19x02 - Friday Night Bites

[bunniefuu]

Previously on Top Chef...


most talented chefs

have traveled to Houston.
Hello, chefs!

Oh, my God.

As a team,
you have to create

three cohesive dishes,
all highlighting beef.

I'd really like to do a pasta.

Is it going
to have Asian flavors?

Our cooking styles
are so different.

Priority
is the steak, guys.

It's a little messy.

I can't turn the top
round into a filet mignon.

The tahini was
overpowering for everything.

I love that Buddha
decided to make a dessert.

You're gonna
put yourself on the map.

- Robert, are you making gnocchi?
- I am.

He had a lot of things
that could have gone wrong

but he actually
did it really well.

And the winning chef is Robert.

I rushed
and I missed the details.

I recognize that and I own it.

Leia, please pack
your knives and go.



At stake for the winner,

a feature in
Food and Wine magazine,

an appearance at the Food
and Wine Classic in Aspen.

$250,000 furnished
by San Pellegrino

and the coveted
title of Top Chef.

Yes!

Ooh...

Good morning!
- Good morning.

Chefs! First, let me introduce
you to your guest judge.

She is a culinary legend

and has won a James Beard
American Classics award.

Irma Galvan.

Thank you for having me here.

I wouldn't call myself a legend.

I've just been in
Houston a long time.

Irma is a local celebrity here.

She is known for
her Mexican cooking.

If you couldn't tell
by this beautiful tower

of liquid gold behind me,

things are about
to get cheesy in here.

I love cheese, I do.
It's my favorite food.

Well, no,
ice cream's my favorite food

but ice cream's
really just cold cheese.

Houstonians take
their queso very seriously.

There are seemingly
endless variations.

Yes. In our Mexican restaurant,

we use our Mexican cheeses

combined with
the American cheeses.

- Hence, Tex-
- Mex! Chefs, for your Quickfire challenge,

we want a warm bowl
- of this Tex-
- Mex classic: Queso!

Of course, we will
need something to dip into it

but you cannot
do a tortilla chip.

This is a chance for you
to really use your creativity.

The winner of this
Quickfire challenge will receive

immunity in
the elimination challenge.

You have 30 minutes
on the clock.

Your time starts now! Good luck.

Pepper jack.

Hm.

Cross!

If anyone sees eggs,
can you let me know?

- What are you thinking?
- A cornmeal fritter.

And then,
just a super traditional queso.

Nice, nice.

Corner.

- Thanks.
- Thank you, Sarah.

Did you make a lot of queso
out there in Copenhagen?

Absolutely not.
When I first got to Austin,

I definitely put on, like, 10,


Welcome to Texas, brother.

Even though this is queso,

it's still an
incredibly technical challenge.

You still have
to make a good roux

and make sure that
your cheese fully melts.

I've never seen or tasted queso.

But I love cheese.

I'm gonna make a crispy potato.

Yeah.

What about you?

I am starting up some mushrooms
with a mushroom seaweed sauce.

Wow.

I have some milk
reducing down for a crepe.

Hopefully,
those'll be done in time.



Heard.

Jo,
what are you working on?

I am making
a harissa queso here.

I'm going to
make a queso Oaxaca.

I still can't believe
that I won the first challenge

and I want to keep winning
as many challenges as I can.

- But Tex-
- Mex is a completely different than Mexican food.

I couldn't give you
the definition of queso

if you asked me.

Time's not on my side, today.



You make a lot
of chips and dips?

I like eating them.
I don't make 'em.

Same. I'm going chili
con queso direction

but the chili
will be the dipper.

I think I'm gonna see
a lot of chips and fried things

and they're
probably gonna be over that.

As I'm working in the kitchen,

I'm really trying to
hum to myself and just,

kind of,
drown out all this craziness.

On your left,
on your left, on your left.

Mmm.

What kind
of cheese you got, Buddha?

So I'm actually
making spring rolls

with three types of cheddar
but I'm gonna aerate it

just because I find
cheese to be a little bit heavy.

Aren't you fancy?

I like to watch my figure.

Corner behind!

Coming through.
Coming through. Coming through.

Sam, what do you got goin'?

I'm using gruyère.
I'm gonna make a mornay.

Cool, cool.

I'm gonna serve it
with scallion pancakes,

but with sweet peppers.
Nice!

We have Taco Tuesday
in my household

and my family love queso.

So this happens
on a regular basis.

I have six kids.

Everybody's N and W
and that's my NW clan.

I'm gonna do,
like a variation of, like,

a surf and turf.
It's going to be a pork belly

and blue crab with
sweet potato and b*at chips.

Damn, dude.

How ya doin' over here?

I am livin' the dream, chef.

What's going on
there, bud? You all right?

Yeah, I think I'm gonna
make a crispy spaghetti cr*cker.

Never done that before

and I don't think anyone
has for a very good reason.

- Yeah.
- So, see if this works out.

Everyone's gonna do a big
vat of creamy, gross cheese.

So I'm going to do something
crispy instead of gooey.

Nine minutes!

Irma's a legend.
Oh, yeah.

She represents not just Houston,
but the Mexican community.

I was raised on queso
but still want to showcase

that I am heavily influenced
by Southeast Asian flavors.

So for my chip,
I'm going with baby taro.

We used to make this,
like, what we call pub cheese.

Like, it's modeled
after what you get

at a Michigan gas station

when you're
eating a sh--ty hot dog.

It's literally, like,
cheese that comes out of a pump.

I'm using hush puppies as,
like, my tortilla element.

Hush puppies? Okay.

Coming through,
chef, on your back.

- Hot, hot.
- Hot stuff! Oh, my God.

