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Prior to the next challenge, the contestants are treated to a meal at the world famous Commander’s Palace, a place that once featured an up and coming executive chef named Emeril Lagasse. And the guy before him wasn’t too shabby either. Paul Prudhomme is not only a world famous chef and best-selling author but also the inventor of the turducken. Suffice to say that Commander’s Palace has a reputation for being one of the most important restaurants on Earth.

Of course, if I am a contestant on the show, my first thought is “Trap!” The last time the cast was treated to a dinner such as this one, Eric Ripert turned the tables on the players by asking them to recreate the dishes on the menu that evening. And sure enough, that is exactly what transpires during the episode.

The players are treated to a four course meal. The first dish is shrimp & Tasso Henican, only one word of which I am sure is real. A busy, beautiful plate of food makes me interested enough to google the recipe, though. The next course is a stark contrast. The black skillet seared trout is basically protein on a plate, minimalist in appearance compared to the first dish. It does, however, feature the heapin’ helpin’ that the South is known for.

The third dish was created by none other than Emeril Lagasse. It is a veal chop tchoupitoulas, something that I demand be used in the next Scripps National Spelling Bee. The dish looks eerily similar to a cowboy ribeye on a pile of baked potatoes. There is a rub on top of the veal that intrigues me but it’s, you know, veal so I would never put it in my mouth.

The dessert is majestic. It is a strawberry trio that looks like sex on a plate. The first portion is petite strawberry shortcake. The middle part is a strawberry blood and sand cocktail. And the final bite is a New Orleans staple, the strawberry beignet. The chefs love all of the meals but the dessert blows their minds.

Right before the rug is pulled out from under them, Stephanie notes that she is getting “challenge stomach ache.” Her tummy is prescient. The players learn that they are situated specifically for the competition. Anyone sitting at the same table is an opponent. The challenge is simply to replicate the appropriate dish. There are 16 remaining players at the four tables. So table one will be asked to duplicate the shrimp, table two the trout, table three the veal and table four the dessert(s). In order to aid the judges, the executive chef of the restaurant will once again craft the same four courses the next day for comparison.

The odd aspect of this particular challenge is that everyone is making the same thing. As such, there are organizational issues involving ingredients, work stations and the like. During the first course, Patty loses her Russet potatoes, which may or may not be because someone else grabbed them accidentally, thinking it was their component. The other chaotic aspect is that the work space was never designed for 16 chefs so cooking space is at a premium. Mousier chefs like Bret get pushed out of the way by the more aggressive in the group. I worry that Bret lacks the competitive fire requisite to make a deep run on Top Chef.

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