11x16 - Maui Wowie

[bunniefuu]

Open burner, guys.

Oh, sorry, sorry, sorry.

Somebody got my yellow beets!



roll into New Orleans...

We partyin'!

For a battle in the Bayou.

- Look at the alligator. - Oh, my God.

Going shrimping.

This is so New Orleans. It's unbelievable.

Some of the most enjoyable food I've had in 11 seasons.

Wow!

Chefs, congratulations.

You've made it to the finals.

Nick, Nina, and Shirley said good-bye

to the big easy

and aloha to the finals in Maui.

Aloha.

Being in Hawaii for the finale is amazing.

Oh, sister!

Throughout my career,

I worked for many really great chefs,

but being on Top Chef made me realize

that I want to cook my food.

I was really hoping being on the show

would help me this voice,

and I think I found it.

If this is your voice, I like the sound of it.

Oh, thank you, chef.

My name's Shirley Chung.

I'm on the different level now.

From day one,Top Chef was a lot more challenging

than I thought it would be.

The judges right now... watch, watch, watch, watch.

Nicholas, congratulations.

Yeah!

Through this journey,

I've had a lot of highs,

and I've had a lot of lows.

Can be an assh*le,

but I appreciate an assh*le.

It's given me an opportunity to step back and realize

that I've gotten to this point,

and I'm not turning back.

I'm winning this for me.

I'm winning this for my family.

From the very first challenge,

I've been kicking ass in this competition.

If that isn't a national dish from somewhere, it should be.

Now the pressure's really on.

The other chefs see me as a thr*at,

but I haven't won the title yet.

When are we gonna start cooking again?

Now Nick, Nina, and Shirley are ready for battle,

but one more chef is about to join the competition.

The winner of Last Chance Kitchen.

My favorite of the two?

Louis, that was the best dish I tasted all season.

With seven wins under his belt,

Louis has been unstoppable

in his quest for redemption.

Fresh off a heartbreaking elimination,

Carlos stepped in to take down the champ.

Welcome to Last Chance Kitchen.

They asked me to take you out of the game.

Who will emerge victorious?

And tonight in a twist for the ages...

Only two chefs are moving on.

Now we're in for trouble.

This is what 19 chefs came to New Orleans for.

I'm gonna have to cook my ass off

to b*at these two girls.

All fighting to win the feature in food & wine magazine,

a showcase at the annual food & wine classic in Aspen,

$125,000 furnished by healthy choice,

and the title of Top Chef.

Ah, yeah.

So are we eating, or are we cooking?

Being here in Maui, it's absolutely beautiful,

but I'm not here to enjoy and take in Hawaii.

I'm here to come in g*ns blazing and to win Top Chef.

My heart is pounding out of my chest right now.

I think this is the hardest part of the competition right now,

because you're so close, yet you're so far away.

I'm starving and I'm nervous.

Cheers. Thank you, Sam.

- Yep, enjoy. - Wow.

That's a lot of people.

We're not sure what's going on.

Oh, do we get a lei?

We're guessing that our first challenge

will be cooking a luau maybe.

Thank you.

This sh*t's getting real.

Aloha, chefs, and welcome to Maui.

There are only two challenges before the finale

and a new Top Chef is crowned.

Breathe.

Please meet famed Hawaiian chef

and one of the founding fathers of regional Hawaiian cuisine.

Sam choy, welcome.

Aloha, welcome.

Aloha, chef.

Aloha.

Yee-hoo!

That's how you get yourself not nervous.

All season long,

tom has been putting your fallen competitors

to the test on Last Chance Kitchen.

In the final challenge,

the three of you got to taste

and decide which chef's dish was worthy

of earning a spot back in this competition.

You're gonna have a part in choosing which chef

from Last Chance Kitchen is gonna join you.

This is your last chance to reenter the competition.

You're gonna have to plate up five dishes,

'cause I won't be dining alone today.

- Carlos? - Yeah.

How you been?

This is gonna be your biggest challenge.

The tuna fish has more complex flavors.

But unfortunately, this is overcooked.

To me, the focal point of the dish is supposed to be the fish.

It feels funny being on the other side.

You each get one vote.

Write down either tuna or mahi on the card.

Any idea who might be joining us?