Making crispy queso.

Five minutes left. Five minutes.

Does anyone have
some milk that I can borrow?

Yeah.

It's really tasty
but a little grainy,

so I just decide to blend it.

As long as we get there.
- Yeah.

Two minutes!

So much sweat
in my eyeballs. Oh, Jesus.

Come on,
Jacks, you got this, bud.

One minute!

I gotta go, homie.

I'm thinking
I should crisp up this pancake,

but I don't have time.

I just commit.



- Times up! Hands up!
- Hands up!

Utensils down, please.

- Thank you.
- I made a pepper jack cheese

and extra sharp cheddar queso.

And then,
to dip with it, a corn fritter.

It's a little watery
but the fritter is good.

Monique. Thank you.

What I present to you, today,

is fried mustard
greens with almost, like,

a fondue with pickled peppers.

So I made a queso
out of mild cheddar,

quick pickles
and serrano chilis.

And I did a toasted
breadcrumb with smoked paprika.

- Mm.
- Pretty spicy.

I made a spring
roll inspire nacho.

Nacho average spring roll.

So inside you
have chorizo and then

queso dip with guacamole.

I have surf
and turf queso pork belly

topped with some blue crab.

And my chips are
beets and sweet potatoes.

It's really good.
Thank you.

It's an honor to
be in front of you.

Thank you.

So I've
made adobo con queso.

And on the side, taro chips.

What's your favorite queso?

My mom's.

Yeah.

I made a hush puppy.

The queso itself is
cheddar and pepper cheese

and a little bit
of Szechuan chili bean paste.

Thank you so much.
- Yeah, your welcome.

Lot's of cheese.

Girl, I--

I made a queso
blanco with gruyère.

Luke, a mornay
meets a queso together.

And a pepper pancake.
I don't make a lot of queso.

Yeah.

I made queso Oaxaca fonduta

with jalapeno salsa
and fried white asparagus.

Thank you.

I prepared a blue cheese fonduta

and the vehicle is
roasted sweet potato.

I made a harissa queso
with roasted cauliflower.

I have queso with
smoked mozzarella, sharp cheddar

and then on top
I have a milk crepe.

So just fold it up
just like a tortilla.

It's like a little taco.

This is Korean style
stir fried with chorizo

and then chips
with pickles on top.

Yes.

Where's the queso?

It's crispy queso.

That's a very
different interpretation.

Different, yes. So I caramelized
the cheese in the pan,

kind of a taco, if you will.

Crispy cheese on the outside
and soft in the middle

with some crispy
spaghetti cr*cker.

There's nothing to dip.

Uh, no, it's,
kind of, more like a sandwich.

Okay, thank you.

Irma, how do you
think our chefs did overall?

Better than
I would have done myself.

Let's get
the bad news out of the way.

Sam, I didn't like
the scallion pancake

and the sauce was kind of thin.

It just ate
a little greasy, Sam.

Robert, the Oaxaca
cheese was really thin

and it didn't go
with the asparagus.

Okay.

Jackson. There wasn't
anything to dip into.

It was probably
my least favorite.

I'm fine with
turning a concept on its head

but you've gotta make it
better than its original form.

Now, we can move
on to some good news.

Evelyn had a great presentation.

You get the gooeyness
and the heat and the crunch.

Nick's chili con queso.

I would have never put
that surf and turf on there.

It's a great idea
and I loved it.

Thank you.

Damarr. I loved
the little crust on top

and the serrano peppers
gave it a little kick.

I agree. Using
a serrano gave us a spiky bite

and it was something fresh.

But only one chef
can win immunity

in the next
elimination challenge.

Damarr.

Like...

That queso stood out
because of the texture,

the creaminess.

I loved it
and I was very impressed.

Thank you, Irma.

It was great
to have you here today.

Now that you're all warmed up,

who's ready to kick
off the next challenge?

Whoo!

Please welcome
chef Chris Shepherd.

Hi!

I knew you'd miss me.
Couldn't get enough?

Chris Shepherd
is a Houston legend.

Good to be back.
Really excited for this one.

He's done so much
for the culinary community

with Southern Smoke
and it's meant so much

to us Texas chefs.

Every Friday night,
the bright lights of high school

football stadiums
illuminate the Houston sky.

Anyone here play
high school football?

Jackson and Nick.
Believe it or not,

I played powder puff
football in high school.

Any cheerleaders?

I did all star cheerleading!

Top Chef,
Top Chef is the best!

So embarrassing.

Chefs, this week
you'll take part

in this long standing tradition.

In two teams
of seven, you'll face off

under the bright lights
of a football stadium.

- Nice.
- Oh!

But first,
it's time to draw knives. Sam.

Wildcat.

- Wildcat.
- Yeah, okay.

- Cougar.
- Cougar.

- Cougar.
- Go, Cougars.

- Wildcat.
- Wildcat.

- Cougar.
- Cougar.

- Wildcat.
- Wildcat.

Wildcat and Cougar,

please separate
into your teams.

I feel like
we're missing something.

There we go.

Please welcome your coaches:

Dawn Burrell and Sam Talbot.

Hi, guys!

Hey Dawn! Couldn't get enough?

- I'm so excited.
- Welcome back.

As you can see, Sam
will be coaching the Cougars.

And Dawn will be
coaching the Wildcats.

For your elimination
challenge, as a team,

you must make seven
dishes loaded with carbs.

Dawn, we know you
were an Olympic athlete.

What kind of carbs
would you want to eat

before competition?

Nutrient dense carbs.
Filling, but not too heavy.

Not queso.
- Not queso.

Each team member
will be responsible

for one of those seven dishes
and each dish will be served

in a head-to-head competition.

