04x05 - The Elements

[bunniefuu]

[Padma]
previously on top chef:

I'm a little chef.

[Zoi]
the challenge is to make
one course

Inspired by a movie.

I'll do the machine.

I've been sitting
in the back seat

A little bit too much.

I'm ready to kind
of just take that chance.

Cut it off right there.

Spike has a big vietnamese
influence

So I definitely think
that's probably the twist

That we're gonna take.

Our film was
talk to her.

They seem to be timid
with the intense flavors.

So what we have here
is a salmon

With some faux caviar.

The movie that inspired us
was good morning, vietnam.

one of the team,

The execution was perfect.

that was richard.

[tom]
spike, you took the lead
on this dish.

Manuel, on the other hand,

you were just happy
to go along.

Manuel, please pack
your knives and go.

At stake for the winner,

A feature
in food & wine magazine,

A showcase at the annual
food & wine classic in aspen,

A gourmet dream vacation
in the french alps

Provided by evian
natural spring water,

$100,000 To help turn
their culinary dreams

Into reality, furnished
by the makers

Of the glad family
of products,

And the title of top chef.

[Rock music]

♪ ♪

I wake up this morning

And I think about what happened
the night before.

And I still felt
like being in the bottom

For that challenge

Was just such [bleep].

I definitely feel
like I deserve to be here today.

So waking up feels good.

Trying not to be irritated,

Pissed about the fact
that we got jacked

On the last one.

But it's kind of good.

It kind of lights a little fire
under your ass.

[Jennifer]
I know zoi's talent
and skill.

To see her called out...

I guess I'm more like
a fan, in a way,

Where I'm, like,
"what--what's going on?

What are they talking
about?"

You know, it's ridiculous
sort of thing.

All right, guys.
Ready to go to the kitchen?

It's evening out.

Two girls, two guys gone now.

So it's time for somebody else
to go home.

[Silently]
I'm not.

Good morning, chefs.

[All]
good morning.

I'd like to introduce
the guest judge for this round.

chef and owner
of the famous

Blue ginger restaurant
in boston,

Ming tsai.

[Lisa]
ming tsai's best known

For his east-meets-west
cuisine.

I love his food.

So I am, like,
just all grins.

So this round of the competition
is about good taste.

one of the most important
weapons

in a chef's arsenal

Is his palate.

If your palate
is not trained,

If you can't tell
what tastes good,

you shouldn't be cooking.

Might as well pack up
your knives and go home.

It's time to find out

Just how truly sensitive
your palates are.

[Chuckling]

If I was standing
on a couch,

I would jump up and down,

Because every year
that I have seen top chef,

Every year the have
the blind test.

It's my favorite quickfire,

Hands-down--
you have no idea.

So here's how
it works.

Ming and I will give out

pairs of items to taste.

one will be an expensive
gourmet version,

and the other will not.

You'll have 20 seconds
to tell us

Which of the two
is the higher quality.

the chef who gets
the most right

will win immunity
in the next challenge.

[Andrew]
it's very important
to have a good palate.

As a chef, it's your life.

If you can't season properly,

If you can't taste
what good food is, you suck.

But if you're blind,
it's really hard to do.

[Ryan]
I'm the first person to go.

[Ming]
how are you?

Which can't be a bad thing.
I'll set the pace.

I'm going to blindfold you.

I woke up this morning,
didn't eat any breakfast

So my palate's really good.

This is my chance to shine.

We're starting the clock
right now.

[Ryan]
first one they give me
is maple syrup.



2...

Which one is the better
quality product?

This one.
Correct.

Anybody that cooks

Knows that the first thing
I'm looking for

Is something really
heavy salted,

Something really
overly sweetened,

Something that has
a lot of fat on it.

And that's the one
that's mass produced.

This guy.
Correct.

Well done.

Thank you.

[Ryan]
I mean,
it would be really cool.

I think I have a good chance
of getting on this one.

Watch out
for the big puff of hair.

It depends on the ingredient

And what you're looking for

To make it the higher quality.

A nicer fish
would be less fishy.

A nicer soy will have
more flavor.

Ten seconds, stephanie.



That is wrong.
I'm sorry.

I, for the first time,
am a little bit shaky.

It's okay.
Just water.

Sorry.

[Dale]
for chocolate,
I'm looking for

A high fat content,
something rich.

I'm looking for a bitterness.

This one.

You're right.
You're correct.

That's wrong.
I'm sorry.

This entire thing
would've been easier

Without a blindfold on,

Because things
you can just see.

Good quality butter
looks different

Than cheap butter.

And you're correct.

[Stephanie]
the aged cheese,

The second I put it
in my mouth,

It had those nice
little crunchies in it

And I just bit into it

And knew right away,
like, "this one right here."

You're right.

Soy, I got the sake.

I got all the asian ingredients
right,

So I feel good about that.

Love caviar.

And I've boughten a lot
of caviar

And I've tasted caviar.

