Top Chef S9E9.

Notes from one of the better episodes, hitting both ends of the culinary spectrum:

* Before we even get started, Edward’s trash-talking Heather for using his cake recipe, which he gave her, so, um, don’t give out your recipes any more, genius.

* Then, the night before the Quickfire, the chefs get a copy of Modernist Cuisine at the house. If you haven’t heard of it, it’s a controversial, groundbreaking, backbreaking (weighing over 50 pounds), five-volume set, spearheaded by polymath/Microsoft billionaire Nathan Myhrvold, that rethinks cooking from the ground up, using a scientific approach. It’s not all molecular gastronomy, but that’s a major focus, which freaks out a few of the chefs.

* Quickfire: Moto Chris calls Myhrvold “Chef Nathan.” No.

* Then Moto Chris explains miracle berries to Padma and Nathan (who has to one-up the chef by mentioning in a somewhat offhand way that he grows miracle berries in his basement).

* Grayson referring to molecular gastronomy as “magic” was pretty funny, as was Beverly’s foam disaster (although I did feel bad for her when she referred to herself as socially awkward). Meanwhile, Sara ends up in the top three for ravioli with a raw egg yolk inside … which we see chefs do a few times a year on this show. That seems about as modern as harvest gold kitchen appliances, but the judges approved anyway. She didn’t win, which would have annoyed me, but when Ty got the nod (and the books) Moto Chris looked like he wanted to commit hara-kiri. (Or maybe he finally saw his own hair in a mirror. I’d feel the same way.)

* Elimination challenge: The chefs must stay up all night at Salt Lick BBQ – I think this was their original location; I’ve only been to the one in Round Rock – and prepare five dishes: chicken, pork spare ribs, brisket, and two sides of their choice. This is anti-modernist cuisine, and that’s awesome.

* Two of the three teams decide to go boring and literal. They could have sent all six of those chefs home and I wouldn’t have been upset. Grow a pair already.

* At Whole Foods, Malibu Chris (much better than “Chris C.”) reads the grocery list, with “liquid smoke” on it. Um, Chris, I’m pretty sure that’s what the barbecue pits are for.

* Edward gets more ornery as the show goes on, because apparently when Heather left, she took Edward’s self-awareness with her. So now we have a new villain. I get Edward’s point that he and Ty had developed a “system” for serving without Sara while she was on the disabled list, but isn’t there some obligation to re-integrate her when she comes back? At least Ty realized that, you know, there’s a damn camera on us, you idiot.

* Meanwhile, why can’t a team that’s down a member borrow a body from the restaurant just to help them serve? Was it fair for Ty and Edward to suffer in the judging because they had to compensate for another chef’s heat exhaustion (if that was indeed Sara’s malady)? I don’t get it. If the point is to identify the best chef, then let’s get the extraneous variables out of the way and focus on the food.

* I was surprised to see Beverly’s bourbon fire set off the smoke alarm in the RV, since I have, in fact, produced a fire quite a bit like that only to discover it barely gave off any heat and didn’t singe anything it touched (including, I believe, my eyebrows). Her inability to handle the fire was kind of a concern, though.

* Beer can chicken isn’t Q. Period. Automatic DQ in my mind.

* My wife was singing along with Grayson’s bullfrog song. She didn’t make the faces, though. Also, I refuse to believe Grayson only says mildly inappropriate things like “sex in the mouth” when she’s sleep-deprived. Speaking of which, Hugh’s recap might have been his funniest yet.

* Judges’ Table: Paul wins again, by going a little off the board. I know this was a team win, but it seemed clear this was Paul’s menu.

* Did Team Acrimony really put orange mint in their cole slaw? I did think Tom criticized them unfairly for slicing the meat ahead of time, unless he was willing to say explicitly that he thought they could have sliced to order fast enough to serve the guests.

* Nathan Myhrvold was a good judge except when he tried to be funny. But his comments were pretty specific and he’s obviously passionate about food and incredibly knowledgeable about it.

* I was less disturbed by Malibu Chris basing a BBQ sauce off a Texas beverage (albeit one I don’t drink) than by him thinking, again, he would get a mistake (oversalting) by the judges. I get why he went home, especially after two straight times in the losers’ bracket, but I still think he had more potential than Moto Chris.

* Last chance kitchen – did the on-screen description of Nyesha’s dish actually say “twill” instead of “tuile?” Twill is a type of fabric weave. Tuile is food. Don’t even get me started on toile.

* Both dishes seemed really strong, but it sounds like Nyesha won for making more of “a restaurant dish.” She’s cooking angry now, and I like it.

* Final three: Paul, and it’s looking like it matters less and less who else is there with him. Malibu Chris was in my projected final three as of E7, and I see much weaker chefs still here (Beverly, Moto Chris, and Ty). I’ll go with Paul, Edward, and Lindsay for the final three, with the caveat that we don’t know when the Last Chance Kitchen champ might re-enter the mix.