04x11 - Restaurant Wars

[bunniefuu]

[Padma]
previously on top chef...

buenos dias, puercos.

[Andrew]
everybody's beat down,

Except for me,
who's still all crazy.

Your elimination challenge
is to make gourmet

Boxed lunches.

Who put my burner up to high?
Damn it.

I can't believe that somebody
has done this to me.

And now
I'm so screwed.

I think people talking
about sabotage

Is just their way of trying
to cover their own ass.

I made a little
lemongrass bison today.

What do you have
for us today?

My take on
a salmon maki roll.

[padma]
it's very strange.

The flavor's not great.

Got a stir-fry with a little
bit of shrimp, some edamame.

The rice is undercooked.

Extremely.

the winner is

Dale.

[sam and padma]
congratulations.

There were specific rules
to this challenge.

and not all three people

Standing up here right now
did that.

If we're gonna go like that,
whatever.

I've always been
against the grain.

You woulda done
the same thing to me.

You know, I wouldn't have.
That's the difference.

Andrew, please pack
your knives and go.

At stake for the winner

Of our top chef finale
in puerto rico,

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]

♪ ♪

Hello?

What time is it?

Okay, everybody wake up.

oh, jesus.
come downstairs.

Sound asleep this morning,
and there's this

Strange man's voice
that comes in our room,

And it's
tom colicchio.

wake up.
[groans]

Let's go.
Time to go downstairs.

I'm like,
"oh, dude, are you serious?"

It's too early yet.

Good morning.

[All]
good morning.

The reason I'm getting you here
so early is I'm taking you

To one of chicago's
most famous breakfast joints.

but don't get too excited.

you're gonna
be cooking there.

your quickfire challenge

Is to work the egg station.

Egg cookery

Is the most precise
cooking technique there is,

Especially on
a short order line.

It's a tough job.

And any chef
will tell you that.

So get dressed,

And I'll see you there
as soon as possible.

[Antonia]
there's six of us left,
and I came here.

I worked really,
really hard every day.

I would be very sad
not to be in the final four.

Let's get the egg
outta here.

[Stephanie]
there's definitely
no room for error.

My goal right now
is final four.

Of course in the end
it's to win,

But I just wanna make it
to the final four.

[Dale]
we're at lou mitchell's.

This place looks
like an institution.

It's been open
since, like, 1935.

And they have a line
out the door.

And it's
a little intimidating.

Two eggs over-easy
also.

[Antonia]
this place is like
the hottest breakfast spot.

Everybody loves it.

It's just,
like, this huge place

That everybody wants
to come and eat breakfast.

[tom]
okay, guys,

This is helene.

She's the owner
of the restaurant,

And she'll be judging
the quickfire challenge today.

She's gonna take you
in the back,

introduce you
to one of the chefs.

they're gonna
give you a rundown

On how the operation works.

And then each of you will take
turns working the egg station.

in the end,
helene will choose

the one that
she'd most likely hire

As the winner
of the challenge.

Good luck.

Thank you.
Thanks.

Come on, guys,
let's roll.

[Spike]
I grew up in the industry.

I was short order cooking

For maybe, like,
six, seven years of my life.

But I haven't made eggs
in a very, very, very long time.

[helene]
ladies and gentlemen,

this is what they call
"the hole."

This is where a lot
of the action is.

you're gonna have
a little time

to watch martine.

kinda get the feel for
how things go around here.

then each of you
will take a turn.

Martine and I
will be watching you.

Good luck.

[Spike]
you could see a lot of people
getting worried.

Helene seems more hardcore

Than any of the chefs
I have ever worked for.

As far as, like,
the challenge goes,

It's like, it's hell.
You're gonna die.

You know, you're gonna
hate that you came here,

And you're never
gonna cook again.

[helene]
antonia,
you're up first.

Good luck.
Rock on, woman.

Thanks, guys.
You can do it.

I'm ready to do it.

I love to test
my capabilities

On just, like,
jumping into a line

And feeling comfortable.

two eggs over-hard.
yeah.

[Man]
first, serve the eggs--

[Antonia]
first, the eggs,
then the potatoes.

Can I turn it up?

Two single over-easy
sandwiches to go.

Are those potatoes
done enough?

I'm just moving
as fast as I can

And I'm trying
to call back orders.

And flipping potatoes.

And I was just trying
to do my best.

Flip 'em again.
Flip 'em again
and serve 'em.

Antonia, that's time.

That's it?

Hey, martine.

Let's do this, homey.

Rich, you ready?
Yes, I'm ready.

Martine, que paso?

nada, nada.

The key to being a good
short order cook

Is to be very methodical
in your movements.

What is this with,
bacon or sausage?

Okay, two poached tomatoes
instead of potatoes.

First order comes in,
it's for poached eggs.

I look in the poaching pot,

And the whole thing
is just, like,

A giant white cloud
of leftover egg whites.

I start some eggs poaching

And can't really see
if they're in there.

Just a bad way to start.

[Bleep].
I gotta start this one over.

[richard]
with bacon or sausage,

What is this one with?

These are the ones
to be butterflied, correct?

[man]
yes, these pieces.

The difficult part
is listening to these audibles

That are coming in.

Lots of sorta diner lingo, uh,

That I haven't heard
in a while or sometimes at all.

The sandwich is single
over easy with sausage.

I'm making
an egg and cheese sandwich,

And I moved the box over.

Next thing you know,
the side of the box

Not blazing,
but it's definitely

Slowly burning
'cause it's styrofoam.

And I was just like,
"oh, I'm so done."

Number two
is, uh, four eggs, yeah?

Oh, [bleep].

Gotta get the--
no good?

Two orders of bacon.

Four waiters come at me
at the same time

And barking out orders.

say it again.

At this point, I have gotten
three plates out.

And I just feel like,

I can handle
that kind of [bleep].

You know, everything looks
like it's working out

Pretty well.

Helene,
what did you think?

I think, uh, it's a tough
end of the business.

And they all did
a remarkable job.

But you can only hire one.
Who would it be?

Well, I had a tough time.

I wrestled
between two people.

Antonia did
a very nice job.

she's very calm,
controlled.

Takes direction well.

and then dale
was smooth

And, uh, did a nice job.

But I gotta go
with antonia.

[tom]
antonia, congratulations.

As the winner
of this quickfire challenge,

You will have an advantage
for the elimination challenge.

I win the quickfire.
Dun, dun, dun.

It's my fourth win
on the quickfires,

Which is awesome.

Okay, guys, I have to take off
to do a charity event,

And therefore,
I'm not gonna be

At this
elimination challenge.

Tom's not gonna be there,
and it was weird.

It's like, I just
didn't know what to expect.

You're gonna go to this address
and meet with padma,

and she will
tell you what

The elimination challenge is;
good luck.

Bye, helene,
thank you so much.

[Richard]
a little bit of, uh,
you know, james bond.

Antonia gets
a secret message

From tom colicchio
with a mysterious address on it

That we're supposed
to go find.



I have never even heard
of this street,

Being from chicago.

So we use our phone
to use the little gps system

And figure out where
in the world we're going.

All right, we got it.

Of course going into
any of these challenges,

You really never know
what's gonna happen.

We arrived to
an unfamiliar building.

We are led
into the building,

Where we see
this beautiful space

With hardwood floors,
brick walls,

And of course
the lovely padma.

Well, this morning
you worked the line

In someone else's restaurant.

and we think
it's only fair

that tomorrow night

You get to run your own.

Yes.

Restaurant wars is back.

I am really excited
about this.

This is, like, what
I've been [bleep] waiting for.

Restaurant wars
was initially my goal.

And I was like,
"I want to make it

Not to but through
restaurant wars."

You'll divide
into two teams.

Each will take one end
of this raw space.

And you will all
share the kitchen.

tomorrow night,
each restaurant

will receive
about 35 diners.

So you'll have
$1,500 for food and $5,000

per team from pier 1 imports
for decor.

The rest is of course
up to you.

so, antonia,

As the winner
of the quickfire challenge,

you get to choose
your team.

Which two chefs
would you like to work with?

Uh, stephanie and richard.

I picked stephanie
and richard.

We have the same temperament.

Their intentions are there,

And they're very focused
in their work.

[Stephanie]
it's kinda funny.

We were on the team
of wedding wars together.

And the other three people
were on a team

For wedding wars together.

It's sorta like a rematch.

To be honest, if I was her,
I'd pick the same people.

But I feel a lot better about
our team than wedding wars.

Not to say that nikki's
personality was horrible,

But it's one less
to deal with.

so good luck.

And I'll see you
tomorrow night.

[Richard]
so we have an hour to plan.

And so we start just
getting into the food,

And getting into
the concept.

I think if we're gonna
come together on the food,

We're gonna have
to go shopping.

I do have experience
with opening a restaurant.

I've opened a restaurant
called blais up.

And I can tell you that
it took four months to do.

And we're gonna do it
in 24 hours.

When you guys think
of a gastro-pub,

What kind of food
do you think?

Fine dining food,

But in a very relaxed
atmosphere.

Right.

My thing with family style

Is they have to have
two options.

[Lisa]
it's gonna be

A really fun, good vibe,
good energy, asian feel,

With just amazing asian food.

I was thinking of, like,
a ramen-style soup.

I want to be the executive chef,
but so does dale.

So dale and I
basically flip a coin,

And dale wins the coin toss
for him to be the chef.

[Dale]
asian guy, asian chef,

Asian restaurant.

I mean,
it only adds credibility.

If we do a soup

And they have
to serve themselves,

Is it gonna start
to get sloppy on the table?

[Lisa]
dale's pissed off
a lot of people.

And two of the people
that he's pissed off the most

Are on his team.

So it's making me feel
really nervous.

I think we need
something spicy.

I mean, like, I don't know.

Is yours usually spicy?

You can make it
as spicy as you want to.

[Spike]
dale, lisa, and I
have all asian backgrounds.

It's time
just to come together

And be professional,
and rise to the occasion,

And come out on top
on this one.

Because if we do,

One of the top contenders
might be going home.

And that's gonna make me
very happy.

[lisa]
who pulled my rice off?

Dale?
what?

The rice is not done, buddy.

[stephanie]
bourdain is here.

hello, chefs.

