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After service, the chefs congregate in the stew room where they all agree that this was a very tough challenge. Welcome to Top Chef, n00bs. Padma enters and calls them all before Judges Table. The cheftestants have no idea what is going on. All they’re sure about is there’s not gonna be a TV feed of the judges’ discussion like last season.

At Judges Table, Tom compliments the rustic, homey style that most chefs employed. Richard comments knowingly, “it’s hard, isn’t it?” The cheftestants all laugh. Yes. Yes, the first challenge on Top Chef is always hard. It’s tough to know what you’re in for until you’re actually in it.

Padma asks everyone to step to the side of the kitchen except for Doug, Mei, and Gregory. Those three are nervous but hopeful. Padma breaks the tension by congratulating them on serving up the judges’ three favorite dishes. They smile. Tom compliments Mei’s reimagined congee, which he says was “spot on.” He loved the combination of “crispy bits, sweet notes, and sour notes.” He says he found “no flaw in the dish at all.” Wow.

Padma thinks that Gregory’s Haitian chicken could have been crazy bad, as it was almost too salty and almost too spicy, but turned out to be crazy good. Richard compares it to a high-speed action sequence in a movie, and rambles on confusingly about 18-wheelers and salty chicken and sweet bananas.

Gail loved Doug’s fried chicken, which was bright and fresh. His dish was seasoned exactly as she wanted it.

Richard, as the newest judge, is given the honor of announcing the winner, which he says displayed “laser-beam precision,” and served food that was not only appropriate for a food festival, but for fine dining. That winner is Mei, who also rocked her part of the Mise En Place relay challenge. Mei is thrilled and thinks that Michael Voltaggio would be super proud. He should be. Michael wasn’t even in the top three in the opening challenge his season of Top Chef.

Padma then announces that Katie, Michael, and Katsuji are in the bottom three. None of these are surprises. Their dishes were failures of conception, all around.

Gail says that Katie’s broccoli salad felt like a side dish - very incomplete. She had no idea what purpose her bacon snow served. Katie agrees that she lost focus by incorporating the bacon powder.

Gail thinks that Michael had a great concept with his corn soup, but she only tasted salmon roe. Michael admits that upon tasting his dish, he thought it was a bit fishy, but didn’t want to take off the roe because it was already listed on his menu.

“Wait,” Tom says, “so you tasted it?”

“I thought it was a bit fishy, but I didn’t think it was too bad,” Michael responds.

“Oh, so you thought it was bad, but not bad enough?” Tom asks.

“I tasted the fish, but I liked it,” says Michael.

“So now you liked it?” Tom presses, exasperated. “Was it too fishy, or did you like it?”

“I liked it and didn’t think it was too fishy,” Michael states.

Uh oh. This is bad news. One of Tom’s big pet peeves is when a “good” chef can’t tell when his dish is bad. It shows a total lack of judgment and understanding of food. This does not augur well for Michael.

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