Top Chef - S9E4 Power Rankings

Because I have a bad habit of getting hung up on these types of things, let me just get this out of the way. In my world, chile -- as in the spicy pepper -- is spelled with an e, though I probably couldn't support that as the only "correct" spelling. Chili -- the meaty stew that may or may not contain beans depending on your dogma but definitely includes chiles -- is spelled with an i, and I'm pretty sure reference will back me up on that one. And most importantly, there is no tilde in habanero, which is non-negotiable until somebody presents me with somebody born and raised in Mexico who pronounces it with a "nyuh."

That bit of pedantry aside, we can get on with what I thought was an episode that demonstrated not every show has to be a big Restaurant Wars blockbuster to be great. I love the episodes that are just kind of quietly but smartly conceived and executed, and this was among them. We got two good challenges, both for different reasons, a little local flavor, and a twist that was interesting and non-gratuitous.

I love the concept of this quickfire. It works in some of that reality show whiz-bang (Ghost Chile, $20,000!!!) while still being about the food. And as somebody who is consistently annoyed with the whole hotter=better mentality, I wasn't even bothered by the prize structure. Of course, scovilles and degree of difficulty don't line up so neatly, but there's a certain amount of wisdom in the idea that you have to carefully tame a hotter pepper to ensure it doesn't blow out the dish. And it's always so awesome to see the Too Hot Tamales. I see nothing not to like about that challenge.

And moving on to the elimination, we get a little local flavor, both in terms of atmosphere and food, and it's in a small team format that lets us focus on the contestants a bit, and that lets them focus on getting to know each other a little during an all-night cook-off. Some have pointed out that the rodeo in question seems more like a corporate event space than the genuine article, but I think it's important to keep the difficulties of mounting an actual television production in mind. A smaller, more private location makes perfect sense for a shoot like this. It's easier to manage, easier to cover, easier to control the crowd, and easier to keep spoilers from getting out. Really, my only complaint here was the manner in which the winning chili was named. I don't have a dog in the no beans/beans debate. I like to think there's room for both. But while I'm happy throwing a final determination to the crowd every now and again, particularly for a small group challenge, I'm less keen on the fact that it was thrown to a crowd that is, demographically speaking, so heavily skewed to one side of that fence. I couldn't say for sure without polling the diners, of course, but I suspect any team that used beans immediately surrendered their chance at the win. Texans, generally speaking, don't like beans in their chili. And while I think that's a charming regional quirk (lord knows I have mine), I'm not sure it makes them the best choice of arbiters in a chili cook-off that will involve some chili with beans and some without. I hope it's clear that I'm not suggesting the rodeo crowd wasn't capable of appreciating something a little more creative or less Texas-styled. I'm just saying that I'm not sure a chili with beans is going to get a fair shake in a roomful of Texans any more than a hot dog with ketchup is going to get a fair shake in a roomful of Chicagoans. Though that's partly because ketchup on hot dogs is wrong and evil and evilwrong.

Still, if that's my biggest annoyance with the episode, I figure it's a pretty darn good one. And I even dug the twist at the end. Yeah, it's a little brutal to have the three on the losing team thrown back into the fire one more time. But it beats a squishy JT postmortem where we try to determine who precisely was most at fault for this being the least of the chilis. Valuable for us to know? Sure, and sometimes necessary within the context of the show. But if you can throw the bottom group back in the kitchen, task them with fixing what they messed up, and let a quick bit of solo work determine which one of them goes home, not only do I see nothing wrong with that, but I love that when it comes down to the wire, their fate is entirely in their hands an nobody else's.

On with the rankings!

The power rankings are not purely a prediction of who is most likely to win, or an assessment of last episode's dishes, or a reflection of the contestants' historical performance, but rather a nebulous amalgam of all three, combined with a little bit of gut feeling, to provide a relative measure of current awesomeness.

Wins

Top

Bottom

1 Paul Quickfires 1 1 1 Last Week: 2 Eliminations 0 1 0 Since we aren't getting individual elimination winners, I'm weighing quickfire winners a little more heavily than normal. But even so, anybody think Paul didn't deserve this for winning the QF with a ghost chile and having a hand in what sounded like the second-favorite chili of the night? The more I see this guy's recipes, the sadder I am that we didn't manage to get to Austin while in Texas this summer. That QF dish looks like a delightful little number, particularly when you consider the weather they were experiencing. He did a simple chilled soup of coconut milk, sugar, lime juice and zest and kaffir lime leaves. He grilled some corn, apricots and ghost chile, sweated some onion and treated it with garam masala, then mixed all of the above to make a relish. Relish in the bowl, chilled coconut soup all around, topped with cilantro, basil, toasted almonds, olive oil and Maldon salt. What about that doesn't sound awesome?