This one.

That's wrong.

k*lled me
to get that one wrong.

It's not easy.

Correct.

That's incorrect.

Ten seconds.

Correct.

[Richard]
my hands are great.

My skills are good.
My technique is sound.

But there's no walking around
this one.

If you're on the bottom three
in this challenge,

I think
it's a big embarrassment.

Correct.

You are correct.

My palate is very, very good.

I am taking my time.

I'm tasting with one finger

And swishing my water

And then tasting
with another finger,

Really to make sure

That I'm not cross-contaminating
flavors on fingers.

You're right.

This one?
That's right.

This one.
Correct.

The one on the left.

Sorry, that's not correct.

Was it harder
than you thought?

Hell, yeah.

Okay, ming.

let's start at the bottom.

Who scored the lowest?

[ming]
the lowest score
was 6 out of 15.

And you are correct,
stephanie.

[Stephanie]
I suck at quickfires.

I guess no immunity
for me,

But I'm pretty used to that,
since I've never had it.

[padma]
there was a tie for runner-up.

Tie for runner-up.

11 out of 15.

Ryan...

And jen.

[Zoi]
I'm a little irritated
that jen beat me.

I want to be able to have
bragging rights, you know?

So, heh, whatever.

She beat me by one.

and in the top place,

Very solid score
of 12 out of 15...

Antonia.

[Applause]

I win.
[Laughs]

I win the quickfire
challenge.

I was like, whatever.


Was a great number.

Like, I'm proud of you.
Good job.

So antonia, your palate
has won you safety

from elimination
in the next challenge.

Thank you.

For your next elimination
challenge,

you'll be cooking
for the meals on wheels

Chicago celebrity chef ball.

it's being catered by

Chicago's best-known chefs.

while the celebrity chefs
at the event

will prepare the second through
fourth courses, your job...

Is to set the tone
for the entire dinner

By creating
the very first course.

[Stephanie]
I think the diners
that attend

The meals on wheels event
are always expecting

High-end, terrific flavors,

'Cause that's what
they get every year.

They're getting
the top chefs from chicago.

The most important thing
is keep it simple

and execute it perfectly.

Taste, taste, taste.

and that comes
from your palate.

The theme of the event
is four elements:

Earth, water, fire,
and air.

So you work in four teams,

each creating a first course

Inspired by a different element
for 80 guests.

So it's time
to draw knives.

Fire.

Water.
Air.

Fire.
Water.

Fire.
Water.

Earth.
Air.

Earth.
Earth.

Air.

So you have your teams

And your elements.

You'll now have 15 minutes
to plan your menus.


Is not enough time

To kind of strategize
or plan for a meal,

Especially of this magnitude
and this volume.

Good luck.

Water.
Water.

Water.

So we're the water team
which is actually,

Looking around,
it's a pretty strong team.

How do we feel
about raw fish?

[Andrew]
never worked with mark before,

But I've worked
with richard before

And I see that he immediately

Walks into a situation

Like he's the executive chef,

So it'll be fun dealing
with that.

I thought about doing
a duck

Or a chicken mousse.

So air, to me,
right away is birds,

Little birds
or a poultry of some sort.

Something that flies.

we need for them
to think air,

And if I got this dish
in front of me,

All I would say
is "oh, they use a bird."

[Muttering]

I was thinking
butternut squash--

[antonia]
we also have $500.

Yeah.

I have to say
I'm really, like, against soup.

We just had an entire challenge
based on high-quality.

$500 And we're gonna make
squash soup?

No.

If you two are totally
into soup,

I will make a [bleep]ing
good soup with you.

Yeah, but you're freaking me out
because--

I'm thinking
it's not enough quality.

Okay, well so we're not gonna
do soup then.

I'm kind of feeling
a little vulnerable

Being on a team
with antonia.

It's a little scary
because she definitely--

She has immunity
this round.

So if our team
goes in there

It's up to me and zoi.

I think carpaccio's
much more elegant.

I think we should use
cooking techniques

that use fire, like grill.

Something related
to garnish the plate.

Something like that.

Maybe we can do kind of like
a warm beef tartare,

Like a seared beef tartare.

Not a fan of doing
a tartare.

We can do, like,
a seared piece of beef

And then wrap it around
a deviled tuna--

A deviled egg.

[Dale]
I want to think about
the challenge

And not be so literal.

Like, think fire, devil,
deviled eggs.

I just liked the deviled egg
idea.

I thought that
was kind of cool.

[Lisa]
I'm totally not having it.

I don't like the idea.

I think that doing
this tiny little presentation

Of an egg is--
is weak.

[Dale]
little concerned
about lisa

'Cause I haven't worked
with her before.

I think she's a negative person.

She has a way about her
that I can tell

I'm not gonna be able
to work with her very well.

I'm gonna be honest.

I don't know how comfortable
I am with this idea.

I don't know
if it's enough.

[Stephanie]
I haven't worked
with dale in the competition.

