- Previously on Top Chef...
- Oh!
- How's it going?
- We're like a biker g*ng.
- May I prep some things
in your kitchen?
Asking if you can cook
in somebody's kitchen
is very awkward.
- I'm very, very excited
to sit in judgment
of all these people!
[Chuckles] Guilty!
[Laughter]
- Grayson, please
pack your knives and go.
- Another competition's
been taken place in secret.
Every single eliminated chef
has been given a second chance
to get back
into Top Chef.
- Welcome to Top Chef's
Last Chance Kitchen.
- It's one more chance.
- I've got to win this one.
- Go!
- Are you [bleep]
kidding me?
[Cheers and applause]
- And the winner is--
- Oh, my God!
- Four chefs remain,
all hoping to win...
A feature
in Food & Wine magazine,
a showcase at the annual
Food & Wine classic in Aspen,
$125,000
furnished by Healthy Choice,
to bring their culinary dreams
to life,
and the title of Top Chef.
- You know it's gonna be Bev
coming back.
- Why would you
say such a thing?
- You know it is,
though.
I got a pack of cigarettes
says it's Bev.
- I got money
that Grayson kicks Bev's ass.
- Pack of cigarettes,
or are you gonna raise me?
- I'm gonna raise you
a banana.
- Done. Pack of cigarettes
and a banana.
- Uh-oh, sounds like
a good night.
[Laughter]
- We walk into
the Top Chef kitchen,
and we see a table
with five cloches on it.
There's only four of us.
They're gonna announce
a fifth person.
To be honest,
I don't want anyone back.
- Hi, chefs.
All: Good morning.
- Nervous?
- Always.
- Yes.
[Laughter]
- As you know,
the eliminated chefs
have been competing
in another competition,
Top Chef:
Last Chance Kitchen.
And now let's meet the winner,
and find out
who will be joining you to fight
for the title of Top Chef.
[Knuckles cracking]
Chef, please come in.
- Uh-oh.
- [Bleep].
- Oh.
- [Sighs]
- [Laughs]
You called it.
I am not happy to see Bev.
She's off in her own Bev land,
and I'm not buying a ticket
to go there anytime soon.
- Hey, guys.
- Hey, Bev.
- Welcome back.
- Winning Last Chance Kitchen
was a huge honor.
- Beverly, you are the champion
of Last Chance Kitchen.
[Applause]
- [Squeals]
[Laughs]
- Good job, mama.
- Thank you.
- How's it going?
- I belong
in this competition.
This is my moment,
to seize it.
- You owe me
a pack of cigarettes.
[Both laugh]
- And a banana.
- And a banana.
- Chefs, I gotta say, she really
earned her spot back in.
If she continues to cook
the way she cooked
in Last Chance Kitchen,
you're in for some trouble.
A good chef knows ingredients
not only by sight,
but by smell,
by touch,
you're gonna need
all these senses
to win this challenge.
- Chefs, please lift up
the cloche in front of you.
- [Laughs]
- Do we cook this?
[Laughter]
- For your quickfire,
you'll be competing
in a blindfolded
pantry raid.
You have 30 minutes
to cook your dish,
but you must wear
that blindfold
while picking
all your ingredients.
- When you've finished
choosing your ingredients,
you can take your blindfold off,
head back to your station
and start cooking.
- Every item in your basket
must be used in your dish,
so be careful.
The winner of this quickfire
will be given a choice:
An all-new Prius "V..."
- Wow.
- Or...
A guaranteed spot
in the final rounds.
If you choose the car,
you'll still compete
in the elimination challenge.
If you choose the spot
in the final rounds,
you're automatically in,
no elimination challenge
for you.
- I think it's smart
to take the guaranteed spot,
but, you know,
it's also that kind of feeling
that you have to live with
that you should have
taken the car
and won your spot.
- Everybody
have the baskets?
- Your time starts now.
- [Laughs]
- I'm trying to just
feel my way around things.
What feels like...
Lemons are easy, zucchini,
but it's very intense,
because we have to use
every ingredient that we grab.
- Oh, my God.
My whole strategy is to get
where all the seafood is kept.
Oh.
The seafood, I'll be able to
filet it and cook it quickly.
[Items clattering]
- [Laughs]
- You know,
it's really, really hard.
Where am I?
You have an image in your mind
where you are,
but it's actually not
where you are.
- Go ahead. Keep going,
you're in the pantry now.
- Coming through,
coming through,
- Oh, Jesus,
what's that?
- I'm sorry.
Oh, my God.
- Who's that?
- Does it matter who it is?
It's a--
it's another person.
- [Laughs]
- Who's that?
- Sarah.
I decide to make a soup, because
regardless of what I pick,
I can always find a way
to work it into the dish.
I need to get
all the ingredients
in about five minutes,
'cause I think I need
that whole amount of time
to make the soup.
Then there's no way
I'm losing to Beverly.
- Like, how the hell
are we supposed to know
what anything is?
All the meats
are in cryopak bags.
You can't touch 'em
or smell 'em.
- Uh, that's me.
