22x11 - Calgary, Yahoo!

[bunniefuu]

KRISTEN: Previously,
on Top Chef...

Chefs, you won't be
the top six for very long.

Uh-oh.

KRISTEN: We have a new winner
of Last Chance Kitchen.

[chefs cheering]

That was the last
Last Chance Kitchen.

But whoever makes it through
this week's challenges

will be going
to Calgary, Alberta.

[dramatic music]

Guys, this is the cook that
gets us into the semifinals.

SHUAI: Potato dumpling.

Ooh! So hot.

MAN: It was magnificent,
deep, and rich.

I'll remember forever
the squash.

"Be a chef," they said.
"It'll be so fun," they said.

There's more garnish
than spätzle in here.

- [timer beeping]
- Ah, yeah, [bleep].

The consommé
really overpowered the dish.

And the winner is Shuai.

[chefs applaud]

Vinny, please pack
your knives, and go.

Six 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 & Wine Magazine,

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.

***

[energetic music]

Bye, Toronto.

What a beautiful day.

LANA: We're just all up
in Canada, aren't we?

- BAILEY: Calgary.
- MASSIMO: All right, guys.

- LANA: So exciting.
- BAILEY: It is. Yeah.

It's very rural,
but it's also a huge city.

I can't believe that
we're in the semifinals, too.

- Top six.
- It's crazy.

Oh, my God.

I'm like, I'm still here.
I'm just doing it.

Last week was rough.

I'm tired of being
in the bottom.

The fish, they were
texturally off for me.

It's, like, a spätzle dish.

And the worst part about
the dish was the spätzle.

I've been giving them some
really nice food, in my opinion.

So, I'm definitely trying
to turn it around

and I know I have that
within myself.

MASSIMO: You ready
for a Quickfire?

TRISTEN: I'm ready.

LANA: That's a fit.
It's so good.

Okay.

- Oh, my god, the fits.
- The fits are fitting.

- The hat.
- Good morning.

- CHEFS: Good morning.
- LANA: The fits. Wow.

We look good.

Welcome to Calgary.

How's it feeling
being in the semifinals?

- Pretty awesome, really.
- So good.

- Pretty good.
- Yeah.

You may have noticed we're not
in Toronto anymore.

Vibes are a little bit
different here in Calgary.

It is an incredible city
with access to nature,

great food,

and a lot of Canadian history.

Chefs, you're standing
in Calgary Olympic Plaza.

This is the site where
the medal ceremonies took place

during the Calgary


Before most of you were born.

- [laughter]
- I was born.

- I was one.
- I was negative five.

Today, this is where you start
your journey to the finals.

There are six of you now.

But after two weeks
here in Calgary,

there will be just four.

Then we're gonna head
to the finals,

to one of the homes
of the 2026 Winter Games...

Milan, Italy.

[chefs exclaiming]

And that's all thanks to our
partners at Delta Airlines.

Ah!

I need to go to Milan.

I could really show
my style of food.

Cooking with the Italian hand.

- Oh!
- SHUAI: That's cool.

Very, very exciting.

I've never been to Italy at all.

[sighs] Should I grow
a mustache?

[laughs] No,
I don't have enough time.

Chefs, please welcome
today's guest judge,

Top ChefCanada finalist,

and chef at CHARCUT
here in Calgary,

Connie DeSousa.

- BAILEY: Woo!
- Hi.

Connie DeSousa's a total badass.

I've met her before at a dinner
I wasn't invited to.

But I kinda sneaked my way in.

Hello, Chefs, I'm so excited
to have you here

in my hometown, Calgary.

Chefs, are you ready
to flip for one

of Calgary's most
iconic traditions?

- SHUAI: Uh...
- Yes.

Sure.

Every summer, the city hosts

the world's largest
outdoor rodeo,

the Calgary Stampede,

which has been taking place
since 1912.

Wow.

I live in Texas,
so this isn't my first rodeo.

They're not what
you think about.

I've seen 50 Cent at a rodeo,

seen a Beyoncé concert
at a rodeo,

There was a petting zoo
next to it. It's pretty cool.

Connie, I hear it can
attract quite the crowd.

Millions. People come
from all over the world

to enjoy the Calgary Stampede,
and, of course,

a traditional pancake breakfast.

KRISTEN: Connie, where did
that tradition start?

In the early days
of the Stampede,

one of its founders,
Guy Weadick,

and his friend, Jack Morton,

created the famous
chuckwagon races.

And to help promote
this new event,

they decided to pull
their chuckwagons

into the center of town,

and start flipping pancakes
for anyone that came by.

The tradition still
stands to this day.

Churches, restaurants,
small businesses all over town

throw their very
own pancake breakfasts.

So for today's
Quickfire Challenge,

you'll have 45 minutes to create
your very own pancake breakfast.



Why 45 minutes for pancakes?

Because you won't just
be feeding us today.

- Oh, boy.
- BAILEY: Okay.

Since a traditional
pancake breakfast

usually feeds the town,

today you'll be feeding


Hm.

Also, we don't want you
just to make a pancake,

and put some syrup on it,
and call it a day.

We're looking for something
a little more creative.

Put your own spin on it.

We want handheld pancakes.

No utensils will be used.

- Huh.
- LANA: Okay. Cool.

[Bailey laughs]

The winner will
wrangle up $10,000

- in Quickfire Quick Cash.
- Yee-haw.

- That's right.
- $10,000 pancake.

[chefs chuckling]

In the States,
we say, "yee-haw."

But in Canada, in Calgary
specifically, we say "yahoo."

Yahoo.

- Or...
- Yahoo?

Yahoooo!

CHEFS: Yeah!

Your time starts now.

[energetic music]

CÉSAR: The pressure's on.

We're feeding 50 people,
the Quickfire,

and it's still part
of your elimination.

And we're so close
to going to the finals.

Oops, sorry, mushroom.

It's getting very real,
very fast.

LANA: Are we doing the same
thing? You got corn flour, too?

- Yeah.
- LANA: Uh-oh.

SHUAI: I love pancakes.

If my wife and I
are going out for breakfast,

we always get a good,
fluffy table pancake.

- It's our thing.
- LANA: Perfect!

I have corn flour.
Do you want some?

Are we all doing the same thing?

- Are you making hoecakes?
- Yes.

BAILEY: Ah!

I hear whispers of a lot
of hoecakes being made,

and that is not
in my Rolodex of recipes.

I'm making, like,
a crespelle roll-up.

Crespelle is the Italian
version of crepe.

I'm thinking savory and sweet,

with mushrooms,
and maybe a plum syrup.

It should be fun.
Making pancakes.

MASSIMO: Pancake challenge.

I want to highlight
all the beauty

and richness of Alberta.

I'm gonna make
a smoked bacon jam

to highlight
cow person culture.

And I'm going to make
a handheld flapjack.

- Shuai.
- Hello, that's me.

- What do you got, bro?
- SHUAI: A Johnny cake.

