By Kim
Quickfire Challenge: Make pancakes for guest judge Pee-wee Herman. They don't bother revealing the top three or bottom three, but Ed wins for making a play on the crispy edges of pancakes with some berries. It was definitely the most creative take of the bunch, although Paul's champagne Dippin' Dots were interesting as well.
Elimination Challenge: Make a family-style lunch for Pee-wee Herman and the judges. But they get a bike, a hundred dollars, and a map to the Alamo. They have to figure out where to buy food and where to cook it. This leads to a bizarre segment where the cheftestants have to ride bikes around and beg local restaurateurs to be allowed to cook in their kitchens. It's so weird and pointless. Like if I got eliminated because I was the last one to find a kitchen, I would be hella pissed because this is Top Chef, not Top Amazing Race. Anyway, this is what they served:
Sarah: summer vegetable egg salad with chicken skin vinaigrette. Gail thinks the eggs are cooked perfectly and she loves the vinaigrette, but Tom notes that the eggs have no seasoning.
Grayson: egg, spinach, and gorgonzola stuffed chicken with butternut roasted squash. The judges like the egg in the chicken as well as the butternut squash, but Tom's not sure why she included fresh salad ingredients, because they didn't fit the overall dish.
Lindsay: stuffed zucchini with beef cheeks, rice, and goat cheese. Gail likes the presentation, but Padma thinks there's too much goat cheese and vinaigrette.
Ed: chicken and grits, raw corn, kale salad with red-eye gravy. The judges love the grits but think the chicken is almost undercooked.
Paul: roasted chicken, red curry gastrique, summer salad with basil blossom oil. The judges like the Thai flavors, although Padma wanted more heat. Tom thinks the flavors work together perfectly, though.
The winner is Lindsay, even though the judges seemed to like Paul's dish better while they were eating. It smacks a little bit of, "Paul's totally going to win but we need to make it look like it's not a foregone conclusion." The bottom three are Ed, Grayson, and Sarah, although the judges are quick to say that all of the food was great. Sarah's dish lacked seasoning, Ed's chicken was almost undercooked, and Grayson couldn't decide if she was making a summer dish or a fall dish. Ultimately, the judges eliminate Grayson, and then they tell the remaining cheftestants about Last Chance Kitchen. To be continued?