Recap Roundup: Top Chef Masters Episode 4

Fruit. Ninjas. Shoeless feet. Modern Family. Bloggers:

Jordan Baker gets technical: "Bravo showed a commercial before the last two segments that revealed who the second chef making the champions' round would be, and while I'm the absolute last person to ever complain about spoilers. . .. It was the first showing of the show. East Coast, 10:46 p.m. And that was just shitassed dumb, Bravo. That's the sort of thing VH1 does. You should be above that."

Reality Wanted on Susur's phone call: "Susur is still pissed off about getting the lowest score in the Quick Fire Challenge. He calls his wife, and she tells him to buck up and get in the fight."

Onion AV Club on the boring factor: "How is it possible that all of these people seem so BORED? They're on TV! They're competing for big money for their charities! They're in a giant reality competition! But they all seem as if they couldn't care less about what's happening, and it's really dragging the show as a whole down. I mean, I don't hate it or anything, but it sure reminds me of how much more I like the parent show."

CBS News on the winning dish: "Chef Lee was looking for a rebound from his disappointment in the Quick Fire served up Roast Chicken & Farce Curry, Polenta Grits, Tomato Jam and Chili Mint Chutney (Ying Yang balance with a meat and vegetable dish). He scored perfect five-stars from the judges and just missed the perfect 20 star rating, getting 4.5 stars from the Modern Family cast and crew. Lee's 19.5 stars is the highest elimination total ever for a Top Chef competition."

Speakeasy (WSJ) on shoelessness in the kitchen: "While the other chefs raise eyebrows, Susur scurries about in socks, oblivious to spills or dust bunnies. 'Being a chef is like being a ninja,' he says, without irony."

Slashfood has some serious love for the episode: "Pot jokes, unvarnished egotism, shoeless cooking, radish carvings so intricate they looked like origami -- it was all there and more. Oh, and great-looking food -- although, ultimately, the judges' ratings suggested otherwise."

Serious Eats gets sexy: "Chef Jody, lovely woman that she is, tried to help us all understand what being a competitor on Top Chef feels like. "Being on Top Chef is like interrupted sex," she said. 'You cook for an hour and a half, then have to stop. In that time, how can you climax?' Jody, I'm no Dr. Ruth, but if nothing's working after an hour and a half, I'm thinking there's a good chance you're doing it wrong. But hey, that's an entirely different blog post!"

Marquee (CNN) interviews Quickfire winner Jody Adams: "'The "Top Chef Masters" kitchen is a chef’s fantasy. It has every piece of equipment imaginable in multiples and even some that you’d only find in Willy Wonka’s chocolate factory.'"

Eater.com on Rick's ridiculous Quickfire plate: "Rick's dish comes out: herb and fruit shooters, which sounds like some kind of sex act or maybe a bad name for a band. He says, 'I wanted to put my own spin on it, which is using a Versace cup, my little culinary inspirational card.' Are you kidding me with this shit?"

Food Network Musings on the Rick-Spike backstory: "Kelly asks Rick how he feels being a contestant after having been a judge. He says, 'It’s nerve-wracking.' Remember when Spike and group cooked in Rick’s restaurant kitchen and dissed Rick for having frozen seafood in his restaurant fridge. He accepted that and said 'BUT…you used them!'"

Televisionary on "high stakes": "Despite the fact that I was hoping that Adams would make it through to the next round, I was a little surprised that the producers would opt for a 'high stakes Quickfire Challenge.' After all, that made sense within the context of the Las Vegas season but here, on Top Chef Masters, it seemed extremely out of place, particularly as the challenge--a fruit plate--didn't exactly scream golden ticket to the champions round. But that's just me, anyway."

Box Office Prophets on Susur's Susurness: "Susur is a strange man – if you can imagine a World of Warcraft nerd who works as a chef, that’s pretty much him."