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Padma wastes no time in moving forward to the Elimination Challenge. While last time, the chefs were asked to innovate, this time, they’re asked to take inspiration. San Miguel is, apparently, a mecca for artists. The chefs will each randomly be assigned an artist living in the city, and after meeting with them, will have to represent a piece of art that the artist will create while the elimination challenge is taking place. In doing so, each chef will have to feed 150 guests.

With such a tall order, some additional help is appropriate. All of the eliminated sous chefs head in - eligible sous chefs, each and every one. Doug, as the winner, gets to choose his sous chefs first and he goes with Adam and Katsuji - the two biggest personalities on the show this season. Melissa goes with George and James, Mei goes with Rebecca and Keriann, and finally Greg picks Katie and Stacy.

With that done, the chefs head off to meet their respective artists. Doug is extremely excited about this challenge because (1) his mom was an art teacher, and (2) his artist, like him, hails from Texas. He decides pretty instantly to do a Texas-inspired dish.

Greg has a very moody, expressionistic artist who likes to contrast a dark palette with a single bright color. The artist tells Greg that he intends to paint a picture of a peasant. Greg decides to go with something earthy but with a splash of brightness incorporated in it.

Mei’s artist is a hoot - a wacky, kooky woman who incorporates a lot of bright colors and wild designs into her art. She encourages Mei to don a huge purple mask and dance around. Mei sees a picture of a girl’s face with a chicken on it and decides to try and make something featuring that ingredient that’s as loud and colorful as the artist that made it.

Melissa has a graffiti artist (who apparently owns a gorgeous condo) who’s going to do a picture of a house in sky blue and pink. At the grocery store, Melissa asks for squid ink, intending to use it to color her dish. When told that they don’t have any, she changes her dish to a smoky eggplant ravioli. She imagines the ravioli representing the house, which, when cut into, will reveal darkness. It all sounds very cool.

Before we know it, cooking begins in an open-air courtyard. The artists are there, each with a blank canvas and some of their other work hanging behind the cooking stations. Doug is feeling confident about his Texan dish, but worries incessantly about whether his brisket will be done. Greg is focused on making sure that the beef in his dish shines through. Mei wants to ensure that the playfulness of her artist’s personality and work comes through in her dish. Melissa’s smoky eggplant purée looks amazing, and the ravioli appears to be coming out beautifully.

The diners arrive, and with them, the judges - Tom, Gail, Padma, and Enrique. Basically, it’s the typical judging panel and their usual guest judge. As a side note, I think it’s interesting how much of a fuss the producers made about a past TC winner, Richard Blais, joining the panel at the beginning of this season. In retrospect, he really only showed up a few times, and on those occasions, has had a very minimal presence. He’s basically been a second Hugh Acheson.

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