01x01 - Alex Vs. Shellfish

[bunniefuu]

[Eric] Alex Guarnaschelli
is one of the best

competition cooks in America.

[Alex] I'm an Iron Chef.

I've beaten Bobby Flay
in his own kitchen.

There isn't a chef who is
more competitive than I am.

Michael Jordan plays basketball,

Serena Williams plays tennis,

Tiger Woods plays golf.

I cook. Simple as that.

People always wanna know
what's next.

This is it.

It's almost impossible
to defeat her, one-on-one.

So each week, she'll be battling

three of America's
best chefs at the same time.

I think I can beat her.

I need my shot at Alex.

The gauntlet
has been thrown down.

♪ Yeah, we were born ready ♪

♪ Yeah, we were born wild ♪

[Eric]
Chefs will be handpicked

from across the country.

Each with a mastery
of a specific type of food.

They are all coming here
with one goal.

To beat Alex.

I got something up
my sleeve for Chef Alex.

Chef Alex, what are you
making over there?

Y'all in trouble.

♪ Yeah, we were born ready ♪

[Alex] I know I have been
target on my back

and I wouldn't have it
any other way.

♪ 'Cause we're bringing
The fight, come on ♪

[Eric] So we
spanned the country.

We have three
of the best seafood chefs

getting ready for the battle
of their lives.

They're about
to have a shellfish battle

with the Iron Chef
Alex Guarnaschelli.

Chef Alex is a master chef.

But born and raised
in Honolulu, Hawaii,

I'm a shellfish slayer.

I'm born and raised
in South Louisiana.

Alex is from New York City.

What could she possibly know
about shellfish that I don't?

Hey, I live in Maine.
This is what I do.

I am made of shellfish.

[Eric] The resumes
on these chefs is topnotch.

If I was Alex, I'd be
stressed out right now.

There are three experts in there

in whatever tonight's topic is.

And I don't know what that is,
and they do.

I asked to compete against
the best of the best,

and I meant it.

If you wanna stay on top,
you gotta earn it.

Steel sharpens steel.

[Barton] So, any minute
now, Alex is gonna walk out.

She is a single-name chef.

Madonna, Prince, Alex.

Here we go.

So without further ado,
the Iron Chef herself...

Alex Guarnaschelli.

[Alex] Every time
I step into that arena,

it's like my first time.

I'm putting all my years
of reputation on the line

and I wouldn't have it
any other way.

[Eric] I'm pretty sure
you're curious about

- what tonight's theme is.
- Yeah.

[Eric] Right now
you're standing in front of

three seafood masters.

[Alex] Mmm-hmm.

So these battles
are all about shellfish.

Oh, boy.

I'm pretty sure you've cooked

a shellfish or two in your day.

A clam or two.

[Eric] Three of the country's
premier seafood chefs

are here right now in the arena

trying to take you down.

Chef Barton
from South Freeport, Maine.

He's an authority on seafood.

He was named Chef of the Year
by Esquire magazine

and he's written
seven books on seafood.

That's four more cookbooks
than I have.

Chef Johnnie
from Breaux Bridge, Louisiana.

Chef Johnnie
is an executive chef

at a seafood restaurant

that serves over 15, 000 pounds

of crawfish a week.

And she was named one of 2020's

- Best Chefs in Louisiana.
- Wow.

[Eric] Chef Colin, all the way
from Honolulu, Hawaii.

Honolulu Magazine named him

the 2018 Restaurateur
of the Year.

What's the shellfish like
in New York City?

- Hey.
- [laughing]

All right, guys.
Let's get to it.

So, first up
is the Survival Round.

Chefs, both you and Alex
must prepare a shellfish dish.

And then a pair
of renowned seafood experts

will do a blind-tasting
and rank everyone's dishes.

The chefs that cooked
the top three dishes

will survive and move on
to the second round.

But unfortunately,
that fourth chef will not.

Even if that's you, Alex.

- I can go home on my own show.
- [all chuckling]

So, since the three of you

have the same goal
to knock out Alex,

you guys are actually
gonna pick the challenge.

The clock doesn't start now,
but the game officially does.

This is gonna be fun.

[Johnnie] The first round
is all about us three chefs

coming together
and taking Alex out.

[Colin] We have to decide
what were gonna cook

against Chef Alex.

[Barton] This is gonna be
an advantage.

So, the first thing
obviously is...

shellfish.

Beautiful squid.

Some prawns and some mussels.

So collectively,
you guys have to pick

which shellfish
you're gonna be using.

I'll step aside, you guys talk.

All right.
So I'm gonna say prawns.

I mean, mussels to me...

I mean, it's mussels in a bowl.

[Johnnie]
Yeah. Definitely prawns.

[Colin] The squid
might be a strategy

because if you overcook it,

it becomes
like rubber band, so...

- I'm going with shrimp.
- [scoffs] Definitely.

Colin, were you saying squid
was a good choice?

I'm probably gonna be
more comfortable

- going with prawns.
- [Eric] You are? Okay.

Alex, what do you think
about prawns?

This is around the time
where she stops talking

and it's all game face
at this point.

Prawns it is, Chef Alex.

Let's move on.

Since you guys
are shellfish masters,

you should be able to cook
any type of shellfish, right?

-Sure.
-[Eric] Yup. How about this?

- [Johnnie] Oh.
- [Barton] Awesome.

[Eric] Shellfish in a can.

Tiny shrimp.

My favorite oysters in a can.

Fancy crabmeat, all in a can.

For me, the oysters
are just terrifying.

The hair on the back
of my head stands up.

- What are you guys feeling?
- Oysters.

- [Eric] Oysters?
- I'm gonna go with oysters.

- [Barton] Oysters.
- Why did I admit that?

My therapist and I have been
working so hard on this.

[Eric] All right.
So canned oysters it is.

Here's the question for you.
What are you making?

And that will be determined by
what vessel you serve it in.

There's an appetizer plate,

there's a little basket,

and there is a bowl.

I'm gonna walk around.
I'm gonna walk around.

Definitely appetizer.

I think the plate will also
give Chef Alex more advantage.

He's taking defensively.

It means I'm already
in your head then,

so we wanna just not
do this? We can just...

Oh, no, we're definitely
gonna do this.

- [Barton] Yeah.
- [Colin laughs]

- I'm going bowl.
- I'm gonna say bowl.

I'm gonna go back
and stick with my bowl.

[Eric] You're going with bowl?
All right.

And the last
but definitely not least.

Here we go.

How much time you wanna cook?

You have anywhere
from one to 60 mins.

You remember, Chef Alex

has the same exact time
as you guys as well.

So obviously, the more time
you give yourself,

the more time you're
gonna give this legend.

[Alex] I feel like
a caged tiger.

I just can't stand still
after a while.

- [Colin] I'd say 45 minutes.
- [Eric] You want 45 minutes?

- Why is that?
- We don't know the kitchen...

- No. That's true.
- We don't know the pantry,

- we gotta do it shoppin'.
- [Johnnie] Forty-five.

[Eric] Good luck to you.

We have 45 minutes on the clock.

As you know the fourth
ranked dish is out of here.

But the chef who finishes
first gets to exclusively pick

all the ingredients
for the next challenge.

Even if that's Alex.

[rock music playing]

So clearly you wanna survive,
but really you wanna win.

There's only
one last thing left to do.

Let's start to cook right now.

- Go. Go. Go, go.
- [Colin] That's it?

[Eric] Yes.

I actually think
this is a very, very

difficult challenge.

Not because of the
ingredients, but the time.

They gave Alex 45 minutes.

That's a cardinal sin
in my book.

Good luck, chefs.

Thank you, Chef.

[Colin] Thank you, Chef.

[Alex] I think these
competitors in particular

have a serious advantage
with shellfish.

My expertise would be competing.

It wouldn't be a food,
an ingredient,

a technique.
It would just be competing.

I know that.

The more time you can have
in a competition, the better.

So I actually only shopped

60% of what I need

and I got those pans
on the stove

and I start cooking.

[Eric] She's already
starting to cook.

These guys are still
running around like chickens

with their head cut off.

I'm gonna make a shrimp soup

with an oyster-stuffed head
on the side.

The soup is gonna be carrot.

I like that. Okay.

With some coriander and shrimp.

The biggest hurdle is
definitely the canned oysters.

And so I think
I have to treat the oysters

like a mob movie, you know,
we wanna bury the body.

So I'm gonna make a stuffing

with the oysters
and shrimp and shallots

and breadcrumbs packed
into the shrimp heads

and roasted in the oven.

[Alex] This.

The shrimp heads
with the oysters

because it's a lot of time

and if the judges don't like it,

I could've spent all that time
doing something else.

It's so much fun for me

to see the diversity in America

in terms of chefs and experts
that come from all over.

It ups the ante for me.

I mean, I just
wanna beat everybody

and learn along the way.

How you doing, Maine?

- Rolling, right.
- [Alex] State of Maine?

So was anybody looking in that
whole introduction phase

when she was
just standing there?

Stone-faced k*ller,
making me nervous.

And we gave her
45 minutes of time

to flex all of her skill.

I'm thinking risotto.

I'm gonna make a quick broth
with the shrimps,

some the salad
and, like, fried the oysters

right in the middle.

I think this dish
is gonna beat Alex.

It's pretty sexy.

[Eric] Barton's spending
a lot of time on his risotto

and that's all good.

But this is a seafood battle.

Hopefully, he spends
a little bit more time

on the shellfish.

Hawaii, how you doing?

I'm doing good, Chef.

As a chef, being from Hawaii,

spear fisher
and a master of shellfish,

I got to put some of that
more oceany sea flavor

inside of the dish.

Chef Colin, I see the sea beans

working with that oceanic

kind of salty flavor
right there?

Yeah. So I'm gonna do
a little, uh,

- Asian fusion touch.
- Okay.

I'm gonna make a little bit
of, uh, tom kha broth...

- [Eric] Okay.
- with the shrimp heads

as well as the, uh,
the oyster... Canned oysters.

Oh, so you're just
extracting all that flavor

from the shrimp heads,
getting that nice soupy,

brothy kind of thing?

Go ahead and try
to smoke the oysters

with a little bit of flavor

because I usually don't eat
fresh oysters.

[Alex]
How you doing, Louisiana?

Oh, I got to going on over here.

New York does not scare me.

Alex does not scare me.

She might be from a big city,

but I've got bigger soul.

'Cause I am
from Louisiana, honey.

Chef Johnnie,
you cook as much shellfish

as anyone in the country

but never against
Alex Guarnaschelli.

- She don't bother me.
- [Eric] Oh, she good. Yeah.

I love that. I love that.
I love that confidence.

- She won't bother me.
- No.

- [Eric] You're focused?
- Yes.

[Eric] What you got going on?

- I've got my shrimp heads.
- [Eric] All right.

[Johnnie] Making a little stock.

I'm thinking I'm going
to make a k*ller étouffée.

Beautiful.
Beautiful. Beautiful.

Étouffée is butter-based roux

with a little onions,

bell pepper,
andouille. It has got

a lot of smokiness,
add a little cream.

Oh, I can win with this.

It's famous.

[Eric] Chef Alex, I gotta say,

these chefs are working
at it right now.

And they, uh...
They got some serious flavors.

- I believe it.
- [Eric] Yeah.

[Alex] From years of cooking

on different competition shows

and feeling like...

It's in my DNA.

I just thought, "Wouldn't
it be cool if one day

I could look up and see
my name on the wall?"

That feeling of, "Wow,
so this is unmistakably

where I'm supposed to be."

I feel grateful and ferocious.

We want it to be so legit,

we don't even have the judges
in the same building.

Canned oysters.

They chose that?

[Eric] They chose that.

Y'all in trouble.

[tense music playing]

[Eric] Chefs, keep cooking.

I'm gonna head backstage,
talk to the judges.

So to make sure that our judging

is completely unbiased,

they have no idea what's
going on in that kitchen.

In fact,
we want it to be so legit,

we don't even have the judges
in the same building.

But I'll tell you what,
we do have two heavy hitters

that know a lot about shellfish.

First, we have Tiffani Faison,

she's the chef and owner
of multiple award-winning

Boston restaurants
that are renowned

for their incredible array
of seafood and shellfish.

And our other judge,
Chef Tetsu Yahagi,

he's gone from
Executive Chef of Spago

to overseeing Wolfgang Puck's

international restaurants.

We have some masters
of seafood cooking up a storm.

So, I'll tell you
what they're working with.

The first thing
that they have are prawns,

second thing
they decide to choose

were canned oysters.

- They chose that?
- [Eric] They chose that.

They chose to use a bowl
as their serving vessel.

And last but not least, guys,
they have 45 minutes to cook.

- Ooh.
- It's a long time.

It's kind of a lifetime.

What are some things
that you wanna see

out of these chefs
and out of these plates?

I mean, starting
with the prawn, right?

Make sure the head
is cooked really well,

make sure the body's
cooked really well.

[Tetsu] I'm very concerned
of the oysters.

Canned oysters.
Anything that's in a can

will taste little bit tin.

- [Eric] Can, yeah, yeah.
- Little bit metallic.

And there's a bowl, right?
They chose a bowl?

There needs to be a reason
that it's in a bowl.

So, guys, I'm gonna head back
into the kitchen.

I'll call you back in
when they're done cooking.

- Okay.
- All right.

[suspenseful music playing]

This isn't about enjoyment.

It's passion. It's my work.

It's what I do.
It's my life.

It's my DNA.

For my soup, I'm gonna make
a buttery carrot broth

with a little bit
of coriander and sesame

and cilantro and basil.

It's too quiet over there,
it's making me nervous.

Maybe we shouldn't have
given her so much time.

Oh, boy.

Chef Alex, you opened up
your, uh, oysters yet?

Beautiful, aren't they?

Uh, stunning.

Straight out
of the waters of Maine.

When you eat an oyster
or a mussel or a clam,

you always wanna bite into it
and release the aromas

that are in the belly.

If they're all mangled,
that flavor is...

It's already out of it.

So it's worth picking through
to find the right ones...

Y'all in trouble.

All right. Shrimp time.

Cooking whole shrimp
is difficult

because you've got this
very thin little tail section

that's gonna cook
differently obviously

than this very thick head.

So I knew I was taking

a little bit
of a risk with that.

What am I doing?

[laughs] You're asking me?

Hopefully, win you
some money next round, bro.

[laughs]

All right. I'll go with that.
Let's do it.

This is the most important
part of this dish right here.

This is the, uh,
Caledonian prawns.

This could be the most important

shellfish dish in my life.

I wanna go above
and beyond and make sure

that I can challenge Chef Alex.

Smoked oysters.

The whole point
is to take the maximum time

of 45 minutes
to really intensify this soup.

[Eric] Colin's dish looks
absolutely stunning.

Now I don't see
too much oysters in use.

I know he put them inside
his soup or his broth,

but really
I don't see anything else.

[Johnnie] Anyone that knows
anything about shrimp

knows that you use
that head to make a stock.

It just enhances the flavor.

You know
you're a shellfish queen

when you know what to do
with a shrimp head.

I wanna show the judges
classic Louisiana flavors,

but in a modern way.

So I'm making
a smoked andouille,

and oyster crumble on top

which is not your
classical Cajun cooking.

I'm putting my name on the line

and Louisiana right here.

[Eric] This is your official
five-minute time check, guys.

Five minutes left.

Whoever loses this round,
guys, is going home,

do not forget someone
is going home after this cook.

[suspenseful music playing]

[Colin] Good.

