MONDO EXTRAS

The judges nosh, while the cheftestants surge back to the kitchen to get started on their second courses. Colicchio, sitting at the head of the table, is totally Scrooge-faced while all the other judges toast with smiles and wish each other fake holiday greetings. Van Aken thinks Sandee's soup is "wha-tery!" He's all Martha Stewart with his aspirating. They all like the monkfish, but Portale makes fun of Betty's duck baklava by observing, "I think the thought is, if you wrap it in phyllo, it's baklava." Totally. Portale also takes exception to Stephen's gnocchi, saying it's poorly executed and way too heavy to be an appetizer. No one likes the gnocchi, and Ted Allen makes a big show of dropping a single gnocchi on a plate. It falls like a stone and makes a bang substantial enough to convince me that the Foley guys earned their paychecks.