[Antonia]
we're not provided
with a kitchen

That's full of anything.

We've got $1,500 to spend,

And we just start
loading our cart up,

Just everything that we could
possibly need to cook with.

Leeks, carrots, celery,
onion, brussels sprouts.

[lisa]
all right, so we got
chili paste.

We need white vinegar.

I'm thinking, like,
persimmon with some herbs.

[Lisa]
we're gonna go asian-themed
restaurant, asian food.

And there's a lot of things
that they don't carry.

We didn't find
sticky rice, did we?
No.

What about this,
exceptional for rice puddings.

Oh, well,
there you go.
Yup.

[Lisa]
we have maybe $2 left.

We're really stoked.

We hop into the highlander
to head over to pier 1,

And we're like, "okay, like,
seriously we're excited now."

Here's soup plates.
Okay?

I'll look at them.

I'm just gonna look
for decor and stuff.

I'm going to take
the responsibilities

Of front of the house.

It's gonna be a tough one.

You know, I gotta decorate
a whole friggin' restaurant.

Can I get
two more of these?

Do these come apart?

Can I get 40 of these?

I'm gonna use that
for dessert.

I'll take 30 of these.
They're only a dollar.

I'm gonna be
front of the house manager.

The decor
for our restaurant

Is gonna be very warm
and inviting,

Simple and modern.

[Stephanie and antonia]
and these two paintings.

It's a little cheese,
but I think it's good.

I got one of these
samurai dudes.

We're going crazy
with buddhas.

We have buddha heads,

The laughing fat buddha.

Got a lot of buddhas.

[woman]
thanks, guys.

Thank you.

[Stephanie]
I'm really excited.
It's restaurant wars.

It's gonna be
a really hard day.

There's only
six of us left,

And just need to get rid
of two more people

To make it
to the finals.

I think that
we're a really strong team.

We already
won wedding wars together,

So we're ready to win
another w*r.

Bring it on.

Can I pull this table
closer to the stove?

Yeah, definitely.
Okay.

Lisa, what side
of the station do you want?

I want this side
because I can't reach over.

That's the problem--
is we're gonna be crossing over.

Well, why don't
we work off one?
One what?

[Bleep].

There is a lot of detail
that I have to accomplish

With the front
of the house.

We had to hang
a lot of paintings, flowers.

You know, like,
there was a lot to do.

And I know none of them
are thinking about

Coming and helping me
whatsoever.

We've decided that I'm gonna be
the executive chef,

Stephanie is gonna run
front of the house,

And that richard is gonna be
my chef de cuisine.

is there any more sugar,
do you know?

Yeah, I just gave you
a whole bunch of sugar.

Yeah, I used that
already.

[Richard]
to go, you know, with this

Modern american
gastro-pub theme,

You know, we are all about
simple, beautiful, clean,

Well-ex*cuted flavors.

Our first course
is a beet salad

With goat's cheese
and ras el hanout.

And then we have
linguine and clams.

Our next course
is trout, uh, with cauliflower

And hazelnut
ground butter.

The meat course
is lamb, uh, squared.

There's a braised leg,

And there's
a seared roasted loin.

And then finally,
our dessert course.

And it's, uh, stephanie's
gorgonzola blue cheese cake,

And then banana scallops,

Which is something
that I've done before.

The mai buddha menu
first course is a choice

Between a shrimp laksa,
which is a soup,

Or pork and pickled plum
potstickers.

Uh, second course
is butterscotch miso scallops.

And the other option
is, uh, braised short ribs.

For dessert, dale's
gonna be doing a halo-halo,

Which is basically
a flavored ice.

And then I'm gonna do
mango sticky rice.

The other team
is trained really well

In asian cuisine,

So it was no surprise
when they were, like,

Opening a chinese restaurant.

Dale only cooks asian.

Every quickfire
has been asian.

Most of his dishes
are asian-influenced.

It's all asian.

So, you know,
they try to go asian.

I'm assuming we can--

I was gonna let it come up
to boil and taste it.

Yeah, definitely.

I'm the general manager.

But I have one dish that
is completely mine on the menu.

It's the braised short rib.

You know, a braise
you don't have to babysit.

It's 3 1/2 hours,
just let it go.

Yeah, I'd say push through
your [bleep], antonia.

I might need help with
getting the pasta rolled out.

[Antonia]
we are doing fresh pasta.

Stupid us
in the supermarket

Didn't get
a backup pasta.

Okay, so pretty much
this pasta has to get made.

It's on the menu,
and I was having

A little bit of
a heart palpitation about it.

[stephanie]
chef bourdain is here.

Guess who's back.
Guess who's back.

Hello, chefs.

could you listen up
for a second?

I just wanted
to let you know

that tom's away,

And that I'll be
filling in for him today.

Bringing my warmer,
sunnier disposition

To this, uh,
to this challenge.

[spike]
thanks, chef.

I'm happy to see anthony.

I got the utmost respect
for that guy.

But, you know,
it's asian food,

And if there's
any chef out there

That has traveled
all of asia, it's him.

I think dale's
pissin' his pants

A little bit
on this one.

How'd you line up

With assigning
the responsibility?

Richard's gonna be
back here with me.

