Tense in the back room, the cheftestants await word from the judges table, as Nimma expresses regret and Mark further convinces me that he should consider a career in folk music if the cooking thing doesn't work out. Padma glides in and asks for four-best Antonia, Nikki, Richard and Stephanie. Rocco praises Antonia's scampi/pasta for "great technical skills and also an ability to restrain yourself." Of Stephanie's duck, Bourdain says, "Loved your dish, great flavor, great composition, great color, great texture." Padma also "loved" Nikki's lasagna -- "it was light, it was tasty, and it was bubbly, and just beautifully done." She so would. And that leaves Colicchio to extol Richard's "forward-thinking" "wonderful rendition" of a "crab cake" that "stands up to a classic" even "after the smoke clears." At least that's what Zagat's says. Colicchio expresses reserved anticipation for Richard's avant-garde stylings and predicts a good season if things remain at this level of overall quality. Mehopes.

Stephanie's duck gets the winning nod in a close race, and therefore Stephanie enjoys the honor of summoning Ryan, Erik, Nimma, and Mark to the gallows, and it occurs to me that Nimma works the sweatband much better than Dale. Erik doesn't have much to say about his soufflé, although Rocco questions the wisdom of using mashed potatoes as his base, and after a brief discussion of the general heaviness of mashed potatoes and the chemical properties of egg whites, Erik cops to dashing the soufflé with tortilla chips, as Bourdain expresses sympathy for the "bad situation right of the gate" in which Erik found himself. "I made glorified nachos. I'm not proud of it," says Erik, winning points with judges and viewers everywhere.