Top Chef: Block Party (Episode # 403)

Last week saw the second girl sent home. Will the trend continue, or can the ladies man up?

Quick Fire Challenge: Chef Rick Bayless is on hand to preside over a fancy taco face-off, the premise of which seems to irk some of the contestants, who contend that Mexican food cannot be upscale, and tacos should be street-style. Spike, who is setting himself up as this season's badass, certainly runs with it, making delicious but low-end tacos that Rick loves...but he gives the win to Richard for playing the game and going upscale. Richard not only wins immunity, but his jicama tortilla vegetarian tacos are going on the menu at Rick's restaurant.

Elimination Challenge: The chefs break up into two teams to cater a block party using ingredients found in the kitchens on that block. Team red (lead by Spike, I'd wager) goes populist, while team blue (led by Richard) goes upscale.

The difference in the team's style is quite evident. While team red has fun in the kitchen (well, everyone but Zoi, who has been relegated to pasta salad) and is overflowing with confidence, team blue is all business. Even out on the street, red is getting the neighborhood kids to chant, they're drinking, they'er getting into the dunk booth. As Richard says: it looks like they nailed the challenge. Well, they sure think so.

The judges, however, do not. Even though Richard's paella wasn't really paella, and Nikki's mac and cheese hardened into a big block, their food was more sophisticated, they didn't "dumb it down" for the block party pallettes. Stephanie takes her second win, for a fruit and crispy sweet wonton dessert that looks delish. She and the blue team now have the unenviable task of sending a stunned (and possible sloshed) red team out for their judging.

Out in front of the panel, things get contentious, with both Spike and Andrew (whose taco salad and sangria dishes were well-received) defending their team's choice, and expressing their disbelief at being chosen the losing team. What got them there? Erik's corndogs, which looked amazing, and probably tasted amazing in the kitchen, but didn't travel well, Ryan's waldorf salad and, of course, that darned pasta salad. They don't care that Zoi didn't want to make it: she did, and it was bad.

In the end, Erik (who has been a perennial bottom guy, in quickfires and elimination challenges) is sent home.