Recap Roundup: Top Chef Masters 2 Episode 7

Goooo team! This week, our Masters were all about the sports, both on land and at sea. So how'd that work out for them? Let's ask the bloggers:

Jordan Baker summarizes: "I'm EXTREMELY excited for Susan being the first chef to sweep an episode. She's a little dynamo, and one of my absolute favorites. As to the rest of it: Tony blah blah blah. Leaving blah blah blah. Kind of a dick blah blah blah."

TWOP on Jay's Quickfire mood: "Susan wins with cumin-cilantro chicken with pickled tomatoes on quinoa and raisin pilaf. Jay seemed especially grouchy during judging, and most of the other chefs got quite low scores."

Slashfood on Susan's perky past: "Once, years ago, in a faraway time and place we'd rather be living in, Susan Feniger was a cheerleader... As she rallied up the crowd with her inimitable squawk and backwards baseball cap, Susan revealed her school spirit -- as well as her long-buried pom-pom memories, evidenced in a black-and-white candid of Susan in a pleated skirt and Mad Men hairdo, with an ear-to-ear grin and outspread arms."

Daily Loaf on Quickfire planning: "These Quickfire Challenges just seem to get more and more ridiculous, for example, this week’s 'leg protein' challenge. Alright, I get that they were all supposed to use leg meat (do squid tentacles really count as legs?), but inviting an Olympic gold medalist swimmer who finished the 'last leg' of the Men’s 400m freestyle relay just doesn’t make sense to me. What does he know about food?!"

Eater.com on Susan's plating issues: "Susan gets called out for her sloppy plating, and deservedly so—she's been doing it all season long. I don't know why she's surprised by this! During last week's elimination challenge, her plate looked like a buffet threw up on it because everything was just thrown on it haphazardly; had she just, say, presented everything in tiny bowls on a plate like Indians or Koreans do, it would've looked beautiful and worked perfectly."

Serious Eats on Rick's octopus obsession (with some gratuitous Bieber thrown in): "In a move that surprised exactly no one, seafood master Rick Moonen ran to the octopus faster than Ina Garten to a bottle of good vanilla. It proved to be a bit of a challenge for him, since trying to cook octopus in 45 minutes is a bit like trying to pinpoint exactly what's wrong with Justin Bieber's hair: impossible."

Grub Street rates the judges: "Best Judge Banter: 'I don’t know about you guys, but I am feeling more like a manly American by the minute,' James said as he bit into another taco. Touché to Jay, then, who retorted, 'James, any plate of food that can do that to you is a miracle."

Speakeasy (WSJ) on Susur's new world: "We could easily frame this season’s 'Top Chef Master’s' as a 'stranger in a strange land' theme, starring Susur Lee. He’s mystified by everything, yet resoundingly ebullient. Last week, he had never heard of ‘The Simpsons’, and this week, he’s introduced to tailgating."

CBS News on Tony's downfall: "For the most part, the chefs stayed pretty traditional, steaks, tacos and chicken, except for Chef Tony Mantuano, who went for grilled pizza. It's a differentiator, but a risk."

LikeMe Daily backtracks on Susan: "I take back what I said last week about Susan Feniger. She proved to be this week’s Top Chef Masters MVP, handily winning both the Quickfire and the elimination challenge. I’m still convinced she wakes and bakes before deciding on what to cook, and her presentation leaves much to be desired, but nonetheless, she’s a stronger competitor than I initially figured."

TVGasm has a good question: "Did it seem weird that the two guys who understood the least about tailgating did better than the three who knew all about it?"