02x13 - Finale: Part 2

[bunniefuu]

Previously on Top Chef, after 11 chefs
were eliminated from the competition,

the four remaining chefs arrived
in Hawaii for the final showdown.

Tonight, I'm throwing a loo out
and you guys are doing the food.

At the end of this challenge,
two chefs will be eliminated.

That's not good.

Hold on, you should have done
that for the flambe challenge.

Marcel feels that he's superior
when we all know he's not.

Please enjoy.

Wow, I really, really
like the lion's food.

It's delicious.

Very good.

I think Marcel really
hit a home run tonight.

There was really nothing in
that way of dishes that we

reminiscent at all of Hawaiian flavor.

Let's talk about Sam.

He didn't cook anything.

So?

It's a cooking competition.

There are some people that disrespect
the kitchen and disrespects food.

Just say it.

Say it out right.

You know what?

We're not judging your
behavior in the kitchen.

We're judging your food.

Aliyah, Sam, please pack your knives.

Congratulations, Marcel.

Alon, you will be going
to the top chef finals.

It'll be a little bit of an icing on
the cake to win it just over Marcel.

I have a personal vendetta
against Alon and I can't

wait to just settle this
thing once and for all.

At state for the winner, a state
-of-the-art Kenmore Pro Kitchen

Earnished by Sears, an editorial
feature in Food and Wine Magazine,

a chance to showcase their
culinary talent at the


wine classic in Aspen.

$100,000 to kick-start
their culinary career

Burnished by the makers of the GLAAD
family of products and title, Top Chef.

This is the final round.

We had a little downtime to
relax before everything begins.

So Marcel and I go to
the beach and it's nice.

It's a beautiful beach.

I just wish I was there
with a beautiful woman.

Oh, dude, check out this booney.

Booney?

Potato.

We just put all of the grudge match stuff
aside and we're able to pluck sea urchin,

you know, right out of the
water and have it for breakfast.

It's hard to be in a bad mood when
you're surrounded by natural beauty.

I mean, there's nothing that
can rain on that parade.

There's this other one right here.

Oh, my finger doesn't blow.

He stabbed himself with the spines
and to lessen the infection,

he was advised to pee on his hand.

Marcel, would you mind
if I peed on your hand?

I think I would, actually.

Okay.

It's pretty gnarly.

Sometimes you gotta do what
you gotta do to survive.

In the end, I didn't pee on Marcel, but
I would have loved to pee on Marcel.

I couldn't wait till we
got back from the beach

because I'm ready to win.

I'm ready to finish this.

Congratulations.

In order to make it to this point,

you've had to work through
all kinds of restrictions

in and out of the Kenmore Pro Kitchen.

For the final challenge, we're
going to make it really simple.

Just cook us the best meal you've
ever prepared in your life.

This is your opportunity once and for all

to show us who deserves to be top chef.

Between the judges and our guests,

there'll be a total of eight diners.

Each of you needs to
prepare five courses.

So you'll both draw knives to determine

where at the Hilton Waikoloa Village

you'll be cooking and serving your meal.

I've got number two.

One.

Alon, you'll be cooking here
at Don Atoni's Restaurant.

Marcel, you'll be at the Japanese
Tea House at Imari Restaurant.

Got it.

Of course, you know, you're going
to need to take on some help

to win this competition.

So we have a group of
well-qualified candidates

from which each of you
can choose two sous chefs.

My geez.

What's up, guys?

What's cracking?

I'm going to go down the line here.

I want to ask each of you
who you want to work for

to help win this competition

and why do you think you
can help them win it?

Michael, why don't you go first?

I want to work for Alon because
we work great together, man.

We've always been a good team.

I'm going to mix it up
and work with Marcel.

I'm the best prep cook
you'll ever find, man.

I throw it down.

Betty?

Well, I think there's no secret

that Marcel and I have had
problems from the start.

I adore Alon and I would be
thrilled to be on his team.

Frank.

Marcel is very talented.

I think I'd actually
like to work with Marcel

because I think I need
to keep his ego in check

and learn how to talk to
people, not talk at people.

Elia?

I don't know.

I think I work for Alon.

I believe in him.

Sam?

I don't know.

To make it fun, I guess
I'll work with Marcel.

I got this far.

I can help him.

