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Luckily, she has some parmesan, parsley, garlic bread ready to be brought out to the judges. As usual, Marjorie's baking skills are phenomenal. Tom adores the bread, and Padma appreciates that they have something soft and warm to begin with. Great start for the team.

The appetizers are next. Carl and Karen collaborated on an ox tail consommé with tripe, tortellini, and mushrooms. Padma doesn't like tripe, but surprisingly, really enjoys this version. Tom notes that the tripe is really well cooked, and that the ox tail has a ton of flavor.

Accompanying the consommé is Carl's crudo of snapper, cucumber, ginger, and grapes. Tom comments snarkily about how this is the umpteenth time this season a chef has made a crudo. This prompts Gail to sarcastically imitate the chefs: “I've got it! I'm going to make - wait for it - crudo!” The judges crack up. Thankfully for Carl, they also really enjoy his crudo. Gail loves the heat and Tom likes the brightness of the flavors.

Next up are the entrees. Isaac has a braised lamb shoulder stew with couscous, pickled fennel, and orange. He thinks that it came out exactly as he wanted, and if that's the case, he's right on with the judges. Gail loves it, Tom praises how well cooked it is, and Bill declares it the best meat dish of the day so far.

Next to it is a stuffed trout with coconut rice and heirloom tomato from Karen. This is the first miss of the night for Palate, as Bill and Tom aren't fans, and Gail dislikes the mushy quality of the rice. “This was misconceived from step one,” Bill concludes.

Finally, we have two desserts from Marjorie. She's put together a composed cheese plate with rogue creamery blue cheese, dates, pecans, and plums. With that is a California berry soup with buttermilk panna cotta, vanilla, and macadamia nuts. The judges really enjoy the cheese plate, with the pairing of the dates and blue cheese, but no one likes the panna cotta. Marjorie has put champagne in it (which Karen forgot to mention to the judges when presenting the dish), and the judges find that it imparts an unpleasant selzer water-like flavor.

With that finished, the judges head to District LA. The host informs them that they'll be starting off with a cocktail, but before the judges follow their instincts and head to the bar, he whips out a bottle from behind the host table. The judges are flabbergasted and burst into laughter. When the host brings out cocktail glasses as well, more laughter and sarcasm ensues. Phillip wanders over to see how the judges are enjoying the cocktail but doesn't really understand how absurd the judges find the whole thing.

Sitting down, the judges talk amongst themselves about the menu-namely, the lack of cohesion. “I cannot see a single thread running through this menu,” Gail muses.

Following on the footsteps of Phillip's ridiculous cocktail, Kwame starts off the eating with an amuse bouche of beet-cured hamachi and avocado mousse. “It's horrible,” Bill says succinctly. “Horrible,” Tom agrees, nodding. “This is technique over substance,” Bill follows, “I know how to do foam, therefore I do it.” Gail asks what's in the foam. Padma tells her that it's salt form that resembles “spittle.” Lovely.

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