Nookie Proves He's a Cheftestapant of His Word

Last night on Bravo's new show Around the World in 80 Plates, local hero and Fenway Park chef Steve "Nookie" Postal proved that he's a man of his word. In Bologna, Nookie is forced to pick between the cheftestapant that he secretly swore allegiance to and the cheftestapant with whom he did not, but who did nothing but deliver the goods during this week's kitchen challenge. Nookie chose to honor his allegiance and send a good man home while keeping a crappy tortellini maker on board. But it wasn't Nookie's fault: the show has cutthroat competition and senseless contestant-axing in its DNA. Last night's episode also featured shots of Nookie grunting and hefting an enormous wheel of cheese. "It's slippery and awkward.. like your sex life," says another contestant, the one who Nookie later voted to cut. Coincidence?

At one point Nookie ropes some confused-looking dishwashers and waitstaff into helping his team make tortellini as the clock ticks, though Nookie later describes those tortellini as having "shat the bed." Probably because they caused his team to loose the round. But what about the broth they were served in, compared to the other team's? "My broth did kick his broth's ass," says Nookie, proving for the first time on national television that broth is capable of kicking ass. As usual, Nookie played his cards right and therefore you'll see him next week in Thailand, and perhaps all the way to the bitter end.

· All coverage of Around the World in 80 Plates [~EBOS~]