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The start of the evening for the men goes as well as would be expected. Edward is in complete command as the customers enter the new restaurant, Canteen. He states that he would have enjoyed another half hour of preparation but there is nothing in his demeanor that would reveal this. While Edward can be grumpy about the competition at times, he is completely in his element running a restaurant. Few people in life demonstrate the level of composure in their jobs that comes naturally for him in communicating with customers and co-workers.

The aspect of the evening that goes poorly for the men is partially their fault and partially terrible luck. The servers prove to be so incompetent that we wonder if this is their first time working in a service industry. Since the women will have the same employees, this is a snafu all the participants must address. It is particularly problematic for the men in that they have not concisely delineated which of them will expedite the others. Before the night is over, Ty and Paul wind up on the wrong side of the kitchen, wearing aprons in plain sight of the customers. This is problematic for any restaurant but the men catch a worse break since the judges notice each instance of crisis. It looks a bit sloppy and unprofessional. Still, Padma comments on how happy all of the customers appear, which is a credit to Edward’s stewardship as well as the quality of the meals being served.

The surprise of the night is that the judges are not dazzled by the food. The first course consists of two choices. Ty delivers a Thai style crab & shrimp salad, caramel fish sauce and peanuts. Paul creates a delicious looking ham & pork pate with mushrooms, braised mustard seeds and duck fat crostini. Ty’s dish is flat in the eyes of Hugh Acheson although Tom likes the sauce and Padma believes the shrimp is cooked perfectly. Hugh also likes Paul’s dish while Emeril Lagasse notes that the brioche is far too greasy.

The next course includes poached salmon in warm tomato water, clams, salmon skin & tomatillo jam, a dish from Ty and Paul. The next dish is Paul’s alone; it is a crispy skin pork belly with green apple & sweet potato puree. This one does not go well as Paul realizes too late that the dishes he has delivered to the judges do not have the mushrooms on them…and he was expediting this meal so the mistake is entirely his own. Meanwhile, there is nothing “marrying the taste” in Ty and Paul’s dish. If the team loses, both gentlemen are in some trouble. If Paul gets eliminated, the rest of this season will be frustrating to watch.

The dessert menu includes Edward’s delicious looking dish. It is an almond joy cake with malted chocolate mousse & banana coconut puree. This dessert looks like it would be worth every calorie. Meanwhile, Moto Chris creates a dish that is every bit as scattershot as his brain. The homemade cracker jack, cherries & peanut butter ice cream mix almost assuredly tastes wonderful but it looks like it has been plated by a four-year-old. We are just guessing here but we bet nobody has seen the floor of Chris’ bedroom in several years. There’s probably a pet or two hidden under several layers of clothing. The consensus about Edward’s dessert is that there is not enough coconut to call it an Almond Joy. We see this as an improvement over the candy bar but the judges clearly disagree. A divide occurs over Chris’ dish. Emeril and Hugh clearly hate it while Padma and Tom loooooove its saltiness.

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