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Amar has the ode to Chef Hayden - a butter-poached lobster, sautéed bok choy, tapioca coconut curry, and tempura onion rings. Michael remembers Chef Hayden as a chef who pushed boundaries, putting flavors together that didn’t make sense. This dish, Michael notes, is spot on. Richard calls the decision to make lobster tail “bold,” and finds that it was done perfectly.

Carl and Philip are up. Carl has a fricassee of California vegetables, with burgundy snails and a fried egg. Ten years ago, he graduated from culinary school, traveled through France, and feel in love with snails. Antonia finds everything cooked and seasoned very well, calling the purée “beautiful.” Gail says that she can’t stop staring at the dish and thinking about it. Wow.

Philip follows up with a ceviche mixto with tiger shrimp, halibut, razor claims, and squid. Ten years ago, he says, he was dating a Peruvian girl, and her grandmother taught him how to make ceviche. Michael finds that pieces of seafood leave him with a “not-so-fresh fish taste.” Philip assures him that he tasted every single fish that went into the dish, but “thank you very much.” Antonia says that it was only when she mixed all the ingredients together did she find the right balance of seasoning of acid. Philip tells us that he’s getting frustrated - he loves acid and can’t seem to do anything right for the judges. “Thank you for the feedback,” he says almost sarcastically.

Meanwhile, Kwame is having a very hard time plating his dish. His sliced thumb aside, the bad memories that keep encroaching on his thoughts just seem to be appearing on his dish.

Jeremy, armed with immunity, offers the judges a lobster ravioli with shellfish sauce and king salmon. His mother had been adopted as a young girl, and 10 years ago, Jeremy had helped his mother find her birth parent - an Italian grandmother who taught them how to make pasta. Tom questions why salmon was paired with lobster. “I think lobster on its own may have made sense,” he says, but not alongside salmon. Antonia agrees. Padma comments, “good thing you have immunity.”

Kwame closes things out with jerk broccoli with corn bread pudding and smoky blue cheese. Ten years ago, he intones, his relationship with his father crumbled and they haven’t spoken since. His last happy memories of the two of them involve their eating together at a jerk chicken shack. Digging in, Tom says that the dish “is just confusing the hell out of me.” Antonia compares the corn pudding to “mush oatmeal.” Kwame admits that maybe this was “not [his] best work.” Michael quite correctly concludes that maybe Kwame put too much of his emotional baggage into this dish.

As the chefs come before Judges’ Table, Tom states that today’s challenge maybe “got in peoples’ heads.” Usually, at this point in the season, with 10 chefs left, “people go home for making good dishes. Today, someone is going home for making a bad dish.” Oh boy.

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