2 Heather Quickfires 0 1 0 Last Week: 3 Eliminations 0 1 0 Despite having no wins, heather looked strong this week, and gets a little bump. Sadly, there's no recipe for the Date & Pistachio Couscous with Thai Chiles, but it looked like a plucky little dish, helped to quell some of my concerns about her range, and Susan said some awfully nice things about it. Then, not only was she on the second-place chili team along with Paul (I identify them as second place because they were the only one other than the winner not cut into the "who had the losing chili" discussion), but her pickled peaches (again, no recipe, sadly) were not only unconventional and creative, but they made a total convert of Gail. I know, second place, no wins... but there aren't a whole lot of wins to go around right now. She's a pro, she's been around, she was already near the top, and she looked strong this episode. I feel good about putting her here based on what we've seen so far.

3 Chris J. Quickfires 0 0 0 Last Week: 1 Eliminations 0 1 0 Don't consider it a demotion. Though I still have high hopes for him long-term, he was just keeping the top spot warm last week. I liked his choice of the Manzano chile, mostly because I'm so unfamiliar with it. I was a little less enthused by his dish. He seared off some chicken along with celery and Manzano chile, then made a bleu cheese puree with more Manzano and apple cider vinegar. Buffalo wings. Great, except that reimagined buffalo wings are waaaaaaaay overplayed. Which is fine if they rocked. But apparently they didn't rock enough. Still, Chris hangs near the top on a quiet week.

4 Sarah Quickfires 0 1 0 Last Week: 7 Eliminations 1 1 1 Should I let her bounce back this much? I'm not sure. But since this is the early running when we're kind of reaching for indicators, I'm willing to go with the impression that she was driving that team to victory. I actually made the winning chili this weekend. Simmer it way longer than an hour, and don't accidentally use twice as much cumin as it calls for (oops), and it's a pretty good recipe. Not a contest winner, IMHO, but I suspect details are frequently lost in translation from show to site, and those details are particularly important when you're talking about a very minimal, traditional Texas-style chili. Tom indicates in his blog that this would have been the winner even if that task hadn't fallen to the crowd. Plus, she may have a Texas trick or two up her sleeve yet. But I'm still counting her among the Chicago crowd (we're talking culinary scene, not heritage!).

5 Chuy Quickfires 0 0 1 Last Week: 4 Eliminations 1 2 0 I'd like to ding him more for an embarrassing quickfire lapse, but I don't really have somebody handy to leapfrog him here. Plus, he had to go and end up on the winning chili team, and while I'm guessing Sarah was driving, that's not for nothing, particularly when you're talking about a chef who's familiar with chiles and smoke. No recipe on his habanero scallops (note how the resident Mexican pronounces it... I'm done, really!), so no error analysis there. I'll let him hang onto five, but Chuy's on notice... no more embarrassing slipups like that.

6 Dakota Quickfires 1 1 0 Last Week: 6 Eliminations 0 0 0 Dakota's quickfire dish was an oyster shooter with fire-roasted habanero mignonette. Sounds good enough, but there's no recipe and it didn't get any airtime. Then she got aced out of brisket at the meat counter and the resulting stringiness had her team in consideration for the bottom, though I'm not going to fault her for getting bruised in that scrum. Incidentally, Dakota got her start in Southwestern cuisine? Total research fail on my part. Anyway, I don't really have much to go on with Dakota this week, so she'll just hang tight at number six.

7 Beverly Quickfires 0 1 1 Last Week: 5 Eliminations 0 1 1 What the heck do I do with Beverly? Though she's been dinged for it in many corners, let me stand up for the choice to serve her Anaheim chiles raw. Why the heck not? This isn't Sam Talbot in the S2 semifinals. It's an episode 4 quickfire. Why not try to highlight the raw qualities of a fresh chile? Whether or not the particular dish worked is another question, but I actually liked that she had the courage to go raw. Sadly, that combined with the chili fail would have earned her a big drop if not for pulling a rabbit out of her hat in the elimination cook-off. She was at least as drained as everybody else, and the fact that she managed to impress the judges as much as she did under that kind of pressure speaks volumes, I think. Even at that point, she didn't survive, she thrived. Great save. Incidentally, her third straight Korean dish provides an opportunity to raise a point. It's been suggested in the comments that she might do great with the judges until they experience Korean fatigue. But which foods we perceive as "ethnic" and how we value them is a hot topic these days, and this, I think, is a great example. Would we ever consider dinging a French chef for consistently putting out creative French dishes, or an Italian chef for consistently putting out creative Italian dishes? Korean is no more narrow within the context of Asia than Italy is within the context of Europe, so why must our Asian specialists cover the entire continent to be considered broad enough to flourish? I'm not suggesting that this assessment of the judging is wrong. It may very well work out that way. But whether or not it should is, I think, a legitimate and good question to consider.

8 Edward Quickfires 0 0 0 Last Week: 7 Eliminations 0 1 0 Another quiet week for Edward, so he'll tread water as well, but at least we got a recipe out of him. His quickfire dish was a Fried Bacon, Crystallized Ginger and Habañero Compote with Habañero Michelada [sic]. He first deep fried strips of bacon, melted bleu cheese over the top, and paired them with a compote made from candied ginger and habanero. Then he made a michelada (seasoned beer, essentially) with tomato, Worcestershire, vinegar and habanero. Says fun bar food to me.

9 Chris C. Quickfires 0 0 0 Last Week: 11 Eliminations 1 1 0 Chris C. is another fellow we didn't see much from this week, but he was on the winning chili team and that's not for nothing. Note that he did a coconut soup with Thai chiles for the quickfire. Does this indicate a good dish might simply have been outclassed by Paul's, or does that very fact demonstrate that he isn't operating on the level necessary to win? Or am I really, really reaching for things to analyze? Probably the latter, particularly given the lack of a recipe. But hey, it's only the second Power Rankings. I'm allowed to do that, right? We'll give him a little bump for the chili win.

10 Whitney Quickfires 0 0 0 Last Week: 9 Eliminations 0 0 0 I stress again, Whitney Otawka is, in fact, participating in this competition. She may have actually said a line on camera this week! Still, there's not much to go on except for her quickfire recipe, Beef Tenderloin with Napa Cabbage and Thai Chili Slaw. She marinated beef tenderloin with soy, garlic, scallion and chiles and seared it. She paired it with shredded napa dressed with a little rice vinegar and soy, and added a superquick cucumber pickle. All of which is almost exactly what I've thrown together on countless weeknights when I didn't have a better plan. Except that I wouldn't use tenderloin. And mine's tasty, but there's a reason I'm not competing on Top Chef. None of this inspires confidence. But we're still seeing almost nothing of her, so again, we'll give her the benefit of the doubt and let her tread water a bit longer.

11 Lindsay Quickfires 0 0 0 Last Week: 12 Eliminations 0 0 1 After last week's debacle, Lindsay pulls a disappearing act, which probably isn't a bad thing. Her quickfire dish was an herb salad with charred sugar snap peas and a blackened habanero vinaigrette. I support salads when done well, but it appears "You don't win friends with salad" holds true for the day, at least. Then she was on the team whose chili Susan Feniger described as lacking spice and "flat," which I'm sure has Michelle Bernstein thrilled. But I'm going to punt on Lindsay for now and see what happens next week.

12 Grayson Quickfires 0 1 0 Last Week: 15 Eliminations 0 1 1 A shout out from Mary Sue Milliken pulls Grayson out of the basement! She was also on one of the meh chili teams, but I do kind of like that quickfire dish. Doing a habanero popper is kind of ballsy, not necessarily from a heat standpoint -- it was first simmered in simple syrup for 15 minutes -- but because it was so exposed. But, you know, that was kind of the strength. Yeah, it was a popper with a creamy dipping sauce. But it was creatively done, and it featured the chile, and it sounds like the Tamales loved it. That's something to build on.

13 Ty-Lör Quickfires 0 0 0 Last Week: 14 Eliminations 0 0 2 I kind of feel about Ty-Lör down here the same way I felt about Chris J. up top last week. He's keeping it warm until further notice. Still, another episode where I don't really have any reason to move him up, other than an elimination and another near-elimination. I do kind of like the look of his quickfire recipe, which we didn't get to see, billed as Prawns in the Shell with Roasted Chili Caramel Sauce, Raw Chili Crudité, Lime Leaves and Fish Sauce. Note that it employs the dreaded savory caramel sauce that Dale Talde made infamous. Well... except not awful, apparently. Again, that's Vietnamese all over, and when done well, it's awesome. Not awesome enough on this day, though. Hopefully we'll get to see something either positive or negative from Ty-Lör this week. I'm not at all comfortable with how little a grasp I have on him.

14 Nyesha Quickfires 0 0 1 Last Week: 10 Eliminations 0 0 1 Let me state that I suspect Nyesha is a much better chef than this, and I had her at 13 (still lower than she should be) until the last moment when I finally decided she'd earned the basement at least for a week. She could be great, but she's looking like somebody who might flame out before she ever gets going. Her baby fennel and rock shrimp salad, with queso fresco, kalamata olives and piles of fresh herbs, looks nice enough even if we didn't get to see a reaction. But I'm heavily troubled by two things. One, the extended JT table video seems to suggest that they felt she was most in the driver's seat with the chili. They may or may not have had the correct impression, and the video may or may not have given me the correct impression of their impression (meta, dude), but it's still troubling. Then, it sounds like she completely phoned in the elimination cook-off, and was only saved because she executed while Richie really botched his on a technical level. No matter how good she is in her kitchen, these all smell like an early elimination unless she turns it around quickly.

15 Richie Quickfires 0 0 2 Last Week: 13 Eliminations 0 1 1 Okay, I realize reactions to that departure are varied, but I found it brutal to watch. Which isn't to say for a moment that it wasn't totally deserved. Still, the fact that he seemed most upset about letting down his restaurant and his comrade-in-arms I find kind of charming. Anybody else notice that was the second consecutive quickfire dish that he killed with too much pineapple? In any case, Richie comes out of this looking a little green, which is fine because he is. I hate to make sweeping generalizations about somebody based on a few episodes of Top Chef, but he seems like somebody who has been given a lot of weapons but hasn't yet developed the wisdom to best utilize them (even if my criticism of the restaurant where he works usually centers around the notion that others who should have developed that wisdom still haven't). Still, what's undeniable is that a lot of interesting, highly creative stuff comes out of Moto, and in that manner, Richie represented his comrades well. And besides... there is another.

WARNING : MINOR EPISODE FIVE SPOILERS AHEAD

Precious little in the online previews this week. John Besh is the guest, and we get a cook-off in a cornfield, followed by what looks to be upscale food in Dallas. That and the storyline of Beverly getting on everybody's nerves for being pushy moves further to the fore. There's your editing storyline for the next few episodes. But the chefs appear to be cooking their own dishes in the elimination, so that might do wonders in developing a little clarity in the Power Rankings. Fingers crossed.

Discuss!

Comments

[Anon Man]

Regarding Grayson, I'm still wrestling in my mind whether habanero poppers were "ballsy" or a failure of imagination. Your case for ballsy is trenchant, but I can't shake that it was a gut reaction that "frying and covering with salt will help cut the fire". But, yes, I would immediately order a bowl of those to eat while watching a game.

[nomnomnom]

I don't think they move to Dallas for at least 5 more episodes. Maybe 7. There are still several shooting locations in San Antonio not yet accounted for.

[nomnomnom]

That's so odd. Tv guide says dallas as well.

[ally]

nom i don't know why TV guide doesn't consult you for the locale information.

speaking of meta, a comment on why there are so few comments here ...
is it because noone can find that little strip at the top of your regular blog?
is it because the competition is so evenly matched (compared to other seasons)?
is it because there are no winners yet?

My guess is that it is mostly the last one, because we, the viewing public, aren't being polarized into investing in winners/losers. I wonder if this will also result in fewer actual viewers. I haven't looked at ratings.

Anyways, I'm still reading so I hope you don't give up on us, Dom!

[garik16]

Out of curiosity Dom, has anyone who has been ignored on an early show ever managed to actually be a relevant player later in the season?

I suspect that's essentially a kiss of death; it spells out that said chef is likely for an early completely forgettable exit. But I haven't exactly got a good sample size for this observation.

[Sharon]

The blogs on Bravo seem to be receiving fewer comments than the previous season also. Maybe "Top Chef" fatigue?

