01x11 - Finale

[bunniefuu]

I don't give a sh*t, whatever.

People are freaking out left and right.

Sometimes it's about the ingredients,
sometimes it's about you.

Don't touch that, don't
touch that, don't touch that.

I'm not your b*tch, b*tch.

Obviously, you're a tool and a douchebag.

You will not succeed and you will fail.

Hurry.

Our judges panel, led by Chef Tom
Colicchio, kept the pressure on.

Most of it was just really inedible.

The customers were
disappointed when they left.

I can get Thai food from my takeout
restaurant that was better than this.

Your attitude is lousy.

If I could really get rid of
two of you, I probably would.

In fact, I'd pull three.

Please pack your knives and go.

And one by one, they cut nine
chefs from the competition.

Now, three remain to battle it
out in our Las Vegas finale.

My flavor is on my side.

If I can get my presentation on
track, I think I have a chance.

Overall, they love your dish.

You were the number one
choice for this evening.

Congratulations, you
are heading to Vegas.

It's really, really intense.

My nerves are in adrenal.

At some point, I'm definitely going
to have to get that under control.

I'm ready to go.

I'm ready to k*ll it.

Harold, you are packing
your bags through Vegas.

Thank you very much.

I'm a competitive person.

I always have been.

I'm passionate about what I do.

I get knocked for being somewhat harsh.

I don't feel like that's
what I came here to prove.

I came here to prove that I can cook.

Tiffany, congratulations.

You're going to Las Vegas
for the Top Chef finale.

At stake for the winner, a
feature in Food & Wine magazine.

A chance to showcase their culinary
talents at the annual Food & Wine Classic.

A state-of-the-art Kenmore
Elite kitchen provided by Sears.

$100,000 to kick-start
their culinary career.

And the title of Top Chef.

$100,000 to kick-start
their culinary career.

I was very excited when I found
out that I was going to Vegas.

Winning the Napa Challenge, that
was a big validation for me.

I just want to do it.

I just want to be given the challenge.

I want to cook.

I'm ready to finish Top Chef.

As the Top Chef.

Welcome to the Skylofts
and the MGM Grand.

It's a pleasure having you.

Thank you.

Vegas is a global as far as not
just the tourists, but the chefs.

And the MGM is a great place
to have the final challenge.

And this is your Skyloft.

Okay, great.

Please.

Thank you.

Enjoy yourself.

I could live here for a while.

The Skylofts and the MGM.

Penthouse.

It's palatial.

I could go to the spa.

Is anyone here?

No?

Good.

Touching down in Vegas,
fired up, ready to go.

I've, you know, completed
the final challenge.

Over and over in my head.

I don't want to finish
in second or third.

I'm a competitive guy.

I want to be the best.

I'm trying to do my own restaurant.

$100,000 would be put to tremendous use.

How's it going?

Good.

Good to see you.

What's the word?

Look at this.

The word's good.

We have one.

You need something like
this in San Francisco.

I know.

Check it out.

So this is our room.

Awesome.

This is Tiff's room.

This is Tiff's room.

As far as seeing the other
chefs, Harold and Tiffany.

I like Harold, so that's cool.

But as far as Tiffany.

She treats people like s***
when she's in the kitchen.

She's a b*tch.

Welcome to Skylofts at the MGM brand.

So yeah, I think this is
all that's coming tonight.

I wish.

It's all good.

Oh my God.

Want to throw one more?

Come on in, man.

What's up?

How you doing?

Hi.

How are you?

I'm a different person.

Were it not for me seeing
myself on television,

I may not have ever had that
wake-up call in my life.

I haven't lost any intensity
and I haven't lost any edge.

The truth is I don't live
my life with regrets.

I think everything leads
you to your next path.

Cheers.

Hi.

I'm straight forward.

I've gotten a lot of
great response from that

and I've gotten a lot of
people that misunderstand that.

Yep.

I'm still here to get it on.

I definitely would
have rather seen Leanne

in the finale versus Tiffany.

She claims she's passionate,

but I just kind of feel
that it's almost contrived.

It really doesn't matter
whether she's here or not.

She's not a nice person.

So what's on the generator?

Went back and the restaurant was closed.

They were closing.

What?

Yep, my restaurant
closed when I went back.

Are you kidding?

Nope.

