Previously on
Top Chef...
Welcome to Restaurant Wars.
- Yeah!
- This is exciting.
- We're open!
- Let's go!
- Let's do this.
- Yep.
It couldn't get
more beautiful.
Stunning.
So Shuai is front of house.
I haven't seen him.
I thought he would be
at the table greeting us.
- They want three of each?
- Yeah.
Shuai, we have a problem.
I know we're in the weeds.
Mom. What's going on?
My father, Russell, passed away.
I was told to stay,
and I listened to my parents.
Phlora + Phauna,
you had our favorite restaurant
- of Restaurant Wars.
- Oh, my God, we just won.
-Tristen.
-You've done dishes where
they hit you on the head
with big, bold flavors,
and yet this was
as subtle as it gets.
That just shows range.
The winning chef for us
today is Tristen.
Whoo!
I'm the EC. Everything
you guys have mentioned,
it could have been fixed by me.
Paula,
please pack your knives and go.
Thank you, chef.
Seven chefs remain
to compete in the ultimate
culinary showdown.
At stake for the winner,
the largest prize package
in Top Chefhistory.
The grand prize of
a quarter of a million dollars,
furnished by
Saratoga Spring Water,
the official water of Top Chef.
Delta Sky Miles
Diamond Medallion status
and $125,000 to spend on
travel with Delta Airlines.
A feature in
Food & Winemagazine.
An appearance at the
Food & Wine Classic in Aspen.
And for the first time ever,
the winner of Top Chef
will headline
their own exclusive dinner
at the historic
James Beard House in New York.
And the title of Top Chef.
The magnificent seven.
It's crazy to be this far,
- yet still seem so...
- Far?
Far!
At this point,
my attitude has changed,
and I'm doing it less for me
and more in memory.
The meaning of this competition
has been a steadfast goal
of trying to cook
for representation,
to create a step stone
for people behind me.
Since losing my father, Russell,
in the middle
of Restaurant Wars,
it has changed.
He said, "Make it worth it,"
so that's what I'm gonna do.
I'm happy to cook today.
Otherwise, I would have
walked out the door.
- Oh, why are they here?
- Why are you guys all here?
- Morning, chefs.
-Oh, boy.
Morning!
Seeing Tom and Gail,
I'm just like,
"Oh, crap,
what are we gonna get into now?"
Something's intense
about to happen.
You might be
a little surprised to see
Tom and Gail this morning.
Any guesses why?
No, but it's scary.
We don't wanna miss out
on all the fun.
That's right,
because from now on in,
we will be here alongside
Kristen judging the rest
- of the Quickfires in Canada.
- Awesome.
We are going to factor in
both the Quickfire
and the Elimination Challenge
in deciding who stays
and who goes home.
- Oh, okay.
-Understood.
We're down to the final seven,
so we wanna factor in
your entire performance.
Quickfires have been difficult
since I got back from
Last Chance Kitchen,
so I am feeling pressure
to get it together.
For this Quickfire Challenge,
you're gonna have
to flex your "mussels."
Ahh.
Surprise.
Love a mussel.
Please welcome your guest judge
from Prince Edward Island,
chef and professor at the
Culinary Institute of Canada,
- Ilona Daniel. Welcome.
- Thank you for having me.
- I'm excited to be here today.
- We're happy to have you.
Just off the coast of Eastern
Canada is a little place
called Prince Edward Island.
It's also known as Canada's
food island? Is that right?
You bet.
With 1,000 miles of coastland,
we have some of the best
lobster, oysters,
and our favorites
is our mussels.
Prince Edward Island actually
produces over 50 million pounds
of mussels each year,
and they can be found on
the menus at some of the best
restaurants all over the world.
Our mussels are grown
in what we call "socks,"
and they're suspended
in the water.
This protects them from
being eaten by predators,
but it also helps
to keep them tender,
and it's a beautiful thing.
For your Quickfire
Challenge, we wanna see what
you can do with these beautiful
mussels in just 20 minutes.
Thanks.
PEI mussels,
the best mussels in the world.
They're huge, they're delicious.
They're giving us 20 minutes?
That's a tough one.
We usually see
the white wine-steamed mussels.
We don't want that. You're
gonna be judged on creativity
as well as how well you cook
the mussels, so go after it.
Prince Edward Island mussels
don't take very long to cook,
but the difference
between one minute can be
a tender morsel
of oceanic juiciness
to a rubber b*llet.
As always,
you'll want to impress,
because the winner
of this Quickfire Challenge
is gonna take home $10,000
in Quickfire Quick Cash.
- Yeah!
- Chefs, you have just
and your time starts now.
Whoo!
That was a wide turn.
Suckers.
The bus bucket!
All right, honeys.
-Share the wealth.
-Of course.
Oh, my apron's inside-out.
That doesn't matter anymore.
Massimo, how often are
you cooking with mussels?
Only when
they're in season, chef.
And only when they're from PEI.
Mussels are not
as easy as people think.
Thirty seconds is
enough to overcook.
Backs!
Thirty seconds
of undercooked mussels
is enough to make
somebody violently ill.
Pulling 'em off in a little
bit of a water brine because
I'm gonna make
a zucchini blossom sandwich.
- What about yourself, Lana?
-I like a mussel.
Definitely one of my favorite
things to eat and cook.
Historically, Quickfires are not
where I'm shining the brightest,
but definitely the fact that
they are gonna be judging
the whole package adds a whole
'nother level of pressure.
Almost making,
like, an Italian hero,
but with mussels on toast.
I'm from New York,
and we love Italian subs.
I'm just gonna steam my mussels
so I can open 'em.
I don't think anyone else is
gonna wanna do something
like that, so I think
it'll kind of set me apart.
I'm gonna say a small prayer.
You feel me?
- Right behind.
-My biggest concern on
this challenge is
that we cannot do
a white wine garlic mussel dish,
- so time to pivot.
-Yes, girl!
I'm cooking
the mussels with tequila and
green apple jalapeno aguachile,
I guess you could call it.
Do you know what it is?
I don't know what it is.
