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The Masters head to good ol' Whole Foods to shop and then back to the kitchen to prep. Susan and Tony struggle to find dishes that mesh their disparate culinary styles, Jerry and Ana have decided to use flower waters in their dishes, and Govind is extremely worry about Jimmy, seeing him as a liability.

Overall, as the chefs cook and chat, I’m surprised by how much trash talking there is. They may be Masters but they all want to win.

The judges are the same three that we saw last year: Gael from the NY Times, James the food writer, and Jay the British food critic. They sample Govind and Jimmy’s food first, with a duo of lamb. The dish includes lamb Carpaccio with baby arugula, along with a roast chop with cauliflower couscous. They are not provided any cutlery, which Govind explains was designed to make the couples get down and dirty.

Jerry comes out with his and Ana’s flowery dishes. They present a lavender duck breast with red cabbage plus a duck leg with vermicelli with orange blossom and smoked almonds. Jerry’s duck is universally praised as delicious but it doesn’t seem to pair well with Ana’s more casual cooking.

Susan presents her and Tony’s dish last – she’s so bubbly, I love her. They have a “love potion” dish, with a spicy pepper shrimp and scallop pairing with a pasta with cheese, mushrooms and truffles. Both dishes are intense with their flavors and the judges seem very pleased.

Back at Critics Table, the judges discuss their opinions with the Masters. Gael liked the messiness of Govind and Jimmy’s dish, and James found Jimmy’s Carpaccio to be a revelation. Susan and Tony get raves for transporting their diners to a different part of the world. Ana and Jerry both had good dishes, but they weren’t very harmonious.

There’s a lot at stake here because the top pair will have both chefs advance to the next round. We pretty much know which pair has won, though, so there’s not much drama.

In a strange and not-well-explained change from last year, the Quickfire scores don’t count in the overall total. You live and die by the Elimination scores. Ana and Jerry end up getting 11 stars from the judges and 4 from the diners for a total of 15, a solid score. Jimmy and Govind get 9 ½ from the judges plus 3 from the diners for a score of 12 ½ - not gonna cut it. Susan and Tony get 12 ½ from the judges plus 4 from the diners for a score of 16 ½ - a fantastic score.

EPISODE TWO:

This episode we inexplicably have five chefs instead of six like last time. Present this time around are Michael Samuelson who loved Stefan’s sauerkraut two years ago, David Burke from Townehouse in NYC, Monica Pop from Houston’s T’afia, Carmen Gonzalez from Manhattan, and Thierry Rautureau from Seattle.

In a very Top Chef-y Quickfire, Kelly proclaims her love for grilled cheese sandwiches and challenges the Masters to make her the best one she’s ever had. The Masters scurry around a kitchen that they’ve never explored as they try to reinvent a classic. Along the way, Carmen, our Puerto Rican Master, slices her finger pretty badly. I also spy Thierry, our French master, slosh a lot of butter on his bread. Yum.

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