It's like a cornmeal pancake.

Buttermilk, topped with
some scallion,

some cheddar,
some lap cheong in there.

Yum. In the South, we like
to call that a redneck taco.

- BAILEY: Yahoo!
- Yahoo!

Yahoo!

BAILEY: I'm hoping
it is very easy for diners

to pick up my pancake.

Stay tuned.

LANA: César, what did you grab?

So I'm gonna do
a cornmeal pancake.

Oh, cool, all of us
are doing this. Cool.

- Are we all doing that?
- Yeah, girl.

I'm going to do, like,
a creamed corn,

corn cake, with, like,
a sausage, and a hibiscus syrup.

I grabbed some hibiscus
that I brought from home.

Hibiscus can be a little tart.

With the peaches, I just
think that that is, like,

such a nice combination.

We're going to take
it from there.

- We're gonna see what happens.
- All right, guys, 33 minutes.

How long?
Sorry, I didn't hear that.

I'm planning to put this
on one side of the pancake.

So when you flip it,
you get this cheese layer.

To make a pancake hand-held,
you want to create

a vehicle similar
to a sandwich or taco,

where you pick it up,
nothing falls down.

Massimo, you think
you'd be a good cowboy?

I think I would be
a good cow person, yes.

[laughs] I would be
a terrible cowboy.

Look at me.
I can't survive in the wild.

I'm too soft.
See how fair my skin is?

Yeah, dog.

The key to a flapjack
is going to be the egg whites.

It's going to make it puffy,

as if you're biting from
the clouds in the heavens.

- BAILEY: Yahoo!
- Yahoo!

I think mine's more
Mario-sounding

than cowboy sounding.

- Yahoo!
- Hey, Tristen,

have you ever cooked
at a chuckwagon before?

I-- No.

I'm going to do a cachapa.

Cachapa is a Venezuelan
corn pancake,

usually filled with cheese.

I want to differentiate myself
from the other pancakes,

because I find myself to be
a product of the world.

When I was a kid,
my mom joined the military,

and that jet-set us off
to different places.

I've moved every
two years of my life.

Japan and Guam, the Philippines,

and all different corners
of the United States.

I'm gonna add, obviously,
a little bit of Afro in there,

do a Berbere chorizo.

I take all of the places
that I've had

to adapt to in my life,
and I have filtered it

through Afro-Caribbean cuisine.

We're gonna get some chilies
in there, because it's me.

LANA:
César, you a big pancake fan,

or are you more
of a waffle kind of guy?

CÉSAR: You know, I like both.

Pancakes are one
of the first things

I was cooking when I was little.

I was always up
early Saturday mornings.

I'd sneak into the kitchen,

and just start kind of
whipping up the batter,

without trying
to wake up anybody.

I love them.

It wouldn't be a nice
breakfast if you didn't have

a little sweet and savory mix.

I'm brûlée-ing the tomatoes,

kinda like barbecue ketchup.

I'm gonna top 'em
with a little bit of sugar,

and then just put 'em
on the plancha,

and caramelize.

[dramatic music]

Ooh, okay, a little too hot.

Burnt pancake is no bueno.

Too much oil on this first one.

Hey, Tristen, you ever find that
the first pancake's the bad one?

Oh, yeah, for sure.

Yo, 15 minutes
'til breakfast is up.

- Heard that.
- MASSIMO: All right.

Tester on the go. Whoops.
First one's burnt.

I don't really use a griddle.

Kinda hard to control
the temperature.

I still have to make


A little charred.

I may have to pivot.

TRISTEN: Eight minutes
'til breakfast is served.

SHUAI: Made enough mayo
for 100 people.

And we love mayo,
so we don't give a crap.

Anybody want to climb up
the tower?

Uh...

LANA: César,
how's your first bite?

It's hot.

I like how my pancakes
are cooking.

I'm just trying to get
the timing down.

I wanna cook 'em to order.

TRISTEN: That's definitely
where the hot spot is.

- Chefs, you have five minutes.
- MASSIMO: Yes, Chef!

The griddle, I'm having
a hard time

controlling the temperature.

I don't like things
I can't control.

So, I'm gonna have to pivot.

I'm gonna have to cook
my pancakes on pans.

I have everything ready,
organized, efficiently.

That means the pancakes
are gonna have to be small ones,

which, fine,
as long as they're delicious.

Yee-haw!

Oh, sorry, sorry. Yahoo!

LANA: Hey, everyone.

SHUAI: Howdy.

Yahoo!

Seven, six, five,

four, three, two, one,
time's up.

[energetic music]

SHUAI: Breakfast is served.

How's everyone doing?
Hi, there.

LANA: Little bite,
right here, for y'all.

BAILEY: I'm sorry
for the wait here.

- WOMAN: Where are you from?
- BAILEY: Chicago.

- Are y'all from here?
- Yes.

Oh, amazing.

We start to get a line,
and I'm not ready.

Time to start schmoozing.

- BAILEY: Uh, love.
- Love!

Tell me a little bit
more about Calgary,

while I try not to look
super stressed out

making crepes to order.

- Enjoy y'all.
- WOMAN: Thank you so much.

ALL: Thank you.

[patrons chatter]

- Hi, Shuai.
- Judges, how are we doing?

That's a pancake there.
Look at that.

SHUAI: I did a cornmeal pancake.

A little scallion,
also a bit of lap cheong.

A little cheddar
on the bottom as well,

to give that little crisp.

And the sauce is chili crisp
avocado aioli.

You want to just sorta
wrap it like a taco?

SHUAI: Yeah, wrap it like a taco
and just eat it like a taco.

- KRISTEN: And just go for it.
- Woo, smoking hot.

- KRISTEN: Thank you, Shuai.
- SHUAI: Thank y'all so much.

- CONNIE: Thank you.
- MAN: These are really good.

- WOMAN: Is it crispy?
- Yeah, it's super crispy.

This is delicious, Shuai.

- Hey, guys, how's it going?
- PATRONS: Good! Yeah!

- Are you guys hungry?
- Very much.

MASSIMO: I'm not super happy
with my pancakes,

so I will at least
make them feel good

with humor and hospitality.

Woof, that hasn't happened
in a while.

All right, all right, all right.

- Hi, Massimo.
- Hey, guys, how's it going?

It's great. How are you doing?

- MASSIMO: Good.
- KRISTEN: What do you have?

MASSIMO: So, buttermilk pancake.

The red sauce is grilled plums,

smoked bacon marmalade
as well, peach.

- Why so small?
- Uh...

Well, because you guys
are gonna be eating a lot.

- Oh, okay.
- You know, keep it cute.

- Please eat with your hands.
- TOM: Thank you.

Thank you, guys.
Always a pleasure.

TOM: Okay. The pancake was lost.

It's delicious, it's just
a little bit hard to eat.

- Hi, Bailey.
- Hey, Judges. How are y'all?

