Eggs-cellent

Top Chef 4, Episode 11: Restaurant Wars
Recaplet Part 1 - Quickfire

Okay, if you all remember, last week we lost Andrew when he committed the crime of forgetting a whole grain in his healthy lunch to the Chicago police officers. We're down to six...who will find themselves in the garbage disposal this time?

Sunrise. Remember last year, when Padma woke the cheftestants with her "I want breakfast!" demand? Well, this year it's Chef Tom Colicchio's turn to, er, rouse the sleeping chefs. Let's just say he's not as fun in the bedroom as Padma was. He seems about as happy as the chefs are to be up at the break of dawn.

Tom tells the group they're heading to Lou Mitchell's, one of Chicago's most famous breakfast joints, and they'll be working the egg station as this week's Quickfire. Helene, the restaurant's owner, will judge the performance of each chef, and choose the one she'd be most likely to hire. We see each chef take a turn at the station, under Helene's watchful eye. The orders start flying, and some chefs seem more able to handle the heat. Lisa's not one - she burns a Styrofoam take-out container. Stephanie also has difficulties, finding a giant white cloud of leftover egg white in the pot she used to poach eggs. Helene gives her the evil eye.

In the end, Antonia (who was first out) and Dale (who managed to juggle four waiters' orders at once). Helene said it was a tough call, but she chooses to hire Antonia. Tom reminds Antonia there is no more immunity, but that she will be given an advantage at the next Elimination round. Then he tells the chefs he won't be around for that, because he'll be at a charity event, and I have to wonder how this episode would have turned out if Tom was in charge. But I digress. Tom hands Antonia a piece of paper with the address of a site where they'll all meet with Padma, who will fill them in on the Elimination Challenge. Richard notes this whole thing is a little James Bond, and word! I did have the feeling the note may self-destruct in twenty seconds....

But of course it doesn't. Instead, it leads the chefs to a mysterious building. Inside there's a huge open space with brick walls, hardwood floors and, of course, Padma. She tells the chefs now that they've had some experience working at someone else's restaurant, it's time to open their own. Forget what they said a couple of episodes back....Restaurant Wars are indeed back. The details - each team will have one end of the room, a $1500 food budget and a $5000 decorating budget (which seems a bit lopsided - I mean, why do they decorate on a shoestring on Trading Spaces, yet get so much to decorate when it's a food competition?). As the Quickfire winner, Antonia chooses the teams.....which you'll hear all about in the second part of this recap.

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