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Greg’s food is up for tasting first. He gives the judges a grilled strip loin with ancho chile, beets, and a Valencia orange sauce. The chefs rave about how well he’s incorporated the look and color of his painting - with very earthy ingredients set off by a bright (both in color and flavor) orange sauce.

Doug, as is his wont, frets about the fact that his dish, when compared to the other finalists, is not “fine dining” enough. He offers up a brisket Texas red chili with tomatillo and a masa cake. Tom finds it earthy but with some great acid. Gail compliments the use of cheese.

Melissa goes next with her smoked eggplant ravioli with shrimp and chorizo. Padma loves the smoky eggplant and declares it “beautifully done.”

Finally, we have Mei with her snapper and bass crudo with chicken skin crumble and soy gastrique. It doesn’t look like a lot of food on the plate - basically, bits of bites scattered around one portion of the plate. It’s essentially the type of high-end food that gets ridiculed for having frou-frou flavors and no substance - food that makes you want to go out to Chipotle afterwards because you’re still hungry. Upon tasting the dish, though, Gail says that she found beautiful moments of brightness in it. Tom likes both Mei’s use of acid and chicken skin.

Upon regrouping with the other judges, Tom notes that the chefs cooked with heart and passion. Padma says her favorite was Greg and his steak. Gail agrees that his dish was complex and subtle at the same time, and picks out his use of orange as a highlight. Tom says that Greg both represented his artist’s work on the plate and made something delicious.

Padma wishes that Mei had been a bit more wild in her presentation, but Tom points out that Mei was wild in terms of her flavor combinations. Gail loved the use of chicken skin and said that there was a lot to discover when she dug around the dish.

Enrique liked the warmth in Doug’s dish. Tom says that Doug’s food reminded him of the way chefs can take inspiration from outside of the kitchen - a jarring experience that changes a chef’s style. He notes that Doug hadn’t cooked in this style during any part of the season.

Finally, everyone agrees that Melissa did a nice job with her dish, but Tom criticizes her for incorporating certain elements for “shock value and color,” and not for flavor. Gail agrees that there were things on the plate that she wouldn’t personally have paired together.

Following this conference, the chefs are brought before the judges, with the four new pieces by the four artists hanging off by the wall. Tom says that all four chefs found inspiration in the challenge and made things very tough for the judges. Someone will go home today, he says, but that chef should hold his or her head up high because he or she made a great dish.

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