We're just making something.
It's gonna be good. I think.
Holy sh--! Fifteen minutes!
Trying something weird.
Something stupid.
Something tells me
that's not the case.
Because I really want
to make the mussel the star,
I am going to just use
zucchini and mussels
as the base of this dish.
I'm going to try to wrap
the mussels in zucchini blossoms
and tempura fry 'em.
Squash blossoms aren't
something I use a lot,
but they have the ability
to house flavor really well.
All right, guys,
How you feel
about this timing?
It's getting crunchy.
What are you going with, man?
Like a mussel larb.
I don't think larb is
the first thought anyone has
when thinking of mussels.
Typically it's done
with ground meat,
but I'll be able to make
the flavors balance out.
I'm gonna just steam 'em with
some beef juice, reduce that
down with some coconut milk,
see what that gets us.
Thirty minutes is tough.
Twenty minutes,
it's like, come on, man.
You have no time to think.
You have to just do.
I think the sweetness
of the beets with the spices
blends well with mussels.
I love cooking 'em over fires.
See if I got time to do that.
Shuai,
what are you doing?
Just making
a temporary wok station.
The wok station is
looking pretty good.
Throwing in some
of this andouille in there.
Aromatics of ginger,
scallion, bird's eye chilies.
A lot of Chinese cooking,
especially stuff that I learned
cooking with my mom
and my grandma,
it doesn't need
a lot of ingredients.
You have tons of flavor and
layers of depth in that dish.
Coming in hot, this pan.
Trying to avoid the traditional
steaming as much as possible.
I'm cooking the mussels
in a nest of herbs.
They're gonna pick up
that natural perfume
and infuse the way
I want them to.
Oh, my God.
Oh,
what are you doing, Massi?
Frying squash blossoms today?
Yeah. I only cook with them
a few weeks out of the year
when they come from
my mother's garden.
I see my friend Massimo is doing
zucchini blossoms as well.
This is probably more in
his wheelhouse than it is mine.
He always tends to go in
more of a classical direction.
We'll see how they compare.
Tris, what do you think now that
they're taking the Quickfires
into consideration?
Honestly, I thought that
was always the gig,
so no different for me.
Yeah, I think for me,
it just pushes me more.
-Heard.
-I'm making a little bit
of a mix that I'm gonna
fold in with the mussels.
Some olives, some capers,
roasted red peppers.
It's flavors I like,
it's punchy.
Let's see if this works out.
- Chefs, you have five minutes!
-Five!
César!
Whew! That's good.
It's getting messy.
Beets all over my hands
and all over the station.
But I have, like, no time.
Like, I gotta go.
Two minutes!
It's looking great.
Burning my hands.
This is what I envisioned.
This is my dish.
Wish I had more going on here.
Put it on the plate.
Doesn't feel like
a complete thought of a dish,
but it tastes really good.
Fifteen seconds!
Five, four, three, two, one!
Time's up, utensils down!
That was fun.
-Good job.
- All right.
Oh, okay.
Thank you.
Tell us about
your mussel dish, please.
I just made a little bit
of scallion ginger mussels.
There's Chinese cooking wine,
soy, ginger, scallion,
a little cilantro for garnish.
- Some nice heat in there.
- Mm-hmm.
- Thank you, chef.
-César, come on up.
These mussels
steamed in beet juice
and then a little bit
of coconut fat,
served with some grilled toast.
And how was it with
the 20 minutes on the clock?
- It's so crazy.
- Yeah.
Okay, Vinny.
Thank you.
I did mussels in
the style of larb.
It's dressed in just
a vinaigrette of the liquid,
and I took the mussels
and roasted them in
a bed of all these herbs,
and then just garnished with
some pickled chilies.
All right, Bailey,
tell us about your dish.
I just cooked the mussels
with onion and mezcal.
I used some of the liquor to
make a black garlic aioli,
and then a chilled apple broth.
And how long did you cook
your mussels for?
Two or three minutes.
So 20 minutes, fine?
Sure.
Tiniest little [indistinct].
This is just a PEI mussel
rolled in zucchini flower.
Underneath is a mussel emulsion,
and then there's just a little
zucchini salad on top of it,
also dressed with
a little bit of mussel juice.
Have you ever made
anything like this before?
No.
Just curious.
All right, Lana,
explain what you made for us.
Mussel toast,
inspired by an Italian sub.
There's a garlic mussel
juice aioli,
coppa, mustard, olives,
and some capers.
I think mussels,
especially ones from PEI,
can be really creamy
and luscious, and I think
- it would be a nice pairing.
- Mm-hmm.
-All right, Massimo.
-All right.
Explain to us
what you made.
A smoked mussel sandwich
with tomato emulsion
and, of course,
zucchini blossoms.
So why did you go
with the zucchini blossom
- on this one?
- I thought it would be clever.
Apparently
I wasn't the only one.
Ilona, how do you think
our chefs did overall
with their mussel
Quickfire Challenge?
I liked that some played on
the sweetness of the mussel,
and some worked with
some of that umami,
so it was really interesting.
I think they definitely
flexed their culinary "mussels."
They sure did, Tom.
I love it when you do Dad Tom.
Let's start with
some good news this time.
Ilona, who had one
of our favorite dishes?
I really enjoyed Lana's dish.
There was a real wonderful
intensity of brininess.
- Thank you.
- What I loved about it is
this idea that you start with
an Italian sub and delivered it.
A little caper, a little
vinegar, a little tomato.
Who doesn't like an Italian sub?
Exactly.
Gail, who else had
one of our favorite dishes?
- Vinny.
- Oh!
I love that you had
this idea of larb.
It was perfectly easy
to eat on that endive.
I thought it really worked.
We asked for something
different and unique,
and you delivered on that.
Tom, who else had
one of our favorite dishes?
Tristen's.
It was crispy, as advertised.
The mussel was nice
and juicy and plump.
Also, I love the fact
that you took the mussel juice
and turned it into an emulsion,
a vinaigrette.
- Real good use of product.
- Yeah. Thank you.
And we also had
another favorite.
- That was Shuai's.
- Oh.
Flavor-wise,
I thought it was fantastic.
You packed a ton of flavor
into that broth.
- Thank you, chef.
- All right, Ilona,
who "musseled" their way to the
top of this Quickfire Challenge?
A dish that was full of that
briny, delicious ocean flavor
that I would love
to have again and again is...
Lana.
Congratulations, Lana!
You just won $10,000
in Quickfire Quick Cash.
- Whoa!
-First Quickfire win.
-Yeah.
-Congrats.
-Thank you.
- How much money so far?
- 25K all day.
-There you go.
A tiny little bite like that
really just won me
$10,000 in 20 minutes.
I feel very proud,
and it will account into
my Elimination Challenge.
It's definitely a good day
to have a good day.
That means, unfortunately,
César, Massimo, and Bailey
you had
our least favorite dishes.
César, we'll start with you.
The sweetness in
the coconut and the beet
really helped out the mussels.
It just felt a little bit flat.
It needed a little
something more to it.
Massimo. Good idea.
Unfortunately, there was
another zucchini blossom
that was a little better.
Also,
when we talk about mussels,
you wanna evoke
that flavor of the ocean,
and the seasoning was
a little bit missing.
Bailey, the cook of your mussels
was quite beautiful.
It just felt a bit incomplete,
like you didn't have time
to fully give us
- what you had envisioned.
- Yeah.
Ilona, thank you very much
for being with us
and bringing
your beautiful mussels.
Thank you so much for having me.
It was a wonderful time.
Thank you.
Tom and Gail,
I'll see you guys later.
Everyone out of here.
-Bye.
- Go.
You all flexed your "mussels"
really well,
but on the next
Elimination Challenge,
you might find the mission
slightly impossible.
- Huh?
- Ha-ha.
Just give me one second,
and I'll be right back.
- Oh!
- Oh, jeez.
Is this--
is this poisonous?
What?
Laser.
Maybe it's finally time
for the Top Chefrave
that we've all been waiting for.
Guys, we need an adult.
Oh, my God.
-Watch the lasers!
-Watch the lasers!
In heels, too. In heels.
What the hell just happened?
What's up, chefs? It's your boy
Greg Tarzan Davis here
fromMission Impossible,
and your mission,
should you choose to accept it,
is to create a dish
that delivers on
that impossible mission
intensity
- and features a stunt.
- What?
Not only will you be
taking a culinary leap,
but each of you will be given
a chance to perform a real-life,
heart-pounding stunt
if you want to make
- the best dish possible.
- Dope.
In aMission Impossible movie,
we do our own stunts,
a lot of 'em, and I can tell you
from experience, it's not easy.
So,
if you're feeling brave enough
to put it all on the line, there
are two advantages up for grabs.
Kristen will fill you in
on the rest of the details.
I can't wait
to meet you all tomorrow
and taste what you come up with.
Good luck, chefs.
This message will
self-destruct in five seconds.
As Tarzan just mentioned,
for this Elimination Challenge,
we wanna see
your stunts on a plate.
I did not dream
of being a superhero spy.
I dreamt of being a chef, and
I'd like to stay in that lane.
The literal definition
of a stunt is
an unusual or difficult feat
requiring great skill or daring.
Oh, lord. Okay.
A stunt on a plate?
I feel like all my food
is so straightforward.
No stunts involved. You know,
no animals harmed in the mak--
Well, actually,
some animals harmed, right?
All right,
and now for the fun part.
Like Tarzan mentioned, there
are two advantages available,
and they both entail
braving the Edgewalk
of the CN Tower here in Toronto.
Does anyone not like heights?
Depends on the type of height.
I'm not
afraid of heights.
- I'm afraid of falling.
- Yeah.
I wouldn't say
scared of heights.
I'm not scared of heights.
I'm not scared of anything.
But I'm uncomfortable.
The EdgeWalk stands
I'm uncomfortable in situations
where there's a bit of height.
For those that complete
the full 360 walk
around the edge
will receive an advantage.
And those of you
who decide to up the ante,
that perform the lean forward
and the lean back
on the edge stunt,
will get a second advantage.
So who thinks that
they want to do it?
- YOLO.
- Everyone! Yes!
Once that's all done, everyone
will head to Whole Foods Market,
where you're gonna have
The next day you'll have
two hours to cook and serve.
Your guest judges will include
actor and self-proclaimed foodie
Greg Tarzan Davis,
who you just met on the screen,
two-time Top Chefwinner,
- Buddha Lo.
- Wow.
As well as chefs
Patrick Kriss...
- Ooh!
- ...and Binit Pandey,
the executive chef at the
gorgeous sky-high restaurant,
Aera at The Well.
You wanna win this one,
because there's $10,000
up for grabs for the winner.
Have fun.
You'll be just fine.
It's very safe.
Good luck,
and we'll see you tomorrow.
- Thank you.
- Thank you.
- All right, here we go.
- Here we go!
This is gonna suck.
We're gonna be
up there in a second.
Cool, cool.
Cool, cool, cool.
It looks a lot higher
when you walk closer.
I'm so scared!
I'm amping myself up.
This is no problem. I got this.
Let's do it.
This is the quietest
I've ever heard Massimo,
and the peace is
actually quite nice.
-Oh, my God.
-Holy sh--.
Oh. Oh.
Massimo,
get away from the window.
Don't look down,
Massimo.
Okay, Bailey.
Come on out.
Okay! [squeals] Got it.
Ahh!
You realize you're safe,
so I feel super invigorated.
Oh, my gosh.
I'm focused on my rope
and my little steps.
Welcome to the EdgeWalk!
How we feeling?
We are currently
Now, if anyone's already feeling
extra spicy out here,
why don't we take a look down?
-Nope. Not feeling spicy.
-Whoo!
Feeling
actually pretty bland.
Let's go. Let's pick it up,
let's pick it up.
Shall we go
on a little walk?
This is fun.
I am not having fun.
Patrick Kriss. Patrick Kriss.
I have to do this.