Tomorrow, we'll flip
a coin to see who will be

on offense or defense first.

If your team's on offense,

you'll decide as a team
who's dish to put up first.

If your team's on defense,
you'll get to name the chef

that gets to present
their dish against the offense.

Today, you'll have


and plan with your coaches.

Tomorrow, you'll have


and cook your dishes
right on the turf

at Tomball Independent
School District Stadium.

The goal is to get from
one side of the football field

to the other
to score a touchdown.

Whichever team
scores a touchdown first

will be safe from elimination.

To gain yardage, you'll
need to impress the judges:

Myself, Chris, Tom, Gail and
- Charleston winner,

Brooke Williamson.

Woo.

Every vote that
a team gets equals five yards

for a total of 25 yards
available for each round.

But if at
the end of seven rounds,

neither team has
reached the end zone,

then the MVP
and the eliminated chef can be

- from either team.
- Ooh.

Coaches, you can go ahead
and meet with your teams.

We'll see you later. Good luck.

What's going on, y'all?
Hi.

Seems like
a fun challenge, right?

Yeah.
- I mean, I don't know.

I'm sure everybody's thinking
grains right now, right?

I'm gonna do, like, an
ancient grain salad with, like,

yogurt, a lot of herbs.

I'm thinking
of either spelt or freekeh.

I think those are
both great options.

I would like white rice.

- You would like white rice.
- I would as well.

So how many rice do we have on?

I'm possible but I don't
want to-- I don't want to be...

I think that it
would be detrimental

to have someone
doing jasmine rice

and then someone
doing jasmine rice.

What are you
trying to do with the rice?

White rice with a feijoada stew

and then toasted cassava
and some sliced, fresh oranges.

If you want to do it,

I'll just have to
think of something else.

There's a lot
of different grains.

Right.

You want to bring your
most creative foot forward

and have fun with it.

I was thinking
of doing dirty farro,

- um, chicken livers.
- Mm-hm.

I was thinking of making a taco.

Taco.

Yeah. So I mean,
my carb would be the tortilla.

Fantastic.

I'm either
going to go shrimp or beef.

Okay, carb forward

I might do
a chicken liver mousse.

Again, what is
the star of that plate?

Yeah. I might do
a shrimp and grit, maybe?

- Is chickpea a carb?
- Yes.

Okay, so I'm doing,
like, pork and potato.

I think I want
to do rice noodles.

What do you think about dessert?

That's a fricking
challenge to pull it off.

And if you have the wherewithal
to be able to do it, man, bravo.

My head is really,
honestly, still kind of brooding

but I want to be a team player,

so I have the idea
to make a polenta cake.

I think that'd
be really good, man.

I just want it
to be interesting.

- Yeah.
- So I want to make a dessert.

Glutinous rice,
like sticky rice.

It's super
traditional with coconut milk.

My family's
from the Philippines,

so we ate
traditional Filipino food.

It may not look the best,
but it's really rich.

It's fatty.

It is what brings me home.
I can plan to go last.

My dish doesn't take long.

Everyone has to be
ready at all times, right?

That's what I say all the time.

I'm making
t-shirts and everything.

One, two, three, Cougars!

Wildcats!

That rack right
there is the ----in' g-spot

for all herbs.

I just need where
the beans are. I know carbs,

kind of, get a bad rap
in the rest of the country

but in North Dakota,
we love our carbs.

I'm making feijoada,
a Brazilian bean and meat stew.

When I moved to Minneapolis,

it was one of the first things

one of my good
friends showed me how to make.

You guys have chorizo?

Feijoada is a 100% carb.
It's rice and beans.

I need a massive butt roast.

Evelyn,
what are you looking for?

I'm not telling
you about my dish.

No!

My dish is turmeric sea bass
with a tamarind rice noodle.

I'm trying to stay
away from the grains

'cause everybody and
their mother is doing grains.

Where's the grains,
where are the grains?

My dish for this
challenge is a wheat and grains

inspired by mujaddara.

Quinoa, no.
Where's the buckwheat.

I love carbs.

Growing up, I was
quite a large and happy kid.

So, I got the nickname
Buddha and I love the name.

It's about
a guy that loves eating

and just, like, super positive.

I've got, like,
five different carbs.

So, if it's not carb heavy,
then I don't know what.



Shopping time, let's go!

I just gave up
my apartment to be on this show

so I have two luggages.

My entire life is
in those two luggages.

You guys have any Texas cheese?

I have two L's on my bill.
I need a win.

So I want to show
them that the sweet potato

can be sweet and savory.

Any kind of potato,
I'm in love with:

Baked potatoes,
potato chips, French fries,

mashed potatoes,
potato salad, palm puree.

Oh man, my mouth is watering
thinking about this right now.

My carb
of choice is potatoes.

My man!
We on the potato ride.

So I'm gonna go
butternut squash

with lots of different
nuts for the protein.

I'm still finding my footing
from the last challenge.

- What happened?
- I lost track of time.

So then,
nothing got on the plate.

Nothing got on the plate.

Mine's gonna be room
temp so I might actually be able

to plate everything
ahead of time as well.

I like to cook vegetarian.

And I just really
wanted to pick something

that I knew I could get done

and not just have
stress all the way up

to the last minute.


Where's my basket?

Does she
need help with anything?

Excuse me.
Do you guys, like, carry

a puffed crispy chickpea?

Padma gave me
a homework assignment that said

make a dish
that's very carb forward.

And so my interpretation of that

is to do a single carbohydrate
in many different ways.

You seen chickpea?

I essentially want to
make, like, a panzanella

made from chickpea flatbread

and a bunch
of other chickpea components.