On a personal level, you know,

we had our arguments before,

but I picked Marcel

because for me, it was
going to be kind of cool,

actually, to see some of the
chemical cookery that he's into.

And I knew Alon was going to go Spanish

and Alon always does the same thing.

So for me, I thought maybe
I'd also learn something.

Marcel, you're cooking second,

so you get to choose first.

I think that I would like to choose Sam.

Thanks, bro.

Lon, you're up.

Marcel, you're up.

Kick mic.

Mike, man, bring some
camaraderie into the kitchen.

Say it, baby.

It's going to be fun.

Lon, your choice.

I'd love to work with you, baby.

I'd love to work with you.

I'm afraid that Mia and Frank,

your services won't be necessary,

so please say your goodbyes.

So, you'll now shop
at the farmer's market

to select from Hawaii's
most magnificent ingredients

to use in your meals.

You have four hours to prep
in the main kitchen today.

Then you'll transport your ingredients

to your respective restaurants tomorrow,

where you'll have one hour to cook.

Good luck, and we'll see you later.

It's going to be fun, huh?

It's going to be fun.

This is a kimpachi, it looks awesome.

Right off the bat, I saw the
beautiful coat of kimpachi.

Just awesome.

It's not every day you get to go up

to an incredible farmer's
market with no budget

and just get whatever you want.

I try not to have a preconceived notion

of the dishes that I'm going to create,

so as I was walking down,

like, booth to booth,

all of the dishes just
started to come together.

The smoothie looks delicious.

The fresh sea urchin instantly took me

to my walk on the beach that morning.

Gotta do something with that.

Thank you.

Okay, first course,

I brought with me Angulhas,
baby eels from Spain.

Wow.

I came with a few products from home

that I really want to
use in my final menu.

Are we going completely Spain,

or are we going to add any
elements of the island?

The ingredients are from the island.

I think that's as far as we need to go.

My first dish is Angulhas,

which are Spanish baby eels

that'll be served on
top of a Spanish toast.

My second dish is a pan-seared moi,

which is a Hawaiian fish

beyond top of a gazpacho
of an academia nuts.

My third dish is grilled squab

and whole shrimp with foie gras.

And my main course will
be a braised short rib

served with romesco sauce

and roasted hansamishi and mushroom.

Do you have any other idea of dessert?

I mean, that kind of...

Okay, I have elements.

We got that corn and coffee.

We have the bay leaves.

He was sure he wanted
to put this bay leaf.

That's the only thing he
knows he wants to be there.

So we actually built up a
dessert around this bay leaf.

It's very creative. Beautiful.

You want to hold my melons?

The second course is going
to be the salad course.

I think we have all the ingredients

to make something really delicious.

We've got cucumbers.

We've got radishes.

And those are going to be...

Get my mandolin real thin.

Yeah. Any questions about that?

I'm not anticipating any
problems with my team.

I mean, we want to help
Marcel win, you know?

If you win, you win as a team.

So, I mean, if Marcel wins,

I feel like I'm part of
his top chef, you know?

I'm totally stoked to be
working with Sam and Mikey.

I think it's going to be
an awesome group dynamic.

It's going to be really good.

After we finished up our hour and a half

stopping at the farmer's market,

we headed into the kitchen
for our four hours of prep.

Do you have a game plan here, Bob?

Got a great team, and we
all know what we need to do.

It's great having people that
really want to work for you.

How you guys looking?

How you guys feeling right now?

Good.

Marcel's been a great leader, you know?

He's been, like, really positive.

Do you want to work on this puree for me?

Whatever you want, brother.

He's, like, worked in the kitchen
together, like, for a long time.

I think Marcel is really going to
try and showcase what he loves to do

with all of his powders and all
the stuff he brought with him.

And that's a good venue.

He's got the Hawaiian ingredients.

He's got his own touch.

Everything comes out his plane.

He's got a really good shot at winning.

It's good, it's good, it's good.

I've been working on this technique,

which involves isomalt teardrops.

It's a vinaigrette that's
encapsulated by a super thin sugar.

You're good.

Mikey, check this sh*t out, dude.

Something that kind of provides a
little bit of a wow factor to a salad.

I've only been working
on them for two weeks.

Maybe this finale isn't
the best setting to

hone the details of some
brand new technique.

But I think conceptually, like,
it's a really good idea, so why not?

The mad scientist.

Hey, how's it going?

What are we making here?

These are a little isomalt
encapsulations for the vinaigrette.

You're going to have a problem
with humidity with this?

I'm going to go with no right now,
just for the sake of, you know, my own.

Out of thinking?

Yeah.

Okay.

So what else are you working on?

My first course is uni in a
vanilla Meyer lemon consomme.

Dish number two is a salad which
involves isomalt teardrops.

My fish dish is oached tonic
and bocce with sea beans,

on some veggie mushrooms,
and your heart's a palm.

The fourth dish is seared
beef with taro ba*ls,

and the dessert course is
blemis and kona coffee,

caviar, and this awesome
chocolate mousse.

How are your fish up to it?

So far, so good.

Cool.

What's up, chef?

Yeah, good.

What are you working on?

First course is going to be a surprise.

I'm not going to tell you what that is.

Surprise?

It's something special I brought
from home that I think will be great.

Okay, and for dessert?

And for dessert, just really, I mean,

taking in all the fresh
fruit that we found today.

Dessert is ba*ls of fresh fruit
and a sorbet of suriname cherries,

and my finishing touch on it is the bay
leaf dipped in donut batter and fried.

We all put together the dessert.

Keep it up, and we'll see you tomorrow.

Look forward to it.

Thank you.

Guys, we have 15 minutes left.

I'm feeling confident
about all the preparations

that we've ex*cuted up into this point,

and it's just merely a matter of getting
the two speed racks squared away.

You know, I worked on the dry goods,

and the boys worked on
the refrigerated items.

We're still good?

Our team is working really well.

We all love each other,

and I'm just excited to do
it and put it out and win.

Betty, Betty, be careful.

And I'm like, oh my god.

Just stop.

I'm excited to get in the kitchen.

I'm going to be cooking my meal.

First, I've shown
tremendous skill throughout

the entire journey of
Top Chef throughout the

competition.

I have won more challenges than Marcel.

I'm ready to take this
home and finish it up.

Beat the sh*t out of Marcel.

Later, Marcel.

Are we good?

Ellie and I were so excited for Yvonne.

We had five minutes to pull
together all of our ingredients.

We had organized that
all the night before,

and it was a matter of
getting it to the restaurant.

There's a little bump here.

We get into the kitchen.

We have one hour for up time.

First, the leeks.

We need to cook them.

And then use delicious.

I keep thinking about it
and tasting it in my head.

Like this?

Yeah, just a little bit more.

You cook the fish while I do
the sauce with the shrimp.

I have a lot of faith in
Ellie's cooking technique.

She's technically a
better cook than I am.

How's the sauce?

It's good. It's thick though.

It's like a chef trusses his sous chef,

and the sous chef is a
real chef of the kitchen.

Marcel, do you want me to
toast it with nothing on it?

What did you just call me?

Oh my god, I should be shocked.

I'm prepping everything
for the first course.

The green tomato caviar was gorgeous,

and I got to use these
beautiful eels that I brought.

Hello.

How you doing, chef?

Good. How you doing?

Great.

Can you tell me about
the first course yet?

It'll be a cool little surprise.

Steve, I also see them so
OK, so that's a surprise.

It's a surprise.

OK, good luck.

I just kicked in on a log.

He's going into his comfort range,

and I think we'll see a
lot of Spanish dishes.

Hopefully, it'll be good
enough to well the judges.

We have a very prestigious
panel of chefs dining with us.

People have pushed the limits
of fine dining in America.

This is a great opportunity
for young chefs like

Halal and Marcel to really
showcase their talents

in front of a lot of industry, anyways.

How do I look?

Gorgeous, like a winner.

My menu is a great
reflection of who I am,

and I was nervous about how
my food would be perceived.

Hi, Elon.

I want to introduce you to
the impressive group of chefs

you'll be serving this evening.

Hi. Hello.

You know Michelle Bernstein,
who owns Michy's in Miami

and is a consulting chef
for social restaurants.

How are you?

This is Scott Conant, a
food and wine best new chef

who's on the cutting
edge of Italian cuisine.

Wylie Dufresne is a groundbreaking
molecular gastronomist

who owns WD-50 in New York.

Hello.

Roy Yamaguchi of world-famous
Roy's Hawaiian Fusion restaurants.

Gail, of course you know.

