I have come to think Michael Voltaggio is a complete jerk -- not least to his brother, who he's obviously really threatened by. I hope Bryan kicks his ass.

Yep, he's a total jerk. But you can't dispute the guy can cook! Did you see Padma and Tom fighting over his chicken dish this week? And if you recall Hung, the winner from a few seasons ago, you don't have to be nice to everyone in order to be the Top Chef. --Liz

Great episode. But something struck me tonight and that was Robin's behavior.
No matter the circumstances, do not physically touch somebody. She pushed Laurine around whilst shopping (that seemed intentionally ruder than just a jovial push) and at the very beginning of the "dessert fight", she smacked Michael V in the arm. Legally, no matter how you twist or turn it, a push or a smack could be considered assault.
Michael V does not need anything to fall back on because he is light years ahead of that Robin, but Laurine could have put in a complaint. After the Cliff-Marcel incident (which, of course, the Robin-Laurine contact, is not comparable to), we know that they are clauses in the competitor's contracts concerning physical actions. If i would have been Laurine, i would not have let Robin push me like that. I would have had a word with the producers.
If Robin thinks that what she did is ok, she should be aware that it is much safer to vent one's feelings verbally. There is violence in Robin that transgresses the spirit of healthy competitiveness. We do not really know how she behaves when the camera's are off but there is a reason why her fellow competitors shun her or in general dislike her. She is the Lisa of season 6 without the talent to make it to the finale...and one has to give Lisa some credit, she stuck to verbal abuse only !

Ardent Fan, you obviously are a devoted fan if you're bringing up such pivotal TC moments as the Marcel-Cliff incident! That was certainly a shocking elimination...I personally didn't expect someone to get kicked off a cooking show for violence, but you're right that they do have contracts to adhere to. I bet Robin's just so frustrated being the outcast that she feels she's got to express it physically. With any luck, we won't have to put up with her any more and she can go home and decompress. And thanks for bringing up Lisa. She's perhaps my least favorite cheftestant of all time. I cringe just thinking of her. --Liz

While I know you gals don't care too much about Jen, I'm glad you didn't ribbed on her failures too much on your recap. Very much appreciated. It was a hard week for a Jen fan, so painful to watch.

I always enjoy, and most of the time agree with your thoughts, your opinions on Eli & Jen excluded.

Hi DWN, see, we don't pick on Jen all the time! Restaurant Wars is probably the toughest challenge all season, so it seemed only right to cut her some slack. It did seem odd that she wanted to fire all of the fish at her station made-to-order, but obviously she cared that the food was fresh when it go to the diners. Very painful to watch, indeed. Maybe she'll do better next week to at least keep one woman chef on going forward. --Liz

I'm going to have to disagree with Liz on this one. I don't recall us ever discussing being hard (or not) on Jen this week. It was more that she didn't really stand out one way or the other. The flaws other cheftestants had were far greater -- it stands out in my mind that Laurine handed the judges the plates and left immediately more than that Jen had problems with her timing/one dish. --Justine

JFM hasn't been particularly jerkfacey in 5 or 6 episodes. I know he made a chauvinistic comment in the first ep, but maybe it's time to give it a rest. There's no question that the other chefs respect him.

Liz, you really have a thing for short chubby guys. You and the Seinfeld version of Marrissa Tommei have that in common.

Jen doesn't seem like such a tough nail anymore. She drives me insane though. Too much of a stereotype of every Philly girl I've ever known. And, really, her bristling over the battle of the sexes because "it doesn't matter if your a man or a woman" was every bit as annoying and childish as JFM's comment about female chefs not being able to step to him.

AK, you're right JFM hasn't been too jerkfacey as of late, but maybe he's just being jerkfacey behind the scenes. Hopefully he'll have some kind of blowup again with Robin to make him live up to his moniker again. And Jen is totally cracking under the pressure (although I'm sure anyone would to a certain degree with the stress of being on Top Chef). She showed so much promise as a leader in the episode where they cooked for military families; now she's regressed so far.

