So much great TV last night!  Welcome back Jenn Tidwell for her expertise on all things “The Taste.”  

Tonight on The Taste the second and final round of auditions took place completing each of the mentors’ teams. Although mentor Anthony Bourdaine claimed, “the only criteria is the taste of the food”, each mentor still had regrets about not picking a contestant after meeting them. I was left confused as to why they would share these regrets with the contestants. I suppose nobody wanted to be the “bad guy”.

With the mentors having only a few spots remaining on their teams the judging tonight was extra critical. For the third time both Ludo and Brian had given a YES to a contestant and also for the third time Ludo was chosen as their mentor. You know how it goes, third time is the charm, or is it Ludo’s French accent? Where Ludo didn’t prevail was when he failed to listen close enough to a contestant, Huda, as she spoke of being a professional in the kitchen. “She is not a professional”, he said to Nigella who has a soft spot in her heart for home cooks. And when it came down to both he and Nigella giving her a YES, she of course chose to work in Nigella’s kitchen.

As the episode neared its ending only one spot was left open on mentor Bourdaine’s team. It was a shame for the few contestants who cooked vegetarian and vegan dishes as he very openly wasn’t a fan and is very much a carnivore. However contestant, Uno, was able to win his heart and final spot on the team with a traditional Laos dish she created, known as Lucky Chicken.

All the mentors shared how happy they were with their teams and Brian confessed he was out to get revenge on those contestants who chose Ludo over him. Here’s who they ended up with…

Team Anthony: Diane (chef consultant), Mia (yoga instructor) who has a crush on Bourdaine, Nina Marie (caterer) and Uno (mortgage consultant)

Team Nigella: Lauren (administrative assistant), Renetta (program monitor), Erika (broadcaster) and Huda (caterer)

Team Ludo: Shawn (executive chef), Sarah (food blogger), Paul (executive chef) and Gregg (culinary instructor)

Team Brian: Khristianne (private chef to Charlie Sheen and more), Micah (design director), Jeff (executive chef) and Adam (executive chef) from my hometown of Sacramento, California!

Interesting how both Anthony and Nigella have all women teams with more home cooks than chefs while Ludo and Brian have a mixture of men and women with mostly professionals. Tune in next Tuesday at 8pm on ABC to see the actual mentoring begin and the teams start to dwindle as quick as they were put together!!!

On a personal note, I will be closely following Paul from Chef Ludo’s team.  He is the executive chef at one of my favorite restaurants in my hometown of Libertyville, IL!  Maybe I can visit my parents sometime soon and grab and interview while I am in town?  Stay tuned…

In the meantime, check out his recipe for Pecan Crusted Sea Bass.