- No. - No.

Who did you vote for?

Tuna.

Well, let's see who made the tuna.

I'm really stoked to see Louis.

But now that he had to come back and win

eight Last Chance Kitchen challenges to get here,

he is an extremely strong thr*at.

So Louis is the reigning champ of Last Chance Kitchen.

He's been cooking amazing food the whole way through.

Yesterday he continued his streak,

and he b*at out Carlos.

I won eight straight.

Last Chance Kitchen competitions.

I'm more than ready for this challenge.

How does it feel to be back in the competition, Louis?

Amazing. Really, really nice.

Well, you certainly earned it.

Since we're here in Hawaii,

we wanted to put you to the test

with a food that's near and dear to the hearts of the locals.

The state of Hawaii is, in fact,

the number one per capita consumer of this product.

We want to see what you can do

with what is lovingly referred to by the locals

as "Hawaiian steak"...

Yeah.

Spam.

For this challenge,

we want you to break the monotony

and do something we've never seen before

using one of these spam products.

Spam and eggs is awesome.

There's, like, nothing better than that.

I don't think the others have really used spam,

but it's just something that, like,

you should've figured was gonna be thrown at us.

This is your last quickfire this season.

We want to see some creativity,

because the winner of this quickfire

will take home $10,000.

No pressure, guys, but I am the spam master.

Growing up, it was like second nature.

We stir fried it.

We made kebabs.

I made spam cakes.

- Wow. - Yeah, wow.

I really hope that I can win this.

Nick definitely doesn't have the best track record

when it comes to quickfires,

so my strongest competition is Nina and Louis.

He is the champion of Last Chance Kitchen.

So everyone's excited to see what you can do with it, right?

All right, guys.

Your 30 minutes starts now.

Good luck.

Who can say that when they're cooking,

they look right into the ocean?

It's amazing.

f*ck!

I am not what you would consider

a practitioner of spam.

I think I've maybe eaten it once in my life.

And for some reason,

I didn't feel the need to do any research on spam

before I came to Hawaii, like, the home of spam.

Nick, what are you making?

Making spam pho,

but I don't know where it's gonna go.

That's as far as I got.

You have about 20 minutes to figure that out.

I don't want you to think I have an actual game plan

in my head.

I've essentially gone through eight quickfires

to get to this point.

And if anything, I learned was

how much I'm capable of doing within 30 minutes.

So I had this idea of making spam mousse.

I think it's gonna represent what this competition is about,

created in the most inventive way possible.

I'm gonna do a spam torchon.

You roll it in the shape of a... with a towel, round.

Hawaiians are very nice people,

but they're asking a lot of questions.

And it's like, "look, man, I got 30 minutes."

"I got to do something amazing with spam.

$10,000 on the line."

It's like, "just back off a little bit."

Oh, Jesus.



Did you pull a spicy spam?

- Teriyaki. - Teriyaki spam, of course.

I'm going to make spam croquette using breadfruit

just to counteract the saltiness of the spam

with the sweetness of the breadfruit.

I love that she's cooking with ulu.

What is ulu?

They used to use it a lot in Hawaiian cooking.

Having the right balance of spam and breadfruit.

- What island are you from? - St. Lucia.

She's giving us an island special.



What are you making?

Spam-infused rice.

I'll serve it with crispy spam chips.

My husband loves spam,

but all we make is spam fried rice at home.

In Hawaii, one of their staple items is spam musubi.

It looks like a giant spam Sushi roll.

The keyword for this challenge, "being creative."

So I decided to make a deconstructed spam musubi

with similar flavor

but with different texture and presentation.

It's spam and rice and noodle, and that's it.

That's the only way to go.

The key to this mousse is getting it cold.

I set my level of ambition a little bit high.

You know, it's, like, 95 degrees outside.

How cold does that need to get?

Cold.

Be nice if that was cold.

My biggest knock has been under-seasoning.

The spam is already over my boundary.

- It smells good. - It's getting there.

I ended up making a spam bouillon

with a spam, mushroom, and pea ragout.

I call it "aggressively seasoned."

Chefs, you have five minutes.

I'm pushing it hard with this dish.

My number one goal right now is to remind everybody, you know,

what I am capable of, and number two is to win.