- Sorry.
- Uh, that's cool.
Ow.
Watch your head. I don't want to
drop anything on your head.
- That's starting to look bad
over there.
- [Laughing] I know.
- That one's just--
- Oh, watch out for my basket.
- Sorry.
- Chef,
I'm ready to cook!
I hope I got
what I thought I did.
Corn, leeks--
- Go, go, go.
- All right,
I'm ready.
- Go.
- Ooh, wow. Okay. Thank you.
Oh, thank God
that's what it was.
- I'm here.
- I'm here? Okay.
- Be careful.
- I'm sorry.
It's taking me so long
to just move around,
I'm afraid that there's
not enough time
to cook everything.
I just have to call it.
I'm ready.
- Okay.
- All right, I'm ready.
- Take off your blindfold.
Go ahead.
- Okay, I'm ready.
- Take off your blindfold, Ed.
- Ooh.
- Less than 20 minutes
on the clock.
How you doing,
Beverly?
- I ended up
with avocado.
I didn't realize
I grabbed that, so--
my plan is to make
a crispy striped bass
with pulped avocado.
I'm gonna have to
make this work.
I was given a second chance.
I don't want to waste it.
- If you win this thing,
are you gonna take the car?
- Probably take the car.
I didn't do Top Chef to be safe.
I'm making sauteed prawns
with a Thai tomato salad.
The idea behind the dish
is just
to make something simple
but delicious.
- Hi, Ed.
- Is there anything here
that you, like,
wish you hadn't had?
- Pork casings.
- Pork--
[Laughter]
- Where is it?
- It's--I'm--
I got it on the pot, I'm trying
to boil the hell out of it,
and see if--
what I can do with it,
'cause I was not planning--
I thought it was pancetta.
- Well, you figure that one out.
- [Laughing] Yeah, thanks.
I'm making a version of udon,
and instead of the noodles,
I'm gonna use vegetable,
but I just got to figure out
what to do
with the pork casing.
I want to win the last one,
go out g*ns a-blazing.
- I ended up grabbing
bulgur wheat,
and I'm taking a risk
trying to cook it
in a very short
amount of time.
I also grabbed marscapone
instead of creme fraiche.
[Laughs]
But I hope with the limes
and with salt
I'll be able to
neutralize it.
- I'm making
a corn and red chili soup
with portobello mushrooms,
peaches, and leeks.
I want the biggest,
boldest flavor possible.
I want to make sure that
I show the judges
I belong
in the final four.
- Five minutes, everyone,
you have five minutes left.
- Coming through!
I focused too much
on my pulped avocado,
so the last five minutes
I have just, like,
started to clean my fish.
I'm running out of time.
[Laughing] I can't do anything
with that.
The major problem
is the pork casings.
They're not gonna
soften up,
but the water
they've been boiling in,
it's nice,
it's salty.
I'm just gonna use that
as the base for my udon broth.
It would be really nice
to have that car.
- 19, 18...
Oh.
- Hands up,
utensils down.
- Hello.
- Hi.
How does it feel
to be back?
- Uh, it's awesome.
It really is.
So I took some of
the striped bass
with pulped avocado, lime,
and jalapeno.
- This fish is a little--
- Yeah, uncooked.
- Undercooked.
- Just did a sauteed prawn
with a Thai-style tomato salad.
- Is this undercooked,
or just the way you like it?
- I think it's where I like it,
right up to the point.
- Okay, thanks.
- Thank you, Paul.
- I made you udon,
basically.
Instead of noodles,
I made ribbons of zucchini,
mushrooms, scallion.
I didn't know what to do
with the pork casings,
and I just
boiled it in water.
It surprisingly had
a nice, salty kind of a--
- Mm-hmm.
- Is that the base for the--?
- That was the base
for the soup.
Padma takes more than one bite,
which is always a good sign.
- Good job
on the casings.
- Thank you.
- Thank you.
- I did a corn soup,
a little onion, and red chili,
with a touch of lime juice,
and then I wood-roasted
the mushrooms,
a little thyme
and fresh peach.
- Have you done this combination
of mushrooms and peaches?
- No.
- Okay.
- But I'm trying to
push the limit.
- [Laughs]
- You sure are.
- Thank you, Sarah.
- Thank you.
- I grabbed
a whole fish
and cooked that in
a little bit of butter and oil,
and then underneath
I did bulgur wheat,
tomato sauce,
and some marscapone.
- Did you have any problems
in the pantry?
I ran into the wall
a couple times.
- Oh.
- Hopefully you didn't
metaphorically
walk into a wall.
- Tom, how do you think
the chefs did, overall?
- Ed, I think you probably chose
the most difficult thing.
If you're not
making sausage,
what do you do
with pork casings?
You chose to make broth
out of it,
which actually was
really flavorful.
The prawn in there
was perfectly cooked.
Really, really nice.
- Thank you.
- Paul, you put together
a nice dish,
and it had that sweetness,
had that salty,
had a little bit of bitter.
The prawn was,
I still think,
slightly undercooked.
