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The diners enter, and since none of these cheftestants are “new” to the show, I’m betting that every diner there A) knows who these cheftesants are B) has a favorite chef among them and C) will be adjusting their comments to the camera and to the judges in order to support their favorite chef.

The judges soon arrive (Tom immediately gets them some cocktails - though I’m not sure what type of cocktail pairs well with seafood). Our guest judge today is Kerry Hefferman, who Tom Colicchio says knows more about fish than anyone he knows. I wonder how chef Eric Ripert feels about that last comment.

Richard, Marcel and Fabio serve up one dish: a sea bass with succotash, corn puree, tomato confit, concord grape gastrique and jamon air. The judges find the beans overcooked and mushy. Padma doesn’t like the foam that Marcel (surprise!) added on top.

Next is Dale’s group, but first Gail must ask, “Is this THE fish that we’ve been hearing about?” Apparently, his big catch has been all the talk amongst the Top Chef judges and producers.

Dale serves up a fish taco with bass (yes, it’s THE bass) corn and avocado relish. Carla has a tribute to the NY bagel, with a lettuce wrap filled with smoked bluefish, pickled watermelon rind and bagel croutons. Tre has his version of a gazpacho salad with striped sea bass, tomato and avocado. Kerry loves the fish in Dale’s dish. Gail loves the smoke in Carla’s dish and Kerry loves her use of dill. According to Kerry, Tre took a big chance in sauteing his fish outside, but it paid off. Looks like this will be the winning group.

The Girls are next and Jamie has a sea bass and cucumber watermelon salad, Tiffani has a smoked bluefish with tomato, roasted corn and zucchini ribbon salad, and Antonia (despite having picked a VERY hard fish to use, as Tom recognizes immediately), presents a open-faced porgy po-boy sandwich with old bay mayo and cabbage slaw. Tom finds Jamie’s cucumber water to be redundant, Tiffani’s dish lacks elegance, but Antonia’s sandwich is apparently amazing.

Finally, we have The-Group-That-Didn’t-Get-Much-Airtime. They collectively present two dishes: a pickled bluefish, spicy watermelon salad with shallots and red chilies, and a striped bass with corn puree, tomato, aleppo spice rub and watermelon. Padma likes the smashed potatoes on the first dish. However, with the second dish, the judges note that while the fish is cooked well but that the flavors are “competing” with each other.

I’m uber-worried at this point. Since losing my “Favorite Chef of All Time” (Jen Carroll), I’ve been rooting for Tiffani as my “Third Favorite Chef to Ever Be on Top Chef” (behind Stephanie, winner of Season 4). Now, it looks like she and Jamie are gonna be in serious trouble.

Also, unless the chefs have had a chance to shower and change, I’m betting that they stink BAD.

After some minor backstage drama in which Richard highly criticizes Jamie’s cooking of her fish and Jamie highly criticizes Richard’s team for having too many ingredients in their dish, Padma enters the Stew Room and calls out Dale, Carla, and Tre, (Home Cooking) and Tiffany, Mike and Angelo (TGTDGMA).

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