And acting as our guest
judge is Hubert Keller,

who owns the four-star Florida lease

in San Francisco and Las Vegas.

He will be representing
all of the other chefs

at Judge's table.

Sitting at the table are chefs
that I admire and respect,

and knowing that they're going
to be eating my final meal

is exciting and a bit scary.

Hi, everyone. I have a great meal.

It will show Spanish flavors,

but it's all from produce
grown on the Big Island.

I'm sure you'll enjoy everything.

Thank you very much.

Good luck.

Are the plates clean?

Yes.

I was very nervous to cook
for all these great chefs.

I think the menu that I
have planned and prepared

will hopefully live up to
all of their expectations.

Hello, everyone.

First course, it's a little
pincio of panko entomate

with angulas, which are
baby eels, in the center.

There is some osetra queso,

on the other side is
green zebra tomato caviar,

which a lot of chefs in Spain are calling

this section of the tomato.

Please enjoy everything.

When you came to the baby eels,

honestly, I don't think I
would have gone to the trouble.

I love them, theoretically.

I think they're phenomenal on the radio.

But at the end of the day,

what you should do is sit
down and taste it yourself

and see if those things work.

They did think that the bread itself

was a little bit soggy.

Am I gonna fry these?

Yeah.

I am fighting for someone
else to win the title.

It's very hard,

but I know I'm not gonna screw up Eli.

A little less, a little less.

The second course, I made al gazpacho

with the beautiful macadamia nuts

that I found at the market.

On top is a moi, just pan roasted,

dressed with Spanish olive oil.

Please enjoy.

The fish is nicely cooked.

Certainly Spanish inspired.

The butteriness of the macadamia nut

really enhanced the entire dish.

Fabulous.

The zest brought it all out.

I loved it.

That's exactly what I
look for in a young chef.

He gets it.

You want it medium rare?

Like rosé?

I need you guys.

And I love you.

There were so many components
to this third course.

Betty, Betty, be careful.

Oh, when I started to put the shrimp on,

the head started to detach from the body.

And I'm like, oh my god.

Because I didn't want to ruin it.

Damn.

Just stop.

Just slow down.

Betty was freaking out.

It's not perfect.

And I'm just like, take the food out.

For the third course,
we've got a surf and turf,

you could say.

The main protein is a squab.

And the sauce is made
from a lot of lobsters.

The shrimp has actually
been poached in a sofrito.

On the squab is a seared foie grout.

Thank you very much.

First of all, squab is
pretty difficult to cook,

to have it really on the
nice medium rare side.

And I think mine was perfectly cooked.

For myself, surf and turf is what I love.

I love the sea.

I love the ocean.

And to me, making a sauce
out of a lobster seafood

for a meat dish is perfect.

It works well because the sauce
is so, it's really delicious.

It's like the essence of lobster,

which is kind of nice to see.

All over here is fine.

We just let it sit for the whole time.

The fourth course is beef short ribs

with my Spanish twist
on it, salsa romesco.

Yeah, enough, no?

There's so many emotions flying.

I'm excited and nervous.

Cooking from chefs that I
respect and admire so much.

For the main course,
we have beef short rib

that has been braised and then grilled.

On top of the beef is romesco.

Thank you.

Thank you very much.

The short ribs could have been
braised a tiny bit longer,

but it's tasty.

I think I'm just looking
for a little more,

a little more flavor, a
little more juiciness.

You know, I want to sop
it up with something.

Romesco was on top was
just, to me, it was great.

It goes back to his Spanish background.

Now, I'm very curious to
see what he does for dessert

because I don't know how much
experience he has in pastry.

I know what he's doing
and it's very smart.

Oh, good.

Okay, Elliot, it's survey time.

I think we have a winner named Ilana.

I'm not a pastry chef, so I
tried to keep it quite simple.

There are some fresh
ba*ls of dragon fruit,

avocado, mango, and papaya with
a sorbet of suriname cherries.

And on top is a bay leaf fritter,

and you're meant to
actually leave the leaf on

and just eat the batter.

The soup is made with
tajellos and vanilla bean.

Thank you.

It's smart to make a sorbet from this.

The color is also exquisitely beautiful.

This is the perfect ending to
that meaty, rich dish at the end.

This is awesome. It's what I wanted.

You know, this is great.

I think the flavor of
the sorbet was delicious.

It's a great combination of flavors.

I love you guys.

We're done.

The whole experience,
working with all these people

and especially for it to come to this.

This is the greatest meal that
I've put out in my entire life.

My love for food was shown in this meal,

and if I don't win, I still won.

Ilana, I think we all
agree it was a great meal.

Definitely exceeded expectations,

and I think we're all very
happy with it, so thank you.

Thank you.

I think the menu is very, very bold.

It shows who you are,

and I really salute you because at 24,

I think you're showing a lot of talent.

You're so welcome.

Thank you.

We'll see you at Judge's Table.

Thank you.

Great meeting all of you.

I think that Marcel has no chance.

He doesn't have the passion
and the love that I do

for food and for preparing food.

To the end of an amazing experience.

Amazing experience.

And as a start of a new one.

The team seemed to kind of fall apart.

Mike, you seen the compassion?

I'm not playing 400 grand. You are.

You tell me where the fish is.

What's up, brother?

So this is the final challenge,

and I've got about five minutes
to grab all my ingredients

and head on down to Amari.

These are mine.

I took one last look at our shelves

and saw a couple containers of my jelly.

From my understanding,

I thought we packed everything
up the previous day,

so it was a little bit surprising.

Sam, what's going on in here?

Sars.

In my opinion, a line cook
is only good as a chef.

There was no leadership.

There was no organization.

Marcel, are you good?

Yeah.

The menu that I created was
inspired by my trip here

and it's a culmination of everything

that I've ever done
in my culinary career.

Just taste this real quick.

Fantastic.

I wanted to use everything with respect

for molecular gastronomy,

but also with respect for
just straight-up solid food.

Hello.

Good to see all of you.

You've got judges from
all across the board

who all specialize in different things.

Wylie Dufresne, he's a
huge inspiration for me.

If anybody can understand and appreciate

what I try to do with my food,

it would be him.

But if anybody can knock
me, it would be him.

I'm really excited about
this menu that I've created.

First course is inspired by a
walk on the beach the other day

and just a lot of the
Hawaiian ingredients.

I just wanted to create the best food

that I could possibly bust out for them.

Where are the markets?

I didn't pull them.

Mikey, have you seen them?

No.

I'm sorry, but you don't need them.

I get the feeling this
isn't one and three-quarters

quarts of milk.

I thought you said cups, dude.

Hey, guys.

So let me ask you a question.

Where is like...

What?

Oh, here it is.

How are you doing?

It's a little bit intimidating cooking

for Wylie Dufresne.

Obviously, you're under a
lot of pressure right now.

I'll check out.

I'll see you later.

Pleasure.

Good luck.

How's it going in there?

A little tense.

We haven't felt any pressure yet here.

Have a great time here.

This is a Meyer lemon and a vanilla jelly

with some sea urchin and
a little fennel cream,

some caviar and alamata olive oil.

And this was the one inspired.

I walk on the beach.

Yeah, we found some sea urchin

and managed to enjoy them
right there for breakfast.

The fennel cream is nice.

I love uni.

It's good.

The idea, the whole thing
behind was pretty exciting.

I kind of liked the
texture of the caviar.

We start with caviar
again, like last meal.

Yeah, not a bad way to start.

Not at all.

Like this, dude.

Closer, because then if they're closer,

it's stronger.

Yeah, it's stronger.

The second course is a salad,

which involves a vinaigrette

that's encapsulated
by a super thin sugar.

Bro, if those are giving you a
hot problem in this community,

I wouldn't even mess with it.

The main component of his second course

was an encapsulated vinaigrette.

It failed miserably.

Unfortunately, I wasn't able
to do the isomalt teardrops

due to the humidity.

It was just kind of a cool technique

to showcase why we would have
definitely appreciated it.

And some of the other chefs
maybe had a wow factor.

Here I have a cucumber and radish salad

with some beybladis
and citrus vinaigrette

made of yuzu and calamansi lime.

Please enjoy.

Salad.

I have to tell you, this is delicious

for someone that's in culinary school.

He's going to send five courses.

This is wonderful.

I'm not sure what the point is.

Last night when I checked in with him,

he was doing that methyl silos ba*ls

with the vinaigrette inside.

They're not here.

Which course we're doing
right now, the beef?

No, we're doing the fish course.

Mike, you seen it?

What?

The kimpachi?

Do you have it?

No.

How do we not have the fish?

It's not down there.

Just looking at us.

Where's the fish?

Where's the fish?

Man, I'm not playing


You tell me where the fish is.

That totally sucks.

Let's talk for one second.

Can we have garlic?

Yeah.

You can base these with ginger honey.

With the little like, sea bean,

hot cement-y mushroom salad on top.

Being in the kitchen with
Marcel was an absolute disaster.

I did the best of my ability

to make sure that that kid would win.

Ready to go?

You can't lose your mind and be like,

you have to be able to adapt.

I just took all of the
ingredients of the fish dish,

just minus the fish.

For your next course,
we have parts of b*mb

with kaffir lime sauce
and some sea beans.

This is a substitution.

I don't have my Kona kampachi,

so this is my way of trying to
come up with something on whip.

I gotta tell you,

I wouldn't have said
anything about this course

because this person
can find the way it is.

I know, it's really nice.

You should have said,

you forgot the fish for the bratty salad.

Very mature dish, delicious, round, bold,

beautifully balanced.

It's dancing on my tongue.

The way it's constructed,
the way it's presented,

it's like a totally different level.

I think it's delicious.

It doesn't need any kampachi at all.

Yeah.

Pull them off, man, they're burning.

Pull them off?

Yeah, maybe we should finish
from the oven or something.

The team seemed to kind
of fall apart a little bit

because of the high stress.

Okay, some on top of the mushrooms.

For your next course,

we have banoschor strip loin

with spring garlic puree,

a taro ball,

some sauteed king oyster mushrooms.

To me, it's kind of nice
to see someone so creative

and so willing to take the risk.

This dish, the first pass,

okay, if you start working on this dish,

you can really improve it.

The plates are beautiful.

Compared to Alan's
course, I think Marcel,

his dishes evolved in much lighter,

just a gentler progression.

Take the blinis and
put them on the plate.

Blinis and caviar is super traditional,

the French classic.

I came up with the idea
of using cone of coffee,

caviar, the Hawaiian chocolate,

and then lastly, the blinis.

It's just go time right now, right?

And for your final course,

I have kind of a play
on a traditional dish.

This is a blini with the
Hawaiian chocolate mousse

and then lastly, a
cone of coffee, caviar.

Thank you.

Thank you.

How smart, you know,

a blini with caviar as a dessert.

That's great.

I love that.

Yeah, it's fun.

To me, it is very nice.

It tastes good, but there's no color.

When I tasted the coffee
caviar individually,

I did get that coffee and it was great.

He has amazing potential,

but I think he's somebody to watch.

How was it out there, dude?

I don't know.

I guess I'll find out, man.

I think that some things
could have gone better.

I was missing products.

I had somewhat unmotivated co-workers,

but at the same time,

totally pleased with my performance.

I don't really know how Alon did.

Ultimately, I don't think it was

anywhere near as creative
or as original as my food.

Thank you for a great meal.

My pleasure.

You know, I mean,

you have such a creative mind.

I can just see your mind just rolling.

You also gave us something

that we had never tasted before

in the Heart of Palm dish.

It's not very often that this group

has never tasted something.

Thank you.

I haven't been as nice to
people as I could have been.

I've made a competition out of it.

I cook more of my soul than Marcel does.

I'm a chef.

Well, those were two very
interesting, delicious meals.

They were.

They were.

They really were exciting.

I got a sense from Alon's dishes

that these were dishes
that he's seen before,

that he's worked on before,

that he's done.

He was very confident.

I think Marcel, these were dishes

that he was just kind of
doing new for the first time.

Marcel's menu was much more cutting edge.

He took greater risks

and added a lot of very
unfamiliar processes

to his meal.

But on the other hand,

it was a much lighter meal.

Well, let's go through

and talk about each of these chefs

course by course.

Let's start with the first course.

I think Marcel, with his dish,

at least he sat at home.

There were some exciting components.

The one, the dish with Alon,

was kind of an okay.

My issue with that dish

is he brought the eels with him

and they were, you know,

put them on the bread.

It wasn't a whole lot.

It was pretty,

but it was very little work involved.

Let's talk about the second course.

There's Alon's Moi with white gazpacho

and compare that to Marcel's salad.

I just question,

in a five-course meal,

you're saying cook the best meal

you've ever cooked.

I mean, I doubt you put a green salad

in the middle of it.