- Good.
- TOM: Hey, Bailey.

Is that like a whole wheat
crepe there or what do we have?

Yeah, so I actually made,
like, a buckwheat crespelle.

And then I'm filling it
with brown butter, pecan,

plum, maple syrup,
roasted mushrooms, and spinach.

KRISTEN: Beautiful.
Thank you, Bailey.

CONNIE: Thank you
very much, Bailey.

Oh, I like that.
I like the texture.

It's nice.

And I like that crepe style.

It's a bit more European
in some ways.

- It's not too heavy.
- Exactly.

I think she was first.
But I got you next, okay?

- KRISTEN: Hi, Lana.
- LANA: Hello, Judges.

- TOM: Lana.
- Ooh, you are ready to go.

So I made a creamed corn,
kind of like a hoecake.

On top is just
a little bit of sausage.

And there's some
poached peaches on top.

And the syrup
is a peach white hibiscus.

What did you think
of the hand-held piece of it?

I think that was probably
the hardest thing

- to wrap my head around.
- Mm-hmm.

- Thank you, Lana.
- LANA: Thank you very much.

The bottom was kind of soggy.

But the flavor was there.

SHUAI: Hey, Chefs,
how you doing?

Very good. How are you?

I'm doing good.

I've got XO pancake,

with some chopped basil
and some Chinese sausage,

a brûlée tomato with
some candied mushrooms.

You just eat it like a taco.

Get a little bit of everything
in one bite.

CONNIE: It's spicy.

- Great, thank you, Cesar.
- TOM: Thanks, Chef.

GAIL: Thanks so much.

- I can't pick it up at all.
- It's a little wet.

It's a bit soggy.

It was more like an omelet

than a true pancake breakfast.

- Good morning.
- How are you?

- Very good.
- TOM: Morning.

So, I did
a version of a cachapa,

basically a Venezuelan hoecake.

Stuffed with cheese,
a little bit of Berbere chorizo,

and then a charred pepper
and bacon syrup.

- GAIL: Great.
- TOM: Cool, thank you.

- Thank you, Tristen.
- Absolutely, enjoy.

It's outstanding.
The syrup with the peppers

and the bacon, it's amazing.

Wow, nice shirt.

You've gotta take me
shopping while I'm here.

My God.

- MAN: Good luck.
- Thank you, appreciate it.

Thank you.

Thank you, thank you.

How do we think our chefs did

with the pancake
Quickfire overall?

You guys really took it
out of the box today.

I was really impressed at how
creative every chef's dish was.

So, as you know, we, of course,
had a few favorites.

Bailey, I really enjoyed
your buckwheat crespelle.

It was really easy to eat,

and my favorite part
were your brown butter pecans.

Thank you.

Shuai, lots and lots of flavor.

I love that you had
the cheese on the outside,

so it kept it really crispy.

And it was a nice,
hefty portion.

I don't know how
to cook small, Chef.

[Tom chuckles]

Tristen, that roasted pepper
salsa on top was delicious.

And I also love that sweet corn
that you grated inside.

Thank you.

The chef that had our favorite
pancake today is...

- Shuai.
- Oh, my God.

KRISTEN: Congratulations, Shuai.

SHUAI: Thank you.

You just won $10,000,

courtesy of the Wells Fargo
Active Cash credit card.

- What's the total now?
- 20.

KRISTEN: 20, well done.

Oh my God, I won something else.

I'm having a bit of a streak
on top right now.

But you know, I'm not going to
get c*ck, that's for damn sure.

Unfortunately, a few dishes
did fall a little bit short.

César, I actually, I loved
the flavors of your pancake.

But there was a bit
of a disconnect between

the pancake itself,
and the tomato and basil on top.

- Massimo.
- Yeah.

I just wish it was bigger.

And I didn't think that
you needed two sauces.

They were both very acidic.

Yeah.

Lana, I thought the flavors
were pretty good,

but it was more about
the sausage,

- and less about the pancake.
- Okay.

César, Massimo, and Lana,
you're just going to have

to work that much harder going
into the elimination challenge.

Because we will be taking
into account the Quickfire.

All right, Chefs, now that
breakfast is out of the way,

it's time to beef up
the competition.

CHEFS: Oh.

To help with this next
Elimination Challenge,

please welcome your guest judge,
Chef Denia Baltzer.

[chefs applaud]

- Welcome.
- DENIA: Hi, Chefs.

I'm really excited to be
representing my nation,

the Liidlii Kue First Nations
from Northern Canada.

So you've done your own
pancake breakfast.

Now it's time to learn a little
bit more about the Stampede.

Since its inception,
the Stampede has been a place

where ranchers and First Nation
people could come together.

Today, we want you to use two
ingredients representative

of these two communities,
beef and berries.

Ooh.

CONNIE: Alberta is known
for its beef.

We are the top producers
of beef in Canada.

And berries are
an important food source

across Canada for many
First Nations communities.

TRISTEN: I wouldn't necessarily
put berries and beef together,

but I'm really excited
to do a challenge

that honors two cultures
coming together.

I mean, that is how I cook.

So, you'll all decide
amongst yourself

who's going to take
which cut of beef.

- Okay.
- And then you'll draw knives

- for the berry.
- BAILEY: Cool.

All right,
so you can all come up,

grab the card for
the beef that you want,

and grab a knife for your berry.

- Damn.
- Damn.

I'll take the cheeks.

I really wanted the beef cheeks,
but Miss Bailey

is still young and sprightly,
unlike me.

[laughs] So, I end up
picking the short rib.

And you can grab the knife.

Oh, yeah.

I choose elderberry.
I love elderberries.

Pickled, capered, macerated.

I love them in umeboshi.

They're a very,
very refined berry.

I feel like it represents me.

Whew!

- BAILEY: Saskatoon.
- LANA: Ooh.

All right, Tristen,
let's start with you.

- Flat iron.
- And what's the berry say?

- Gooseberry.
- Gooseberries are similar

in texture and taste to grapes.

- A little tart.
- Okay, César.

I got a ribeye and a chokeberry.

So chokeberries are
also known as a chokecherry.

Kind of have a lot of tannins,
so you have to prepare them.

Okay, Lana. Striploin.

- And then what's the berry?
- Haskap berry.

They're really quite sweet.

It's sort of like
an elongated blueberry.

- Yeah.
- KRISTEN: That's cool.

- TRISTEN: Trade.
- [all laughing]

Bailey?
Beef cheek and which berry?

Saskatoon.

Saskatoon traditionally
were used in pemmican.

We would dry the Saskatoons
and pound it

- with dried, smoked meat.
- Cool.

- Shuai?
- Short ribs and blackcurrants.

Blackcurrant is also bitter,
but when you prepare it,

it has a beautiful,
unique flavor.

- Okay.
- And Massimo.

Beef tenderloin
and elderberries.

Elderberries are a little sweet,

a little tart, woodsy,
with dark fruit notes.

