02x12 - Finale: Part 1

[bunniefuu]

Say I have never cooked
so badly in my life.

That often exploded into conflict.

You are sitting here, lying to them.

You might as well shove
your head right up your a*s.

So put your d*** away, dude.
You have f***ing immunity.

Shut the f*** up.

Keep making your phones
and go cry in a corner.

Come on!

It was a stupid joke.

It's your f***ing problem.

It's not about personality.

We're gonna have to ask you to leave.

This is about the food.

It did come down to me.

And the judges, led
by chef Tom Colicchio,

chose which chef stayed.

Congratulations.

Well done.

You guys are the winning team.

And which of them didn't make the cut?

We need a nerve to make the audition.

That dish made me nauseous.

This was sloppy, really sloppy.

Please pack your knives and go.

In the end, four chefs
were still standing.

We're all going to
Hawaii all four of you.

Now, two months later, Sam,
Elliot, Elon, and Marcel

are heading to Hawaii
for the final showdown.

At stake for the winner,

a state-of-the-art Kenmore Pro Kitchen,

furnished by Sears,

an editorial feature in
Food & Wine magazine,

a chance to showcase
their culinary talent

at the 25th anniversary Food
& Wine Classic in Aspen.

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

furnished by the makers of
the GLAAD family of products,

and the title of top chef.

This is what you may
see in the competition.

Actually, when I'm in a kitchen,

it's almost like a team sport.

You know, everybody's
coming their own way.

Everybody's bringing
something to the table.

Do you want me to shave
some bacon, some fennel?

I don't think I've ever known anybody

who's ever done so much
research in the state

really on the cutting
edge of what's going on

in the food world, as Marcel does.

Yeah, you think so?

I think so.

I've been extremely inspired.

It's been non-stop.

I've just been working really
hard, you know, day and night.

Gary, Kenny, and I,

we've come up with a super
-exclusive gastronomic society.

The idea behind it is

we want to continue
research and development

above and beyond what we
learn at our restaurants.

So, in essence, we've kind of
taken our work home with us.

Sitting in the science of food
ultimately makes me a better cook.

Top Chef has given us the opportunity
to bring our own equipment

and our own ingredients.

I've got some freeze-dried
powders, various chemicals,

this anthem g*n, dates,
and emulsifier, stabilizer.

I've got a whole new culinary
repertoire to choose from.

I'm just going to bust out the sh*t
they've never even seen before.

As soon as I was told Top Chef, you know,

it's going to be in Hawaii,
and I searched on the internet.

I read some books, cooks from Hawaii,

worked at Mandalay Bay.

So I spoke with them.

She has the passion.

She has the knowledge.

She has the patience.

She has the everything that it takes.

I truly believe that.

I really want to win this competition.

My heart, my strength, and these goals.

So I really want to win it.

Those are swimming medals.

I used to be in the national
Mexican swimming team.

I was two seconds away from the Olympics,

and then I just started cooking
and put the same attention

and passion that I did
in swimming into cooking.

Losing it's not in my
head right now at all.

I'm not nervous.

I'm just ready to compete
and just go for it.

Ever since I've left the
competition two months ago,

I've been back to normal life, working,

just cooking, Spanish food.

I've once been here warm enough,

and I actually put in a stamp in my menu,

and I'm proud to say that.

I've been studying a
bit about Hawaiian food.

Not too much, though,
because I don't want to

try and learn too many new things

that I wouldn't be
completely comfortable with.

I want to win this competition.

I want to win the money.

I want the article in Food and Wine.

I want the recognition.

I want all of it.

I think I deserve it.

I am going to win.

So during the hiatus,

I went and found a
three-star pastry chef.

He used to work for a Tom Clicquot.

Basically, I walked into a restaurant,

and I said, hey, listen,
I need some help.

He trained me on the fundamentals

on baking and pastry and washing dishes.

I don't care what you have me do.

When she grabbed the truffle
base out of the fridge,

he's got great habits.

He has almost no ego in the kitchen.

He's sort of willing to do
whatever needs to be done.

My biggest competition is myself.

Overcoming my own panic.

It's about staying focused,

listen to exactly what the challenge is,

and then just trying to
ride the way up to the top.

I've made it this far,

and I've invested a lot
of time, effort, sweat.

I know how to cook, and I'm
going to cook my way to the top.

Hi, how are you?

Where are you headed today?

Why?

I think you're going to be a punk
enough to dance with us today.

First class.

All right.

Tough chefs is creating so much buzz,

and to win would just create
that much more for me.

How are you?

Sam is already there, and it
was just so good to see him.

First class.

Hold up.

Very exciting.

Competition or no competition?

Have I ever went to Hawaii in my life?

How are you?

Six days.

We just made it.

That's like it.

For me to come into this environment

and to be dubbed like this
villain slash outcast,

like not get along with a lot of people

is really surprising to me.

Come on.

Come on.

Come on, man. How are you?

Excellent.

Fantastic.

But this is like a competition,

so there's all this tension,

everybody's working against each other,

and so like it gets a little bit fierce.

I think we're sitting here.

I'm not positive.

Throughout the show,

we're still made some people mad.

You were in first class before?

Never.

Yeah?

Yeah, a couple times.

I've been putting up with it

because he has never
been a threat for me.

Hi. How are you?

We have a special appetizer course

from one of our congress
of chefs, Roy Yamaguchi.

We had a really cool meal

prepared by Roy Yamaguchi
in his first class.

Cheers, man.

I'll admit sitting next to Alon

is like a little bit awkward

after watching the episodes

and like seeing him talk
a little bit of smack,

like, all right,

when I see you like face to face,

you're all like friendly and nice,

but who knows what you're
like saying behind my back.

I thought the two-month hiatus,

you know everything would be fine.

I'd be all cool with Marcel,

but I think I'm really
sick of him already.

Aloha.

Aloha.

Aloha.

Welcome to Hawaii.

Good to be here.

Mad Miss Hawaii.

She reveals to us that,

you know, we're going to be having

a celebratory lunch and our honor.

I was kind of expecting to be like,

jump off the plane

and like cooking in an
airport hangar or something.

You guys ready?

Yeah.

Excited?

Wow.

We're going to take a
helicopter over there.

That's what it looks like.

This is awesome.

We're there, cool.

We're flying somewhere in a helicopter.

I've never been in a helicopter before

and it's just so exciting.

I'm just about to pass out of excitement.

So, my line is saying a little scared.

Half of my body was like,

oh my god, this is
going to be so awesome.

Half of my body was like,

dude, don't do it, man.

Don't do it.

The view is amazing.

All these wonderful
different colors of sea.

I seriously at one point like have like

Alon's leg in my left freaking out.

Like, holy s***, that's going to k*ll us.

Woo hoo.

Suddenly we turn a corner

and then we come up to this huge canyon

and we float right into the valley.

Hey guys.

Aloha chef.

Aloha.

And welcome to Hawaii.

Congratulations on making it

to the finale of Top Chef.

You all know, of course,

our head judge, Tom Colicchio,

Gail Simmons of Food and Wine Magazine,

but I'd also like to introduce you

to Chef Alan Wong,

who is the grand master of
regional Hawaiian cuisine.

So, Chef Alan, why don't you explain

to all of our chefs

why we brought them to
this very beautiful valley.

Aloha.

Aloha.

Welcome to the Big Island.

Here in Waipio Valley,

a very special and spiritual place.

The first Polynesians arrived here

a long time ago.

In this valley, you'll
find a lot of taro,

a very popular ingredient
in the Hawaiian diet.

So, to wish you luck

and to welcome you to Hawaii,

I'll prepare some traditional
Hawaiian food for you.

It was very exciting seeing Chef Wong

because I'd heard about him so much

and read a lot about him.

So before we eat,

join us for a traditional
Hawaiian blessing.

We get around the table

and these Hawaiian native people

say a prayer with all of us.

The fact that we're all praying together,

holding hands,

was just a beautiful
way to start the meal.

Well, welcome everybody.

So, we have all this
delicious looking food

laid out before us

and we literally had to just dig in.

The poi made from the taro in all Hawaii

was considered very sacred.

The poi is the end result of mixing

something like the taro

or the breadfruit or the sweet potato

into a paste.

You have to cook it well,

all parts of the taro.

If you don't,

there's a chemical that
will make your throat

itchy and scratchy

and some people will react to that.

What was exciting about the meal

is that I'd been reading about

all these traditional Hawaiian dishes

never had the chance to eat them

because there aren't many places

outside of Hawaii

that really serve proper Hawaiian food.

We have lau lau.

You can put anything in
the lau lau you want.

You got pork, you got beef,

you got butterfish.

It's wrapped in taro leaves.

This one here is called

nomi lomi salmon.

It's salted salmon with tomatoes,

onions and green onions.

This is poke, raw fish,

cutting cubes.

Imagine a long time ago in Hawaii,

they took the reef fish

and scored it kind of crudely

and they would just literally

munch on the bones

and suck out the meat.

Chef Alan Wong told us

the story behind everything

and that's what I think is beautiful

about what we do.

Food tells a story.

All right you guys,

take a last look at this magical place

because unfortunately we have to go back

but you do get to check out

your amazing sweets

at the Hilton Waikoloa Village.

And then tomorrow you'll be saying hello

to Alan Wong again and myself

and we'll lead you

into the next elimination round.

So we're just finishing eating

and she's like,

elimination challenge.

And we're like, okay.

Appreciate it.

Bye.

Did you hear something in the background?

Yeah, I told you.

This is the moment where we know

that the four of us

are not going to the finale.

I think it's sad

but it's the way it is.

Someone has to win

and someone has to lose.

So we arrived at the Hilton

when we saw the lava rocks

which is, you know,

pretty warm welcome.

And then we roll up

on this massive health resort.

It's gigantic.

It's insane.

Oh, it's so cool.

We were introduced into our sweets.

It's a really nice place.

Plenty of room to just sprawl out,

relax, some bubbly chillin.

Should we, should we celebrate?

We had some nice bottles of champagne

and some corbella waiting for us.

Just being here with you guys.

It means a lot to me

to win this competition.

I'm so close.

I'm just waiting for a permit to see.

Oh yeah, you are the top chef.

I'm just waiting for it.

This is what I've been practicing for.

This is what I've been waiting for

and I'm ready to get
this show on the road.

I think somebody tomorrow

is probably going to go home.

I hope it's not me tonight.

Get some good rest,
wake up in the morning

and show these fools how it's done.

I don't know about everybody else

but the challenge is on the
front of my mind right now.

I'm trying to figure out
what we're going to be doing

because even though I'm not
trying to stress out about it,

I still want to be prepared.

I'm ready to cook.

I'm done.

I'm done playing around.

Blonde, you should have done that

for the flambe challenge.

Classic Marcel, no respecting
the dynamics in the kitchen.

I mean, I just couldn't
put up with it anymore.

Hello, Chef.

After fighting your way through


the four of you have
made it to this point.

You may not know this, but
yesterday was my birthday.

So tonight, I'm throwing
a loo out to celebrate

and you guys are doing the food.

So I hope you were paying
attention yesterday

because you will prepare the
traditional Hawaiian loo out food

that Alan prepared for you.

But your challenge is to
reformulate those dishes

in your own style.

I have 30 guests from all over Hawaii

and I promise them an exciting meal.

Prove me right.

You'll have access to the huge array

of wonderful produce from Hawaii

here in the outdoor Kenmore Pro Kitchen.

And this time, as you
know, you're also allowed

to bring some of your
favorite culinary supplies.

You have three hours to make two dishes.

You'll be judged on taste, presentation,

and how well you've reworked
the traditional loo out food.

There's one more thing you need to know.

At the end of this challenge,

two chefs will be eliminated.

Good luck. Your time starts now.

We have three hours and
everybody's excited and nervous

and our hearts are racing
because we've been waiting

for this moment for so
long and also knowing

that two people will be eliminated today.

There's so many emotions flying,

but I'm ready to cook.

Right off the bat, when I
saw the beautiful hmachi

and the whole salmon, I knew that those

were going to be my proteins.

I thought about the dishes
that we had yesterday

and I figured, like,
okey, boy, and salmon,

I mean, I mean, would
just be a good way to go.

This is a pocket pocket, right?

So, both pieces.

What I'm thinking about
doing is taking some

which is red snapper and
basically just doing more

like a ceviche twist.

And then I saw some mascarpone
cheese in the refrigerator

so I decided to go take
on the coconut dessert

we had yesterday.

I tend to do sweet and savory

so I wanted to keep that
true throughout today

because they were asking
to see our true style.

Thanks.

I see this beautiful filet of tuna

and so I'm going to do poke fish

with some Mediterranean flavors

and I make this tuna juice
that's just wonderful.

It's something very unique.

And then my other dish,
I'm going to do a luau

with this red Hawaiian snapper

and I'm going to cook it in this chili.

Some of my favorite things
that we had yesterday

were the lau lau

and I felt that I can
incorporate my style

and I want to boil the
hell out of the taro leaf

because Chef Wong told us
that you really need to boil

boil taro for a long time

or else it can cause a
reaction in your throat

and then also I want to do a dessert.

I've never cooked Hawaiian food
before with this challenge.

Thank God yesterday
we had the opportunity

to taste real Hawaiian food.

First, I begin on the dessert.

I had a recipe in my head

and I'm going to put
my Spanish twist on it

by flavoring it with saffron

and to try and take something Hawaiian

and flip it into something Spanish

to sort of really put my signature on it.

I got the opportunity to
utilize some of my chemicals

and some of my ingredients

and things that I've been
practicing on in these dishes.

In my pineapple poi, I use xanthan gum

and xanthan gum has the
ability to thicken a sauce

and make it really viscous
like a traditional poi

but you don't have to
apply any heat to it

so I could take the
fresh pineapple flavor

add a couple bumps of xanthan gum

and never even heat it up
but get that consistency.

Marcel knows a lot about food

but his weakness is that he's
going to do chemical city.

He's going to thicken things with gums

and sea algae and blah,
blah, blah, blah, blah.

He could give Marcel a piece of rat crap

and he could probably make
it look pretty on the plate.

Is it going to taste good?

Hey Sam.

Hey Chef, how are you?

How's it going?

Good.

I'm doing a guacapaca.

I'm also going to do a
mascarpone coconut mousse.

Okay.

So you're kind of halfway
between tradition and new stuff?

Yeah, because you know the challenge was

to sort of incorporate our
take on what we had yesterday.

Sure.

Yeah.

Looking forward to it.

Take care.

Take care.

Hey, what are you working on?

Right now I'm doing these red snapper

and I'm going to cook it in tea leaves.

Okay.

I'm going to steam it

and then I'm doing tuna, polka.

I'm going to lightly sear it.

I know it should be
raw but I'm adding pie.

It's your twist, sure.

And then I'm going to put
my Mediterranean flavors in.

Good, good.

Hello Chef.

What kind of experiment
are you cooking up here?

