TCFL 17 All-Stars // Episode 7 Recap

Hello TCFL! Another week in the books and we are now looking straight at Restaurant Wars. First thing first: I had thought (and hoped) that Episode 7 would be a "filler". It was not. There was a lot of fun stuff to talk about this week. That's good for both this week's Recap, and so that you can continue to send in your submissions for RANT AT THE COMMISH. I've already received some interesting (and damning) rants, so keep them coming. I'll post them as we move through the season. Let's start:

"Where I'm from, they call me 'Chef' too." -- Karen
Tough look for my guy Mustache as being the subject of the only highlight of LCK to start the show. I'm sure he meant no harm by it, but at the same time, who calls grown women "girls"?
You knew a taco challenge was coming. But unlike the Hot Browns in Kentucky, tacos are definitely not overrated.
I like immunity as a reward for winning Quickfires. I'm a little disappointed that they're no longer in play, but as we saw, they can mess up the game.
"Time's up. Hands up, Machetes down." -- Padma
My dad had a machete. I don't know why. I think he just wanted to intimidate my and my brother's friends.
What's up with the glasses, Padma?

It's good to see Izard. Girl and the Goat is still one of the best restaurants I've ever been to, and the Strawberry Cheez-It Sundae from Little Goat Diner is still the best dessert I've ever had.
Finally, a Restaurant Wars twist/tweak that I'm 100% behind. This is a really fun way to pick both the concept and Executive Chef of the two RW Restaurants. And as we've seen throughout the years, being the Executive Chef doesn't necessarily mean you are a lock to win or be eliminated. Check out these Restaurant Wars stats from TopChefStats.com:

Nineteen restaurants in five years for Malarkey. Eight for Kevin. Ten for Voltaggio. There are definitely Chefs at an advantage for a pitch. It was obvious who had done this before and who hadn't.
Arts and crafts mood boarding reminds me of what we're trying to do with my daughter to keep her occupied during the day. Unfortunately it only works for about 15 minutes at a time.
Fluster Clucks is a restaurant I would absolutely go to.
Eric's flashback brought me back to when Tom "answered" but also didn't answer my question:

"Ha. Let's see what Sheldon has to say about that..." -- Mrs. Commish after Lee Anne claimed that the Hawaiian people have adopter her as their own.
Boy, does everyone love Melissa. This is the 2nd time a guest judge has used the "M"-word for her.
Eric melted down, and to me, it was unexpected. The best thing about Eric is how much he cares. In this case, I think this may be what did him in. You can feel the pressure that he feels representing his culture and cuisine right through the screen. You can absolutely have a bad day on Top Chef, but I'm more surprised that he also lost in LCK.
They did Stephanie dirty in this episode. We didn't need to hear multiple times that Stephanie was the only one who hasn't opened a restaurant. And for them to bring her to Judges' Table with Eric and Lee Anne, basically just to scold her was something I wasn't a fan of.
As always, the Scoreboard can be found here.

Something fun to end with: the restaurant concept that Voltaggio pitched? It already exists as a joint venture with brother Michael. It's called Estuary, Mrs. Commish and I went last summer, and it was excellent. Here's some pictures from our meal: