Top Chef is one of my favorite shows and I never miss(ed) any episode(s) until Jen was eliminated. She was my favorite but I didn't stop watching this season because my favorite was eliminated but because it was the WRONG decision. I was so gutted for her because you guys know and the viewers know how talented she is and yes, like you said, even the best chefs have days when things dont go as planned, but I was so disappointed and angry.

Nevertheless, my decision to not watch the show did not last long as I love the show and I think either Dale or Richard is going to be the winner. By the way, love your opinions as they add value and they are to the point. I hope we get a chance to see Jen sometime again, but I am afraid that is very unlikely to happen.

After all is said and done to this point - how much do you wanna bet that one of the next episodes features the chefs already "offed" from the show, given a chance to get back into the competition with some twisted challenge. Any bets?

Gail, me and my girlfriend love the show and love you:) Your choice to vote off Jenn was right! I could taste the dish by looking at it and it wasn't good! Her bad attitude made her come off as arrogant. However, I think that she is very talented and has many great things to come in her future.

How is someone NOT cooking a dish AT ALL is better then ANY dish? And for crying out loud... two stitches? How does that fits into Tom's "this level of competition"?

By the way, have you ever tasted Anthony Bourdain's dishes? Wait, you guys are Judges... so probably you did. If he says he "hated" a dish; I take his word for it to the end days. Your 'player' contender threatened him for being honest. Sorry, I forgot, he wasn't disrespectful like Jen. If someone put a raw fish dish with no taste and a plate of 'vomit' looking pasta in front of me... I'll take the fish...

You know what, I think your producers wanted more drama for ratings. I'm sorry to be "disrespectful" but I think it is time get few Real Housewives from anywhere to replace the Top Chef judges. Not only they will spice up the drama, but I bet even they will notice if someone DOES NOT have ANY dish AT ALL.

VERY DISAPPOINTING. I'm calling my cable company, it's time to get a new package...

It's been awhile, I know, but so it goes. I do not care whether the bacon and eggs was the worst dish of the day. I don't know; I wasn't there. I have only your word to go on, and it's not in your interest to say that it wasn't. I do know that Carroll's partner begged out early in the challenge, and she was forced to work alone. The winning team had three people. Can you not see that the winning team had the most, and the loser was the only soloist? She didn't choose to be. Sleep deprivation is exactly the situation where not having another voice will make a difference. To blame Carroll for not saying Jamie Lauren would've added to the dish, as the judges seem to have done, is disingenuous. A bad decision and a cheat, because the whole episode stunk anyway. I didn't enjoy the editing that emphasized Carroll's upset, and I don't enjoy the continuing saga of Jamie the terrible team mate. What a way to treat the chefs. I haven't enjoyed Top Chef in a long time, and I think I'm done.

Your producers stacked the deck against the winning quick fire challenge chef by not affording her team ANY component ingredients to prepare more balanced dishes in the elimination challenge.

This is why so many of the T-Rex dishes struggled, because they had to over-rely on seasoning to make up for the lack of base ingredients which were NEVER, not once, indicated from the outset of the selection by the WINNER of the QF challenge would be the case. Don't even pretend that you did by coyly mumbling something about "meat and meat-based products" - that's a cop out. It was a poorly designed challenge and the show utterly failed to own up to its responsibility to keep the challenge reasonably level.

Jen was forced to work single-handedly and she had the integrity to take on the full responsibility in spite of her sense of self-preservation. What did you guys decide to do? You determined that a dish that was both bland AND overpowering (???!!! seriously Gail, pick a description) and was more worthy of elimination for Jen than the frittata with undercooked and raw eggs. Genius.

Let's not even discuss what should properly be called "breakfast" - gnocchi, banana parfait, gazpacho, seriously? I don't know, where I come from we typically think of those dishes as, you know, dinner.

So you failed as a judge of this very popular and (formerly) respected program.

I am amazed that all these people are on here telling the judges that they made the wrong decision sending Jen home...It is a show about how food tastes...If any of you can taste food thru a tv then you need to be scientifically tested...because that is a miracle..

