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The chefs are unleashed in Whole Foods and the smack-talking and strategizing begin almost immediately. Amanda learns that she's going head-to-head with Shirley and instantly feels the pressure, knowing what a serious cook Shirley is. Jim and Katsuji figure out that they're going up against each other and tweak their dishes to highlight what they view as their tactical advantage - with Jim simplifying his dish because of Katsuji's tendency to use too many ingredients, and Katsuji emphasizing his bold flavors given Jim's tendency towards restraint. Brooke and Silvia learn that they're both doing dessert for their respective teams - Brooke sees this as redemption for having not made it to the dessert round in her head-to-head against Kristen Kish in her TC finale, and Silvia plans to do a take on a yogurt cake her mother used to make her.

The mind games continue through the prep period. The green team is loud and emphatic about how good Silvia's yogurt cake is, giving pause to the blue team, as Brooke's panna cotta has not set up correctly. Also on her side of things, Shirley is running out of time to make her homemade noodles and decides to cut them in irregular shapes purposefully because she doesn't have time to make them uniform.

The superfans arrive, bringing a level and noise to the final moments of preparation. With the judges seated on a platform in the middle of the audience, it really reminds me of Emeril's set when he used to do his show on Food Network. The rules of the challenge are announced by Padma - each of the four judges will have one vote, and the superfans will collectively have their own vote. First dish to get three votes will win the point for that team.

And first up is Emily from the blue team with a black radish-cured salmon, against Sam's “banh mi,” which really looks like a “banh where is it?” It's a teeny, tiny little hors d'oeuvre that looks nothing like a typical banh mi with its big, crunchy roll and bountiful veggies. The vote from the superfans is incredibly close, with Emily prevailing by two votes. Chris also goes with Emily because of her aioli, while Tom goes with Sam's banh mi due to his use of acid. Richard swings things for Emily, who takes home the point.

Round two is a clash of contrasts, as Jim has a grilled radish with an oyster emulsion and Katsuji has a crab salad enchilada with radish tortilla. Given his bold flavors, it's not at all surprising that the diners go overwhelmingly with Katsuji. Tom votes for Jim but Richard “totally disagrees” with Tom, voting for Katsuji's “refined” dish. Padma, though, liked Jim's dish better, leaving Chris to break the tie. He goes with Katsuji, and we're tied up with one point per team.

BJ slaps on the last of his ingredients, pressed for time as always. He puts up a conserva with pink radish and trout against Jamie's braised French-breakfast radish. The voters pick Jamie, as does Tom, declaring that Jamie “nailed it.” Richard goes with BJ based on the progression of the green team's meal so far. Chris agrees. With Padma as the decider, she goes with Jamie's dish and blue is up by a point.

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