We're a little weirded out by this picture. The elimination challenge required the chefs to draw knives with the names of various culinary allstars and then prepare the meal that said allstar requested as their "last supper," so, you know, we get it, but we've still spent the better part of the morning obsessed with which of these chefs would be Jesus. We've decided on Tom Colicchio. Toby Young would obviously be Judas Iscariot...
We always enjoy it when Wylie Durfrasne acts as a guest judge on Top Chef, mostly because his general vibe seems to be "cut the shit." Case in point: For the quick-fire challenge, he asked the chefs to make him a dish using his favorite ingredient -- evidently Wylie Dufresne loves him an egg. Most of the remaining chefs are falling all over themselves to impress Wylie with their fancy egg triptychs and molecular gastronomy...
...and eyeing Carla's less complicated "green eggs and ham" dish with disdain...
Turns out Wyle's not a fan of pretention, but he is a fan of Dr. Seuss and food that tastes good. Carla wins the quickfire, and we pump our fist in the air.
Carla's prize for her win is the opportunity to swap "last supper" dishes with any of the other chefs. Carla's reaction:
"Why would you think that I would give up Jacques Pepin? And he wants PEAS! I think Jacques and I are two peas in a pod....HAHA!"
We LOVE her. We feel almost giddy about the fact that this year's finale is in New Orleans -- a region with whose cuisine Carla is already familiar.
Prep for the elimination challenge gets off to a rocky start -- Fabio breaks his finger doing some unknown activity. Quote of the week from Fabio when asked whether or not he wants to go to the hospital:
"Hospital? I'll chop it off and sear it on the flat top so it doesn't bleed anymore, and tomorrow I'll deal with nine fingers."
Unfortunately, Lidia Bastianich's last meal is roast chicken with roast potatoes and a leafy salad. We watch Fabio suffer through peeling potatoes and butchering chicken using one hand, a clever and the side of the counter (bless his heart). Apparently, some of the best meals are made under duress -- Fabio's chicken wows the judges and earns him the win and a spot in the finale. Carla comes in second with her less-is-more roast squab and fresh peas...
Susan Ungaro's comment: "Her peas were perfection" -- a sentiment which Padma weirdly co-opted as her own during judges panel.
Hosea, Leah and Stefan are on the chopping block for various culinary sins, but Leah runs out of lives with her runny egg whites and is sent packing.
Random sidenote: We kind of wish Wylie Dufresne spelled his name "Wylee."