Stephanie's got a lot
front of the house experience.

You do?
yeah, in my own restaurant.

And I opened it myself,

So I figured maybe
I could try this restaurant.

No smoke g*n today?

No smoke g*n today.

We've thought about it,
but, you know,

It's about executing
something really well.

Looks like you're on
the right track, guys.

so who's in charge here?

Who's the executive chef
of this operation?

That would be you, dale?

I am the captain
of this boat, chef.

So what's the menu?

First course, uh,
lisa has a soup.

We have a prawn laksa.

I happen
to really love laksa.

I take my laksa
real serious.

Awesome.

[Lisa]
right off the bat,
I'm like, "oh, [bleep]."

No pressure.
Like, you know, this is--

This is anthony bourdain,

The man who has
an amazing palette

Who's eaten everywhere

And has probably had
100 different types of laksa.

You were all totally on board
with the asian thing right away.

Absolutely.
Absolutely.

okay, good luck
out there, guys.

Thank you, chef.

[Anthony]
the difference between
the two teams' comportment

Is very striking.

Antonia, richard,
and stephanie's team

Is deliberately creating
modest expectations.

Makes it
a hell of a lot easier

To exceed
those expectations.

But nobody's
reaching too far,

Taking any big chances
with this menu.

Over at mai buddha,
things could go

Really, really well here
or really badly.

They say they're all very
comfortable with asian food.

You know, asia's big.

How good can you be
at all of those things?

I hear the word laksa,
I have very high expectations.

But if dale, lisa, and spike
pull this menu off,

It would be an inspiring
accomplishment.

We have two very different
teams tonight.

And they're offering us two
very different dining concepts.

This should be
a really interesting meal.

Chefs, because of
the punishing requirements

of the restaurant business,

We've arranged
for each team

To get one additional
pair of hands.

[spike]
oh.

Oh.

maybe you know these people
from such shows as

This one?

Hey.

[Antonia]
they bring in
eliminated cast members.

And I see
jen and nikki,

And I was like,
"they can roll out my pasta."

Honestly,
that's all I saw.

I, like,
zoomed in on them.

since antonia got to pick
her team woodstock over here,

I figure team altamont
should have your pick.

Jen.

All right.
Awesome.

[Lisa]
I think choosing jen

Was the best decision
we could have possibly made.

Jen is an amazing chef.
She's a hard worker.

She's got a great attitude
towards everything.

Okay, guys,
who do you wanna work with?

Nikki.

Yay.

You what?
Okay.

[Chuckling]
great.

Oh, the extra help
is so needed.

It's so, so needed.

Good luck, guys.

Okay, chefs, so you have about
three hours till showtime.

make good use
of that time.

and make good use
of the extra pair of hands.

We're doing a halo-halo,
which I've done here before.

It went over pretty well,
so I'm gonna try it again.

I [bleep]--i [bleep] up, jen.
I don't know what to do.

My avocado mousse
is, uh--it's gray.

[Lisa]
dale is making
an avocado puree

Or an avocado mousse
to go on his halo-halo.

And he claims
that he dropped, um,

A brown, rotten avocado
into the mix.

And I look over,
and he's holding

A robot coupe
full of brown mush.

Oh, jesus.

It tastes--
you know, it tastes good.

It's just the--

I would say
if you could--

What's up? I'm gonna try
and salvage it.

And if not, then I'll just
86 it off the menu.

[Lisa]
he's trying to fix it,

But it completely
shatters his mood.

[Bleep]!
What?

He's completely on edge.

[lisa]
who pulled my rice off,
guys?

seriously.
dale?

[dale]
what?

The rice is not done, buddy.

[Bleep].

[lisa]
dale, man,
calm down.

Don't freak out.
Chill out.

Stop throwing stuff around,
so that I don't have

To come to find
my [bleep] off the burner.

All right.

[Lisa]
I'm not gonna try

And make a big conflict
with dale; there's no point.

You know, you're gonna
set the tone for me.

And as much as I try
to overcome your poor attitude,

It's gonna bring
my attitude down.

It's not the appropriate
way to behave,

But it's human nature.

If everybody around me
is in a [bleep] mood,

I'm not gonna be all like,
"oh, let's go play baseball."

Like, you know?

did you get a grit?
blais.

Blais.
yeah?

I got grit.

I didn't eat.
I didn't have any.

I didn't eat one.

But we gotta get going.
The grit is--

the clams got washed
pretty good.

I got grit again.
a lot.

All right, get those
and rinse those again.

[Antonia]
we have to clean the calms.

We want perfect execution.
That's it.

We don't look at it like,
you know,

"I wanna take credit
for this dish."

Or, "I wanna shine
on this dish."

Or rar, rar, rar, rar.

We're looking at it
like all of these dishes

Collectively is what
is gonna have us succeed,

And we're all
gonna be here tomorrow.

Dale, taste this.

I don't get any heat.

At all?
None.

I get--
I'm getting a little--

I'm getting smoke
and earthiness.

I'm just not getting
any heat.

[Dale]
lisa's smoking
chicken carcasses

To put in the soup,
as, like, a bulk of the soup.

She has me taste it,
and time and time again

I tell her,
"it tastes like smoke.

