Quickfire Challenge: Create a unique fondue, and the cheftestants will vote for one another instead of having a guest judge. The winner gets a vacation in Napa Valley, but not immunity. I think they should have judged blind, although I'm not sure how that would be possible, since they saw each other prepping. But it's kind of a popularity contest instead of judging on the actual dish. Fabio (caviar blini), Tiffany (apple fritter in chocolate) and Mike (lamb in melted feta) are on the bottom. The top three were Antonia (smoked salmon), Dale (pho) and Angelo (endive with roasted beets). Blais is surprised that he wasn't in the top and he thinks he might intimidate his competition. The ultimate winner is Dale.
Elimination Challenge: Cook one of Jimmy Fallon's favorite dishes for his birthday lunch. The cheftestants are assigned dishes, and Antonia gets stuck with beef tongue. Meanwhile, Fabio has burger and fries, and he has never made a hamburger before. NEVER MADE A HAMBURGER! How can he have lived in this country for even a year and never have made a burger? I do not know. Also, the winner gets a cooking segment on Jimmy's show. Anyway, here's what they made:
Antonia: beef tongue, pumpernickel rye, caramelized onions and dill slaw. It get uniform praise and Jimmy's head writer says, "She licked it." So he's getting a raise.
Fabio: hamburger, melted cheddar cheese sauce and fries. The judges think it tastes more like meatloaf than a burger, and they think the sauce is horrible.
Blais: ramen noodles with seared pork belly, duck legs and duck egg. Jimmy is disappointed because, while the dish is good, he doesn't think it's Blais enough.
Tiffany: chicken, dumplings with poblano chilies, red peppers, cilantro and lime. Jimmy finds it to be too spicy.
Carla: chicken pot pie with carrots, celery, pea salt and herbs. Carla could NOT have been more excited to make this dish, and more freaked out about it in the kitchen, coming down to the wire. None of the judges have much to say about it because they are too busy eating it.
Dale: Philly cheesesteak on a pretzel roll, hot sauces, onions and cheddar cheese sauce. Everyone thinks it was too salty.
Angelo: pulled pork with a coffee, dill, allspice and chipotle rub, and coleslaw. The judges find the sauce "amazing."
Mike: sausage, peppers, onions, garlic, fennel and paprika. Gail points out that the peppers and onions really soaked up the flavors.
The top three are Carla, Antonia, and Angelo. Jimmy and Carla have a serious bonding session over putting crust on the bottom of the pot pie, and then the top three sing a song about beef tongue (no, they really do). And the winner is Carla! She gets to go on Jimmy's show (which I am totally watching Thursday night) and she wins a trip to Tokyo. Jimmy and Carla are a match made in heaven. Somehow two positives make even more positive energy in this case.
The bottom three are Dale, Tiffany and Fabio. They thought Tiffany's wasn't really chicken and dumplings they wanted to see. Fabio's burger was off in texture and his cheese sauce curdled. Dale's dish was just salt plus salt plus salt. And then Fabio goes home. Aw, Fabi. Glad to have you back and I'm sorry you had to leave before Mike and Tiffany (who I think are about even with Fabio talent-wise but way more boring television-wise).
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In the "Previously On" that's not really a previously on segment, the cheftestants sit around in a bar that's not really a bar and toast Antonia's win in the previous episode. Where are they? Why does it look like the set of "A Night at the Improv" circa 1989? And some people have cups of coffee and others have mixed drinks? So confused. Anyway, Dale says that he made one of his worst dishes ever for the previous challenge and he was lucky to skate by. Fabio is still really bitter that Antonia beat him in the Italian challenge with a dish that he considers to be French. Okay, even if he's right, who cares? The judges thought it was Italian enough to win, and according to Colicchio's blog, the challenge was to make a dish inspired by Rao's menu, not make a dish that would be on Rao's menu. So Antonia's was homey and delicious, and it fit the bill, and was apparently better than Fabio's dish. Fabio needs to put on his sunglasses and deal with it. Antonia ribs Mike for being Italian and on the bottom, and he ribs her back for making a French dish. For once, I don't fault Mike for being a dick, because that was kind of a dick move by Antonia. And also, they are friends now, so whatever.
Let's go to the kitchen and get right into the Quickfire. Blais notices that there are a bunch of fondue pots sitting there and he admits that his parents were big hippies who probably attended nude fondue parties in the '70s. That sounds dangerous, what with the molten cheese and chocolate everywhere. I feel like parts could be burned, and then the party's over. Also, his parents sound awesome.
Padma says that the challenge is to make fondue, but this isn't the '70s, so they don't want bananas in chocolate; they want something unique. Fabio explains what fondue is for our Gen Y viewers; you make a boiling (or simmering) pot of something, and then you spear something else with a stick and dip it into the pot, and eat it. I don't think I've ever actually had fondue, unless you count those chocolate fountains they always have at buffets. Anyway, Padma also says that if they want to see the guest judges, they should look around. Everyone hilariously starts peering around the kitchen, like the judges are hiding in the walk-in or something. Fabio gazes at the ceiling, like someone is going to hang glide on in. Finally, Padma tells them that they are the judges, and they feel dumb. I have a small problem with this; I think it should be blind judging, because otherwise it's kind of a popularity contest. Right? I don't know how they could do it, because they all see one another cooking, and that's probably why they didn't, but it just doesn't seem fair that they get to vote for one another to win. Antonia shares my reservations. At least there's no immunity, but the winner does get a trip to Napa Valley.
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