Liz Emrich of Iron Pundit/Iron Skillet fame is taking the night off. Since I can't miss the fix, I am pinch-hitting for her tonight to liveblog Bravo's Top Chef Las Vegas. Please come back at 10 pm EST to add your $.02.

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11:06 - Upon reflection, I wonder whether a bachelor/bachelorette party in Vegas is the best showcase for good food. Seems to me the folks in attendance were mostly interested in getting drunk. Is overindulging in alcohol really so much a part of our culture? Even though I don't drink anymore, I understand that many people can have a drink or two and just relax. But that wasn't the kind of drinking glorified here. (God, I do sound like a terrible grind. Never mind.)

10:59 - Tom Colicchio rakes all four over the coals, demoralizing the three who will go on. Ooops - Eve goes. I actually suspect that I might like her dishes much more than the judges did. My problem with most gourmet food is that I find it overseasoned and too intense.  I am always amazed that they are marked down for not properly salting the food - to me, each person should salt his or her own food. That's an individual taste in my  book.

10:52 - Jesse's dish is watery. Eve's shrimp is a loser. Preeti seems genuinely surprised her dish failed. Ashley is asked about doing two dishes. The watermelon was a hit, but the panna cotta was apparently awful. But the judges don't name the winner right away. Time for more food gossip with the judges. Ashley' going to stay. Jesse could be going. Eve is perceived as not understanding food terribly well. Preeti's dish is just flat. I"d say either Jesse or Eve is going home, and it sounds to me  like Jesse's going to be packing those knives.

10:48 - U2 is now shilling for Blackberry? A new JenniferAnniston rom-com with the guy who played the straight DA dude in Dark Knight.  Ooops - here's Padma picking four guys - are they the winners?  Yes. Eli gets props for ginger in his tuna tartar. Michael's sorbet is a winner. They also love Hector's tofu. Brian's macaroon is great.  But the winner is brother Brian.  The rivalry between the brothers seems ever more intense.

10:40 - Continuing the sickie theme, here's Nasonex.  A computer, an Internet rating site, then Mcdonald's? McDonald's? Is the logic that  you will get hungry enough looking at all that food that you will dash to the closest place?  Aaah, now it's portable oxygen, in keeping with our theme of what obesity will do to your health.  Crack whore? The commercials are odd. Mike shares his nicknames - says people get tired of him quickly. At least he;s self-aware.

10:36 - Is the boys'  food too "contrived"? The partyers do not appear to have the mosts sophisticated palates. Duck mole? Shudder. Eve - popcorn on top? One guy likes it. Eve's shrimp bombs. The guys love the octopus - who knew? Lamb chops are a hit with the judges.  BTW - after Ashley hears all the stuff about how the groom is about to lose his freedom, maybe she will be glad gay folks cannot get married.

 Ashley's watermelon carpaccio does well. Ooops - her second dish takes down her score with the judges. Goat cheese cookie? Hmmm. Looks good.  Kevin scores. The goat cheese cookie is a hit. Cara cara orange from Mike L - sounds cool but what the hell is it?

Tofu ceviche is a hit.  Ron's lobster bombs with the judges but the bride loves it.  CockyMike's char is not a hit. The meringue scores with the judges.

Eli;s tartar is a hit. Mattin is :off.:  The chicken wing is a hit.

So the guys hit the pool - because?  I hate to remind them that they are actually the hired help.

10:28 -  Between letting a dog out and a cat in, I am not sure I found out who the third gay cheftestant was. Ashley - Preeti - and ? I can understand Ashley's anger - and Preeti's pragmatism. But Ashley cannot let that color her attitude too much.

10:22- So Eve got her degree in wine and spirits (now there's a degree people can identify with -- sure beats engineering),. Tofu ceviche from Hector? Sweet and sour meringue? Jennifer sounds like an executive chef. She figures Ashley's  gone off the deep end trying to do  two dishes. 

10:18 - Off to Whole Foods (nice product placement). Haven't they heard about CEO Mackey's  disastrous op/ed against Obamacare in the Wall Street Journal and the boycott this has touched off?

10:16 - Gardasil commercial in our area - nausea and fainting? Do you want that on a cooking show? Hmmm. Now it's LiceMD for lice and nits (with no pesticides). Now it's arthritis meds. Does everyone who eats gourtmet food get sick?

 So it's the women against the men, cooking for bachelor and bachelorettes. Hector shows he's kinda sorta a sexist pig. Jennifer is pissed about the sexism inherent in the challenge. Ashley has already expressed that she has problems with the challenge because she's gay and cannot get married in most places. Now one of the guys is complaining about the taste of the shots.  What a bunch of whiners!

10:05 - (Just  had to re-arrange the posts - oops) - Mattini's carrot soup looks like something I once saw in a diaper. Eve earns an "interesting," which is more than most are getting. So what's a "mostarda"? Micahel V wins $15,000 and beats his brother.

10:03 - The beauteous Padma is wearing frilly white with bare arms tonight. Taking a fashion note from Michelle Obama? Are those earrings part of her new jewelry line? (For those of you who don't know, she is the ex-wife of author Salman Rushdie. He's famous not only for his breathtaking novels, but because Muslim mullahs issued a fatwah against him when the Satanic Diaries were published years ago.)

 Does everyone but me know who Todd English is?

  10:00 - Padma just announced the winner receives $100,000 in kitchen gear plus $125,000 - hope they know that means they will pay tax on $225,000.

Pre - 10:00 pm - These early episodes always seem frantic because you barely know who's who yet. I keep confusing Jennifer Carroll and Eve Aronoff - both are tall blondes.  At this point, my money's on Jennifer to win it all. Looks like she has the (not pork or lamb) chops and a killer instinct. I wouldn't want to meet her a dark alley, especially if she has her knives.