This is just a little tomato foam

to go with my salmon loomie loomie.

Okay, it's probably safe to say

that Hawaiian cooking in thermal...

Immersion circulator.

Those two words probably
haven't been put together yet.

Yeah, probably not.

See you later, good luck.

How's it going?

I'm doing two things.

I actually started
with the dessert first.

This is going to be a
sort of a version of hapia

which was the thickened coconut milk.

I've got the coconut milk sweetened

and I've flavored it with saffron

because my restaurant we've
been doing some sweet stuff.

Saffron rice pudding,
some things like that.

And then for my savory,
I'm going to do lau lau.

I've got taro leaves over here boiling.

Alright, so you're really sort of mixing

the two cultures for
Hawaiian, some Hawaiian ideas

but using more Spanish flavors.

Yeah, okay.

Elia is blending Mediterranean flavors

with Hawaiian flavors.

Elon, he's introducing the
Spanish flavors into it.

Marcello's kind of plain and safe.

He's not introducing too
many new flavors to a food.

Marcello's working on a dish

but breaking it all apart
and deconstructing it.

It's going to be a lot
of small little things

that he has to work on.

All in all, it's great to see them

not backstabbing each other at this point

and not that it's just
they're focused on food

and that's what's going
to win the day today.

Is that good?

I put that.

Elon, you should have done
that for the flambe challenge.

Can somebody stop turning this to low?

Yeah, I won't.

The animosity towards Marcello
is because of his attitude

and the way that he
feels that he's superior

when we all know and even
he knows that he's not.

You guys, who moved that one?

It's my steamer.

Oh, I did.

I just said I was going to move it.

There wasn't any heat on it.

I had my handcrafted steamer going on

and Marcello moved it because
he wanted to put his pot.

There's a difference
between not being polite

and not respecting the
dynamics in the kitchen.

I mean, I just couldn't
put up with it anymore.

Classic Marcello's behavior.

It's okay.

Guess we're all here.

That was pretty calm and confident

throughout the challenge.

But with 10 minutes left,

no matter how calm or confident you are,

you start to realize it's go time.

At the beginning, I was
going to sear my tuna cubes.

Then timing wise, that
was impossible to do.

So I just decided to serve it wrong.

My adrenaline is pumping.

There's a shot freaking out.

I feel like it's a little
bit overpowering actually

that I can't really taste the fish.

So after our three hours
of prep time is up,

my adrenaline is pumping.

Now I just got to focus in on plating.

I feel very sure in myself
and very comfortable.

I mean, this is what I
do every day in my life.

I cook and I cook beautiful food.

Good evening, everybody.

I want to say thank you very much

for joining me on my birthday luau.

And I think you're in for
an exciting meal tonight.

What I've asked them to do is

give their reinterpretation
of traditional Hawaiian foods

that you would find in luau.

Hope you enjoy your evening.

Thank you.

Because time was such an issue,

I actually didn't have
everything prepared

as we began to serve.

So the judges are coming up.

I'm the first person to
serve my food to them.

My nerves are shot and freaking out.

How are you?

What have you done?

Start off.

Yesterday we had the poke with tuna.

So what I decided to do
was use the pakapaka.

So what I did, I added sea beans

to keep the saltiness of the ocean

running throughout the dish.

And then I also flavored
it with some yuzu juice.

For texture, I added
a little black sesame,

a little canola, a little
ginger, onion, and garlic.

And then when you start that,
I'll have your dessert course.

This could pass in Hawaii.

What about the sea beans?

I think it goes really well.

I tasted Sam's poke.

And I thought that it was good.

I didn't taste anything that
would be amazing from it.

I'd like my poke better.

One thing I didn't like on the first dish

that I'm still tasting
it is the raw shallots.

I'm still tasting it.

So I just wanted to
bring this to you guys

because the humidity was
sort of ruining, like,

when I was over there.

This is a take on the
free-form coconut dish

you did yesterday.

I forget how to say it then.

Opeo.

Opeo.

So this is my version.

It's mascarpone and coconut mousse.

It's sort of sitting in Hawaiian
salted coconut sauce, if you will.

And then it just has a
little citrus twill on top.

And it's fat-free, so
that's good for you.

I mean, it doesn't affect the
taste of the f*cking mousse.

Yeah, the coconut.

It tasted like coconut.

It was excellent.

It was very good.

Hey, Sam.

Oh, you want more?

Yeah?

I like to take risks, and
I feel that I took a risk

by putting a little bit of salt

with the sauce and the coconut.

So, Elia heard, you know, somebody say

that it was a little salty for someone,

but then a lot of people
are resting for seconds.

It's totally up in the air right now.

That's good.

Hi, Elia.

Hello, but I was making
sure that everything

was done traditionally with my taste.

So I believe I'm taking a risk.

We have Hawaiian red snapper,
steamed with some Hawaiian salt,

carrots, red bell peppers, sweet peas,

a little bit of butter,
and garlic and olive oil.

And then here we have my
interpretation of polka.

I did tuna raw.

I was thinking of doing a seared,

but then I didn't took the risk.

If you tried to sear this, it
would have been overcooked.

Yeah, I thought about it afterwards.

And I put my taste in it,
some Lebanese-Mexican.

It's like miso as olives with some

open roast tomatoes,
capers, preserved lemons,

and a tuna juice.

That's great.

I remember you put the
olives in the sushi,

which were a great hit
with Chef Hiroshi Shima.

So I hope you enjoy it.

Thank you.

Thank you very much.

Thank you.

The brininess of the olives
and the sundried tomato

actually compliment the aji very well.

I feel like it's a little
bit overpowering actually

that I can't really taste the fish

as much as I'd like to
because of the olives.

I thought the tuna water was great.

Never seen that before.

The only issue I have with this dish

is we're told to take traditional food

and put a spin on it.

This isn't a spin.

Well, the only thing that
it has to do with wine food

is she's calling it
poky, which is raw tuna,

but then the flavors
are all not from there.

I think Aaliyah's poky was one
of the better dishes tonight.

Okay, let's move on to her second dish.

It's cooked very well.

Seasoned well.

The only thing I may
have liked to see in this

is an ounce of something to adjust.

It needs acid.

It needs acid.

It needs chili water.

Great, great bowl of
chili water right here.

I feel very pleased with what I served

and pleased with all
the guests' comments.

They were all very happy.

I feel very sure of myself.

I'm very comfortable.

Excellent.

Great job, chef.

Sea bean.

I love sea beans.

That's exactly your traditional
fattiness of salmon.

So you'll find this is a little...

Here is Marcel.

Explain what his dish
is on and on and on.

Here's the two I don't know.

Hello, Marcel.

Aloha.

What do you have for us?

A couple different creations.

This first dish is my
play on a pineapple poi

with a hamachi poky.

The pineapple poi is basically
just straight pineapple.

It hasn't been cooked by any means.

It's got a little crispy taro chip.

I think that it was good
to have the opportunity

to tell people about the
dishes that I created

in my interpretation of
Hawaiian regional cuisine.

But this is a play on
salmon loomie loomie.

We have a tomato foam.

I've got the salmon,
a little scallion oil,

and I love that chili water
that we had yesterday.

So there's a little bit of spice,

which is going to be
found inside this foam.

And I love pairing it with
a little bit of sea bean.

I love sea bean.

Not exactly your traditional dish.

So you'll find that this is a little bit.

You turn around, and here is Marcel

explaining to the guests what his dish is

for like 16 minutes, on and on and on.

Your fingers and fingers.

He was explaining his dish

like he was reading a book
to his little daughter,

you know, and then the wolf comes

and meets the little grandma.

Who do you think you're
talking to, you know?

And I find it to be a nice accompaniment

for the salmon.

I don't think that I was necessarily

like trying to charm people.

It just comes natural to me to, you know,

convey what I've created

in kind of a charismatic manner.

Thank you.

Thank you, chef.

My intention is to just
respect the products

and respect the people,
respect the culture,

and to try and create
things that are my style.

Enjoy.

It's delicious.

He was listening yesterday

when I said that poi was the end result

of a preparation so that you could make

it out of like the carol, the breadfruit,

the sweet potato.

I guess he did that on pineapple.

It's very light and airy.

Stick your fingers in it or watch it.

I'm going to try it.

It's a little runny.

It could be thicker.

I think he did a good job.

I can eat that every day.

I'm sure Marcel's food was delicious,

but it was a really deconstructed,

extremely deconstructed,

maybe destructively deconstructed.

It was very Marcel.

I mean, he really was definitely

melding his style with the wine style.

This is going to be difficult
to get rid of someone.

It's going to be really good.

Oh, really good.

We have one to go still.

As it should be,

it's the best we've
seen from them so far.

Hello, everyone.

How's it going?

I have my Spanish version of Lao Lao.

I took a pork product

that I'm used to using chorizo.

I used that.

I made a mixture with that.

I diced it with onions,

and I also boiled some taro.

Traditionally, for a
very, very long time,

and kept the seasoning very minimal

because I wanted you to taste the taro.

And then using another ingredient

that I'm very comfortable with, squid,

which we use in a lot of Spanish cuisine,

instead of steaming them,

I grilled them to give it a
more charred, smoky flavor.

This food that I put out
is very high quality.

The flavors are very strong,

and I think I've been very creative

in trying to meld both styles together.

So please take this,

and I'll be with you.

I'll actually hand
-deliver the second course,

which is a dessert.

It really tastes Spanish to me.

Well, that's the sausage.

What, I think he put the
taro leaves in there?

Yeah.

I think that's what made it.

Definitely reffing it all on tea leaves.

I'm feeling the itch in the back part

of my hard palate right now.

Thank you.

What I've done is I've taken a plan,

sort of two different things,

sort of traditionally Hawaiian

and traditionally Spanish as well.

I took coconut milk.

I made sort of a traditional hapia

and then flavored it with saffron,

a very Spanish spice.

I put it in the freezer,

breaded it and fried it

to make almost like a leche frita,

which is a fried milk,

a thickened milk that's then fried

and used as a dessert.

So please, please enjoy.

Thank you.

Wow.

That's definitely saffron.

This could be an Indian dish.

The saffron, the coconut, the frying.

I really, really like it.

Let me remind you of the funnel cake.

With the powdered sugar, a little bit.

It's great.

Which is a good thing, yeah.

The saffron came through

and a little bit of coconut there

and fried it was an interesting

approach to our hapia.

My plate wasn't beautiful.

It's hot.

Yeah, but I usually
think more about that.

I try not to listen to comments of people

because knowing how they feel

could put me in a bad frame of mind.

This is sweet.

The second you finish a challenge,

you always think of
eight different things

off the bat that you could
have done differently.

Also knowing that two people

will be eliminated today,

it's just there's so
many emotions flying.

This could be my last
time in the competition

because you never know what

the judges have in store for you

or how they liked your food.

If they didn't like
it, I'd go home today.

Which would really suck

because I made it this far.

I want this very badly.

I have a pretty good feeling

I've been dead raw before.

There's a letting stick for me.

I don't want to hear Padma say

like you're nice and go home.

No, there's no way of losing.

There's no development of flavors.

I feel very conflicted.

You didn't cook anything.

So, who's the cooking competition?

Alan, how did you enjoy
your birthday dinner?

It's fantastic. Thank you.

Everything was perfect.

We can only choose two chefs to move on.

I think all in all,

we have a very tough decision.

At this stage in the game,

it's not about picking the worst dish,

it's about picking the best.

Alan, let's start with
what you liked best.

I thought Sam did real well.

I really enjoyed his coconut alpia.

I enjoyed the saltiness of his sauce

and sort of like savory
and sweet at the same time.

He also had some toasted coconut

I think on top of the dish,

which I thought was really
a lovely touch as well.

I really enjoyed a lot of this.

One thing that I think, you know,

you stressed yesterday

was the use of the taro leaf

as something that is very, very Hawaiian.

And he was the only one to
attempt to cook taro leaf.

I think that was one of the more
flavorful of all the dishes.

Let's talk a little bit now about Marcel.

What did you think of his pineapple poi?

The pineapple poi for me
was too much of a stretch.

You know, I talked about
poi being the final product

and not necessarily just taro.

Right.

So I appreciated that.

But you know, it's kind of a stretch,

pineapple poi, you know, it's like, okay.

I found the pineapple poi really airy.

Really, you thought that the
poi was aerated and not runny?

No, it didn't run on my plate at all.

I just feel that it didn't work for me.

Let's move on, though.

I want to talk about Elia.

She did a poke with Niswa Zalem.

So I thought that was very creative.

Yeah, Elia's dishes I
thought were very good.

However, she didn't take the
flavors and made them her own.

She just made them her own.

She just changed the flavors.

There was really nothing in that dish

that was reminiscent at
all of Hawaiian flavors.

I have to give them all credit

because they tried really hard.

And for the time given to them,

I thought they did an excellent job.

I think at this point, we
need to bring the chefs out

and talk to them.

And I think that's really the
only way to sort of answer

the question that we have in front of us,

who's going to go home

because we really need to understand

why they did certain things.

Once again from the bottom of my heart,

thank you so much for a
wonderful birthday party.

Thank you.

Our pleasure.

Thank you, chef.

You guys did an awesome job.

Really did.

I mean, this is by far the
most difficult decision

that we've had to make.

I got to say, the food
was really fabulous.

It was loud and clear from each of you,

who you are as a chef.

And I was just impressed
by every single one of you.

Marcel, what made you choose

to use the ingredients that you chose?

I kind of based my dishes
around my proteins.

When we walked up,

I couldn't help but notice
the beautiful hamachi

and the whole hamachi
and the whole salmon.

And so right off the bat,

I was kind of leaning towards those.

The tomato foam that I
did was basically raw.

The pineapple poi was basically raw.

Did you put onions in that tomato foam?

In the tomato foam, no,

it's just the tomato and the chili oil.

A little bit of onions would
have made it completely...

Taking it to that next level, yeah.

Yeah, were you happy
with the pineapple poi?

Yeah, I actually was kind of happy

that I was able to keep
the fresh pineapple flavor.

I used the addition of xanthan gum.

And I think that that kind of gives you

that unctuous kind of starchy texture

that you naturally get with poi.

Poi? Was it poi?

Yes, but I thought that the
only way to make that dish

and keep it raw and keep it fresh

was to use the chemicals that you use.

Some of those ideas are just overused,

but it was good to see them in context.

So thanks, I thought it
was really well done.

You know, I think Dale
is quite adventurous

and I think a success.

Thank you, chef.

Alia, I'm so glad that
we had the opportunity

to try real Hawaiian food, not a fusion.

And I really like the tuna juice I make.

It's a very nice thing that just came up.

It's very creative.

Thank you.

And for the lao, I chose the red snapper.

I think I took a big risk in
doing it in the traditional way.

We all agreed that the
fish was cooked beautifully

and that it was a risk.

It reminded us of a more
traditional French cooking.