- I love elderberries.
- KRISTEN: Yes!

I'm so excited. Can you feel it?

- Yes, we can feel it.
- [all chuckling]

Tomorrow you'll serve
the judges and guests

at Calgary's historic
landmark restaurant, Rouge.

So, today you'll have $250

and 30 minutes to shop
at the Calgary Co-op.

Shuai, as the winner of
the last Elimination Challenge,

you have three hours,

while the rest of you
have two and a half.

- Yay.
- Need that for the short ribs.

- Oh, yeah. Sure.
- TOM: It's a good advantage.

So after you shop,
you can meet me at Class Clown.

I just wanna take you for
a little bit of a treat tonight.

We're gonna hang out,
chat, have some burgers.

- Yay!
- There's no twist, I promise.

Uh-huh. Heard that before.

- [laughing]
- All right, good luck shopping,

and we'll see you
a little later.

- Thank you.
- JUDGES: Good luck.

- Good luck, chefs.
- I wanted beef cheek.

TRISTEN: I wanted
all the peasant sh--.

I'm really happy with the cut
of beef I got, flat iron,

but gooseberries have
the most amount of acidity.

I don't know if those two
necessarily go together.

I left the rich stuff
to you guys.

You know, I'm honestly nervous.

And I wanted cheek too.

[upbeat music]

- Let's do it.
- Calgary Co-Op, here we come.

TRISTEN: Beef and berries.

CÉSAR: I'm just excited
to finally cook some beef.

I was casually walking
over there, and I was gonna

- casually grab the beef cheek.
- I was like...

Out of nowhere,
it was like, "Ah!"

Flick of the wrist.

Dramatic pull up.

Let's go, guys.

***

Let me get some plums.

MASSIMO: Bailey, how you doing?

BAILEY: I'm doing so good.

Blue cheese.

Beef, blue cheese, berries,
like, makes sense to me.

This will work.

- Perfect.
- Thank you.

But blue cheese
can get overly funky,

so I wanna get
some sugar for it too.

I think that'll help balance it.

I'm gonna do a brûlée
on top of my polenta.

Look at the size of this ginger.

Guys, 20 minutes.

I have a really tart berry,
so I'm feeling to go use it

as the acid for my steak
with my version of pemmican.

Chef Denia mentions
this dish called pemmican.

It's animal fat mixed with
berries and dried meat,

kind of like beef jerky.

So, I grab some beef fat,
some local beef jerky,

some raisins
to kind of help counteract

the tartness of the gooseberry.

I've never made
a pemmican before,

but I just wanna show them
that I respect the culture.

Really showing out.

- Lana.
- LANA: Hi.

- MASSIMO: How you feeling?
- I'm gonna do a New York strip

with pommes Anna
with beef tallow.

- MASSIMO: I love it.
- You like it?

I learned how to make pommes
Anna when I was apprenticing

with Francis Mallmann
in Patagonia on his island.

And what goes better
with beef than potatoes?

CÉSAR: Ten minutes.

BAILEY: Hi, Shuai.
What are you making?

I'm definitely gonna
braise my short rib for sure.

We're still on
the blackcurrants.

It's very tart,
but I really like it.

Um...

I'll see you later.

The tart berries and
black peppers and beef

seem to be a very good
combination in my brain.

Simple, but complex.

And I feel the same way
about food from Beijing,

or at least my mom's cooking.

It just needs,
like, a few ingredients

to really let
the other parts shine.

My mom, when she braises meat,

she caramelizes sugar in oil,
makes, like, a caramel,

and then she adds everything in.

CÉSAR: Thirty seconds, everyone!

- How'd you do on budget?
- CÉSAR: It's under $250.

MASSIMO: Thank you
so much, guys.

SHUAI: All done.
Let's get out of here.

***

- Hello!
- KRISTEN: Hi!

Come on in. What's up?

Kristen takes us
out for a burger.

It's good vibes, huh?

It is so cool just to get down

and have a couple of drinks
and share some time with her.

Honestly, it's been a really,
really, really great season.

Oh, good.
That makes me feel good.

Are you all feeling okay?

Yeah, it's still
so surreal to be here.

You know, I never thought
I would be, like,

of the caliber, watching
all the seasons of chefs.

- KRISTEN: I met you.
- LANA: Yes.

I staged at Menton
way back when.

Before I went
to culinary school,

I was lucky enough to stage
at Kristen's restaurant,

and she gave me a lot
of really encouraging words.

I was, like, trying to
figure out if I wanted

to go into the field or not.

Went in. Was, like, laughably
out of my depth, you know?

But you called me back
for a second day,

I think because
I had a great attitude.

And then the second day,
you were like,

"Okay, so you're, like,
not gonna get the job."

- But--
- Oh! Sorry.

You were like, "Okay, it's just
because you need experience.

"So, you should keep going."
And I was like, "Okay."

Wow. I'm glad I wasn't a b*tch,
'cause that'd be awkward,

- wouldn't it?
- [all laughing]

LANA: It was definitely
an instrumental moment.

Kristen really kind of
helped lock it up for me

to move forward and
to really pursue cooking.

We got some super tots?

You can just spread 'em around.

LANA: Those tots are super.
Wowie.

- KRISTEN: Oh, my gosh.
- SHUAI: Got a little wrapper.

- Cheesy tots?
- CÉSAR: Okay, fine.

Guys, buon appetito.

- Oh, my God, this is amazing.
- These are so good.

You all know when you start
the competition that

- only one person is gonna win.
- Yeah.

KRISTEN: There's one piece
of advice that I would give you.

You have to have a really strong
sense of where you wanna go.

It doesn't need to
be the ten-year plan.

It just needs
to be the next step.

My goal for Top Chef
is much bigger than

something I wanna do for myself.

You forge the path for the next
person, which is why I did this.

My mentor is
Chef Marcus Samuelsson,

who won Top Chef Masters.

I think it's a rare thing
when someone gets to see

someone in TV succeeding
and then be mentored by them.

I don't think
a lot of minorities

and chefs that
look like me get that.

Marcus asked me
why I did what I did,

and I said, "So that one day
I can do what you did for me."

- Yeah. That's it.
- That's beautiful.

And I encourage you all
to continue championing those

and using the voices,

and standing on your soapbox
and your platforms.

And I think we'll all
support each other in doing it.

All right, chefs, finish
your drinks. I got the bill.

You get out of here,
get some rest,

- and we'll see you tomorrow.
- SHUAI: Thank you for dinner.

- Thank you so much.
- BAILEY: Yahoo!

- Thank you, everybody.
- Thank you, guys.

- LANA: Great burgers.
- BAILEY: Thank you.

Thank you so much for coming.

KRISTEN: Thank you for
having us. It was delicious.

- Have a good day.
- Thanks. You too.

***

All right. Wow.

- Oh, yeah. Rock and roll.
- This is a new vibe, huh?

- LANA: Very new.
- MASSIMO: Wow.

