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Stephanie does not have a boyfriend to miss. She does have a sense of longing for today’s guest judge, though. John Besh, the most ordinary looking guy on the planet, arrives for the Quickfire challenge announcement. Stephanie eyes him like a 12-year-old at a One Direction concert. Oddly, this is the second straight time Besh has been the object of desire during a Top Chef appearance. I guess money and James Beard awards are intense aphrodisiacs in the cooking realm.

Just like in Stephanie’s fantasies, Besh announces that he is whisking her away. The catch is that he is taking the rest of the players as well. Their destination is Covey Rise Farms, a relatively new outfit whose Web site states that they provide produce to over 40 New Orleans restaurants while Besh claims 50 during the segment. Given that the place started in 2009, it is a very impressive level of clientele.

The challenge is straightforward yet simultaneously brutal. The chefs are given only 20 minutes to craft a dish highlighting “the coveted creole tomato”. I could not imagine creating a haute cuisine dish in 20 minutes yet Nicholas states that anybody who cannot do so is unworthy of a chef’s coat. Harsh, dude.

Bene is the prohibitive favorite in this challenge. Why? People call him “Bene Tomato”. Carlos goes so far as to call him the Tomato King. I think I fought that boss during Super Mario Bros 2. Of course, if you are paying attention to Top Chef editing, you know that everyone who has been perceived as the favorite in a challenge the last couple of years has emerged victorious. I still wince at the thought of Sheldon failing to impress his hero during an Alaskan challenge last season.

Amusingly, Bene goes first and after Besh has complimented the dish, Nicholas wryly asks, “Are we done? They’ve tasted Bene’s so it’s over?” Alas, Bene finishes in the middle. The bottom group begins with Patty, who had come a long way over the past three episodes after a shaky start. Her plate was a mess and Besh was correct to bust her on it. Travis was guilty of the worst mistake on Top Chef, lack of ambition. His dish “played it safe”. Nobody ever gets ahead doing that. Finally, Stephanie’s heart breaks when Besh chastises her for lack of imagination as well. She describes the whole situation as an awkward first date gone horribly awry. Since Besh didn’t even know he was on a date, Stephanie has come across as a creepy stalker chick for the second straight episode. You may recall that she wanted the attention from Lea Michele that Carlos received instead.

The top group is comprised of Nina, Carlos and Louis. Nina accomplished something quite impressive by delivering a cold soup on a blistering summer day. Carlos and Louis nailed the flavors of the tomato, elevating the product per the Quickfire instructions. In the end, Nina rebounds from last week’s near-elimination to win the challenge and immunity during the Elimination Challenge.

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