I, for one, am not mad at you, Tom. I think you're cool!

Nothing bad to say, good episode, good choices, good challenge!

What a lucky day indeed! Out on the water, meat on the dock, full bloom market and eating under the stars. You folks know how to live. An excellent challenge all the way around. Note to Padma: QUIT asking people why they're crying. It's just mean. Antonia's got the biggest heart of them all aside from today's winner, let her be. So pleased to see Jamie go. I was sure you'd take Blaise just for spite! But the bluefish bloodline, that's got to go. Once it's trimmed nicely, it has excellent flavor. Having worked on Nantucket, Tiffani should have known better. Thanks for the blog, Tom. Get down to Hatteras, NC sometime for some WORLD class fishing!

Thank you for sending Jamie home at long last. But, since you asked, I'm fed up to my back teeth with team challenges - so much so that I am sooooo not looking forward to Restaurant Wars next week. Can't we please just see these guys create something individually? Pretty please?

I'm mad that no one gave Marcel a beat so that we had a better shot of hearing an actual rap about how awesome he thinks he is... Kidding. A fun challenge made for fun viewing. Like I've read others mention before, this season is a heap of fun because we already "know" the chefs. It's great to get more time with some of the larger personalities and watch the others interact. It's also great to have Tony Bourdain around more regularly, looks like he is back next week. Thanks for the entertainment!

You remind me of.....

My dad. You have the exact same mannerisms as my dad.

And I know the look you're making on your face as you're reading this.

Good episode. Did they really catch all that fish. It would have been horrendous if one group caught very few fish, which is possible. Glad Jamie finally went home. She was out of her league, and has to be one of the worst chef's in top chef. It seems she has very little cooking instincts. She needs to find another profession. Surprised to see Jennifer go home.I guess she is out of her league when it comes to cutting fish the right way. Carla continues to surprise me. Marcel should take a lesson from her. Mike Isabella is still a clown.

Great blog and great challenge Tom. Think that Marcel, Richard and Fabio really took the cowards way out and made a single dish rather than showcase their individual skills. I was glad that Carla won, she is a joy to watch.

Have a great week!

Not mad, just sad to see Tiffani go. I was hoping we'd lose Marcel for his eternal foam...

This is the kind of challenge that inspires me to cook. From catch to table - it's a great idea. I love that Antonia's "trash" fish was able to be prepared in a way that might have won on its own - that's a true cooking challenge! I need to watch again to catch some of the nuance of what made for a winning or losing dish, but absent that I wish I had been a judge and able to taste some great creations. Major points for creating an earth-to-table mindset that respects the life of the creature in combination with the joy it can bring to the gourmand.

Sad to see Jamie go. She is hot. She did better in the competition on her season of top chef.

Chef Tom, Thanks for your insights regarding fishing. I used to live on the Gulf coast of Florida and would love to go out for a few hours and get plenty of snapper and an occasional keeper-sized grouper. And I grew up in Maryland and we would go to the shore and the two things I remember cooking up in the campground were blue crabs and bluefish. We were happy to catch the bluefish while surf fishing rather than little sharks! I have no formal training whatsoever when it comes to cooking but we knew about the blood line and I always thought bluefish was a perfectly fine fish and it was eye opening to me that the chefs even bothered to mention that people don't regard it highly! I am glad bluefish was redeemed because it cut me to hear the negativity.

Fun episode, but even more, Tom, great job on Twitter this week re: the Tucson shootings. Thanks.

I get it was about who you want to win and not about the food, which was still a little interesting, but when you were dishonest to veiwers about the challenge last week I stopped watching. Didn't see this one. I figured Jamie would win the whole thing. Afterall you pretended a challenge was cooking for like 500 hungry people when it was making 10 tasters for the judges well blah blah,. I am not mad it is just boring now that it is Top Tom's BFF.

No credibility No integrity

New title....Tom's next new BFF

So, 238 comments and no response except for Jamie's gone.... ?

I have to say thank god Jamie is gone. Sorry Jamie you probably can cook circles around me, but I didn't see the fire in your eyes that you should have. Watching Top chef masters I couldn't help, but notice that even though this show in the end would only be a blimp on their accomplishments, they met the challenge with a fire and desire that proved they some how knew no one especially themselves were too good to not put all their effort into their actions. Tom even proved that in the last weeks episode during the quick fire. How come I saw more effort in one quick fire by Tom who had no true stake in the competition, than I saw all season of Jamie. Jamie I think you are better than that, but you sure had a laze fair attitude. Since I can't taste the food myself I'm just glad to see the people who messed up tonight , but have a strong fire in the competition to make it over Jamie tonight. Past weeks I questioned Tom's choices even though the food never made it to my taste buds. This was just based on what is available to us viewers; which is fire.

