'Top Chef' Recap: Lock Down

[Top Chef - Season 8, Episode 10]

The contestants debriefed themselves from the last challenge and discussed Fabio's elimination. Richard was the most disappointed because of how friendly the two were and how Richard could have helped. Just like how he taught Antonia how to cook beef tongue. Carla hoped for a female win for this season.

Back at the bar, Dale and Richard considered a season four alliance. Dale was happy to have survived the last elimination challenge, but still hoped that he would win Top Chef.

The cheftestants arrived at the Top Chef kitchen and Padma introduced several characters from Sesame Street. Elmo, Cookie Monster, and Telly were the judges for the Quickfire Challenge; though one has to assume that the puppeteers got to try the food. Padma tried to announce the challenge but Cookie Monster cut her off: Make the best cookie. Padma announced the prize was $5,000.

Mike was sweating because he never made a cookie from scratch. Antonia decided to go with a twist on the traditional chocolate chip cookie. Tiffany decided to try a lemon zest shortbread cookie. Richard wanted to be aggressive and decided to put zucchini (an Elmo suggestion) into his cookie. Carla pointed out that as a caterer, she made lots of cookies. She went with one of her classic cookies. Dale decided to grind potato chips and make a non-cooked cookie. Richard unleashed his liquid nitrogen as the room fogged up.

The monsters and Padma went through each of the cookies. Richard got a bit of flak for making an ice cream disk. The monsters made some snarky remarks that worked well because they were innocent characters making the remarks. They announced the bottom two were Richard and Angelo. The favorites were Dale and Antonia. Antonia's cookie looked like cow chips to Elmo. Cookie Monster announced that the winner was Dale.

Padma used the phrase "kids in a candy store" to describe the next challenge. For the elimination challenge, Padma announced a $25,000 prize; the biggest in Top Chef history. The contestants had to go to Target and were given three hours to raid the store and create a dish for 100 employees. Padma pointed out that Target now had fresh food and not to worry. The contestants couldn't use their own knives and instead had to get all their supplies from Target.

In the middle of the night, the contestants were transported to Target. With three hours to go, the contestants started running around like crazy. Tiffany grabbed several items from the women's section; maybe she should have focused on her food instead of her wonderful hat. Several contestants started running for grill pans and tables, while others are grabbing food. Dale grabbed several irons. Antonia grabbed all her cooking utensils first, whereas Angelo and Mike worked together looking for food. All the contestants start assembling tables but with two and a half hours to go, Carla didn't even think about it and wanted tablecloths. What she must not have noticed was that most of the men didn't have tablecloths.

With two hours to go, Carla still hasn't started cooking. Richard started first and decided to go with a very blue collar dish, making sure that his flavors melted. Antonia wanted to make a nice egg with cream. Tiffany wanted to make jambalaya. Carla was still shopping, but we finally got a shot of her grabbing a food item: limes.

With an hour and a half to go, Dale decided to make a traditional college dinner using an iron: Grilled cheese and tomato soup. Carla finally showed up and everything is set up. Carla decided to make a curried apple soup with an apple slaw, but was worried that she needed a protein. Richard knew that Carla was behind the eight ball not letting her soup mature. Angelo and Mike sarcastically bickered at each other. Angelo decided to make a potato soup, but Mike suggested adding something. Tragic foreshadowing as Angelo dumped salt and bacon into his soup. Antonia thought it was crazy that so many contestants considered a soup when so much money was on the line.

With a small amount of time to go, Carla was worried about not having the right flavors, while Angelo was paranoid that his food was too salty. Their time finished and workers arrived. Dale impressed some of the contestants with his iron and soup. Along with Padma and Tom, Anthony Bourdain, Ming Tsai, and Thomas O'Brien sat at the judges table. Richard was first up. Anthony thought the food was ugly, but tasty. Dale got compliments for using an iron. Anthony considered giving Dale a urine test because he considered made yet another stoner food meal. Carla followed, but Ming thought that it was missing a protein. Antonia's dish got compliments for her egg. It seems like any episode that Anthony Bourdain is in, he loves runny egg; if Anthony was around in the Jimmy Fallon episode, he would have loved Richard's ramen. Mike's coconut soup disappointed Padma instantly, but the other judges didn't mind it. Tiffany's jambalaya was a bit soggy, but okay for Tom. Angelo's baked potato soup was too heavy and too salty. The judges pointed out that there were too many soups.

The cheftestants arrived in the stew room and everyone was tired. Carla and Mike both were feeling indifferent. Padma arrived and called Dale, Antonia, and Richard to the judging table. The three were the best of the night. Ming appreciated Richard's two cooking methods. Anthony loved Antonia's eggs. Tom liked Dale's soup and Anthony appreciated the iron. Ming announced the winner of the challenge was Dale.

Carla, Tiffany, and Angelo were the bottom three. Tom knew Carla's flavors didn't meld; Anthony pointed out that it needed a protein. Angelo's soup was too salty and too thick. Tiffany's dried spice mix made the food worse; she should have just used basic spices. Padma asked the contestants if they had any final words. Tiffany decided to speak up and started to cry as she told the judges how much fun she had.

The judges thought Carla's soup didn't develop. Tiffany's dry mix was too much and artificial. Angelo's soup was just too salty. After the commercial break Padma announced that the person going home was Angelo. Tiffany was shocked.

The real problem from editing stemmed from the fact that Mike sabotaged Angelo by telling him that it needed something. If Angelo listened to himself, he probably would have flavored it correctly. Angelo was thankful for being there, but Mike was shocked.

Next week: Paula Deen. Returning eliminated contestants. Carla waving redemption goodbye.