Serious Eats - seriouseats.com

Oh, Nikki's time will come...it will come....

I agree on hygiene being > poached pears on the list of faux pas. Dude. I don't cook for a living, and even I know to keep my work clean!

@stareater: I'm right there with you on the jersey thing. I've never been into the jersey-wearin' if you're not, you know, actually playing a game at the moment, but she rocked that look. I never thought I'd see Padma doing that sorta skater-slacker short-sleeve-over-long-sleeve thing, but the turtleneck underneath seems to work. Of course, there's no doubt that jersey was tailored perfectly for her by stylists before the shoot.

Moving on from Project Runway analysis of Padma's duds, I think you're absolutely correct about Nikki, Ryan, and Mark. I'm more sympathetic to Mark -- I think he should have gone with the gas grill. Unless you're an ace griller, you should go with the consistency of gas heat; the last thing you want is to futz with fire control while cooking for 80 people. No doubt that played a large part in his sloppiness. And, yeah, at least Ryan tried something of his own. I mean, *I* could have come up with a sausage-and-pepper grinder.