grade episode The War of Restaurants

Recapped by Kim · Aired 2012-01-11 · S09E10

Quickfire Challenge: None, because of the Elimination Challenge.

Elimination Challenge: Restaurant Wars! The cheftestants are super excited even though someone always screws up royally. I can remember like two restaurants in nine seasons that were universally praised and the clear winner. Anyway, Padma announce that, for the first time, it's men versus women. Edward is sure the dudes will win because, I mean, come on. Women can't cook. Each team has a night to take over a restaurant called The Palm Door (get it?) and cook a three course menu with two choices per course for a hundred people. Someone needs to run front of house. Each team member needs to cook a dish. And they have to decorate themselves, which they've gotten away from the past few years.

During planning and shopping, the guys seem to be getting along really well and the women are all ganging up on poor Bev, the professional victim, with Sarah leading the way. She is really awful in the way that she talks to people. So condescending and short with people. I would tell her to eff off.

The men have to serve first, and their concept is Canteen, because it's like a mess hall with communal dining, I guess? I don't feel like their food matches their concept for maybe they can sell it. As they start seating guests, it becomes clear that their expediting system isn't working (or doesn't exist) so eventually they send Ty out to manage the tickets, which the judges don't like. And then a little later, Paul goes out and takes over. Yikes. Here are their dishes:

First course: Thai-style crab and shrimp salad, caramel fish sauce, and peanuts (Ty) OR ham and pork pate with mushrooms, braised mustard seeds, and duck fat crostini (Paul). The judges think Ty's dish is bland but well-cooked, and Paul's dish is an interesting concept but his crostini is greasy.

Second course: poached salmon in warm tomato water, clams, salmon skin, and tomatillo jam (Paul and Ty), OR crispy pork skin belly with green apple and sweet potato puree (Paul). The judges like aspects of both dishes but don't fully love either one.

Third course: Almond Joy cake with malted chocolate mousse and banana coconut puree (Ed) OR homemade cracker jack, cherries and peanut butter ice cream (Chris). Anyone else feel like Paul did more than his share? The judges like Ed's dish except that he didn't put coconut in it, and they're divided on Chris's dish.

The women's restaurant is called Half Bushel. Lindsay is working front of house. Back in the kitchen, Sarah is hectoring Beverly as usual. When the judges arrive, Lindsay is in back and misses their arrival. In fact, she's often in back yelling at Beverly instead of seating people out front. The judges are kept waiting for their food for a long time and Lindsay shows no hustle whatsoever. Here are the dishes:

First course: Peach salad with pickled shallots, bacon vinaigrette, and candied pistachios (Grayson) OR mozzarella-filled arancino, sweet and sour eggplant, and celery salad. The judges like both dishes.

Second course: braised short rib with thai basil potato puree, apple slaw, and kimchi (Beverly) OR grilled halibut with Spanish chorizo, fennel, and sherry salad (Lindsay). The judges think the fish is dry, but they love Beverly's dish.

Third course: Schaum torte with vanilla meringue and champagne berries (Grayson) OR hazelnut cream Italian doughnuts with banana sugar glaze (Sarah). The judges are split on Grayson's dish and don't like Sarah's doughnuts, because they're heavy.

The judges agree that the guys' service was better but the ladies' food was better. Lindsay is pissed because no one is eating her fish and she blames Beverly, who was executing the dish for her. But then the women win so they don't have to worry about whom to blame for which dish. And then the judges choose Beverly as the winner because her dish was so awesome. I hope Lindsay apologizes to her.

The judges find problems with everything on the mens' side, pretty much, but they can't overlook that Ty had a hand in two dishes and both were terribly underseasoned. So Ty's going home. I liked him! Damn.

Hey, we're still in Texas! Austin, to be exact. Is anyone else bored with this season already? I feel like you either need outstanding chefs, or really horrible villains, or really funny likable heroes. All three would be great. I feel like this season has none of those things. The women are blah, and as this episode will reveal, kind of awful. The men are blah. I still don't have a sense for what kind of food each chef cooks, except that Beverly makes a lot of Asian and Ed kind of does too. And Chris Moto thinks he's Mr. Science. Someone surprise me already.

The cheftestants walk into a restaurant called Palm Door, except that it's completely empty, no tables or chairs. Padma (joined by Hugh Acheson) announces that it's time for Restaurant Wars. I get why the cheftestants like this challenge; it's the most like what they actually do in their everyday lives, so they feel like they can do it well. Except things always go horribly, horribly wrong for at least one team. Anyway, rather than draw knives or whatever, this season the teams are divided by gender, men versus women. Hey, here's a statement that's going to shock you: Ed thinks the male chefs have more talent. And while I actually kind of agree with him on this particular season, more talent doesn't mean they're going to win, because it's not a talent competition, sadly. Well, I guess it depends on how you define talent. Is talent the ability to roll with the punches and come up with crazy ideas that please the judges? Because that's the kind of competition it is. Sarah is happy with her team except that she thinks Beverly is the weak link.

Padma gives out the deal with the challenge: each team will take over the restaurant on consecutive nights, so they will also get a chance to eat at the other team's restaurant. AND, they have brought back the wrinkle where the teams have to decorate the restaurant themselves, which I've always enjoyed, although it doesn't always lead to drama. Padma flips a coin and determines that the boys will serve on the first night, and Hugh explains that they have to serve three courses, each with two choices, to a hundred people. They don't specify that the third course needs to be dessert, or anything about the food really. One team member needs to handle front of house, and they will have five hours to cook and decorate the space.

Padma gives them forty-five minutes to menu plan, and they separate into teams and get to discussing their menus. Ed immediately agrees to do front of house for the men, and interviews that none of them want to do it, but he feels like he's qualified to do so because he owns his own restaurant. I'm going to guess that all of them have worked in service at some point, but whatever. Let Ed do it. Paul has a name: Canteen. He explains that it's a communal place to eat, and they're all fine with it. It's fine. It's not that exciting, but it doesn't need to be.

By Kim

Kristen shops for food quickly, and admits that she's overwhelmed. She picks her own cheese and meat. She says that she had this idea when she was watching French cooking shows as a kid. Lizzie interviews that they have to execute Kristen's concept and idea, but they are responsible for their own dishes to the judges, so it's tricky.

Stefan, Sheldon, and Josh meet back up to pick up their tables and chairs. Sheldon says he likes farmer's tables (no, Sheldon) and Stefan pretty much ignores him and chooses what he likes. Sheldon interviews that Stefan has a strong personality (he's bossy, you can say it) so Sheldon is choosing his battles. And honestly, he's right about the tables. Stefan interviews that he wants to take charge so that he can impress Danny Meyer, who's a big deal.

Twenty-seven hours until opening. The equipment and tables are delivered and everyone works to get things set up. Kristen and Josie discuss how to set up the kitchen and come up with a layout that Kristen likes because it will enable her to touch every plate before it goes out. Brooke and Josie are inside setting out glassware and Josie says that she needs to go start roasting her bones for her bouillabaisse. This is important - she said she was going to start that nearly a full day before service. Keep that in mind.

Josh and Stefan set up the dining room while Sheldon gets some prep done in the kitchen. Meanwhile, Brooke and Kristen are putting flowers in vases for their dining tables and Josie is standing there doing nothing. Kristen asks if she's started roasting, and Josie says she'll do it now. So that's the second time she claimed she was going to start roasting, but instead seems to be wandering around and staring at things. No sense of urgency. Lizzie interviews that she roasted her bones near the end of day one so that she could start her stock early on service day. Kristen's whole team is in the kitchen prepping and someone asks who's using the ovens. Josie says she's not, and Kristen looks surprised, since Josie already claimed twice that she was going to start roasting her bones. Kristen looks frustrated and walks away, and Josie interviews that ideally she would have done that on day one but there was no time. Yeah, she was way too busy wandering around and staring into space. Here's management problem number one: Kristen should have taken a second to impress upon Josie that she needed to get that done, that she was disappointed that Josie didn't do it already, and that it had to be priority one in the morning. Just let Josie know you're onto her bullshit and then stay on top of her.

By Kim

Sheldon checks out the dining room and he approves. He interviews that usually when you open a restaurant, you have a few days to work out the kinks, but this is like being thrown into the fire. Both teams head home to rest up before the big opening day.

