If you read the above headline and were hoping to learn about ways to cut pork-barrel spending, this is not that item. But if you’re a fan of Top Chef, the best cooking competition on television, do read on.

Now in its ninth season, Top Chef Texas kicked it up a notch by forcing 29 contestants to compete for 16 spots, which turned last week’s opener into a qualifying round—that itself was a first. But perhaps more memorable was the early exit of 22-year-old chef Tyler Stone of Sacramento. Still in the midst of kitchen prep, Stone was asked by head judge Tom Colicchio to pack up his knives and leave. The young contestant was in the midst of butchering pork when Colicchio rather abruptly told him it just wasn’t happening. Stone smiled nervously, at first brushing off the remark, then looked at the judge, realizing in horror this was most definitely happening. Within moments he was gone—the first casualty of the season.