I know that he's very
talented.

I'm more a little nervous

Of how him and lisa
are gonna butt heads

Because lisa is a really strong
personality,

And dale is that
self-proclaimed [bleep].

It sounds really cool
as an hors d'oeuvres, maybe.

But as a first course,

I don't feel like
it's enough.

My teammates seem to be
really into it,

But I'm dreading
getting to the grocery store

Because I want to change
the dish completely.

Oh, [bleep] me.

[Dale]
she's just normal lisa.

"That sucks.
[Bleep] that."

Mother[bleep]er.

I'm not going home
for this.

[Richard]
the elimination challenge
is to cook

The first course
for a large charity event.

It's for meals on wheels.

It's an awesome cause,
a noble cause.

It's a good feeling
to be able to participate

In something like that.

What's the freshest thing
you have?

That sea bass.
The coho is fresh.

I like the idea
of fish cooked in water.

Absolutely.

Our theme is water.

So just the top pieces
of the fillets.

And now we're gonna take
a fish

And we're gonna poach it

In a controlled water bath.

So we're really starting
to connect the theme.

[Ryan]
okay, guys, so...

You've got duck breast too?

oh, duck breast.

We're thinking cold, right?
Seared, cold.

I think the more we
conceptualize this dish,

I think the more
we'll get points for saying,

"Hey, you've conceptualized
the dish here about fire."

It's really, really stressful

To be going into the store

And having really no idea
what we're going to do

For the dish.

We get the beef tenderloin,

Rub the outside
with crazy hot spices.

I like the concept
of what you're thinking

But I think we need
to implement it differently.

I think we should really
strictly go asian.

I gotta say
I don't want to do asian.

I just really feel
that for ming tsai,

We need to be doing something
asian.

He's the only chef
out of the four

That we've had so far

That cooks what I like
to cook.

And I really want to just--

I want to knock his pants off
with it.

We need to come up
with something,

And we need to do it soon.

So we've now taken ten minutes
of our time planning,

And we still haven't
the faintest idea

What we're doing.

Are we gonna get screwed

for all you guys did
was carpaccio,

A vinaigrette,
and a salad?

[antonia]
no, I'm going quality.

we're picking high-quality
mushrooms,

High-quality beef,
you know what I mean?

I'm not enjoying this
right now.

Antonia has immunity.

But I feel
if you have immunity

And you're going
into a group effort,

Maybe you should take

Just slightly a back seat.

[antonia]
do you think they both go?

[zoi]
either way, it's gonna
be delicious.

butternut squash soup

Would be delicious.

Carpaccio would be delicious.

Unless you're gonna take
two women and strangle them,

There comes a time
that you gotta just

Roll with it and try
to do as best as you can.

What type of carpaccio?

Probably tenderloin.

You guys are doing fillet?

Yeah.

All right, we're gonna come
right back, okay?

yep.
thanks.

So let's go get some eggs.

We notice another team
is doing carpaccio,

And then we sort of just
change our minds completely.

Can I just vocalize now

That I'm not comfortable
with this at all?

[Lisa]
we haven't determined
all components on the dish.

We haven't determined
what it's gonna look like,

How it's gonna taste.

I'm, like, "no, [bleep] this."

I'm not going home
for this.

Lisa's freaking out.

I know.

[Dale]
I was a little pissed off.

I wanted to tell lisa,

"Smile, all right?

"It's gonna be okay.

"We'll talk about the dish.
Don't worry.

Have some faith."

What if we stop
for a minute

And we decide that
we didn't want to do beef,

That we want to do something
with shrimp?

I like to do a little
slightly spicy marinade

On my shrimp when I grill it,

So you got the fire
from the grill,

You got the fire from the spice.

The number one goal
was to get lisa

On board with the idea

And make her comfortable
with the idea.

[lisa]
we need to stop, breathe,

and talk about this dish.

Like, maybe pickled chilies.

hey, what if we put
the pickled chili salad down

And lay the shrimp against it
so it's sort of standing up.

[Lisa]
initially, I was a little bit
concerned about the dish.

But at this point,

I'm feeling mostly confident.

I'd like to get
a bit more confident.

Want to go ask him
for the thick-cut bacon?

Yeah.

watercress?

Yeah, grab some.
Really nice--

I mean a couple bags.

Pistachio and the champagne,
and we're done.

Mayonnaise, come on.

right, anything else?
no.

[richard]
fish cooked in water.

That was a great idea.

I thought we were gonna have
so much money left over.

[Mark]
I will be cooking in the kitchen

Of the old marshall field's
building.

We have 2 1/2 hours
of prepping and cooking time.

So we walk in the kitchen.
It's huge.

Huge!

You could probably fit
the yankee stadium

In that kitchen, I think.

Coming around with the slicer!
Coming around!

[Andrew]
we decided to segregate
ourselves

From the rest
of the madness

And just put our heads down
and hmm-mm-mm-mm.