[jh]

@ally:

I recently cut cable, so I've been forced to watch the season on delay. Unlike other blogs and discussions, I can't get away with flagrant accusations on things I know nothing about.

Until I have anything remotely relevant or intelligent to add, I have demoted myself to self-inflicted lurker...

[Kevin]

@ally: Like Sharon said, it could be fatigue. Tom's blog has gotten fewer and fewer comments since episode 1 this season, and TC in general has been trending downwards in ratings since season 5 (haven't looked at this season's ratings yet though).

@garik16: I think the only other possibility is if the contestant were a dark horse (Carla being a notable example in both her seasons). But even Carla got more early-season airtime than Whitney has so far.

[ally]

jh, i also no longer have cable so i watch it on delay as well. maybe everyone killed cable! it's frustrating that bravo is one of the only channels that don't have their shows available somewhere online. (i mean, sanctioned by them). i'd even buy episodes on amazon or itunes but they're not there either. boo!

[ally]

@garik and Kevin: it's like survivor. some people are still there and have had no air time, mostly because they're boring, i guess. maybe both her food and her personality aren't standouts. carla certainly wasn't boring! hootie hoo!

[garik16]

ally, right, but I get the feeling that if a person was going to be a contender late in the season they'd try to construct a narrative around that person.

It doesn't need to be a true narrative, but with the ability to edit people's words it's not hard. Here we don't have anything.

[Genevieve]

I've just been lurking, but reading with great enjoyment and appreciation for Dom's analysis.

I had the same feeling about Whitney, that if she was going to be important later on, they'd at least show something about her at this point.

[hkd]

I don't commment much but I love this site and the Power Rankings. One flaw with the new setup -- the little bar to click over here isn't visible on my iPhone so it took me a little while to figure out how to get here.

I hate that there are no winners (yet?) this season and I hope that changes soon.

I know this is kind of spoiler-ish but I can't resist: I was watching the Next Iron Chef and saw a commercial for their new show "Chef Hunter" and I think I saw a contestant from Top Chef Texas in the commercial. I know folks hop around to shows all the time but it seems very strange that they'd be on two shows in the same season. Did anyone else see it?

[Sharon]

@ally: Top Chef episodes are available on Amazon AND iTunes. I watch it via iTunes and would strongly recommend Amazon instead. iTunes frequently has episode delays.

[mncharm]

I've been enjoying this season as much as any in recent memory -- actually, maybe more so; I think this is the best start to any season I've watched. Have been reading here as per usual, but frankly, I've agreed with the judges thus far and have nothing to rant about. :)

Minor disappointment in not seeing any winners the last two weeks, although I can't say it doesn't make sense for team challenges early in the season.

[Joanna]

@hkd: I saw that also, and I did some online research, and I believe that Chef Hunter was filmed before Top Chef. If you do some googling, you'll probably see why. (I would explain it here, but it's kind of spoilery for Chef Hunter, and I don't know if Dom's no spoiler policy extends to related shows as well!)

You can add me to the list of people annoyed and somewhat turned off by the lack of winners. It makes the show less exciting as a viewer, and I imagine it's frustrating for the chefs too. Winning early challenges can provide a lot of momentum, and that aspect of the competition is just not there this season.

As for Whitney... I'm predicting that after the "invisible" edit she's gotten so far, the editors will only start paying attention to her right before she gets kicked off. They'll need to show us just enough of her personality and back story for us to care that she's leaving, instead of just going, "uh, Whitney who?"

[Libster]

Wasn't Tiffany not relevant for most of the season until the end? Carla is another example although Carla's personality was showcased more earlier on than Whitney.

Whitney is the one who worked under Hugh I believe. So I'm wondering when we are going to see more of her, it's still early on and with so many still in the game with larger personalities such as the Pushy Bev she's still middle packing it and she'll either have to climb up or hike back down.

Dom I think your idea of Richie is spot on. Has all the weapons just doesn't know how to utilize them all yet. Nothing wrong with being green, he's young and has a great career ahead of him.

I was impressed with Paul's win with the Ghost Pepper. I want to see a winner for the EC. It's like great foreplay without an orgasm at the end. Give me a darn winner already!

[anne]

I'm going to be annoyingly vague, but I feel like we've had other episodes without winners before--I would say in team challenges early in the season when there's still a lot of contestants. Only because I remember being annoyed about this before. But it makes sense--early in the season with so many contestants there's not as much time for a winners JT--I imagine the cook-off took precedence over that.

