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Richard gets first pick due to his victory in the most recent challenge. In a hilarious turn of events, the first person selected is the same one who mentioned his Jet Ski reservations, Spike. His face speaks volumes about his disappointment over this turn of events. As you know by now, this also proves to be one of the key moments in determining who wins Top Chef All-Stars. Richard’s other two aides are Angelo and Antonia, making this a formidable team. Mike’s first choice is Tiffani and his third one is Carla, both of whom are exceptional chefs. His middle selection is the one where fate is unkind. Despite his misgivings about her performance on Top Chef All-Stars, Mike accidentally selects Jamie as his other helper. This could prove problematic.

The chefs are given an hour to finalize their menus. Mike declares that his restaurant will be called Iz, short for Izzy, which has been his nickname for most of his life. He wants to focus on mozzarella and pancetta, two dishes he fondly recalls from his youth. Mike is personalizing his dream restaurant experience, demonstrating a lot of comfort in his own skin. Mike, like Angelo and Dale, has grown quite a bit during the All-Stars season. Mike does demonstrate a bit of Marcel-ish behavior when the women (Mike’s Angels?) offer some thoughts on his dishes. Eventually, he lets them know that he would prefer them to do what he asks rather than offer a lot of creative input. We’ll see if the control freak behavior hurts him.

Richard is all business. He determines his restaurant’s identity will be Tongue & Cheek. I would not eat there. I’ve never been a fan of offal. I also wonder if Richard realizes the phrase is Tongue in Cheek. Spike’s grin tells me that he is wondering the same thing. Richard states that every dish will have a duality to it, and he tells Spike that after doing the dessert, he will be placed in charge of the front of the house. Antonio gets the first course. He indicates that he will not be micromanaging his supremely talented group. Angelo winds up handling the mise en place while Antonia does the vegetables and Spike…pours Captain Crunch into a bowl. No, really.

The primary concern Richard has is his dessert, a foie gras ice cream. They are struggling with the texture. It’s an oozing gloop, which isn’t the most appetizing food appearance. It also doesn’t help that the dish is a FOIE GRAS ICE CREAM!!! This is the dessert served in Hell.

Despite Jamie’s presence in the kitchen, this is a drama free episode in terms of preparation. All of the returning All-Stars bust their asses in a harmonious work environment. The end result is that the episode focuses almost entirely upon the tasting process. What becomes readily apparent is that each finalist has cooked a meal worthy of the title of Top Chef. Tom Colicchio even comments that the food is quite possibly the best in eight seasons worth of finals. He goes so far as to say that Mike’s fish dish is the tastiest he’s had since the inception of the show. Later on, he notates that he said that before he tasted Richard’s fish. Yes, both contestants deliver a fish flavor superior to anything from the previous 111 episodes in the show’s history. Take a moment to appreciate the majesty of that feat.

Richard’s menu is as follows. He begins with an amuse-bouche of raw oyster with crème fraiche, pearls & salsa verde. The first course is raw hamachi with fried veal sweetbreads, garlic mayonnaise & pickled celery. The second course is pork belly, black cod cutlet, bone marrow, beets, Brussels sprouts & kumquat. His final entrée is a beef short rib with mushrooms, red cabbage, marmalade & celery root horseradish puree. Then, he finishes with cornbreak and the afore-mentioned foie gras ice cream (from Hell!) & whipped mango.

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