First of all, one may be disappointed in a decision or two on the show, but one is never disappointed in your explanations, in your blog. As far as tonight's show was concerned, no disappointments at all. Great concept. Great challenge. Great outcome. My husband and I could not have been happier with your decisions tonight, both on the winner (Hooray, Carla!) and the losers. We are truly looking forward to next week.

I'm furious that there was no quickfire! Ha, I kid. Having them go fishing was a wonderful departure from the usual formula. I doubt whether even winning the title would make Dale more proud than catching that fish.

To bad the fishing challenge was a rip off of the fishing challenge on Next Iron Chef. Such a challenge is not fair as it does not provide a level playing field. Putting contestants in teams when this is an individual contest is also unfair. This entire season has been awful, the worst ever. I hope it is the last.

Did not see last nights challenge.Tom your blog made me feel like I was right there. Go CARLA GOOOOOOOOOOOO GURL..Will watch reply Sunday.Can't wait.!!!!

Final four.Carla,Dale,Richard,it's up in the air Tre? Marcel?.But ya never no who may just have a bad day.Will stick will CARLA to the end.

Should consider giving her,her own segment.. Cooking with CARLA show :-)

I think this week's episode was great! You guys made the right choice, even though I love Tiffani. So jealous of the judges, every week there is a dish or two that I want to taste!! Tom, you and Padma ROCK! P.S. I am thrilled that Jamie is finally gone :)

What a great challenge! Thrilled Jamie is gone. You guys made the right choice, even though I love Tiffani. So jealous of the judges, getting to try such yummy food every week. Tom, you and Padma ROCK!!!

sad to see Tiffany go. not that she didn't deserve it. but she and Dale were the ones who improved the most as people since their last times on Top Chef. Tiffany was previously this rough and tumble chef who often felt entitled or above her audience. When she talked about how she didn't want to cook down to her audience was incredulous. But this season, she's been so nice and friendly. It's like she had an epiphany. Someone that I'd want to hang out with and someone who I'd be very proud to try her food out.

Same thing for Dale. He's just a really nice guy now. Before, he'd explode at the first spark. Now you have to apply a blow torch to him for him to ignite (which he hasn't yet).

But I still have an issue with these cooking challenges where it only matters the food you serve to the judges. The food that gets served to the audience should count also. Marcel had a point. If Dale just prepared food for the judges, that's an egregious error to me.

In Restaurant Wars, it better matter what the patrons say. It can't just be about the judges.

Ding dong the witch is dead. Jamie took out 4 obviously better chefs, but now she is finally gone. The remaining episodes just got infinitely better.

I love the fishing challenge. The chefs seem to have a good time and I agree that when you catch the food yourself, you have more respect for it. I'm delighted that Carla won. Her dish sounded amazing and she took out that blood thing that Tiffany left in. She even talked about it. Too bad that Tiffany didn't listen. Jamie did deserve to go home. She just doesn't seem to grow at all. Her attitude was the same as during her season: LOUSY. I was really surprised that Richard didn't do his own dish. Big mistake. Never put all your eggs in one basket because sure as shooting, someone will step on that basket. Marcel stepped and Fabio should learn to speak up for himself. Great show. Glad the producers listen to you.

After digesting your expanded take on tonight's offering, much of which I can't argue with, I will say this: I feel no satisfaction with Jamie being expelled. At this point, it's tantamount to closing the barn door after all the horses have run off. It's just too late to enjoy. Had these episodes not been filmed months ago, I'd have said that Jamie could have "cooked her ass off" tonight and still been asked to leave. [Even right up to the end Jamie was so blasé about her involvement on the show, it was impossible to care. The thing that really gets most fans is that she didn't cook for two episodes, stayed and still had the cojones to complain... every week! It almost seems like the show was rigged to keep her there. No, not for dramatic effect. But rather to punish her for taking on an obligation she clearly had no interest in.]

At least for me, the last two weeks of Top Chef were NOT all about the fact that Jamie stayed. It was about who left (Casey). Last week was never an either/or. I feel just as strongly that Antonia, Carla and even Tre should have been considered before Casey. You have to admit, Casey's elimination was kind of like telling your friend, "I'm never eating at your house again, 'cause that pizza you ordered sucked." And marked the first time in Top Chef history that the judges adhered to the "rule" that inedible equaled eliminated.

Tonight's spread, while interesting, was hardly satisfying fare. Sure it was nice to see the chef's outside the kitchen, just for a change. Unfortunately for Tom, the producers made him wait so long to get his "fishing challenge" in, that it's already been done twice in the past year on other shows. Seeing the chef's get to prepare and cook food that's same-day fresh was neat. But the limitation of not having a fully stocked kitchen (including hardware) detracted from the possibile results. Even though this challenge was to "make do", in this situation it might have been nice to see what the contestants could really showcase with these fantastic ingredients. [That's less of a critique and more of a personal desire.]