Time's up.

Hands up, spam down.

Only two chefs are moving on.

- Good luck. - Oh, f*ck.

I feel like I want to puke right now.

That's how nervous I am right now.

- Hi, Shirley. - Hi.

In front of you is sort of like a deconstructed spam musubi.

I made the rice infused with a spam oil, garlic, and ginger,

a cucumber slaw, crispy spam,

and a little bit basil just to open up

your palette a little bit.

I like the crunchiness of the spam.

It adds a nice flavor with the rice.

- Thank you. - Thanks.

Oh, my God, Shirley. It's so good.

Thank you.

- Hi, guys. How are you? - Hi, Louis.

You had a little spam in your back pocket?

Yeah, it's a spam mousse with garlic, chives, scallion,

and beech mushroom with togarashi.

This is very smooth.

It's very silky in my mouth.

- Thank you. - Thank you.

Did you say there's butter in here?

Yeah, a little butter and cream.

- Oh. - It's really good.

Hi, Nick.

What'd you do for us?

So I made spam broth.

It's spam, ponzu, a little bit of pancetta,

a ton of seaweed, some dried shrimp,

some fish stock, and some clam juice.

How'd you cook the spam?

Charred on the pan, and then diced it up,

and then fricasseed a little bit of mushroom in there also.

- Very nice. - Thank you.

Wow, thanks.

That is so good.

Thank you, guys.

- Hello, how are you? - Good.

I made for you a breadfruit and teriyaki spam croquette.

Added a little sour orange and mango slaw on top with basil

and a little bit of cilantro on top.

I love that you used the breadfruit.

We're in Hawaii, and I love breadfruit, so...

Me too. Very good.

Thank you.

- Very good. - Thank you.

Sam, how do you think our chefs did

overall in the quickfire?

I think they raised the bar on spam.

Nick's broth... it had a little sodium challenge there,

but the quail egg just kind of smoothed it all out.

Very unique. Well done.

- It was really flavorful. - Thank you.

What did you think of Nina's breadfruit croquette?

The topping of your mango slaw

kind of, like, put a dozen different flavors on one bite.

Thank you.

Louis, outstanding.

Well thought out, but me, personally,

I think it could've had a little bit more spam flavor.

Thanks, chef.

What did you think

of Shirley's deconstructed spam musubi?

After eating about a thousand musubis in my lifetime,

I think that deconstructed musubi was incredibly tasty.

The person that really did spam

like I've never seen it before is...

Congratulations, Nick.

Oh.

Awesome.

Thank you.

It's nice to see you smile, Nick.

Thank you, chef.

You've won $10,000.

I'm certainly gonna have

a boost of confidence moving forward,

but I would trade in that 10 grand in a second

for a spot in the finale.

There's just one more challenge

between you and the finale,

and only one of you will take home the grand prize

of $125,000, furnished by healthy choice,

and the title of Top Chef.

Hawaii is one of the most isolated islands in the world,

and the ancient people had no choice

but to be self-sufficient.

The first polynesian settlers sailed to Hawaii

on a remarkable boat similar to the outrigger canoe

just offshore sailing in.

Are we gonna, like, sail to some random island?

Will we go spearfishing?

I've got this if we go do spearfishing.

The ancient navigators brought pigs and chickens

and 24 species of plants and fruits.

These ingredients are known locally as "canoe crops."

Tomorrow night merriman's kapalua restaurant

is throwing a party to celebrate these canoe crops.

Your pantry is just offshore.

Today you'll have one hour to prep,

and tomorrow you'll have two hours

to finalize your dishes before the party begins.

So this quickfire was a good warm-up,

but you're all gonna have to really push yourselves

for this next elimination challenge,

because only two chefs are moving on.

This is a double elimination challenge.

It's pretty daunting to have a double elimination

at this late in the game.

Just got real, huh?

- Yes, it did. - Welcome back.

Chefs, it looks like your pantry has landed onshore.

Hurry up and get your ingredients.

We'll see you tomorrow.

- Good luck. - Good luck.

Oh, f*ck.

I'm fine.

I feel like I am back in time

seeing these polynesian warriors wearing these...

I don't know what you call them.

Thongs? I don't know.

Come on, Shirley.

