Hot Chefs Round 1, Heat 5: Chernow, Thurnauer, Ripert, Bertinetti

Voting in Eater's fourth annual Hottest Chefs Competition continues today, with the fourth heat of the first round. Today Michael Chernow of the Meatball Shop faces off against the chef and owner of Family Recipe Akiko Thurnauer, the silver fox himself Eric Ripert of Le Bernardin, and Crown pastry chef Heather Bertinetti.

The victor of this heat will face the winners of the other seven first round battles, including Wednesday's winner Vikas Khanna, Wong's Blake Joyal, former Top Cheffer Ashley Merriman, and yesterday's winner Francis Derby.