And if anyone's going to
be able to do it then,

perhaps it would be you.

The poke, it almost moved
a little too far away

from Hawaiian flavors.

The freshness was there,

but it was almost a little overpowering

in the Mediterranean flavors.

Really?

Yeah.

A little bit.

I didn't want it to taste Hawaiian.

I didn't want you to
say, this is Hawaiian.

I want you to say, this is Alia's dish.

But I also told you all

that we still want you to
bring in the Hawaiian flavors.

And I think I do.

Alain, obviously both your dishes

had a very strong Spanish influence,

look and flavor to it.

My savory dish was almost a cross
between a lao and a lao lao.

Taken a sausage that I made at home

and I tried to layer that separately.

And keeping them separate,

you'd be able to taste
each thing individually.

You were the only one to use meat

and the only one to use the taro leaf.

Well, I got inspired with the pep tuck

that we got from Chevalin.

It was wonderful because
it was such a departure

from the three things we had had for it.

Your flavors were very bold

and they did feel like yours.

I thought that if Spanish
landed on this island



that would have been the perfect marriage

of the two cultures.

So I really, really enjoyed that dish.

Thank you so much.

The only thing I would say about the taro

is that I felt a little scratchiness

at the back of the throat.

I tasted it quite a few times

and I cooked it for over two hours.

And I didn't really pick it up

or I didn't pick it up.

It wasn't that much.

I've had eggplant things
that were a lot worse.

Everyone reacts differently.

What I admire the most
is that it was a risk.

Yes.

And I admire you for that.

Thank you so much.

What did you think about his dessert,

his ode to croquetas?

I would have preferred it

if you didn't put the saffron in it.

Okay.

Mainly because I don't think

you find a lot of saffron in Hawaii.

Simply.

I've had lots of coconut
and saffron dishes.

So I wanted to do something

that I know would be successful.

Sam.

For the dessert,

I decided to do a take on the alpia.

I sort of took a risk by
adding the mascarpone.

Your dessert was just spot on.

Really enjoyed your dessert.

The mascarpone, the salt especially,

the balance of it.

In the end, you know,

it came to be just
like alpia would taste.

Thank you.

With your poke,

the marinated sweet and sour,

pickled sea beans was so apropos.

It really hit home.

We all knew,

oh, this is Sam.

He loves to pickle.

I enjoyed your poke.

I thought it was very tasty.

Thank you.

If any one thing,

just maybe a little bit more yuzu.

A little bit more? Really?

Yes.

From the man who doesn't use acid.

Well, yeah.

Because actually when I was doing it,

I was like,

****.

I just added too much yuzu in it.

I mean, not too much,

but I thought that that would have

actually been your criticism.

That's really funny.

I also would have preferred to see

the pakapaka probably cut
a little more precisely.

It was a little ragged,

some of the pieces.

When you're serving raw fish,

I think the knife skills have to be

really, really precise and spot on.

Again, thank you very much

for giving us your best.

We'll call you back in a bit.

What was your favorite dish?

It's really hard to say.

It might have been Marcel's poke.

That as far as the three
pokies were concerned,

his was my favorite.

I thought Marcel's food was beautiful.

I thought that it really showed

a lot of thoughtfulness.

He's a thinker, isn't he?

He's a thinker,

and sometimes an overthinker
to his detriment.

I think overall Marcel

gave us a very thoughtful
presentation today.

I think Marcel really
hit a home run tonight.

He got hit by the skin of his teeth.

He was on the chopping
block so many times.

Disrespectful.

Disrespectful.

He's been cheating the whole company.

If I say something, I
have to say something.

Elia, please.

We have to say something.

This is the last, this is the chance.

We would probably all agree

that maybe Elia didn't really listen

to much of the challenge.

To me that dish was too
much of a departure.

If I had that just sitting in New York,

it wouldn't have been
reminiscent of Hawaii at all.

And I think on her Lavalu,

you know, she missed a few points there

because I thought she could have chosen

some other vegetable besides carrot,

red pepper, and peas.

She just didn't wow me.

There was, she just didn't
take it over that edge.

We have them clear.

Marcel and Elia, let's put them aside.

Let's talk about Sam and the lamb

because we're torn here.

I think Sam's pokey tasted great.

I think that he kind of played it safe.

And it dawned on me.

He didn't cook anything.

It's a cooking competition.

He cooked it by marinating it.

That's just totally valid.

That's a point.

I mean, I...

No, he didn't cook anything.

Come on, there was no
development of flavors.

There was kind of a deeper...

There was total development of flavors.

It just wasn't developed by heat.

That yuzu was not on there long enough

to cook anything.

I think it was an easy way out.

I didn't really think about the fact

that he didn't cook anything.

That kind of made me think
a little bit different.

I did like Sam's food.

But then I also liked Elon's pork dish

because it was probably one
of the most flavorful dishes.

When you were saying
perhaps Sam played it safe,

there's a part of me that thinks

that Alain played it safe.

It was both of him to use
those Spanish flavors,

but he's a line cook in
a Spanish restaurant.

He has made Spanish
dish after Spanish dish

because that's what he knows,

because that's what he
works with every day.

