WARNING: There are spoilers in the entire post

I’m enjoying Top Chef more and more each week. As the field is whittled down, I am able to get a better feel for each chef’s style and personality. At the beginning, there were so many different chefs that I was unfamiliar with, each episode seemed like a whirlwind. Now, I’m starting to appreciate what each chef brings to the table. With that said, I thoroughly enjoyed this episode mostly because everyone lived up to their roles. The episode started with a great quote by Dale, who’s feeling a little out of place among some of the talented chefs.

“I’m still the fat short gay kid that was teased in junior high.”

I have no idea how true it is, but it cracked me up when he said it. The quick fire was yet another sponsored competition, this time by Cold Stone Creamery. The idea is for the chefs to make their own “mixins” for the ice cream. The most successful dishes were those that didn’t kept it simple and used flavors that go well with ice cream. Hung, true to form, decides that only monkeys add berries to ice cream, so instead he goes with tempura flakes and cauliflower foam. Also true to form, he blamed this on people being too simple and not understanding his concept. Casey took a chance with by mixing sriracha into the ice cream, which predictably failed. The winner was Dale, who made a peach cobbler topping, and Howie came in second with scorched cherries.

To make things interesting, Padma tells everyone that they don’t have to worry about an elimination challenge right away, and instead can take the night off and enjoy the Miami nightlife. Everyone gets dressed up and heads down to a popular club, only to be met by Padma and the dreaded knife block. It turns out only one person gets to enjoy Miami tonight, and that’s Dale. He gets to have a 4 course meal with guest judge Govind Armstrong while everyone else has to make food for drunk people. Most of the contestants handle it in stride, although Casey and Sara did seem more annoyed than others. The chefs were broken up into two teams: black and orange. The black team was made up of Sara M., Brian, Tre, and Hung. The orange consisted of CJ, Sara, Howie, and Casey.

I thought the menu of the orange team would appeal more to hungry drunk people, but didn’t think they could overcome the chemistry issues. The black team was well organized and worked exceedingly well together. Seeing that team’s chemistry made it clear that they would end up on top. I think the biggest problem for the orange team came from Howie, who insists on doing everything his way, but never wanting to lead and communicate his ideas to the rest of the team. He seems incapable of working in a team setting. I felt bad for CJ. I think if you swapped him for Sara M. on the black team, that would be my Season 3 dream team. CJ is a private chef out of LA, and always seems to get along with others. He’s a great glue guy that tries to make the team better. I don’t think he’ll win the whole thing, but I expect him to be among the final 4 and ultimately be on the final winning team. Watching the teams work together, I thought there was no way the black team could lose. They had a ton of energy, and made the party continue after people left the club. The orange team on the other hand was having trouble getting food out, which is never a good sign.

At judges’ table, I was very interested to hear how Brian described the team’s strategy. They looked at the work space, then divided the tasks, then made the menu. This way, it was never too crowded in the mobile kitchen, and everyone had clearly defined roles. Brian was the front of the house guy, and brought a ton of energy. Even though a raw bar doesn’t sound like drunk food, I think it was a good idea because it kept the kitchen from getting overcrowded. Tre was the saute guy, Hung on the grill, and Sara M. doing her thing (or at least that’s how they described it). The orange team didn’t seem to have the same strategy, and suffered from their lack of communication. Tre was the overall winner for his bacon-wrapped shrimp served over cheesy grits. It looked fantastic, and the exact thing I’d want to eat after 4 Patrons on the rocks. Sara was the loser, mostly do to her lack of confidence at the judges’ table. I think Howie should have been the one to head home. He’s the one who set the menu, and refused to compromise with anyone. His inability to work with a team will ultimately be the reason he’s forced to leave, but I hope someone else isn’t force to go because of his stubbornness. One thing I’ve been meaning to do is start a Top Chef Power Rankings, based on who I think is most likely to win. So, this is the debut of my Top Chef Power Rankings.

1. Tre – Three elimination wins, and seems like he’s the most well rounded chef that gets along with everyone else.
2. Brian – Always does well with seafood, but I’m worried he may be too one dimensional to win the whole thing.
3. CJ – Very likeable, and is starting to come on strong. I’d be nice to see him have success in an individual challenge though.
4. Hung – Starting to slide. I think he has the most potential, but he makes the same mistake every time, which is assuming he’s better than everyone else.
5. Casey – She’d be higher if she could be more consistent
6. Dale – Dale could be fourth, easily, I’m just not familiar enough with him.
7. Howie – His inability to work in a team will eventually do him in.
8. Sara M. – I haven’t seen enough from her to put her higher.

Next week’s episode is a teaser for Restaurant Wars, always a favorite. And as always, I highly recommend reading the Bravo blogs for more Top Chef goodness.