The cheftestants leave, and the judges tuck in. Bourdain is pretty impressed with Lia's plate, and Gail likes Sandee's playful dish. Colicchio comments that CJ made one dish out of both ingredients instead of two separate, mostly independent preparations. He really likes it. Bourdain likes the sea urchin risotto and notes, "I guess he had frog leg problems?" Colicchio doesn't understand this because during his Sniff 'n' Sneer, Howie maintained that he had everything under control. "He had plenty of time," Colicchio adds. Gail has decided that Clay's dish is her least favorite of all. Colicchio thinks it's inedible. The boar chops are tough and the seasoning is off. "The chops look dead on arrival," Bourdain comments. Oh, now I know that's not the best you can do, Tony. "It's kinda got a home cooking kind of a thing, but a home I wouldn't want to live in," he adds. There it is. I can just picture Bourdain writing out these bon mots before he shows up for the taping. He knows that chances are, out of fifteen cheftestants, at least one of them will prepare a "home cooking kind of thing" that he can rip on. For all we know, he's got another line ready and waiting for comfort food. "I know it's supposed to be comfort food, but I'm feeling UNcomfortable putting it in my mouth."

The second group starts their food flurry, and Hung makes love to the camera by dramatically popping a piece of something into his mouth. Is it the black chicken breast? Tre hangs over Sara M.'s shoulder and says he's never seen a geoduck before. Dale, with his monkfish liver and alligator, says his personal challenge is creating a dish around two things he's never tasted before. Well, with one, it's pretty safe to trot out the old, "Tastes like chicken," but I'm not sure what can be divined about the monkfish liver. Loser music doo-bee-doobs while Brian plays around with his rattlesnake and eel and says he doesn't know how to butcher them. Because it tends to be dry, Sara M. tackled her black chicken by brining the breasts and braising the legs and thighs. Camille, who owns a restaurant in Brooklyn, tells us she excels at "simple food done right." She's never cooked the kangaroo and abalone she's prepping now, but she's feeling confident with her simple, clean approach.