I'm cooking for Patrick Kriss.
He's a big deal.
I need an advantage.
Oh, my God.
Chefs walking!
All that sense of fear
is kind of gone,
and you're just, like--
you can't believe this view.
Now that we have made it
to a new side of the tower,
I think we're ready to keep
going with another challenge.
Bailey, show us how it's done.
- Go, Bailey!
-Yeah, Bailey!
I did not do well
in the Quickfire,
so I really want this advantage.
There is no way that
I am not doing this.
You got it. Now, Massimo,
you wanna give it a go?
Push your black rope out.
Slowly lean into it till all of
that weight is on your shoulder.
Jesus Christ!
Okay, Massimo.
Lean into it
till all of that weight
is on your shoulder.
Jesus Christ!
You got it, Massimo?
That's-- that's what I'm doing.
I leaned in.
If that doesn't pass...
I have children to think about.
I'm not----ing hanging off
a cord on the CN Tower.
César?
You got it.
There you go.
Whoo!
Lana, you wanna give it a go?
Oh, girl,
I don't know about that.
Nope. I'm sorry. I'm scared.
I don't think
that I would be able
to hang with
the Mission Impossiblecrew.
I almost can't even watch
the other chefs
'cause I'm so scared for them.
We've done our lean forwards.
Now let's do this lean back!
The rope holds,
like, thousands of pounds,
but you know your brain's not
letting you go off that rope.
Shuai, put it here.
There you go!
High-five.
Whoo!
Has everyone had a chance
to take a look up yet?
I wish I would've
got the 30 minutes,
but the stunt
I am about to achieve
will be even more incredible
within the time frame.
Big congrats for
completing the EdgeWalk.
Those who did the lean back
and the lean forward,
congrats on your extra
Congrats, guys.
And for those of you who just
completed the EdgeWalk with me,
which is all of you,
here is another advantage.
Yay!
"For completing the full circle
on the EdgeWalk,
"each of you have earned $75
extra towards a specialty shop."
Exciting. I wanna go down.
All you, boo-boo, all you.
All right,
let's go, let's go.
How we feeling for today?
I wish I had half an hour more,
but $75 will go a long way.
What'd you settle on, Massimo?
I like cooking
proteins and pastry,
so I decide to make
a fish en croute.
That is absolutely impossible
to do within two hours.
This is me pulling a stunt.
I have to make my dough,
then I have to cure my salmon,
I have to make the mousseline.
My mom, she has, like,
a crippling fear of heights.
She wouldn't have even gone up.
The older I get,
the more I'm turning into her.
My mom's awesome. She's always
pushed me to be my best,
and I've always ate good
growing up, that's for sure.
I'm excited to see
what kind of seafood they have.
When my mom fries fish,
she fries whiting.
- I love a good whiting.
-I've been thinking about
doing this dish
that's like a fish mosaic.
I just wanna bring the flavors
of fried fish to something
that doesn't look like that.
So the stunt is illusion.
Oh, my God, look at this store!
It's got mice on it.
Oh, that's cute. Honestly.
Here's the seafood place.
Amazing.
- Thank you.
-Let's go.
You don't have, like,
sable or anything?
There's rockfish.
-Beautiful.
-Tell me about the char.
So the char is from
Cambridge Bay, Nunavut.
It's 100% indigenous fish.
Let's do
a pound and a half.
- Let's see the steelhead.
- That's be $82.80.
Can I say that I'm... hooked?
Ooh, it's cute.
Hello.
Oh, wow.
Feels good in here.
Oh, yes, please.
What are you
looking for over there?
I'm looking for a duck
for my turducken.
Traditionally, turducken,
you shove a duck in the turkey,
and then you shove a chicken
in the duck in the turkey.
So tur-duck-en.
Nothing trashier
than a turducken
on Thanksgiving, which I love.
Let's see. So I have...
Gluing meat together.
It's risky, it's dangerous.
It's a stunt, right?
So we're here for it.
You can't get this at all
in the States anymore.
I think that's stracchino.
You have everything I want here.
Oh, my God. I'm never leaving.
I'm worried I'm gonna
have to pry her fingers
off of that cheese counter.
What's the cheese for?
So I'm gonna make sort of
like a crespelle lasagna
that looks like a tiramisu.
-Awesome.
- I know!
I'm doing a tartare.
What do you think,
striploin or tenderloin?
Tenderloin.
Nice and tender and very lean.
- You're at 73.
- Okay.
Come on down.
-Hell yeah, brother.
-That was awesome.
All right,
to Whole Foods we go.
Excuse us. I'm so sorry.
A lot of running.
Oh, [indistinct]. I like that.
- Tristen, what you grabbing?
-Chicken wings.
I would appreciate if
they were just the flat ones.
I'm having a hard time
kind of conceptualizing this.
I just know I want to do some
sort of stuffed chicken wing
with sausage, but I'm really
trying to think through my stunt
and the best way
of delivering it.
It's a cool challenge,
if there was a touch
more time to conceptualize it.
Five minutes.
Did you find
everything that you need?
More than everything.
-$200 on the dot.
- Talk about my budget!
- Whoo!
- Whoo!
- Whole Food drift.
- Thank you!
Boop, boop, boop, boop, boop.
Ha-ha! You guys ready?
Oh, yeah, chef.
Massimo,
don't burn down this restaurant.
- And we're off.
-Let's go.
-We're going.
- I'm so strong.
How you feeling
about your stunt?
My stunt is that it's gonna look
like you're eating a tiramisu,
but instead,
it is going to be savory crepes.
Oh, nice.
Hey, Lana Banana.
- Hi.
- What are you working on?
I'm doing a fish torchon.
And hopefully it's gonna taste
like my mom's fried fish.
Not having an extra 30 minutes
and serving first,
what I need to focus on is
getting my fish
into the seasoning mix...
Oh, yes, it's a little browned.
Hell yeah.
...rolled in torchons
and into the sous vide.
That's paramount.
Oh! Nice. Ahh!
It was giving
Mission Impossible.
Massi, what are you working on?