Also, kudos to Dom for the deft Star Wars reference.

I agree that this was a nice episode--fun challenges, well-thought out. And, dang, I still want chili. Vegetarian, of course.

[Ellie]

I'm new to this blog but wanted to comment just to add my thanks to Dom for the analysis. I've watched TC since season 2 and have been looking for an intelligent blog on it for a while... so thanks!

I also really liked this episode for similar reasons: well-constructed challenge and 'gimmicks' that enhance the food focus and make it easier to justify who goes home. I do wonder, though, if Richie's reaction to his elimination was so 'raw' precisely because they had been up so long the night before. I'm sure other chefs have cared as much, but it's amazing how being exhausted sometimes makes you wear your heart on your sleeves.

Looking forward to next week. But I do have to say I've always been weary of "cook in an field" challenges just because it doesn't tend to show off their most refined skills and isn't that what separates us from them? And yes Chris C, John Besh IS cute, but is there anyone you don't have a crush on?

[pdog]

While reading the beginning of your post and discussing regional preferences, I thought, Dom should mention Chicagoans and their hotdogs. A few sentences later, you didn't disappoint! Ketchup is evilwrong on a hotdog. Thank you.

[Steve]

Dom, I'm reading, but nothing so far on the show has moved me to comment. I'm rooting for Chris J for Chicago and for being so good to Richie, but not yet for his cooking. Thanks for doing this each week.

I'm also backing off my original tweet that SCK was a bad idea. It adds a nice little element of drama and a bit of tension as we think down to the finals.

[Bart]

@ally

I am still reading, but am commenting less because of the time difference - the show comes on right around my bedtime. I wake up way too early to warrant watching the show "live" - so I DVR it and avoid blogs like this until I've seen the episode.

That said, the power rankings seem spot on. My only (minor) quibble is that Ty-Lor seems a bit low. If he wasn't exaggerating about his culinary experience (Asian, Scandinavian, American), then he could really come out with some exciting dishes.

But he's gotta cook 'em first. It isn't Top Theoretical Dish, it's Top Chef. If a chef can't execute, that chef gets PPYKAG'd. And that's exactly what happened to Richie, which is too bad, because he was really easy to root for. I think Dom's spot on with his analysis - he has the tools and potential; he just needs a few more years on him. Reminds me of season 5's Eli in that respect, actually.

[ally]

Sharon ...

What the WHAT? how did i miss this???

Thanks so much!

[ally]

@Ellie

Your comment made me laugh because Chris indeed does have a crush on everyone. This combined with Dom's comment that he was voted hottest chef and not for his cooking skills perhaps makes him the most shallow contestant in TC history!

But he *is* cute ...

ha!

[TokenOmnivore]

@anne:

If they'd filmed down here in the fall, they could have been a part of the annual Lonestar Veggie Chili cook-off:

http://veggiechilicookoff.com/

Yes, TX chili comes in all kinds.

Would have also been a whole lot cooler as well...

[anne]

@TO:

Yum.

It's always fun to see the chefs freak out about vegetarian challenges too.

[Sweet Sue]

I like ketchup on hot dogs.
I like mayo on corned beef sandwiches, too.

[Lon Lasher]

Not much to comment on so far. With so many chefs, it's okay with me to not have winners; only winning teams. At this point, it's hard to distinguish between chefs.

When the numbers dwindle to eight or so, then I'll get more invested in specific chefs. Right now I'm just enjoying the show more than I have in previous seasons.

As another probably reason for dwindling comments: The plethora of chef competition type shows. Next Iron Chef, Chef Hunter are two that have caught my eye lately. That certainly dvides the market.

On another point, I don't know if "you all" get "The Chew" in your cities. Its in my town at noon each day. The reason I mention is that Carla Hall is a regular. Nice to see her achieve some TV status.

[Ellie]

@ ally

You may have a point about Chris, but I hope he knows that this is Top Chef, not Top Hawt Chef (or Top Scallop, for that matter)!

[kimberly]

@Anne -- The first episode for season 4 had a group QF win. That might be the episode you're thinking of. It was the first episode in Chicago, and the QF was pizza, judged by Rocco.

[cynthia]

I'm one of the many that read all the time but dont comment. Love the blog and this new format.
I'm waiting to see which chefs I fall in love with. Right now I'm pretty much in agreement with your rankings and cant wait for individual wins