It's a very, very small pantry.

A lot of starches, tea leaves, fresh turmeric.

As limiting as it is,

I think if you're pretty comfortable

with the ingredients around you

that you could make a pretty good dish.

- Thank you. - Thank you, guys.

We only have one hour to prep tonight at the andaz wailea,

so obviously we have a lot to do.

All right, here we go.

I feel like spending time with my family

made me realize this is why I work so hard.

I'm focused. I'm ready to compete.

What are you making, Nina?

A taro root and coconut thick soup.

Island girl working with coconut.

Awesome.

I think I have the advantage.

A lot of the products that they have in Maui

we have in St. Lucia as well.

Some people don't know how to cook taro root

or use sugar cane.

I know these things,

because I've grown up with these things.

It's just a matter of the execution now.

You?

Honey-glazed pork shoulder.

I'm slightly freaking out right now.

What I'm worried about is all four of us dishes

are going to taste very similar,

but it looks like I'm the only person cooking pork,

so I should definitely stand out.

How you looking over there, Louis?

I'm gonna make a sauce with coconut

and an opah saute.

I go for the opah, which is similar to tuna.

It's risky to do this right now.

I've never worked with opah before,

but I think that's what's gotten me to this point,

is really having the balls to take chances during my cooking.



What the f*ck are you doing?

Nina, instead of breaking down the opah,

she grabs my opakapaka

and starts breaking that down.

If you need more fish, it's over here.

It's kind of surprising.

Nina just doesn't make very many mistakes.

She's been the most consistent chef this season.

I'm gonna have to put up some spectacular dishes to b*at her.

I'm not gonna go to the finale

having you f*cking t*rture my fish, Nina.

I don't know what's going on, and now I'm behind.

So I'm freaking out.

Louis is doing opah.

So am I.

The judges are gonna go head-to-head

with comparison here.

I have to really regroup and focus.

Otherwise, it's gonna be a difficult service tomorrow.

Nina, how long are you gonna puree?

It's not working.

This is not the f*cking time.



Is there more tea leaves?

I want to be able to focus on as many canoe crops as possible,

and I decide to make steamed opakapaka with tea leaf,

seaweed, jalapeño, and chicken skin salad,

and then a jus made with Maui honey and sugar cane.

These canoe crops are bursting with flavor,

so I'm really feeling confident right now.

- Seven minutes! - Hey, hey, hey, relax.

When I first got eliminated, it was extremely hard.

This competition is a life-changing event.

Three minutes, guys.

I've had very few life-changing events:

When my grandfather passed away

and my son was born

and now Top Chef.

Nothing'll ever be the same after this.

It's big game time now.

That's it.

- Whoa. - Wow.

- f*ck. - Right?

- f*ck. - Look at the view.

- Oh, my God. - Yeah!

- The view's not terrible. - No, not at all.

I feel like we're on MTV Cribs.

I think we're gonna have fun here.

Cool.

An office.

Yes, you get an office all to yourself.

Nick took the beachfront.

The girls took the double bedroom.

And the biggest guy gets the pullout bed.

Maybe not.

Yeah, we got to...

all right, we're good. Now we're good.

Good times. Take care, buddy.

Congratulations, Last Chance Kitchen.

Follow Nick.

You have to fight like a Hawaiian warrior.

In battle, son.

For two of us, it's our last night in Maui.

We decided to go to iao valley and take a small little hike.

The last time I was in Maui was four years ago with my son.

He is my driving force in everything I do.

I really want for him to be proud.

I have to win now.

There's no second place for me.

Is that a waterfall?

Where?

- See that white line? - That white line?

Being here is pretty inspiring.

We're enjoying the view,

but I feel like the four of us

really just want to start cooking.

I think out of all the chefs here...

I knew that he was gonna come back and kick ass.

If I b*at him, then I feel like I have a chance to win it.

Take a deep breath.

- This is it. - It's it.

- It's raining. - It's raining.

f*ck!

This is a Top Chef twist:

Make it rain

and see what these chefs can really do.

Cover up your fryers.

We have to use canoe crops.

So we don't have the luxury of a massive ingredient list,

and it really brings you back to the basics.

It's very nerve-wracking,

because if you don't make it to the next round,

all this work is for nothing.

It's gonna be a challenge.

Nina, could I have your pressure cooker?

Yeah.

Get my pork butt in a pressure cooker.

I really want to extract as much flavor and gelatin

out of this pork as possible

I got knocked a couple times for under-seasoning

and not being able to Ratchet up as much flavor as I should.

I'm not gonna let that happen again.

I think the judges will be a little bit surprised.



How do you look over there?

Me? I look good right now?

I don't know yet.

It's too early to say.

I want to make a really good use of the canoe crop.

So I decide to blanche the sweet potatoes and glaze them in,

like, a sweet, sour honey vinegar glaze.

Everything balances out everything.

It's gonna be a sprint, but...

It's not a sprint.

It's a marathon... a marathon.

This is a tough bunch of chefs to b*at.

Shirley, she's worked for Jose Andres,

Mario batali, guy savoy,

and those are big-time chefs.

Where'd you go?

Nick is a very talented chef.

I think he's very technical, but he is a city boy.

So this is out of his comfort zone.

And Louis, he can come back from his winning streak

and take it all.

Chef, how are you?

- How's it going? - Hi, chef.

- How are you? - Good.

So what canoe crops are you using?

I am using pork,

turmeric, and sweet potatoes,

and I'm making a sweet potato

and a little bit of turmeric puree.

How would you feel coming this far and falling short?

- I'm not going to fall short. - You're not?

I... okay.

Good luck.

Hey, Louis. Chef, how are you?

Snuck in through Last Chance Kitchen.

I don't think I necessarily snuck in.

Yeah, it wasn't sneaking.

Last year, you know, kristen won

coming out of Last Chance Kitchen.

Do you think you got it in you?

I would hope so, chef.

It's a double elimination today,

so a lot could happen for all of us.

- Good luck. - Thank you, chef.

What's up, Nick?

How you doing?

Could be better, could be worse, right?

You got $10,000 either way, right?

Well, I'd give it back if you gave me immunity.

- Ah. - Deal?

No, I can't make that deal.

But, you know, I think the four of us.

Someone might make one small tiny mistake.

I'm sure you guys'll catch it.

That's right.

You know, that's kind of our job.

And that's what it comes down to is that one mistake.

Yeah. Thank you, chef.

Hey, Nina.

- Hi, chef. - How are you??

Right now everything is coming together.

It's just a matter of getting my broth right.

If you had one person that you really don't want

to go up against, who would it be?

Shirley.

So you think Shirley's the one to b*at.

Oh, yeah. There she is.

She's looking at me.

Nick and Louis, what do you think about that?

I keep it real, guys. Come on.

Oh, sometimes keeping it real, though, is wrong, Nina.

Okay, chefs, you have a little over an hour left to cook.

The winner will have an advantage going into the finale.

- Oh, yeah? - Really?

- Thank you, chef. - Thank you, chef.

Wow, it makes it a little bit more intense.

You can see all of us tighten up a little bit.

One, we want to win.

We want to be able to have an edge up in the finale.

Um, I just felt a raindrop.

- Hey, it's raining. - It's raining!

Cover up your fryers.

I feel one drop,

and then it just starts pouring.

There it comes.

There it is.

Who was the one to b*at again there, Nina?

Nina, you are incorrect.

Mother nature was what we were looking for.



Everybody's trying to cover everything

because we can't... the clock does not stop.

So we have to keep on cooking.

Hair still looks good, Nina.

This is a Top Chef twist.

Somehow they spoke to God,

and they said, "let's make it juicy.

"Let's make it rain

and see what these chefs can really do."

Now this is annoying.

Opah, being a very dense fish,

if I overcook it, it's gonna fall apart and be dry.

And if I undercook it, it's gonna be tough.

So the rain and the wind with my grill...

it could totally ruin me.

f*ck!

I can handle it.

It's a fair assumption that it's about to be, like,



Just as quickly as this storm comes in,

it goes away super fast too.

I have to discard part of it.

But by doing that,

I have to stretch the puree on the plate.

So I hope that the sweetness of the meat

is not going to overpower the whole dish.

Taste?

Tastes good.

- Sweet and spicy. - Yeah.

Five minutes.

- I'm gonna close it, Nick. - Oui.

