Lack of Instruction Sends Another Home on Top Chef NY

Each episode Top Chef usually has a special guest judge. This week Gail, a usual judge on the show, ended up being the special guest as the chefs had to good for her bridal shower. As the show opened up it seemed both Michelle and Ariane were coming into their own on the show. Both got opening confessionals, for once and they didn't focus on the usuals. Apparently Stefan has a crush on Jamie..... guess he doesn't know she's a lesbian. With the quick fire challenge the judges realized there was not a special guest. They also weren't cooking but rather taste testing. Dan and Hosea were up first. After tasting the sauce, they then would go back and forth saying how many ingredients they could identify. Hosea was the first to move on followed by Ariane, Stefan, Leah, Radhika, and Carla. It was then on to round two and more tasting. This time it was Thai Green Curry with Hosea, Stefan and Carla. The last round was spelling bee style, tasting Mexican Mole Sauce. The point of the challenge was to allow the others to screw up but Carla was just stupid. Why would you put peanut butter into a sauce? In the end it was the two bald guys against each other with Hosea winning immunity thanks to his tasting skills.

Once the tasting was done it was time to draw knifes and it was obvious they were doing something with weddings. It also seems like nobody is liking Stefan as Radhika become the millionth person who didn't want to work with him. Gail then entered the kitchen and everyone was surprised. She wants them to cook her bridal shower, which Padma was "hosting". They were then off to cook and the three girls, who were working on the borrowed theme, decided to cook an Indian themed dish. Ariane, Radhika and Jamie made up the group and Jamie pulled out Indian since well, that's borrowing from Radhika's culture apparently. Fabio, Michelle and Leah made up the blue team and thought blue was hard. They decided to go with fish since there has to be some type of blue in fish. The third team was the 'new' team with Carla, Dan and Gene. Dan said that Gail loves pickled food so that was there them. But I'm with Carla, how are pickles new? Last up we have the three guys of Stefan, Hosea and Jeff doing the 'old' theme. They decided to just do old school food and nothing really exciting. Although both guys joined the Stefan hate, adding to his growing list of haters.

At the grocery store the chefs started to show their crazy side. The borrowed team was going a bit "borrowed" crazy as getting food from California was borrowing it from them. Carla also showed her cookoo side by yelling "hooty" out loud, looking for her team mates. She does it with her husband in the store, maybe he lives in NY too? Back in the kitchen it was time to prep and the borrowed team seemed well prepared. They were working well together and seemed to have it under control. The new team also seemed to work well together as working separately yet together at the same time. Over at the blue team they were referencing the ocean, since its blue. Fabio was the leader of the group and had more competition with Stefan. His group, the old group, was working very separate and seemed like tension was in the air. Back over in the new group Gene is having issues with his rice. Bad timing I guess since it was time for a visit from Tom. He filled us in that there was no blue food and joked with the girls of the borrowed group. Getting to Gene's team it seemed like they were less organized then once thought. He didn't really seem to interested in them so he moved along to the feuding guys. We then learned that Stefan was married twice.... to the same person. Guess we know why she left him not once but twice!

Following the night of prep Gene came up with an idea for their dish. He wants their sushi roll to be "build your own" and his teammates enjoyed it. Stefan didn't though, but he wasn't even part of it. Guess we have a certified villain this season! The next morning he continued flirting with Jamie and wanted to french kiss her if she won, she denied it but watch her win now! With one fake love affair up in the air there of course was a real one. Hosea and Leah claim to be "just friends" as they have significant others at home. The talk then turned to weddings and photos from both Ariane and Fabio's home life. It was nice to see but the drama quickly turned up as it was time for the cooking to begin! The three guys were serving first and were nervous about Tom being in the kitchen. They also had some more nerves added as their guest judge was the editor of Food and Wine.

The guys served their dish, without spilling anything. The ladies tasting it seemed to have little comments. Some thought it was bland while Gail liked the sorbet. Something Stefan was really against. Up next were the new group with Carla and Dan having a few issues. Dan put mushrooms in her salad and Carla was not liking it! Those tasting generally didn't like the do it yourself sushi and the shrimp was uncooked. Gail's one friend even mentioned she hoped she did better in her marriage then the food.... guess it was that bad. The ladies of the borrowed group were up third and Ariane was panicking, once again. Her lamb wasn't ready, forcing everyone else to stress out. Her lamb ended up being a tad rare but luckily they got it all out to the table thanks to the other teams. Everyone actually enjoyed the lamb, surprisingly, and no complaints whatsoever. Somehow Ariane pulled it out again, but this time just barely. Last up the blue group had something to prove, being that their food was not blue. Leah didn't like the fish when she tasted it, but still trusted Fabio. Out went their food and the ladies agreed with Leah. Fabio's charming didn't help as they found their dish to be "old people food".

Back at the Top Chef kitchen it was time for the Judges Table. The old and borrowed teams were sent in first and were the obvious winners of the challenge. Everyone enjoyed their dishes and they were all excited. Jeff, Jamie and Ariane had great praise but the winner was selected as Ariane once again. Jamie was a bit peeved, considering she helped her with the lamb and she wanted it badly. Good news was over though as the losing teams then went to the table. Team new took the heat as they didn't tell anyone how to eat their food. Um since when did eating need instructions? Gene's rice was said to be the worst for the group, along with their conception, yet all three said their food was good. Padma also called out the mushrooms on the salad, with Dan saying that he pulled the stunt. Tom called the mushrooms "pretty bad", making it seem like Dan was in trouble. Over at the blue group Gail let them know their food was old peopleish. Tom called it a sad plate and figured it was just too safe. Fabio defended his fish, but it seemed like someone from the new group would be going home. After deliberating it was time to reveal who would be going home. Team blue was asked to leave the kitchen all together, meaning they were safe. It came down to belief in the dish, or rather a false belief as Dan was the one packing his knives. Next week some star power is joining the show as Martha Stewart becomes the next guest judge.