"Top Chef" Chicago Episode No. 2: Animal instinct

There’s no way you could shop at the Green City Market and not have loved the first 15 minutes of tonight’s episode of “Top Chef.” I mean, doesn’t that guy from Liberty Family Farm always dig reeeaally slow through that disorganized cooler to see if he has any of whatever it is you’re looking for left? Don’t you inevitably trip over some 4-year-old who’s wandered off while Mom and Dad are off looking for leeks? And don’t you always wonder who buys the eucalyptus? (It’s guys like Richard, apparently.)

But apart from a fun trip to the market and some nice air time for Lincoln Park Zoo staffers, it was a tough night for Chicago. Stephanie and Valerie were both on the chopping block, and Valerie had to pack her knives and go. We hated to see it end so soon for her, but honestly, we kinda saw this one coming. She just seemed a bit too laid-back (this is, after all, a woman who recently told us the Chipp Inn was one of her favorite bars) for a competition this intense.

We’ll break the rest of the field down for you, but first, some takeaways from tonight’s episode.

Notable “Top Chef” first: Team Penguin serves a glacier.

Best line of the evening: “It looked like something a bear would produce, not eat.” (Gail, in reference to Team Bear’s mushrooms.)

Meanest line of the evening: Surprisingly, this honor doesn’t go to Gail. Instead, it goes to the guy from the zoo who said Valerie’s blini “tasted a little bit like dirt.”

Odd repeat ingredient: Ras el hanout. If we were in Morocco, we wouldn’t have batted an eye. But Cafe Brauer is a long way from Marrakech, so Richard’s decision to feature ras el hanout prominently in back-to-back episodes had us scratching our heads. As did the fact that none of the judges commented on it.

Weirdest promo during a commercial break: Padma in a cocktail dress dancing, wild-eyed, with knives. Huh?

Most exciting tease to Episode 3: Half-second shot of Rick Bayless. Finally, a local chef at the judge’s table!

Now, about those cheftestants …

THE GOOD

Andrew: Won this challenge handily with his squid dish. But also came up with the idea to make a glacier, which charmed Wylie Dufresne as only an edible glacier can charm Wylie Dufresne.

Mark: Recovered from an airheaded mistake to win the Quickfire Challenge, then wowed the judges with … anchovies? And we didn’t think anyone could top his marmite miracle from Episode 1.

Stephanie: Good showing in Episode 1, shaky performance in Episode 2. At this point, it’s nothing more than a feeling—but with Valerie gone, she’s our only hope for a hometown win, so we’ve gotta stay positive.

THE BAD

Erik: His food is ugly. Really ugly. This is food only a mother could love.

Spike: He confessed to “molesting” the produce early on in this episode. We’re still uncomfortable.

Nikki: Do we really have to talk about those mushrooms again?

Possible sleepers:

Antonia: Sure, we just noticed her for the first time about 20 minutes into tonight’s show. But now we’re intrigued.

Ryan: His Sam-from-Season-2 good looks caught our attention early on, and tonight he proved he could hang.

What do you think? Are we totally off base? Is it too early to call?

This we know for sure: 62% of viewers who texted in to tonight’s Bravo text poll thinks the animal Tom most resembles is a bear.