With the teams complete, the competition is ready to begin. The first challenge kicks off with the theme of Comfort Food. The way the competition will work is in two parts. First, the four mentors will work with their teams in the Team Taste Test, in which each member of the team will create one spoon based on the theme, and then the mentor will select one spoon to put forward for judging by the guest judge.

The guest judge this week is Gabrielle Hamilton, the chef and owner of Prune in New York City. Once Gabrielle selects one winner out of the four competing spoons in the Team Taste Test, the winning chef will gain immunity in the Blind Taste Test, the second part of this week's challenge.

Gabrielle will then join the winning kitchen to assist the team of chefs as they prepare for the Blind Taste Test for the mentors. In the Blind Taste Test, the mentors taste each of the dishes blindly – they have no idea who prepared the dish or what they are tasting. Each mentor will then select their best taste, followed by their worst taste to determine which chefs will be sent home this week.

Twelve chefs remain after last week's Daring Pairing challenge. The theme of the third challenge is Sandwiches, in which the chefs must go back to the basics to prepare a winning sandwich. The teams must create one of the following classic sandwiches: the club, peanut butter and jelly, or a salad sandwich, using either tuna, chicken, or egg. And, for the twist? The classic tasting spoons are taking a week off, as these sandwich bites can be served on plates. Rich Torrisi and Mario Carbone, owners and chefs of Torrisi Italian Specialties, appear as guest judges to determine the winner of the Team Taste Test, and then to assist the chefs of the winning team with their dishes for the Blind Taste Test judged by the four mentors.