'Top Chef' Recap: Nick Gets Strep Throat, Patty Is Eliminated

Top Chef season 11 went from having a top 12 to a top 11 when the chefs were challenged to a game of musical chairs style cooking, and Patty Vega was eliminated in episode 7.

Nick Elmi was diagnosed with strep throat and was ordered to rest for at least 24 hours, meaning he had to miss the Quickfire Challenge, led by guest-judge Kermit Ruffins, a jazz musician/chef. The chefs walk from station to station as Kermit plays music, and once he stops, they stop and must whip up a dish using the ingredients in front of them. This goes on for 30 minutes, meaning that each dish has three different chefs working on them. In the end, Justin Devillier, who was stuck at the microwave station, and Louis Maldonado are named the chefs with the worst dishes and Brian Huskey is declared the winner, meaning he has immunity this week. Sara Johannes, who started the winning dish, is furious that Brian got the immunity even though she feels she put more work into it.

Elimination Challenge

The chefs got to choose their own teams – three teams of four – for this week’s Elimination Challenge of making a potluck dinner for Kermit and his musician friends. Blue Team was made up of Shirley Chung, Justin, Louis and Sara; Carrie Mashaney, Stephanie Cmar, Carlos Gaytan and Nina Compton were the Green Team and the Gray Team consisted of Patty, Brian, Travis Masar and Nick, should he be cleared to cook in time.

The Blue Team kicked it off, impressing the judges, for the most part, with their New Orleans-inspired dishes. The Green Team decided to make an Italian meal; Stephanie stole the show with her artichoke dish and Carrie and Carlos split the judges with their nectarine tiramisu, which Kermit loved and Sue flat out hated. Finally, the Gray Team went for a picnic theme and completely underwhelmed the judges. Patty forgot an ingredient in her dish – she served a watermelon and goat cheese espuma sans chilies, which were left abandoned on the counter. And her teammates didn’t fair much better.

In the end, the Green Team won the challenge and the Gray Team ended up in danger. Patty was let go from the competition, narrowing down the Top Chef contestants from 12 to 11.

Top Chef airs Wednesdays at 10 p.m. on Bravo.

– Olivia Truffaut-Wong

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