Time is winding down, and I'm tasting each element.

Tasting, tasting, tasting.

I'm tasting so much,

I feel like my palette's going numb.

But I don't want to be the one that was one step away

from making it to the finale.

Stylers are coming.

Stylers are coming now.

I think the sun's still up, so I need to go with chardonnay.

Time's up.

It's pretty out here.

See how the waves break in two different directions?

- Crazy. - How cool is that?

- Hi. - Aloha.

Sam, my brother.

Peter, how are you, man?

Thank you so much for having us.

Oh, I...

we better not try that.

It's hard to get across.

What a beautiful, beautiful setting.

How lucky are we to have this.

Peaceful, beautiful.

Yeah, it's hard to imagine a better spot to be in.

You guys hungry?

Yeah, it smells good.

It smells really good.

Let's try one.

Then I made a sauce out of toasted coconut oil.

It's turmeric-flavored sweet potato.

The puree is taro root.

So opakapaka.

It's steamed in tea leaf.

Ooh, thank you.

- Hi, Louis. - Hi, guys.

Good to see you again.

Hi, Louis. Welcome back.

Thank you very much.

So grilled opah, sweet and sour sweet potato,

and a sauce out of coconut and burnt onion

infused with toasted coconut oil and fresh turmeric.

Thank you so much.

Thank you, chef.

I feel confident in my dish.

I did the most diverse dish of everybody else.

Flavor-wise, I won this.

So moonfish.

Moonfish, opah.

Sam made this fish famous.

This was an incidental catch

until Sam started promoting it

back in the... what? 90s.

You remember that, huh?

How do you think Louis did with that?

Louis did a great job on my fish.

He cooked it perfectly.

It was just moist throughout.

I think he used the canoe products perfect.

I've never seen a purple sweet potato like this before.

It's okinawan sweet potato, very popular now.

Mmm, it's nice.

Seaweed's nice, too,

but mine's actually a little undercooked.

Mine's cooked totally different than yours, tom.

That's just inconsistencies here, and that's...

that's not what he's been doing.

And seaweed was a nice touch.

Can't call it.

Can't call it?

Can't call it.

- Hey, Nina. - Hello, how are you?

I sauteed it with a lot of aromatics

and then grilled it.

Taro puree.

The sauce is sugar cane,

turmeric, habanero chiles.

So it's a hot, sour sauce.

- Thank you. - Enjoy.

Thank you.

I like the way Nina's dish looks.

Mm-hmm.

Nina did a really nice job here.

The fish is perfectly cooked.

The sauce may be a bit too spicy.

It overpowers the fish.

Both Nina and Louis took that risk

to cook the opah,

but Nina's to me was so excellent.

I loved how bright it was, so lemony.

Had a lot of turmeric in it, a lot of heat.

Especially enjoyed the chip made from the breadfruit.

It was a crisp texture to contrast everything else

that was going on.

How's the fish coming out, huh?

Nice.

- Hi, Nicholas. - Hi, how are you?

So what you got here?

It's opakapaka.

On top is wakame, jalapeño, crispy chicken skin.

And then the sauce is made with a lot of pork jus.

- Sounds delicious. - Thank you.

I think the opakapaka...

its soft texture, and the chicken skin is crispy.

He's got a contrast of textures.

I think the jalapeno's a little much.

I actually think the jalapeno's okay.

Because it's fresh, I think it actually...

- it's so thin. - It adds contrast.

It's a really successful dish.

And this seems to be a really bold dish for him.

Is Nick always on target?

He always was sort of not sure of himself,

and he often overcomplicated dishes.

Well, maybe Hawaii relaxed him a little bit.

Looks like he got some sun today.

Hey, look they had the white guy out in the sun.

Everybody else was shaded.

I was like, "what's going on?"

- Hi. - Hi, Shirley.

- Hi, chefs. - What'd you do?

So I did a Maui honey-glazed pork butt

with a sweet potato and turmeric puree.

So I wanted the turmeric to balance off the sweetness.

- Thank you. - Thank you.

All righty.

The pork, I think,

is a little bit on the sweet side,

but everything together will be

a really great well-balanced dish.

I think I would cry if I make it into the finale.

Shirley is the only one of the four chefs

that chose to cook meat.

