Top Chef: Las Vegas - Breakfast in Bed with Padma

The contestants on Top Chef:Las Vegas this week were given an opportunity to do something I'd almost sacrifice a body part for - serving Padma Lakshmi breakfast in bed! Even better, Padma was curled up in her Venetian hotel suite boudoir with very delicious guest judge, British chef and TV personality Nigella Lawson. Which left me to wonder for a moment, are they teasing the lesbians on purpose?

The chefs had 30 minutes to whip up a delectable breakfast in bed for Padma and Nigella. While the contestants ran around the kitchen like crazed chickens, my partner and I were distracted by speculating on what Padma and her lovely bed companion were wearing under their bathrobes...

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We had to wonder, again, what the hell is going on inside Jennifer's head lately when she slopped a plate full of "shit on a shingle" (a.k.a. cream chipped beef) down in front of Padma and Nigella. Jen's heart just doesn't seem to be in the game anymore and it's evident by the sad quality of her dishes the past three weeks.

Robin and Bryan also failed to impress with their dishes, predictable for Robin but kind of a bummer for Bryan. Especially when Nigella tells him if he'd just left out the vanilla in his dish, he probably would have pulled a win in the Quickfire challenge. Instead, it's Eli who comes out on top with his Rueben Benedict, which Nigella calls the perfect hangover meal.

For the Elimination challenge, the chefs drew knives to determine which casino on the Las Vegas strip would serve as inspiration for their dish. Not a bad challenge, except they have to cook that dish for 175 people. Last night, my partner cooked a meal designed to feed four people - and let me tell you, the cussing was LOUD. I can't even imagine what kind of profanity they don't air on Top Chef when the contestants are forced to provide a buffet for a couple hundred!

Although I have no bloody idea what the hell "compressed vegetables" are, Kevin apparently knows how to make them shine and wows the judges with his salmon with tomato water dish. Actually, it was pretty entertaining to watch the judges and guests slurp tomato water out of the bottom of their bowls. Foodies do weird things in public. Bryan also does well with his halibut and garlic chips, but it's his brother Mike V. who lands on top this time with a yummy-looking play on chicken wings with creamy blue cheese dressing. (I'm from the South, I'd snarf that up in a heartbeat!)

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On the losing side, Eli's Circus Circus inspired peanut and caramel apple soup was apparently as disgusting as it looked. One glance at that dish and I can totally understand why Nigella did NOT want to put it in her mouth. Jen also lands in the bottom again - damnit - for her 'sword and the stone' steak, which judge Toby calls "more Spamalot than Camelot." Nice pun there Tony, but ouch!

Thankfully, however, Robin is also once again in the bottom of the pack for her lame panna cotta dessert. Honestly, given free rein to make anything you want and you make that? It's so obvious it is way past time to boot Robin to the curb and this time, finally, the judges send her packing.

Of the remaining contestants, Jennifer has long been my favorite. For the first half of the season, it seemed she could absolutely do no wrong, pulling out amazing dish after amazing dish. She seemed a clear pick for the finals right from the beginning. Then she got sick a few episodes back and fell hard and never seems to have recovered. She was so dejected this episode, she pretty much said she was ready to quit and go home several times.

Hopefully Jen can get her drive back by next week, or that may be exactly what she'll be doing when it comes to judging time again.

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