http://worldonline.media.clients.ellingtoncms.com/img/blogs/entry_img/2009/Jan/08/Picture_1.pngHey there, Top Chef lovers, I’m back. Thanks so much to Jon Niccum for keeping the blog alive while I’ve been in Baby Land. And though I had a hard time staying up late enough to watch Top Chef last night, through the miracle of DVR (Thank you, Sunflower Broadband!) and a 5 a.m. wake-up call, I did see the first new episode since the holiday break.And, boy, was it a doozy!Top Chef came back with some punch — a double elimination and a new judge. And not just any new judge, but Toby Young, a famed British food critic with a tongue more acidic than anything you’d find in the Top Chef pantry. Toby was sitting in for Gail Simmons, who must be off enjoying wedded bliss at the moment, if the bridal shower-themed episode was any indication. Gail wasn’t exactly without a tart tongue herself, but Toby kicked it up a few notches, adding the sort of direct, painful truth so needed on reality shows.To familiarize Top Chef’s newest judge with the contestants’ cooking, the folks behind the show served up a blind, family-style taste test where the chefs would serve the judges and some food experts. The contestants were put into two groups and each were told to “make their food” — meaning the sky was the limit for what they could prepare.Of course, there had to be a twist. And it was a fun one. The food experts were the folks in the opposing group. No one knew whose food they were dissing or praising (though they could probably guess from the chefs’ previous work — that means you, Jamie the scallop queen!). Yum!But there was more yumminess yet to come, as this episode had more twists than a New York-style pretzel. The chefs who were being judged were able to watch their food getting picked apart in real time on a monitor back in the kitchen. There were highs (Stefan’s duck dish and Jamie’s deja vu scallop) and lows (Melissa’s “cat food” ahi fish tacos, Fabio’s rawish meat, Eugene’s improper adventure with a fried fish).Jamie was the best of the best, finally winning a challenge after soooooooo many close calls. Guess she was right to do the scallop after all (but please, no more, please, please, pretty please). And even Toby didn’t have anything nasty to say about it.And of course, there was also the big twist everyone saw coming — because no one was eliminated during the 12 Days of Christmas challenge, two people had to go. And the bottom three wasn’t exactly a surprise — Melissa (cat food will do that to you), Eugene and Carla.Melissa and Eugene have consistently been in the bottom in recent weeks and their confidence was clearly shot. And Carla, though not often in the bottom, was suffering from her own confidence issues as well, second-guessing herself on doing a strictly vegetarian dish and deciding to add a scallop rather than going with her gut.I had been rooting for Eugene the entire time, even as he consistently failed, just because he didn’t go to a fancy cooking school and had worked hard, but in the very beginning of the episode I knew he was a goner because the producers showed him talking to his family back home. Hmmm, never good. And Melissa had just been asking to be let go for weeks now. Watching her go on was painful because she seemed to shrivel up inside herself with each passing episode. Carla, however, had done pretty well and had been a kind soul throughout this entire process, seeing her go would have left the kitchen without a bit of heart. Even my six-week-old, who can’t see much beyond the length of his arm at this stage, could see who should go home.Luckily, the judges could see it too and put Eugene and Melissa out of their misery, leaving Carla to warm up the kitchen once again.Random thoughts:– Didn’t Jon Niccum do a fabulous job with this blog while I’ve been out? We’ve got to get him to blog more often, don’t you think? Good thing American Idol is coming up soon!– Jamie doesn’t do breakfast and doesn’t do sweets by her own admission in different quickfires. So what does she do besides cook scallops and make for good sound bites? (Though I do love those sound bites)– Is it just me, or are there a lot of girls still in this one? Maybe last season’s Stephanie was the start of a trend?