I'm gonna grab some stock

so that if I want to
cook chickpeas, I can.

- Okay.
- So, I'll be right back.

You're going to cook chickpeas?

This feels like an idiot's guide
to crippling self-doubt.

But I do not have
time to cook chickpeas.

Woot-woot! Cougars.

Cougars!

Do you think that
there's something to be said

about putting similar dishes
up against similar dishes?

Jackson's doing a cake so
he should go up against you.

I think
I should go up against her

because it's bean verse bean.

Oh, you're
like a spy. It's so great.

The easier it is
to measure one for one,

the easier the win is.

And also, the less
likely it is to be a split vote.

Isn't it like win or lose,
you're out of the heat.

We need to get three votes
for every dish, if not all.

The stadium is massive.

It's going to be an
exciting moment to cook here.

It's time for us
to get our shine on.

Today, we've got


before we start
going head to head.

Let's go!
Go!

Wildcats!
Yeah, Cougars!

Whoever's on offense
first gets to select

which chef
they're gonna put forward

from their own team.

Aprons.

Then, the defensive
team will get to counter respond

with a chef from their team.

Remember
to communicate. Yeah?

Yeah.

It's really important to us

that we win this competition
because Damarr has immunity.

So really, we're
looking at the other six of us

as potentially going home.

On top of all
of that, this is Top Chef.

You want to win everything.

So Buddha's going first
and then you're following up--

I'mma follow up.

And then, me.

The team strategy here
is the chefs that have dishes

that take
a little longer to cook,

they're going to go last.

Seems like a good strategy.

Just tell me when to plate.

I'm just making my meatball mix.

I am using teff.
It's a North African grain

and I really enjoy
paying homage to my heritage.

So that sponginess, I'm hoping,

will make for
a nice, moist meatball.

Good, buddy?
- Yeah, I'm good.

Just gettin' my grains cooked.

Got a few different
grains too, though, right?

Yeah, I've got like seven.

Just because
we're at a football field

doesn't mean that I have
to go really rustic on it.

My background is fine dining

and I really want to
show who I am as a chef.

You pulled
the beans off already?

I just wanted
to get my rice started.

Got it.

Sorry.

Are you still doing dessert?

- Yeah, I am.
- Okay.

I'm making polenta
cake with whipped yogurt

and blueberry sauce.

When I was playing
football, before every game day,

all my buddies are
going get a milkshake.

I played football in
high school and I was terrible.

But I was a starter,

which shows you
how sh--ty our team was.

Coach Sam!
Yes, sir.

You wanna taste, boss?
Yeah.

Debating whether
I should do whole berry

or, kind of, blitz it a little.

I put some miso in there.
How does it taste?

- It tastes f---in' awesome.
- Right on.

I'm really thankful Sam
is there to be my taste buds.

--in' COVID, man.

Did you add lemon zest in there?

Uh, I did.
Should it be more?

I'd do more, yeah.
More zest?

Yeah.

Have you guys ever cooked on,

like, a football field,
catering?

No.

Does tailgating count?

Hey, Jo, how are you?

Good. Just getting
my base going here

to get my congee rolling.
I'm making a barley congee

with a mushroom
green pepper tamari.

When I was growing up,

we used to have
congee all the time.

It was, just like,
a really filling thing.

I feel like that's
what my mom always fed me

right before we did tests.
I'm 100% Chinese,

but my parents grew
up in the Philippines.

So, we're ethnically Chinese,
culturally Filipino.

Cooking for Jonathan Waxman,

it was all California Italian.

It wasn't, really,
until recently that I started

to sort of meld
my worlds together.

Hey dude, what're you doing?

At the moment right now,

I'm cutting up
the butternut squash.

I'm gonna get in
the bag and confit it

with some walnut oil. Nice.

What was your
strategy when making your taco?

For the last year,
I've been, like,

working out five times a week.

And I've, like, lost 80 pounds.

And this is one thing
that I, like, love to eat.

It's just, like,
a taco after a hard workout.

Nice.

And like,
that's what I want to go for.

- Let's go, Wildcats. Let's go!
- Cougars!

Let's go, Wildcats, let's go!

Cougars!

Hey, Wildcats.

Hi, chef!

You guys gonna
carb load us tonight?

That's the plan.
So what's the strategy?

Win every one. A full sweep.

That's a good strategy.
What's happening?

I'm just
trying to do chickpea

a bunch of different ways.

Crispy chickpeas, garbanzo
beans, marinated garbanzos.

And then hopefully some
sort of chickpea flatbread

but I've never
made socca before,

so we'll see if it works.

Coach, let me
ask you a question.

I mean, she's
never made this before

but she's making
it now. Good idea?

I do it all the time.

I make stuff up
I've never made all the time.

I do it all the time
when the clock's not running.

Coming at me, bro.

Anyways.

Okay. All right.
What's going on over here?

This is the start
of a sticky rice cake.

So, you're makin' dessert.

Yes. So, the caramel's
going to just caramelize

on top of the sticky
rice when it's done cooking.

Even though I am savory trained,

I own a pastry business
called Tarts de Feybesse.

So, this is a thing that
I learned from my grandparents.

This dish is called biko.

This is so thick.

I want this dish
to show my culture.

From a strategic point,

do you want to go
dessert against dessert?

Or do you want to go to
dessert against the savory?

I would personally want
to go against the dessert.

Got it.

So, I heard you
won the Quickfire.

I did, Chef.

You should
be out there, like,

playing ball or
something in the field.

No he shouldn't.
He should care

just as much as everyone else--

Stay focused on--
- Yes, absolutely.

I'm gonna cook dirty farro,

which is kind of a ode to
dirty rice my mom used to make.

Oh, okay.

Give yourself enough
time to cook that farro.

Yes, chef.

My mother was a single parent.
I was the only child.

She had a stroke
when I was around 15.

You know, my mom was
kind of like Superwoman

so I was,
kind of like, in disbelief.

One day, she was fine,

and the next day,
she didn't remember who we were.

So, her cooking stint
is pretty much over

for the most part.

So, one of my favorite things
she'd make was dirty rice.

Just a really
great food memory of mine.

Hello, Cougars!
Hi, Cougars!

What're you
makin' over there?

Mine's a starch.

My starch is
rice noodles 'cause I knew

everyone was going to
be doing grains and stuff.

We're going for fresh, light.

You wanna feel
good after you eat it.

Got it.
What do we have here?

So this is
a potato potlikker.

I'm using pig necks
for the broth.

I don't know what
that expression was,

but I'll tell you what,

every time,
it amazes me about Tom.

He's the Man of Mystery.

He's uh, yeah, he is.

What's going on over here?

I am making feijoada.

- Okay.
- A Brazilian bean stew.

Okay.

I'm going to serve it with
orange radish-cilantro salad

and a little
toasted cassava flour.

- Where are you from?
- I'm from North Dakota.

Perfect.
- Yeah.

First ever contestant
from North Dakota.

- Is that true?
- I mean,

even if you were guessing,

- it's a pretty good chance--
- It's a pretty good guess.

When my husband
and I moved back to Bismarck,

we knew that there wasn't any
James Beard nominations there

but we wanted to bring the stuff

that we learned from
Minneapolis to Bismarck.

I really just
want to represent

a part of my culinary journey.

So feijoada is
the perfect way to go.

Let me see your game face.

No. That's not
game face, either.

All right.
I've had enough of this.

Okay chefs,
everything looks great.

You got about 45 minutes

before the first plate
has to be served. Good luck.

Oh!

Go Wildcats!

You know, I'm trying--

I'm trying
to bring the mood up high.

Oh!

The noodles
are just questionable.

It has, like, a bite, still.

The noodles are not working out.

They're chewy and they
have, like, a slime to them.

I'm going to get
this boiling again and then

I'm going to fire another one.

Whichever of the two is
better is what we're serving.

I'm having
issues with the noodles.

I'm not serving a sh--ty noodle.

You ain't
got no more raw, though?

No.

What do you think, chef?

I love your salad.
I think that's right.

Your congee needs some oomph.

- Yeah.
- Yeah.

We have 24 minutes.

My congee, it doesn't
really taste like much.

You need a bridge.

I'm trying to figure out

what's going to
give us some depth.

And I find black garlic.

Mm-hm. That's what
I'm talking about.

Does anyone have
cooked grains that are extra?

Yes. We got
a whole buffet over here.

Okay. Evelyn.

Yes. Everybody is giving me
whatever's leftover to cook.

My four grains for
my new dish is teff, quinoa,

farro and Israeli couscous.

Do I have to boil
the water or it goes in?

Just throw it all in
for the sake of time, honestly.

Okay.

These football
fields are long.



Coaches, it's time
for the coin toss!

We'll flip a coin

to see who'll be on
offense or defense, first.

Wildcats, coach Dawn,
you're heads.

Cougars, coach Sam,
you're tails.

A'right.
You ready?

Yup.

Woo!

All right, coach Sam,
do you want offense or defense?

I'm goin' offense.

Okay, that means you're defense.

All right.

- Good luck.
- Good luck to you.

All right. First up, guys.

This is what we want, Cougars.

So we have Buddha going first.

Who runs this house?

Cougars!

Five minutes. This
is your five minute warning.

First dish is ready.

I finish plating
my dish before time's up.

It's beautiful, tastes great.

So, I'm feeling quite confident.

Ah, k*ller man,
with the grapes?

That's, like, the best Waldorf
I've ever had in my life.

Nicely done.

Who's going
first, then? Is it you?

Um, we don't. We're gonna react.
We're on defense.

Times up. Cougars,
who are you sending up

for the offense?

So, we're sending out Buddha,

first course and his
dish is wheats and grains

inspired by mujaddara.

Wildcats. Who are you
sending out for defense?

Luke? Luke.

Wanna go against Buddha?

I can go.

Luke shows
a second of hesitation,

so I just say, "I'll go."

- Damarr!
- Damarr's going.

Damarr against Buddha.

You have three
minutes to plate up.

I'm putting up
dirty farro against Buddha

who's probably going to
have something smoking

and floating
and invisible on his plate.

That looks great, Damarr.

Wow. That
looks very beautiful.

Thank you.

Tell us
what you've made, Buddha.

So I have grains
and wheat inspired mujaddara.

It's a Middle Eastern
inspired dish

and it's mixed
with a bit of yogurt

and grapes and cucumber.

Damarr,
what did you make?

I did a dish inspired by
my mother. I did dirty farro.

I did andouille, chicken
thighs and chicken livers.

Healthy grains
and some healthy proteins.

Good, strong start.

Mm-hm.

All right. Judges,

hold up your pom poms
for your favorite dish.

Blue for Damarr.

Red for Buddha.

Now.

Whoa.

Damarr's such a favorite.

Damarr, there was
a lot I loved about your dish.

It was the seasoning
that got me.

Buddha, I loved the sweet
notes with the sliced grapes.

It was a really tough match up.

Wildcats,
you gained 20 yards on this one.

And Cougars,
you have five yards.

Those are
two strong dishes.

- This is so delicious.
- I don't want to give it up.

I mean,
they're both pretty great.