Brooke gets a letter from her kid, and my kids are around the same age as hers so I am especially sensitive to her concerns about how her son thinks she just disappeared from his life because he doesn't understand her career or being on a show or whatever. And yet she's doing the show to try to make a better life for her family eventually. Brooke takes the pictures around that her son drew and everyone is sympathetic to her plight, but she concludes that she has to stay focused and help her team win this challenge.

Kristen's team meets to discuss logistics. Brooke and Josie think they may need to pre-plate some stuff, but Kristen thinks they can cook and plate everything to order. Josie interviews that Kristen has a tasting menu at her restaurant, but she only serves ten people at a time. This challenge involves serving a hundred people. Josie takes her complaints out to the smoking patio to Stefan and Josh, who don't seem that interested, honestly. After Josie leaves, Josh tells Stefan that they're going to die if they cook their fish to order. It does seem like a terrible idea, and if you have dishes that all must be cooked to order to taste good, maybe you need to revise your menu. That's just common sense.

The day, the cheftestants arrive with six hours until opening. Sheldon interviews that he never thought he's get this chance, since he's not classically trained and worked his way up. Josh notes that prep is a challenge since they are short-handed and they want to get everything done ahead of time.

Kristen's team is also hauling ass. Lizzie is doing a charcuterie course, and she's cooking rabbit broth and pickling radishes. Josie is doing the bouillabaisse course. Kristen is doing beef bourginon with braised short ribs. Brooke is making a cheese course, which makes sense since she's doing front of house, so her course needs to be something that just needs to be plated. The only cooked element seems to be a fruit compote. Kristen is also making a macaron type dessert. She seems comfortable and confident, issuing orders and overseeing all the dishes.

By Kim

On Sheldon's team, Stefan is making the first course, which is raw fish, and he's prepping it ahead of time. Josh is making a twist on balout, which is normally a fertilized duck egg which is served with an embryonic duck inside, beak, feathers, and all. Josh's take on it is slightly less weird; he's serving poached eggs with duck meat and foie gras mousse. Sheldon's third course is a Filipino chicken noodle soup called miki, and his fourth course is the national dish of the Phillipines, adobo. Even I've heard of that. And Josh is making a dessert, halo halo, which is frozen ice.

It's two hours until opening, so Brooke heads to front of house to prep the staff. She interviews that she's opened multiple restaurants with her husband so she knows what she's doing, and she hopes to impress Danny Meyer. Back in the kitchen, Kristen is trying to oversee every single thing and control every single thing, which seems like a terrible idea. She asks Josie how long until the stock is ready, and Josie says it will be another hour. Kristen interviews that Josie told her the stock would be done an hour ago, and it shouldn't be taking this long. Josie interviews that broth takes time. Yeah, that's why you should have started it last night.

Stefan meets with his staff. He finds someone who's expedited before, and he tells the dishwashers to go back and see Sheldon and Josh. Stefan knows that he has to delegate. Meanwhile, Sheldon has got the dishwasher helping out with prep. That seems really smart.

Over in Kristen's kitchen, Josie asks where the gelatin is and Kristen stands there with a WTF look on her face. She interviews that she thought Josie had already put the gelatin in the stock, and they only have thirty minutes left. The idea was to put the gelatin in to make it frothy, but she can't do that now because the stock is still hot on the stove. She needed the stock to be done by now. Kristen calls an audible and tells Josie to add cream and soy milk to the stock instead. Now, should Kristen have been more on top of Josie prior to this? Probably. I can see how she thought Josie would follow her instructions, but maybe she didn't think she needed to tell Josie, "The stock needs to be completely done two hours before service so that we can add the gelatin." Maybe she thought Josie knew that. But Kristen took on a lot, and things slipped through the cracks. And she should probably know that Josie sucks.

By Kim

Brooke does a quick change to get ready to do front of house. There are only minutes left and everyone completes last minute tasks. Stefan interviews that he doesn't feel like he talked to Sheldon enough about each menu item, and that could be a problem.

