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But the clouds come out when Tom and Emeril saunter over to Amar’s station. Amar and Charlie haven’t addressed the elephant in the room - the way Amar left things when he struck out on his own - and though nothing is said to make anyone uncomfortable, the entire atmosphere is thick with tension. It feels a bit like the opening scene of a horror movie, where people are acting just oddly enough to let you know that something is very wrong here.

The next day, the two finalists get their game faces on. Amar knows he faces a steep challenge. Many Top Chef winners - Harold in Season 1, Ilan in Season 2, Stephanie in Season 4, and Mei Lin last year - won the very first challenge in their respective season, as Jeremy did here. If history is any indication, Amar will be the underdog going into this.

As they finish up their dishes, it quickly becomes apparent the both chefs are taking drastically different approaches to the challenge. Jeremy seems to be incorporating every technique he knows - from gels, to liquid nitrogen, to strange food pairings. Amar, on the other hand, is going old school. It’s the Season 2 finale all over again: technique vs. flavor.

With the two celebrity “sous” chefs (Jean-Georges and Charlie in the dining room) with the typical Top Chef judges, the cheftestants from this past season, and the finalists’ family members in the dining room, the eating gets underway. Jeremy presents foie gras in hot and cold preparations with chili, passion fruit, and marshmallows (!!!!). Amar highlights tuna in a seared tuna tataki with habanero coconut dressing, compressed pineapple, and toasted peanuts.

Padma adores Jeremy’s foie gras, and Richard appreciates the textures incorporated in it. Tom points out that in the past two finales, chefs have struggled with doing torchons, but here, Jeremy nailed it. Gail appreciates the pairing of foie gras and passion fruit.

As for Amar, Gail raves about the brightness in the dish from the tropical flavors, and Hubert Keller compliments the heat. It’s neck and neck after round one, with Padma noting that it’s a “tough match so far,” and Tom agreeing that both dishes were “very good.”

Some initial hiccups lead to consternation back in the kitchen for round two. Jeremy packed his fish too tightly into sheet pans, leading to severe undercooking for those fish in the middle. Amar, meanwhile, is taking his sweet time making sure that his risotto goes off without a hitch.

Jeremy ends up presenting slow-cooked branzino with an herbal-lime vinaigrette, squash, and tomatoes. Against that, Amar puts up a sea urchin risotto with butter-poached lobster, finger limes, jicama, and shellfish froth that’s inspired by the season’s Santa Barbara uni challenge.

Both chefs have knocked it out of the park. Culinary superstar and intimidating French chef Dominque Crenn declares Amar’s risotto to be “an amazing dish,” and Tom finds everything “perfect.” Dominque also appreciates Jeremy’s balance of flavors, especially through incorporation of the raw tomato, and Tom agrees, pointing to the use of cherries. Emeril declares things to be neck-and-neck and Dominque agrees wholeheartedly.

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