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Last time on "Top Chef": The 8 remaining cheftestants pushed their teamwork skills to new heights with a quickfire challenging them to work in teams of four in a relay-esque cook-off in which either team's members took turns in the kitchen and talking was forbidden for the duration. Maybe silence really is golden, as both dishes were well-liked by guest judge Rick Moonen. Eking out the win was the team led by Jennifer, whose sablefish with sautéed mushrooms, shiitake broth and radish salad had a flavorful finish only slightly superior than that of the opposing team, led by Michael V. A high-stakes quickfire, Team Jennifer — rounded out by Kevin, Laurine and Mike — won $10,000 to split. But not for long; fan and competitor favorite restaurant wars was announced, and Team Jennifer opted to forfeit the quickfire cash with the hopes of winning $10k apiece for acing the elimination challenge. Sure enough, there was a restaurant wars performance this episode that the judges described as the best in "Top Chef" history, but sadly for Jennifer et al, it was Team Michael V. who rose to the occasion. And with a genius creation of chicken & calamari "pasta," plus a melt-in-your-mouth cod & billi-bi sauce, Michael V. was the favorite this week, awarded $10,000 of his own for his efforts (but don't worry, he wants to share the wealth with teammates Bryan V, Eli and Robin). Team Jennifer, on the other hand, struggled on all fronts — but from serving up a very raw lamb dish to melting down as hostess, it was Laurine who got the knife.

This week's quickfire was as natural a choice as any in the show's six-season run: prepare an upscale TV dinner inspired by a selection of iconic TV shows chosen by TV Guide editors, assigned via the usual knife-pull. Weighing in on these offerings was James Beard Award-winning restaurateur Paul Bartolotta.

Bryan V, inspired by "M*A*S*H," served up a meatloaf with mashed potatoes, asparagus and an apple tart tatin that kept the judges saying "Mmmm," literally.Once more, though, Kevin shined with his "Sopranos"-inspired braised meatball with polenta, roasted cauliflower and roasted pears, praised for best embodying the spirit of the challenge (and the perfectly-cooked fruit dessert didn't hurt, either). Kevin was also pleasantly surprised to learn that the win included a version of his dish being adapted for the upcoming "Top Chef" line of Schwan's frozen foods.

Bringing up the rear were Robin, whose "Sesame Street" assignment yielded a dry, boring burger with egg, kale, carrot salad and almond cookie. And Jennifer's recent cold streak continued, as her "Flinstones"-centric chicken roulade with garlic cream, pea salad and caramelized peach missed the mark.

For the elimination challenge, the cheftestants headed for the Las Vegas branch of Craftsteak, lead judge Tom Colicchio's high-end chop house. Given reign of the kitchen, the hopefuls started scouring the walk-in cooler to see what meaty delights awaited them. Before much planning could take place, Tom introduced the hopefuls to the week's guest judge, Golden Globe-winning/Oscar-nominated actress Natalie Portman. Speaking about her love of bold flavors and all-around adventurous attitude toward food, the chefs were surprised to discover that Natalie is vegetarian. So instead of slabs of beef, the chefs would be serving up vegetarian main courses to Natalie, her guests, and the regular judges. While this news put a bit of a damper on what the contestants expected to be a steakhouse challenge, it served as an opportunity to think differently about their cooking, which is never a bad thing. And naturally, the kitchen was also well-stocked with a cornucopia of vegetables, legumes, grains and other herbivore-friendly fare.

Back at the judges' table, Eli landed in the top three for a confit of eggplant with lentil, garlic purée and radish salad that was beautiful and interesting for the eyes and the taste buds. Joining him was Michael V, offering an asparagus salad with Japanese tomato sashimi and banana polenta, impressing the diners with its sense of surprise. Earning the win, though, was this season's beloved pork prophet himself, Kevin. His duo of mushrooms with smoked kale, candied garlic and turnip purée was praised for being delicious as well as substantial, the latter of which is often a challenge for chefs not used to cooking for vegetarians. Hats off to our winner for illustrating to chefs that vegetarian food can fill the stomach as well as the spirit, and that anyone with good culinary technique and a little creativity can serve up a successful dish sans meat.

Jennifer struggled once again this episode, making a charred baby eggplant with braised fennel, tomato and verjus nage that was delicious but a meager portion. Robin also repeated her poor performance from earlier, with stuffed squash blossom, beet carpaccio, fresh garbanzo beans and chermoula that was too salty, among other seasoning-related issues. Mike offered a whole roasted leek with onion jus, carrot purée and fingerling potatoes, a good idea that was poorly executed, the leek raw inside imparting a pungent flavor. On that note, the outspoken chef was plucked from the competition.

The cheftestants have complained for weeks that Robin has remained in the competition and if the mid-show poll is any indication, most viewers seem to feel the same. Indeed, Robin doesn't seem to measure up, but her fallen opponents all performed so disastrously when they were eliminated that it's hard to dispute the judges' decisions. Now that we're down to the four best chefs (I think Jennifer's performance for most of the season makes up for her recent struggles), plus middle-of-the-road but consistent Eli, Robin probably won't go any further this season. But her fellow hopefuls — especially Jennifer, whose head really seems out of the game lately — should be on notice.

Chrysta Cherrie is the entertainment producer/copy editor for AnnArbor.com. Reach her at chrystacherrie@annarbor.com or 734-623-2526, and follow her on Twitter @chrystacherrie.

As an unrelated bonus, here's a hilarious video recently posted to the "Top Chef" web site, posing just one question to competitors throughout "Top Chef" history: