RECAP: Bouillabase Disaster Sends Off Latest Chef On 'Top Chef Seattle'

It was Restaurant War time in Seattle for the Top Chef contestants last night on Bravo. In a battle of the sexes, the show pitted a Sheldon-led men's side against Kristen and the other women. While Sheldon's group (including Josh and Stefan) would be establishing a restaurant serving up his modern take on traditional Filipino food, Kristen's team (including Josie, Brooke and Lizzie) would be preparing her spin on French cuisine.

A twist from past year's Restaurant Wars emerges. The chefs will not only have to purchase the necessary ingredients and decorate their dining space, they'll also have to build their own kitchens as well. After figuring this out, Kristen and Lizzie go shopping for ingredients while Josie and Brooke go to pick up the rented equipment and decor. Stefan is in charge of finding items to decorate with (including flowers) for Sheldon's team, while Sheldon and Josh take a trip to an Asian market. Josh shares his fear that since neither he nor Stefan has prepared Filipino food before; they'll struggle to "take something to the next level."

Josh's concern is all for naught though. The team of guys served up one inspired Filipino dish after another. Stefan delivered a dish of kilawen – a raw yellowtail with cilantro, spicy chili and white soy sauces. Josh turned out re-imagined balut, transforming the traditional boiled duck embryo served in the eggshell to a poached egg with duck confit and froie gras mousse in the eggshell. He also whipped up the dessert, halo-halo, a coconut sorbet with avocado mousse, banana and shredded coconut. This was coupled with Stefan's dark chocolate, macadamia, ginger and peppermint oil dessert and ginger tea. Sheldon created Miki, a tapioca noodle with a Filipino paprika, and Adobo, a pork belly with a mung bean puree and pea shoot salad. The biggest problem for the team was Stefan's poor service. "The way he just made us feel is way worse than [Josie's] bouillabaisse," Emeril Lagasse pronounced.

Speaking of Josie's bouillabaisse, the girl's team had some problems in the kitchen – most of which came from delegation gone wrong. From the start, it was clear that the team saw Josie as a potential liability due to past sloppiness in the kitchen. One of the tasks that Kristen gave her was making stock for her bouillabaisse. Josie simply doesn't get to it on the first day of prep. Consequently, on game day, Kristen is unable to add the gelatin that would have made the dish. Instead, Kristen is forced to deviate from her recipe and make do with some extra dairy.

The first course from the girl’s team to come out is Lizzie's charcuterie, which included rabbit, pickled turnips and yellow beets in a chicken and rabbit broth. Next up is Josie's dish. The entree of halibut, Dungeness crab, bay scallops, and the ill-fated broth does not go over well with the judges. Then comes Kristen's beef bourguignon with braised short rib, garlic puree, mushrooms and carrots. Brooke's dish follows – baked gougers with St. Agur blue cheese, roasted radish and stone fruit compote. Finally, the judges get a taste of Kristen’s dessert of almond cake macaroon with coconut custard and caramel buttercream.

When it comes down to judgment time, Urbano (the guy's restaurant) comes out on top, with Sheldon being declared the overall winner of the challenge. As Kristen's team stands for the elimination process, the judges are torn between sending either Josie or Kristen home – seeing them both responsible for the bouillabaisse fail. Since Kristen refuses to reveal to the judges that it was Josie's poor use of time that resulted in the inadequate final product, the judges send the team leader packing her knives.

Watch a preview for next week's episode below:

–Chelsea Regan

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