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I don't have a problem with her bringing it up and stating her opinion and standpoint. But repeatedly bringing it up like that. It was annoying. But, I'm sure the producers and editors did their part in playing it up.

Additionally, it seemed a little awkward for the rest of the contestants when they got back to the house post-prep and she was still complaining.

@cheesebreadbutter no, I'm just a 16 year-old kid. I was thinking about starting one, maybe I should get on that because I love food and like to write... which blog? you got me curious

perhaps when this episode was recorded, california's prop 8 was in the news. it may seem a little removed from the public eye right now, but when the california supreme court was handing down its ruling, it was hard for anyone in the gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender community to ignore.

any chef can bring his/her politics to the table and reap/suffer the consequences.

as far as controversy is concerned, would you cook for an anti-abortion or pro-choice function if your personal politics disagreed? maybe. maybe not.

but would top chef force the contestants to do it?

@pbelardo My take on Ashley's same-sex tangent (which I'm in favor of btw) was to remember the audience the producers are editing for. Bravo TV has a huge following in the gay population and this was a way to speak to an issue many are concerned with.

Glad Eve is gone, just wasn't a good fit for the show.

Please let's get rid of Jesse. STOP CRYING!

I am way late to the party on this one because i just watched the episode on DVR last night, but a couple of thoughts on Michael Chiarello:

He's going to be in the finale. Especially with Art gone, he is by far the most telegenic and charismatic of the chefs up there. Yes, he can come off as a bit of a douche. But that 'limp wrist' comment, terrible as it was, was funny. and his cooking is solid. as for the lemon- yeah, he squeezed it with his teeth. THE OUTSIDE. it's not like he used his tongue to extract the juice and then spit it into his dish. lemons are tough and slippery, and if he didn't have a juicer, that was no doubt the best way to get out the most juice. i'm surprised the attitude here isn't more: "professional kitchens are chaotic environments and sometimes you have to improvise; there's probably a lot that goes on in there that we don't see that we wouldn't necessarily want to see; but the food tastes great all the same. it's not like he dropped it on the floor.

Hard to know who will win at this point... Chiarello and Bayless seem to have had the most consistent performances. Perhaps one of them will pull a "Hosea" to Lo's "Carla" and Keller's "Stefan".

@ peekpoke

1) Not necessarily, not always. You could take the banana part of bananas foster and put it with other ingredients. Or make sorbet (coconut sorbet can be very creamy). Or some sort of sauce.

2) Stove top rice pudding! Starchy rice will stick together without eggs (you don't usually dump eggs in risotto, do you?). And what's wrong with coconut flavored rice pudding? Isn't that a traditional dessert, when made with black sticky rice? There are also plenty of other nut-based milks that would have worked.

Obviously, anything vegan was outside of Art's comfort zone (which I find somewhat ridiculous, since chefs should know how to prepare fruits and vegetables). But even he said that he knew how to make sorbet, which would have been way better than rice cream! Like I said, I think he just freaked out. If he had calmed down, he might have figured out a way around the restrictions.

BTW, I really liked Rick Bayless' commentary about the episode on his blog.

@ peekpoke ... you can buy gluten-free oats. I think he probably could've made a topping with brown sugar and nuts, or gone with a fruit and chocolate dessert. Bananas foster? Poached pears or peaches? A cashew or macadamia puree with those strawberries? A fancy rice pudding?

Honestly, my impression was that he got so freaked out about the restrictions that he couldn't think about what he could make, and ended up choking.

LetTheEatQueso: Ahahhaha, so true!

Apparently Art's almond brittle recipe contains butter (it's on the Bravo Web site)? I sincerely hope he didn't feed vegans dairy, but his recipe calls for it. I hope he subbed EB ...

Whoa, what's with all the vegan hate? I'm a little taken aback; vegan food can be/is often very delicious, and any accomplished chef should be able to handle it. Didn't Alain Passard turn L'Arpege into a vegetarian restaurant because he wanted a new challenge?

I'm glad, too, that Anita didn't go home, though I had no idea what she was thinking with cheeseburger soup. Cheese soup, ok, but I don't want little meatballs in it.

I loved the book! I laughed so hard, I cried! The bone marrow part, OMG! I hope the movie does it justice. Maryl as Julia, brilliant! Plus, Nora Ephron is directing it, love her stuff. I'm really looking forward to it, probablly will buy the blue ray too!

With lemons!

If I don't have the will to squeeze a few of my own, Newman's Own is OK