- Beverly, the avocado side,
it was interesting,
because that's something
you weren't looking for,
you ended up
with an avocado.
It was the best part
of the dish.
Fish was
a little undercooked.
- Lindsay, the bulgur wheat was
a nice touch with the tomato,
the fish was
perfectly cooked,
and I loved the char
on the greens.
- Thank you.
- Sarah,
this is interesting, that
you tried to take an ingredient
and force it
into a dish.
I gotta say,
this time it worked.
I think the peach was
a little stronger than the corn.
That said, it was delicious.
- Thank you, chef.
- Tom, please announce
the winner.
- You all did a great job.
This comes down to two people,
Ed and Sarah.
Whoever wins is gonna have
a choice to make,
it's either a car or
a guaranteed spot in the finale.
And the winner is...
- Whoever wins is gonna have
a choice to make,
it's either a car or
a guaranteed spot in the finale.
- Tom and Padma narrow it down
between Ed and myself.
There's a lot at stake.
This is, like,
the quickfire
of all quickfires.
- And the winner is...
- Sarah.
- Oh, my God!
Oh, my God!
Oh, my God, oh, my God,
oh, my God, oh, my God!
- I haven't won a quickfire yet,
and this was the one to win.
- So much for pork casings.
- Holy cow!
- Good job.
- Now Sarah,
you have a big decision.
- I can't find out
what the elimination challenge
is first, right?
- [Laughing] No.
- No.
- I'm gonna go with
the guaranteed spot.
- Congratulations, Sarah.
- Thank you.
- That means you are moving on
to the final round.
- Oh, my God.
- It definitely shows that
the confidence is not there.
- As much as I want to compete,
I need to be at the finale, so--
I don't really care
what the chefs think,
and they look at me
differently.
They can look at me as
one of their competitors
in the final four.
- Only three more of you
will join Sarah in the finals.
This elimination challenge
is your last chance
to earn
one of those spots.
- We brought in a few people
that we feel have a small hand
at getting you this far
into the competition.
- I'm thinking, "small hand,"
maybe my son?
That would
blow my mind away.
- And here they are now.
Your mentors.
They're the ones
who've had a major impact
on your culinary careers.
- Oh, no. [Laughs]
- Oh, my God.
- [Squealing] Oh, my God!
Oh, my God! Oh, my God!
- [Laughs]
- [Laughs]
- [Laughs]
- [Laughs]
Standing there is Michelle.
I'm like,
"of course.
"Of course they would bring
our mentors,
and this is going to
tie in to our challenge."
- I can tell by your faces that
there's no introduction needed.
I know there are
some good stories here,
so I want to hear
from you.
Sarah?
- My mentor
is chef Tony Montano.
Tony took a big chance
on a girl from Texas
and sent her to Italy, and
he's made me an amazing chef,
so I think him for that
every day.
- I'm gonna look at your shoes
so I don't lose it, all right?
[Both laugh]
So Michelle Bernstein
is my mentor.
She molded this girl
from North Carolina
with train-wreck hair
into the chef that I am,
and she taught me how to balance
being a badass and a lady
at the same time.
[Both laugh]
- Chef Sarah Stegner.
She was my first mentor
when I was 16
and I had no clue
what fine dining was about,
and I'm forever grateful.
Thank you for your tough love
on me.
- My mentor
is Chef Tyson Cole.
He's mentored me
and brought me up
over the last, like,
almost eight years now,
and I'm, like, [Sobs].
I'm--
sorry,
couldn't finish that.
But, uh,
thank you.
- My mentor is Frank Crispo.
What's up, Frankie?
I was in my 20s,
I didn't know
what I wanted to do
in life,
I had long hair,
I had an attitude,
I walked into his kitchen,
and he whipped me into shape.
I mean, he taught me
how to be honest, hard-working,
he taught me how to cook.
Thank you.
- You know, chefs,
you're not just
representing yourself
tomorrow.
You really need to
impress your mentors.
- We want you to make a dish
that fulfills and even exceeds
their expectations of you
as a great chef.
- [Sighs]
- You have two and a half hours
to prep here tonight,
here in
the Top Chef kitchen.
Tomorrow you'll have
an hour to cook
before service begins
at the Hotel Valencia.
The winner of this
elimination challenge
will take home
an all-new Prius "V."
[Laughs]
Sarah, since you
won the quickfire
and chose a spot
in the final round,
you don't have to compete
in the elimination challenge.
You can relax and celebrate
with Tony.
- Yes!
That's awesome!
[Both laugh]
- Sarah and Tony,
enjoy your night.
Bye.
- I knew it was gonna be you.
It would have been hard
without--
- Hey, how are you?
- Oh, my God.
- Let's go.
- Okay, let's do it.
[Both laugh]
That's great,
I'm so proud of you.
It's awesome.
- Yeah, I didn't mean to get
choked up. I'm sorry.
I didn't know it was--
- What? No. Why would--
- Oh, [bleep].
- I like that, man.
It's super-exciting.
- Looks like some
real tough competitors here.