After coming back from Napa,

I was all psyched to get back
in the kitchen at the restaurant

and start implementing new ideas

and some things that I learned
from my chef friends on the show

and boom, the owners
had sold the restaurant.

So since then, I've
been doing some catering

and then just living off
what I have in the reserves,

which are emptying out.

Winning this competition,
the money's a total bonus.

I want it and I need it.

How about you? What have you been doing?

Just working.

Working a lot.

In my cooking life, I
have not had the money

or the opportunity to
really travel abroad,

to understand the origins of
why I'm doing what I'm doing

and where these flavors come from.

I'm here at $100,000 and to take it home.

I would like to just go
get lost for a little while

and really get to know
my food on a deeper level

than I know right now.

What are you doing?

I'm doing a p*ssy.

Are you?

Right after Napa, I went back to New York

and decided, you know what, it's
time for me to open a restaurant up.

Winning Top Chef would
be so important to me.

Trying to make my lifelong dream happen.

See you tomorrow.

Bye.

I've gone through every
imaginable situation.

It's about believing that I can
do it and having faith in myself,

like everyone else does.

You've got fame.

So I'm going to try to pull
that energy from all my friends

and family that know that
I can do it and do it.

I am more hungry than
anyone else here, this one.

I want it more than Moonwell's hair.

And I'm going to go after it voraciously.

He's going to have a much
more relaxed time than I am.

I guarantee you that.

Can we just do this?

Can we just eat and drink and
see who can hang the longest?

That'd be perfect for me.

I could do good.

You could do good for breakfast.

I'm ready now, actually.

Let's cook.

Let's just cook right now.

Can we please cook?

Let's just put our jackets on.

I think we're going to
take like a 20 mule team

out to the Grand Canyon.

We get a Bonsa burner
and a bow and arrow.

And whatever you catch, you f*** cook.

And it's got to be gourmet
and it's got to look good.

You better look f***ing nice for this.

That'll look great.

That'll look great.

I'm definitely well nervous.

I have no idea what the finale or
the final challenge is going to be.

I've played it over and over in my head,

but I have no idea what it's going to be.

Good night.

Good night, honey.

I'm just trying to breathe.

That's one of my new techniques.

I'm trying to breathe this time.

Let's bring on whatever crazy
f*** we've got to do next.

I really don't know what the
challenge is going to be.

I have no idea.

I just really hope it's
something that I can excel in.

I don't really have a strategy.

I think I'm here for a reason.

I think my food speaks for itself.

And, you know, just take it by
the horns when it comes to me.

And, you know, no one knows
what's going to happen.

No one knows what's about to go down.

So I just want to get
in it and get going.

Overthinking anything just
always leads to trouble.

So I'm just trying to go.

Congratulations.

You've made it through nine
incredibly difficult, challenging,

and often emotional rounds.

You know the judges by now.

Chef Tom Colicchio, our head judge.

Gail Simmons, a food and wine magazine,

and our old friend from San
Francisco, Hubert Keller,

is back to see how you all come along.

This challenge is not a
traditional quick fire challenge.

This is an elimination challenge.

To go through all of this
and then come back and like,

you know, one challenge,
you end up going home.

Only two of you will go
forward to battle it out

head to head in the final challenge.

One of you will be going home.

Oh, yeah. Bring it on.

Whoo! Wings, baby! Let's go!

I was surprised Harold
used chicken wings.

It's so against my grain.

I just, I don't cook like this.

I don't cook in a rush.
That's not how I cook.

This challenge is not a
traditional quick fire challenge.

This is an elimination challenge.

Only two of you will go
forward to battle it out

head to head in the final challenge.

A top chef has to be able
to cater to a wide variety

of different pallets
at the drop of a hat.

This challenge is about
bringing what you have to offer

as a chef to catering to customers
in a very short space of time.

Today, you will be cooking
for room service customers.

Each of you will fill the same
three room service orders.

When the order comes in,
you'll have 30 minutes

to get your food on the cart.

Each cart has been color coded.

Dave, you have black.
Tiffany has burgundy.

And Harold, you have teal.

A judge will come to the
order as it goes upstairs

and report back on how
well it was received

and which the guests like best.

Remember, customer
satisfaction is key here

and will weigh heavily when
we sit down the judges' table.

You will have 10 minutes
to familiarize yourself

with the supplies and equipment
available in the kitchen

before the first order comes in.