I don't care how good it is.

That was way too off, right?

Even if he had succeeded
in those little droplets,

I don't know if the salad

would have worked as he wanted it to.

There was nothing there

impressed any of us.

Actually, I think Alon's Moi

was so moist and perfectly done.

I think it was really memorable.

I thought it was very good.

Okay, so let's talk about

Marcel's hearts of poem

and Alon's squab.

I think those two dishes,

they're kind of a toss-up.

Yeah, both dishes came in really great.

When it came to which one is better,

I would have a hard time on choosing.

Now, for the fourth course,

both did beef.

Obviously, both were an expression

of both chefs,

but I think I could read more

artistry in Marcel's dish.

I thought Alon's was at a place.

The dish was more akin

to being in a casual restaurant.

Marcel's, on the other hand,

perfectly worked into his meal.

So let's talk about the dessert.

I love Alon's dessert.

Every part of it was a joy to eat.

I loved the fruits

that Alon put forth,

especially the Suriname Cherry Survey.

Gail, what did you think

of Marcel's blini?

I thought it was just fun.

It was whimsical

and it had a sense of humor.

I agree.

The dessert was totally exciting.

It was a conversation piece.

It was something very unique.

Well, I would really like to see

what these sous chefs thought.

I'd like to bring them in.

We'd love to find out

what it was like working

with these two chefs.

Betty, let's start with you.

Well, working with Alon was wonderful.

He was a good leader

and he knew what he was doing.

Did you like the food?

Yeah, it was Spanish authentic food.

Good.

Do you think that that may have been

a detriment that he relied too much

only on Spanish food?

It was one of the things that came out.

Well, this is what he knows.

So he played it wise.

You think he deserves to win tonight?

I think he deserves to
win over Marcel, totally.

But you didn't see
Marcel's food, did you?

No, but Marcel can't run a kitchen.

Marcel can't make people work for him.

Hands down, Alon has to win

if he just tastes food.

But you didn't taste?

Marcel's food tonight.

No, but was the food good?

Top chef.

Yes, no, it was amazing.

All right, so let's get to Marcel

and what it was like for the two of you.

I mean, the four hours of prep,

I mean, we were tight.

We were focused.

He had lists.

He had jobs.

And then we go to the
kitchen the next day.

We have one hour.

And he has us doing all this other stuff.

I mean, me and Sam are
still kind of in the dark,

like kind of cooking blind.

Do you think it would have made it better

if you had known the
master plan, as it were?

Absolutely.

For you, Sam, how much
was your involvement

in the cooking part?

When he realized he forgot the fish,

that helped him in that course.

And I put that dish
together for him on the fly.

It's a good dish.

So, sibin, was your idea?

Yeah, that was a great touch.

Anything else?

Thank you.

I want to congratulate both
of you for making it this far.

We were very impressed
by many, many things

that we sell on the place.

Thank you.

Glad you enjoyed it.

Elon, tell us about your menu.

Well, my menu was really
created on the spot.

Really?

I mean, I brought a few
things with me from home,

but it was really developed and inspired

by what we saw at the market.

The feeling we got was that you came

with a set idea of the
courses you wanted to make.

I didn't come with any
preconceived ideas, no.

It would be okay if you did.

You realized I have a game plan.

No, I understand.

I had some ideas, but I really,

it was driven from the market.

Do you think that we should
award you the title of top chef

if you're only so focused on one cuisine?

I think that through the competition,

I've stepped outside of that,

and some key things have
been Spanish-inspired,

but I think I've made
it through on my skill.

Do you think that was the
best meal you ever cooked?

I think that was the
best meal I ever cooked.

This is a very high point in my life.

I felt extremely accomplished

after every course that I brought out,

and by the end of it,

I was just filled with joy and happiness.

What's the major difference
between you and Marcel?

Don't take any offense, I mean, you will,

but I feel that I have a greater passion.

I'm a bit more forgiving,

and I think I'm more
gentle with the people

that I work with, and I'm around.

I think I respect people.

You deserve to win?

I think I deserve to win, absolutely.

Marcel, we'd love to know some
of the same things from you.

I can honestly say that the dishes

that I prepared for you this evening,

while I may have done certain techniques

and things before in the past,

there was no dish as a whole

that I've ever created before,

and so the majority of that menu

was of my own inspiration.