This is all so overblown. Jen left because she had the worst dish on that day. There were numerous reasons provided by the judges to document that decision - end of story. Should her attitude have affected the judges decision? Yes, but only in the sense that she either doesn't get the fact that her dish was poor or lacks the integrity to admit she made mistakes. A good chef would realize the mistakes made and have enough integrity to not argue to the contrary.
Jen's performance at judges table was uncalled for and disgraceful. It showed a lack of respect for the judges and the other contestants. Instead of being a big enough person to admit she may have made some mistakes she was in denial, saying she was robbed and threw a tantrum upon leaving the stew room.
The judges shouldn't make excuses for her or praise her for standing up and defending a terrible dish. Her bad behaivor should not have been excused. She came off as an arrogant brat who's not used to being told she's not the best. She showed a complete lack of maturity and respect for others that suggests that she's not really ready to compete on that level. Good Riddance.

It is so depressing to have my two favorite female chefs, Jen and Elia be eliminated as the first two contestants of the season. Not only are they the biggest risk takers of the women there, but they are also two of the most successful. There is the saying that women make less money because they don't take the same kind of risks as men, but in the last couple episodes Jen and Elia make big risks and went home for them after both having the potential to play it safe. All chefs should be able to make scrambled eggs perfectly, but a runny frittata is acceptable? I recall in the D.C. season where it was clarified that technical failures can absolutely ruin a dish, but component failures at least keep it edible. Was Jen's dish inedible as compared to uncooked eggs? I am also beginning to question if the contestants personalities should be considered, somehow I respect someone more as a chef who shows enough leadership guts to put up a fight like Elia and Jen both did as compared to the machoism, or self pity whining of Fabio and Stephan in ep. 1 or quietness of Jamie (who I also have extreme admiration for, but should have volunteered to leave and give her spot to Jen after not contributing). What's with eliminating women who fight for something rather than just roll over? I don't see what she did as disrespectful, but rather admirable. So far we haven't seen any other women on the show fight like those two.

Has anyone considered the alternative, maybe Jen had already realized that her food was as unappetizing as it was made out to be, that could have sparked the outburst - I dunno as a defense mechanism from someone who knew that they couldn't avoid elimination in anyway. because if you see her body language, she was fretting and seemed a bit jumpy before they started talking about her dish, like she wanted a confrontation, I could be very very wrong, but maybe all the antics at judges table were there to achieve what is happening now - to take the focus away from her food, to try and prove that she didn't actually get eliminated for her food but for some other reason.

I found the whole premise of the challenge to be rather flawed in an amusing way. Okay, so the Brontosaurus team got to use any kind of plant-based food. The T-Rex team got to use meat, eggs, and ... dairy?!?! I would love to see an artist's rendition of a dairy farmer T-Rex milking one of the tiny mammals that existed at the time. :)

Too bad Elia and Jenn didn't make it to Restaurant wars. They could have called their place Whine and Dine.

How come Top Chef doesn't make an effort to blind the judges to the identity of the contestant whose food they're judging? Even if the judges make a conscious effort not to be biased toward one more of the contestants when judging their food, the only real way to ensure fair contestant judging is if they don't know whose food is who during judgment time.

Geal you said "Most troubling was Jennifer’s Braised Bacon with Hard Boiled Eggs". I agree it sounded very troubling, but it cannot and simply does not trump the egg disaster. Did the question of health ever come up in your discussion? It worries me that you think this, really worries me....

My husband an I never miss "Top Chef" or "Just Desserts," and we always value your opinion above the other judges' insights because you understand the nature of "constructive" criticism-feedback designed to make the chef better, not feedback delivered to belittle or to provide hurtful humor. But we were disappointed with the judges' table this week.

