Richard Blais and Brooke Williamson present a Quickfire challenge; chef Eric Ripert sits down with the chefs to enjoy a traditional French Christmas dinner; Padma tells the chefs they're missing the final part of the tradition of Le Revillon de Noel.

The chefs head to the mountains, a few hours outside of Los Angeles to go to Summer Camp where they are challenged to an outdoor grilling Quickfire for Padma and “Top Chef” Kentucky winner Kelsey Barnard Clark. Before the sun rises, the chefs get to work on an upscale brunch buffet for 200 moms vacationing at the camp using a very limited stock pantry. It’ll take more than s’mores and a round of kumbayas to impress the moms, the judges Tom, Padma and Gail, and guest judge “Top Chef” Charleston Winner Brooke Williamson.

Tom makes his final decision from Last Chance Kitchen on who should return to the competition. Then the chefs take off in a Quickfire with Padma and Jonathan Waxman making a two-course Business-Class dish for an airline. For their final challenge in Los Angeles before jetting off to Italy for the finale, the chefs go to Michael’s Santa Monica, where they meet Chef and Restaurateur Michael McCarty, the legendary pioneer of California Cuisine. With only five chefs moving onto the finals, the chefs will have to reimagine one of Michael’s iconic dishes from across the years and serve it to a table of celebrated alumni of Michael’s kitchen, including Roy Yamaguchi, Jonathan Waxman, Sang Yoon, Mark Peel and Brooke Williamson.

This week’s Quickfire Challenge takes inspiration from "Top Chef" France’s infamous Black Box challenge. In teams of two, the chefs each take a turn entering the box where they blindly taste a dish created by guest judge Gabriel Rucker and then must try to recreate it. During a night off, the chefs are surprised by guest judges Kristen Kish and Brooke Williamson arrive with care packages from their families. However, in true “Top Chef” fashion, there’s a twist and they must use the ingredients from their care packages to make their dish for the Elimination Challenge.

The remaining chefs get an early wake-up call from Padma to go meet guest judge Brooke Williamson and dig for clams for their Quickfire Challenge. In the Elimination Challenge, the chefs honor the area where James Beard spent his summers, creating both a hot dish and a cold dish with one of his favorite ingredients, Dungeness Crab. Kwame Onwuachi and Nina Compton serve as guest judges this week to help determine which chefs will move on to the finale.

The chefs are challenged in the Quickfire to put their own spin on the Tex-Mex classic queso, judged by local legend Chef Irma Galvan. For the Elimination Challenge, the competition heads to the field of a high school football stadium. Working in two teams of seven coached by all-star alumni Sam Talbot and Dawn Burrell, they’ll create seven carb-loaded dishes that will be served in a head-to-head battle. The team that scores a touchdown first wins. Tom, Padma and Gail will be joined by award winning Chef Chris Shepherd and Top Chef Charleston winner Brooke Williamson at the judges' table.

The chefs meet Brooke Williamson at Houston's J-Bar-M, where she tasks them with putting their own spin on a brisket dish for some of the best BBQ pitmasters in Houston and their guest judge, pitmaster Greg Gatlin.