by Michael J. Lamp

"Three's a Crowd"

Tonight's episode begins with the chefs remembering Tiffany and Richard remembering how many challenges he's won. Oh, Richard.

Wolfgang Puck is with Padma for the Quickfire Challenge. The chefs are assigning past Top Chef Quickfires to one other. Mike gives Antonia the canned goods, Antonia gives Richard hot dogs to cook with and Blais assigns Mike the one-pot wonder challenge.

Padma soon introduces three classic curveballs. Once again, the chefs will assign these to each other. Richard removes Mike's utensils and hand tools, while Antonia tells Richard to cook with one hand and selects Carla as her Siamese twin partner. Hello, Carla!

The newly formed partnership of Antonia/Carla goes on to provide some of the best banter of the season.

Carla: "Maybe some lime zest."
Antonia: "I can't use that..."
Carla: "Oh, because it's fresh."

Wolfang names Isabella's one-pot dish the victor, making this his third win in a row. I think the hair on Richard's head is standing up a little straighter now.

For the Elimination Challenge, the chefs will cook for culinary icons. Isabella gets to pair each cheftestant with a famed chef. He throws Antonia under the bus and gives her Morimoto, while he takes Michele Bernstein for himself and tosses Wolfgang Puck Richard's way. Padma reveals a card with a twist but says the twist will be explained later. Oh man.

Wolfang Puck wants goulash with spaetzle and an apple strudel. Michele Bernstein orders fried chicken with biscuits & gravy and Morimoto would like a bento box of miso soup, pickled daikon and sashimi. Poor Antonia.

After dinner, the chefs are thrown into an immediate Judges' Table situation. Michele tells Mike that his chicken wasn't juicy enough and the skin was falling off. Otherwise, she loved it. Wolfgang loved his dish but thought the spaetzel was too tough. Morimoto thought Antonia's dish was overly salted.

Tom quickly tells Richard that he's into the finale. Then, Padma reminds Mike and Antonia about the card with the twist. The chefs have 45 minutes to create one bite for each guest.

Antonia goes for seared grouper in coconut lobster broth while Mike opts for a surf and turf with beef tenderloin and lobster tail. The judges are totally split on who to send to the finale. Wolfgang Puck breaks the tie.

In heartbreaking fashion, Antonia is sent home just shy of the final episode. I'm a dude, but even I am sick of the all-dude finales on this show. Come on, Tom. Show some love to the ladies.

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

(Image courtesy of Bravo)

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