Top Chef! Don't read if you haven't watched last night's yet

Can we all recognize that despite being a little more boring than previous seasons at times, the Richard/Antonia/Stephanie trifecta are some of the strongest, classiest competitors the show's ever had? When has Restaurant Wars ever gone well? The judges had only one minor complaint while eating at their restaurant, and it was about dessert. No menu gaffes, no front of the house debacles, no ill-fated decor choices, no in-fighting. They did it right. And Dale continued to prove that he's Not Hung. He may have an attitude, but one that makes his performance crumble. And he's just not as good as Hung was. When he and Stephanie (and by Stephanie, I of course meant Lisa) work together (which KEPT HAPPENING), it was an uncontrollable explosion of bitchiness and distraction. Despite his "hustle" (which he liked to talk about a lot), Dale couldn't take the heat. And now he's out of the kitchen.

I hope Ezra writes today about how Richard Blaze is the Barack Obama of Top Chef. We chatted about it last night and the theory's got legs.