I stand by what I said last week. I still think this season is the best yet. Are the chefs technically as talented as Hung? Probably not, but then again, he is the secretariat of Top Chef contestants.

However, I find the tasks and personalities this season so utterly creative and entertaining that I really think it is the best show on Bravo. So about last night's episode: I thought the Quickfire Challenge was incredible. First of all, what a great plug for Uncle Ben's. Who would ever think of so many creative dishes from the mother of all minute rice products. They only had fifteen minutes!!! I was laying in my bed with panic feeling completely incompetent wondering if I could have pulled off any of those dishes or ideas in that short of a time. That is stress!

Once again, Dale and Richard did me proud. Richard never misses a chance to be daring and creative and I often doubt him. When I saw that tuna, I wasn't so sure how it would go over. I have a soft spot for Dale, so I thought his fried rice was inventive although Nikki had the same idea as well. I thought Andrew's dish using ground rice as a coating was inventive, but Oprah's chef was correct: 15 minutes isn't long enough to pull that one off. Antonia's mom's rice and salad was the ultimate winner.

Sorry I'm not more enthusiastic. I really do like Antonia, but I just don't think she is top chef material. This week's behavior notwithstanding, Stephanie is a better chef. I was disappointed that Stephanie couldn't pull that seafood pancake together because I thought it was the most creative of all. She was off to a bad start, and still she hasn't won a Quickfire yet. Richard pulled it off yet again; I was really impressed with what he did. I could discuss Mark and Spike (with that unappetizing looking tomato) or Lisa with her tougher than tough attitude but truly none of it was even worth mentioning.