Top Chef really needs to cut down on the team competitions. I don't know how anyone can judge food conceived of and cooked by more than one person. Who would have won had Richard, Marcel and Fabio's dish come together? (Not that anyone held out any hope for that when they were announced as teammates. Marcel doesn't work WITH anyone... unless they need something foamed.) Which leads me to one final request regarding the finale: Can we please make it so that the chef's can't fall back on their standard dishes? If I see one more foam or gnocchi, I'm going to shoot my television!

What factor distinguishes a colloid from Marcel Vigneron?

a. Colloids don’t foam at the mouth b. Solutions mature c. Food foam is not obnoxious d. Marcel is a gas

sad to see Tiffany go. not that she didn't deserve it. but she and Dale were the ones who improved the most as people since their last times on Top Chef. Tiffany was previously this rough and tumble chef who often felt entitled or above her audience. When she talked about how she didn't want to cook down to her audience was incredulous. But this season, she's been so nice and friendly. It's like she had an epiphany. Someone that I'd want to hang out with and someone who I'd be very proud to try her food out.

Same thing for Dale. He's just a really nice guy now. Before, he'd explode at the first spark. Now you have to apply a blow torch to him for him to ignite (which he hasn't yet).

But I still have an issue with these cooking challenges where it only matters the food you serve to the judges. The food that gets served to the audience should count also. Marcel had a point. If Dale just prepared food for the judges, that's an egregious error to me.

In Restaurant Wars, it better matter what the patrons say. It can't just be about the judges.

I enjoy the show, and I would have to say that we are not mad at you Tom, but the fact that the challenges are stretching away from the food; could be the fault of those who own bravo. I would like to see a smoothie quickfire in the near future. Im 25 and have been making smoothies almost daily since i was 13. It would be a treat to see. If not, perhaps something related to cooking for fireman or in a firehouse, because sometimes its tough to cook for those who watch their build, when we are constantly woken up and always need a high caloric meal. Thank you and god bless

Answering your question Chef: I'm never mad at you; I always appreciate and enjoy your commentary, both on the show and in this blog. I actually respect Jamie as a chef and wish her well. I did not, however, respect Jamie as a contestant this season. I fully agree with chef Eric Ripert that she seemed miserable throughout this competition. It certainly couldn't have been any fun for the other cheftestants to be around that attitude every day.

I'm really enjoying this season. A couple of my personal favorites have already been eliminated but I'm OK with that. I can't wait for Restaurant Wars next week.

That was a great episode! It didn't feel rushed, everybody had a lot of fun and the food looked really good.

I think it's a bit of a shame that you decide in advance how many contestants are eliminated. I understand that there are logistical reasons for that, but I would much prefer if the judges could decide to eliminate an extra contestant in any challenge that was really bad -- or to refrain from eliminating anybody if everybody did a pretty good job. It would have been much more satisfying to see Jamie eliminated along with Casey last week than it was to see Tiffany go home in this episode for what seemed to be a pretty decent dish. I had hoped she would go farther (along with Jennifer), but at least Carla and Antonia are doing great and it's looking like we won't have an all-male finale.

Dale and Angelo are doing as well as I had predicted, while Richard is (again) under-delivering a bit in the more casual challenges. I'm still pretty sure he'll make it to the finale, but a lot of his fans seem to forget how often he was struggling in season 4 (the paella and the poorly-scaled fish spring to mind), and he still doesn't seem to have as much range as someone like Dale, who can cook seemingly any sort of food well, even under time constraints.

Anyway, great episode, and the season is really beginning to take off after some puzzling elimination challenge designs. Can't wait till next week!

Not mad either. Just think maybe some changes need to be made so that the chef who prepares the best dish wins...every time. The team concept totally screws the chefs. A winning dish on a losing 'team' doesn't win and a losing dish on a winning 'team' doesn't lose. That's messed up.

I'm curious ... what if one of the chefs didn't catch a fish? Would he/she be eliminated for bad angling?

Thank You, Thank You, Thank You!!!!!! Jamie is GONE...That was an excellent challenge where ALL chefs were required to actually cook and have their food tasted....Bravo to Bravo TV...Top Chef is back. On another note, I had the delightful experience of finally dining in your Craft Restaurant. I consider myself a foodie, and I was more than impressed with the enitre meal as well as your knowledgeable and friendly staff. The pnly disappointment was that I was not afforded the pleasure of seeing YOU...You're a busy guy they tell me... Just kidding. My busband and I have a new bucket list...we are determined to dine in EVERY Top Chef Masters restaurants. We've made a list and are commited to attain the goal. Perhaps I'll blog about it... Thanks again for a terrific meal.....

Besides removing the bloodline, soaking bluefish in milk for a half hour gets a little bit of the oil out, making it far less gamy. My favorite preparation for it is blackened. Excellent write-up Mr. C - thanks for being such a big part of the best reality show ever.

