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AUAAAAAUUUUGGGGHHHHHH. Madolins scare me. They seriously scare me because I know how seriously they can injure the user. Anytime I see a person using it on a cooking show, I half-cover my eyes in case an accident were to take place. And now one is taking place in front of me. Omg, this is my worst fear come to life.

Thankfully, the cameras cut over to the dining table, where a number of very well-respected Los Angeles chefs sit down. This includes not only Antonia and Michael Voltaggio, but last year’s winner, Mei Lin! It’s so great to see her back.

As the judges share a toast, Gail expresses disbelief that it’s been 10 years since her first episode with Tom. Padma is noticeably silent. That’s not unexpected - Top Chef Season 1 featured Katie Lee as a host. Katie was thankfully jettisoned for Season 2,

The 10 chefs will be serving their dishes in pairs, and first up are Marjorie and Chad. Marjorie, noting that she was a newbie chef 10 years ago, serves seared halibut with grilled vegetables and green curry, in recognition of how “green” she was when she first started out. A diner asks Marjorie what went into her curry paste and Marjorie confesses that she wasn’t able to incorporate lemongrass, as Whole Foods was apparently out of it. Instead, she substituted grilled lemon. Michael Voltaggio says that she made all the right decisions, declaring the dish delicious. Richard compliments the veggies, saying they’re so good that the dish scarcely needs the halibut.

Chad has a shrimp ceviche with tomato concasse, a shrimp cracker, pickled serrano peppers, and capers. This dish is inspired by his departure from the military 10 years ago in San Felipe, where he enjoyed amazing seafood. Mei Lin loves the sharpness of the radish he incorporated, and Gail compliments the maturity of the dish.

Isaac and Jason are next. Isaac has his gumbo, which harkens back to his days cooking pots of gumbo for displaced Cajuns in New Orleans. Mei Lin finds the casings of his sausage a big tough but Tom calls the dish “really, really good.”

Jason, as usual, has a strange sounding dish: poached trout with toasted beets, a spring veggie salad, and a goat milk vinaigrette. Ten years ago, his restaurant served a poached trout dish, and any errors in the dish would result in scathing admonishments by Jason. He has since, Jason says, become a calmer person. Tom finds the dish under-seasoned and Richard finds that it doesn’t deliver on the promise of the concept. Prompted by Tom, Jason admits that if one of his chefs had under-seasoned the dish, he would have yelled at him or her.

Karen and Amar are next. Karen has an orecchiette pasta with pork ragu and broccoli rabe, which is inspired by her line-cook days when she spent the majority of her time making pasta 10 years ago. Tom loves the pairing of the fennel with the bitter elements in the dish.

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