First leg: Black finishes first while Red falls behind since Preeti has never shucked a clam before so she’s treating them like oysters. Red Team regrets their decision.

Second Leg: Black finishes first again with the speed of Eli; the Blue team follows closely behind. The Reds are still working on those clams.

Third leg: Blues finishes first and the Black team falls behind.

Final Leg: The Blue team wins. They prematurely celebrate only to find out that they must compete against each other in a cook-off. The winner get 15,000 dollars, and Jennifer C. takes it with her "clam cevhiche with citron vinegar."

Finally, the Elimination Challenge. Each chef must come up with a signature dish that represents their vice. Judging the elimination round is Gail Simmons from Food and Wine, Tom Colicchio, and guest Wolfgang Puck.

This is where we get to learn a bit about each chef's personality. Mike cooks poached halibut with eggplant puree to represent his hot temp and foul mouth. Eli incorporates his arrogance, drinking and his bitterness into his “buttered” scotch with scallops, cashews and beer powder dish. Ashley loves red wine and bourbon so she makes chicken liver ravioli with red wine demi-glace. Among the Blues, Bryan likes bourbon and cigars after his steak, so he made a NY strip steak with parsnip puree and bourbon reduction caramel.

Mattin the Frenchie thinks being a starstruck tourist is a vice so he made a buffalo rib eye with Madeira sauce, zucchini and mashed potatoes.

Jennifer C. is another one with a taste for the sauce so she makes poached halibut with whiskey, bourbon, scotch and black peppercorn sauce. I got drunk looking at it.

Jesse loves whiskey hence her braised chicken with a whiskey reduction, Yukon potatoes, and fried egg.

Robin has a vice for pork. (Never heard of that one.) So she tries to make it five ways but her procrastination vice makes her misses the deadline. She does dish up a pork tenderloin stuffed with chorizo and bread pudding.

The judges loved Bryan’s steak but not the puree. They loved Jennifer C’s halibut. Jesse’s chicken was overcooked and Mattin’s dish didn’t make sense.

Next up, the Greens. Ash’s vice is procrastinating so he made a poached halibut with ratatouille and parsley coulis only covering half the plate. Clever.

Jen Z.’s hot temper inspired her to make chile relleno stuffed with seitan and tomatillo salsa.

I had to rewind my Tivo several times and I still couldn’t make out Ron’s vice through his accents. He said something about Spring, and fish and days. Huh? He made a jerk bass with collard greens and Haitian hash.

Laurine put on her vices on a plate -- bacon donuts with chocolate and beer sauce. Laurine should make breakfast for me every morning.

The judges like Ron’s dish was good but didn’t get his vice. Jen’s chili relleno did not do so well. They thought it was clunky and not appealing. They loved Laurine’s sauce but not the donut.

Finally, it's the Reds' turn. Mike V did a tribute to plastic surgery with a rack of lamb with coconut sauce and gnocchi. What, is he a failed surgeon?

Preeti loves Manhattans so she made pork tenderloin with bourbon sweet potato puree.


Eve likes things simple and less complicated; her vice is "playing it safe." She makes shrimp and scallops in a curry cream sauce.

Procrastinator Kevin make an arctic char with turnip salsa verde.

Wolfgang thought Preeti dish tasted too much like alcohol. They love Kevin’s dish. They thought Eve’s dish was "just ok." They thought Mike's dish was clever and his "rack" was good.

End result: Kevin won the challenge and Jen Z was told to “pack her knifes and go.” Looks like Jennifer C doesn’t have to abbreviate her name anymore.

Nicki R. is a Southern girl living in the big city of Chicago. She loves quiet evenings a home watching horror films with her dogs Jezebelle and Zombie. Check out her blog, Hey, Look Behind You!