As an English teacher, I often have to evaluate written compositions submitted by students who are truly disrespectful to me, to the rest of the faculty, and to the staff. Nonetheless, I must evaluate only their compositions-not their attitudes. I will not lie. At times, it takes great effort, but it must be done to insure fairness. I feel Jenn did not receive this basic fairness at the judges' table. She was, at the very least, rude. In fact, let's be honest, she was downright disrespectful, but she didn't deserve to be eliminated. Jamie should have been the one to leave "Top Chef-All Stars." She provided nothing to evaluate. In my world of education, this would have resulted in a zero; in the "Top Chef" world, it should have resulted in elimination.

I would really like to see Jenn in any future "Top Chef" shows. She deserves another chance at the title.

jen should of left with jamie to the hospital, and held her hand... then they both would of been safe, since leaving a competition seems to be okay.
hey guys, when you feel your dish is failing, say you are sick or cut your finger, and you get to stay...easy way to cheat!

This is getting so old. I have been a big fan of TC since season 1. I never missed a show. But I have lost interest because of the bias I see from the judges. They didn't get rid of Jennifer strictly because of the food. They got rid of her because she was strong enough to speak out in defense of her culinary perspective. Shame on you judges. It is obvious why you let her go even with the editing. You are obsessed with your power trips and pride that when someone dare QUESTIONS you and speaks back.... you let them go. After all the stress they go through in the kitchen under difficult conditions, while you sit there looking pretty and tasting/critiquing food, you act like they are out of line and disrespectful when they get.... emotional? When they express passion? Wow. Get real. And grow up. It's not about you (judges) and your pride. You're making the show more about you and we don't care. You're forgetting why fans tuned into TC in the first place.

Gail- the necklace you were wearing during this episode was absolutely STUNNING! Who is it by?

On some episodes of TC it's drilled home to the cheftestants that what they're making should be healthy. And yet, in this challenge what dish won? A parfait, really, a dessert. This is a dish without protein or much fiber. I'm not saying that it's an unhealthy choice, just that it's not really what a child (they were cooking for children) should start their day with.
Considering that the US is the fattest country in the world, you would think that something other than a dessert would have won the breakfast challenge!

I can't believe you eliminated Jen. The show has absolutely lost its integrity for me. Fabio essentially threatened a judge last week with physical force for "criticizing his dish", which we all know translates into "making him feel embarwassed (cue baby voice)"... Jen only defended her dish. She was the only female chef for me, from any season, who was truly able to transcend the characterization of "strong Female chef" to just plain "Strong chef". If any female were to win, (any season, or the all stars) i'd feel most pride in her winning, because she could truly hold her own, intimidate through talent, and win respect through example. It would be like if Angelo got eliminated next episode. These are the chefs you know are amazing beyond comparison--the ones you watch the show for. The others (stephen, tre, spike, jamie, fabio) you just wait for their elimination until at last the competition is rid of mediocrity and you can finally watch the realll dealll go head to head (season 6 with just kevin, the brothers and jen exemplified this). i take it back, with the the precedent this season has set, i hope the finale is stephen vs. jamie. one will serve wine, the other soup. boy, i cannot wait.

LOVE your post, Gail! Love TC, love Just Desserts, and you just keep doing what you do. I am sad to see Jenn go, but it goes to show (as in the words of Gilda Radner), "it's always SOMETHIN!" I believe this season will be really fun to watch, and I look forward to more of your posts. Anthony Bourdain's blog is absolutely HILARIOUS, but yours is thoughtful. 'Lookin forward to seeing more of the show. Thank you for entertaining me. :-)

I was disappointed that Jen went out. She was definitely the most talented chef but I guess she just had a bad day. I am pissed at Jamie for not helping Jen. If it wasn't for for that stupid cut and Jamie running to the medic, Jennifer would have definitely had a long run in the show.And top chef challenges are really getting silly. I mean cooking the food without any good sleep or rest. Really they are taking these all star chefs to a ride.

Obviously Jaime ran out of the kitchen with her cut because she couldn't cook soup or scallops for breakfast. She even said during her season that she never eats regular breakfast food.

I believe based on the collective opinions of all the people who tasted the food that Jen had the losing dish. I also believe that Jen is an amazing chef. But as I watched the show (twice), I couldn't help but wonder if Jen was drunk during Judge's table. Her motions and facial expressions were so out of control and erratic, and her final outburst as she headed through the door was completely unprofessional. I am glad I don't have to live through it for another episode.