Your time starts now. Good luck.

I don't know where anything is.

We've really been working
with limited resources,

limited budgets, and
all of a sudden saying,

here's the world on a silver platter.

It was a great spreader.

We haven't had anything
like that this far.

It's been kind of really
nickel and dime and everything

at supermarkets and stuff.

It was a little too abundant.

It's 30 minutes from now.

It means a lot of the stuff that's here.

Over here, I have like many
fresh fish, clams, and mussels.

The fact that it's a lunation,
there's a lot on the line.

I don't cook in a quick time frame.

I'm not an on-the-fly chef.

That is a weakness.

I understand being a top
chef that you've got to cater

to all different people, but
you're a service challenge.

This is so not my style.

Okay, let's just do this sh*t.

Okay, order in.

Listen, we have three VIPs
in the high roller suite.

They want seafood.

You need to do one hot
course, one cold course.

You've got 30 minutes.

Start now.

I don't know where things are, and so...

Well, I'm frantic.

There's a lot on the line.

I'm a good soup maker, and...

The concern is definitely
making sure the food's hot.

So I knew I could get a soup pot.

Making like a mussel
and smoked paprika soup.

And red snapper, just size really thin,

with some baby cucumber avocado.

It's fast and furious.

The one thing that's really surprised me

is that nobody grabbed the caviar.

There's also this really
beautiful Kobe beef,

and I was really surprised that
someone hasn't put together

a surf and turf.

But, you know, there's
so much to be raised,

but I think there's somewhat flustered.

There's too many choices.

There was no time to process maybe
what you thought you might do.

I wanted to keep it really
nice, really simple,

and keep something that
would keep hot on the way up,

and lobster tends to do that nicely.

As opposed to the really clean
flavors of the second dish.

Campachi carpaccio.

Campaccio is a really nice
white and flaky sweet fish,

and it lends itself really nice
to being served completely raw.



Almost 11 seconds.

It's extreme.

The time frame is extreme.

The amount of products is extreme.

That's awful.

I'm making my Thai style crab
stack with a core bouillon.

Grilled some ponds and
had that as my core dish.

And then cinnamon nutmeg rubbed.

Opa.

Flash grilled with hazelnut oil.



Three, two, one.

Here we go.

One of the twists that the chefs
didn't know for this quick fire was

that Miguel, Leanne, and I were
going to be the actual guest judges.

Cheers.

Salty.

Yeah, so we're high
rollers, and we want caviar.

I'm going to start with the black first.

Okay, let's start with the black then.

The first dish that we tried
was some sauteed spot prawns

with a lemongrass crab salad
and an oba filet of fish.

This peeling the shrimp
thing is k*lling it.

I think it's got a good flavor profile.

Definitely flavorful.

And there goes the shrimp.

Hey Steve, you want to
share your shrimp with me?

I'm not even looking right now.

I'm not even looking.

That goes to show how high roll I am.

It's rolling out of here.

I thought it was season one, and I
thought it had an interesting flavor.

But remember who it's
supposed to be for, too.

This is supposed to be
for high rollers who

are handling thousands of dollars a hand.

This comes out.

It's damn caviar.

Yeah.

It sure would have been
nicer with a sauce.

Especially a fish like this.

Yeah, the fish just kind of
missed it, missed the boat.

Actually, who it's supposed
to be prepared for.

Let's do the dish now.

Burgundy.

Yeah.

Burgundy.

Had the lobster with the fennel and
the sashimi with an orange segment.

In terms of plating, obviously the idea
is, you know, positive negative space.

And I think the fish is not sliced well.

There's a blood orange on the plate.

I don't taste the orange
and any vinaigrette.

Flavors are good, but I'm not wild.

The seasoning on the
lobster, again, lacking salt.

There is no actually, you know,
like this is the presence of acid,

something that actually
kind of bring it together.

A little better than the
last dish as far as like

the quality of what we're
getting for the product.

That is very nice.

Then we moved on to the next dishes, which
were cooking a soup as a muscle stock.

Put some black mussels in
there out of the shell.

And it was a shimmy of a snapper.

Love the presentation.

Good use of color.

I see the Japanese cucumbers.

Very nice.

Very, very, very classic.

Really good combination of textures.

Yeah.

I would have liked just a little
bit more acid either on the avocado.

Yeah, a little lime, a little lemon.

I'm not sure that I would
consider it an entree.

It's a nice appetizer.

It's a fast appetizer.

It's a fast appetizer.

Yeah, and then you've got to
remember who it's coming to.

It's coming to high
rollers up to the table.

The first is going to hit the rye.

And this would say, okay, well,
I'm getting what I'm paying for.

They're treating me well.

And this, I think, definitely says that.

Sure.

Okay, ordering.

This is for the poker room.

We need a fast food platter with
four different types of snacks.

You have 30 minutes.

Go now.

One, two, three.

You know, Dave was the runner
-up at the Snackmaster Challenge

a couple of episodes back,
so he could have an edge.

But the chefs were all a
bunch of snack junkies anyway.

So it's really, I think
this is anyone's game.

The ticket that just came
up was providing snack food

for people in poker rooms.

And I'm one of those people
that play poker in poker rooms.

I love to.

I'm bad at it, but I play.

You know, the pressure,
it's internal pressure.

You know, we're just back into the game

and kind of rusty after that.

I just, I don't cook like this.

I don't cook in a rush.

That's not how I cook.

So if I can't perform, I...

What else?

Okay.

I know when I play poker,

I don't want to think about the food.

I just want to eat it.

And usually I want some fry

to finish off with my beverage of choice.

Is it twist off?

I don't drink beer.

So I made like a TGI
Friday Munchies platter.

You know, onion rings,
mini pizzas, wings,

and some mini grilled cheeses.

We have three different types of potatoes

made into mini potato chips.

And we have little
quince paste goat cheese

and sesame crackers,

and herb gracini that's
wrapped in truffle butter.

And then I have a green
and tomato sandwich,

a little bit of curry mustard.

We have a partial fried
daddy with deep fried shrimp.

It's a poker party,

so I'm trying to work
for the demographic.

We've also got fried egg rolls.

We've got some chocolate
-covered strawberries

for something sweet.

And then a panini that was
done in the panini press

on our sun-dried tomato roll.

I think one thing that they
need to sort of keep in mind

is that they are serving
a bunch of card players.

And so things that are going
to make your hands sticky

or chocolately probably not
the best thing to serve.

We have five minutes left.

Whoo! Rings, baby! Let's go!

Sure, it was kind of funny.

The wings, it came out of a plastic bag.

They were fried, you
know, nothing too complex.

But, you know.

Where's my color?

I was surprised Harold used
chicken wings and onion rings.

I didn't use any of it.

It's so against my grain.

Whoo! This is what I do
at the nice places, man.

I throw the chat party
right on everything.

We have 30 seconds.

Three, two, one.

You know, it's kind of like
the junk food challenge.

When we had to do the,
you know, pick the nachos

or this or that and do something
which is really easy stuff,

I tried to do too much.

It's so hard to gauge
how you're doing overall.

Like, I feel like I'm doing okay.

I feel like I'm maintaining
and being consistent,

so those are my goals.

I don't feel good about it at all.

I mean, I just don't feel like my skills

are made out of being displayed properly

by cooking this type of food.

I didn't leave conditions.

I didn't understand.

I made a major mistake.

Oh, boy. Here we go.

I made apple.

I'm going to show you
what our chefs have made

for you today very briefly.

We have some spring rolls,

croissant, fried shrimp,

jennifer salami panini,

and some chocolate-covered strawberries.

The shrimp was very simple.

The shrimp was so good, but
I can't really describe why.

Egg roll.

This is sweet and a little bit tangy.

Is that soy?

That's so good.

And over here, we have a quince

and goat cheese stack with the flatbread,

the breadstick wrapped in pancetta,

four different kinds of potato chips

with tossed-with-age gouda,

and then the tomato panini.

Initial impression here, I need a fork.

Maybe not the best poker food.

I'm going to try the chips first.

So you're a chip guy. What do you think?

I'm kind of sharp, a little stronger.

I think I'm just not spisking
enough to really enjoy it.

On the teal platter, we have onion rings,

mini pizzas,

mini grilled cheese,

and some honey dijon wings.

You know, these are all really
well designed for playing poker.

This is a mini pizza.

Mini pizza.

I love these spice on the wings, though.

Okay, you're winging it. I'm winging it.

Oh, wow.

Really good.

