- For the quickfire, the chefs must make a pie from scratch. For the elimination, the chefs prepare a classic picnic feast for Capitol Hill interns at Mount Vernon, the home of the first U.S. president, George Washington. While the chefs grill up some tasty dishes, the interns spread out their blankets and play croquet on the lawn.—Bravo Publicity
- Amanda says some of the chefs think she should have gone home for, you know, cooking chicken in booze for kids.
Kenny copes with coming in second to Angelo constantly.
Angelo is peeved that Kenny didn't back up his team before the judges. He plans to isolate himself from everyone, which he pretty much already seems to be doing with his super superior attitude.
Arnold thinks throwing-under-the-bus-time has begun.
Off to the kitchen.
Padma greets them with Johnny Iuzzini, the pastry chef at Jean Georges, and Gail Simmons, our Food & Wine mistresses, and promos their upcoming "Top Chef: Just Desserts" show.
Quickfire Challenge Johnny talks about organization and measurements, then Padma tells them they'll be making a pie. Stephen reminds us two people have already been sent home for desserts. The winner gets immunity.
They have two hours.
Arnold is instantly annoyed with "two-faced" Kelly.
Angelo says he's never cooked a pie in his life. He plans on a curried yam pie.
Tim keeps it simple and goes for apple. Lynne thinks her instructing background will help her since she doesn't need a recipe. Amanda goes for apple, rosemary and bourbon pie. And her reputation as the Boozy Chef grows. She's just trying not to lose, she says.
Alex makes an almond crust and decides to make tapioca filling. Kenny thinks Alex's crust is hilariously thick. "Alex's thought process is under-developed, he has no technique, he's a slob," Ed says.
Ed is making a banana cream pie, then decides to add celery.
Angelo saves Tracey's pie from charring. It looks terrible, she put way too much butter in. She starts over.
Kenny is making a cobbler-style banana's foster pie.
Stephen makes curry-apple-whiskey-date, which he thinks tastes good.
Tracey comes up with a blueberry almond crumble.
Amanda tells the judges that given that she's not a pastry chef, she thinks she didn't mess it up too terribly. "I think it's kind of a cop out to say you're not a pastry chef, I mean, my grandma's not a pastry chef, she can make a pie," Johnny says.
Kelly made a spiced raspberry and dark chocolate ganache tart and Johnny likes her ganache.
Arnold made a kalamansi and key lime pie parfait with Korean soju.
Johnny asks Tracey if she used anything to sop up the liquid in her pie. She didn't.
Tiffany make peach cobbler with cornmeal crust.
Lynne made a mango pie with a basil crust. Gail asks if she's made the crust before.
Ed serves celery spuma with his pie. You'll have to Google that.
Alex made white chocolate, tapioca and chevre pie in his almond crust. Johnny says the egg in it makes it more like a quiche.
Verdict time. Least favorites: Alex, Tracey and Ed. Johnny didn't like his "extra things" in his cream pie.
Tiffany thought Ed's looked awesome.
Favorites: Kelly, Stephen
The winner is Kenny. (Angelo makes a face.)
Elimination Challenge They're preparing a cookout for the Capitol Hill interns with one main dish and two sides. They're serving at Mt. Vernon.
They each get their own grill on site. "I'm not a grill guy, it'll clog the pores way too fast," Arnold says.
They get $400 to shop.
Kevin says his wife's family is from Puerto Rico and he'll use that as an influence. Tracey plans to make her own sausage.
Amanda tells us she had a cocaine and pill problem in her 20s. It's a bit of a confessional nonsequitor. Apparently the editors thought it was time to get that in.
Back at the kitchen, Arnold makes lamb meatballs.
Kenny thinks of his dad as he preps.
Tracey narrates her meat cutting, driving Stephen nuts. She realizes she's not going to have time to stuff her sausage so she decides on patties.
Tim is doing ribs and pork loin. He sees that Amanda is also doing ribs.
Angelo is planning an Asian style picnic.
Amanda yells at Alex for taking her oven and he can't believe she took his food out of his oven. Tom walks in during the shouting. He asks her about it and seems a little surprised she moved Alex's food.
