by Michael J. Lamp

"Fast Food Fury"

For tonight's Quickfire Challenge, the chefs must create an appetizer that costs less than one dollar. Yes, an American dollar. They ‘purchase' items from what looks like a makeshift market in the Top Chef kitchen.

Brendan and Rico from NPR's Dinner Party Download are guest judging this Quickfire. George's grilled calamari was too bland and Mary Sue's BLT salad was over salted, landing them on the bottom for this challenge.

On the other hand, Brendan and Rico loved the texture of Alex's spiced squid, the rich flavors in Celina's carrot soup and everything about Naomi's bread and asparagus salad. Naomi wins (again). She adds $5,000 to her growing donation for Seed Savers Exchange and secures immunity for herself.

Before the Elimination Challenge is fully revealed, it's road trip time for the chefs. All they know is that they'll be cooking for up to 100 people that won't have access to utensils. They also have to make both a main dish and a side.

The chefs pull into Farmer Boys restaurant, where everything is ‘fresh and made to order.' The chefs are working the lunch rush (including drive-thru) and serving their own version of fast-casual fare.

The chefs are working in groups of four. While one group cooks, the other is expediting and managing both the drive-thru window and ‘to stay' orders. George is firing the dishes during the first shit and getting a little mixed up in the process. Alex is working nearby and getting heavily annoyed.

Danyelle and Curtis come through the drive-thru first, while Alan and James dine in the restaurant. Curtis and Danyelle wait quite a while, but their flirting seems to be keeping them busy.

During shift number two, Hugh starts acting like a pain in the ass at the register. Celina is also having a tough time expediting, while George seems irritated by the challenge altogether. I'm sure he won't be any happier when he sees that James called his dish ‘ugly.'

Curtis calls Alex, George and Celina to Critic's Table first. He drops the bombshell that their dishes were the judges' least favorites. Celina's wrap wasn't really a wrap. It was, at best, a deconstructed wrap and, at worst, a pancake-looking item.

George did skewed pork with chorizo, along with clam inside a cucumber as his side. Danyelle points out that it was too difficult to eat. Curtis thinks George snubbed his nose to fast food. Alex's salmon fish taco was supposed to be breaded, but time caught up with him. It was also a tad too sweet.

Mary Sue, Traci and Floyd are called to Critic's Table next. Their dishes were the best this week. Floyd's chicken wrap was not only delicious, but also an actual wrap. Traci's chicken burrito was perfectly mobile and equally yummy. Mary Sue's Border Grill restaurant has its own food truck, which clearly helped her this week. Her quinoa fritters were a huge hit and helped her claim the win, along with another $10,000 for Share our Strength.

George is sent home, but he doesn't appear too heart-broken to be leaving. The thing about Masters vs. other editions of Top Chef is that these guys and gals are so established that they rarely appear that bummed to be leaving. In most cases, they are going back to manage busy restaurants.

I'll talk to George later today and get his take on all things Top Chef: Masters.

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

(Image courtesy of Bravo)

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