Chicken wing is the best
thing I've had so far.

Between black and teal, she liked better.

I would have to give a slight
nod to the black table.

The black table is one of
the only ones to throw,

like the chocolate covered
strawberries or fruit.

Yeah, that was really nice.

Best individual.

I'm sticking with the
wings. I love those wings.

The burgundy might have won
except for the flatbread.

I liked it.

These are the best chefs in
America, in the world, right?

They're hoping to be.

Depends on you, exactly.

Okay, order in.

This is for the Cirque du
Soleil theater for the CA show.

They want three different
large plates of high protein,

high carb, and low fat food.

This is for the cast members
and the performers in the show.

Start now.

Jesus, the whole thing.

The final ticket came up, and
it was for the CA performers

at Cirque du Soleil
here at the MGM Grand.

I've done some cooking
for athletes in the past,

and 30 minutes with your
talking high protein,

it's not enough to really do
it properly or doing it well.

It's certainly challenging
any time you are cooking

for people with dietary restrictions,

and on top of that, it was three plates.

Very f*cking crazy.

I don't know what acrobats mean.

Just kind of like, you know, people
that are going to run a marathon

the night before a race,
they're always eating pasta,

so I figured I'd just roll with that.

I made a Colby tenderloin
with a balsamic brown sugar

fig reduction with shallots and garlic,

and then just a huge bowl of pasta

with just really a kicked
up marinara with shallots,

sherry, Hennessy, cran marnier.

No oil or fat actually wasn't anything,

so who knows how that tasted.

Some spill over there,
guys, watch the floor.

Three dishes I made.

One was a lobster fettolini.

Second was seared Kobe beef,

and the third was pan
roasted French chicken

with some potato gnocchi.

One thing that is surprising

is they all grabbed the Kobe style beef,

which is really high-prone
because it's very high fat,

so I'm not quite sure if they
understand the challenge.

They got eight minutes.

I did a blueberry and blue crab salad

with a kuroboda pork milanese

without the breading,

and then I did a Kobe ribeye,

but cut most of the fat off.

And there was fat on my dishes.

I don't think you should exclude fat.

You should just really
look for good fats.

So many.

Okay, we're down to one minute.

Three dishes in the dark.

One, two, three.



I didn't do three dishes.

I didn't understand.

There was like 45 seconds left,

and I see the three dishes,

and Tom's like saying three dishes,

and I'm like...

My brain shut down,

and I did two, not three.

I just...

I'm not in the groove.

All the different numbers threw me off,

and I made a major mistake.

and I made a major mistake.

Okay, well, I know.

Okay, after that workout,

I'm sure everybody's hungry, huh?

We have a sampling of dishes,

a lot of protein,

a good amount of
carbohydrates for energy.

Starting here,

we have a tomato and bread salad

with some Kobe steak.

Here, we have a breast of chicken

with gnocchi and wild mushrooms.

And here, a lobster and pasta dish.

Enjoy.

That's good.

I like the variety here,

plus the fish too.

I like this,

and it's so good.

They were told to do high protein,

low fat, high carb.

This one felt like it
covered those basics

pretty well,

especially with adding the chicken

for the high protein

without getting the beef,

which will have a little bit more

higher fat content.

I really got the flavor

of the meat itself.

It was super moist.

This one, I felt the flavor

of the actual meat itself

came out the most.

Over here, we have a spicy

N.A. with tomato sauce.

Kobe tenderloin

with a fig balsamic glaze.

The contestants were asked

to make three dishes,

each contestant.

And you notice that this one is,

yeah.

What do you like about this dish here?

What do you like about that?

It's the tenderness on the actual meat.

It's holding the moisture

really, really well.

What do you think about the pasta dish?

I like the pasta.

For me, it's kind of

a nice flavor to it.

And here, we have a seafood salad

with caviar

and a blood orange vinaigrette.

A caribudo pork

with morel mushrooms.

And tomatoes and steak

on this plate.

This one's pretty salty.

Yeah, it is.

Would the pork have

a little bit of rubberyness to it?

I'm not too keen

on bloody meat.

This one's pretty fishy.

Yeah, I'm gonna fight,

you know.

It's juicy and, you know,

nice.

Was it salty?

Really? Okay.

What's up, kids?

Oh, boy.

Here we go.

What's going on?

