Wow – see that table of chefs right there? That’s quite a collection of famous chefs, and this was one hell of a great elimination challenge. I originally thought this episode was going to somehow relate to Valentine’s Day but leave it to Top Chef to redeem some of their poor elimination decisions with this very classy and classic “Last Supper” challenge. From roast chicken to eggs benedict, each contestant had to cook a dish chosen by one of the famous chefs above as the last meal they would ever want to eat. I love this concept, not to mention, the judges made a rational elimination too!

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Deep breath. Even though it’s the next day, I’m still trying to calm down from last night’s elimination. What were the judges thinking?! I’ll wait until after the jump to completely spoil the episode (if my reactions didn’t already) . But I have to say that  Eric Ripert’s tests of fish mastery brought about some very upsetting results.

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Contrary to last week’s upsetting elimination, this week’s episode was about as predictable as they come. For one thing it was restaurant wars, the one challenge that reappears each season and therefore the one challenge where we know what to expect. Don’t get me wrong, we needed predictable. Now that the season is more than halfway over, it’s time for the judges to get rid of any chef who doesn’t belong. And this time, I think they did.

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I considered many titles for this Top Chef episode 8 post, including “What the crap?” or something along the lines of this Serious Eats forum post:  “I may never watch Top Chef again.”  That said, I was SHOCKED at who went home this episode but don’t worry I won’t ruin it for you. Well, not until after the jump.

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