Ed tells Tom about his Moroccan-influenced tuna and other food. He thinks Ed has a lot of stuff going on.
Tom thinks Arnold is having issues with time.
Stephen is feeling really good, unless his fish dries out or the bacon isn't crispy.
Tiffany takes note of Amanda screaming and running a lot.
Back at the town house, they ask Amanda about her plans. She doesn't think people take her seriously.
At Mt. Vernon, they arrive to find bags of charcoal and grills. Arnold watches Kenny to see how to light his. Tracey asks how to turn it down.
Kenny thinks Angelo's Asian food is a bad picnic idea.
The diners arrive.
Tim has a lot of faith in his rib rub.
The eating begins.
The judges arrive, along with Jonathan Waxman, the Obi-wan of Top Chef Masters.
Arnold presents his lamb kebab and tabouleh. Tamesha made skirt steak with fennel citrus salad. Angelo made a Vietnamese style lettuce wrap and smoked egg salad. Alex grilled pork butt with lemongrass glaze and polenta.
"I want to eat the a-- out of this pig all day," Alex says.
The judges are impressed by Arnold but think Tamesha's is overcooked. Jonathan doesn't love Alex's sauce.
Tim made pork dry and wet. As he's telling the judges about his food a goose does a fly-by and poops on his table - but not the food. Amanda made dry rub baby back ribs with grilled asparagus. Kelly made a bison burger with cheddar. Kevin made grilled flank steak and rice and beans.
Tom thinks Tim's pork is good but his sides are bad and the burger is bland. Gail likes Amanda's ribs better. They think Kevin's rice and beans are bad.
Lynne made leg of lamb, Kenny made harissa marinated pork loin with quinoa, Tracey serves her Italian sausage sliders.
Gail likes Kenny's harissa. Padma and Jonathan think Lynne's cheese is overkill. There's too much fennel in Tracey's burger and it's undercooked.
Tiffany made sockeye salmon with Israeli couscous. Andrea made spicy root beer glazed skirt steak. Stephen made bacon-wrapped bass. Ed made spiced tuna loin with lentil hummus.
Jonathan thinks Ed's dish is picnic friendly and Tom thinks it has a lot of flavor. Andrea's root beer is too sweet. Gail really doesn't like Stephen's sea bass.
Angelo thinks Amanda's ribs are better than his food and tells other people to try it.
In the stew room, Tracey says she's clairvoyant. She claims to be 85 percent on the money and reads people.
Everybody compares stories and awaits their fate. Stephen doesn't think the fish dried out because of the bacon.
Padma comes for Arnold, Ed, Amanda and Angelo.
She tells them they had the winning dishes.
Jonathan compliments Ed's bold choice. Tom says Arnold's was flavorful. Jonathan liked Amanda's rib rub. Tom tells Angelo he enjoyed his.
The winner is: Arnold. "It's nice to be recognized for being who you are," he tells us.
Amanda feels good about being in the top and thinks she proved she could cook.
The judges want to see Tim, Stephen, Tracey and Kevin.
On the chopping block...
Stephen admits he'd never done the dish for a picnic. Tom tells him what he did wrong cooking and tells him the couscous was way too greasy. Gail tells Tim his veggies were uneven. Tom tells him his food was under-seasoned. Padma tells Kevin his food was the safest Puerto Rican food he's ever had. Gail tells him to step it up. Tracey says she's not surprised to be there. She says she should have crushed the fennel seed.
Jonathan says part of being a top chef is when things go wrong you have to figure out how to fix it.
They're dismissed (they don't show any of the chef's defending themselves).
Tom thinks Stephen made a bad choice. Jonathan thinks the fish was inedible. He senses a lack of confidence.
Jonathan thinks his 10 year old son could have made Tracey's patty.
They agree Kevin's meat was grilled nicely.
They bring the chefs back out.
Tom recaps their sins.
The knife packer is: Tracey.
She thanks them for the opportunity. "They're pretty harsh, but it's fair," she says. "I deserve to go home, I'm OK with that. It was the experience of a lifetime for sure... I think if I'd better prepared myself emotionally for it, I'd still be here. I don't think I left because I'm a bad chef, I think I left because I had a bad day. And I'm going to be OK."
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