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The chefs head off to the Waterfront Arsenal to cook for the diners. Melissa is still not happy with the texture of her soup, though Mei Lin likes the flavors she incorporated. Aaron is talking shit about Katie’s chocolate cake (he certainly likes to pick on people). Then, in a moment of total karma, somehow (probably due to Adam bumping into it), Aaron’s pot of homemade dashi broth clatters to the ground. He had been planning on using the broth to keep his scallop noodles (yes, he’s making scallop noodles again) moist, and now the broth is gone. Mei Lin gives him some instant dashi-broth mix and hopes that it’ll be fine.

The judges arrive and we have Hugh Acheson and Jamie in place of Richard Blais and Gail. The former is a step up in terms of attractiveness, the latter, not so much.

Adam and Doug are our first pair. Adam has salt and pepper grits with a poached egg and bacon jam - basically, a delicious, unhealthy breakfast. Doug has a very trite beef tartare with ginger aioli. All four chefs vote for Adam and the Losing Team gets the first point of the war.

At this point, I turn to my husband and wonder aloud, “so what happens if the judges are split two to two? Who gets the point?”

Next we have Katsuji versus Melissa. Katsuji, for some unknown reason, starts to have a panic attack. Like, a literal panic attack. Greg jumps in and starts plating Katsuji’s dish for him. With this help, he’s able to serve up a tostada with goat cheese and charred cauliflower. Melissa has a white gazpacho with green grapes and Marcona almonds. The judges find Katsuji’s dish too rich and too oily, but they can’t get past the wateriness of Melissa’s gazpacho. Only Padma votes for Melissa, the other three vote for Katsuji.

We’re tied one to one.

It’s Greg versus Mei, which means it’s Greg’s shitake mushrooms with coconut milk broth and green curry, up against Mei Lin’s kimchi vegetables with NY strip loin and scallion salad. The judges are blown away by both dishes. Tom says (and really, it only matters what Tom says) that Greg’s dish was perfectly seasoned, down to a single grain of salt, while Mei Lin’s dish had perfectly cooked meat that didn’t lack a thing. Hugh declares that both chefs nailed their dish.

Well, seems like Greg nailed his just a bit more, as Hugh, Tom, and Jamie vote for Greg (we’re not told what Padma voted for some reason). Greg beams. Mei Lin is very cross. “Losing twice sucks,” she tells the camera. As Greg walks back to his team, Tom comments that Greg “has a way of balancing all these flavors, like here, with his aromatics.”

The winners are up two-to-one when Keriann takes the field against Stacy. Keriann feels the pressure, but believes that her herbed meatball with red onion jam can win. “Really?” I ask incredulously, “you think you’re going to win with a meatball?” I feel like I’ve seen this folly many times in the past. Stacy, meanwhile, offers marinated beets with pecan sage yogurt and horseradish. Neither dish seems like a hit. Tom declares that Keriann’s meatball was dry, tasted only of onion, and had a compote that was too sweet. Meanwhile, he wishes that Stacy had incorporated more horseradish flavor. Every judge gives Stacy the edge, though, so our “war” is all tied up.

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