Well said, Gail! Your perspective is a most enriching one! As always, reading your blog in followup to a great TC episode is a great experience.

Lets see the judges do what they ask of these professional chefs do, without sleep
no less

First off, if you think what Jenn did was an "outburst," you've never worked in a kitchen. She's a chef, so she has an ego (they all do) and it got bruised. I was surprised that it took 8 seasons for someone to push back. Second, keep in mind that us viewers are at the mercy of the editors when it comes to forming our opinion of the cheftestants, judges, and food. Finally, as a friend of mine who was on a reality competition show (the Donald Trump one) said, it's a show, people! The cheftestants may be there to compete, win some money, and prove themselves, but the producers of Top Chef are there to make an entertaining television show, period.

The quality of the TopChef shows has been slipping for quite some time now, with the DC season was the least interesting of them all. Until now anyway. The follow-up All Stars show continues that downward spiral with way too much focus on personalities, faux drama, and gimmicky stunts mixed into the challenges. The Top Chefs shows used to be the best example of a reality show that managed to honor the subject matter, meaning a love of food, while still working as an entertaining, elimination style competition. But for whatever reason, which I can’t figure out, that balance has been lost. After watching this week’s Jonas brother, museum slumber party debacle I don’t think I will be watching anymore. At this point I don’t enjoy it and feel like the chefs participating in the show are being mistreated. They are all proven, talented chefs and deserve better than this. So do the viewers.

First of all, I want to say, I am LOVING this season of Top Chef All Stars!!!!!!!!!

Secondly, I was flabergasted that Jen was told to 'pack her knives and go'. I thought for sure that Tre was going to be sent home.

Concerning Jamie, perhaps, there is some kind of show rule about not producing a dish, but I don't recall that there is. Like Angelo in last season's finale, people get sick and hurt and there should be a uniform way to fairly deal with that for judges table.

When a chef's team member does not contribute, does that not put things on an unequal footing? Perhaps if Jamie had added to the dish, Jen would have been kept.

All of the contestants are lovely people and interesting characters to watch interacting with each other and they are ALL STARS in their cooking abilities!!! I just LOVE them ALL and hate to see any of them go!!!

LOL! All of the "I don't like the decision, I quit!" viewers seem to be coming out early this year. We see them every year, usually later in the season, but the show continues to be loved and highly rated.

I do think that most of the controversy is a result of the editing. We didn't get to see all the kids and parents who went "Yuck!" at Jen's dish the way you did, Gail. And aside from Tom pointing out that his frittatas were perfectly cooked, we didn't get to see happy little faces munching them down while avoiding the soggy bacon (come on people, even on the made-for-TV "beauty" plates, Jen's dish looked gross).

My hat's off to you judges, though, for your poise and professionalism. It has to be hard each week to have a bunch of Thursday morning chefs accuse a panel composed of 3 women judges of bias against women, and then wax grandiloquent about the horrible dangers of an undercooked frittata (do these people even understand that disease is caused by bacteria, and bacteria not only do not come out of thin air, they require time and a temperate environment to grow?). As always, you approach such emotional absurdity the same way you approached Jen's unfortunate and unprofessional outburst: with dignity and class.

Here's one viewer who will continue to watch with the other millions, in part because most weeks I learn something from the great judging.

I say good ridden's Jen, being that her boss is Eric Ripert she'll show up on another season somewhere down the road.

I think her holier then thou attitude would have ruined this season for me, with Elia and Jen gone I can set back and enjoy the rest of the season.

I say good ridden's Jen, being that her boss is Eric Ripert she'll show up on another season somewhere down the road.

I think her holier then thou attitude would have ruined this season for me, with Elia and Jen gone I can set back and enjoy the rest of the season.

