The chefs hit up Whole Foods with 45 minutes and $200. Louisianans John and Sue are both really happy with their picks. Mary Sue played it safe last challenge, so she wants to step out of the box with her deviled eggs and try a Japanese approach. Floyd is still trying to figure out what his dish is and is repulsed by the canned pineapple, oranges, and cherries in ambrosia. With that, the chefs wrap up and head back to the kitchen.

With two hours prep time, Hugh vows not to be made a fool of twice. Suvir thinks he can infuse some flavor in veal Oscar by adding some Indian touches of cilantro, mint, ginger and shallots. Meanwhile, Alex is playing it safe for his first attempt at bread pudding. Celina hosts an American classics night at her restaurant and is, as such, very happy with the chance to rejigger coq au vin. Traci plans to deconstruct beef stroganoff into a tartare. Floyd has finally learned what ambrosia is and decides to make the old school gloop into a light and airy mousse similar to one his wife makes. With five minutes left, Alex sees everyone else running around like mad men (wah wah) and wonders if he's playing too close to the vest. On the opposite end of the spectrum, John is dealing with fresh oysters that he can't open until the day of the challenge so as not to spoil them, so he fears that things could take a turn for the disastrous when he gets in the kitchen tomorrow.

The next day, everyone gets down to business in a very small kitchen. The lack of space ratchets up the pressure. Suvir and Sue feel pushed out because of the tight quarters, so much so that only apparatus available to Suvir to cook his veal is a deep fryer with which he's not entirely comfortable. With five minutes to go, Mary Sue realizes she won't get all her plating done in time if she doesn't take action, so she commandeers some space underneath the group workstation and starts putting down her take on deviled eggs. John, meanwhile, is finding many of his oysters uncookable, which is severely compromising his plan to offer both a classic take and a contemporary redux of his dish.