It tastes like smoke.
It tastes like smoke."

I don't know what to do.

I mean, it's not my soup,
so I don't know how to fix it.

It's sour. Like, don't you--
did you taste this?

[dale]
yeah, I get smoke.

I get smoke.

I'm like,
"no, not at all.

"This is not gonna go down.

"You shoulda asked me
for my recipe.

This is awful."

Did you put
coconut milk?

You did?

The bottom line is
they cannot hold me accountable

For the food.

[Stephanie]
the waiters arrive.

I already made out really
easy tickets for you guys.

I let them know that
we are here to have fun.

'Cause that's what
we're going for.

We want people to have
really good food

With some tasty beer

And just enjoy
the experience.

Eating and drinking
is meant to be fun.

It's not mean to be stuffy
and, like, wear a suit and tie.

What do you guys think?
I changed.

My strategy
with my waiters

Is I set up one table

Exactly the way
I wanted it.

And I was like,

"This is what everything
needs to look like.

"So you fold napkins.

"You do cutlery.

"You light candles.

I'll be back in 20 minutes.
Go at it."

Dale.

It's not sticky.

That rice
is not sticky at all.

I'm forced into doing
mango sticky rice

Because he's executing
the other dessert.

It's a pastry.

You know, it's like
a pastry cream.

So follow this recipe
and then make it.

[Lisa]
he comes up
with the suggestion

Of making a pastry cream

And folding that in
to make it sticky.

I mix it together,
the flavor's nice,

But it's like mush.

[dale]
as soon as you're
done with that,

if that's not working,
let's go into a pot.

And let's season it
while it's in a pot.



We've seriously got
three minutes.

Okay.

[Richard]
with time ticking down,

It's really not unlike
opening a restaurant.

It's a certain amount
of controlled chaos.

You know,
there's blenders going.

Time's running out.

Everyone's hungry.
Everyone's thirsty.

There's 50 reservations
coming in

As soon as the door opens.

That's
the restaurant business.

[Excited chatter]

Tell 'em it's the judges
and I need the first course.

[Antonia]
restaurant wars is on.

[Anthony]
I feel like I'm in the back
of prince's van.

[dale]
let's go! Let's go!
let's go! Let's go!

Get the food out!

Hi.
How are you?

Okay, right this way.

[Antonia]
restaurant wars
is on big time.

I've seen previous seasons
of restaurant wars,

And they're always
disastrous.

It's horrible.

Like, I don't think
anybody's ever done well.

[spike]
table for two?

Four actually.
For four, okay.

Uh, right this way.

[Spike]
I feel like
we're the underdogs.

If I wanna be
in the final four,

I'm gonna push
as hard as I can

During this restaurant wars
to make that happen.

After seeing the way
this dining room's set up

And the way the chefs
have worked so hard today,

I think
we're gonna take this.

Are you guys
ready to eat?

I am.
Nice to see you.

So let me introduce you
before we begin.
Okay.

This is jose andres,

our guest judge
for this round.

a brilliant chef
from spain,

of his new pbs show

Made in spain.

Chef, nice to meet you.

This way.

[Stephanie]
jose is known for

Going outside
of the box a little bit.

It's exciting to have
somebody of that stature.

Go tell them
to start two of each for 45.

If you could just give them
that order for me.

Tell 'em it's the judges

And I need the first course
as soon as possible.

[nikki]
order up, guys.

Order.
Thank you.

[richard]
chef, you okay?
yeah, I'm good.

If anything falls
on the way out,

please come back,
okay?

[woman]
judges, table 45.

[ted]
that does not say
"gastro-pub."

So for the first course tonight,
there's two choices.

We do have a beet salad
with goat cheese

And a ras el hanout
moroccan spice blend.

The hot course on that

Is gonna be
a twist on linguine and clams.

We made
some fresh linguine today.

It's tossed
with, uh, littleneck clams,

Some pork sausage,

And it's finished with
a horseradish creme fraiche.

This is better than
what I would expect.

I love the texture
of the linguine.

I made the pasta myself.
She made it.

Can you tell us, what kind
of goat cheese is this?

It's bucheron.
bucheron?

Really nice.
yeah.

[padma]
this is delicious.

[woman]
my first course

Was linguine and clams.

I enjoyed it.

I'm not a huge meat eater,

But I thought the sausage
gave it a good flavor.

[antonia]
two trout, two lamb.
table 43.

[richard]
okay, cool.
hey, chef, this looks tight.

You're just like--
you're [bleep] awesome.
Thanks.

We have our lamb squared.

[Stephanie]
we have a choice
of trout or lamb.

It's a locally
farm-raised trout

Served with
a cauliflower puree,

As well as
caramelized cauliflower.

for the lamb,
you see it's lamb squared.

we do have two different types
of lamb on the plate.

Lamb loin
as well as lamb shank,

That we used to braise
and make a nice sauce.

This is a nice presentation.

I was thinking
exactly the same thing.

I love this presentation.

I really love this dish.

The lamb is perfectly cooked.
The sauce is great.

I love the way that
all the elements work together.

How much do you love
that they left

The skin
on the trout?

It's like, "my god."
This is a--

We're not joking around
here on top chef.