Diners being to arrive in both restaurants and the food starts going out. No major mishaps yet. The judges arrive pretty quickly; Brooke notes that she was hoping for a little more time to get into the swing of things before having to deal with judges. Padma introduces everyone: Danny Meyer, Gail, Tom, and Emeril. Brooke gives them menus and explains the concept. Danny likes the graphics on the menu and Emeril is impressed with how much they did in such a short time, and so is Danny.

Kristen is confusing Lizzie with the way that she is calling orders, but Lizzie gets it together and their first dish goes out to the judges. It's the charcuterie course by Lizzie: rabbit, pickled turnips and yellow beets in chicken and rabbit broth. Danny comments that you expect rabbit terrine, but this is great. Emeril likes the broth and adds that the mustard is not overpowering. They all agree that it's a good dish.

Josie is plating her bouillabaisse. Kristen comes over and asks if she's tested using the charger and of course Josie hasn't. Kristen tries it out; I'm not entirely clear on what was supposed to happen here. I guess all the non-broth elements of the bouillabaisse were supposed to be put in a bowl and then the broth was supposed to be foamed on top? Or something? Anyway, Kristen just pours the sauce over it, and she interviews that it's a mess, and she can't believe Josie didn't test it. Josie interviews that she's sensing a little attitude. YOU THINK? I WONDER WHY? Lizzie interviews that Josie and Kristen are butting heads over style. Meanwhile, the diners are sitting there wondering where the course is, because this plating is taking so long. The judges are also noticing the delay. Josie blames Kristen for the delay, but honestly? We've seen Josie late with her dishes twice, and Kristen never. So whose fault is the delay?

The judges' dishes finally arrive: halibut, Dungeness crab, bay scallops with shellfish broth. Emeril notes that his halibut is overcooked and his scallop is practically raw. Well, that's a hundred percent Josie's fault. Gail can't figure out why Tom's dish has froth and hers doesn't, and guesses that hers dissipated. No one can figure out why there's so little broth in the bowl. The judges just look puzzled, and they decide that something went wrong with the dish but it's not really their job to judge the dish as it was intended. They have to judge the dish they get.

By Kim

Over in Sheldon's restaurant, the first seating is ending and the second seating is arriving. The problem is that no one from the first seating will leave. Stefan tries to find polite ways to get people the hell out, but people are like, "I'm good. I'm staying."

Brooke is right on top of expediting dishes to judges' table, and Kristen should thank her profusely. But Kristen is trying to expedite while also plating and doing everything else, and things are getting screwed up. Brooke takes out Kristen's beef bourguignon: braised short rib, garlic puree, mushrooms, and carrots. Padma loves the beef, which is flavorful and tender. Tom wonders where the sauce is, since it's called beef bourguignon, and there's no bourguignon. Tom has an issue with the concept of the dish; it's too close to the original but missing the sauce. She should have departed more, or just made the original. The judges do agree that the dish is well executed, though.

Kristen finally gets more hands on deck as she has a server plating the cheese course by Brooke: baked Gougeres, St. Agur blue cheese, roasted radish, and stone fruit compote. Emeril loves the cheese, but doesn't like the sticky pine nut, and Danny agrees that someone is going to lose a filling. Gail likes the compote and Tom agrees that the dish is classic and it all works together.

The judges are served Kristen's dessert: almond cake macaron with coconut custard and caramel buttercream. Danny liked the almond flavor, but Gail doesn't think it captured the essence of the macaron. Gail really, really loves macarons, and she's personally insulted, I think. Her middle name is macaron.

Padma asks Gail what she thinks of the restaurant overall. Gail says that they set the bar really high by saying their concept was the reinvention of French dishes, and then they didn't quite execute. Everyone agrees that Lizzie's charcuterie was the dish of the night.

Stefan is still having trouble getting his first seating to get the hell out. I mean, what do you do? People like the place, so they're sitting there. I would feel so awkward looking at all the people standing in the entry that I would just take my food and go, but I'm a giver. As Stefan struggles with how to get the people out, he sees the judges walk in. And...commercial break.

By Kim

Weird interstitial. People wanted to go in the back and see the kitchen, so Brooke just kept bringing table after table back to gawk at the cheftestants. That seems like a terrible idea, unless they were waiting for food and she was trying to entertain them. Whatever happened to coloring books?

