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As they approach Judges' Table, Padma is ready to announce the winner of the Quickfire. Though most chefs point to Carl as their pick to win immunity, Karen takes the prize with almost 5,800 likes out of a total 23,000 likes given to all the dishes. I guess that makes sense - her dessert certainly made the most of the junk food ingredients.

As fro the Elimination Challenge, Tom wants to know why the diners didn't get decadence in the meal. Chad protests that it's hard to produce Top Chef-worthy food in a Beefsteak. Max, the founder of Beefsteak and former competitor on Top Chef Masters, acknowledges the difficulty of the challenge, but notes that you have to figure out how to get around limitations in order to excel on the show. The essence of it is pretty much, “grow up and stop complaining.”

It's not a huge surprise to see Amar, Jeremy, and Philip be declared to have won the challenge. Padma loved that Philip chose to serve bone-in meat as his dish. Tom found it appropriate for the affair. In contrast, while Tom liked the flavor of Amar's halibut, it felt out of place for the Beefsteak. “Fish seemed to trip everyone up,” he comments.

Equal parts annoying and unsurprising, the winner of the Elimination Challenge is Philip. Ughhh, I was really hoping that the mind games he likes to play with himself would trip him up again here, but looks like we'll have to tolerate him for at least another week.

On the bottom is the team of Marjorie, Isaac, and Chad. Marjorie is clearly safe, as Padma absolutely loved her vegetables and bread. Tom calls her “clearly the best baker we've ever had on the show.” Good for her.

Things are less rosy for Isaac and Chad. Tom liked Isaac's idea of serving a platter of sausage, but faults his use of chicken. Padma says she was surprised by the blandness of the dish. As for Chad, he again takes a lot of flak for incorporating microgreens. Padma wishes he had cooked with a “wilder, freer hand.” Tom didn't appreciate the presence of such a fine-dining dish at a Beefsteak.

“A Beefsteak is supposed to be a fun, over-the-top celebration of food, and some dishes just missed the mark,” he says, in what seems like a clear indictment of Chad's dish.

And yup, Chad is going home. Tom tells him that he made great food all season long, and that he'll have another chance in Last Chance Kitchen. As he departs, Chad acknowledges that “Top Chef is hard!” He says that going from the military into Top Chef, he actually feels like Top Chef was the more challenging experience. He feels like he's grown and will be able to apply the lessons he's learned back home in his kitchen. Good for him - I hope he does.

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