And although I may have a soft spot for short, chubby guys, I prefer my guys with a full head of hair. I think Marissa Tomei on Seinfeld liked her men balding. I'll pass on that part. --Liz

I have been advocating from the start of this blog that Jerkface Mike is not in fact a jerkface - I believe this episode showed that Mike has a good heart, even if he has a jerkface.

Liz, hands off my Tom, he is mine, you can have Eli. And what is with Padma flirting with Tom now that she is a single woman? Even if Tom wasn't claimed by me that is highly inappropriate since he is married. I mean, I love him, but in private, and in the comment section of this blog, not on a national TV show. Oh, and the pig tattoo is on Kevin's arm, he told us in the Pigs and Pinot episode.

In regards to calling the place Revolt - Bryan, your restaurant is named Volt, no surprise you'd want to get the Voltagio name in there, if they wanted it to seem groundbreaking a better choice would have been Revolution - the fact that Eli and Robin get an E and an R and the Voltagio brothers got half their name in is pretty much a metaphor for how the team worked. But I love Michael and would bear him little future cocky Rockstar chefs if he wanted them so it doesn't bother me that much. Plus they won, so he was right.

Now that my dark-horses are all out of the running I am going to say it is Michael, Kevin and Bryan in the finals. Jen may choke - pressure is getting to her. But I would not count Jerkface Mike out - he could have been laying low and waiting to pull out all his tricks until the end. Plus he made Kibbe last week, and my grandma makes that - so I'm throwing him the Armenian vote.

Robin is the Wendy Pepper of Top Chef. Remember how Wendy did horribly all season then pulled out a great dress for Banana Republic? That pear dessert was Robin's Banana Republic Dress - if she makes it to the final four expect something orange and ugly, covered in feathers.

I don't even know where to begin on your comment, FMK. What about JFM in this episode showed you he had a good heart? Just that he didn't try to take control and actually was a team player? To me, once a jerkface, always a jerkface. And way to pull out a Wendy Pepper reference! I totally forgot about her. Remember when she thought someone stole the picture of her daughter? More classic reality TV moments. --Liz

I am with you DWN as a Jen fan. You know exactly where she stands. Though she often seems frazzled, she has always been able to get it together to create a dish the judges compliment highly.

However, had it not been for her performance to date, she would have been gone. She probably should have packed up her knives in last night's episode. Jen produced two dishes the judges really did not like. I feel like they were looking for an out -- and Laurine, the quiet host who gave no descriptions, was an easy target.

Last night was a gift. I bet Jen gets it together and makes a comeback.

By the way, what do you think Kevin was mad about at the end of the episode. For some reason, I didn't think it was about their overall performance. Maybe he thought Jen should go too?

I think Kevin was mad that he was in the losing group, or maybe that the judges were questioning his ability to cook lamb. That's got to be a real blow to a chef when they get bashed on the most fundamental tasks in the cooking realm. Or maybe since they lumped him in the same group as Laurine. I'd be pissed, too. --Liz

Okay, I guess I should take back my sympathy for Robin from last week. I really don't like the over-the-top cursing, but the hitting is inexcusable. She claimed she pushed Laurine because the other team closed the car door on them going into the store? That was Mike I., not Laurine, and he was definitely kidding.
I absolutely loved the editing of Micahel V. whining about Robin's verbal abuse, mixed in with his baby tantrums and over-the-top cursing to his brother. Can we say hypocrite? Maybe he thinks it's okay to do that to family? Having said that, I don't think he is necessarily an awful person, I just think he is immature.
I'm not sure why Brian didn't accept the money from his brother. I thought he was a little jealous, maybe? I do think he is the most mature and composed of the bunch. He is probably tired of babysitting.
I'm still putting Bearded Kevin at the top of the board. He is just so giggly and fun.

Without a doubt, Bravo's trying to paint Michael V as the most immature 30-something with children as they possibly can. Bryan's probably just fed up with his brother trying to play the martyr and win everyone's good graces by splitting the money. I think they should have pooled their money and done something good for their parents. For me to fully throw my support behind Bearded Kevin, he needs to give me another good "Ta-Da!!!!" --Liz

I live in DC and eat at Mike Isabella's restaurant a lot. It's incredible. I've heard from his coworkers that he's a really nice guy and that they definitely edit his jokey nature to seem mean.