I'm gonna go ahead and plate up.

I wanna make sure
that the judges

can pour the soup tableside

so they can see
the beautiful aesthetics.

Put a touch of the fresh
green curry around.

I slowly drizzle
my fresh green curry

to give it a nice circle.

Next, I place the prawns.

Then I place a few
roasted maitake mushrooms.

And then I pop
on the sea asparagus

and shaved radishes.

- [Barton] Look at this, man.
- I love that.

Crispy fried oysters
around there.

Crispy fried shrimp on top.

Mint and parsley, a little
tiny bit of Calabrian chili.

[Eric] Ninety seconds
left, chefs.

[Johnnie] First, I put down
my shrimp head étouffée,

make sure I have three shrimp
for each little bowl,

and then get my smoked oyster
and andouille crumble on top.

I don't know
if that's a bowl or not.

- [Johnnie] What?
- [Eric] This is a cast iron.

[Johnnie] Where I come from,
this is a bowl.

[Alex] I dropped
some of the oyster bits

in the bottom of the bowl.

Then I put the broth.

Then I drop the shrimp
in the broth with basil,

cilantro, and chopped chives,
and the diced carrots.

I add lemon zest
and lemon juice to the heads

to give it like
brightness and acidity.

Four, three, two, one.

Time's up, guys.
Time's up.

All right, chefs.

Right in front of you,
you have the menu card,

please write down
and describe your dish

exactly the way you want
the judges to read it.

This is all the information
that they're gonna know.

All right, chefs,
thank you so much.

And we'll call you back
when the judges

have ranked your dishes.

[Colin chuckles nervously]
We hope so.

[Johnnie] Oh.

[crew speaking]

[Alex] I really gotta get
a look at their plates.

You want to see the, uh,
what the other chefs made?

So he's doing
a tableside pour and...

- [Alex] Pretty.
- [Eric] Yeah.

And just the way he was cooking,

was like very methodical.

- Yeah.
- Beautiful.

Let me ask you this.

On first thought,
you've judged a lot.

Would you call that a bowl?

[Alex] No, but, étouffée,
maybe that's how she...

[Eric] I see it.
I don't think...

- [Alex] Wow.
- this risotto looks...

Yeah.

These chefs
really upped the ante.

They did.
No, they really did.

- I'm now gonna go and sit and be sick to my stomach.
- [chuckles]

- There they are.
- Hey.

[Eric] Hey, Tiff, Tetsu,
what's going on?

Anybody see what Alex made?

[Johnnie] I don't have a clue.

I saw her
staring down the oyster

like giving it her

"I'm gonna make you delicious"
look, but, you know...

Well, I'm sorry for keeping
you guys trapped outside,

- but you know why obviously.
- Mmm-hmm.

And here's what we need
to look at.

The use of prawns,
the use of the oysters,

did the bowl
serve the dish well,

and then how well did the chef

use that 45 minutes.

So this chef made crispy
Caledonian prawn and oyster

over risotto mint, chili,
a chorizo vinaigrette.

It is so hard
to get risotto right,

and everyone
has a different idea

of what a risotto
should be like.

We'll see.

The risotto is to me an answer
to the 45 minutes, right?

So you have
all of these ingredients

that are not long
cooking time ingredients.

Right. Of course.

So you're adding something
that takes you longer.

- Right.
- [Eric] Right.

[Tetsu] Everything
is seasoned very well.

Right on, on point.

The shell on the prawn,
nice and crispy.

- [Eric] Nice. Nice.
- [Tetsu] A lot of flavor.

For me, I love the head.

It's really beautiful
and crispy,

and I think that
it's cooked really nicely.

- [Eric] Yep.
- You see this, like, very, very curly...

- Uh-huh.
- tough body?

- Okay. Yeah.
- The tail.

Probably the result of trying
to get the shell very crispy.

[Tiffani] And then
these canned oysters

have this sort of
like grainy consistency.

All right.
We'll move on to next dish.

Is she watching?
Alex, where are you?

[Eric] In front of you,
you have prawns

with a buttery carrot broth
and fresh herbs

with a prawn shallot
oyster-stuffed prawn heads.

[Alex] There were a lot
of moving parts.

How to fit the oysters in,
but not really use them.

How to clean and devein
and cook all the shrimp.

I wanted to do
a lot of little things

and that made it hard.

I'm really digging this.

The tail cooked beautifully.

Nice and juicy.

The oyster
is so interesting to use,

the canned oyster
in both applications

because they don't necessarily
think that you have to.

It's a chef that's clearly
trying to show range.

- [Eric] Mmm-hmm.
- This is so beautiful.

[Eric] Mmm.

[Tiffani] I get
to the prawn heads.

And the last dish
was such a great example

of what I love about
prawn heads, that crispiness.

You get, like, all
the juiciness on the inside.

And then I have
all the things I love

about a prawn head replaced
with a canned oyster,

and I just think, "Why?"

All right, guys, we're gonna
move on to the next dish.

- I wanna steal a taste.
- [Tiffani] Do it.

- It's really good.
- It's really good.

- It lives in a can't-quite-pin-it world.
- [Eric] Yeah.

[Tiffani] It's not curry. It's
kind of carroty it's buttery.

Hmm.

All right, judges, our third

dish in front of you.

