Like all reality show competitions, Top Chef always struggles in the first few weeks to get us to care about any of the contestants and this season is no exception, so when moderately-annoying Valerie got the axe, no one cared much. Here’s how it went down:

Wylie Dufresne was the guest judge, which felt promising for the few contestants (most notably this year’s resident mohawk - Richard) who practice the dark culinary art of molecular gastronomy. Dufresne is a Chicago local known for crazy stunts like printing his menus on edible paper with edible ink.

The quickfire challenge was at a farmer’s market, which was interesting…sort of. Contestants were allowed to purchase a total of five ingredients (not including oil, salt, pepper, and sugar). The second they announced the challenge, I thought, “There’s going to be at least ONE person that does not stick to the five.” Sure enough, Andrew forgets that balsamic counts as an ingredient. What a boob (and NOT in a good way).