I'm still a die-hard Jen fan. I think she'll put it together. Otherwise, Kevin is the silent hero who will take it all.

Justine and I ate at Abacrombie in Baltimore before Jesse left the restaurant. It was really good. Maybe we should plan a trip to JFM's restaurant and get a picture with him. --Liz

Just as long as you don't tell him our nickname for him, or at least after we eat. --Justine

Toby, being a restaurant critic, was probably talking about 3 out of 5 stars. At first I thought, "So what? Isn't that just slightly above average?" However, after reading his blog on Bravo's website, it's actually very high praise from him. He only gives 4-5 stars for extremely exceptional restaurants and, let's be fair, Restaurant Wars can't really compare to actual, established restaurants. That Toby said their temporary restaurant would have gotten the same 3 out of 5 stars that actual restaurants get from him seems pretty phenomenal.

Also, I'm skeptical about this being the "best" restaurant wars. They didn't have to worry about decor and got to work in a good kitchen!

Lastly, for those attempting to "redeem" JFM: it was a mere two episodes ago that JFM was paired with Robin and basically did everything he could to fail to acknowledge her existence, giving her cooking tasks and then admitting to tossing them out and even failing to recognize her when talking to the judges.

I don't care if this is a competition. I don't care if Robin is an annoying person with (relatively) mediocre cooking skills. That's just uncalled for. JFM has consistently failed to acknowledge that *any* of the female chefs have any ability, whatsoever, even Jen (who, IMO, is one of the final four). He's a chauvinist, through and through, and was lucky he didn't end up on a plate next to a glass of Pinot last episode.

But to you, Scott, do you think it is fair to judge the chefs on the decor of the restaurant? It's primarly a cooking show. Bravo had "Top Design" to find out the best interior decorators in the reality TV realm ("See ya later, decorator" anyone?) And thanks for taking our side in the great JFM debate --Liz

P.S.

It seems ironic to me that Mission would not do a dessert, due to the high failure rates they have on this show, yet do a lamb dish which, AFAIK, also has a pretty high failure rate.

I've never seen a piece of lamb on this show that wasn't still "Baaa"-ing.

I mean, $2,500 is definitely generous and, for most people--even wealthy people--is nothing to scoff at, but that was a pretty transparent attempt at magnanimity after acting like a controlling and abrasive punk for most of the episode.

I'm not saying I don't appreciate the attempt at leadership, but compare his attempt at leadership in the kitchen to Jen's when they were cooking for the military. It's a stark contrast.

I'm not as big a fan of Michael V. as Liz is, but I'd say that he gets at least part of a pass for his yelling because of the stress of restaurant wars. Liz pointed out to me that the chefs served plates, not family-style food, and had to plan a whole menu instead of just worry about their own dish. That team dynamic can add to the stress level significantly.

Still, I'll give you that Jen might be a better leader -- though she got bogged down with the fish and I didn't hear her ask for help or make a decision about changing things up to get out of the weeds, and those are options a leader should consider. --Justine

Ugh, I hate putting myself in a position to defend JFM, since he grates for me as much as most people, but I really think people are watching everything he does through the prism of his first-episode statement of superiority to all female chefs.

To say that he hasn't acknowledged the abilities of Jen is flatly inaccurate. He seems well aware of his place in the pecking order. That is, solidly below David the Gnome, Brassballs Jen, and the Brothers Scowl.

He did everything in his power not to acknowledge Robin during their joint challenge, this much is true, but maybe that's because she didn't deserve any credit? Hopefully you've noticed that there isn't a single chef in the bunch that respects her ability at all. Perhaps it isn't a coincidence, and she, in fact, woefully out of her league.

Basically, I think this would all be self-evident if JFM hadn't made that smarmy, chauvinistic remark back in the first ep. This isn't to absolve him of that remark, but merely to say that one dickheadish statement doesn't make someone wrong in any ensuing instance. I think that's basically what it's come to here.

