Welcome to the New Year! It seems like it's been a long time since our last encounter with the chefs that are tackling season five of Top Chef in New York, so let's see what they've been up to.

Quickfire Challenge

Last episode, the holiday spirit inspired the judges to not eliminate anyone, but they will have to make up for it here with a double elimination. For their Quickfire Challenge, acclaimed French pastry chef Jean Christophe Novelli judges the chefs in a sugar-free pastry challenge. After some freezer mishaps and over-confidence, Carla, Ariane and Jamie end up on the bottom, and Leah, Jeff and Radhika are the favorites. Radhika wins immunity, and gets to choose her group for the Elimination Challenge.

Elimination Challenge

Gale will be MIA for the rest of the "Top Chef" season and will be replaced by UK Food Critic Toby Young. This challenge is a special one in honor of his arrival. After pulling knives to discover which group they are in, they discover the object of their challenge is to show the judges who they are by creating a family style meal for 12 to be judged blind. Radhika chooses the group that does not include Stefan to ensure that the kitchen is calm and collected. Groups are split as follows:

Group A: Radhika, Hosea, Melissa, Eugene, Jamie, Fabio
Group B: Stefan, Carla, Jeff, Leah, Ariane

In a surprise "Top Chef"-style twist, Group B discovers that they, in fact, will be the other half of the foodie judges. They will be critiquing the dishes of their peers, without knowing whose is whose. Group A watched in horror from the kitchen as their peers were responsible for judging their dishes along with the rest of the judges, and vice versa for Group B. Group A had several misfires, including Radhika's bland bisque, Fabio's undercooked lamb, Melissa's cat food dish, and Eugene's under-seasoned fish.

Group B didn't have nearly as many misfires as Group A and included two of the chefs that wound up on top of the Elimination Challenge. Jean said Ariane's dish was great and that Jamie's scallops were refined, and Tom felt Stefan's dish showed exactly who he is. Jamie's scallop-redemption gave her the Elimination Challenge win.

The bottom chefs included Melissa, Eugene, and Carla. How many times do those same chefs have to be on the bottom before they get sent home? Melissa and Eugene were given the chop, leaving Carla narrowly missing an elimination.

Next time, Padma shows up with Hung as their guest judge (GROSS), and pigs, chickens, and fighting plague the "Top Chef" kitchens. Find out who gets cut next time on "Top Chef."

What did you think of the latest episode of "Top Chef?" Who should win? Let us know in the comments!

Story by Kristin M. Koltz
Starpulse contributing writer