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Marcel notes that this could be a trick and the two teams left in the Stew Room are on top, but Antonia is sure that they’re on the bottom.

And she’s right. The two teams in front of the judges are busy lapping up praise - though living up to their name, TGTDGMA doesn’t nearly get as much praise as Home Cooking. The judges basically note that Mike cooked his team’s fish perfectly and that’s about it.

Meanwhile, apparently the diners went crazy for Dale’s taco. Gail loved that you could really taste the lemon and all the flavors, and Kerry thought it was exactly the type of food that you want to eat in a beach environment.

Gail was super impressed that Carla took them in a totally different direction, cooking-wise, but after eating her dish, found that it made total sense. Tom calls it brilliant.

The winner of this Elimination Challenge gets a trip to Amsterdam as their prize, and I’m thinking it’s gotta be either Dale or Carla. Kerry says that the winner is the chef that impressed the judges the most, with a dish that was perfect for the challenge. That leads me to conclude that it’s Dale but in fact, CARLA has won this challenge!

Awww, I’m so excited for her. This is her second Elimination Challenge win. So far this season, for those of you keeping count, Angelo has won twice (and been among the top chefs three other times), Dale has won twice (and been in the top one other time) and Carla has won twice. Is Richard falling behind a bit, having only won one Elimination Challenge and appearing in the top group twice?

Carla is ecstatic as she returns back to the Stew Room. “I WON!” she crows. I thought she totally deserved her moment of glory among her fellow chefs, but Marcel is quick to burst her bubble.

“I’d be happier for you, but it means that we’re on the bottom,” he says.

“Oh yeah...” Carla trails off. The Girls and The Boys head off to face the music.

“I should have contained my excitement,” Carla notes, feeling bad. Thankfully, her fellow teammates tell her that she had every right to be excited. I’m glad they backed her up.

Out with the judges, The Boys are having a rough go. Gail questions their decision to make one dish. Tom notes that there was a trust issue between Richard and Fabio. Gail calls their concord grape gastrique “overkill.” Kerry says that by delivering restaurant-quality food they made it hard to execute. Padma says that there was a textural problem with the dish, while Tom questions why they didn’t change their presentation strategy when they saw that they would be serving on plastic plates. Ouch.

As for the girls...

Tom notes that Antonia had a great dish. In fact, he says, if she’d been on a stronger team, she would have won the challenge. Her dish was his favorite, and he says that it was “perfect.” Poor Antonia. I wonder if I should chalk this up as a win for her...

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