We are in the kitchen

and Miguel,

Stephen, and Leanne walked in.

Well, guys, guess what?

We're the high rollers.

You guys were the high rollers?

Welcome to the twist.

And then,

like, we were the high rollers

and I was like, oh, sh*t.

They all can be very critical,

especially Stephen.

You know, it's like, I can't

imagine what his comments were.

I knew they were coming back.

At some point, I was positive

they were coming back.

I did not know

that they were going to be

the high rollers.

You guys think you did good,

you know, I mean?

I think we all did well

with the time and what we had.

I mean, obviously-

You guys are all in the

final three.

Just take that with you.

Yeah, no, I think everyone

did well today.

It's the wonderful spin

on today's quick fire

is that somebody's

going home.

That sucks.

We can all agree that we all

put out a better product

through the show

than we just put out

this last challenge.

Can we?

Miguel came in and said,

you know, we've just seen

better food

this entire competition.

I was like, well, now

that you're out of the game.

I mean, he went right back

into it being the Miguel show.

He's dying that he's not

a part of this.

It's really easy to step

outside the game

and be like-

And be critical.

Yeah, sure.

Some things were nice

and others, that's all.

Yeah.

I mean, I'm not playing

my games, I mean,

I'm just asking some questions.

When it comes to presentation,

it was too simple.

I was wondering why you chose

to go that route.

I'm getting a bunch of greens

and blueberries and sh*t.

It's like, ugh.

Didn't that ticket come out

and say and process?

Did I not?

It was the insult heard

around the kitchen.

Obviously, you're a tool

and a douchebag.

But just how dirty

did things get

in the Top Chef kitchen?

You're one of the melt.

You're straight,

one of the melt.

Oh, you are such a loser.

The way that you present

yourself, you make

yourself look like an a*s.

To see the entire

uncut confrontation

between Steven and Candace,

log on to BravoTV.com.

Top Chef continues

next, only on Bravo.

Top Chef

So, I'm really interested

to know how everything turned out.

Hubert, you went with the first order,

which was the high rollers.

Tell me about it.

Yeah, the high rollers

really thought was definitely

how it was winning a dish.

And I think then

Tiffany and Dave,

they were definitely closer,

but not on the level at all

that Harold.

What specifically did they like

about Harold's dishes?

I think he came first

for the presentation.

He was fairly clean

and the taste also.

What did you think of Dave's?

There was a fillet of fish.

There was kind of a grill,

but there was a little of a cook

and has no sauce in it.

There was just sitting in the bowl.

I think it was missing

a lack of excitement.

It wasn't surprising

that his dishes were sloppy

and not focused

because he wasn't very focused.

He wasn't very focused.

Now, Tiffany made a dish

very similar to Harold,

so that was a good basis

for comparison

between the two sliced,

raw fish dishes.

Tiffany was just the sliced fish,

not enough seasoning.

And there again,

the whole dish,

actually the fish was laid

on one side.

That plate was totally white,

totally empty.

Something was missing there.

When it comes to presentation,

it was too simple.

So, Gail, did you have fun

at the poker table?

I love the poker table.

So, what did you think of the food?

Tiffany,

although her ideas

were pretty sophisticated,

none of it was snack food.

All the poker players said,

if this was dinner

or an appetizer,

I might have liked it

because they really did like

the flavors and the ideas,

but it just wasn't easy to eat

as snack food at all.

So, she kind of didn't listen

to the challenge, I feel like.

The one individual thing

that they liked the most

was Harold's chicken wing,

which I find amazing

because it came from a frozen bag.

Right.

His other dishes were

mini grilled cheese,

mini pizzas and onion rings.

Right.

Not what you expect

from a top chef.

Right.

So, how did Dave fare

in the poker room?

This is where things

got a little interesting.

They liked Dave's the best.

Well, you know, he is the

self-proclaimed king

of junk foods.

Yes.

Right.

And the king of flavor.

And they all loved his spring roll.

They loved it.

He used a lot of soy in it.

And they all loved

the fried chip.

It worked.

So, Harold came out on top

in the first challenge.

That's right.

And Dave was the best

in the second challenge.

So, things aren't looking

that good for Tiffany right now.

Tom, what happened

in the last challenge?

You know, the performers,

they just dug right into the food.

And they all kind of gravitated

towards Dave's dish.

