Top Chef: Have you seen Ted?

Oh, Bravo. What the hell? You promised me Ted Allen. I distinctly remember being promised Ted Allen this season. He showed up in the season one vs. season two challenge, but since then, where's he gone? Instead of my favorite Queer Eye guy, instead I get the same old: chirpy Gail, "I'm not your mommy" Tom, Lady Padma, and the guest judge, who I believe this week was a young Dick Van Patten.

This week's barbecue challenge was pretty cool. I like that the show has managed to come up with unique challenges so far; now that Top Chef is in its third season, there is every danger that it'll start to repeat itself. But with some smart challenges, it's managed to avoid that, and I like to think that it's because of Lee Anne's influence behind the camera. Nice job, Lee Anne! The editors will also be getting props from me this week, because of their giant fake-out concerning Sara N. For the entire episode, they showed nothing but what made Sara look incompetent: her stumbling introduction of her Quickfire dish, her fuzzy math at the meat counter, and her problems getting the grill started. And then she turns out to be in the top three! You win this round, editors.

By the way, I thought I had a handle on who all the chefs were, and then suddenly in the Elimination Challenge, they cut to this brunette who started interviewing like she was a contestant. Camille? Who's Camille? How long has she been here? Check her credentials!