Table is done.

We're good.
Thanks, man.

This is my station
over here in the corner.

Coming around!
Coming around!

[Antonia]
we are the earth team.

Our dish is based
on, obviously, ingredients

That come from the earth.

Beef carpaccio
with wild mushrooms,

Sunchokes, and mush.

I clean all the mushrooms.

I peel all the sunchokes.

I'm gonna contribute 100%

Whether I have immunity
or not.

[Spike]
go, plate.

I start slicing the fillet.

After that's done,

Zoi's gonna take off,
do the marinated mushrooms

And frise salad,

And I'll do the aioli.

As far as it being like,
you know, the dish

I wanted to do completely
100%, no.

So I have to show
that I'm just as enthusiastic

About this dish as about
doing butternut squash soup.

Good.
Think that's good, yeah?

I think it's perfect.

[richard]
butter to spare
a little bit for me?

[mark]
uh, yeah, how much
you need, mate?

Quarter of a pound,
half a pound?

Pound would be good.

Inspired by the element water,

We're doing sous vide
poached wild salmon.

Mark is responsible
for a parsnip vanilla puree

As well as helping andrew
orchestrate the salad

Of watercress and radishes.

Andrew's also doing
some of his famous

Tapioca faux caviar

Amongst the contestants.

Sous vide, which is cooking
in vacuum bags--

It's probably my specialty.

So my role basically
is executive chef,

And it's a pretty big task.

So I'm cleaning fish
and portioning fish,

Making sure that we get
all this fish ready to go,

Because it is the main component
of our dish.

[lisa]
141.

So we just grill 'em
and pick out

The most beautiful ones
that get grilled.

[Dale]
our concept is fire.

Our dish is prawns and bacon.

Bacon being smoked,

Prawns having a chili rub
on it, then fire.

[Stephanie]
I stick with the shrimp.

Dale jumps on the chili salad

And lisa jumps over and starts
working on her bacon.

She's got a nice method
for cooking her bacon.

Heat up my bacon and press it

So it's nice and flat
and pretty.

You want the fatty side
of every piece of bacon

Going in the same direction

So that when they kind
of shrink up,

They'll fuse together.

Then instead of serving
just a natural piece of bacon,

Everything's gonna be overlapped

So that I can actually cut them
into perfect strips.

With this glaze
that I'm gonna put on it,

It's gonna give you
this gooey, sticky,

Miso flavor that's gonna
completely change

The flavor of the bacon.

We did settle on asian,
and that's cool.

I just hope it's enough
to wow ming tsai.

[jennifer]
want us to start
trimming them?

[Ryan]
we're preparing our version
of air.

It's very simple.

Duck breast, herb salad.

And we have a shot
of prosecco

With some pomegranates in it.

Nikki and jen start the ducks

And I'm picking herbs

And making dressing.

You know, breaking down
pomegranates

And getting the seeds
out of them.

This is an elimination challenge

So this dish needs
to be spot on.

Like, I'm cooking
all the duck breasts,

Making sure that
they're perfect.

I'm just, like,
not [bleep]ing around.

Nice legs.

[ryan]
thank you.

[laughing]

There's an hour and a half
left.

Guys, can you please move
your [bleep]ing equipment

Our of our station?

nikki!

She's gotta move it quick.

There's, like, 50 billion
outlets in the kitchen.

Why is she doing it right
in the middle of our station?

oh, [bleep] me.

[Dale]
lisa is just bitching
about everything.

she's just normal lisa.

You know, it's an observational
negativity.

"That sucks.
[Bleep] that."

For me, it's a horrible thing
to be around.

Bacon is too thick.

It's not working out
the way we want it to.

Mother[bleep]er.

When it's time to get serious,
I'm definitely serious.

I can be that bitch
that everybody hates,

But nothing is getting served
that's not perfection.

We have juice
for the pomerinis?

[ryan]
I'll put it in.
I got it.

Ryan's moving quickly

But he seems at some point

To maybe get a little
frazzled.

Oh, [bleep]!

What happened?

[Nikki]
some of the pomegranate juice

Should've been reserved
for the pomerini.

So we need something
to make that cocktail.

We have a lot of these.
Yeah.

Let's juice some of them--
yeah.

And we'll get the juice.

Problem solved.

and just remember
when you curse,

That draws attention to you.

How are you?

Hey, spike, you want to join us
over here?

How's working with
antonia and zoi?

It's a pleasure
working with them.

Women, finally--
I love it.

[tom laughs]
good, okay.

Good times.

Who's responsible
for each piece of the dish?

[zoi]
it was completely collaborative
I think.

that's the answer
you're usually gonna get..

Who's cooking the mushrooms?

I'm gonna gook
the mushrooms.

Okay, who's making
the sunchoke aioli?

I peeled the sunchokes.
We're also gonna caramelize--

Who's making it?
Who's making it?

I don't care who's peeling it.