We have a crispy
Caledonian prawns,

fresh green curry coulis,

roasted maitake mushrooms,

smoked oysters and coconut,
tom kha soup.

- It's beautiful.
- Let's do this.

[Alex] Colin's dish could be

in a three-star
Michelin restaurant,

such elegant and opulent
ingredients,

fancy pants.

Overall, the dish is tasty,
really delicious.

Well-balanced.

[Tiffani] Successful cookery
of the head

and the tail still attached.

- Rare. That's rare.
- [Eric] Um, okay.

[Tetsu] I don't taste much
oysters in here.

It's overpowered
by the curry flavor.

[Tiffani] I don't know. This
dish for me is such a winner.

- I really like it.
- Okay. Well, thank you, judges.

It's time to move on
to our next one.

And aside, is this an Alex dish?

Why do you even ask?

That's kind of a mean question.

[laughter]

[Eric] For our fourth
dish, judges,

so we have a prawn head étouffée

with a smoked oyster
and andouille crumble,

prawn head stock,
smoked andouille oysters.

[Alex] I'm a little worried

about Johnnie presentation-wise.

I think a cast-iron skillet
is not a bowl.

That said,
she made a classic étouffée.

I got that oyster though.
Well, there it is.

I'm liking it though.
The flavor is all there.

I like the kick,
a little spiciness.

- [Eric] Mmm-hmm.
- [Tetsu] Oyster's definitely there.

[Tiffani] Depth of flavor,

definitely speaks to 45 minutes.

The cook on the shrimp
is really delicious.

- [Eric] Okay.
- [Tiffani] A lot of great flavor in here,

- but is a skillet a bowl?
- Yeah.

[Tiffani] I don't wanna have
to ask big questions in life,

like why don't you
just put it in a bowl?

- Why couldn't you just put it in a bowl?
- [Tiffani] Put it in a bowl.

The other thing I will say is,

I think there could have been
some better knife work

and just more incorporating
other ingredients

and vegetables
to make it a true étouffée.

Also, I really love
shrimp heads,

- like you don't get...
- [Eric] Yeah. Yeah.

Beautiful Caledonian
shrimp heads

- and not serve them to us to actually eat.
- [Eric] I see.

So judges,
you tried all four dishes,

it's time to rank them
one through four.

- Phew.
- This is tough.

This is not easy.

[intense music playing]

How quickly
can I get the results?

[Eric] Whoever finishes first
will be the only chef

to pick all the ingredients
for the next challenge.

And the judges did have to
pick the chef that finished fourth,

and that chef unfortunately has
to leave the kitchen right now.

And that chef is...

I'm sorry, Chef Johnnie.

So the judges thought
your étouffée

had a wonderful depth of flavor,

but they did note a handful

of execution errors
in your étouffée.

They also questioned
if that cast iron fulfilled

the bowl requirement.

Thank you.

And then there were three.

Barton, you finished third

and you are here to stay.

Chef Colin, Chef Alex,

the chef that made
the top ranked dish is...

congratulations, Chef Alex.

[Colin] Well, all right.

- [Alex] Thank you.
- [Eric] Congrats.

From the judges' perspective,
it was the use of the oysters

that put you over the top.

You embraced
the hardest ingredient

and it worked out for you.

You know what's
pretty ironic, gentlemen,

is the fact that you guys
had to pick the oysters,

and she didn't wanna.

She told us not to.

Let's not...
Let's settle down.

You know, just talk
about the stuff, all right?

Cool it.

So congratulations, guys,
the three of you

have made it
into the money round.

Chef Alex, all by herself,

gets to pick
the final challenge.

- [sarcastic laugh]
- [laughter]

So this time obviously

we're cooking
for some serious cash.

Any chefs whose final dish
outranks Alex's,

is gonna win some money.

If you rank first,
you're gonna win 10K.

And if you rank second,
and Alex ranks third,

you're gonna win 5K.

Obviously, guys, if Alex's
dish is ranked first,

you're not getting anything.

But I say
it's the bragging rights

that you came here for.

Can you beat Chef Alex
Guarnaschelli?

All right, Alex, let's see

what you're gonna hand
these chefs.

[Alex] When I pick
the ingredients

I'm gonna ask the other chefs

for some input and feedback.

I can maybe get them
to show me their weaknesses

and maybe that helps me.

Strategy at all times.

Obviously, you guys will be
in a much better position

if this is one of you over here.

So you're watching
with envious eyes

at Chef Alex goes ahead

and chooses from the following.

Fresh live lobster,

beautiful spot prawns,

and Dungeness crab.

What do you guys think?

What do you like?

They are the prime ribs
of seafood.

[Alex] I feel like
we just did shrimp,

so the spot prawns
are not speaking to me.

- I love the crab.
- [Eric] Yeah.

[Alex] But it's a lot of work.

- And not a lot of payoff.
- [Eric] Let's talk about the lobster.

Lobster I love,
but I've been burned

by cooking lobster in the past.

You were the only person I know

has a bad memory of lobster.

Well, I know
you're from Maine, okay.

- Yeah.
- [Alex] I know what you want.

Okay.

I'm gonna pick the lobster.

[Eric] All right.
Lobster, it is.

I probably know the guy
that caught that.

