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Grocery shopping and prep work goes off without a hitch, save for one inflammatory (and unnecessary) argument between Michael and Dale. Apparently, neither one of them has left second grade as both of them claim that they'd called "savesies" on one of the fridges. Oh yeah, and Jaime is taking way too long cleaning her fish, to the complete annoyance of Anita.
With two and a half hours to go, Kelly strides into the room looking dangerously thin (strange for the host of a cooking show, no?). The plans have changed, she says. Instead of an inside banquet, the lunch will take place on the outside terrace . . . basking in the hot, Los Angeles sun. I'm thinking that Anita should re-think her raw seafood bar . . .

As if that weren't enough, each Master now has to get rid of one of their sous-chefs.

Fabio is not happy. "I'm sweating like a mountain goat at the beach and now she's telling us that we have to get rid of one of us?" he asks incredulously. Oh Fabio, how I've missed your broken, sometimes-inappropriate English.

Michael cuts Brian, saying that his part of the menu is all finished. Hubert cuts Spike. Rick cuts Betty, saying that he only wanted her to help make his table pretty (pretty misogynistic, no?) and Anita cuts slow, slow Jaime.

In no time flat, the chefs are moving their food out to the terrace for plating – Anita is last, working furiously to finish. Michael is complaining about the look of his table.

A sea of customers enters and the judges (James, Jay and Gael) are quick to try Anita's food. They compliment her pork spareribs and noodle salad (heavenly, says Gael) but there's an overall sense that she's lacking a "wow" factor both in the dishes presented and their flavor.

Michael is next with a rustic Italian buffet including prime rib, three anti-pastas and two desserts. Gael is not a fan of his risotto, James complains about the briny flavor of the shrimp and Gael complains further about his mushy, grainy swordfish.

Whew, Anita may be safe after all.

Everything is good with Hubert and Rick. Our French chef has laid out a veritable feast with lamb, oysters, gazpacho . . . Gael says that she feels that all $2,000 of his budget (groceries and tableware) went into the food. There are no complaints.

Similarly with Rick, with a Mexican food buffet, we have a diverse spread of dishes that run the gambit of Mexican cuisine. Tortilla soup, shrimp, guacamole . . . there's even an avocado ice cream that Richard Blais is freezing on the spot with liquid nitrogen. Rick is a sunny and bright chef and he's a joy to have on this show.

Back at Critics Table, Rick gets further praise for his expansive selection of food and his willingness to trust his dessert (the ice cream) to his sous-chef, despite the fact that Rick himself had never worked with liquid nitrogen before.

Hubert gets a warm welcome, having put out a feast that tasted like a million bucks according to Jay. Gael loved his oyster and James loved the progression of his dishes.

Anita gets a lackluster response. Everyone loved the spareribs but she gets skewered for putting out a raw bar in the hot sun. "Did you consider doing something else?" James asks. Anita responds by saying that she had no time and her selection of seafood was not suitable for use in a different dish. ("A fish stew with tuna?" she suggests jokingly. The judges laugh and appear to agree with her.)

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