You can't screw up
peeling it, so who's making it?

All right, good.
I'll let you get back to it.

Thank you, chef.

hey, guys.

Chef, how are you?
Good, how's it going?

So what is your element?

Our element's water.

Water.

You can tell
by the blue aprons.

of course.

To me, I think a rapport
with tom

In this competition
is an important factor.

So what are you making?

We're gonna do a poached--
poached fish.

Okay?

Who poaches fish anymore?

Uh, three chefs
in blue aprons.

We do have a jacuzzi.

Don't know if he's got
a good poker face

Or the richard blais charm

Has just worn off
on tom colicchio.

And I'm worried,
I'm concerned.

All right.
I'll see you later.

Okay.
Thank you, chef.

All right, guys,

you got a little under
an hour left.

Oh, my gosh.

So I did my walk-through
and checked on all the chefs.

Nikki, ryan, jennifer--

Their element is air.

But they didn't really seem

To have a clear idea
of that dish just yet.

With an hour left
to plating,

They should have an idea.

Stephanie, dale, and lisa--

I just hope the dish
isn't too spicy.

It's the first course.

Typically you don't want
to serve something

That spicy for a first course.

It'll sort of ruin
everybody's palate

For the rest of the meal.

Richard, andrew, and mark.

They're clearly having
a good time.

They seem
a little overconfident.

Really cocky--
they're joking around.

And often I've seen
if people don't take this

Really seriously,
they start making mistakes.

[Glass shatters]

[Bleep], I broke one.
Watch your back.

Atmosphere in the kitchen
is pretty tense, you know?

Everybody's going balls
to the wall.

Can you start grilling shrimp
now?

[zoi]
no, I don't want it
to be pre-grilled.

A little bit more?


Of time,

But it goes quick.

Normally, if you ever
put a dish on the menu,

You would make it,
you would taste it,

Think about how you could
make it better.

But it's not my restaurant,
it's not my plate.

This is kind of just having
to compromise a lot.

buon giorno.

buon giorno.

[Dale]
we have no idea
what's going on out there.

It's a high-stress
situation.

[man]
what are they having?
that's bad.

It's--really, it's like
my worst nightmare.

I think we're all gonna get
our asses handed to us.

[Pleasant jazz music]

♪ ♪

[Chattering]

[man]
we want to welcome you

To the 2007 meals on wheels
chicago

celebrity chef ball.

[Applause]

We will win, we will win,
we will win.

Yeah, we're gonna win.

[Ryan]
we're cooking
for meals on wheels,

Which is a huge
charity function.

And it's a first course,
80 dishes each.

[Richard]
hey, guys, just to let you know,

I don't know if this one
is influenced or not

But everybody else
is plating their food.

What do you think,
richard?

I'm nervous about plating
at 15.

[Richard]
I'm very nervous going

Into the service period
of this event,

Because, you know,
we are serving a warm dish.

A dish that has
a high-level of difficulty

As far as execution
is concerned.

Are you serving skin up
or skin down?

Uh, I think we serve it--

What do you want?
What do you think?

we should've already
decided that.

[Mark]
richard's definitely stressing.

I don't know if he's plated



And I think that's starting
to show.

Careful of the scales.

What's that?

You got scales?
Really?

[Andrew]
scales are unforgivable
on a dish.

It's like leaving
a fish head on

If you cook a fish.

Richard, you happy
with the fish?

Two scales.

[Richard]
okay, we'll just check 'em

As we're putting 'em
on there.

I want to thank everybody here

For allowing us to be part

of chicago meals on wheels.

enjoy, have a great time,

Thanks.

[Applause]

buon giorno.

Yeah, there's gonna be
a glass on the plate

So it has to be
pretty steady.

when you're ready,

Shift over and I can start
sliding in

and dropping the salads.

How heavy is the seasoning
on your mushrooms?

I'm just tasting it.

[zoi]
they're seasoned.

I feel zoi's mushrooms
are a little under-seasoned,

But she wanted to do
real light seasoning.

Yeah, there's salt on those.

It's okay?

[Alarm beeping]

Plate's hot on the bottom,
okay?

We're good, let's go.
Thank you.

roll with the food, guys.

Gotta reach?
There you go.

Hold on, let me wipe
that plate.

[richard]
get the next round
of plates up.

someone get the next round
of plates, if we can.

[Andrew]
I'm very worried
about what we sent up.

Richard assured us
that there was only

A couple pieces that
actually had scales on it,

Even though I got one
on two pieces already,

Including probably
about a total of four scales

Just for myself.

Can you lay out
some plates?

[Richard]
cooking for a large amount
of people

All at one shot.

Really, it's like
my worst nightmare.

But there's a lot of food
that has to go out

And, you know, you have
to compromise.

And I can't stand compromise.

Tapioca on top.

See, I thought
that was a caviar.

[tom]
that's the same one
he did the other day too.

yeah, I know.
yes.

Too bad there's scales
on the salmon.