Stefan asks the hostess if they have a table for the judges and she claims that they do. Meanwhile, a server asks Stefan if they have more beverages for one table and Stefan's like, "No. Get them OUT." His Nordic side is really coming out under stress. Stefan manages to get the judges' table dressed and ready and the hostess shows them to their table. Stefan interviews that the judges got to jump the line because they're VIPs. The judges check out the menu and Danny likes the graphics, though it's pretty basic. Gail notes that there's a huge backup at the entrance and Tom wonders why Stefan isn't serving them drinks while they wait. Stefan is in the kitchen trying to expedite the judges' first course. Sheldon interviews that he's so busy in the back that he doesn't even get to see what's going on in the front of the house.

Stefan takes out his own dish first. It's kilawen: yellowtail with cilantro, spicy chili, and white soy sauces. Stefan gives a very brief and curt description of his own dish. Emeril thinks it's delicious and Danny likes the balance of acid, sour, and chili. Gail enjoys the "beautiful contrasts." So Stefan's dish is a winner.

Back in the kitchen, everyone pitches in to get Josh's dish plated. Stefan explains that it's Josh's version of a balut, "the infamous egg" and Stefan says it's duck in an egg with foie gras; the full description is a poached egg, duck confit, and foie gras mousse. Gail and Danny are annoyed that Stefan is assuming they all know what a balut is, but they all love the dish. Tom's one caveat is that there's nothing remotely Filipino about the flavors in the dish.

Back in the kitchen, the server doing expediting is getting confused and Sheldon has to help her get it straight. He's very nice about it and doesn't lose his cool. Sheldon's dish goes out but Stefan either doesn't know or doesn't care so the judges don't get any sort of introduction or explanation. The intro is always necessary, but even more so when it's a cuisine that the judges aren't familiar with, I think. Emeril guesses that it's miki, which is prawns and a tapioca roll with achiote. Padma thinks it's beautiful and Tom loves the pasta. Stefan finally rolls up and asks if they need anything and Padma awkwardly points out that they've been served a dish with no introduction. Stefan kind of mumbles a brief description (probably what it says on the menu), offers no apology, smirks, and walks off. Tom has the greatest "AWKWARD" look on his face and then says he felt like they were just scolded and Gail says they were made to feel like idiots. Emeril thinks that treatment is worse than the bouillabaisse from Kristen's restaurant. In back, Josh asks Stefan what the judges think and Stefan says he doesn't know. I wonder if he really doesn't know or if he doesn't want to admit that he screwed up service.

By Kim

The dish goes out, and Stefan is there to introduce it. Sheldon made adobo: pork belly with mung bean puree and pea shoots salad. Danny loves the sour flavors and Tom says that it's the best dish he's had all night. Danny admits that he couldn't stop eating it. Big ups for Sheldon.

Finally, Stefan serves Josh's dessert: halo halo which is coconut sorbet, avocado mousse, bananas, and shredded coconut. Stefan also offers up ginger tea and dark chocolate with macadamia nuts, ginger, and peppermint oil. Gail thinks Josh's dessert has clean, pure, and strong flavors. Emeril likes it too. Gail likes the tea at the end of the meal and Tom jokes that it washes the taste of the bad service out of your mouth. Tom says more seriously that people come back to restaurants for good service, not good food, and he doesn't know if he'd return to the restaurant right now.

Things wind down in the kitchen. Sheldon says it was ridiculous and he can barely stand. Kristen knows that the flow of service was off because of Josie's bad timing, but she knows that every dish that went out tasted good.

Padma leads a discussion of Sheldon's restaurant. Danny says he liked every dish, but there were serious problems with service and hospitality. Gail thinks the concept of the restaurant was applied unevenly, and Stefan missed an opportunity to more closely tie the dishes together. Eh, Stefan couldn't have done that even if he was more attentive; he didn't know enough about the food. Padma is adamant that Stefan should go home for his poor service, and Tom counters that Josie should go home for her terrible bouillabaisse. Padma suggests that they go to judges' table to decide which restaurant gave them a better dining experience.