So as you guys know,

seafood is always brightened up

with a little bit of citrus.

So we have three citrus
options for you.

Oh, that's funny.

Each of these choices comes

with the amount of time
that you can use.

What, do we have one minute
for the lemon?

[Eric] If you choose
the fresh lemons,

you only get 20 minutes to cook.

If you choose
the frozen limeade,

you get 30 minutes to cook.

Or you can pick
the orange sherbet

and get a full 40 minutes
to cook.

And what's worse,
this is the only citrus

that you'll have access
to the entire round.

That's stupid.

Well, tell me
how you really feel? Yeah.

[Alex] Okay,
I'm gonna wrap this up.

- [Eric] Okay.
- I don't need to ask anybody.

- All right.
- Sorry. Sherbet.

- You want 40 minutes?
- [Alex] Mmm-hmm.

- Wow.
- [Eric] Time is always the most important thing.

Mmm-hmm.
Deal it with, people.

- [Barton] Okay.
- [Alex] Promise.

[Eric] Now let's find out
what kind of shellfish dish

you're gonna be making.

Spicy,

sweet and sour,

or smoky?

For me, it's between the
sweet and sour and the spicy.

I think the smoky is hard
with the sherbet.

You already kind of have
sweet and sour.

But spicy is so good.

- I'm gonna pick spicy.
- You're picking spicy.

- May I ask why?
- Difficult.

You're just trying to get
these guys out of here.

- Yeah.
- All right.

Yeah, the bank is closed, man.

Now here's the fun part,

your time starts now.

- [Alex] Oh, God.
- [Colin] Oh, gosh.

This is like my favorite time
of the cook,

just seeing
where the chefs are going,

where their minds
are kind of headed.

Chef Alex, how are you attacking

this sherbet right here?

- You know, that's hard.
- It is.

- I'm gonna build it into the base of my sauce.
- Okay.

[Alex] When I see
that orange sherbet,

immediately my head goes,
"Lobster, sherbet, tomato,

orange zest in
classic bouillabaisse,

and hide the sherbet there
in plain sight."

I spent many years
living in France

learning how to cook

and I really made bouillabaisse.

And the only difference is that

there was absolutely
no orange sherbet.

Barton, how are you doing
over there?

I'm doing great, chef.
I appreciate you asking.

Barely survived the last round.

Here we are with a food
of my home state.

I'm cooking for a lot more
than my own name right now.

Put a good name on Maine.

Alex? She cooks
everything well.

Everything she touches
turns to gold,

but I live in a shellfish
community.

I'm gonna show it off.

Now, it's orange sherbet time.

Spooning orange sherbet

out of a box on national TV.

This is awesome.

Eight tablespoons of butter.

[Eric] I'm assuming that you're
creating a sauce or something like that?

Well, I mean orange sherbet,
it's what,

- it's creamy, bright, dreamy.
- Yeah.

- All those things.
- Okay. All right.

What else is creamy,
bright, dreamy?

- A beurre blanc.
- [Eric] A beurre blanc? Okay.

[Barton] However,
I'm gonna punctuate it

with a little bit
of sherry vinegar...

- [Eric] Okay.
- to balance it out.

I'm gonna throw in
some chives in there

and then I'm gonna do smoked
lobster frizzled leeks.

[Eric] I like it.

- [Alex] Colin? How are we?
- Yes, chef.

Coming along.
Doing pretty good.

How about you, chef?

Okay.

How are you tying in
the sherbet?

So the sherbet,
I'm making a chili

- orange sherbet saffron butter sauce.
- [Eric] Okay.

[Colin] That's gonna help me
to dress and coat the lobster.

So you're going saffron,
you're going kimchi...

- A little fusion.
- A lot of fusion. Okay.

[Colin] At first,
I'm thinking maybe I'll go

a little more
contemporary French,

but that's what Chef Alex
is a master at.

So I'm gonna go with
my Asian fusion touches.

I can probably capitalize
and beat her with that.

More acids,
it's a little bit sweet.

In Hawaii, we have

over 25 different varieties
of fresh citrus.

And, man, to not be able
to use fresh citrus,

that's gonna be
a definite challenge.

[Alex] I wanted to get
40 minutes on the clock.

I will take anything.

A tub of marshmallows,
two blocks of chocolate,

a case of nectarines
if I have to,

to get that extra time
on the clock,

but I know the orange
sherbet is terrible.

[Eric] Chef, is there anything
that you're worried about

- at the moment?
- Everything, honestly.

The thing is
you say that all the time

and then you end up
destroying your competition.

- Is that right?
- [Eric laughing]

Is that what you think?

Exactly.

This is it,
$15,000 is on the line.

Five, four,

three, two, one.

That's it.

She is the Iron Chef, you know.

She is the master.

Are you a big fan
of the orange sherbet?

Like, do I think
it is the best use?

Not necessarily.

[Eric] Who's closer
to number one?

Oof.

Are the results gonna be
the same

or round two different?

I mean, you tell us.

[suspenseful music playing]

Yes. The sherbet is worth
the time, totally.

And I really believe you got
to cook something long term

no matter
what to develop flavor.

For lobster, take them out
and just let them cool down.

I'm not a big drop them
in ice bath.

I think it tenses them up

and I don't want them
sitting in water

any longer
than they already have.

They just get watery.