- Yeah.
- Don't second guess yourself.
Go through with it.
- When I think about you,
Beverly,
I think about encouraging you
and supporting you
to do what you do best.
- Yes.
- It's your thing.
- Mm-hmm.
- 'Cause I think
you're so talented.
- When I thought about
something, like,
the cioppino or
a bouillabaisse,
and then I could
do something tableside.
- But everything in that bowl
better be perfectly cooked.
- I hope I make you proud
tomorrow.
- You're gonna be good,
you're gonna be good.
- [Laughs]
- Thank you for coming.
- [Muffled] I know
you're gonna be great.
- Mmm, thank you so much.
- I'm in your corner.
- I love you.
- [Muffled] I love you, too.
- I miss you so much.
- You can win this.
I think you will win.
- All this pressure.
[Laughs]
When I first met Tyson
I was 23.
He helped shape and mold
what my voice is as a chef,
so I want to
make my mentor proud.
- Hybrid car.
- This thing is cool.
- Wow, look at this.
- This is the car to win.
- Look at the headroom on this,
there's room for one more.
- Floor it!
- [Laughs]
- Here we are.
- Can I try
a little piece of this one?
- What kind of oysters
you got today?
- Oysters?
I don't have any oysters.
- Oysters, they're
the main component of my dish,
and there's no fresh oysters
today.
Can I open one up?
I'll buy 'em if--
- Yeah, go ahead.
- I find these smoked oysters
in a can. I open one up,
they've got nice flavor.
Perfect,
I'm gonna take all of 'em.
- Go for it.
- Thank you, man.
- Cilantro, scallions.
Okay.
By doing a wok dish,
I'm taking a chance,
but this is the soul
of what I do,
I'm back
and I'm going to kick ass.
I still have the paper
that says,
"Beverly, you have won
Top Chef Season Nine,"
and it's materializing.
Excuse me, sorry.
- Ten minutes.
- Swordfish
and tuna steak.
- And you have salmon.
I feel good about
cooking for Michelle.
That's what I do
on a daily basis.
Do y'all have calamari
or octopus?
- No.
- Neither one?
But I wanted components that
can be really tough to find.
This is gonna be a really
difficult challenge for me.
- All right, I'm done.
- Okay, cool.
- Thank you so much,
Jessica.
- We miss you incredibly.
- I hope so.
- It's not the same without you.
- I was worried that
you wouldn't need me anymore.
[Laughs]
Is that Tequila?
- This is how it happens.
- Uh-oh. Now the juices
are gonna start flowing.
- I knew all along
that this would happen.
Having competed
on Top Chef Masters,
I knew you had
what it took.
- Salute.
- Frank's influence
is obvious.
It's the love,
it's the heartiness,
but I've got some touches
in there, like the cilantro gel.
I think it's a nice mix
of both worlds.
Not bad.
If I get eliminated
because Beverly comes back
and takes my spot,
I am gonna be so pissed off.
- I'm making a chilled sunchoke
and dashi soup.
I think it's a big risk.
It's unassuming,
but at the same time, I know
the flavors that are in it.
I just hope it's not too simple
for the judges.
- ♪ Say it again ♪
Can we get
some theme music going?
- Coming in.
Coming back.
I'm starting to second-guess
what I'm doing.
I'm nervous about how many
different components I have,
and I've just gotta
put my head down
and get as much of it done
as I can,
because what's
the most important for me
is being able to
make Michelle proud.
It's terrifying,
'cause if I do bad,
I might not have a job
when I go back.
- Uh, we haven't seen anything
like this from him at all.
[Suspenseful music]
♪ ♪
- I'm running out of time
to prep for our mentor dinner.
I make the oyster cream.
You want to get it just right so
it's not gonna be overpowering.
I just need to
make it perfect,
and put out something
that Frankie would be proud of.
Nine minutes,
forty seconds!
- Trying to make chicken stock
in two and a half hours
is challenging,
so I decide to pack it up
with all of the stuff
inside of it
to maximize as much flavor
as I can by tomorrow morning.
- One minute, guys!
- Catch.
- Thank you. Oh!
- Oh, [bleep].
- [Laughs]
- If I can quit chasing
my cooler.
- All right, guys,
let's go.
- Wow,
feels good to be back.
I've been like a nomad. [Laughs]
Going back and forth
and making it back
into the house again
is so sweet. It feels like
this is where I should be.
Mwah.
- Where you guys surprised
when I came back, or--?
- No.
I mean, like, did you know
that there was, like,
that second chance--
- She told us the night before,
when Grayson--
- they told us last night.
- Oh.
- So Beverly, what did you
and Grayson make?
- Grayson made
a seared scallop.
Like, and she made snapper.
Like, literally, like, both,
they said,
could potentially leave.
- I definitely had issues
with Beverly,
but she's back
and I've just got to b*at her.
- And we were all
excited,
'cause we thought
we were the final four.
- Miss you.
- [On phone] How's it going?
- It's going good.
How's everything?
I totally miss my girlfriend,
Dina.
We've been together a year
and eight months.
