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Last up is Doug with his Emily Dickinson dish. He tells the judges that he was inspired by one line by Emily Dickinson - “bring me the sunset in a cup.” Thus, he’s made grilled carrot bisque to make a sunset in a bowl. Padma finds it absolutely delicious, Francis loves the carrot flavor, and Gail says that it has real depth. As a kicker, Tom says that he would applaud this dish, as it takes really humble ingredients and makes them delicious.

Wow, I’m thinking Doug is heading for his third straight Elimination Challenge win.

With absolutely no clunkers in the challenge, the judges are in a quandary. Padma says that it’s going to be hard to choose who should go home, and Gail responds that picking a winner will be even more difficult. Tackling that question, Francis says that he loved Mei’s dish, taking an image from Walden - the pond in the wintery snow - and bringing it to life on the plate. Tony loved the balance and heat in Doug’s soup. Gail stands up for Melissa, with her perfectly cooked fish.

As for who should go home, Padma notes that she was underwhelmed by George’s presentation. Tony says that Katsuji’s “mess of a dish” was itself a mess. Tom doesn’t think that Greg’s pairing of beef and chicken made any sense, and that his proteins were a bit overcooked. Padma chimes in that even though the diners should be able to “see” the literary work in the dish before them, Greg’s didn’t embody the spirit of Edgar Allen Poe. In other words, it was not so Raven.

And with that discussion concluded, all of the chefs are called before the judges. Tom says that while the chefs have had problems in the past, all of the dishes today were “really, really good.” He thought the challenge would be hard, but none of the chefs had any trouble in bringing their creative sides out. He was “really happy to be on the receiving end of the food today.”

Mei, Melissa, and Doug - those are your top three this week, America. Doug says that he was skeptical about his author but once he focused on bringing out carrot flavor, he had fun. Mei was worried about making a vegetarian dish, but was happy with it at the end of the day. Melissa felt inspired because she had a clear idea of what she wanted to do.

Tony, as the guest judge, is slated to give the verdict. Today’s winner, he says, stood head and shoulders above the rest. It was “as close to a flawless dish as [he’s] had in a long time.” And your winner today is… Mei. Wow. Good for her. This is only her second Elimination Challenge win - her first since the first episode of the season. Gail heaps on the praise. She says it was “so evocative,” and gave a sense of where and what Thoreau wrote, and was the “most delicious, satisfying plate of vegetables she’s ever eaten.” Double wow. That’s badass.

Padma says that the next decision - who should go home - was even harder. She asks Greg, with two proteins on his plate, whether he worried whether the bird aspect of his dish (the chicken symbolizing the raven) would get lost. Tony says that he’s not sure how much all of Greg’s “symbolism” actually brought to the dish.

As for Katsuji, the other chef on the bottom today, Gail says that she loved the idea of his dish, but “felt like it was pulling different ways.” Tom says that Katsuji’s sauce was too thick.

And the person going home today will be… Katsuji. That makes sense. Even though Greg may not have done as much with his “raven” theme, people rarely go home for failing to do enough with the creative side of a challenge. Perhaps the last person to do so was Beverly in season nine, where she didn’t bring enough oomph to the “wicked witch” themed challenge for Snow White & the Huntsman.

As Katsuji says his goodbyes, Tom says that though his interpretation was as good as anyone’s, his food didn’t hold up, and his beet puree was thick and messy. Katsuji says that he’s sad about leaving this way, but remains proud of his performance. He thought that he could have gone home the first day or the first week - to be honest, so did I - and thus making it this far is a triumph. He came to this country 14 years ago with nothing, and he now has a restaurant, a family, and has cooked on TV. He wants his daughter to watch his season of Top Chef and be proud of him.

I know I am.

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