SHUAI: Yeah. Top six again.

- Top six again.
- CÉSAR: Again.

- Yay.
- This time featuring César.

Knowing that at the end
of the day tomorrow,

there's only
gonna be five of us,

I'm trying not to feel
too much anxiety.

I just need to embrace this
instead of fear it.

- Yay.
- We made it this far.

All right, guys, cheers. Salud.

- CHEFS: Cheers.
- Top six!

[tense music]

A lot of energy, a lot of focus,
guys, as always.

Mm-hmm.

We're six, eh?

That's it.
After today, only five.

One more cook
to decide the top five.

One cook closer
to being in Milano.

This is a big deal.

[upbeat music]

- It's so cute in here.
- It's so cute.

LANA: Look, oh, my God.

- Ooh! It's nice.
- MASSIMO: Ready?

- LANA: Like a real restaurant.
- BAILEY: Yahoo!

- Beef is what's for dinner.
- Beef and berries.

Beef, beef, and berries.

Coming down.
Down behind, coming down.

TRISTEN:
Shuai, what are you working on?

Trying to get
these short ribs on.

TRISTEN: Good thing you have
the extra time.

SHUAI: Everyone has
two and half hours.

I have three whole hours

because I won the last
Elimination Challenge.

That little extra time
just is perfect.

Honestly, the only time I eat
beef is when I go see my mom.

She just makes it so well. So
we're gonna stuff some cabbage

with the braised short rib,
serve it on a bed of congee,

just 'cause, I don't know.
It's congee.

Who doesn't love congee?

Come on. Come on. There we go.

All right, we're gonna start our
cooking down the elderberries.

I'm gonna be making
a little bit of an umeboshi.

It's gonna cover
the beef tenderloin.

We have Canadian beef,
wild berries.

For me as a Canadian chef,
I wanna do it justice and honor.

I'm doing a sauce
of pickled elderberries

and a berry soup
with red cabbage.

Just gonna be
a bit more of a puree.

- That's gonna be tasty.
- MASSIMO: Coming along.

BAILEY: Lana, how do you feel
about this challenge?

I think the secret
is keep it simple.

I mean,
that's always been my thing.

So, I'm gonna grill my strip,

but right now I'm making
some pommes Anna.

You know, a little meat and
potato moment, if you will.

I've never heard
of haskap berries before.

They're kind of like
a blueberry and a raspberry.

They're a little bit tart,

but there is some nice natural
sweetness to the berries.

Oh, my gosh,
this things stains everything.

I think that those flavors
will meld really nicely

with the steak
as a glaze on the beef.

Right now, I'm just
smoking my berries.

Already they're
picking up flavors.

- Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah.
- Where you at, Tristen?

TRISTEN: Just trimming these up.

Just want 'em to cook
nice and even.

First thing is I'm gonna
handle my berries and my meat.

And I know that
sounded bad, but...

Oh, my.

My berry is closer to white wine
than it is to the red wine.

With beef,
you want tannin red berries

to help cut the fat of the meat.

But gooseberries
are really acidic.

They kind of taste
like sour grapes.

Luckily, my cut isn't so fatty,

and I can lean into the
acidicness of the gooseberries.

I just wanna bring out
a little bit of the flavor

and blister the skin
before I pickle them.

Got to get my beef cheeks
going, like, yesterday,

because there's just, like,
a lot of collagen in them,

and so you have
to break them down.

I end up with Saskatoon berries.

This berry is tasting,
to me, tart,

but they're a little sweet.
They're kind of, like,

right in the middle of the road.

Trying to get a lot of liquid
out of the Saskatoons

so that I can get a braise going
for my beef cheeks.

It's a pretty dry berry.

I'm going to need to coax
the berry flavor out of them

with, like, a little bit
of pomegranate juice.

And I want
that pomegranate juice.

César, what do you have?
What are you making?

Grilled rib eye with cornbread,

chokeberries
a few different ways,

rutabaga pickles,
and a rutabaga cream.

Have you worked with
chokeberries before?

Yes, it grows in Chicago,
and I pick it all the time.

- Really?
- Yep.

I'll lay out my blanket.
Usually, you know,

I'll shake the tree,
and some will fall.

When César starts
pulling fruit out,

- that means we're ----ed.
- [César laughing]

CÉSAR: They're very, like,
astringent, though.

They're like a really,
really intense red wine.

Chokeberries are so tannic,
and they dry out your mouth.

So I'm just helping it out with
a little bit of sweetness

from the sugar with
addition of some blackberries.

Perfect.

BAILEY: I love
Himalayan pink salt.

SHUAI: Got my berry sauce.

In the broth itself,
I'm also gonna add

a bunch of the blackcurrants,
give it a little tartness.

TRISTEN: I'm making pemmican.

Coming through. Cold.
So cold, it'll be hot.

This will be
my first pemmican ever.

I feel a little nervous, but
I'm just trying to pay respect,

and any time I'm trying
to pay respect to something,

I feel a little bit
more comfortable doing it.

I nitro-ed some raisins,
beef jerky, and gooseberries

so I could get
all the same texture.

That was just liquid fat before,

and now it's bright white
and fluffy.

- MASSIMO: Wow.
- TRISTEN: Shuai, taste this.

Beef fat? That is delicious.

LANA: As usual, Tristen's
making something delicious.

TRISTEN: I mean,
it's always hard

trying to do something
for the first time.

SHUAI: I love a good bone
marrow, just how fatty it is.

Beef fat is very good.

MASSIMO: Umeboshi is like
a beautiful salted plum

with a bit of sugar,
sometimes dehydrated.

It's a semi-dehydrated puree.

I'm making basically a leather.

I'm cooking from the inspiration
of the soil, the terroir.

The classic French food
that I've been doing,

I'm leaning far away from it.

It's a total conscious decision

to show love for
the Indigenous community.

Back. Behind you.

LANA: All right,
I'm gonna start grilling these.

- CÉSAR: Damn, girl!
- LANA: Yeah.

I want a nice, thick steak
so there's a lot of leeway.

I like a thick-cut steak.
I like a big boy.

MASSIMO: How much time
you have left?

Thirty-nine minutes.
I'm just putting marks.

I need to get them seared
and glaze them.

BAILEY: Wow,
those steaks look sexy.

It's always a little delicate
dance when you cook a steak.

- How you doing, boo-boo?
- BAILEY: I'm gonna brûlée

this cheese and put it
on top of my polenta.

I want to add
the little funk and sweetness.

There's some risk in that,
but at the same time,

I love a brûléed
Gorgonzola dolce.

The stakes are
so high at this point.

There's a very small window
of mistakes you could make.

[mellow music]

KRISTEN: It's a beautiful home.

- Thank you for hosting us.
- PAUL: This is just so fun.

We're in the room the Calgary
Stampede was conceived in.

- TOM: Oh, really?
- PAUL: So the rumor is.