And they all just

really loved it.

And then from there,

several of them sort of

hit Harold's table pretty hard.

They especially liked that he had

a roasted chicken

that had a really crispy skin.

One performer commented that

she's not a big beef eater

and so she was happy to see protein

in the form of chicken.

And it was interesting

because Tiffany's dishes

were somewhat ignored.

Really?

They almost all commented

that her pork was salty.

And what happened

with Dave's third dish?

That was the issue.

Dave didn't present

the third dish.

Really?

No.

So, their challenge was

make three dishes.

They make three dishes.

Three dishes, exactly.

I think, finally,

his stress level,

his organization,

I think it finally

caught up to him.

They did notice

and that's not acceptable.

It's a shame because,

I mean, this is,

again, it's room service

as if you just left off

one person's order.

Absolutely.

You know, it's unfortunate.

You can't overlook it.

Yeah, it's not following

the rules, right?

No.

So, let's bring him in,

see what they have to say

for themselves.

Let's do it.

Two of you will be going

head to head

in the final challenge

of the competition.

One of you will be going home.

First off, I think I did

an awesome job

across the board.

It was a very tough challenge.

So, the one thing I felt

we all found surprising

is that you didn't get

the luxury items

for the high rollers.

You'd use lobster,

but caviar was left out.

No.

If margaras was left out,

Kobe steak was left out.

I was just,

I was wondering why you chose

to go that route.

Can I film that?

Sure, of course, yeah.

I live here

and nine times out of ten

when I have high rollers

that come into

the restaurant that I work in,

they order sort of

more simple things.

So, for me

it was just about

really simple flavors

as opposed to like

overwhelming them with stuff

that they probably

get to throw at them all the time.

But didn't that ticket

come out and say

impress us?

Did I not?

Yes.

When you came to the high rollers

and the judges also

Harold, yours came out first.

Thank you.

So, one of the challenges

was to create

a snack food

for the poker players.

Harold, how do you think

you handled that?

I thought about when I play poker

what do I want to eat?

So, you chose chicken wings.

They had a, you know,

a lovely snack selection

inside the pantry area

and it's one of those things

where you got 30 minutes

and you got to make

four different things

and they were good.

The poker players

that I took them to?

Yeah.

In terms of an individual dish?

Yeah.

The chicken wings

were their favorite.

That's so good to hear.

Little did they know.

Dave, you're the

self-proclaimed king

of junk food.

How did you come up

with the stuff that

you chose?

Well, you know,

I kind of went with

some of the fry daddy stuff.

I wanted the panini for

something to make it

a little nicer

but still not fancy.

And then I just kind of

wanted a sweet too

because I know you're doing

all fry daddy,

maybe a little, a little

chocolate, a little berry,

you know, doesn't hurt.

They thought it was

the perfect ending to the dish.

They thought it was exactly

what they wanted,

something sweet,

something juicy.

They went for it,

much to our surprise.

So, I think it's

knowing your audience.

What about the dishes

you made, Tiffany?

I play poker and I play

poker in card rooms

in Vegas.

And I think the face

of poker is changing

just like the face of

people that run kitchens

are changing.

And to me it was important

to sort of address

both at the same time.

All of them said,

these are really sophisticated.

She's really trying

to do something different.

She's trying to do something

that isn't your

regular fried food.

But they were all a

little bit confused

because a lot of them

weren't used to getting

seriously sophisticated food

in the poker room.

But if they do well in poker

I think they'll become

more used to being

hampered by food.

In the end, their

favorite card of the three

was Dave's.

They really liked it all.

They really did.

Let's talk about

the third challenge.

Harold, you had a difficult

time with that.

Yeah, I just felt like I was

racing around.

I spent a little bit

more time thinking about

this one than the others.

And it kind of put me

in the weeds.

I was running around.

Tiffany, you did three dishes.

Yeah.

I think you did a beef dish

and there was a...

I did a beef dish.

I did a Kobe dish.

You had a pork.

You had a carboda pork dish

as well.

I thought about breading

the pork and I was like,

hmm, can't...

Because I would have to

pan fry it.

And then the last dish

was, you know,

a jennah crab salad

with blueberries in there.

There was lots of

antioxidants, tons of

olive oil, which is

great fat for you.

Dave, that dish was a

beef dish.

The Kobe beef grilled

no oil.