Which core was it?

On the third course,

as soon as I had to come up

with a little bit of a replacement,

Sam and I decided to take the hearts upon

and just use that as
the center of the dish.

So yeah, Sam definitely
helped me out with that one.

Can you tell me why the
fish weren't missing?

Unfortunately, I put a little bit more

trust and faith into my co-workers.

You know, I told them
about the menu items

and I told them about the components,

but they still, I don't think,

had like a grasp on the big picture.

Was it a matter of the assistant

not being 100% behind you?

You know, it might have been hard

for Sam to be there a little bit,

and I noticed somewhat
of a lack of motivation,

but at the same time,

it's probably got to
be really hard for him

to come in and go to bat for me

when we've obviously had

some confrontations in the past.

And I think that he would like

to be here tonight instead of me.

You're clearly someone with great skill.

I just wonder why so
many of your colleagues

have locked horns with you.

I'm actually a really nice guy

and very likable.

I think it's the fact that

it's a competition setting

and I decided that I wasn't here

necessarily to make friends.

I was here to win this competition.

Do you think it was the best meal

you've ever cooked in your life?

Regardless of whether it is the best meal

that I've ever cooked in my life,

I'm always trying to do better

because the moment that you think

you've reached perfection

is the moment that you
stop aspiring for it.

And that's the moment you stop

excelling and learning and progressing.

I think we'll all agree

that you're both worthy of this title

but only one of you will have it.

We'll call you back in a bit.

Thank you.

The fact is that they actually

just produced two really great meals.

They did.

Both had very, very high points

and a few problems.

On one hand,

Alon, again, went back to something

and he's seen it in those

but it was really good.

He made a pretty good
argument for himself

that during the course of the competition

he kind of stepped outside.

You know Marcel, on the other hand,

he's very creative.

He hits a lot of high notes.

He's sort of enamored

with this whole idea

of this molecular gastronomy

and there are times

when we saw it works

and other times when you force it,

it doesn't work.

But conceptually, he was really thinking.

In five years,

there's no doubt in my mind

they will both be very successful.

The decision now is

who is more ready at this point?

We may have one right now

that's a little further ahead

and then we may have one

that may just need

a little more time and bottle.

I actually feel really good

about where I've come from

and about the food

that I put forth this evening.

It took a lot to get it there

but you know

when you see those dishes go out

and everything that you've worked for

up until this point

is in that dish.

That's what it's all about.

That's what chefs are made of.

I've made it this far

and I'm so nervous and anxious

but also I'm trying to prepare myself

for the worst.

I put out a beautiful menu

that I was very very proud of

but there are always doubts.

I just want to remind both of you

what's at stake here.

A brand new Kenmore Pro Kitchen

furnished by Sears.

A feature in Food in One magazine

and an invitation

to the 25th anniversary

of Food in One Classic

in Aspen, Colorado.

One hundred thousand dollars

furnished by the makers

of the GLAAD family of products

and the title of Top Chef.

Elan, you stuck to what you know.

But you really wowed us.

Flavors were just spot on

from start to finish.

Really really strong meal.

Marcel, you took a ton of risks

and it's great to see a young chef

just kind of hang it all out there

and go for it

and we're all really impressed.

Great job.

Thanks. In the future,

one of you may go on

to become the superior chef

but in the end,

our decision was based on

who we believe

to be the best chef right now.

Congratulations.

You are Top Chef.

That's it, I won.

I'm so excited.

The second I heard the sea

of congratulations

come out of her mouth,

this whole rush of blood

went through my entire body.

Feels good.

How does it feel?

You've made us wait long enough.

My heart's like over there,

beating out of my chest.

I'm totally surprised

when she calls along.

I thought it was going to take

more than saffron and paprika

to beat me

but apparently not.

It's extremely disappointing.

Good job.

The food that I was trying to create

is obviously a little bit more complex

and takes a little bit more skill.

It's most unfortunate that, you know,

I was unable to execute it on a level

that would put me over the top.

This obviously isn't the end

of my culinary career

by any means

and honestly I don't really care

what any of these other contestants

think about me

because I'm comfortable with who I am

and I like myself

and I like my food

and I like my personality.

I'm just excited for the future

and I can only become more mature

and use everything that I've learned

to my advantage

to just become a great chef.

For more about the recipes seen tonight

go to bravotv.com