- [On phone]
Well, we got a new couch.
- How do the cats like it?
She's been super-supportive.
I feel very blessed
to have someone like her.
Okay, babe.
- Okay, bye, honey.
- Bye, babe.
- You guys ready?
- Let's go.
- Let's go.
- We arrive
at the Hotel Valencia,
and we're cooking
in the Citrus restaurant.
This is our
last elimination challenge
before the finals.
We're cooking a dinner that's
supposed to impress our mentors.
- Hot, hot, hot.
- The last time
I actually cooked for Sarah
was when I worked for her.
She liked
real soulful Asian food,
so that's what I'm doing.
Because I'm wok-cooking,
I have to cook in small batches,
so the most important time
is the last ten minutes.
If I do it too early,
it's gonna sit and wilt,
and if I wait too late,
I risk not plating.
- I spent a lot more time
cooking yesterday than today.
Today it's all assembly.
I'm working on
this chilled soup.
It's all veg,
but it's all
part of
this bigger picture
that'll come together once
I pour the soup into the bowl.
Uh, the hardest part is just
- 30 minutes.
Right now I'm working on
finishing my seafood broth,
and I've got to toast
some couscous.
I'm making
a unique interpretation
of a seafood stew.
I have one chance to make
it to the final rounds.
I'm gonna fight my hardest
to get there.
- I'm just grabbing
some equipment, I'll be out.
- You're fine.
- Just finishing up
my meats.
I've got some pork belly skin
that I'm trying to crisp up
for a garnish.
I want to be in the final four.
This is what I came for.
That was pretty.
There's so much stuff
that we've had to go through.
Just hoping I don't
psych myself out.
- It's the last meal
here in Texas.
The chefs have worked so hard
to get here.
We're all very thankful
to have you with us,
so thank you all.
Cheers.
- Cheers.
- Bev?
- [Unintelligible response]
- Is it okay if I put this
like right here?
- Yeah, I'm gonna plate
right here.
- Okay, perfect.
- Sarah, how did you meet
Beverly?
- I was the restaurant chef
at the Ritz Carlton.
- Mm-hmm.
- In Chicago.
What my message to her
has been,
"If you're passionate about
something and you believe in it,
it's gonna work for you,"
and I'm very proud of her.
- Two minutes lefts.
Sh--nice!
I'm, like,
throwing everything off here,
like, as fast as I could,
but still not, like, sloppy.
Beautiful.
I know they're not
gonna be impressed
by how it looks,
but they're gonna be
really impressed
by the ballsiness of it,
and the flavor.
[Alarm sounding]
- Hi, Beverly.
- Hi, how is everyone?
Well,
today I've made
Gulf shrimp and barbecue pork
Singapore noodles.
Some peanuts and coconut milk.
I just really wanted
to show something
straight from the heart.
Thank you.
- Thank you.
- I love the level of heat
and the flavors.
My shrimp
is cooked perfect,
and I think she really did
cook from the heart.
- Cooking in a wok
for this many people,
it's a pretty difficult thing
to do,
so she really
pushed herself here,
and I think overall
Beverly did a nice job.
- So Lindsay's up next,
Michelle.
- I know,
I'm really nervous.
I'm actually sweating.
- [Laughs]
I almost feel like
I'm in the kitchen there,
as well, because she is
an extension of me.
I just want her
to be happy.
- Sounds like
you're breaking up with her.
- Would you stop?
- [Laughter]
- Well, you just want her
to be happy.
[Chuckles]
- I feel like
emulsifying my sauce with cream
was not a good idea.
I was just panicking,
and just trying to find a way
to get
as much flavor as I could.
[Alarm sounding]
I'm a little bit worried
that this dish isn't gonna
get me into the top four.
I made a seafood "stew,"
and it has mussels, clams,
some local Gulf shrimp,
and little bits of Atlantic cod
over some
toasted Israeli couscous.
Then the broth is
really intense seafood stock
that's emulsified
with a little bit of cream.
- Thank you so much.
- All right, thanks.
- [Whispering]
Thank you.
- Michelle?
- Everything is cooked
really, really beautifully.
To me, the clam and the mussel
were so perfect.
I don't know why
she put the cream in the pan.
- A little bit of the raw thyme
flavor coming through,
it was, like, strong,
it just...
Caught me
at the end of my tongue.
- The fish was cooked perfectly,
the shrimp were great.
Pretty good job,
all things considered.
- [Groans]
- Tyson,
tell us about Paul.
- He was the first person
that I ever worked with, where
I would show him something
and teach him,
and then he'd come back
two days later
and he would have done it
better than I did it.
At first I was
kind of threatened.
- Uh, yeah.
[Laughter]
- You know what I mean?
But then I was like,
"you know, this guy is--
he's really valuable."
Like, "We need to
take advantage of that."
- We need to exploit that.
- I know, exactly.
- I keep on
second-guessing myself.
I know
that I shouldn't,
but I really want to
put more stuff on it.
[Alarm sounding]
Being able to recognize
that you're dish
is where it should be
takes a lot
of experience,
and it takes
a lot of discipline.