And then I shell them

and I cut a couple
of the heads in half

and I drop the heads
in the tomato sauce

as it's cooking
to give the tomato

and the sherbet
some more dimension.

I also want to use the
sherbet in another place.

So I take the roasted garlic

and I puree it with sherbet.

[Eric] Where's the spice
coming from actually?

You know, for me, it's a Fresno.

Fresnos are nice. Yeah.

[Alex] It's always
the raw chili to me.

So it didn't look like Chef
Alex's sauce was spicy enough

and she picked spicy, so
if she's not delivering spicy,

then it's completely on her.

So actually, I'm doubling
down on the sweet, you know,

the butternut squash
but I'm really...

[Eric] That's what
it sounds like, yeah,

especially
with the added vanilla.

I've never heard of
that combination before,

but I'm interested.

[Barton] I'm going
even deeper on the sweet.

But you do remember that
spicy is a part

- of the profile, right?
- Oh, yeah.

That's where all these
peppers are from, right?

- Okay.
- So I'm gonna reduce this down to a glaze,

toss those peppers back
in the glaze.

It all starts to happen.

The key to smoking lobster
is absolute light touch.

Just that subtle nuance,
that whiff of rustic

romantic, sexy, seductive smoke

wafting through
a late autumn air in Maine,

as the tide turns and the
salt fragrant glory hits you

like, yeah, okay,
does that sound good to you?

[tense music playing]

[Colin] Because we want
to make spicy dishes

and I wanna touch a little
bit of that Asian fusion,

I decide I wanna make
my apple fennel kimchi.

Since we can't use
a lot of citrus,

there's a little tartness
from the apple.

I was really close to beating
Chef Alex in the last round.

So this round,
I think I can do it.

I just really got to bring it
even harder.

So I decided to go
with a cauliflower puree.

I want a little bit of fat

and little creaminess
into the dish

to help elevate the lobster.

[blender whirring]

And I want a little bit of spice

so I decided to add a touch
of serrano chili into that.

Chefs, all we have
is four minutes left.

This is it,
$15, 000 is on the line

or really zero.

I mean, these chefs
again can go home

with a bunch of money

or you can go home empty-handed.

[Alex] The only thing I used
for spice

was fresh Fresno chili.

And then at the end
when I tasted my sauce,

I thought this is
not spicy at all.

So I went and got the sambal
chili paste.

It's pretty spicy.

[Eric] So talk to me.

[Alex] I have
the Fresno chili roux with...

Made with the orange sherbet.

And I've got this
little garlic toast

to put the roux on,
then eat with the soup.

- I've got my lobster.
- [Eric] Okay.

[Alex] And this sauce over here,

- the tomato.
- [Eric] Mmm-hmm.

So you're gonna encourage
the judges

to go ahead and break that up

or kind of dip it in and...

Right.

[Barton] First, put down
the butternut squash,

provide that base,

give it some texture
for the lobster.

Finish it out with sauce.

Here I am spooning
orange sherbet

around a plate of lobster.

Can this dish beat Alex's?

Yeah.

Chefs, you have 30 seconds left.

Thirty seconds.

[Colin] So I think this dish
can beat Chef Alex.

I got the nice creaminess
from the cauliflower puree,

little bit of roasted
lobster tail

with a spicy kimchi paste.

Apple fennel kimchi
to brighten it up.

And a little bit of those
charred

smokiness
from the Brussels sprouts

and the orange sherbet
saffron butter sauce.

[Eric] Five, four,

three, two, one.

That's it.

- [Alex] Those two guys are great chefs.
- Awesome, brother.

I'm not looking here.

I'm looking there.

So chefs, you know
what to do right now.

I need you to fill out
your menu cards.

This is literally the only thing

that the judges
are going to see.

[Barton] All right, man.

[Eric] So, you wanna see the...
What the other chefs made?

- [Alex] Yeah.
- So Chef Colin's sticking

to those Hawaiian Pacific
flavors right there.

What do you think
about the plate?

At least, presentation-wise.

[Alex] Beautiful.

Brussels sprouts caviar.

Oh, I like that. Nice idea.

- Oh, he smoked it...
- [Eric] Mmm-hmm.

with pistachios,

and a vanilla pickled pepper
beurre blanc.

That's cool.

Do you think it was a good idea?

- I do. It feels very beachy.
- You do? Yeah.

[Eric] All right, Chef Alex,
see you in a few.

[Alex] I don't think I won.

I think I might
have come in last.

[suspenseful music playing]

[Alex] That was really hard.

I hate the word regret, Jesse.

I only regret things

like a couple
of my old boyfriends.

Did you see what Chef Alex made?

- I did.
- [Colin] Yeah.

It's a good dish,
looked beautiful.

[Colin] It's gonna be tough.

She is the Iron Chef, you know.

She is the master.

So the chef that won
had the advantage

and got to choose everything

and here's what they picked.

First live lobster,
orange sherbet,

but that orange sherbet
also gave them

40 minutes to cook.

And last but not least, they
had to make a spicy dish.

So your first dish, guys,
we have an orange sherbet

and saffron butter lobster,

serrano cauliflower puree,

house-made
apple and fennel kimchi,

pickled chilies and caviar.

[Alex] Colin's dish
was something very dramatic.

