the field to collect their... meat. Team pork also met their ingredients for the night as they fed the pigs, stuffing them up for the night of cooking. Over at Team Chicken the three hot heads finally bonded, but was it enough?

With only three hours to go the chefs get into the kitchen to cook the food for the farmers. Team Pork started with raviolis and adjusted to the foods that were available. Over at Team Chicken it seemed they were working together rather well together, which was surprising considering the night before. Over at the love bird team, I mean Team Lamb, Ariane was working on the meat while the other two were sitting back and watching. Leah didn't seem too into the job, seeming like it could be the last time her knives hit the table. Tom then came into the kitchen and took a look at things. He didn't really have much to say about the food being cooked but talked more about the fresh foods. He didn't like the idea that the lamb was off the bone and that chicken soup was being made on such a hot day. He was also weary about the creme brulee considering it's so difficult to make.

Team Lamb was falling behind as Ariane couldn't tie the roast, or so Leah said. She ended up helping Ariane tie but didn't do it as good as she could have, simply since she doesn't care. Or so it seems. Everyone ended up pulling things together within the last few minutes and things looked promising. Chicken team was up first and Padma didn't agree with the soup being out in the heat. They did like the conception of their menu but some of the food was just too dry. Lamb Team had some issues as well as it seemed to just tasted horrible. Padma loved the potatoes though, but with lamb being their main food it was just horrible. Team pork was last with the ravioli being not as great as they hoped. Tom didn't like the idea about the pork being fat-less but Jeff's green tomato was a big hit. Desert was then served with chicken getting great praise with Carla's dish. She's stepping up her game which is nice after she almost went home last week. Over on the pork their creme brulee was found to be too sweet, just as Tom predicted. Lamb team was last with more hate towards their food. Hosea ended up making that, putting Lamb in the bottom greatly.

Back home the chefs were ready for Judges Table. Team Chicken: Carla, Stefan and Jamie were sent out first and were not told why. They were selected as the top three, making Carla VERY happy and the two fighters seeing that their compromise worked out. With those three on the top the guest judge Dan Barber ended up giving all three the win for the round and the privilege of sending both the lamb AND pork team into elimination. The judges felt both teams were horrible in the challenge and the pork team was up first. They weren't happy with the fat being removed and Jeff took the fall for that one. Radhika was seen as doing too little for the team but she backed it up. Over on the lamb team Ariane took the fall and Padma wasn't happy. She felt that Ariane shouldn't have been doing the lamb by herself and she called out both Leah and Hosea for doing the negative aspects that Tom pointed out: the tieing of the lamb. Hosea also said he had time buttering meat yet let Ariane take the fall, showing one of the two were going home. Just as I called it earlier. While Padma felt sorry for Ariane the new judge Toby felt no remorse. As the judges waited Leah and Ariane had a silent fight as they talked about each other to both Hosea and Jamie. In the end Tom said that the Pork was not the losing team with Lamb ending up at the bottom. It was then between Hosea, Leah and Ariane with Ariane packing her knives and leaving. It's a sad night since she was a great personality on the show and others don't seem to want to be there.