Gail, you well said "if you can't cook scrambled eggs right you should not be here" I think frittatas might be a little more challenging, but not much. Why was Jen eliminated on a more challenging dish when the error was lack of seasoning while a poorly executed egg was in the way or a sauce that Tre knew was bad and ruined the dish and made it inedible. I don't believe it was the right decision and you can tell in the blogs and forums that very few people disagree and those that do is more based on Jen's behavior than on the food, at least based on what was described. I am really sad it ended up this way, the season is good so far, but that was a sour point in it... well, EVEN the chefs themselves, her own competitors, were surprised! Well I guess I am mostly angry because she was one of the strongest female competitors and as a girl it sucks to see her go, I really want a girl to win this season without the tarnishing point of "well, she won because Richard lost"

It made sense to me to not hold Jamie accountable for the dish and to not send her packing. Sending her home is akin to sending a message that any chef to leaves to get medical treatment will ultimately be disqualified. It's not like when you have the stomach flu and you can still go through with cooking (hopefully wearing a mask), but was something that the medical personnel on staff told her to get done. While I believe that she could have (and should have) refused immediate treatment and just have sucked it up, if the judges would have voted her off they would have made a decision that could have meant some other chef eventually not following along with the medical personnel's recommendations, which could have a serious impact on their health.

That being said I have no problem with Jen going home. She cooked the worse dish, and I absolutely agree with another commenter who said that bad food trumps bad technique every time. Add to that the fact that Antonio and Tiffani agreed that their dish was flawed and that they'd had problems with the oven, whereas Jen flatly refused to take any creative criticism, and you've got a recipe for elimination.

Please help me understand. Raw fish gets sent home last week, yet raw EGGS survive this week.

I don't get it ...
-> Raw fish = Sashimi
-> Raw eggs = Salmonella

RAW EGGS vs. YUCKY EGGS? hm.... OK with the risk getting a bunch of kids sick?? nice choice judges. nice.

Gail, you well said "if you can't cook scrambled eggs right you should not be here" I think frittatas might be a little more challenging, but not much. Why was Jen eliminated on a more challenging dish when the error was lack of seasoning while a poorly executed egg was in the way or a sauce that Tre knew was bad and ruined the dish and made it inedible. I don't believe it was the right decision and you can tell in the blogs and forums that very few people disagree and those that do is more based on Jen's behavior than on the food, at least based on what was described. I am really sad it ended up this way, the season is good so far, but that was a sour point in it... well, EVEN the chefs themselves, her own competitors, were surprised! Well I guess I am mostly angry because she was one of the strongest female competitors and as a girl it sucks to see her go, I really want a girl to win this season without the tarnishing point of "well, she won because Richard lost"

Regarding Jen's dish, the fact that the bacon was not crisp was taken as a flaw in execution based on the idea that there should be some contrast in textures. Well, the contrast was there: soft bacon, hard boiled egg (I cannot judge the flavor of course, but I can see the concept). I personally prefer my bacon soft, and so many other people; try it in the UK or Latin America.
On the other hand, as Jen said, gnocchi for breakfast? Give me a break.

Tom - Every since Lee Ann left Top Chef, the challenges have become terrible and extremely unfair to the chefs. I have read all the blogs and message boards and LOTS of them said the chefs had only a few hours of sleep or none at all and then you expected them to make a huge breakfast while being sleep deprived. Jen was probably really cranky from not getting any sleep -- I really doubt that in real life, the chefs would catered a snack at midnight, sleep a couple of hours and then be expected to put out a full buffet! I saw Padma stare at Jen when she came over shake your hands. Padma looked like she was afraid Jen was going to smack her in the face. When the chefs were sleep deprivated, I think you should have cut her some slack and after all, she worked alone while the others had help and two stitches is NOTHING! Why is Stephen there? He is not a chef -- he only cares about which wine to serve. He should not have been asked to come on the show! I am so disappointed that I really don't care who wins!