Very Hawaii to me.

Colin went for it.

- Lobster's cooked perfect.
- [Tiffani] Mmm-hmm.

Nice and sweet, tender.

- [exhales] Well...
- [Tetsu and Eric chuckling]

I thought that was an herb,
and it is not.

- [Tetsu] Green chili of some sort?
- [Tiffani] Yes. Whoa.

So spicy check?

- Spicy check, for sure.
- [Eric] All right.

Are you getting
any of that sherbetness?

There's sherbet
in the chili glaze,

- it's on top of the lobster.
- Done really well.

You know, it's interesting,
such a beautiful dish.

The problem is it was six
different beautiful dishes.

It just never kind of came
to the party together.

Yeah. Well, chefs,
thank you for that.

We'll head on to the next dish.

-You thought it was an herb?
-[Tiffani] I thought it was an herb.

Oh, hey.

Oh. Oh, there's more.

- [Eric] But wait...
- But wait.

- [Eric] there's more.
- If you order now.

[Eric] Our second dish,

a lobster with orange sherbet,

tomato and fennel onions

with an orange sherbet
and garlic roux style sauce.

Lobster and roe.

[Tiffani]
So it's like a bouillabaisse.

[Tetsu] Yeah.

[Alex] The sherbet
was really sweet

and it kept making
everything really sweet.

I'm a little worried about that.

- Lobster's cooked perfectly.
- [Eric] Okay.

All the sauces, garnish, bread,

- and the roux...
- [Eric] Mmm-hmm.

That's all to elevate
the lobster flavor.

You guys did get that
orange sherbet flavor?

The orange sherbet is clear,
it's here.

It came to party.
Like not in a bad way,

not in like
an obnoxious go home way.

How's the spice on this?

Not as spicy
as I would like it to be.

[Tiffani]
It's like fine dining spicy.

- Yeah, fine dining spicy.
- Yeah.

When they put it down
in front of a group

of fine dining people,
and they're like,

- uh, not really spicy.
- [Eric] I got you.

- Next dish, guys.
- That one's good.

You don't bust out
a bouillabaisse like that

unless you know
what the eff you're doing.

[Eric] Last but not least,
judges,

the lightly smoked
Maine lobster,

roasted butternut squash
with bitter pistachios,

and in orange sherbet

and pickled vanilla pepper
beurre blanc.

[Alex] Barton's dish
looked like something

you would eat at a beachy
restaurant in Maine.

It was really beautiful.
Very inviting.

Let's talk about the cook
of the lobster actually, chef.

- I like the smoke on it.
- [Eric] Mmm-hmm.

And it's cooked perfectly.

Cooking this lobster
this well and smoking it

shows like incredible technique.

Really great cookery.

Are you a big fan of the
orange sherbet in this dish?

It's definitely up front
and center.

It's very sweet.

Obviously, spice was the thing

that they needed to focus on.

Are we getting
any of the spice right now?

Not a lot.

There's some spice, right?

But like sweet is over here,

spice is over here,

you need them
to like get married,

live a life together
that you can get behind.

So, chefs, you guys went ahead

and tasted three dishes
in the second round.

- Who's closer to number one?
- Oof.

[Alex] Today, I need to win.

I have a lot to lose.

This is my house.

[suspenseful music playing]

- Hi, guys.
- [chefs] Hello.

I like for you to meet the
judges that have been tasting

and ranking your dishes tonight.

- Hi, guys.
- Hey, chef.

- [Alex] Nice energy.
- Hi, chefs.

- [Barton] Hey, there.
- Great shoes.

- Thank you.
- [Alex] Both of you.

So judges, I'm pretty sure
you're very curious

about who cooked what.

Chef Barton made
the Smoked Maine Lobster.

It was Chef Colin who made
the Ginger and Chili Lobster.

Chef Alex that made
the Bouillabaisse.

Mmm-hmm.

[Eric] Chefs, theses judges
ranked your dishes

without knowing who cooked what.

And the chef
that they ranked third was...

Chef Barton from Maine.

The cook on the lobster
with the smoke

- was so, so smart.
- Thank you.

But a lot of components were
sweet in that dish.

- Thank you so much, chef.
- Thank you.

- Take care.
- [Barton] Thank you.

So now, there are two.

I clocked you early on tonight

as my problem.

These are the same two chefs
that were top two chefs

in the first round.

Are the results
gonna be the same

or round two different?

The chef who won
the Shellfish Battle is...

Chef Alex, congratulations.

- [Tiffani] I see you, G.
- Wow.

Wow.

Great job, chef.

I saw your dish
and I was like, I'm toast.

[Tiffani] For the
ginger chili lobster,

it was like every component
was so, so good.

It was just bringing them
all together,

like they were a family that
did not wanna hang out together.

So the cohesion
was a little bit tough.

It's just an honor to be able
to cook with someone

with her expertise

and just being able to
get judged by chefs like you,

is just very humbling.

You will not be invited back.

[all laughing]

Take care, chef.

- Thank you.
- Congratulations, chef.

- Yeah, hug it out.
- [Tiffani] Yes.

I mean, I won.
Let's hug.

[laughter]

- [Eric] Well done.
- [Alex] Thank you.

- Thank you.
- [Tiffani] Congrats.

[Alex] Thank you.
This show is hard.