[anthony]
I agree.

I would say overall

The trout definitely
trumped the meal.

[ted]
thank you.

Oh, my gosh.

[stephanie]
finally, for dessert

We have two very different
things we're going for.

The gorgonzola is actually

A savory gorgonzola
cheese cake

Served with
a sweet potato puree

As well as
a concord grape sauce.

The banana scallops
we have seen before.

The bananas
are actually sliced

And then seared
as though they were scallops.

Um, blais decided
to bring those back.

Then he's serving it

With a chocolate ice cream.

[anthony]
I am not a fan
of this smear by the way.

[ted]
especially not brown.

[anthony]
yeah, it--

It reminds me of
the new york city sidewalks.

I expected to hate
this gorgonzola.

But I have to tell you,
I love it.

I'm gonna say
points for difficulty

In playing with sweet
and savory on this dish.

[jose]
I love chocolate.

The mix, I adore.

cilantro
was a bold move.

Cilantro didn't work for me.

I'll give 'em points
for it.

That's all I'm saying.

This was very interesting.

Hi, spike.
Hello.

It's nice to see you
in a suit.

The place
has a nice feeling.

Silver and purple?

I don't know, I feel like
I'm in the back of prince's van.

Is it more prince?

Or is it more aerosmith
from the mike stand?

All right, judges' table,
two of each.

[Lisa]
I'm immediately thinking

When we're sending
the laksa out to the judges,

It's probably
the first time

That I've made a huge mistake
in this competition.

And, you know, I'm gonna
suffer for it big time.

Why is the food waiting
in the window for so long?

Dale is basically
freaking out.

I understand the pushing,

Because that's how
you should be as a chef,

But, you know, his delivery
is pretty obnoxious.

[Bleep] [bleep].

Ohh, thank you.
That's beautiful.

Here ya go.

[Spike]
spicy coconut laksa

With homemade shrimp noodles,
vermicelli.

[padma]
homemade dumplings?

Homemade dumplings,
absolutely.

The sauce is lop cheong ponzu
and a house made hot sauce.

[padma]
thank you.
enjoy.

[jose]
what I'm waiting to see--

Tony's reaction
to the laksa.

It was just too damn smokey.

[padma]
I'll tell you what
I think is delicious

Are these slammin' dumplings.

I do like that they put
a nice char on them,

'cause you never
get that.

[spike]
the portions
on the short ribs

For the judges' table
need to be a little bit bigger.

[lisa]
they're giant.

they're
the two biggest ones

Already done.

That's the portion?
One each?

Huh?
That's it?

Spike is giving us a lot of
feedback from the dining room.

He immediately
comes in and says

That the short ribs
should be bigger.

[spike]
look at the scallop entree
compared to this.

[lisa]
well, then
we should really--

Well, I voiced it
a couple times already.

I feel that, you know,

The size of a short rib
is good.

It's a braised
heavy meat.

Yeah, and that's--

okay, let's just
get this plate out.

Twice the size--

Let's just get the plate out.

[Bleep] idiot.

[anthony]
oh, look at that.

[Padma]
I love a short rib,

Especially
a braised short rib.

how are yours?

[Ted]
when this landed

And I saw
this butterscotch sauce,

I was really afraid.

[Anthony]
it's like willy wonka scallops.

[padma]
oh, no.
really?

Butterscotch almost by itself
is too much.

[woman]
I don't know

What exactly we're eating.

[dale]
let's start
to move on, um--

get your rice ready for--
my rice is ready, chef.

Okay.
calm down.

Drop that.
Follow me with rice.

[dale]
come on, let's go!
let's go!

let's go! Let's go!
get the food out!

Jesus.

[Dale]
lisa can't handle

The fact
that I'm executive chef.

Lisa's always negative.

And she always
is argumentative.

She doesn't take
criticism very well.

I don't take
criticism very well,

But she takes it
even worse than I do.

Here's some beers
you guys are awesome.

They're loving everything.

[dale]
finish the tables
before we drink.

Let's finish the dessert table.
finish the table--

We're not drinking.
Relax.

[Lisa]
dale is unhappy
with his choices.

He's unhappy
with my mistakes.

But at the same time,

Ultimately it's the chef's
responsibility

To make sure
the food is perfect.

And dale has not
fulfilled his role

As an executive chef.

Oh, here we go, it's--
halo-halo.

There's cantaloupe,
coconut, kiwi, cilantro,

and some nuts.

And this is mango sticky rice.

Thank you very much.
Enjoy.

[Anthony and padma]
thank you.

I'm okay with this.
I don't particularly love it.

That is a very familiar
flavor spectrum for me.

Arguably,
they did it right.

Already in my book,
I'm writing "halo-halo."

It goes, "I think it's
a great idea for a dessert."

Compared to this atrocity,
it wasn't bad.

The knife skills,

It's imprecise.

the presentation
is not inspired.

It's baby vomit
with wood chips.

But how do you
really feel about it?

We have to go out
to dessert.

Dessert.
The dessert was like, ew.

[Antonia]
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.

Just wanted to see
how everything was tonight.

What did you guys say about me?

Did you enjoy
your dinner?
Yes.