Who's taking the sauces?
Okay, cool.
I'm gonna be with you.
[Sighs]
- [Whispering] It's beautiful.
- Thank you.
- Hi-yo.
- Hi-yo.
So I made a chilled sunchoke
and dashi soup,
served with
some summer vegetables
that have carrots,
summer squash,
and a little bit
of chervil,
and it's an honor to serve
this whole table.
- Thank you, Paul.
- Thank you.
- First spoonful I took
of Paul's soup,
I thought
it was actually salty.
- But it was
so balanced
with the completely
unseasoned vegetables.
All: Mm-hmm.
- It was great.
- Paul's been
actually cooking
more Thai food
than anything else.
We haven't seen anything
like this from him at all.
- This is everything
that I've teached to Paul
over the years, is a balance
of flavor and not overdoing it.
I'm smiling ear-to-ear.
- Wow, that's nice.
- Edward was green
as green could be,
but he had
that fire inside to,
like, "I'll show you,
I'll show you,"
and now he's here.
So he's
really determined.
I feel like my dish is strong,
it's got lots of flavor,
and hopefully it shows enough
to get to the next round.
Three, two, and one.
[Alarm sounding]
- Full plate.
- Hi, everyone.
- Edward.
- That's for you,
Frankie.
- [Laughing] Okay. Wow.
- [Laughs]
- I braised some pork belly,
and I paired it
with a smoked oyster cream.
There's a little strain
of crispy skin.
Uh, pickles are celery,
celery leaves, plums,
and radish,
and then
a little braising juice
to finish it off.
Enjoy.
- Ed packed this plate
with a ton of flavor.
- He went back
to his roots.
He really expressed
what he likes to eat
and how he likes
to prepare food.
Kind of like in-your-face
type of a thing.
- Yeah.
- Yeah.
- I'm just not a big fan of this
particular oyster sauce at all.
- I like the pickles.
- I like the pickles, too.
- I love the pickles.
- I think he should
jar and sell them,
and I would be
his best customer.
- Done.
- It's done.
- Well, I think this was
a wonderful meal.
Each one of these plates
were just so special,
and so individual, that it was
nice to have as a meal together.
- You know, the chefs
actually did a great job.
Little mistakes here and there,
but they're nervous,
and when you're nervous,
it's--you know,
things are bound to happen,
but for the most part,
they all did a great job,
and you all
should be proud of them.
[Applause]
- You're only as good as
your last dish,
and I really hope
that Michelle's not like,
"Oh, my God,
Lindsay totally bombed this."
[Overlapping congratulations]
- I love you very much.
- Thanks so much.
- We'll see how it goes.
- I think you've got
a lot of nerve to actually just
come in here
with this soup.
- I really second-guessed
everything I was doing.
- [Laughs]
- Ed's gonna start
crying now.
- Oh, man.
- Did you want to
see me cry?
You want to see me cry?
- [Laughs]
- I can't--you know what--
I'm not a crier.
- You got close yesterday.
- Yeah, I got real close
yesterday.
Yesterday
our mentors came out,
everyone starts crying
like a frickin' schoolchild.
Paul cried, you cried, you cr--
I couldn't cry.
This challenge
is really making me
more emotional
than I'm showing,
but I may be crying
on the inside.
[Sobbing]
I don't want to go home!
- [Laughs]
- I just
don't want to go.
[Laughter]
- How many plating elements
did you have on your plate?
- A lot, 'cause I had fish,
clams, mussels,
and the couscous.
- He-ey!
- Hi, guys.
How was the kitchen?
Is it nice?
- Hot.
What'd you do today?
- You look more rested.
- Yeah.
[Laughter]
- You look good.
[Laughter]
- It is daunting...
- Yeah.
- What we've done.
One exhausting challenge
after another.
- Well, the thing is, you have
no idea what's coming next.
- We didn't know about this
"last chef standing" thing.
I can't believe they were
doing that the whole time.
- Good evening.
We'd like to see
all of you.
Except for you, Sarah,
you have the night off.
[Laughter]
- Let's go.
- Bye, guys.
- Bye.
- See you later.
[Suspenseful music]
♪ ♪
- Not only
were we impressed,
but I think your mentors
were really happy
to see how well you've done
in the competition,
and overall,
we just got some great food.
- Paul, was it nerve-wracking,
cooking for Tyson?
- Yeah, it's always
nerve-wracking.
And this table, it's just like,
he's among other great chefs,
and, like, I don't want to
make him look bad.
That's a lot of pressure,
you know?
- Number one,
I think you've got a lot nerve
to actually just come in here
with this soup.
- [Laughs]
- I think
the flavor in that dish,
it spoke to someone
who has
a lot more experience
than you have.
Young chefs
don't understand restraint,
they want to add more,
and you knew
that enough was enough,
and I gotta say,
it was a very nice bowl of soup.
- Thank you, chef.
Thank you.
- I couldn't believe how
every bit of that soup, Paul,
gave me
more and more flavor.