Blais - get your mojo back - I'm rooting for you.

Hey Chef Tom, No arguement this week, well constructed challenge (although it did hinge a lot on luck - weather, fish etc.) and just glad to see Jamie go. Not mad at you for a single thing.

Great episode, no complaints here. Not surprised to see Jamie go home, and sad to see Tiffany go, but definitely agree that she had time and was given a hint - she should have followed it! Looking forward to next week, as always! And also, as always, thank you Tom for the blogs. They are great.

A positive episode follows a terrible national tragedy

I know that this episode was filmed a while back but it was so fun and upbeat. Who knew that after the terrible tragedy in Arizona earlier this week that we would be given a Top Chef episode that showed a positive, playful side of the chefs. My heart has been so heavy for those that were killed in AZ. I really needed something to make me smile. Ditto, anyone?

I have to agree with the viewer who complained about group cooking. Why in the world do we have so many group competitions when this is really about the individual chefs? We all expect Restaurant Wars but four group competitions in a row which allow chefs to skate by instead of excelling is a little much. It's great to see how chefs come up with their individual dishes.

On another note, is it true that Dale (who is one of my favorites) cooked very little during the Dim Sum challenge? If so, this was patently unfair as any one of the chefs could have made a fantastic dish for the judges had they only made 20 0f them as Dale doesn't deny this is what he did. This makes it even more unfair that Casey went home because she worked the front of the house and was not able to cook and fix her dish. Had she only made 20 chicken feet, they probably would have been great. At the very least, you should have said the contestants had to make a certain number of dishes and if they hadn't, to hold that against them. In fact, Dale had time to polish his shoes which shows such horrible sportsmanship if he cooked so few dishes and then wouldn't volunteer to push the carts.

I hope that you have a show in which the eliminated chefs are able to return to try to cook their way back onto the show as you did in season 5.

I so appreciate your real criticisms of the chefs' food. I love that you are not beating around the bush and telling them like it is. If the food is bad, keep telling exactly what they did wrong. It let's us at home know exactly what you judges are thinking. Please keep it up.

Good show, good decisions, imo. Keep it up. Go Carla.

Just an aside to some of the comments...as a religious watcher of Top Chef from the beginning eppy...didn't they go fishing a few seasons back?

Was never mad at you, suppose it might be mad at the TC producers who plan the challenges. I think what was most frustrating was the Tennis challenge where Jamie never had to present. I have been watching since Season 1 and can not think of another challenge where the chef's cooked invidivual dishes but did not have to present. I think it was also frustrating that it seemed Jamie cooked to not lose vs. cook to win when it seems all the other chefs were cooking to win. Exciting season no matter how you slice it!

Loved this episode and appreciate the catch to table challenge. Reminded me of the farm to table challenge I think two seasons ago when one of the groups did not treat the pork they were working with well. When Carla won the challenge and was so excited it seemed so hard on all the Chef's that some win and some have to lose. I suspect it is also hard on you, the judges to send anyone home during this season since the group seems to respect each other.

Thanks for the great summary and challenge!

Love the title of your blog. Hilarious!

Personally, the only time I've ever been mad at you was when Hosea won his season. :-)

Nice blog, Tom...very informative. Can you please send Mike Isabella home next?

OK, here is what I am mad about. Too many group challenges this year. I want to see who the best chef is unhindered by the constraints of less talented chefs in your group.

If Antonia's dish was the best one, SHE SHOULD HAVE FREAKING WON!!!!!

You pride this show on ostensibly being a meritocracy, make it one.

And next week is....yet another group challenge. Sigh.

This episode was great! I honestly did not want to see anyone eliminated, except of course Jamie. She may be a good chef, one must be to be on this show but as a person she seems like a sod. I was really sad to see Tiffani go. In her season she was abrasive and, well, mean. This season we saw how she has transformed to become a classy person. Her exit was truly an example of how all competitors should act when they lose at something. I hope for good things in her life. The teamwork aspect of this episode was interesting and I cannot wait to see Restaurant Wars. I love Carla and her enthusiasm. She is giving everyone a run for their money. Marcel, well, Marcel is an interesting person. He has absolutely no people skills but one cannot dismiss his skills in the kitchen. I wish they had shown some footage of you fishing. It seems like it is a passion of yours. Fresh fish on a beach...what could be better! If you ever want fans from Canada to come and taste dishes let me know!

If you would not minding taking a few lines in your next blog, would you address what would have happened if any of the chefs had not caught a fish? Would the boats have stayed out until each one caught a fish? Thank you.

Great show last night! Although, I began watching with one eye open, 15 minutes in I was completely psyched to be watching some good 'old proper TC competition again!

Is it just me or does foam resemble spit? I gag when I see it. Tell Marcel to keep his spit in his mouth please, and off the plates.