Well, hopefully when you look
back a century from now,

you're gonna see six chefs cook
beautiful beef and berry dishes,

and then we can add
to the history.

PAUL: Lovely.

LANA: My jus is reducing.

It's giving deceptively simple.

There's three different sauces.

I have the smoked berry jus...

Just some berry juice and honey.

...my glaze for my steak,
and then a berry condiment.

Smells like sage.

I'm a sage girl, what can I say?

So, I burn sage when
the vibe's not right.

I have sage tattooed on me, so.

I'm gonna pull the meat.

BAILEY: What are you
sh**ting for?

LANA: A little below
mid-rare is good.

- That one's good.
- Great.

LANA: Hey, Massi, how you
gonna cook that tendy? Behind.

I am going to
roast it in olive oil.

My beef tenderloin, which is
a very lean cut of meat,

has to be as fatty as possible
to be able to bear the berries.

I'm gonna rest the meat
in clarified butter.

There should be
an osmosis effect.

So, as the beef
is releasing its liquids,

it's absorbing
the liquids around it.

Hopefully, I'm gonna have
a very fatty tenderloin.

- Amen?
- LANA: Amen, brother.

CÉSAR: Pulling out
one of my sauces.

SHUAI: The short rib itself
is very rich, and this is,

like, nice and tart,
kind of breaks up that beef.

Oh, so sweaty.

Short ribs are in.
Short ribs are short ribbing.

People would be eating
very undercooked short ribs

if I didn't have
the extra 30 minutes.

LANA: Whoo-hoo. Hot.

MASSIMO: Oh,
is that pommes Anna?

LANA: They're like
mini pommes Annas.

- Bailey, can you do me a favor?
- Yeah, what do you need?

- LANA: Wipe these.
- BAILEY: Got you, sis.

LANA: Shaking, so.

The dish is really beautiful,
definitely a representation

of the simplicity
that I like to cook with.

But I'm worried that
the Quickfire also is a factor

since I was on the bottom.

BAILEY: You got this,
you got this, you got this.

- [timer beeping]
- Hi.

Thank you.

Thank you very much.

Thank you.

Thank you.

KRISTEN: Lana,
can you tell us what you made?

I wanted to keep it very simple,
meat and potatoes,

so I grilled the steak with
a haskap and honey glaze,

a little pommes Anna.

There is a condiment
of haskap berries

and a little bit of sage,
and then the sauce

is smoked haskap berry jus.

- Great, thank you, Lana.
- Thank you very much.

KRISTEN: Connie,
how do you think Lana did

with her beef and berry dish?

I really love what she did
with the sauce and smoking it.

I love the savory element

of the onion and garlic
in the condiment.

I think it paired
really nicely with the beef.

I would've maybe liked
to see more berry, though.

Just without,
like, all the aromatics

- and different things?
- DENIA: Yeah.

I actually found the sage to be
the thing that was overpowering.

I found the meat
to be over-rested.

Just cooked
way too far in advance.

JOHN: It was seasoned great,

but the potato was
a bit of a disconnect.

It was dry, it was thin.
It felt to me

- like an afterthought.
- Yeah.

How'd it go, Lana?

Always so hard to tell,
you know?

BAILEY: She hot, she hot.

César, what you working on?

I'm going to
make my cornbread mix.

It's a beef dish, so the beef
fat is also incorporated into

the cornbread, kind of, like,
up the richness of the dish.

TRISTEN: Nice, I love cornbread.

CÉSAR: Me, too.

MASSIMO: Okay,
I'm going to start plating.

I want to cut my beef
the last possible second,

because it still needs to
rest to help carry over.

- Nice.
- BAILEY: Massimo, one minute.

Oh, my God, the leather's
flying in the air.

BAILEY: You got this, okay?

MASSIMO: Oh, my God.

After cooking so well all day,
getting backed up towards

the end really sucks.

[timer beeping]

Thank you.

JOHN: Oh, thank you very much.

- Hey, guys.
- Oh, hello, Massimo.

MASSIMO: What a beautiful
sunrise this morning.

Beautiful pastel colors.

It was cotton candy sky, yeah.

I've never seen those
colors before in my life.

- Welcome to Calgary.
- Thank you so much.

We have a Alberta beef,
tenderloin.

So elderberries are very,
very versatile.

So I made an umeboshi,
which is on top.

I made a pickled elderberry
sauce, a bit of a condiment of

smoked kohlrabi,
and a berry soup puree.

Thank you, guys.

PAUL: I loved this dish.

It was really well-balanced.

It really got
my palate livened up.

I kind of think this
dish is a showstopper.

The interplay
between the berries

and the beef was fantastic.

I really like
the contrast in between having

the fruit leather on top,
and then also incorporating

the berry into the sauce,
showing the different notes.

KRISTEN: This beef was
cooked beautifully.

Just enough
finishing salt on there.

I agree.

Wow. That was intense.

Flat iron isn't,
like, a very expensive cut.

These are really thin, so I want
to char them really nicely.

There's not a lot of
room for error when it comes

to cooking flat iron.

Getting the temp on
this is really, really pivotal.

Okay, what are we at?
Five minutes.

I feel like I
accomplished a lot.

That sugar.

Maybe it's a little
too overcomplicated.

Beef cheeks are looking sexy.

Oh my God, it's so good.

But I taste everything together,

and I think
it's really delicious.

[timer beeping]

- Hi, chefs, how's it going?
- Hi, Bailey.

I really wanted to
do this braised beef cheeks

and Saskatoons.

So, I macerated a lot of those
berries with pomegranate juice.

I paired
that with creamy polenta,

brûléed blue cheese,
and roasted walnut.

Did you find
the Saskatoon needed

the addition of the pomegranate?

I thought I just
wanted a little bit,

just to pop
it a little bit more.

- Thank you, Bailey.
- Thank you.

GAIL: What do
you think of Bailey's dish?

The layers of flavor
that she managed to get

into this dish,
I'm really impressed with.

I love the nuts.
I'm a big fan of blue cheese.

But the brûlée
is throwing me off.

Why would you decide to
put pure sugar on top of it?

- That's it.
- I like the way the berry

flavor actually got
into the beef...

- GAIL: Yes.
- ...even though she kind of

cheated a little bit
with pomegranate,

but you are getting
that flavor in the beef.

The flavor of the Saskatoon
is lost in the sauce.

Once you get to this point
in the competition,

it's not just
about a great dish.

Playing into
the challenge really matters.

***

I've worked with ribeye a lot.

People are telling me
it's the best beef in Canada.

So, why mess with it too much?

Season it nicely,
just grill it nicely,

and it speaks for itself.

Getting there, getting there.

TRISTEN:
I'm going to start plating.

I am happy with all
the elements on the plate.

I am going to treat
it like a maître d' butter.

I just hope
this pemmican tastes even

close to what they can expect.

[timer beeping]

- All right.
- Phew, okay. Number four.

TOM: Gooseberries.