Now, let me be clear that I would never want to spend more than five minutes with JFM (or, to be fair, the JFM that the producers have presented to us on the show). He doesn't possess a single quality that I find endearing in a human being. But, he's clearly a capable chef, which can't be said for some of the recent exits, and you'll notice that none of the other chefs seem to dislike him the way most viewers do. That's usually a good sign that there's some manipulation going on in the editing room.

Umm, I think AK just gave me and Justine new nicknames. David the Gnome...brilliant! --Liz

I'd say that JFM has been quite jerky in recent episodes -- when he was working with Robin during the dinner party challenge, he was rude to her though in the end she saved him because he didn't know how to cook with the Asian ingredients.

Let's not forget that extreme cockiness is another hallmark of jerkfacedness (and I can say that because I came up with the nickname).

The prosecution rests. --Justine

I love Michael V. He was smart and took control of the kitchen and if he was in the Mission kitchen there is no way he would have let Jen and Kevin take on the difficult dishes they did, he would have known it's too hard to cook mussels to order and he would have watched out for all the food before it went out. He deserved the win. Bryan is the only chef who has never been in the loser's circle for any Elimination challenge. Jen would have been sent home on any other episode, but lucky for her and the Judges, they were able to make Laurene's hosting a bigger issue. Am fine with that, goodbye Laurene. Stress is wearing Bryan down and Michael knows it and is pushing his buttons hard, which might backfire.

Agreed that Jen would have gone home in any other challenge that graded just the food. Laurine's lack of charisma as well as not overseeing the lamb dish made her a target. Justine and I were suspicious when they said the person doing front-of-house had to be responsible for a dish as well. That seemed really hard, and obviously something over Laurine's comfort level. --Liz

Re: Decor
You're correct in that this is primarily a cooking competition and I'm not suggesting that they be judged on the decor. What I'm saying is that having to deal with the decor is a challenge. Top Chef isn't just cooking, it's "Ok, you can cook. Now let's see how you cook under these conditions (faulty equipment, in a desert, use only microwaves, etc)."

Frankly I'm glad to see the decor aspect gone. But with one less challenge the expectation should be that everything else is better. It shouldn't be a surprise that this is the best resuarant wars - they were able to focus more on the cooking aspect.

Re: JFM

I don't recall everything he said or when he said it. My impression of him is not some hold over from some offhand comment in the first episode. I don't have the energy for that kind of grudge. Rather, it's constantly reinforced everytime he speaks.

While I can't find any video clips to validate my claim, I distinctly remember him discussing who he felt the top chefs were in this competition and there was no mention of Jen (or any other female chef) and he has consistently equated the "lesser" chefs with the "female" chefs.

As far as his challenge with Robin, to assign her cooking tasks and then arbitrarily refuse to include her food in a cooking competition is unconscionable. Regardless of whether or not anything Robin cooked ended up on the plate, it was a team presentation. I'm not suggesting she get "credit" for something she didn't do. I'm just saying that it was a joint presentation. To stand there infront of all the guests and basically act like Robin doesn't exist is out of line.

Thanks for getting on the JFM bandwagon, Scott. I'd forgotten about how he acted like Robin wasn't even there as they presented their food for the dinner party. I was offended at that, too.

Good point about the decor element being taken away -- I would say that the decor part might have been evened out by making the front of house person responsible for a dish though. That extra wrinkle means, to me at least, that Brothers V.! and friends legitimately did have the best restaurant in the history of the show. --Justine

OK, now I feel guilty for having hijacked this blog. And let me reiterate that I'm not a JFM fan, but merely someone who thinks the hate he receives is disproportionate to the hate he deserves.

JFM isn't excessively cocky. In fact, ever since the first few episodes, I'd say he's been thoroughly humbled and now understands his rightful place in the second-tier of chefs (and this year, there's a chasm between the two tiers).

Eli is certainly more cocky than him. The Brothers Scowl too, even if their ability warrants it. Heck, at this point Robin's overcompensations for being the clearcut worst-remaining chef have made her more abrasively cocky than JFM. The only contestants on the show (chef or contestant, never both, dear god) that aren't excessively cocky are David the Gnome and Brassballs Jen, and they're arguably the two best chefs on the show.

