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Brooke suffers the worst luck of anyone in tonight’s immunity challenge. The freakishly consistent contestant realizes she does not have time to prepare the skin as intended. Now, she has a boring chicken breast with no fried chicken elements. Forced to improvise, she tries to keep the chicken warm in the oven then dips it in the grill to re-heat. She describes the entire experience as her worst day of the competition “by far.” If Josie stays and Brooke goes home, I may be done watching Top Chef for a while.

Sheldon’s situation is only marginally better. Several participants struggle with the fryers. One of Josie’s fails, which contributes to her once again struggling with time management. Don’t worry. I’m confident she would have run late without the equipment issue. Sheldon has the opposite problem, and a more perilous one at that. His burner is far too hot. Because of this, Sheldon has to discard a few pieces of chicken. There may not be enough to go around.

The judging portion is rowdy but jubilant. The wine is flowing and Tom Colicchio is a fun drunk. The host of the evening’s festivities relishes this unique opportunity. He gets to combine his duties as the face of Top Chef with a night of adult beverages shared among friends. A good time is had by all. Except the contestants.

The evening starts with a toast and a suggestion by Tom Colicchio. He suggests that one of his allies could start a chain of chicken restaurants. The suggested name is Wolfgang Cluck. It may be a joke but this should be a real thing. The name is so damned marketable.

The first three players to present their dishes are Josie, Sheldon and Lizzie. Seeing the faces of some of the most famous celebrity chefs in the world momentarily overcomes Sheldon. He eventually rushes through his planned description of his dish. He presents umami drumsticks & thighs, wings with usukuchi & grapeseed oil. The central complaint of the judges is that there is not enough to go around. They lick then smack their lips as the flavors work their magic. Despite the fryer snafu, Sheldon may win his third straight Elimination challenge.

Lizzie’s dish is chicken with coriander, black pepper & brown sugar rub with peach-cabbage slaw. The chicken itself looks like Tyson chicken strips that have been cooked four minutes too long. If I were served this meal at Bailey’s, I’d send it back. And I love food that is burnt. In a huge upset, the judges very much enjoy it. Tom does add that “Lizzie doesn’t understand fried chicken.” This is probably a cultural difference for the South African.

Josie seizes the opportunity to point out that she is the only one serving actual fried chicken. Her dish is chicken with black garlic, cayenne, thyme & hot sauce with daikon salad. Wolfgang Puck smells it in a way that indicates the product is dissatisfactory. One of the other guests, Jon Shook, is a Florida native like Josie. He immediately notes that this fried chicken has been served on a banana peel. In his estimation, such a move would cause a chef to be shipped straight to New England. This native Tennessean concurs.

Overall, Josie’s dish appears to bomb yet again. The dish is described as oily and lacking in spice. Michelle Bernstein states that she had to put it down rather than finish the piece. Josie then notes that “Michelle Bernstein sent me home last time.” I am suddenly Michelle Bernstein’s number one fan. Well, number two after Lindsay Autry from last season.

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