For the quick fire they were doing the grilled cheese for Kelly. I love cheese on the outside of the sandwich! It makes a great crispy crust if you do it right! So I think that Thierry was on the right track. I would worry that David’s cream cheese would just be to runny. Carmen’s combo with manchego and tomato could be really good. But the most interesting to me was Monica’s Mediterranean grilled cheese. And Kelly agreed with me.

So our elimination challenge is a birthday party for Mekhi Phifer. It is a soul food party. Monica got to choose her protein first and no one else could use it. That is an awesome advantage. I don’t think I had ever seen the stairs in the Whole Foods market before.

Thierry is doing farro and I think he is going to have to be very careful to make sure it is done. Carmen left her stew behind at the Top Chef kitchen so she had to go get it while the clock is running down while she is gone. Monica and Thierry jumped in to help out Carmen while she was gone. Then they burned Carmen’s yucca. I have to say through everything Marcus is a bit more competitive than I thought he would be.

I love that Gayle is back! Everything looks yummy! I would love to try Monica’s dish. Marcus seemed to be struggling to keep up with the plating but people kept coming back so that may be the problem. Thierry’s roasted cauliflower and his brussel sprout slaw both sound good! I think that Marcus and Monica are going to move on. It was interesting that David had never done the pickled watermelon before but it was a big hit. The judges said Monica’s shrimp was undercooked. That may cost it for her.

Carmen won with 15 1/2 stars. Maybe her mash burning was a huge blessing in disguise! The second place chef who will also move on was Marcus.

So just 2 more weeks before we get to the winners’ round!