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Offering the plates up to the judges, Katie has a braised rabbit leg with Moroccan tomato sauce, while George has a roasted rabbit loin with barley, glazed carrots, and a mustard rabbit jus. Jasper is the first to offer his thoughts - for him, George was the “clear-cut winner.” Tom liked Katie’s sauce, but notes that it finished a bit bitter. He enjoyed George’s barley and found his rabbit to be perfectly cooked. He picks George as well and with that, Katie is sent home.

It’s a tough moment. George, who has lamented his defeat at the hands of Greg since then, is overjoyed to be back in the competition. Katie is understandably heartbroken that her stint on TC is ending in such a fashion. Tom makes a final pitch regarding Last Chance Kitchen (“watch it on BravoTV.com now!”) and heads out with the eliminated bunch.

It’s on to the Elimination Challenge. Padma tells the chefs that after 11 seasons, the chefs are going to be doing something that’s never been done before on the show - actual fans of the show will get to eat the food the cheftestants make. Apparently, a tweet was sent out regarding this opportunity, and among 15,000 responses, 75 Top Chef “superfans” were offered the opportunity to attend a casting event (catered by the remaining seven chefs) in the Top Chef Kitchen. I immediately start grinding my teeth - why couldn’t they have done this two years ago while I was still in Boston?!?! DAMMIT.

Adding another twist, the chefs will not be doing their own shopping for this challenge. As was replayed over and over in the promos for this episode, the four judges (Tom, Gail, Richard, and Padma) will be shopping for the chefs. The chefs draw knives to see which judge will be filling their pantries - Mei gets Tom, George and Greg get Padma, Melissa and Katsuji get Gail, and Doug and Adam get Richard.

The judges head over to Whole Foods and have 30 minutes to fill their shopping carts. Richard, having competed on Top Chef in two seasons, sprints to the proteins. Tom, Gail, and Padma, meanwhile, saunter over to the produce section. Richard laughs at their slow, measured pace.

The judges seem to be trying their best to pick out ingredients that their chefs will be able to use. Tom tries to find ingredients that Mei will be able to take in an Asian or Italian direction. Gail is struggling to figure out what Katsuji, who she says is “all over the place,” might want. Ultimately, she starts picking out foods that she’d like to eat. Richard tries to get a nice variety of ingredients, hoping to avoid a situation where the two chefs that he’s shopping for “bomb” because they can’t use anything he’s purchased.

Meanwhile, back at the house, George is going through a roller coaster of emotions. At first, he’s ecstatic to be there - remember, because he got cut during the first SDQ, he never actually got to see the house. The other chefs eye him warily - they know he’s got great training and experience, and they have no idea what to expect from him. Is he a legitimate threat to take home the title, or is he a future member of the dwindling middle of the pack? Perhaps sensing this, George is uncomfortable the next morning, saying that the other chefs have established their relationships with each other and that the pressure is on him to show that he belongs there.

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