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Since this is all about speed, I predict that Angelo and Marcel will be on top. They’re crazy fast (I would have loved to see Hung do this challenge). As for who will struggle? I’m thinking Carla should be worried and that Richard will have a hard time shining with this constraint.

Oh, and there’s pressure. The winner not only gets immunity - they get a brand new TOYOTA PRIUS. Holy cow. Best Top Chef prize EVER.

Tom makes one last note before the chefs start: the judges will consider the difficulty of the dish, so he doesn’t want to see any tuna tartare.

The clock starts and chaos ensues. Everyone is running everywhere, getting ingredients and utensils. I wonder if someone will accidentally run into another chef with a knife. Marcel, in a brilliant move, avoids the fridge and snags Tom’s leftover fish.

By the end of eight minutes, there’s a lot of food, but not a lot that I’d want to eat. On the bottom is Dale (who tried to make his own pad thai noodles but finished with yellow glop on Saran Wrap), Jamie (who served up one clam as her entire dish) and Angelo (who made a raw dish - exactly what Tom said not to do).

As for the winners, Tom liked Mike’s dish (as he managed to develop a lot of flavors), Richard (who brilliantly integrated foie gras into his dish) and Marcel (who somehow managed to make dashi in nine minutes). Tom will give the car to the chef who managed to create the most amount of flavors in the time given - I’m thinking that it’ll be Marcel but I’m wrong (just like I was in my prediction of who would shine/struggle) because Mike Isabella is going home with a brand new Prius.

Incidentally, I know the chefestants are not supposed to reveal how they did on the show until the show airs, but how are Mike’s friends supposed to ignore the fact that he’s been driving a new car for the past couple of weeks? Seems like a spoiler to me.

So the QF was about speed and the Elimination Challenge (EC) will be as well. The chefs will be going to New York City’s Chinatown (“it’s essentially like going to China,” Marcel says, revealing for the umpteenth time on the show how immature he is) to cook dim sum during a lunch rush.

“If you thought making a dish in eight and a half minutes was tough, get ready,” Tom warns them. I wonder if the chefs really understand what they’re getting themselves into.

Meanwhile, Dale of the yellow, goopy noodle paste is excited to have the chance to redeem himself.

The chefs prep the night before (which consists of the chefs sitting in a circle and yelling out the dishes they want to do) and then head to the Chinese market to shop (which consists of them complaining that none of the shopkeepers can speak English). Fabio spots some turtles being sold as ingredients and calls it “totally mean.” Apparently he owns a pet turtle and takes her out on walks.

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