By Kim

All of the cheftestants return and stand in front of the judges at Judges' Table. Tom compliments them on pulling off a difficult task, and says that the food was overall very delicious, with a few flaws. Kristen reiterates her concept and which dishes she was responsible for. Gail says her beef dish was well cooked, but they missed the sauce, and Tom thinks she set them up for a dish and then didn't follow through. When it came to Kristen's dessert, Gail says it was too heavy and Emeril adds that the cake was dry. Emeril compliments Brooke's leadership in the dining room. Lizzie admits that she was happy with her dish, and Gail says it was beautifully done. Lizzie admits that it was a joint dish and Kristen takes credit for, I guess, the concept? Kristen was quick to hop on that love train.

And now it's time to talk to Josie. Gail says that the dish had a lot of flavor, but she just didn't get enough of the broth. Josie says that Kristen helped her with the plating. Josie says she would have served it with more broth, but it wasn't her concept or menu. Tom asks if Josie ever told Kristen that she thought more broth was needed, and Josie says no and has no good answer why she didn't. Kristen says she would have done a lot of things differently but doesn't get specific.

Tom grills Kristen about her intention for the dish, including putting gelatin in the broth. Kristen says there was no gelatin and Tom asks why not. As Kristen pauses to figure out how to answer without saying, "Because Josie's useless," Josie jumps in and says she would've made the dish more traditional with more broth. That's the point where Kristen should have said that she intended to use gelatin but she couldn't because the broth wasn't done on time. That would have led the judges to ask more questions about timing, and learned more about what happened in the kitchen with Josie. That's where Kristen lost this challenge. Gail says that Josie should have taken more responsibility for the dish, because her ass is on the line too. Tom snarks that Josie might have intentionally let the dish go out subpar to hang Kristen out to dry. I don't think Josie's that evil; I think she's just incompetent at timing and good at figuring out how to position herself in front of the judges to avoid taking the blame.

Tom tells Sheldon that he liked the overall concept, but the service needs to be discussed. Emeril says he was disappointed with how Stefan handled the room. Tom asks if it's poor service that they got some dishes with no explanation, and Stefan agrees that it's poor service but then says that he's a chef, and not a server. The judges move on to talk to Sheldon. Tom says that his dishes hit the sweet spot between being modern and having Filipino flavor. Gail loved the prawn dish, and Tom says the adobo was the best thing he's had all night. Padma asks if Josh has ever had Filipino food, and Josh says he's had balut before. Tom didn't think the dish read Filipino, but it was still good.

By Kim

Tom concludes by saying that he has a lot of respect for what both teams pulled off, but the winning team is Sheldon's. They are greatly relieved. Tom tells Sheldon that he had a great restaurant with a great concept, and he did his grandfather's name proud. Plus, Sheldon wins a car! Go, Sheldon. Padma tells Stefan he's really lucky, and Stefan agrees.

Tom turns to Kristen's team and says one of them is going home. He admits that Brooke and Lizzie are safe, but he needs one question cleared up. He knows that the bouillabaisse problems centered on the sauce, and he wants to know what happened with the gelatin. This is Kristen's time to say, "Josie done fucked up" but in a tactful way. Because it's the truth! Instead, Kristen says she decided not to use it because they ran out of time, and Josie backs up that version of events without saying that it was her fault that they ran out of time. Kristen should phrase it like she's taking blame: "I should have been more on top of Josie throughout. I thought she had the timing down and I was busy with my own dishes, but I should have checked in all along, especially when she promised to roast the bones on day one and then didn't do it. I take responsibility for not checking in more frequently." The judges know what's up. They can read between the lines. But no one is saying that it was Josie's fault that they ran out of time, and the judges are giving them EVERY OPPORTUNITY to say that. Kristen mutters to herself "Bite my tongue. Bite my tongue." No! Don't bite your tongue.

Gail hammers Josie to try to get her to take some responsibility but Josie just keeps repeating her "I was just following orders" defense and "I did everything I could with what I had." Josie says that she cooked everything and if their problem was not enough sauce, well, Kristen did the plating. Kristen jumps in and basically says, "It was totally my fault and you should send me home." She's not giving the judges anything to save her, that's for sure. Gail points out that Kirsten is falling on her sword and the closest Kristen will come to admitting that Josie fucked her is saying, "I made executional errors and so did some other people." The judges look exhausted. I wonder why no one has pointed out that Emeril said the components of the bouillabaisse weren't even cooked well. Padma excuses them and they head back to the Stew Room.