Yum.

Hell, yeah, chef.

All right.

Coach Dawn, who are
you sending up on offense?

- We're sending Luke, Padma.
- All right, coach Sam.

You're heading up next.

Steph,
what if I go before you?

Just because I'm worried about
my meatballs, like, drying out?

Yeah,
my only thing is my rice

is kind of on the brink.

But if you're really
worried about that, go for it.

Ashleigh plating up next?
Yeah.

We have
our secret ninja, Ashleigh.

All right, let's go.

Let's start
with you, Luke.

I have a pumpkin
served room temperature,

confit in walnut oil.

A reduction
of seaweed in mushroom.

And I also have some
pickled pumpkin on top.

Ashleigh, what did you
make for the Cougars today?

I prepared
a hot farro and quinoa porridge.

And on top of that, I've
got teff and turkey meatballs

with a salad
of sh**t and sprouts.

Judges. Please hold
up your pom poms...

Now.

Thank you, both.
Thank you.

Oh --it.

Really simple.
Everything cooked properly,

everything seasoned properly.

Checked both boxes. That was it.

You gotta go back
and check your seasoning.

Really interesting dish,

a lot going on,
but just really bland.

We are dead even
at 25 yards apiece.

Yeah! Woo!

Her meatballs
were seasoned perfectly.

I wanted to go back for
that whereas I was, kind of,

turned off by
the oiliness of that.

It didn't bother me.
Like, that was the sauce.

Sorry.
It's all good, all good.

It's all tied up.

Cougars, who are you
bringing up for this round?

My rice is totally cold now

so it's not
really going to change.

Jae's coming out.

And Wildcats,
who are you gonna send?

- Robert.
- Robert.

We're sending Robert.

Oh, very pretty.
Look at that.

Thank you, ladies.

- Thank you very much.
- Thank you.

What did you make, Jae?

Today, I made a freekeh salad

that is tossed in
fermented blue plum

and pomegranate vinaigrette.

Wildcats.

I made a wild
mushroom taco with a little bit

of butter bean purée.

And I made two different sauces:
A jalapeno and tomato salsa.

These are really both delicious.

- Thank you.
- Thank you.

All right, judges,
are we ready to vote?

All right, judges,
are we ready to vote?

Go.

Yes! Yes!

Come on.

Mushroom tacos
are my favorite tacos.

And I loved the avocado in it,
which is great, good fats

but really healthy,
really hearty.

Why did you vote for Jae?

Texturally pleasing, right?

The textures alone
kind of blew my mind.

And it was really delicate,
beautiful and delicious.

Thank you.

So now
it's 35 to 40. Wildcats.

- Thank you.
- Crushing it. Crushing it.

I'm so proud of you because
that was so damn delicious.

We are up by five yards.

It is not a large lead,

but we're going
to expand that. Yes?

- Yes, chef.
- All right.

Coach Dawn, who are
the Wildcats sending out now?

We're sending Jo.
And Jo has barley congee.

All right.

Cougars, who are you
guys sending up as defense?

I got it, I can do this. Yeah.

All right.
We're sending out Stephanie.

They are so evenly
matched, these two teams.

So far.

I'm doing my damnedest, guys.

Thank you.

Okay, Jo, what did you make?

I made a black garlic
congee with a green pepper

and tamari infused
mushroom slaw on top.

Stephanie,
tell us about your dish.

I made feijoada, served
that classically with white rice

and a little bit
of cilantro salad on top.

Did you mean for
the rice to be broken?

A little bit. I, kind of,
like my rice that way but...

All right, judges,
when I say, "Go,"

please hold up your pom poms.

Go.

Yeah! Jo!

Nice work.
Good job.

That's rough.

Congee traditionally
can be super palate coating

and by adding vinegar
to it and the acidity,

it really,
just kind of, cut through it

and made it very delicious.

I also think that the black
garlic was really integral

- in this dish.
- Thank you.

Stephanie, I think
you did a really great job

with the beans.

And your
seasoning was really nice.

For me, the rice was
throwing me a little bit.

It felt like it was
a little bit overdone.

All right.
Well, it's unanimous.

You're down but
you're not out yet.

Please be
strategic on this next round.

Nice job.

That was
just black beans, correct.

Yeah, it's not feijoada.

Feijoada also has meat in it.

Oh, yeah!

Sweep, sweep!

If the Cougars get the next
round, they're back in it.

I mean, it's really--

Yeah. All right,
Cougars, you are on offense.

Who's it going to be?

So we're going to send out Nick.

He's doing a sweet
potato with potlikker.

All right. Wildcats,
who's it gonna be against Nick?

We all agree that
Monique's dish is bangin'.

- Yes.
- And she needs to go before

because if they get 100 points
before us, it's not even--

She might not
even get us any points.

Right.
- Does that make sense?

Yeah.

Do you want
to switch with her?

Yeah, I will switch with her.

So, does that
make sense to everyone?

That she should go first? Okay.

I'm on such a high

that I'm going with
whatever my team thinks is best.

Bring up
your dishes, please.

Let's go,
Nick! Woo! You got this!

All right, Nick,
tell us what you made.

So I prepared a purple
sweet potato and potlikker

with lemon yogurt, swiss chard

and topped it off with
a little bit of crispy sage.

What's in your greens?

My Nick's 26 seasoning.
It's just 26 spices

that I finally
got the ratio together.

I'm gonna need
a satchel of that.

- Got you.
- All right.

Monique, what did
you do for us today?

So I made a biko. It's
a Filipino sticky rice cake

with caramelized coconut milk
along with palm sugar.

Obviously,
you guys made the decision

to put dessert
before the final course.

What's behind that strategy?

We thought this
was a strong dish.

We wanted to
finish it off, sorry Nick.

All right. When I say, "Go,"

please raise your pompoms.

Go on, Big Nick.
Hold it down, Mississippi.

This could be it, guys.

Go.

Yeah, baby. Woo!

Damn.

Oh, my gosh.
What? There's no way.

Well Nick,
you have 20 yards to the Cougars

and five yards for the Wildcats.

Southern cooks wish

that they could all
have potlikker like that.

And it takes hours to do
and you did it in 90 minutes.

Thank you, chef.

Monique. You made
it impossible for me

not to vote for you
because that coconut cream,

the sticky rice, the textures.

It was just so delicious
that I wanted to keep eating.

And I will
as soon as you walk away.

Listen, these are
both fantastic dishes.

Maybe matched up
at the wrong time.

Should've served it last.

It's gonna be
a beautiful, interesting season

if we're cooking like this.

Please keep it up.
Thank you so much.

Good job.
That was hard, yeah?

Yes.
- Oh, I should have went last.

I feel like my dish has
been wasted on this round.

Okay. That was a misstep.

- Yeah.
- Bad call, my fault.

I don't know why we did that.

Even if they sweep, it's a tie.

My dish was
ready a long time ago

and I'm concerned we
made a strategic error.

All right. Wildcats, you're
on offense for this round.

Who are you sending up?

We're sending Sam
with a roasted sweet potato

with brown butter.

All right, Cougars,
who are you sending up?

So, we're going
to send out Evelyn.

All right. You have
three minutes to plate up.

- Let's go, Sam!
- Let's go, Sam.

Don't make it too serious.

Yeah, don't make it too serious.

Just let it fly on the plate.

Everyone is
looking at me. They're like,

"Oh, my gosh,
we might lose this one".

It looks crazy.

I'm all about
the ugly, beautiful dishes.

- It's gonna win us.
- When you go up there,

your confidence level
needs to be through the roof

so you don't talk
about your rice noodles.

You just say you pivoted,
"Here's what I have."

Time's up, chefs.
Bring up your dishes.

Let's go, Sam!

Woo!

Come on, Evelyn!

Wow!

Thank you, Sam.

What did you make for us, Sam?

This is roasted sweet potato

that's brushed
with brown butter,

white soy and garlic,
yogurt dressing

that seasoned with
anchovies and scallion.

Hello, Evelyn. What did
you make for the Cougars today?

So I made
a tamarind nuoc cham four grain.

On top you have
a bit of fresh herb salad

as well as a tumeric sea bass.

And what happened
to the rice noodles?

I heard we were
going to have rice noodles.

I wasn't happy with them,
so I scratched it.

Still dressed in,
still with my same flavor

and my same idea,
just a different grain.

When I say, "Go,"
hold up your pompoms.

Go.

Woo!

Still love you, Sam.

I loved how you
roasted that sweet potato, Sam.

And I can see how
that tamarind sauce

would have been amazing.

It's just one too
many things in a bowl.

Sam, totally
bizarre and awesome.

And there was something alluring

that I kept going back to
about the yogurt anchovy thing.

- It was really fun to eat.
- Thank you.

All right, Sam.
You guys just scored 20 yards.

Five yards for the Cougars.

Wildcats. You need 10 yards
to score a touchdown.

You can head back to your teams.
Thank you so much.

Nice job, Sam!

All we need is two more votes.

Two votes.

Everything's
on Jackson, right now.

Sorry about all
the pressure, man.

You have three
minutes to plate. Go for it.

You have
a lot goin' on here.

Too much?

No, no, no,
it's beautiful.

We can stop it.
All we gotta do is stop it.

That's it.

It's basically
all on me, now for us

to not let them win.

Three, two, one--

Hands up.

Time's up.
Please serve your dishes.

You got this.
You're amazing. You got this.

Oh, my God. This is insane.

- A salad finish, as always.
- Thank you.

Looks gorgeous.

Okay, this is it.

Sarah, please tell
us what you made today.

I need a celebration
of chickpea.

So at the bottom
is a chickpea hummus.

I made a panisse crouton.
There's a socca on there

and then there's
also puffed chickpea.

The intention was
not to finish tonight, so.

Did you make these
chickpeas or they're canned?

- They're canned.
- They're canned.

Hi, Jackson.
- Hi.

What did you make
for your final dish?

I made a polenta cake
with whipped yogurt

and blueberry sauce.

So, I wanted to do
something a little bit lighter

and more healthy.

What's in your
blueberry compote?

A lot of lemon zest,
miso, a touch of sugar.

All right. Well,
this is a very important vote.

Wildcats, you need


Are we ready, judges?
Yep.

Yes, please. Please,
please, please, please.

Go.

Woo!

This is a very close game,
which is accurate

because we had
delicious food from both teams.

Cougars, you just won 25 yards.

That puts you at 85 yards total.

And Wildcats,
you're short a couple of yards.

Chris?

I think the cake itself,

texturally was
just really pleasing.

The miso and the blueberry--

Beautiful.

I don't know if
it was a strategy

not to go against dessert.
It's a good thing you didn't.

That other dessert
was fantastic.

That's painful to hear.

All right,
Sarah and Jackson,

you can head back to your teams.
Thank you so much.

Brutal, dude.

I don't understand. Hummus.

She was not happy.

If this were, like,
dessert versus dessert,

you guys would've won.

Sweep the leg, Johnny!
Woo-hoo-hoo-hoo-hoo!

We went for
the win, that's what we did.

You can't blame us
for going for the win.

It's like a Hail Mary,
it's all right.

- Listen, that was really good.
- It was fun.