That's bad.

I had five scales
in my mouth.

What's the matter,
what's the matter?

Just a [bleep] mess, man.

Trying to cook
for 300 people at one shot.

Some things aren't good
sous vide.

Yes.

And salmon's one.

[lisa]
she's a rock star.

Ha.

[Dale]
we have no idea
what's going on out there.

So all we know
is that service come in,

They take the plates.

Service come in,
they take the plates.

It's a high-stress
situation.

The shrimp...

Is amazing.

isn't the shrimp good,
ming?

Yeah, it's good.

It's spicy.

Too spicy?

[tom]
spicy.
it's fire.

it is fire.

All right.

You've been shot down, tom.

It was very hot,

Either the sauce
or the bacon.

I couldn't figure out which,

But it was excellent.

They're a little fragile,

So we apologize.

All right, my dear,
thank you very much.

I feel very strongly

That our dish
was a quality product.

And I love the way
the duck tasted.

I loved our salad savage.

The aperitif definitely
could've been better.

But I still think the dish

Is nowhere near the bottom.

thank you.

[Chattering]

They didn't render
the skin at all.

They needed to score it.

The most basic thing
with duck breast.

Score the breast
to render the fat.

I'm irritated by this.

I'm not a big fan
of this trend

Of little drinks with dishes.

With desserts I love it.

Table 14.

[Antonia]
everything's plated up
and it's ready to go.

For the most part,
I really--

I tasted our dish.

I thought it tasted good.

[Chattering]

thank you.

[ming]
sunchokes?

[gail]
mm-hmm.

This would be earth,
I assume.

and it is.

There rosemary in there?

Yeah, that's a bad choice.

rosemary.

Absolutely bland.

Yeah, I think it's
a little bland.

Just throw some salt
on that meat, guys.

These are earthy ingredients,

And there's nothing earthy
about them at all.

[Spike]
I'm a little nervous
just because,

Conceptually, I wasn't
behind the dish from the get-go.

If I was solely making
that dish on my own,

There's a couple things
I would've done differently.

It's like you can't taste
anything.

If I was a judge
on the top chef,

Then I would be telling
one of the earth members

They were
going home tonight.

Oh, ouch!

For this challenge,

The diners also get
to fill out comment cards.

And the judges will
take in account

What the diners are feeling
about the food that's served.

I'm confident that
we're not the bottom team.

So, gail,
did you love

The shrimp dish
as much as I did?

I did.
It was clearly my favorite.

I loved the heat.

I thought it was a perfect
first course.

It had the acid
from the pickling.

It had the saltiness
from the bacon.

I loved the bacon.

And that was, I thought,

One of the best elements
on the dish.

I think it really tied
everything together.

Bacon added to anything

Is not a bad situation.

How was your salmon?

[Ming]
well as you saw,

My first bite
I had two or three scales.

It just ruined it for me.

I don't like the method
they used

to cook the dish.

It had almost no texture.

The duck dish--
the air dish--

I just didn't quite get
that dish.

I really liked the salad.

I thought it was crunchy

And flavorful and bright.

[Tom]
how about the carpaccio?

No one's mentioned it at all.

To me that was
the most disappointing of all.

The salad and the mushrooms

Had almost no seasoning
to them.

This is cooking 101:
season your food.

And that really bothers me
more than anything else.

All right, well at least
we have a consensus.

Let's go back
to the judges' table

And find out who's responsible.

Okay.

Nice job.

Wait, can we burn our sign
that says "fire"?

I think we should
for good luck.

I don't want to get
overconfident

But I'm feeling really good
about the dish.

I'm feeling really good
about all the flavors.

And it really showed
the asian techniques

In all of us,

And I'm proud of that.

I think we're all gonna get
our asses handed to us.

I'm happy with the concept
that we put forth.

Wasn't happy with
the execution.

I'm disappointed in myself.

I'm not sure what
I'm gonna say

In defense if I have to.

All right, guys.
Let's go stew.

[Andrew]
I should be a [bleep]hole.

I should do whatever it takes

To do what I want to do.

You're here because
it wasn't very good.

[Mark]
I'm just not ready
to go home.

You cook sous vide
any piece of fish--tender.

I'm just hoping that that

Just doesn't put us
in the bottom,

You know?

[Padma]
can we see the fire team,
please?

[Suspenseful music]

♪ ♪

Congratulations.

You were the judges' favorite

In tonight's
elimination challenge.

Thank you.
Thank you very much.

How did you guys come about
creating the dish?

It took us a while
to come up with the idea.

[stephanie]
it was so collaborative.

it sort of came together
while we were shopping.

We thought peppers for spice.

I knew I had a chili relish
concept in my head.

I really felt that heat.

Who did the shrimp?

I did the shrimp.

marinated them in a garlic--

Some chili garlic sambal.

[gail]
it was spicy...

In a good way.