I'll say again, all JFM judgements from episode 2 onward seem to be nothing more than lasting indictments of that comment in the first episode. And I refer back to the fact that we've yet to see a confessional segment from any of the other chefs that paints JFM as a nuisance in any way. Heck, even when he told that stupid Chicken Florentine joke 600 times("Florentine... Foreign To Me!!! Get it! It's a sounds-like joke!! Hardy Har Har") the housemates seemed reasonably amused by his meatheadishness (meatheadosity?).

The Defense Rests (seriously this time).

How can you hate on "cheftestant"?! That alone might discredit your whole outlook on life!

But in all seriousness, I think we can agree to disagree on the cockiness pecking order. Liz and I have said before that there's something about Jen that rubs us the wrong way. I wasn't impressed with her performance this episode (but nobody was, including Jen herself), and I'll wait to see what she does next week. At the least, I can hope she surprises us along with everybody else so Robin goes home. --Justine

Um, Tre went home for his horrible dish a few seasons back, I was kinda hoping for something big like that for say someone like...JEN. Anyway...

Michael V is fantastic. He deserves to win. Him or his brother. I'm all about Team Volt. And Eli. and Kevin. That's all. Everyone else...please pack your knives and go.

I'm glad someone else is on Team Eli :) --Liz

Although I am also ready for Robin to leave, and agree that she is "out of her league" now, I feel a little bit sorry for her when she watches the show. She is obviously clueless as to how the others view her (thinking they look at her as a mother!)

I also predict she will survive one more week. Natalie Portman is a vegan, so Robin will probably squeak by with a salad again.

She does seem to be the luckiest contestant by far, but they are in Vegas, where it is all about luck!

Re FoulMouthedKitten: Padma is single? Isn't she pregnant? Not that the two can't go together, but....

Re Jay: Maybe one of the reasons Kevin was so mad was because they decided to "let it roll!"

And last but not least, I'm still with you guys hating JFM. How ignorant did he appear when he swore he "seasoned his dishes perfectly" after Padma asked for salt? Ugh!

Liz has already left for the day, but I TOTALLY CALLED the vegan twist when we saw the preview for next week. We are both interested to see how that one will turn out.

One of my favorite parts of this episode was watching JFM freak out a little over Padma asking for salt. If I were her, I'd ask for stuff just to worry him. --Justine

i just love love love the brothers they hsould like get very far hopefully final 2 together because they are just so flippen amazing, have you noticed that michael was on the bottom once! and bryan only slidd by once! they are always in the top! they are gonna win.

I certainly hope so -- I'm rooting for Bryan. I think he's more my type. ;) --Justine

It's true you don't have to be nice to everyone to win. But Mike is a d* to pretty much everyone, including his own brother. Bryan has snapped at Mike maybe once that I can remember, but Mike is constantly being a total p* to Bryan. In this episode alone, he shot down Bryan's ideas just for the hell of it, made snotty remarks about how Bryan had lost a quickfire and how his ganache would probably be "grainy," blew an f* gasket when Bryan accidentally messed up some little something while they were cooking...and that was to his FAMILY. We won't even talk about how he spoke to Robyn (after jumping on her line, which, I have to give it to her, was completely rude). Bryan, meanwhile, stuck up for Mike when he was in the bottom two (stopped all discussion of why Mike's dish was bad, pointing out that none of them had tasted it, etc), and seems like generally a nice guy. Not to mention also an amazing chef. And who doesn't want the winner not to completely suck as a human being?

Hey Allison, I had to change a few words for language, but I totally see your points -- but I think Michael's skills as a chef give him a pass sometimes (for good or bad). --Justine

"By the way, what do you think Kevin was mad about at the end of the episode?"

I think he was mad because someone from the other (winning) team asked him what the judges said about Kevin's/Jens's team's food/performance. (At first I thought it was Mike V. that asked him, but now I think it was JFM.) I think Kevin (and the rest of Jen's team) was still kind of raw from the dressing down, and thought it was impudent and mean of the other team to ask him about it (I agree).