Coconut thing.

There are many cultures
that use coconut milk.

And I think when he added
the saffron and fried it,

I think it left to Hawaii and it
was sort of disconnect for me.

Regional authenticity
aside, I loved the dish.

I thought that the inside
tasted just like your dessert

with the addition of the saffron.

He was also the only one
to use the taro leaf.

I do give him points for that.

I thought that single dish was
the best dish of the competition.

I think he took ingredients.

I think he took techniques,
married them together,

and I thought he was very successful.

You know, I'm still
torn about Elon and Sam.

There are things about
both of them that I loved,

and I'm finding it really
difficult to differentiate

between the two of them in
terms of which I preferred.

Interesting that it's
between the two of them.

I think Sam has the most quick fire wins

and Elon has the most elimination wins.

I just want to start by saying

there's really no losers here tonight.

We're going to choose two winners.

You guys all did an incredible job.

And this was a trip that
started back in Los Angeles

and ended up here.

And these are the times in your life

when you keep your mind open

that really informs you
as a cook and as a chef.

Thanks for the wonderful food

and we have decisions to make here.

Sam, your dessert was flavorful.

Love that you worked some
mascarpone cheese in there.

Worked really, really well.

The poke, we liked that you
introduced some yuzu to it.

Good to see you bringing
yourself in there.

Thank you.

Elon, you stuck to what you know,

but also kind of stepped
outside of that a little bit.

Used the taro in the puree.

Loved how you worked it in.

But also loved how you
worked Spanish flavors

into that as well.

Clearly brought a lot
of the Hawaiian flavors

and culture into your cooking.

Elliot, same thing.

You put yourself in
there, great to see it.

Think that, you know,
the fish that you cooked

was really flavorful

and maybe could have seen
more of the Hawaiian flavors

come to the forefront.

Again, showed us what you're all about.

Marcel, you know, you
finally found a place

for what you love to do

because I think there's a home for it

and a use for molecular gastronomy.

I think we really
figured a way to work it

into the dishes.

And I thought doing it a way

we still honor the Hawaiian flavors.

Again, no losers here.

Unfortunately, two of
you have to go home.

Ellie and I were talking a little bit

in the back.

Um, I don't even know if it's worth it

to be said or not.

I don't know, I just say it, please.

I just want to say that, um...

We all feel there are some people

that disrespect the kitchen

and disrespect food.

We're here to showcase ourselves

and I think there were some people

that tried to...

Yeah, gain advantage with ways

that shouldn't have been there.

You didn't need to say some people.

You're obviously trying
to talk about something.

So why don't you just come out

and say it.

Just say it.

Say it out right.

Come on, Marcel.

Marcel.

You cheated several times.

Talk about today.

No, no, no.

Today was just the same
behavior, you know.

I had my steamer going on and...

Our burners weren't even on.

They were on and they
moved it without asking.

I mean, I think I specifically was like,

is anybody using this?

Looked underneath, no burners were on.

I'm going to move this aside.

If that specifically did something

that injured your dish...

No, no, no.

I just...

I mean, am I the only one here?

Why don't you let them finish

and then see what happens.

Can you give us some more examples?

I don't know.

It's hard to...

I know, it's hard.

If we don't know what to do.

No, no, no.

It's just an example of a behavior.

Oh yeah, you know what?

We're not judging your
behavior in the kitchen.

We're judging your food.

I really don't care
what happens in there.

I'll tell you the truth.

It's hard to hear that, but it's cool.

Marcel.

Congratulations.

Wow, thank you very much.

It's an honor.

Thank you.

Elia.

Please pack your knives and go.

What's that?

Please pack your knives and go.

Congratulations, Elan.

You will be going to the Top Chef final.

Thank you to all of
you for excellent work.

Congratulations.

By saying what I said about Marcel,
I wasn't trying to save myself.

I have been on Marcel's side
for the whole competition.

I have been his only friend.

It kind of came as a shock,
you know, to me, to let go.

For whatever reason, the
judges believe that, you know,

I didn't stand up to the other
dishes today, so I'm going home.

Top Chef.

It's been a great experience.

I've met a lot of people.

It's going to open a lot
of doors it already has.

I just want to be doing it.

Got to learn a lot.

The chef is sort of molded
into his ways early on in life.

And that's where you become,
that's the way you cook.

And opportunities like this, it just
sort of makes you a better chef.

What I'm taking away
from this competition is

to always remember to
behave like who I am.

No matter what, be myself.

Stand up for what I believe all the time.

And that's what I've done.

I think I can walk away from this
competition, holding my head up.

Knowing that I didn't compromise myself.

I truly came to Top Chef to win Top Chef.

I'm actually kind of happy that
Alon's in the finale with me

because I have a personal
vendetta against him

from all the trash talking
he's done since day one.

And I can't wait to just settle
this thing once and for all.

I have my own motivation
to win this competition.

I want to win it.

It'll be a little bit
of an icing on the cake

to win it just over Marcel.

Come on, come on.

Yeah, can't wait to
make you cry tomorrow.