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As the winner of the Quickfire Challenge, Stefan gets to choose his NFL team and his opponent. He immediately chooses Andrea from Season 1, reasoning that since she lost in the second week of her season, she must be the weakest chef there. Plus, she primarily cooks vegetarian food. What he forgets, I think, is that Andrea is also the only chef to return to competition after being eliminated and that after she came back, she was much stronger...even winning an Quickfire Challenge before ultimately being eliminated in Week 6. He'd do well not to underestimate her.

The rest of the chefs huddle up to decide which NFL team they want.

The teams end up like this:
Dolphins: Jeff vs. Josee
Packers: Fabio vs. Spike
Seahawks: Miguel vs.Hosea
Giants: Leah vs. Nikki
49ers: Jaime vs. Camille
Saints: Carla vs. Andrew

Wow, I think I'm super excited about Carla going up against Andrew (as they both possess the greatest amount of frenetic energy in the history of Top Chef) and Leah against Nikki (who I find to be very well matched up). The chefs have two hours in the kitchen to test things out before the challenge the next day, where they will have 20 minutes to cook their dish live at a local Culinary Institute in front of the entire student body.

It's interesting to hear from the All-Stars how it feels to be back in the Top Chef kitchen. Josie is just excited to be cooking for an NFL challenge, Spike says that everything comes back to you when you're back at Top Chef. Nikki says that this challenge is bringing out the competitive side to her (where was this when you got eliminated in the wedding challenge last year?!?!).

Stefan, meanwhile, is talking crap about Andrea. He wonders aloud if she's learned to cook in the four years since she got eliminated twice on Top Chef. I hope she kicks his ass.

The next morning, the chefs are treated to watching Carla meditate - it's the quietest I've seen her all season. "I'm just getting centered," she explains. She really wants to win this one to get some momentum for the rest of the season, to prove that she has the talent and belongs in the competition. I'm rooting for her.

The chefs head to the Culinary Institute for the competition and we have another surprise - the eliminated chefs from this season are sitting in the audience! Stupid Eugene, cute but brainless Patrick, blowhard Danny, wonderful Radhika and my beloved Ariane. Oh Ariane, how I wish you were still in the competition!

The competition starts and though the All-Stars have a lot to prove, this Season's chefs have a lot more at stake: only chefs that lose their head-to-head battles will be up for elimination at Judges Table.

Each dish will be tasted by the four judges - the winner of this vote winning a touchdown (seven points) for their team. Then, a group of four Culinary Students will vote on which dish they liked better, with the winning dish getting a field goal (three points). I love this challenge.

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