By Kim

Josie bitterly tells Sheldon congratulations on his good Filipino food. Then she turns herself into the victim and says she was attacked by the judges, with the subtext being "for no good reason." Ugh, she is a garbage person. Brooke and Kristen look furious but remain silent.

Padma starts off the discussion of judging by saying it's a tough decision. Emeril finally brings up that Josie's seafood was cooked unevenly, but adds that Kristen complicated the dish more than it needed to be. Tom thinks it was a lofty concept that existed only in Kristen's head, and she didn't explain it to Josie enough, I guess? Gail points out that if they blame Kristen completely, then Josie could have basically turned in an empty plate, since she has no responsibility. Padma points out that Josie made a tasty broth, but Gail, exasperated, yells, "But there was none of it there." Tom thinks it was on Josie to say it needed more sauce, and Emeril agrees. If a dish is going out with your name on it, and you disagree with something basic about the dish, you need to AT LEAST make an effort to correct it. You might not win the battle, but at least you'll be on record as disagreeing.

Gail angrily says that Josie didn't have the foresight or the insight to add more sauce, and Padma bitchily retorts, "Neither did Kristen! Neither did Kristen, though." Is Padma dating Josie? Why is she getting so defensive about this? Gail and Padma are really going at it over this one. Gail nails it when she says that they've been down this road with Josie many times, and she feels like Josie is skating by because others take responsibility and she hides. Tom agrees. Padma thinks Kristen couldn't delegate her dishes, and the flaws were hers. Emeril says he's torn about who should go home and Tom can only scratch his bald head. I feel you, Tom.

Kristen's team is brought back out. Tom tells Kristen that her team was ambitious and tough to pull off. They have Josie who abdicated all responsibility for making a good dish, and they have Kristen who took too much responsibility, but it was her concept. Tom adds that it was a tough decision, but Padma tells Josie...she's safe. Ouch. That was a mean way to do it. Tom points out that Josie is more shocked than Kristen.

By Kim

Okay, this was a seriously controversial decision, and I get it, but I also get what the judges saw. You have to remember that they only have the information they get from tasting the food and talking to the cheftestants. They didn't see everything we saw. So what they saw was an incomplete dish. And what they heard was Josie saying, "It was Kristen's dish. I didn't want to mess with it, even though I thought it needed more broth." And Kristen saying, "She's right. I fucked up. I take all responsibility." They have no idea WHY the dish was fucked up, because Kristen and Josie didn't tell them. They asked! They asked multiple times what happened with the gelatin, but the team stonewalled. Gail made a great point about Josie skating by, but they're supposed to judge on that challenge's food alone, not the whole history. I hate that Josie got away with her bullshit, but I also see why the judges made the decision that they did.

Anyway, Kristen interviews that she was the leader, and she had to take responsibility for her team. No one in the Stew Room can believe that Kristen is going home, and Josie hopefully feels like shit. Kristen interviews that she understands that people want to save their own asses, but she's going home with her integrity. She acknowledges that she did too much, and she wanted it to be perfect. Josie interviews that the others think she took the low road, but she's there to win. Brooke interviews that Kristen should have pinned the blame on Josie, who deserved it. Should be interesting week, no?

So Kristen is headed to Last Chance Kitchen and stop reading now if you don't want to know what happens:

Kristen faces CJ in Last Chance Kitchen, and their challenge is to take turns choosing a time, a protein, a cooking element, and a cuisine. CJ chooses thirty minutes, and then Kristen chooses snapper for the protein; CJ wants to use the smoking gun which allows Kristen to choose French as the cuisine. Bad move, CJ. Anyway, Kristen struggles with the smoker. CJ makes a snapper filet in brown butter with smoked mashed potatoes that Tom likes, but he thought it needed a sauce. Kristen makes a bouillabaisse that Tom thinks has too much saffron, but ultimately, he awards Kristen the win because her dish was more of a cohesive dish instead of CJ's collection of elements. So Big Ceej's reign ends.