It was well-prepared,
thoughtful food.
- Thank you so much.
- Bev?
- I was really proud
to have Chef Sarah there.
It just felt
back into my element,
and I think that's what
Chef Sarah was talking about,
like, just go back
to where you feel comfortable.
- You know, typically, when
you're doing a stir-fry dish,
you do it for, like, maybe
one or two people at a time.
How did you sort of deal with
making it for eight people?
- I had two woks
that I had really hot,
and just did
two batches.
I was worried about plating,
getting everything on the plate.
- Yeah, it's risky
for so many reasons.
You can't go back
and re-season it,
you can't go back
and add a little and taste,
this is just,
you got to go.
- And noodles, especially in
a wok, when not cooked properly,
can be greasy,
can be soggy.
There was none of that,
and the flavors were so clear.
- Thank you.
- Beverly and Paul,
you served our favorite dishes
of the evening.
Congratulations.
- [Laughs]
Both of you
will be moving on to the finals,
and one of you
will win an all-new Prius "V."
The winner is...
- Paul.
- [Laughs]
- [Laughing] Oh.
- You got it.
[Applause]
- Thank you.
I put my heart onto the plate,
the judges enjoyed everything,
and I'm in the finals.
It's perfect.
Thank you so much.
This challenge was just,
like,
the reason why I wanted
to do Top Chef in the beginning.
It's like, this is
the kind of challenge
that just gets me,
like, going.
Thank you so much.
- You're welcome,
and to get you going
a little more,
an all-new Prius "V."
Come up here
and get your keys.
- Thank you.
Out of all the challenges,
this is the challenge to win,
because I made
my mentor proud.
- Bev, you are also moving on
to the final rounds.
Congratulations.
- [Laughing] Oh!
- Great job.
- It's so much sweeter,
because I was
at the bottom,
and then having the ability
to rise,
um, it's awesome.
- Congratulations.
You both can leave the kitchen.
Thank you.
- Thank you.
[Laughs]
He won.
- Congratulations.
- [Sighs]
So happy.
- It's great.
- I made it
to the final four.
I feel, like,
the most amazing feeling of joy.
Yay!
[Laughs]
- It is pretty ballsy, though,
to do the--
- The wok.
- The wok.
- What did they say
about Ed and Lindsay?
- They--we didn't
talk about 'em.
They just sent us away,
and now it's just them two.
- Oh, my God,
I'm so worried about them.
- Lindsay and Ed,
only one of you
will be moving on
to the final round,
and one of you
will be going home.
- At this stage
in this game,
you guys need to be
inordinately proud
of how far you've come
and the food you've cooked.
You're here
for a reason,
and you're both awesome
at what you do.
- When your dish, Lindsay,
came to the table,
the aroma
was intoxicating.
I thought you had
a beautiful balance of seafood
on that plate.
- Right.
- Why did you decide
to add the cream to your dish?
- Because I was afraid that
it needed a little bit of fat
to bring it together,
but I think
it would have been fine,
'cause I ended up doing
brown butter on the fish,
and it would have
come together.
- The dried herb overtones,
it just kind of,
pbbt, permeated everything.
- Yeah, exactly.
- Yeah, it just
blanketed everything, overall.
- You had this nice, beautiful,
herbaceous sort of dish,
and then all of a sudden
you started eating it,
and you get these dried herbs,
and it was like--
and that was a mistake.
- I knew it
as I was walking it out,
so that's the worst part.
[Laughs]
- The fact that you did
take this dish on,
I think impressed us all.
I'll tell you,
I know Michelle has
an enormous amount of respect
and love for you.
- No, I know.
[Laughing] I feel like
such an idiot right now.
There's no crying
in fine dining, right?
- Um, but I have had
so much fun,
and met some
really incredible people.
Um, I'd love to move on,
and if not, [sniffs]
I've accomplished so much,
and I'm okay with it.
- Ed, those pickles
were insanely amazing.
The plums, celery, like,
so genius.
Just the oyster sauce, something
was slightly off about it,
I couldn't figure out
if that was the best way.
- Ed, were those
canned oysters?
- They were--they were smoked,
yeah, smoked, canned--
- Yeah.
- There was not a single
fresh oyster to be found.
At that point,
I made a split--
- So you didn't have
fresh oysters at all?
- No.
- That's what that was.
- So--
- and just,
there were just so many things
going on on the plate.
It was just a little busy.
Do you have a great dish
somewhere in that dish?
Sure. You got a great thing
going on somewhere in there,
but its cons kind of jumped up
to the forefront.
- Frank--um--
- [laughing] What'd he say?
- Had a huge smile on his face
when he was
eating your dish.
He really was proud,
and he was so glad
that he was seeing you
really cook from your heart.
He loved it.
- Thank you.
It was just nice to be able to
show him what I'm doing now,
and this competition has
opened up a lot of ideas for me,
and when I'm on the bottom
I learn,
uh, when I'm on the top,
I'm elated,
so it's been a great experience.
I would love for it to continue.
- It's been great,
and I mean that.