Who did the bacon?
That was me.

we wanted to press the bacon,

Have it nice and flat,
beautiful strips.

and then I did like
a maple syrup shiro miso glaze.

Just gooey and tasty.

[tom]
from talking to you
previously I knew

That each of you were
responsible

For certain components.

and it was nice to see

that each one
of those components

really added to the dish.

This was a great dish.
Really, really nice.

And there's one more thing.

the chef who ming considers

most responsible
for your success tonight

Will win a trip for two

for five nights

In erbusco italy,

in l'albereta hotel

A relais and chateaux property.

It's a tough decision.

stephanie, I think your shrimp
was perfectly cooked,

And you added the heat element
with the sambal.

the spiced chilies I loved.

I love marinating in acid.

The bacon with the miso

created a new technique
that I had never seen.

So therefore, lisa.

Congratulations.

[Lisa]
I'm very excited to go.

I've never been to italy.

I'm just proud because
it's the asian dish

With an asian-cooking chef,

And this is what I do.

There was not a more perfect
challenge that I could've won.

[Dale]
she made bacon

And she gets a trip to italy?

Are you [bleep]ing
kidding me?

I'm bitter.

[padma]
and now I need you
to send back

some of your colleagues.

[Suspenseful music]

♪ ♪

Miss lisa.

[Applause]

All right,
so the bad news.

Uh, they want earth...

And water.

Good luck, guys.

[Muttering]

[Padma]
so you two are the judges'

Least favorite teams

In tonight's challenge.

let's start
with the water element.

Who cooked the salmon?

I cooked the salmon.

we cooked it sous vide.

Thought it was cooked well
and it was moist.

Were you the one
who cleaned the fish?

In what regard?

[padma]
half the people at our table

Had scales, including myself
and ming.

I did run every piece
under water.

If there are a few scales,

Then I must have missed
a few.

but I did definitely
scale the fish.

It wasn't a few.
It was a lot.

as if you missed
the whole filet.

I had six or eight scales

In my one plate.

That's an issue.

I just want to determine--

You were happy
with the texture

Of the salmon as you saw it
on the plate.

I do enjoy the texture
of salmon sous vide.

I'm not a fan
of sous vide salmon.

I think it always comes out
mushy.

[gail]
so richard,
if you did the fish,

What role did you two play
in the dish?

I played of composing
the salad

And also making the process
of the caviar.

Had you made that caviar
before?

Of course, yes.

It did need a little more
flavor.

it was a really
interesting technique.

Mark, what did you do?

For this dish,

I made a little parsnip
and vanilla puree.

I just don't understand
where the parsnip

came from at all
on that plate.

What was it supposed to do?

I'm assuming you put stuff
on a plate because

There's a reason it's there.

So what was the reason
for the parsnip on that plate?

I feel strongly that

a flavor like celery
or parsnip

and vanilla go quite
harmoniously

With confit of salmon.

I don't think that helped
your dish at all.

Let's talk about
the earth team.

antonia has immunity

because she won the quickfire.

did you taste this dish
as it was finished

Before it went out
with your excellent palate?

I thought it tasted great
actually.

Nothing was seasoned.

The entire dish was bland.

start to finish.

Who did what?

I sliced the carpaccio
and made the aioli,

Fried the capers.

[zoi]
I made the pickled mushrooms

made the salad.

I basically prepped

All the vegetables while
they were slicing the meat.

I think every element
needed more seasoning.

Our concern as a team

Was that we didn't want
to overpower the meat.

So maybe in our attempt
to not overpower

We did just the opposite.

I tasted the mushrooms
many times.

I sautéed them
with rosemary and thyme.

And they were really delicious.

They were really, really good.

I'm not one with a light hand

In terms of seasoning.

I like really strong-flavored
foods.

Actually, the one thing

That did overwhelm me
on the dish

Was the rosemary flavor.

It struck me as odd because

I kind of didn't imagine it
with beef carpaccio.

I would've really enjoyed
having some lemon

And squeezing just a little bit
of lemon.

Probably would've been
another component

We should've added.

How did you conceptualize
the dish?

originally,
in the top chef kitchen,

I had thrown around
the idea

Of doing
a butternut squash soup,

But some of us
didn't agree on it.

Yeah, I was totally against
doing a soup for 80 people.

I was, like,
absolutely not.

But you had immunity,
antonia.

Yeah, but that didn't
stop me

From voicing or being
100%--

Didn't stop you at all,
actually.

I think soup's
are brilliant.

[gail]
yeah, very earthy.

For 80 people
in a banquet.

It's the test in france
to see

If you're a good cook:

Make me a soup.

You're not here because
you chose to do carpaccio.

you're here because

The carpaccio
wasn't very good.

[padma]
okay, thank you, all.

We'll get you back in here
in a bit.

[jennifer]
what happened?

[spike]
what happened?

we should've made
butternut squash soup

is what happened.

[spike]
I should listen to myself.

I should be an [bleep]hole.
I should yell.

