Thanks to Michelle walking off last week, the top 5 are all male for the first time. All of them except Brian Boitano have a lot to enjoy with Giada's latest dress.
The first challenge is to work with their brand to create a dish that a home cook can recreate in half an hour from a kit of fresh ingredients. Lenny Jr is making fish and grits instead of shrimp and grits, and Dom is making chicken cutlets with arugula. Because arugula shows him off as a tough New Yorker. Brian Boitano is all ready for people to receive him in a box, as if he's used to being anywhere near one. Sandwich King Jr. has the best tagline for his brand, but we'll have to see if he can present without giving an ingredient list. Eddie Football is making a Caribbean shrimp salad, but he added too much citrus juice.
Presentation time, and Alex is shining for once. He describes harissa paste with colorful and descriptive language instead of saying what it's made from, and he works his brand in. Mike thinks that Alex will run over time, but instead Lenny comes close to it. Brian Boitano says that his brand here is "party in a box." I'm sure there are a lot of people who want a party in a box, especially as Giada starts talking about it too! She sure seems to be inviting one with what her neckline shows...more like a boobline than anything else. Dom also shines at presentation time! I guess he and Alex both had the fear of God put into them. Eddie Football goes last while knowing his food isn't up to par, and the nerves take over. Eddie comments that Giada does not have the best poker face (while Mike adds that Eddie would probably like to poke her face), and Bobby is not impressed. Eddie has been on a downward slope for too long now, and if Alex and Dom aren't in their usual position at the bottom he may be in trouble this week.
The judges reveal what rank everyone was given in order to let them choose what holiday they want to do a special for. Alex wins and takes Fourth of July as the best sandwich holiday, and Eddie loses and get stuck with Halloween. Alex talks about going to Dewey Beach as a kid, so he's an East Coast boy. Eddie Football wants a big piece of meat with a big bone in it for Halloween, and Giada seems to want the same. Lenny hits his personal touch while also getting a piece of meat that cooks faster by making Thanksgiving quail. Eddie comments about Lenny barely being able to get his fingers in the butt as he stuffs the quail...isn't that Brian Boitano's job? I know the jokes in this post seems to follow a theme, but they've just been writing themselves. Brian Boitano has Valentine's Day and is making chocolate framboise wontons that sound incredible. However, he is worried about them oozing down onto his shirt, which can't be the first time he's ever said that. And since it's Valentine's Day, then he wants to remove his shirt. Still, I do like his teaching point that wontons don't have to be savory. Italian Boy Dom is making fish for Christmas, but I kinda wish he was making octopus like some friends of ours!
Just before the end of the challenge, Demaris walks in! I can only imagine the fun she and Brian Boitano could have together with Valentine's Day, given her romance movie video from last season. She is excited to see all the men, which I can believe with her persona on the show. Demaris tells them that they have to sell themselves... Dom is getting nervous again as he goes into doing his video, so we will see how this ends. Lucky for Lenny, they get two takes and he gets to fix getting a little too personal in his story. Alex has realized that the Food Network execs aren't wanting him to be someone else, they just want him to be himself. However, he lists his ingredients yet again, at least in his first take. Brian Boitano wants to shock and he decides to go tacky by talking about how much money he makes on Valentine's Day. Eddie Football is ready to shine...or maybe not. He finishes his first take with 20 seconds left. Let's see if Dom can do better. He does start by rocking the Christmas sweater, but then he starts stuttering.
As we see a few minutes later, Dom's second take isn't much better, at least not until he starts cooking. Once he starts cooking, though, he starts to shine enough to stay alive. Eddie still has trouble connecting the main components of his dish to Halloween and looks to join Dom at the bottom. Brian Boitano does fairly well aside from not defining framboise or ganache. Alex and Lenny seems to be the winners here, but we will see what the judges say. They do not list anyone as being safe now that the group is this small, but it seems to be Dom's time to go. Bob and Susie agree, but Giada and Bobby are arguing for him to stay. They want Eddie to go, but Bob and Susie like him on camera much more than Dom. Giada emphasizes that it was not a unanimous decision, and Bobby breaks the bad news to Dom. When it comes down to it, Bob and Susie are the bosses.
Down to the final four, and we will see next week whether Eddie can turn it around in time.
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