With an advantage from last week, Alex chooses to team up with Bobby, ensuring there are three cooks per side to make a three-course steak dinner. That leaves Curtis and Michael. "Last week my team beat Bobby's team, and Michael's team beat Alex's team," says Curtis. "I feel like we're in a really good place."
Full-Circle Mentoring
"Bobby's an important mentor to me," Alex tells Ted of her reason in allowing Bobby to help the cooks in her place. Bobby goes down to check on Joseph's shrimp and Angela's steak. "It's the first time Angela has cooked a steak this way," Bobby says, explaining why he pushed the SOS button when he did.
Mixing Up Mentors
Curtis switches mentees with Michael, coaching Vanessa on dessert while Michael works with Sharon on the key element, steak. "It's a lot of pressure," says Sharon. "I'm responsible for the seasoning." She can't rely on help from her mentor, because Curtis already used the SOS button to help Mimi.
Teamwork Gone Wrong, Turned Right
"Sometimes she gets lost and doesn't know how much time is left," says Alex of Sherri, who not only is making the salad, but the fried Brussels sprouts topping for the steak. But as Sherri hands the towel of sprouts to Joseph, he drops it. Luckily, she and Angela knock out a new batch before time runs out.
It's All in the Details
"She's a stickler for the fundamentals," says Alex after learning Amanda Freitag will judge the cooks' dishes. Upon tasting Joseph's shrimp cocktail Amanda says she thinks the tomatillos "got just a little bit lost." And despite Mimi's "creative" tuna carpaccio, Amanda feels it should be thinner and "needs just plain old salt"
Winners and Leftovers
Amanda describes Angela's steak as "fantastic" and calls Sharon's steak "edgy," but in the end Amanda names Angela's "the best dish of the day," which means Teams Alex and Bobby are safe. Mimi, Sharon and Vanessa must cook with leftovers in the elimination round. "I am actually shocked," says Curtis.
The Terrible Twos
"Michael absolutely has the upper hand," Curtis says, feeling he's at a disadvantage with two cooks. Using the leftovers, Mimi makes omelets and Sharon a Bolognese, but her gnocchi doesn't work. Neither does her backup plan of fettuccine: "For an Italian to have two failing pastas is like a knife in the heart," she says.
Radical Reinvention
"I am so damn proud of you," Michael tells Vanessa, who created an entirely new salmon dish out of steak leftovers. "When you look at this plate you absolutely do not think 'leftovers,'" says Amanda, which is exactly what Michael had envisioned. "Obviously you guys are safe," she tells the two.
"It was too lumpy, and I didn't want to serve it to you," Sharon admits about her gnocchi. "Don't tell us what we're not getting," Amanda advises her, but despite that, Amanda finds the flavors full. "I'm a stickler about egg-cookery," says Amanda, finding Mimi's omelet unevenly cooked, enough so to send her home.
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