I'm getting started
on my pastry dough.
That usually takes about
With my fish en croute,
I do not have any time to lose.
What are you gonna do
to make sure your dough's ready?
I'm gonna roll it out a
little bit and chill it in ice.
A freezer will freeze the dough,
and putting it in a fridge,
it won't be ready in time.
Big, big deal.
I have to be surgically precise.
One misstep will
affect the whole dish.
A lot of pressure.
Vinny, how are you doing, chef?
Doing good.
Chugging along here.
I was doing good.
I'm pretty
excited for this challenge.
I love to be playful with food.
I'm going to set up the smoking
g*n so we can do some theatrics.
I'm not necessarily
more comfortable than some
elimination challenges,
but still not quite there,
that's for sure.
Lana, how's your
terrines rolling up?
They're rolling up.
They're quite thin,
but they look cute.
If I can just get them
cooked off and sliced.
I think it'll be alright.
- What are you making, César?
- Artic char.
It's going to be
a tartare of that
with a turmeric custard
and a fish tuile.
Artic char with a custard,
I think is
an interesting combination.
I'm making a miniature CN Tower.
I have this idea of
plating my dish in a tall glass
and I could represent CN Tower
and like,
you're breaking into it,
shatter the glass which
is going to be a fish tuile.
You're going
to rescue the arctic char.
It's mission impossible.
Shuai, what
is your stunt for today?
Serving turducken that's
not traditional turducken.
Chicken comes with bones,
then you gotta take it out.
If you ever had turducken
it's all overcooked.
Having to
pull that out perfectly,
that's seemingly impossible.
I am now starting to glue
all the poultry back together
into a Frankenstein poultry.
This should work.
I'm doing my stuff on emulsion.
Tristen, what are you
working on with your chicken?
Very meticulous task
of deboning chicken wings.
I want to give these
a Viet-cajun spin to it.
I finally come up with
an idea for this stunt
based on Mission Impossible.
When someone pumped their arm
full of
a virus to transport it.
All right, that's going
to have to be enough.
I'm stuffing the chicken wings
with a virus of chicken mousse.
They only have 30 seconds to go
through an obstacle
to get the antidote,
which is the sauce,
before it becomes too cold.
I don't always like to
use prime cuts of things.
I grew up on chicken wings
and other parts,
so I like to kind
of show that part of it.
It might crumble.
Oh no, she's kind of wet.
Normally my mom batters the fish
in like a cornmeal fish fry.
I want to bring that textural
component into the dish,
but it's not crisping up.
My ratio is off.
I feel like this just needs
to cook off, the butter, no?
Did you put
too much butter?
I thought I didn't.
I put almost one to one to one,
which is
what I usually do for crumble.
It won't say fish fry if there's
no crunchy element to it.
Ow, my hand.
Why, why, why?
Anyone seen the paper towels?
Not my best work.
I'm worried because I don't
think my crumble is going to get
crumbly because I put
too much butter inside of it.
- César?
- Yes?
Do you think if I add
some tapioca maltodextrin
to this,
- it'll crumble it up?
-Is it fat?
-There's butter in here.
-Yes.
Yes! I love César.
César fan club!
This is to resemble
laser beams, if you will.
I dyed it green with herbs.
There's always laser beams,
and people have to dodge them.
For my stunt,
these breadstick lasers are
going to sit on top of the bowl,
and then they're going to have
to reach through the laser
beams to get the golden key.
After they get the key,
then they can break the lasers
over the tartar and enjoy.
I don't know where the
this idea came from.
And now you're just
going to take those and make
beet puree, right?
That would
be the three-star way.
How's your crepes,
Bailey?
They're cute.
How's your trout on croute?
Coming along,
coming along, coming along.
Normally,
when I cook this size,
it takes about
half an hour to cook.
I'm shaking.
With 32 minutes, I get
the fish en croute in the oven,
which means I'm going to be
carving at the very last second.
Massi, we're 30 out.
You good?
Nervous.
Nice view.
- Yeah, it's a great view.
-Wow.
Binit, thank you
so much for having all of us.
Fantastic setting.
I have a feeling,
Tarzan, you're going to be
looking out my left, just
wanting to jump off something.
I am tempted.
Tom Cruise put that
adrenaline bug in me.
I kind of want to
jump right now.
Yeah.
In honor of Mission Impossible
and you being here,
we wanted a stunt
along with every dish.
Buddha, what would you do?
This is tailor-made for you.
I've always had this envision
of making a floating island.
The dream was that the meringue
actually floats with helium.
I will say, y'all pantry
looks way different from mine.
I'm doing
a seafood boil style sauce.
I'm going to
represent the south.
Lana, what you doing
with your little cutie things?
I'm trying to fill my hearts.
I guess that's what
we're all looking for.
I thought heart-shaped pipettes
so it looks super cute
because this is
a dish for my mom.
What's that
you're filling it with?
One's going to be hot
sauce and the other one's
going to be c*ck sauce.
- Giving fish basket vibes.
-Oh, all right.
So, I'm doing bechamel in
between my layers right now.
The crepes are going
to be layered like lasagna.
Actually, this one first.
I'm happy because
I know that it's going to
support the structure.
I don't know if this
is going to look like
a tiramisu, but whatever.
This is much better.
Let's see...
The custard,
it's nice and rich and sweet.
The turmeric gives it
a really beautiful yellow color.
To kind of balance a little bit
of that sweetness
from the custard, I'm doing
a dill and cilantro salsa.
Keeping it bright,
keeping it acidic.
- 28 minutes!
-Oh my god.
This is so ridiculous,
I love it.
The trickiest part about this,
after it's all been
seasoned and dusted,
is rolling a super tight
tube of meat.
I know it all sounds
really gross but it's
going to taste good.
-Jesus Christ, Shuai.
-Big boys.
I slice my torchons into rounds.
It looks dope man. Oh, my God.
Getting that
beautiful mosaic that I worked
so hard to achieve.
So cute.
The cornmeal is crunchy.
We're not there yet,
but we're almost there.