We may not have a winning team

but we definitely
have an MVP, I would say.

That's for sure.

Let's get these teams out here.

- Oh, my God.
- Oh, that did it.

Cougars and Wildcats,
please come up.

Well, great game chefs.
It was really close,

but unfortunately,
no team scored a touchdown.

That means anybody
from either team can go home

and anybody is eligible for MVP.

The food tonight
was really high level.

There were a few
clunkers here and there

but there were
some really great dishes.

Chris and Brooke,

it's your honor
to introduce our MVP tonight.

Our MVP tonight not
only gave us a beautiful dish

but the execution of it,
seasoning, balance, taste,

flavor profiles,
all of it really did well.

And the MVP
tonight is...

Damarr.

That's two in a row.

Feels amazing.

I cooked something that
I grew up eating and I won?

It just means that
my food deserves to be

in the same room
as these talented chefs.

That dish was just so
flavorful, so powerful.

It was really,
really, really good.

- Thank you.
- Touchdown!

Sarah, Luke and Stephanie.

Please remain where you are.

Everyone else,
please step to the side.

The three of you had
our least favorite dishes today

and one of you
will be going home.

Let's start with you, Sarah.

How did you
conceive of this dish?

Chickpea, you know,
I thought could present

like a different angle
or an unthought of angle.

Hummus is an unthought of angle?

Yeah, it was like not
traditionally thought of

as like a carb.

You could have still
done chickpeas but even,

like, a chickpea
stew would have felt

- a little more hearty.
- Yeah. For sure.

It just didn't
come together as a dish.

It just felt like a dip.

If you're going to do that,
cook the chickpeas.

- Okay.
- Canned chickpeas are fine,

but just fine is
not going to do it here.

Totally.

Luke, were you happy
with the way your dish came out?

I was happy with it.

Of course,
I tasted it at the end.

You know,
with a little bit of salt.

I thought I put a lot on there.
Could have used more.

The amount of the confit
oil that you put on there,

it needs to have
some racy acidity to it

just to cut through that.

The composition was just off.

It ate very oily
without seasoning.

At some point,
you gotta get, you know,

out of the theoretical
and into the actual.

Yeah.

Stephanie,
can you walk me through

what went into your beans?

Chorizo and kielbasa and
a couple slices of pork butt.

And then, I took that out,

really wanting to
focus on just the bean.

Why did you decide to
take all those meats out?

I wanted to make sure
that it was very carb focused.

It did seem a little bit meager

when there was
so much complexity

in so much of the food
that we ate today.

You could have
gone a lot further.

All right.
We have a lot to discuss.

You all can head
back to the locker room.

We'll call you back in a bit.

Yay!

I feel good. You know,
I don't wanna see anybody go.

I don't make friends
that easily

and I think I made some
fast friends here.

Aw, is it time for
a group hug, you guys?

Unfortunately,
all three of these dishes

lacked in
flavor and imagination.

I think Luke may
have had some imagination.

Yeah, definitely
there was imagination there.

But he didn't go there thinking

about what the finished
product would taste like.

Acidity was key, salt was key.

Tasting it, again, tasting it.

A few fundamental
mistakes but hey,

I'm still proud
of the dish that I put up.

Sarah gave us a dip.

She had all
these beautiful pieces

that highlighted the chickpea

but the way she presented it,

everything was
bogged down in the muck.

Give me two
or three amazing bites.

The sum of all
doesn't make one great.

It's so frustrating to me

because she did
so much work today.

You're so ready
to get rid of me.

I am not.

I still think Stephanie's
dish was a lot worse.

The rice was overcooked.

And very broken.

I couldn't believe she
said, "I like my rice broken."

That was her scrambling
to defend a question

that she was caught
off guard to have to answer.

Which is understandable
and it's something that we do.

You know, it needed more flavor.

It was a very, very bland dish.

I know what
I did wrong, obviously,

but I would
make that dish again.

I think
we have our answer.

Let's get them out here.

Sarah, Luke and Stephanie,

you had our least
favorite dishes tonight

and one of you
will be going home.

I can very easily equate
cooking and playing sports.

It's about blocking
and tackling, X's and O's,

getting those basics down.

Unfortunately,
someone's going to go home

for just messing up the basics.

Stephanie, please pack
your knives and go.

Thank you very much for
letting me cook for you.

Good luck to you.

We'll see ya at
Last Chance Kitchen.

You have another
sh*t to get back in.

- Thank you. 'Preciate it.
- Thanks.

I don't wanna be all
cry-ee eyed when I leave.

That's not how I go out.

Oh.

I'm gone, guys.

No,
you're not! You got Last Chance.

That's true.

I haven't even
started to show the judges

what I'm capable of.

I want to prove
that I do have skill,

that I do have technique,
that I know what I'm doing.

And I am excited to go
into Last Chance Kitchen

and show that.

Tonight,
Last Chance Kitchen begins.

The first two
eliminated chefs battle it out.

How are you
feeling over there, Leia?

Can we do a sh*t
of tequila after this?

Who will
win to cook again?

Watch the season
premiere On Demand now

on wherever you stream Top Chef.

Next time on Top Chef...

We want you to
create a street food dish

for your very own
Asian night market.

Is anyone afraid to
cook Indian food for Padma?

Does this
really make sense?

Yeah, it makes a lot of sense.

- Oh, my God.
- Talk about down and dirty.

So far, there's no
bad dish in the house.

Tom's havin' some trouble there.

Wish I could
----in' taste this.

It needed to be
more sweet and more salty.

- More everything.
- It's confusing.

When you're taking
a risk on a dish,

you have to remember
how to cook.