by Michael J. Lamp

"Three's a Crowd"

Tonight's episode begins with Mike Isabella doing some (more) pissin' and moanin' about Marcel. Antonia is over it.

Isaac Mizrahi is on hand for the Quickfire Challenge, a very cool Quickfire Challenge at that. The chefs will be judged on aesthetics ONLY. The food won't even be tasted. This is yet another brilliantly conceived challenge this season.

Dale gets a bad critique and makes a sassy remark about not caring what fashion designers think of his food. Get a new shtick, Dale, the anger and resentment isn't flattering to your figure.

Dale's ugly color scheme, Trey's rather empty plate and Angelo's serial killer table painting put each fella in the bottom group. On the other hand, Fabio's ultra-appetizing aesthetic and Carla's thoughtful plating are two of Isaac's favorites. Richard wins immunity, though, with a clever and rustic presentation.

For the Elimination Challenge, the chefs are told that they will be cooking in one of NYC's most exclusive restaurants. The restaurant is Rao's, and the challenge is to create a dish inspired by the famous Rao family. The chefs draw knives and are split into three groups of three: antipasti, primi and secondi. As you may have guessed, each team will cook the appetizer, pasta and meat courses, respectively.

The chefs settle in at Rao's and are joined by Lorraine Bracco. She sure does love herself some Top Chef! The antipasti group is Carla (go girl!), Antonia and Tiffany. Carla's stirring up minestrone, Antonia is opening up some mussels and Tiffany is going with a polenta dish. All are well received.

The primi team of Dale, Trey and Mike is up next. Dale's dish is pancetta pasta, Trey is serving a veggie risotto and Mike cooks rigatoni. All the judges seem to really hate the dishes, but none more so than Tony Bourdain. Hey, at least he's consistent.

The secondi group is Richard, Fabio and Angelo. Will the Blais/Fabio bromance survive? Fabio cooks chicken with polenta, Richard serves pancetta and broccollini and Angelo focuses on pork with his dish. The plates seem to please the judging panel, but no one is really raving.

Padma visits the chefs in the stew room, and the ambience back there is tenser with each passing week. The antipasti group - plus Fabio from the secondi team - make up the top four this week, with Antonia's beloved mussels taking home the big win. The Italian girl beats the Italian boy(s). I like it.

The primi group is the bottom three, courtesy of Mike's supremely al dente (a.k.a. undercooked) rigatoni, Dale's pitiful pancetta pasta (bonus points for alliteration!) and Trey's ill-conceived risotto. Trey ends up going home, but he does so in what is the classiest exit of the season - by far.

Top Chef: All-Stars airs Wednesdays at 10/9c on Bravo.

(Image courtesy of Bravo)

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