I want the crust
to be really crispy and
beautiful golden brown.
I want the fish inside
the pastry to be rosé.
Three minutes.
How's it looking? Good?
Here comes the slice.
Right at the end.
All right!
We're set up
for success over here.
First slice,
absolutely perfect.
How much time's left?
One minute, 30 seconds.
Back, back,
back, back, back.
Now is go time.
Looks good, we're good.
Oh man, that was a hard one.
-Hello.
- Hi, hello.
Massimo,
tell us about what you made
for us and what the stunt is.
Kind of went with more
of a literal sense of a stunt.
So, I decided to cook
you a trout en croute.
There's a huge variable
of success that is out of
your control when you
cook a protein in pastry.
The dough was made today.
A emulsion with saffron
and fondue tomate.
- Louis the XV.
-I love this guy.
My favorite of the Louis's.
- I love you.
-Thank you.
Bon appétit guys.
Lana, can you tell us about
your dish and your stunt?
You got to follow up to that?
-I-- You know what?
-They're used to it.
Yeah, we're used to it.
I am trying to recreate
my mom's fried fish basket.
So, it's a torchon of fish.
The sauces are like
choose your own adventure.
One's a hot sauce.
The other one is
a c*ck gelée.
On the side is tartar
sauce hollandaise and
a cornmeal crumble.
So, the stunt
would be like illusion.
The idea is when
you eat it all together,
it's supposed to taste
like my mom's fried fish.
- All right. Thank you chefs.
-Thank you.
Thank you.
Buddha, if I remember correctly,
you've made a lot of en croute.
- How was Massimo's?
- I thought it was fantastic.
Two hours to make pastry,
bake it, fill it up.
- I mean, kudos to him.
- I think it's ex*cuted great.
I think it's seasoned well.
It's very tasty.
Is it a big stunt?
No, but it's a big risk.
First take. You don't
go back and do this again.
Ran out of time.
The sun is going down.
You got to get the shot.
- You got the shot.
-Only one shot.
Mission accomplished.
-Feel good about it?
- Yeah.
Tarzan, let's start
with you on Lana's dish.
I love the heart behind it.
No pun intended.
It really brought me
back to New Orleans and
the thought about
my mom's fried food,
and it just didn't
hit the mark for me.
For me, it was this
fried pile of cornmeal.
It tasted raw.
Yeah,
the crumble was a big no.
The seasoning was good,
but I never got what
she wanted to execute.
She tried to
deconstruct her fried food,
and the fried part didn't work.
You know, it tasted like
my mom's fried fish sandwich.
Oh, yeah?
Remember how we said we were
going to make it small and cute?
Well, that didn't happen.
Gotta see if I can
get them to look
like the CN Tower.
Five minutes, César.
I feel like I should cut them
smaller, but [bleep] it.
César, all of his dishes
are so dainty and beautiful,
and then I've got this,
like, thick slice of tiramisu,
but I think
they look super cute.
So, I hope
the judges feel the same.
- Is that your fish tuile?
-Yep.
These tuiles
are cooking quickly.
Some of them are burning.
Too hot, too hot, too hot.
So I have to, like, pivot.
I grab some nonstick pans,
and I'm just going
to have to
do these individually.
One minute and 22 seconds.
The tuile, can't rush it,
but I also need to rush it.
And end.
I'm pretty pissed at myself.
The tuiles look sloppy.
I wanted to take more time
on the shape and, you know,
make them beautiful,
but time got away from me.
-Thank you.
- Oh, wow.
Now, I think this is
tickling my fancy.
I was like, ooh.
Wait, is this not dessert?
I think that's the trick.
I think it's supposed to
look like dessert, but it's not.
Bailey, tell us about what
you made, and your stunt.
So, I made tiramisu fugazi.
So I made a porcini crespelle,
a norcina sausage bolognese,
bechamel layered in with just a
little bit of truffle, and then
a finishing olive oil powder
to look like the powdered sugar.
-César?
- This is a miniature CN Tower.
So, your mission is to
break into it through the
fish tuile that's on top.
Inside you'll find arctic char.
Your secret weapon
is going to be sauce.
So make sure to grab one.
The arctic char is surrounded
by a turmeric custard.
What's the sweet taste in this?
A little bit of romaine
jam, and then there's a little
- sweetness in the custard.
- Ah, okay.
- Thanks, all.
-Thank you.
Patrick, how are you
finding Bailey's dish?
My first bite,
I thought it was quite tasty.
I thought it was seasoned well.
It is very satisfying
in terms of that rich,
umami meatiness.
Crepes are a little thick
and doughy, but I love the idea
of serving us a savory dish
that looks like dessert.
I feel deceived, though.
- Betrayed?
- Yeah. Yeah.
Martine, are you enjoying
the sweetness of César's dish?
The oil from the
tuile melt with the custard
don't bring everything together.
The fish was
handled really nicely.
Presentation was great,
but it needed some acidity
- to cut through that sweetness.
- Yeah.
I'm finding the tuile
to be somewhat burnt.
And mine's
inconsistently cooked.
I'm a big sweet person,
so when I taste the sweet,
I was like, hmm.
And the fish was good,
but together, I don't know.
You prefer your sweets
after the fish course.
Yes, exactly.
Yours looked really cute,
- though, too.
- Yeah, I like the colors.
I did have a different
idea of what these stunts
were going to look like.
Hopefully, somebody has, like,
the sparklers in their next food
so I can at least say,
whoa, there's some danger.
Watch out.
This is to resemble
the laser beams, if you will.
Did I think I'd be
making laser beams out
of crostini breadsticks
- on Top Chef?
- No.
But always something different,
so here I am making lasers.
Going to deep
fry my chicken wings.
- Time?
-Seven minutes.
Preplating the beef
tartare and putting little
pockets of foie
gras mousse inside of it.
Oh, yeah, that's great.
Duck is like a nice medium.
Mousse is cooked through,
chicken is cooked through.
-It does look good.
-Thank you.
How are your
chicken wings, chef?
They look good.
Cooked through and very small
compared to yours.