I should do whatever it takes

To do what I want to do.

But no, I'm too nice.

I take the backseat.
I listen to people.

I get convinced,
la, la, la.



is saying, "this is what
I think"

And making your point
be known.

'Cause everybody comes up
with it together.

It's who made what.

[richard]
right, well,

then I'm gonna
go home then.

'Cause there were scales
on the fish.

It's okay.

It's okay.
Whatever happens, it's cool.

You are someone
to be reckoned with.

You're an amazing chef.

So salmon or beef?

It's pretty hard
to forgive a dish

That's covered in scales.

[Ming]
that's cooking 101:

Make sure it's prepped right.

I think richard
was genuinely satisfied

With the texture,

But none of us were,
clearly.

On the comment cards

The lowest score
was the carpaccio.

The carpaccio.

Who's it gonna be,
zoi or spike?

I would love to get rid
of both of them

Because they're competing
for top chef

And they're allowing someone
who has immunity

To dictate what
they're going to do.

I just don't understand it.

If spike wanted to do soup,

He should've just
put his foot down

And said,
"I'm doing soup."

The thing that confused me

Was when zoi went
into how

She loves highly-seasoned
food.

Bold flavors.
"This is how I want it."

And then she completely
backtracked on herself.

I think that that whole dish

Hinges on those mushrooms.

And she made those mushrooms.

All right, are we sure
about this?

I think so.

Agreed.

All right, let's get them
back in here.

you get to bitch and whine

About everything
you [bleep]ing feel about!

I don't say [bleep]!

[Padma]
you two teams were
at the bottom of this challenge,

And one of you
will be going home.

[tom]
mark, andrew, richard,

The dish sounds good
on paper.

It just didn't work out
very well.

Zoi, spike, and antonia,

We perceived very little
earthiness

In that dish.

[Suspenseful music]

♪ ♪

The judges agreed
with the diners

And thought
that the earth team

Had the worst dish
this evening.

Zoi, please pack your knives
and go.

Okay.

[Zoi]
I feel disappointed,
obviously.

What I do is not
to compete.

It's, like, to cook,
you know?

So I knew that, going into it,

That it would be a challenge
for me.

See you guys later.

What?
What?

Are you [bleep]ing
kidding me?

[Zoi]
I'm totally fine
with what I did.

They didn't get it.

That's okay.

I don't regret anything
that happened.

The fact that jen and I
got to do this together

Is pretty amazing.

I think it's cool
that we got to show people

That you can be a couple
and be professional

And still compete
in this kind of arena.

Don't worry.
No, it's okay.

Don't worry about it.

[Applause]

Whatever happens,
we have a good life

And we have people
that love us and support us,

And so we'll go on.

Who knows what'll happen?

It'll be interesting to see.

You know what?

You should've taken
the backseat on this one,

Having immunity.

[antonia]
I'm not here to take
the backseat on anything.

Well, maybe you should
be considerate

About other people's
opinions.

What did I say to you?

That's what you should've done
is been considerate

That the two people
that were working with you

wanted to do butternut squash
soup.

Did I say I would do it?

and you didn't want
to do it at all.

Did I say I would do it?

No, you said
you wouldn't do it.

Really, I did?

I said I wouldn't do it?
Absolutely.

Stand behind your dish.

How many times
did I try

To explain to you why we should
do butternut squash soup?

And what did he say?
stand behind your dish.

"Soup would've been
the most brilliant idea

In the world."

Stand behind your dish.

If had immunity--

You would just sit back
and not do anything.

I would be considerate
of the other two--

And I said I would do soup!

I didn't say that?
no way.

It's on film.

no way!
no way, no way.

You're just putting your [bleep]
teammate in the ground.

So [bleep]ing what?

Yeah, so--
so [bleep]ing what!

That's weak [bleep].

all right, we get
your [bleep]ing point.

You're just making it
worse.

I'm sure you would
like to see me go home

Instead of her because
earth lost.

Cry over it all night long,
okay?

[Dale]
that was not the person
to go home.

so by saying it
over and over again

Is gonna make it better?

you get to bitch and whine

About everything
you [bleep]ing feel about!

I don't say [bleep]!

The one minute I say [bleep]
about something,

you gonna talk [bleep]?

That's bull[bleep]!

[Padma]
next on top chef:

The constant negativity,

It's starting to wear
on some people in the house.

Dale can go [bleep] himself,
as far as I'm concerned.

[Jennifer]
I'm doing this for zoi.

The fact that spike
is still here, and she's not,

That's just total bull[bleep].

[Ryan]
do I look like a sports fan?

No, I'm not.

so when's the last time
the bears won the super bowl?

Hopefully,
you'll get the flavor.

What happened?

I'm just [bleep]ing my pants.

Oh, nothing like bubbles.

[Antonia]
honestly, this is like
a cheap porno.

I was, like, aren't you guys
just a little worried?

[Padma]
for more about the recipes
seen tonight,