Oy, gee. We're sick today. We feel like grade-A crapola, and it may color our review of the last episode of just a tad. Not to mention that we're about 10 lbs. heavier than when we watched this episode last Wednesday on Bravo, which is making us even more pissy.

This episode was a 'very special Thanksgiving' episode. And it was pretty special--Tony Bourdain, the well-known chef and world-traveler, was the guest judge, and yes, we love his bad-boy image, his wry personality, and he writes a hell of a good fictional book along with his spectacular non-fiction. Sorry if we're judging this man on his image, folks, along with his writing and cooking pedigree. Oh, P.S. -- he's had some swell adventures recently with our own Mary Ladd/Jalepeno Girl, which you should check out here and here.

Okay, so, in the interest of not exposing more of our jerky sick self to you folks, let's make with the recap/review.

The Quickfire Challenge was a little different this week as Chef Tom (Colicchio) served as the judge (usually it's a guest; Mr. Bourdain didn't show up until the elimination challenge). The chef-testants had to make something out of canned goods. There were a bunch-o-winners: Sam, Cliff, Ilan, Frank, and Mia were not only given immunity from the big challenge this week, they didn't even have to participate. No, only Mike, Carlos, Elia, Marcel, and Betty were subject to the Elimination Challenge: each was to produce a cutting edge course for an updated version of the Thanksgiving meal.

Top Chef