Uh, unfortunately,
only one of you
can move on.
- We'll call you back in a bit.
Thank you.
- Thanks.
- Thank you.
You have any bourbon
in your bag?
- Why are you crying?
- I don't know.
- [Whispering] It's gonna be me,
don't worry about it.
- No, either one of us.
- [Laughing]
She's crying.
- Oh, my God.
- I lost my [bleep].
[Sniffs]
It was just too powerful.
[Sighs]
It's not even about
this [bleep],
I just didn't want
to embarrass her, you know?
- You didn't, you didn't.
- [Sobs]
- She just--
she just used dried herbs
instead of fresh herbs.
- Because I used
the sage wrong.
- My dish, they were like,
"I have no idea
how you came up with this,
and what it means." [Laughs]
- [Laughs]
- [Bleep], "B,"
give me some love.
"B" me.
- [Sighs]
- It's really great
to watch Beverly.
I mean, she was
out of the competition.
She got back in
through Last Chance Kitchen,
and she has her spot.
She cooked her way in,
she did a great job.
- Mm-hmm. So Sarah, Paul, and
Beverly have already moved on.
Now we just have to figure out
who's joining them,
Ed or Lindsay.
- Both of those dishes
really showed us
how much they've grown
over the last several weeks,
and who they are right now,
in terms of the flavors the use,
and a lot of the great technique
that they used along with it.
- Right.
- What I think, though,
is they over-thought,
they did too much.
- Once you get to
a certain point in your career,
you start
doing your own thing,
and you sort of break away
from your mentor.
Every chef
needs to go through that,
and all of a sudden,
you have a challenge
where your mentor's there,
and you're right back
to where you were
a couple years ago.
It's not surprising
some people break down.
- Mm-hmm.
- Lindsay really pushed
for Michelle.
- And I think she had
a great vision
of what
she wanted to do,
and then just took
a number of missteps.
- She said she second-guessed
herself the whole way through,
and it ended up that way
on the plate.
- She knew
that she'd made these mistakes,
and she didn't
try to fix them
before she brought them
to the table.
If I take Ed's dish and
just remove that oyster sauce,
I think it would have played
as an entirely different dish.
Those pickles were
totally stellar,
I loved the pork crackling
on top.
- The guy's great,
he's just
a really busy-minded chef,
though.
- I gotta say, I'm shocked
to listen to him say
he goes to the market
looking for fresh oysters,
and then, "Well,
smoked's good enough.
Or canned,
eh, we'll work with that."
It's not like someone
put a g*n to his head and said,
"You have to get
those smoked oysters."
- Don't get fixated
on the recipe.
You need to go to the store
and figure out
what's great in the market,
and then cook from there.
- One person
does have to go home,
and I think we know
who that person is.
- Yep.
[Suspenseful music]
♪ ♪
- It's with difficult emotions
for everybody here
that one of you
will be leaving us.
- Ed,
please pack your knives
and go.
- You deserve it.
[Muffled] Good luck.
- [Muffled response]
- You deserve it.
Thank you so much.
This has been
an incredible experience.
It's the end of the road
for me.
It's really difficult
getting so close
and getting knocked out
by Beverly
the last round
before the finals.
It's a bad way to go.
Thank you.
- Lindsay,
congratulations.
- Thank you.
I'm really excited that
I made it to the final four.
It sucks that I end up
on the bottom,
cooking for Michelle,
but I made it through,
and I'm gonna bring it
even harder
than I've done before.
- That's what I'm gonna
look forward to, eventually.
- Oh.
- Oh, Ed.
- I knew it was me.
- All right.
- Thank you.
It's ironic
that I idolize Ed so much
and I made it past him.
- See you in Kentucky.
Lindsay, you did a great job.
- Thank you.
- Whether I was
up or down,
the competition
is what drives you as a chef,
and I loved it.
- We're gonna drink
lots of bourbon.
- We'll do that.
I had to come
and just see
what I was made of,
and I'm glad I did,
because I stacked up pretty well
against some pretty
heavy hitters.
- Cheers to you guys.
- Cheers.
- You four deserve to be
in the finale.
I look forward
to some incredible food,
and cheers. I wish you all
the best of luck.
- Cheers, Ed.
Both: Thanks, Ed.
- Later, Ed.
- First, to Ed.
All: To Ed.
- And second,
to the final four.
- The last four remaining.
- I know I could have
done better.
I think I should have
gotten to the finale,
but I'll carry that on with me,
and I'll use that
as a force to sort of make me
a better chef.
- Next on Top Chef...
- You're gonna get
a little motion sickness.
- Oh, boy.
- Hi, chefs.
Welcome to British Columbia.
- This is the most peaceful
it's gonna be.
[Grunting]
- Bev, be careful
with that spike.
- Oh!
[g*nsh*t]
- I'm doing a dish
I've never done before.
- You had to work
a little harder
to find the flavors.
- [Giggles]
09x14 - Mentors
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Show features chefs competing against each other in culinary challenges.
Show features chefs competing against each other in culinary challenges.