Top Chef: Masters (Bravo)

Chefs: Graham Bowles, Suzanne Tracht, Wylie Dufresne, Elizabeth Falkner

Quickfire Challenge: The contestants had to create an amouse bouche of ingredients from a vending machine. The guest judges are Season 2 competitors who completed the original challenge. Suzanne seems to be struggling with the concept of this challenge because of her general cooking style. Some of the creations sound appetizing, but others sound kind of cringe-worthy. I do love Wylie's reaction to the judges comments. Suzanne seems to have made her dish work, even if she had trouble with the concept. Elizabeth had mixed reactions from the judges. Graham's dish went over pretty well. Suzanne used the least ingredients from the vending machines, and wound up winning the challenge.

Elimination Challenge: The chefs had to cook dinner for the creators of Lost, while using only the items that would be found on an island plane crash. The twist is no pantry, and they can only shop from an approved list of canned and preserved ingredients. The shopping scene was as funny or funnier than last week, especially because of the guys in this group. Darlton (Damon Lindelhoff and Carlton Cuse) are quite funny during their interviews, and they seem they are going to be tonight too. Also love the touch of the waiters in Dharma jumpsuits.

Suzanne's food seems to be getting generally good reviews, even though several people don't like her food choices. Graham's food is getting very raving reviews. Wylie's food took a major blow by not having chicken on one of the plates, but he did add some humor to the evening. Suzanne's food got good reviews, but there certainly was a lot of food on the plate.

The judges table was actually very complementary tonight. Wylie definitely made a comeback during the Elimination Challenge round, but not quit enough to win. I would have preferred Graham to win, but Suzanne pulled it off. Fair enough, but I liked Graham's food better.

Overall, I still don't like this format, but the chefs in this episode were more entertaining. I will keep watching, mainly for the guest judges, but I can't wait for the regular season to start up.

10 words or less: Still giving it more time.