First of all, that quickfire was ODD and I never knew butchery skills were required for a Top Chef.  Second of all, I love red meat in all its forms, and I was craving steak the whole episode.  Third of all, Spike may have found his calling as a butcher.

However odd that quickfire may have been, that was one of the COOLEST elimination challenges ever.  Absolutely perfect for discovering who’s got it going on and who doesn’t. Loved it, and still really want a steak.

Richard - his policy of under promise, over deliver has been working supremely well for him.  It rocked restaurant wars, and it rocked here. 

Stephanie JUST ROCKS and I want to be her BFF. 

Antonia may just win it all, she is such an intelligent woman and a smart chef, she knows exactly what to cook for each situation (perfect steak house food, perfect kid food, etc.)  The woman has a brain in her head that she uses well, and I want her to come hang out with me and Stephanie LOTS.

Spike and Lisa were so clearly outclassed here, it was almost embarrassing.  Those scallops were a nightmare, and even though Spike won the quickfire, it seemed to hurt him here rather than help him out. I don’t know why he went for scallops, maybe he thought ’sabotage’ again, but nobody was crying over not doing frozen scallops.  And insulting the judges AGAIN (well, you had the scallops) just didn’t seem to work out for him here.  Sayonara, Spike.  Go open a butcher shop and sell hats on the side.

Lisa was the second worse again.  Whatever.  She will be a non entity in the finals, unless she starts to mess with other people’s food.  Yeah, we’ll have to listen to her whine, but that what mute is for, yes?

Anyone else find it interesting that Antonia had the favorite entree (it looked so good) and Richard had the favorite appetizer but Stephanie still won?  She’s JUST THAT COOL.

Ok, then, well we obviously have a final four.  I’m going to guess that the final two will be Richard and Steph, but I can’t be positive on that.  Antonia is pretty awesome.

Winner:  Don’t care much, but I’ll root for Steph.  I didn’t watch season one, except in reruns, but in season two I really wanted Sam to win, season three I was rooting for Casey, (although it was pretty obvious Hung was the standout), but this time I would be thrilled with any of the top three.  Any one of them deserves it, but having a favorite makes it more fun to watch, so GO STEPH.  (or GO RICHARD, or GO ANTONIA).

(I want a steak that’s been basted with tons of butter like Antonia made in the quickfire.  GO CARDIOLOGY)

(OOOH!  I just went and read Tom’s blog on bravotv.com, and he says he would have sent Lisa home last week.  D-OH!  I wish he’d been there.)