Bearded Kevin probably just wanted them to wait until the show aired on Bravo to hear what the judges said :) --Liz

My dream job would be to edit the footage together for a season of Top Chef. I wonder how much of it is truly as it happened or how much the editors can skew the footage to make us love or hate someone.

How could this have been the best Restaurant Wars ever? It was pretty much just cooking...which is what they have been doing all along. And as far as front of house...Eli is no Fabio! “Team” mission acted as individuals and each took on too much (BBJen and DTG specifically...certainly not JFM). They were doomed to failure. On the other hand, even though there was a lot of posturing going on, team ReVOLT (sorry, Bill Gates won’t let me type any letters backwards) did work together and had a de-facto leader in Mike V.

Each week we are treated to some dopey comment from JFM. Maybe he’s nice in real life, but the editors have made him out to be, well, jerkfacey.

It seems to me that there is some manipulation of the Brothers Scowl relationship throughout the season. I think they really dislike each other. Do they joke around off camera or even talk? Are the editors setting us up for a big finish?

The judges made Laurine the sacrificial lamb (pun intended) of this episode. They should have stuck a fork in her weeks ago. As for Robin, she’s all-of-a-sudden become a fighter. But, she still has to go. I don’t think the judges had the heart to get rid of BBJen who, as one of my viewing companions says is HBD (hot by default). This is only reinforced by the cheesecake shot at the pool. I still believe she will crack and the final will be the gnome and the scowlers all eating scallops out of the same frying pan.

Just one word of advice...when the waiter asks you how you want your lamb cooked, you reply...”perfectly.”

dkh, you're right -- Eli is no Fabio at front of house. Eli's way cuter (cue the hate mail coming my way). And you really think the Volt brothers dislike each other in real life? Do you think they would have disliked each other if they had chosen different careers? Is it the kitchen competition that's straining them? I hope not, but it would make a convenient opening for Bearded Kevin/David the Gnome to take it all. --Liz

I think Kevin was really upset b/c he seems like a really decent human being... and Laurine went home partially b/c of the lamb dish, which he mostly executed. So he probably felt like it was his fault she went home.

I love Bryan. Besides being really sexy it's pretty obvious there would have been a blow up between him and Mike V if he weren't so mature and collected. I think Michael is really talented, but he definitely comes across as a prick. Bryan and Kevin are my favorites b/c they are really talented and seem to be good guys who want to help everyone else. Their confident enough in their own talent to be supportive of everyone else. Bryan seemed so mad when his brother was in the bottom, so it seems to mirror (one of the brother)'s statements in the first episode that they are their biggest supporters until their directly up against each other.

I think Jen is just really grating b/c she's SO NEGATIVE! The debbie downer act gets old, she's so hard on herself. But it looks like she's pretty amazing.

Also... I was reading somewhere that Kevin has said that Mike I is not as big an a** as he is edited to be on the show.

KC, we're also hearing JFM isn't as bad as he's edited out to be. I'm skeptical. Justine and I will have to visit his restaurant and see if he'll pose for a photo...if he doesn't, he's a total JF. --Liz

Its funny...Mike V is called "arrogant" for how he acts in the kitchen. His butt was on the line in Restaurant Wars...I would do whatever I could to make sure your weakest link (Robin) was doing a good job. If Jen acts like that, shes called "confident". Maybe I just love Mike V too much and dislike Jen too much. I'm jaded, biased, lovesick, all of the above.

Watching the show makes me biased, lovesick and hungry. Not a good combo. --Liz

easy bake oven? i figured them to be more the rock-em-sock-em robot type guys.

and speaking of the brothers scowl, did you notice that michael v actually kind of smiled about three times during the episode? what is this world coming to?

...name the date and we'll go see if JFM is really a JF. I'd only save up to go to Volt if Bryan came out into the dining room holding a chicken just like the photo on his website...can you say uncomfortable?

The Volt Web site is Justine's favorite site of the moment, mostly beacuse of the majestic photography. It's probably her homepage when she opens Firefox. --Liz

I always wanted to attend some restaurant wars like this. It's exciting to see and meet well known chefs in an event intended to for a competition.