This week's contestants are:

Jonathan Waxman from New York City, who owns Barbuto. A former musician, he's now been a chef for nearly forty years. Colicchio explains that Waxman is known as "the Godfather" and has trained many other famous chefs, including Bobby Flay. He's responsible for Bobby Flay? Burn him! I can't stand that dude. He's such a That Guy. Gail Simmons tells us that Jonathan owned a restaurant in the '80s where culinary luminaries like Julia Child, Wolfgang Puck, and James Beard hung out. So he's kind of a big deal. His charity is Meals on Wheels, and he vows to be his own competition, instead of looking over his shoulder.

Roy Yamaguchi of Honolulu. He's the first ever James Beard award winner, owner of dozens of restaurants, and he created the culinary concept of Hawaiian fusion. He was also a judge in the Season 2 finale of Top Chef. His charity is Imua Family Services, which helps children with special needs.

Art Smith of Chicago, who owns restaurants in Chicago and DC. He's known as Oprah's chef, and cooks in a Southern style. He's also been a judge on Top Chef, which only makes him fear going in front of the judges himself. He has won James Beard awards for both his cookbook and his humanitarian work, and is playing for his own charity, Common Threads, which teaches children how to cook.

Michael Cimarusti of Los Angeles. He owns a restaurant called Providence, and Gail Simmons assures us that he is "an extraordinary seafood chef." He's definitely the youngest of this week's contestants, but his restaurant has received multiple honors already. He's playing for the Grameen Foundation, which helps people, especially women, pull themselves out of poverty. I went and looked it up, because his description was pretty vague, and it turns out it's a microfinance charity. Michael notes that, when he was a line cook, he cooked with Jonathan, and considers him "a rock star of the culinary world."

Kelly Choi strolls in to discuss the Quickfire Challenge. She points out that some of them have been judges before, but now the tables are turned. She really says "the tables are completely turned." Who writes this stuff? The tables are turned? Hacky. Anyway, maybe they can't write anything too complex or Kelly wouldn't be able to handle it. She pauses after saying that, and the chefs just kind of stare at her, not sure if they're supposed to respond or what. Finally, Art Smith chokes out that he's terrified and everyone laughs with relief because it was really awkward. Jonathan says that Art has a weight advantage (DIVA!) and he knows everything about Roy. Whoa. This JUST. GOT. INTERESTING. I've been waiting for the fact that these people all know each other to come into play. Kelly forces Michael to say something and he says he's nervous. She acts surprised. Dude. He's cooking with a bunch of legends, who are all at least ten years older than him. Also, his face is bright red.