Yes?
Wonderful.
Thank you.

I hope I was helpful.
I tried.

Baby.

Well, what did we say
we were gonna do?

Just do our best.
We did our best.

Well, going from what
the guests said,

They loved everything.

Although the kitchen
was hectic,

And they were pissed off,

And they were going
at each other's throats,

My customers never felt
an inkling of that.

At the end of service
I feel like

Dale's performance
as a whole was poor.

Lisa's performance
was also poor.

You two, you are showing
a lack of teamwork

that to me,
it's, uh, wow.

this is not what
this business is all about.

Cheers for a five hour
[bleep] push.

Yeah, we both opened
restaurants up in five hours.

It happened.

Do any of us work like that
in a [bleep] real restaurant?

there's no time.

Nope, you do
what you have to do.

Hello.

Hi.
Hey, padma.

we'd like to see

antonia, stephanie,
and richard.

[Suspenseful music]

♪ ♪

Congratulations.

you were the winning team

in this
elimination challenge.

[anthony]
I just wanna say

I was really impressed
by all of your comportment,

Your performance.

Thank you.

Let's start at the top.

I pretty much took
the beet salad.

One of many
smart decisions.

who came up
with the pasta?

That's mine.

The pasta, to me,
was perfectly cooked.

I think the dish
was very successful.

the gorgonzola thing.

Whose?

I thought
it was very nice.

And I liked
the concord grape sauce as well.

[padma]
so, jose,

As guest judge,
who's the winner?

Well, the winner today

show great teamwork.

it was a person
that had a lot to do

with, uh, choosing
the right concept.

The winner today is--
is stephanie.

[padma]
congratulations,
stephanie.

you did a great job.

and your dishes
were fantastic.

As the winner of this
elimination challenge,

you and a guest
will be going

on a culinary tour

provided by journeypod.

this includes

Roundtrip airfare
for two

to barcelona, spain...

[Bleep], yes!

Five days and four nights

In four-star
luxury accommodations,

as well as

A guided wine tasting tour
for two.

come over
and get it.

Thank you.
I really appreciate it.

I'm just super excited
that jose, and anthony, and ted,

That they all enjoyed
our restaurant so much.

And I get to go to spain.

Congratulations.

Thanks.

Good luck, you guys.

[nikki and antonia]
good luck.

Good luck.
Congratulations.

[Suspenseful music]

♪ ♪

[padma]
a lot of the diners

considered you
the weaker team

in this challenge.

[anthony]
all of us were unanimous

In finding
some very unpleasant aspects

To this meal.

spike, you handled
front of the house.

Who picked the tablecloth
and the napkins?

All three of us picked
the tablecloths and the napkins.

we actually didn't get
our first choice so--

We had high hopes,
and I think

the front of the house
design, the decor

Only increased
expectations.

you announced yourself

As the sort of place

Where a greasy dumpling
would be unforgivable.

rather than
the sort of place

Where a greasy dumpling
would be a delight.

Butterscotch scallops,
who came up with this dish?

That's me.
what did you think?

thought it was
a little sweet.
a little?

[jose]
that dish
probably was the dish

That, wow,
nothing seemed to work.

Hearing the words
butterscotch and scallops

together in the first place
was very worrying to me.

Looked like
a melted candy bar.

Let's go back
to the beginning, the laksa.

that bowl went
in front of me,

And it was like putting
my nose into a campfire.

where'd this dish
come from?

That was me entirely.

I take full responsibility
for that dish.

The smokiness
was kind of clobbering

Every other flavor
in that soup.

the way that I was taught
how to do laksa

Was smoked, um,

But clearly I just took
the smoking too far.

Whose choice was the laksa
in the first place?

You came up with the idea
of doing a laksa?

Yeah, but my laksa is--
it's actually very different.

Dale, where were you
in this part of the process

As the executive chef?

I don't know laksa.

I had to trust
these guys.

They said they had their laksa,
and I trusted them.

You're the executive chef,

and you don't even know

What a laksa
should taste like.

[padma]
what did you think
of the short ribs?

Of the entire menu,
it probably was the highlight.

who made the ribs?

[spike]
I made the ribs.

The entire dish?
I braised the ribs.

they're spike's recipe,
braised ribs.

Do we have any difference
of opinion on this?

No, no, no, no,
not at all.

He conceptualized
the dish.

He told me
how to make it.

My recipe.

dale and lisa both took part
in executing it.

talk to me
about the sticky rice.

It's definitely not the way
that I've ever made it before.

The rice that I wanted to use
was not available.

We thought it was
a pretty appalling dish.

one of the other diners
described it as,

"Baby food garnished
with potpourri."

dale found this rice.

I don't remember exactly
what it was called and--

I did not find the rice.

Let's get this correct.
You found the rice.

I did not grab that rice
off the top shelf.

Let's get this correct.

Who grabbed the rice
off the top shelf?

[dale]
I'm gonna eat the fact
that I [bleep] up

And made
some wrong decisions.

But that is what
I'm not gonna do.

I'm not gonna sit here
and have you tell me

That I found the rice
and said, "use this rice."

Okay, okay, okay, you're not
talking to your parole officer.

let's move on.