- Time?
-3:20.
I'm decanting my sauce into
my pitchers and I am placing
the dry ice into my Dutch oven,
which will create a mist.
All right, guys,
I use dry ice for presentations
every once in a while,
but timing on
it can be really finicky.
Five, four, three, two, one.
Thank you.
-Smells good.
-Pretty.
- Excuse my reach, here.
- Yeah, yeah, yeah.
I feel like this is going
to self-destruct any second now.
- Vinny.
-Okay, here we go.
All right, judges, for your
mission today, you need to try
and extract the key
out of the lasers...
Oh, they're lasers.
...while the smoke is going.
I got the key.
Once you acquire the key
and get through the lasers,
it is a beef tartare
with marinated beets on top,
the flavors of harissa,
and preserved Meyer lemon,
with a little bit of
foie gras mousse inside.
-Shuai?
- I'm sticking with my trashy
fantasy theme this
whole entire season.
I made a turducken.
So it's chicken with
a turkey mousse and then
a duck breast in the middle.
There's a whipped
potato and leek underneath it
with chicken gravy.
On the side is
buttered peas and carrots.
- Tristen?
- So this is Chicken Impossible.
Chicken wing stuffed
with a virus of crab and
andouille sausage
and a chicken mousse.
You need to
pour the antidote on it.
You have 30 seconds
to get the stuff out or else
your sauce
will get too cold.
It's frozen.
I think
I already have it.
Well,
you have 30 seconds.
There we go.
- Thanks, Tristen.
-We failed.
The antidote,
it's an Americane flavored
like the
Viet-cajun seafood boil.
- Thank you, chefs.
- Sorry.
Mine's completely frozen.
- Vinny's-- It's frozen.
-It's totally frozen.
Vinny's is totally frozen.
The mission was to make
the ice pop out of raw beef.
Awesome. Nailed it.
The only thing
I got is foie gras.
My initial bite was a little
bit of mousse and that was it.
I ate it
before it got frozen.
Some acidity in the
pickled vegetables on the top.
Tartare was fine,
the foie gras mousse was fine.
But in terms of the story,
I was blown away.
The key, the lasers...
If he levitated
away from the dry ice,
it could be a very interesting
dish that we were looking for.
I would like to eat it.
Here.
It's totally rock solid.
Oh, no, no.
Martine, how are you
finding Shuai's dish?
He had a nice crispy texture,
but I would love more
of the veg for
the portion of the meat.
The turducken
is well constructed.
ex*cuted in two hours,
it's pretty good,
but I don't really
know what the stunt is.
The stunt wasn't there
for the audience, so.
It's not much of a stretch.
Anyone wants a slice
of turducken, there's plenty.
Buddha, did you like Tristen's
version of his
Houston crab boil?
It was tasty,
textural, well-seasoned.
The dish, out of point
of view, it was delicious.
I thought the sauce was
the best thing we ate today.
- It was like restaurant-ready.
- Yeah.
There's a lot of smokiness,
there's a lot of
Vietnamese herbaceous notes.
Flavor-wise,
I thought it was the best dish.
But then his trick,
he couldn't pull it off.
I think if we
gave him a take two,
- he would've did better.
- Yeah.
My sauce froze in my
little presentation, but...
Whoa!
We did have some good,
- tasty bites of food.
- We got some tasty food,
just a lot of stuff didn't
really fit the challenge.
There are only really
a couple standout dishes,
and the Quickfires
are going to come into play.
Binit, thank you for having us.
Beautiful restaurant.
Martine, Patrick,
thank you for being here.
- Thank you.
- Thanks for having us.
The rest of us should
all jump off the building.
To judges table.
- Don't forget the parachute.
- Safety first.
Tristen, Bailey,
and Massimo, please stay here.
The rest of
you can move to the side.
The three of you
are standing here
because you had our
favorite dishes of the day.
- Congratulations.
-Yay.
Massimo,
I've done wellingtons before
inside the Top Chefkitchen.
It's definitely
a very hard thing to do,
and I thought you
did extremely well.
When you said that
you made your own dough,
I almost fell off my chair.
This was me running
through a wall for you.
Was the dough the first
thing you started to make?
Yeah. I ended up putting it
sous vide, rolling it out,
- and chilling it in ice water.
- Clever.
The dough is the
magic in that dish.
Thank you.
It means the world.
Bailey, did your dish
turn out how you wanted it?
I was very happy with it.
Your dish was so satisfying.
Rich and heavy in
all the really great ways.
It was just the savory b*mb
that you expected it to be.
- Thank you.
-When it came out,
it almost felt like
it was a stunt double.
Stunt.
I don't trust you
anymore because I kept
seeing the tiramisu,
but once I got past it,
I had to say, listen,
you're not eating sweets.
The dish itself
was really good to eat.
Thank you.
Tristen,
could you tell us a little
bit more about how
you came up with that dish?
There was a Mission Impossible
where there was a virus
and the only way to transport
the virus was within themselves.
I feel like the stunts in
Mission Impossibleare always
so fiddly work,
so I wanted to add
my technique that
I've learned growing up.
And then I just wanted to
put you guys on the clock like
you put me on the
clock all the time.
I really enjoyed
the flavors that you had.
Hearing more about the story,
that's really cool.
Thank you. That means a lot.
The flavors
were absolutely delicious.
The sauce was beautiful.
In fact,
Patrick thought the sauce
was the best
thing he tasted all day.
Thank you.
Tarzan and Buddha,
as our guest judges,
you get to announce our winner.
The winning chef today
took a risk and gave us
a delicious dish.
And the winner is...
Massimo.
Thank you, guys.
Thank you.
In hockey,
they say you gotta learn
how to lose
before you learn how to win.
And the competition started off,
I wasn't getting
the success I wanted.
I fell at the bottom
a few times, and now...
I'm on cloud nine.
Massimo, congratulations.
You just won $10,000
and two tickets for you
and a guest to go to
the premiere of the new
Mission Impossiblemovie,
courtesy of Paramount Pictures.
Cool. Thank you so much.
We'll be
sitting next to each other.
Awesome.
All right, chefs, the three
of you can step to the side.
Thank you very much.
Lana, Vinny, and César,
please step forward.
Chefs, the three of you
had our least favorite dishes of
the day, and one of
you will be eliminated.
Lana, let's start with you.
What was in the crumble?
I made a crumble
with AP, cornmeal,
the spice blend,
some butter,
and then
I cooked that down,
and I folded in a little
bit of maltodextrin to
give it that powdery
kind of look to it.
When you say you cooked
that down, in a sauté pan?
No, I put it in the oven.
I baked it.
The big problem is that
the cornmeal never
- became hydrated at all.
- Okay.
Felt like the cornmeal was
a bit dry and crunchy-sandy.
It was just
that connection between
the fish and the fry
that I really couldn't get
because they were
texturally off for me.
Totally.
Vinny,
how'd the day go for you?
The day went well overall,
but I think timing was a little
frustrating on my end.
I slowly saw the tartare
start to freeze in front of you.
How long was
the dish on the dry ice?
Dry ice can freeze a thin
layer of raw beef in 10 seconds.
I enjoyed it,
the smoke and everything.
That was so cool.
But oftentimes in movies,
we just have the big
action stuff,
and there's like
nothing behind it.
I feel like that's what
happened in this situation
where he couldn't eat the dish.
César, are you surprised
to be standing here?
My storytelling
didn't do so well.
César, if you came to the
table and said your stunt was to
take salmon and turn it into a
dessert, you would've nailed it.
The dish was exceedingly
sweet and the fish tuile,
it was burnt.
The dish suffered from
the need for some editing.
It was just so
many contrasting flavors.
Okay.
I felt the turmeric custard was
just a little bit
too overpowering.
Was there a specific
sort of flavor profile or
sort of cuisine
that you were looking at?
I was playing off
of fresh flavors and textures,
but I guess, yeah,
it didn't come together.
All right, chefs. We'll call
you back in a little bit.
Thank you.
- It's hard.
- Shucks.
It's hard.
I think it's my time.
-Congratulations.
-Congrats, Massimo.
Yeah. Congrats, Massimo.
- I'm scared.
- You should be fine.
You won your Quickfire.
They'll be taking
that into consideration.
We'll see.
When you look at Lana's,
outside of the cornmeal,
which was a glaring problem,
how was the rest of the dish?
The description that
we got was that she was
trying to create an illusion.
- Was no illusion.
- There was no illusion to it.
If I ate it with my eyes closed,
I would never have gotten that.
I would be upset that I spent
a lot of money for this dish.
I'm so angry with myself.
It's like running the marathon,
and then you're 10 feet
from the finish line,
and you fall flat on your face.
- And then we got frozen tartar.
- Oh, my God.
Should've served it chiseled.
Could've chiseled it out.
Honestly,
it would have been a good stunt.
When you can't actually eat a
dish, what do you do with that?
It's very hard to watch someone
make an error like that with
the dry ice because I don't feel
like he would be in the position
that he is right now if
that wasn't the take on it.
It just feels like he
was sabotaged at the end by
the evil genius who came
in and froze everything.
Being at the bottom
for the Quickfire,
I was like, I need to
make sure everything's good.
And then with the extra time,
I just, I don't know.
It sucks.
César's dish.
Overwhelmingly
sweet and confused.
- Also burnt.
- Very burnt,
although I love
the sweetness of it.
- For dessert, it's good.
- Yeah, for dessert.
But for a tartare,
it is not.
I don't see where it
was going flavor-wise,
and I don't see where
it was going stunt-wise as well.
But listen, we also have
to factor in the Quickfires.
Lana won the Quickfire
and it was excellent, her dish.
- Yeah. Great.
- Is it okay to say she's safe?
- Yeah, I think so.
- I would say so.
Vinny was in the top for his
mussel larb in the Quickfire.
Right, and then César was
on the bottom and on the bottom.
The thing that I'm
struggling with a lot is
the fact that on Top Chef,
you can serve a dish nearly
impossible to eat and
I still didn't enjoy it.
But there's two parts
to this challenge
and I think
his stunt was very good.
I completely agree.
- I think it's me.
- I think I got you beat.
-You?
- Oh, yeah.
You really don't know.
You don't know until
I'm walking out that door.
Let's get the chefs out here.
Chefs, you had to actually
conceive this stunt that clearly
pulled some people
out of their comfort zone.
For the most part you
really didn't deliver either
on the story, the stunt,
or the execution of the dish.
César, please
pack your knives and go.
Thank you.
César, you got a chance
to get back into it.
We'll see you in
Last Chance Kitchen.
- Thank you.
-Thank you, chefs.
I always try to do some
things that are outside the box,
but it didn't work out today.
Oh, [bleep].
They didn't want Vinny?
I offered him,
but they were like, nah.
The idea was there,
but it just didn't fall in line.
- Bye, Lana.
-Bye, darling.
Thank you for everything.
- Peace out, guys.
- We love you!
I'm going to fight to come back.
I've been enjoying
this whole journey and
I just want to keep going,
I want to continue.
Tonight...
Cesar's stunt dish sends
him into last chance kitchen.
What's going on?
Can he execute
a high flying comeback?
Sounds wild,
but it's good.
Watch now on Peacock
on bravotv.com.
Next time onTop Chef.
We turned our Top Chefpantry
into our very own depanneur.
You'll be fine.
Y'all got this.
We don't know
what anything is.
Knife rolls are off limits.
I'm about two slices away
from just biting it.
Oh, my God.
For your
elimination challenge,
we want you to
transport all of us
into one of Montreal's
four seasons.
The cook that gets
us into the semi-finals.
Be a chef, they said.
It'll be so fun, they said.
These are damn tedious.
-In the sh--.
- Same, chef. Same.
This stage of the game,
you want to try to wow us.
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22x09 - Cooking on the Edge
Watch/Buy Amazon Merchandise
Show features chefs competing against each other in culinary challenges.
Show features chefs competing against each other in culinary challenges.