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Top Chef Power Rankings: Week 8

By Chuck Sudo in Food on May 5, 2008 3:00PM

We'll let Mark Simmons get in his shots at Padma and company this week. Watch enough reality television and you have a sense of who's leaving at the beginning of the episode. As bad as many of you wanted to see Lisa be the one packing her knives last week, we knew that Mark was leaving as he was scraping his razor across his face; apparently in Middle Earth they teach men to shave against the grain. He may think that Tom "hates" him, and is you can translate what he said about Art Smith at the 1:05 mark, please do (we can't speak Hobbit). Mark's weakness - besides being obscenely tall for a Baggins - was having an uncanny ability to take simple dishes and make them hard: see his duck a l'orange from the premiere. It may work in the Land of Shire, but not in the Top Chef kitchen.

Last week's theme was simple, fast and cheap. From Uncle Ben's microwavable rice to making a meal using ten dollars at Whole Foods - and who does Bravo think they're kidding there? - Mark failed. As we get ready for the wedding reception episode this week some are feeling the pressure (Stephanie, who's been taking some lumps the past two weeks), while others (Antonia's bad ass sweeping the quickfire and elimination challenges) are starting to peak as the numbers dwindle. How does it shake up the power rankings? Read on.

1. Dale (last week – 1): Still solid in competition, still wanting to parboil Lisa, still atop the rankings.

2. Richard (last week – 2): Felt his biological clock ticking with Art Smith's Common Threads kids last week, proving he's more feminine than Jennifer.

3. Antonia (last week – 5): Much as we're rooting for Steph, Ms. Lofazo she has the goods and the confidence to win this competition, winning both the quickfire and elimination challenges.

4. Stephanie (last week – 3): Is she starting to suffer from front runner syndrome? Or will she take a cue from Antonia and say "Fuck it."

5. Andrew (last week – 5): We don't want to know about his boners, culinary or otherwise.

6. Nikki – (last week – 9): Surprising showing last week.

7. Spike (last week – 7): Meh.

8. Lisa (last week – 6): Personality goes a long way, which explains her landing at near the bottom this week.

9. Mark (last week – 5): Why he went home instead of Lisa (regardless of her strong showings in recent weeks), we have no idea.