It's about to begin again. Four more cheftestants, three more baskets, and $10,000 to the one who can avoid having Ted Allen say with no feeling or malice... "You've been chopped."
 

Sonia El-Nawal New York City (orig. Lebanon) chef & consultant

Charles Lopez New York City (orig. France) sous chef; Tastings Catering Company

Arthur Robert Saks III Staten Island, NY executive chef, Marina Cafe

Shawn Fralin New York City private chef

Tonight's judges...

- Trendsetting restauranteur Chris Santos
- Star executive chef Alex Guarnaschelli
- Italian maestro Scott Conant

Round 1: APPETIZER (20 minutes). The first box of the night has... breakfast sausage, cantaloupe, potato rolls, and coconut flakes.

And time... starts .... *checks watch*... NOW!

Sonia: Melon & Chive Salad
Charles: Sausage & Coconut Slider
Arthur: Panzanella Salad
Shawn: Fried Sausage & Melon Spring Roll

The judges have yet to put anything together using the four ingredients, whereas Arthur has already put together a gremolata. Shawn's spring roll idea is 86'ed for...

Shawn: Warm Meat Salad with Fried Bread.

Sonia crusted the bread with coconut. The salad is brought out by the vinegar. The coconut is a little burned, while the bread is soggy. Charles uses the melon very whimsically. The side salad doesn't measure up to the creativity of the burger. Arthur's dish achieved a textural contrast, but the salad could've used some green. Shawn's salad is like him as a 101st Airborne... quick on his feet and not that overpowering. The cantaloupe made the sausage juicy, but the bread could've done without.

The dishes were cleaned and composed, creative and impressive. On the other hand, one will not measure up to par. The first chef... to be chopped...  is... SHAWN. He was able to adjust with four minutes, but the bread was overcooked and the presentation left a lot to be desired.

Round 2: ENTREE (30 minutes). One down, two to go. Next on the menu... fiddlehead ferns, sablefish, vadouvan, and blood orange sorbet.

Half an hour to make something happen.

Sonia: Vadouvan-Dusted Sablefish
Charles: Vadouvan-Crusted Fish with Blood Orange Sauce
Arthur: Fiddlehead Fern Carbonara

Vadouvan is a French Indian spice mix.

Both Charles and Sonia are working from the same pile of polenta.

Charles' fish is cooked flawlessly. The polenta is very good. Together, they're brilliant. The technique and taste if borderline obscene. The sauce, though, is uncomfortably reduced. Arthur is wildly creative with use of ingredients. The potatoes he used were delicious, but at the same time, it doesn't belong on the plate. and he used way too much butter. The polenta on Sonia's dish needed to be liquefied a little more, and her ancho chilies have not cooked. But she leaves the sorbet in its purest form.

This is going to be decided on creativity, as in, who created, and who was a creative failure? The next person... to be chopped... is... ARTHUR. The main fell short with the overuse of the cheese and butter taking away from the ingredients.

Round 3: DESSERT (30 minutes). And this is where success pays. Sonia and Charles are now one basket away from $10,000. In said basket... sour beer, cherimoya, raspberries, and brown bread in a can.

Good luck, chefs... and GO!

Sonia: Bread Pudding
Charles: Brown Bread Pain Perdu with Maple Cherimoya Coulis

Before we continue, Ted issues a warning. Do not eat or serve the seeds in the cherimoya, a fruit native to the middle east. They're bad for you. In fact, they may even kill you.

Charles decided early on to cook the fruit whole. That doesn't go over well with the judges, so he's left to spend a great amount of time removing the seeds. Meanwhile, he ends up burning his caramel. Sonia is making a campers' style bread pudding with a beer zabaglione.

Sonia's bread pudding with zabaglione is missing some of the beer flavor, but she has a deep understanding of the ingredients. Charles' caramel has a richness and a roundness, but he struggled with the raspberry mousse.

One chef rose over the course of the meal, while one chef fell from the start. Sonia's dessert was the strongest, while Charles' entree was probably the best ever cooked in the nine seasons of the show. Sonia's appetizer was cleaner, while Charles' was more creative.

The final chef... to be chopped... is... SONIA! She was at a high level today, but in the end... CHARLES LOPEZ was a little bit better. And that little bit adds up to $10,000. Spend it, save it, frame it.

So who's next to bring it home? Find out next week when four more chefs compete in three more rounds. One of them will get paid. The others will get... chopped.

To see extras from this episode, or to apply to be a contestant on "Chopped", visit the official website at www.foodnetwork.com/chopped.