'Top Chef' recap: Sum of its Parts

Someone who actually seemed to like this challenge was Michael V., who deconstructed a Caesar salad. I loved all of the elements of his plate — from the encapsulated dressing to the brioche bread he baked himself. But you better believe Bryan didn't like this, and in his typical childish way, called his brother a ''show off.'' I'm so over the Voltaggio bickering. Unless we see some fighting words between the two on camera, not just in their confessional asides, they're going to need to end this rivalry story line. It's the same thing every week. Do they not talk to each other when the cameras are rolling?

Back to the episode: When it came time to pick the favorites, Michael V. of course had one of the best dishes, along with Kevin, Ashley, and much to her own surprise, Jen. The Philadelphia chef, who is classically trained, admitted that deconstruction was not her thing. But even with little planning and, in her opinion, a poorly plated dish, her meat lasagna still wowed the judges.

I thought all of them deserved to be at the top, even Ashley who has had such a spotty record on the show. Her pot roast, which Bernstein fell in love with, was one of the best cooked pieces of meat of the bunch.

But in the end, Kevin took home the win for his balanced chicken mole. It was a truly well thought-out dish (classic Kevin style) that proved to the judges how hard he had worked. With his well-deserved win he received a set of Calphalon nonstick cookware. Now I know that seems like the lesser of the prizes — kind of like on The Price is Right when you get the China dish set as opposed to the brand new car. But, hey, Calphalon is nice stuff. I'd take it.

As for the worst of the bunch, Ash, Laurine, and Ron were in the bottom three. Ash, who chose shepherd's pie, admitted that he didn't know how to make the dish and just his luck, British judge Toby Young was back to point out just how bad Ash had prepared his native dish. For a meal that is two-thirds potato, there was no potato. Sure, Ash swapped out the potato in the last minute because it was too gummy, but he had to see that one coming.

Laurine also had a potato problem. Her fish and chips were more (overcooked) fish and no chips due to a re-crisping problem that left her with only 14 plate-worthy chips — two for each judge. But the chip situation wasn't even Bernstein's main gripe; it was that Laurine deconstructed her fish and chips so much that it was too hard to put back together I didn't really know what this meant, but apparently that meant Laurine didn't follow the parameters of the challenge.

But Ron, in typical Ron style, did everything wrong. He not only failed to deconstruct his paella, but also didn't even cook the rice properly. As Toby pointed out, it was dry and soggy at the same time. Huh? I'm not sure how that's possible, but it sounds really unappetizing regardless.

At least Ash and Laurine admitted their mistakes and had some sort of effort in their dishes — as slight as that effort might have been, but Ron was way off base and for that, he and his paella were sent home. About time if you ask me!

But really, if I could change the rules of the game, I would've sent Robin home. Her clam chowder was ''repulsive'' (Toby) and ''congealed'' (Padma) and seemed to be even more off base than Ron's dish. Having immunity made Robin think she could make whatever she wanted and I'm sure the judges so wanted to kick her off if they could. Here's to next week when Robin and Mike I. are paired together and the results are, of course, disastrous.

Did you guys think Ron deserved the boot? How much longer do you think Robin will last? And did anyone else notice — no ceviches last night!

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