Then you had pasta dish.

Then I went with just

pasta, turbo carbs, yes.

But to me, energy carbs,

if you're going to be on

whatever it is, carousel

or whatever,

in the air for hours.

For me, you know,

I do actually work out

on occasion.

You may not see it in the

boat, but, you know,

I need to eat a

bunch of pasta.

I really need those

turbo carbs when I'm

going to do it.

For me, a bunch of greens

and blueberries and

it's like, I might

crap out.

So I want to...

You know, I need...

Give me the carbs.

Give me the real deal.

I got to tell you,

hands down, the beef

dish was one that they

enjoyed more than any other

dish, your beef dish.

I mean, they just really...

Just loved it.

But the challenge was to

create three dishes.

Yes.

This is kind of, I think,

where maybe...

Yeah, I just...

Running around kind of...

Yeah, not running around,

just, you know, I...

Did you not understand

the challenge?

No.

Did you forget?

What was the reason?

I heard three and I was

thinking about the two

for the other and I just...

I made a mistake.

So you never even had

a third one prepared?

I didn't have a third one.

So it wasn't a matter

of running out of time.

It wasn't a matter

of running out of time.

I...

Yeah.

Dave, I truly believe

if you actually completed

a dish, it would have been

anything.

I think that would have

been yours.

But it was an incomplete,

so you definitely

lost that one.

Yeah.

One thing that they

really identified with

was that there was

some fish, some poultry,

and some beef, and arrow.

So you took that one as well.

So based on the customer's

responses...

Harold...

You're safe.

It's down to you two,

Tiffany and Dave.

One of you will be

going home.

One of you will be going home.

Tiffany, Harold took two.

Yeah.

Dave took one.

Yeah.

You're kind of

skating along here.

Anything else you guys

want to add?

Well, yeah.

I want to stay

and cook some more.

Me too.

Not in 30 minutes.

Damn.

That's a whole...

That's a whole...

Even though it was

elimination quick fire,

this was a quick fire.

No, I know.

And I do that thing.

Perhaps you get to

the next level,

and you may have

more time to do.

And that's all.

I just want to cook.

I'm so passionate about

what I do, and I love

what I do, you know?

And I just...

I want to stay

around and cook

a little bit more.

Yeah.

Tiffany, I think you're

really strong

in all three of the competitions.

However, I think you just

missed the mark

on the poker room

competition, I think, again.

Yeah.

You're never the

customer's favorite.

You're sort of

in the middle all the time,

and that's not what

a top chef is all about.

And you really need

to nail it.

You know, Dave,

you were very typical

trying to layer those flavors,

and with the third challenge,

I think you wowed them

with the one dish,

but unfortunately,

I think your nerves

got the best of you,

and you just left off

one person's order.

It was a tough challenge,

but one of you

was leading Las Vegas.

Tiffany,

you're safe.

Dave,

please pack your knives

and go.

Okay.

Thank you.

Thank you, Dave.

Thank you.

Okay.

It's hard to see Dave go.

I didn't want to see him go,

but I didn't want to go.

Dave just oozes passion,

and everybody gets caught up in it.

It's a shame.

He's a great cook.

Thanks so much.

Thank you.

Had I followed the instructions

and made a third plate,

it could have made a difference,

but, you know, no excuses.

Great job.

Good luck.

We'll see you.

Top chef was a good experience.

It's about teaching, sharing,

learning, growing.

I know that my friends and family

are going to be very proud.

I wish I could have gone farther.

I didn't want to lose to Tiffany.

Harold's been true all the way through.

He's got it in.

Don't forget about Dave Martin.

I have a lot to offer,

and food is my real passion,

and I want to share it

on a broader scale.

So Harold, Tiffany,

we'll see you both

at the final challenge.

Good luck.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Next week on Top Chef.

It's time to prove

who's worthy of the title, Top Chef.

Let the games begin.

Four of you tell us

who you'd want to work for

and why you'd want to work for them.

This is cooking in a fish bowl

and on crack all at the same time.

You know, the adrenaline's taking over,

and I think that is the
first type of disaster.

This was definitely
not my favorite at all.

You took the safe route here,

we all think.

I'm really proud of what
I put forward to it.

I'm sorry if you felt the, you know,

the menu wasn't extravagant enough.

Only one of you can be Top Chef.