'Top Chef' season premiere recap: The Night Chicago Dined

So that's that, and they called it a night. Some socialized with champagne and beer in the apartment (which Mark said is a ''freakin' mansion'' compared with his Manhattan ''shoebox,'' but just wait until tensions rise), while Nimma hit the sack because she's not here to have fun; she's here to work.

Next day, it was time to draw knives. The eight winning chefs had to choose one of the losers to compete against in a classic-dish cook-off. The losers got to choose the dish from a list of standards like lasagna, duck à l'orange, crab cakes, chicken piccata, and soufflés.

It became clear shortly after the trip to Whole Foods that Andrew is going to be a pill. As he and his nemesis Richard began cooking their respective crab cakes, Andrew realized the kitchen wasn't stocked with mayo, so when Richard pulled out the jar he had purchased at the store, Andrew was frustrated and called him a ''little sly, little shark face.'' (''What is up with that guy,'' my roommate muttered.) Andrew mixed his own, but then Richard thought better of himself and finally passed over his jar. Andrew, however, felt crossed: ''It won't be necessary now.'' The joke really is on Andrew, who already has quacked ''motherf---a!'' at least three times and used air quotes to describe Richard as his ''competitor.'' He was fronting as if this were a Boyz n the Hood knife fight, while Richard seemed more focused on finishing the task at hand than intentionally ruffling feathers.

Tom, Padma, Rocco, and guest judge Anthony Bourdain (yay!) then taste-tested the results. Stephanie, Richard (who seems the strongest contestant so far, although that usually doesn't last long), Nikki, Antonia, Lisa, Dale, and Valerie beat out their competitors, and I for one would have been willing to test all the winning dishes, especially the soufflé (rice pudding and espresso, hell, yes!). While Stephanie, who was down and out on the quickfire challenge, was declared the winner, the bottom four, consisting of Ryan, Erik, Nimma, and Mark, awaited judgment in the (what else?) GladWare-filled storage room. All four were somewhat negligent in their choices: Ryan for not knowing what chicken piccata was; Erik for one of the most unappetizing presentations I've seen given to a soufflé; Mark, for conceptual reasons; and Nimma, for making shrimp scampi, an already bland concept, into a dish that had no color or flavor other than that of salt and cauliflower mush. The judges deliberated, with Rocco getting in a one-liner about Ryan: ''It wasn't only his gnocchi that was dense.'' But they decide to give Nimma the ax, which seems right. I appreciated her work ethic, but she had been criticized during the quickfire for a pizza that needed salt.

What do you think? Who annoyed you, who seemed like a sweetie, and who do you predict will make it to the end?

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