[jose]
you two, you are showing

A lack of teamwork
that to me, it's, uh, wow.

This is not what this business
is all about.

you've been working
in the front of the house.

and I have the sense

That I'm gonna be out
of the trouble

Of having to be in the middle
of dealing with them two.

I mean,
I had to hang buddhas.

I had to get, uh,
paintings done.

What do you think
went wrong here?

Well, I can assume
that the communication

Between both of them

Didn't go over
too well.

[dale]
chef, when your
chef de cuisine

Says something smart to you,
do you wait till

The end of service
to deal with that situation?

do i?

If my customers
are not getting

What I expect them to get

and somebody's going off
the reservation on me,

They're getting
a world of [bleep]

Unloaded on them.

When I mentioned,
as chef,

Mentioned, "did you season
that salad enough?"

and then I get
a smart-ass remark

Or I get a nasty remark--

He asked me,
"did you taste the salad?"

I said, "of course
I tasted the salad, chef."

Yeah, I'm sure
you said it like that.

I'm sure you said it
like that.

When you have five hours
to set up a restaurant,

you're only as good
as your weakest link.

[lisa]
just as you're

Only as strong
as your weakest link,

You're only as good
as your leader.

[padma]
thank you very much.

We'll see you back in a bit.
Thank you all.

Well, obviously

There is plenty of blame
to go around on this team.

[anthony]
a lot of things went wrong
with this team.

These guys were clearly
all working at cross-purposes

From the beginning.

Spike,
he's been very smart.

[Laughter]

He played the roll of saying,
"those two,

They have a bad thing
going on between them."

[Anthony]
he did manage to stay out
of the line of fire.

And do his job properly.

[Padma]
well, let's talk about dale
for a minute.

why do you think
he should go home?

You want to make a case
for dale going?

That scallop dish
with that ridiculous

Glopped on, horrible
butterscotch sauce.

[anthony]
as a manger,

As a conceptualizer,

and as an executer, uh,
I think he fell down

On all three fronts.

Some of
the most serious problems

Were created by lisa.

Lisa made sticky rice before.

She had made
this laksa before.

And she botched
both of them.

You know, if you notice
her body language,

Lisa's body language,

She's instinctively,
I think by nature,

She's not inclined to accept
criticism from this table

Or from anyone else.

His behavior
in the kitchen

wasn't [bleep] helping.

I was trying to [bleep]
keep it under control,

And he was just losing it.

Just so [bleep] tired
of his [bleep].

if you got something to say

About what I did,
then say it to me, [bleep].

[dale]
bitch.

she got something to say
then she should say it.

Because I tried to play
the good guy today

And be a [bleep] dickhead
in the kitchen.

you know, it's cool.
you can whisper all you want.

I think we have
a decision.

I think we should
get them out here.

I think it's clear.

[Suspenseful music]

♪ ♪

This was restaurant wars.

a lot of skills
were called for here

that aren't called for
in other challenges.

All of you were asked
really to step up.

♪ ♪

dale, I think
that on leadership

And on that scallop dish,
you fell down,

And you fell down hard.

if this was

A dysfunctional group
in your estimation,

You should, as executive chef,
have accounted for that.

lisa, smoke is smoke.

That laksa dish,
something you've done before.

it really was like sticking
your nose into a campfire.

the rice pudding,

It was awful.

spike,

Through guile or luck,

However it happened,

your missing in action,

It was a good day
to be in the dining room.

[Suspenseful music]

♪ ♪

Dale,

please pack your knives
and go.

Thank you so much.

it was a pleasure
being here.

thanks a lot
for everything.

Thanks, guys.

Bye, guys.

You [bleep] serious?
Shut up.

What?

It's cool.
It's good.

I know my abilities.

You make bad decisions,

And that's what
gets you sent home.

It doesn't mean
you're a bad chef.

I think I'm a good chef.

You either love me
or hate me.

That's my personality.

I'm happy who I am.

I know we had
our differences,

But, dude,
you're super talented, man.

If I get sent home

For busting my ass today
and not stopping, it's cool.

I can't live with that.

Chef.

You know what's good.

I've always had
a hard time saying good-bye.

Stephanie, antonia, richard--

I'm gonna miss
the people.

later.

I knew going into this
I was probably gonna go home.

I knew it.

This is just
a disappointment.

I feel like
I've let some people down.

[Padma]
next on top chef...

We're gonna entrust you

With something
very precious.

Don't screw it up.

[Stephanie]
I think it'll show off

The skills that somebody

That's gonna win top chef
should have.

[Lisa]
my back is on fire.

Then I guess you're not going
to puerto rico, lisa.

Get out of my way.

[Richard]
I don't wanna walk outta here
tomorrow and say,

"Oh, that was a good game."

And I want to get
to the final four.

Anybody find salt?

There are five of us left.
Trying to sabotage me?

It would definitely suck
to not be in the finale.

[Lisa]
what about me?
What if I die?

It's a lot of competition.
Pick up a scallop.

A lot of stress.
Come on, richard,
you're dragging.

you're k*lling me here.

It's a lot of everything.

For one of you,
your journey ends here.

[Suspenseful music]

♪ ♪

[Padma]
for more about the recipes
seen tonight,