VegasChatter

Things kicked off with a mise en place "relay” Quickfire challenge. Teams were divvied into four groups of four, sans Robin, who drew a gold chip and was granted instant immunity. The chefs prepped their way through 15 clams, 30 spot prawns, five lobsters and two honkin’ chops from a prime rib, with Jennifer Z. managing to slice her fingers oozing blood all over the bivalves. Eeew. Within the “Blue” team, Jennifer C. (the Eric Ripert protégé) took an individual win and in a surprising second part, a $15,000 “high stakes” cash prize, when the winning team of four competed against each other cooking with the item they created in the mise en place portion of the relay.

Next up – a rather vague Elimination Challenge: Cook a dish based on a vice. To be expected, nearly half the chefs picked alcohol-based dishes. Clad in a red sequined dress tailor made for Vegas, Padma, along with Gail, Tom and guest judge, the always feisty Wolfgang Puck narrowed it down to four finalists, with Kevin taking home the win for his Arctic Char with Salsa Verde of Turnips.

In the end, Jennifer Z. was the first chef sent packing – tears and all – for her wacky-looking Chile Relleno Stuffed with Seitan, which Padma called a “vegan bar midnight special.”

So who do you like? Have you eye-balled any drama queens or kings? And on a scale of 1 to 10, how would you rate the season opener? Leave your comments here.