Join us each week as we share our thoughts on the previous nights episode of Top Chef: Las Vegas. One of our Philly compatriots was already eliminated, but we will be watching closely as Jenn Carol from 10Arts competes for the top prize.

This week’s elimination challenge was to cook something yummy with a bunch of prickly cacti. Cactus can be delicious if prepared correctly, but it seemed as though most of the chefs had no familiarity with the ingredient. Some tried to incorporate it into their usual recipes, while others guessed at how to even make it edible. Mike ended up winning, as it seemed he was the only contestant that understood the vital role of salt in preparing his dish.

After being told about their elimination challenge, and picking up their groceries, the crew was driven to the desert and left to sleep in an open field in a bunch of teepees. While it was quite entertaining to see a bunch of city-slicker chefs roughing it out in the wild, we are still not clear how this particular experience is helping us pick the best chef out of the bunch. Anyhoo, the next day after sleeping outside, the gang has to prepare food for a bunch of Vegas-style cowboys in like one-million degree weather. The weirdest thing is that there was so much fish. Dry hot land for as far as the eye can see, and everyone is serving fish. It made no sense with seared halibut, four different kinds of ceviche, and shrimp. Like the old lady said, wheres the beef? The judges seemed a bit stunned, but a winner had to be chosen regardless. One of those bros ended up winning. Several weeks in and we still can’t tell them apart. Our girl Jen C was not a major player this week, but she is still in it!