Thank you.

Tristen, please tell us
about your beef and berry dish.

It's Alberta flat iron
with kohlrabi and gooseberries.

Chef, you mentioned
something about pemmican.

I saw you grab it immediately.

I always try to promote
Afro-Caribbean cuisine.

So, I really like
secondary cuts.

And beef, what was
the temperature we're going for?

- Mid-rare, medium.
- Okay.

- KRISTEN: Thank you, Tristen.
- Thank you.

I think there's a ton
of flavor in this dish.

- GAIL: Yes.
- TOM: It's a tart berry,

and he used it to his advantage.

Because he tried to
emulate the pemmican with

the fat, it was very rich.

But with the gooseberries
being so acidic,

he really nailed that.

The gooseberries
gave me sour candy.

- That's a good thing.
- I love that.

It was nature's candy.
It was beautiful.

And I think
that all really worked.

My beef just
wasn't cooked perfectly.

Mine was
cooked perfectly, sorry.

GAIL: I'm, like,
eyeing the gooseberries

that you have
left on your plate.

Yeah, that's what I need.
Thank you very much.

CÉSAR: Nice medium-rare.

SHUAI: Woo-hoo.
Thanks, Lord, baby Jesus.

My mom, she'd be proud.

I'm sure she'll tell me
it's not as good as hers.

And you know what, it never
will be, and I'm okay with that.

Short ribs are great.

Some of the bigger
ones are not spoon tender.

I just have to
chop them up and

fold it
into the tender short ribs.

It's like wrapping a dumpling,

but you just gotta make sure
it's a little tight.

That's home cooking right there.

I want the cabbage
steamed about 10 minutes.

CÉSAR: Rutabaga cream.

I'm going to follow
that with the cornbread.

I feel good.
My cornbreads are out.

It has this little poof
in the center.

It's super cute.

It smells really beautiful.

Some chokeberry.

I'm just hoping I get enough
of that chokeberry on the plate.

We're going to have a gel,
we're going to have a butter,

and we're going to have
a sauce made out of them.

Balance.

Go, César, go, César, go.

[timer beeping]

Oh, thank you.

- Hi, everyone.
- Hi, César. What did you make?

We have grilled ribeye,
chokeberry reduction,

rutabaga cream at
the bottom, and cornbread.

And what did
you add to the reduction?

Is it just the berry?

Mostly berries,
but red wine, some sugar

to help out those tannics.

Those chokeberries
are very astringent.

- Great. Thank you, César.
- Thank you. Enjoy.

Connie, what did
you think of César's dish?

I think he cooked
his beef perfectly.

It's seasoned really nicely.

Everything on my dish from
César I think was cooked well.

- PAUL: That cornbread, too.
- The cornbread was very good.

But the reason why I asked what
was in the reduction is because

I couldn't taste the tartness
of the berry that much.

If you think about eating
a piece of ribeye

with a great tannic red wine,

- you want that interplay.
- JUDGES: Yes!

I was just
thinking the same thing.

So, he's trying to tame it.

Let it be tart.
It wants to be tart.

It doesn't want sugar.

- How'd it go, chef?
- I'm happy,

but not the first
time I've said that.

'Cause you can go down first.

Technique-wise,
maybe I'm not as advanced

as a lot of these other cooks.

You know,
Massimo's making fruit leather,

and Tristen's whipping beef fat.

Oh, my god! It's so hot.

I'm over here stuffing
cabbage, putting it on congee.

Let ingredients speak.

But I'm always hoping
my flavors go above that.

- [timer beeping]
- That's it.

TOM: One more.

I am feeling
the meat sweats, y'all.

Oh, wow. Okay.

Shuai,
what did you make for us today?

This is a stuffed cabbage
with braised short rib,

my mom's style of braised meat.

Wild rice congee,

and a blackcurrant
black pepper sauce.

Were you happy to have
had the extra 30 minutes?

Definitely,
or else you guys would be

eating some really undercooked
short ribs right now.

- Great. Thank you, Shuai.
- SHUAI: Thank you so much.

I love this dish.

And it actually reminds me
of something my mom would make.

We call it Indian breakfast.

And it just kind of
took me back.

This beef is really rich.

And then the congee,
it's heavy on heavy.

That said,
I think it's flavorful.

- I like it.
- I love that it just

took me somewhere else entirely.

And I really got that beautiful,

beautiful blackcurrant
tartness that I loved.

That extra 30 minutes
really saved my a*s today.

I think we had some overall
good dishes across the board.

- Yeah.
- JOHN: Absolutely.

There's six chefs left,

and the little
mistakes are going to

separate the great chefs
from the good chefs.

Connie and John and Amber, thank
you so much for being here.

We will release you so
you can go digest all your meat.

Thank you.

Should we carry on
at judges' table?

- Yes.
- TOM: Sure.

[tense music]

TOM: You know, chefs,
all in all, really good dishes.

I think some chefs were
timid working with the berries.

So Massimo, Shuai,
and Tristen, you can stay here.

The rest can move to the side.

Well, the three of
you are standing here

because you had
our favorite dishes of the day.

Congratulations.

This is the ----ing
worst part of my life.

Why? It should be
the best part now, no?

You guys, the silence.

- Oh, the silence.
- MASSIMO: Oh, my god.

You can have a little less
of a pause, a dramatic pause.

Would it be better if
you were on the bottom?

Wasn't sure where
that was going for a second.

So Massimo,
how did the day go for you?

Today, I wanted to make
a dish that was really vibrant

in flavors,
a little bit more creative,

a little bit
more outside the box.

And I didn't want to
use any French technique.

Roasting is
French technique, right?

You can't get away from that.

He basted it, too.
I watched.

- All right--.
- [laughter]

Ah! Busted.

He said nothing French
and then said filet mignon.

All good.
All joking aside, good dish.

I think the elderberry used
in all three ways was beautiful,

especially that leather on top.

All the other flavor
profiles that you brought

to your dish
enhanced the beef and

the berries
in a really harmonious way,

and I found
that to be very successful.

Wow, thank you so much.

Shuai,
how did the day go for you?

Short rib took some time,
more time than I like.

So, the extra 30
was very necessary.

Oh, my God, so necessary.

I really enjoyed your dish.

It actually took me

back to my childhood in
a dish that my mom would

- make for breakfast often.
- Oh.

Out of all the dishes,
everything was kind of

like steakhouse-ish.

And yours was
completely different.

Beef was tasty,
just a good use of the berries.

- Good point of view.
- Thank you so much.

Tristen, I thought it was
a tribute to gooseberries.

I enjoyed everything
that you put on the plate.

That pemmican, my family
would go crazy over that.

Oh, that's amazing.
Thank you.

GAIL: The flavors of
your dish were outstanding.

Unfortunately,
I did get an end piece.

It was tough,

like it had been
overcooked and sitting

- around a little bit.
- Understood.

But the dish itself, especially
that conception

of putting those elements
together in the way you did,

was really evocative.

Thank you so much.

Denia and Paul,
as our guest judges,

you get to announce
our winner of this challenge.

The winning chef today
did a great job

of featuring
the beef and the berries.

And the winner is...

Massimo.

The suspense, guys

KRISTEN:
Massimo, congratulations.

Thank you so much.
It means a lot.

It feels great.

I cooked a dish from the heart.

Moving on to the top five.

I'm one step closer to Milano.

I want to make the finals.
I want to win this thing.

I want to see this
thing through.

I'm ready to go.

Massimo,
you just won an advantage

going into the next
Elimination Challenge.

- Congratulations.
- Thank you so much.

Massimo, Shuai, and Tristen,
you can step to the side.

Bailey, Lana,
and César, you can come forward.

The three of you had our least
favorite dishes of the day

and one of
you will be going home.

Bailey, let's start with you.

How did you feel about the day?

I felt like my biggest struggle
today was really trying

to get as much flavor out
of the berry that I could and

keeping that in balance with
the other items on the dish.

Well, you did a great job
of getting the berry flavor

into the beef.

The brûlée, it didn't work.

- Okay.
- It was very sweet.

And your berry was tart.

And it really got in
the way of the beautiful work

that you did
with the beef cheek.

The pomegranate juice
in your sauce took away

from the flavor
of the Saskatoon.

And the berry got lost.

Lana, did your dish turn
out the way you wanted it to?

Overall, yes, but I'm here, so.

The two different
haskap berry components,

on their own, they were nice.

But when you put them together,

they just
didn't amp up the other.

I think it was the sage that
just completely wiped everything

and it made all the work

and the sauce work,
plus the condiment,

- kind of mesh together.
- Yeah.

You know, Lana,

the meat was
cooked nicely, just over-rested.

And beef when it over-rests,
it's not juicy.

I was missing that,
but it was nicely cooked.

Thank you.

César, how
did the day go for you?

I thought it went well.

Tasting the berries,
it's very, very tannic.

It, like,
just dry out your whole mouth.

Trying to work with that,
reminds you of,

like, a tannic wine.

I thought
your cornbread was delicious.

It was just the berry
was missing for me.

Why do you serve red
tannic wines with beef?

Just for that, like,
rich fattiness to it.

So you had that in the berries,
but then what you tried

to do is you took so much sugar
in it to make it sweet

that we got
this sweet berry and beef.

When you ate it all together,

you just lost the purpose
of that berry,

which was to be tannic.

KRISTEN: Chefs, thank you.

We'll call you
back in a little bit.

- Congratulations.
- SHUAI: Congrats, chef.

- LANA: Congrats.
- Thanks, guys.

Congrats, Massimo.
Congrats, y'all.

[sighing]

TRISTEN:
How are you guys feeling?

LANA: Not great.
I'm just frustrated.

This is, like, the third time
I've been in the bottom,

so I do not, like,
it's not a fun place to be,

especially when I put up
what I think is a good dish.

That's the part that sucks, man.

I mean,
there really wasn't a big

difference between our favorites
and our least favorites today,

but just some of them
were way out of balance.

CÉSAR: I was excited you were
doing a brûlée with blue cheese.

TRISTEN:
It looked good as I walked by.

- LANA: Yeah, it did.
- It was really yummy, too.

I just,
I'm like, [bleep], dude.

I thought, I don't know.

Yeah, I think
in the case of Bailey,

it was really out of balance.

The blue cheese just

- overpowered everything.
- TOM: Yeah.

KRISTEN: Then she also
added that pomegranate.

It was just interesting
also to hear her say

that that was her struggle,
was how to get the berry flavor,

yet she was the one
putting more and more things

on the plate to
hinder the berry flavor.

- Right. Right.
- TOM: Yes.

When's the last time
you used chokecherry?

- Last year.
- Last year?

Yeah.
Too much sugar, though.

César certainly was really
challenged by the tartness.

And instead of giving us
balance with acidity,

he just gave us more sweetness.

And I think if he had
highlighted the chokecherry

to its potential,
that tartness would

have just been
the perfect balance.

Too much sage? God damn it.

One slice of steak.

When I look at Lana's,
the sauce and the condiment,

the sage just threw it
way out of whack for me.

Both sauces
were so similar in flavor.

You know, the other thing
about Lana's dish

was that
the beef was over-rested.

Just the juice,
when it's perfectly rested,

and how it does play with
everything else on the plate.

- It is a big deal.
- Yeah.

I just
want to go to Italy so bad.

Yeah.

BAILEY: I'm hoping something
in the Quickfire will help.

I don't know, though.

They're making it
very hard on us.

I've been going back and forth.

You can go back and forth,
but Bailey had one of

the better dishes
on the Quickfire.

She was on the top.

And Lana had one of
the weakest Quickfire dishes.

- GAIL: Yeah.
- Yes.

I got more sausage
than I got pancake.

And pancake was the challenge.

And César's was just
really hard to pick up.

KRISTEN: I don't think the quick
fire saves either of them.

GAIL: Mm-hmm.

It's tough,
but I think we have our answer?

Let's bring
the chefs back out here.

[pensive music]

You know, chefs,
this part of the competition,

we're not getting
bad dishes anymore.

But every single
thing that you put on

a plate has to have purpose.

It has to have meaning.

Because we are looking at
every single thing that you do.

Unfortunately, tonight,

there was just one dish
that felt incomplete.

And someone's going home
for a good dish.

Lana, please
pack your knives and go.

Lana, it's been great watching
you cook all season long.

Thank you. And I just
want to thank you guys all.

This has been such
an incredible experience.

I'm so honored to be
amongst all of you guys.

- GAIL: Such a pleasure.
- Thank you.

- See you in New York.
- I'll see you around New York.

LANA: To make it to
the top six is dope.

That's awesome.
So I'm really proud.

I have a lot of emotions
happening right now.

TRISTEN: I'll see you in Harlem.

I just got outcooked
by five incredible chefs.

Love you guys.
A lot of energy, a lot of focus.

SHUAI: [indistinct]

Sucks to be so close
to the finale and not make it,

but that being said,
I feel really grateful.

I think I'm just going
to miss my friends, for sure.

At the end,
it has to be one, so.

I'm honored to
have been amongst them.

KRISTEN:
Next time onTop Chef...

SHUAI: Oh, my God, look
at those beautiful mountains.

- BAILEY: Wow!
- Oh, man.

If you want to make it
to the finals in Italy,

you're going to have
to search high and low.

Try a little bit.

Yeah.

MASSIMO: Let's go.

Final cook in Canada, eh?

I want to go to Milano.

I want to go cook
some ----ing Italian food.

CHEF:
Say hello to my little ants.

GAIL:
Definitely a Top Chef first.

I love my job.

Sounds cool.

To get this far and not
make it would be very crushing.

KRISTEN: One of you will not

be moving on
to the finals in Milan.