VegasChatter

Sinful and Heavenly Creations
The dishes ranged from dark chocolate mousse, scallop crudo and consommé to butter-laden and all-white creations. Conveniently, after being stuck on the bottom since week one, Robin decided to pull the cancer card. Okay, we lost our mother to cancer and we’re sensitive to the disease, but as a Seattleite, we are so over hearing Robin’s plight at the mere mention of Top Chef. Yawn.

Here’s how it all shook out. Mike, Laurine and Ash all placed in the bottom three, while Michael, Eli and Robin took top honors. It was kinda weird that the winner was announced just eight minutes into the episode. Robin managed to squeak out a win with her battle over sugar and was granted immunity.

Deconstructing (for) For Penn & Teller
Cue to Penn and Teller making a grand appearance and doing some silly cups and balls demo. In barely breathable jeans, Padma announced the Elimination Challenge – to deconstruct a classic dish. The contestants pulled knives to determine dishes. Back at the Top Chef Kitchen at M Resort, the chefs pulled together everything from meat lasagna to Caesar salad – hot mess style.

As Robin enjoyed her moment of glory (which still managed not to shut the blabbermouth up) as blatant product placement prevailed with frequent pans to GE Monogram stoves, Swanson stock and Glad freezer bags and cling wrap. Ashley (pot roast), Michael (Caesar salad), Kevin (chicken mole negro) and Jennifer (meat lasagna) were lauded for the best dishes.

Who Won Big?
Kevin took home his second elimination win and a set of Calphalon dishware. Score. Back at Judges’ Table with Toby Young at the helm (oy vey), Laurine, Ash and Ron didn’t fare so well with their tentative dishes, half-assed British fare and a paella that contained overcooked rice and seafood (although Toby didn’t know how to pronounce the dish).

Who Crapped Out?
In the end, Ron was sent packing, and given his out-of-the-element freak out factor with having to deconstruct a dish, wasn’t much of a surprise. We’re still routing for Mike to go bye bye, but Robin is quickly creeping into the front runner position.

Jennifer seems slightly less annoying and although we wouldn’t be caught dead working behind the line with the bossy bee-yatch, we’re warming up to the idea of respecting her no nonsense ways.

We wanna know. Do Mike and Robin annoy you as much as they do us? Have you ever created a deconstructed dish at home (we’re guessing no)? Who are your routing for? Place your bets in comments below.