by Gina Scarpa

Only 15 chef coats are available for Top Chef: Seattle this season but we have 21 of the country's best chefs ready to face judges Tom Colicchio, Hugh Acheson, Emeril Lagasse, and Wolfgang Puck. What to do, what to do... ooh! How about a series of tests?

At Tom's L.A. restaurant, Craft, he asks Lizzie, Micah, Anthony, John, and Jorel to work a regular service with his crew. As they prep the food, it was very cool to watch Tom not only step in and teach, but demonstrate how things should be done as well. John's skills and prior reputation impress Tom enough to earn the first Top Chef coat. More on this group later...

In Vegas, Emeril meets up with Josh, Stephanie, Jeffrey, Tina, and Kristen at Table 10 and gives them a challenge: make him a good bowl a soup. He says it's how he judges a good restaurant so that's the dish he wants to taste in order to decide who's moving on. Jeffrey's watermelon gazpacho earns him the first coat in this group, then Emeril decides that Stephanie and Tina's time is the competition is done. Stephanie's good friend Kristen moves on, along with Joshua.

New judge Wolfgang Puck tells Carla, Eliza, Tyler, Chrissy, Daniel, and Kuniko about his first test as a chef at Cut in Beverly Hills. He had to make an omelette for a restaurant owner in order to prove himself and now he's asking this group to do the very same thing. After a taste test, Wolfgang moves everyone forward with the exception of Daniel, because his dish presentation wasn't up to par. In Top Chef, every detail counts!

We move on to notoriously tough judge Hugh Acheson in Atlanta. He hosts Sheldon, Bart, Gina, Danyele, Elizabeth, and Brooke at his restaurant Empire State South and gives them a test that he's given his own chefs. He wants a beautiful salad in 45 minutes. That's it. Brooke earns rave reviews for her fried kale and grabs the first coat in the bunch. He moves Sheldon, Danyele, and Bart forward but felt Gina fell short of the mark.

Back to Craft to get the final word from Tom, following dinner service, and he's not sold on everyone.  He moves Lizzie and Micah forward, but cuts both Jorel and Anthony for their sloppy knifework.  Now, it's time to head to Seattle to find out if these chefs REALLY has what it takes to win over the panel, Padma, Gail, and a host of celebrity guests!

Top Chef: Seattle airs Wednesdays at 10/9c on Bravo.

(Image courtesy of Bravo)

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