I have absolutely no problem with Jenn going home.
Yes, the frittatas were undercooked, but if given the chance, Antonia and Tiffany would fix it.
Jenn's dish was apparently absolutely disgusting and she stood behind it and refused to believe there could be anything wrong with it.
Season after season we see the same battle at judges' table. A mistake in technique versus flat out bad food. More often than not, the technique mistake will not be enough to send someone home when up against bad food.
Jenn's dish looked disgusting, no one who tried it had anything good to say about it, yet Jenn stood there willing to fight to the death that it wasn't even a bad dish.
I don't buy the "top chef hates women" bit for a minute, and there are still some very strong women competing. That dish definitely seemed deserving of sending Jenn home.

I had Jen pegged as the winner once they announced the cast. However, I understand. It was easy to see her go once you knew she was gone. After the comments there was no doubt in my mind that she was gone. Mike said it best when he said "everyone here expects to be in the top 5". Only one will be happy in the end and 17 will leave upset. I thought Marcel would have grown up a bit but I was wrong. Why would Angelo sabatoge his own dish? I felt sorry for him in season 2 a little bit but know I realize that he is just a punk. it is so hard to watch because I love everyone that is there. (minus a few). Every allstar season I have ever seen ended in disaster. I hope this doesn't or I will have to give up on them for good.

So, I get that the diners all unanimously agreed that they liked Jenn's dish the least. What did they think of Jaime's dish? Oh, they didn't have an opinion because she didn't make a dish? What say you to that, Gail?

I liked Jen and think she is one of the best chefs on the show. However, the dish she made on this episode was basically boiled bacon with hard boiled egg on top. Yuck. Nobody liked it except her. Having said that, I think Jamie bailed on purpose and should have been held responsible as well. Why does someone who did nothing get off the hook?

I loved jen's courageouness on the show during her initial season. However, I am appalled by her lack of professionalism this season. For some reason, she's seemed to have a chip on her shoulder from the door and almost entitled to win the competition. Sorry Jen, it doesn't work that way! Just because you qualify for one Olympics and place with a medal, doesn't mean you'll qualify for the next.

Additionally, I have not heard one other viewer mention that Jen's own team mate, Casey, questioned the fact that the bacon was ready to be served. Casey stated during one of her personal interviews that the bacon tasted watery. Casey even questioned Jen about the bacon's readiness and Jen blew off Casey's comment and served it anyway. That's what arrogance can do for you!

I think this challenge was poorly devised by the producers. It was great for drama, not so much for providing anything close to an equal playing field for the chefs, who deserved better.

I can't imagine having to cook anything without herbs and spices and competing with a team that can. While entertaining in concept, this really was not a fair competitive challenge by any means.

My son and I have never missed an episode of Top Chef. We absolutely love it, and have gotten to know all the all-stars. Jen's outburst did seem to come out of left field, but I do give her credit for working alone and not throwing Jamie under the bus (Jamie would have chucked her under the bus without blinking an eye!) I'm not sure Tre should have stayed if his salty sauce ruined KC's fish; also...undercooked eggs should not be served to anyone. However, I did not taste the food, so I can't say which dish tasted the worst. Though the editing definitely made it look like you booted Jen because of her attitude, not because of her food...so you might want to work on that. Lastly, Jamie, Jamie, Jamie. I find her to be so condescending, arrogant, whiney...I could go on...bottom line is that she didn't cook; ran out to get 2 stitches; complained, complained, complained as usual. I simply can't watch her...and Jamie...Thank goodness you do not want to have children! Take a lesson from Tiffany, who made similar comments in season 1, regretted making those comments, admitting last night that she was out of line...and putting her best efforts in last night to win the quickfire. Bravo to Tiffany! Perhaps, Jamie will one day mature.

I liked Jen. I'm sorry to see her go so early. But I don't have a problem with the judge's decision to eliminate her. Jen's dish certinaly looked unappealing - bacon and jus? yuck. Even Casey said it tasted bad. Tre knew his sauce had over-reduced. Yes, he should have done something about it, but at least he realized he had a problem. Same with Tiffany and Antonia. Jen didn't have a clue that there was a problem with the her food. Since we didn't taste it, I guess one could argue that it tasted fine, as Jen did. But everyone who DID taste it seems to agree.

I think Jamie should have toughed it out, but I don't think she deserved to go home. Jen said it didn't affect the dish.