Shirley did a nice job cooking the pork.

It's beautifully braised.

The potatoes are really smooth.

The sauce is flavorful.

I really loved the pickled onion.

The only problem with this dish... it's so sweet.

The sweet glaze on the pork with the sweet potatoes.

Her pork was cooked perfectly.

It was really crispy on the outside.

It just had a really nice flavor.

I would say hers is my favorite overall.

Enjoy. Thank you very much.

It's a double elimination,

so it's gonna be even harder of a decision than usual,

because you're sending 50% of the chefs home tonight.

Exactly.

This cooked really good.

Shirley and I came in with a game plan

of it being myself and Shirley in the finale,

but now it's up to the judges.

It's in their hands.

Shirley Chung.

Nina Compton.

It just reminds me of what a great season we've had.

I think there was more pressure on Louis

than there was on the other chefs to prove something.

This is gonna be the dish that makes or breaks me.

So where were the mistakes?

Breadfruit's really neat.

I think captain bligh brought it from the Southern pacific.

It came on the canoe to Hawaii,

and it has a very long shelf life.

So it was excellent for the canoe.

It is really exploding right now.

But what happens when you eat a lot of it...

it makes you really gassy.

I mean, there is definitely some blue flame action.

Blue flame action, my favorite.

I'm glad there were just a few subtle chips

on our dish.

Oh, so about that rain.

How about that rain?

So what I did was, I prepared the chicken skin,

and then I let it soak in rainwater.

Then I fried it,

and then I let it soak in rainwater again.

The spirit of Hawaii.

Oh, my God.

I mean, this is the dish that makes or breaks me.

This is, like, the dream crusher,

or it's the dish that gets me to the next point.

Then I could take this competition over the edge.

They're gonna compare our dishes side-to-side.

Two opahs.

It was a hard fish to cook.

It's gonna come down to who made a really small mistake

and which dish resonated with the judges more.

- Yeah. - That could be anybody.

Oh, God.

I was really pleased to see how all the chefs did

with these beautiful canoe crops.

It seemed to me that they were really inspired

by the ingredients,

and I think they did a great job.

A little mistake here and there,

but all in all, really, really nice food.

Well, let's talk about Louis.

Well, it was interesting he used opah.

Not easy to work with.

Some of it was just a little uneven.

But I think your piece was a little overcooked.

My piece was way over.

My fish was perfect.

That beautiful purple sweet potato,

I thought it looked great on his plate.

I think Nicholas did a great job with the fish...

steaming it and then grilling it.

It was a smart way to go.

A little bit of spice to it with the jalapeño.

- But? - I enjoyed his dish.

But there were some comments in the crowd

about Nicholas' dish about the jalapeño.

A little too assertive.

There were three other very strong dishes,

but I really, really, really want to make it to the finale,

give them one more dish, and get the title.

Nina also, I felt, did a great job

layering these flavors pretty seamlessly.

It's exactly what I expect from her.

It's the kind of food she's been doing all season long,

but I think the spice maybe overpowered the fish

a little bit.

It was a very bold sauce.

But still a really, really solid dish.

What about Shirley's dish?

I thought it was really flavorful.

I really loved how the pork was cooked.

It was really moist and fell apart.

It was delicious.

If I had one complaint,

it just ate a little too sweet for me.

It needed a sour note or an acid note.

It just was very sweet.

This dish is extremely important for me,

for my career,

for everybody that's supporting me all this way.

So I really hope that I make it into the finale.

This is gonna be really, really tough.

How are we gonna pick who wins this challenge?

And how are we gonna pick who goes home?

I think everybody had great dishes,

and there was one little tiny thing

they didn't like about them.

Chefs, we'd like to see all of you.

Thank you.

Ladies.

And you.

Chefs, you all prepared a wonderful meal,

but only two of you can move on to the finale.

Shirley, how did you feel about your dish tonight?

I really wanted you to feel, like,

how sweet Maui made me feel, like happy,

so I really wanted to showcase that in this dish.

Your pork was braised beautifully,

and it was so tender and delicious,

and you can tell that you put a lot of love in that.

Thank you, chef.

I thought you used a lot of the ingredients.

They were definitely on the sweet side.

The balance off was pretty strong turmeric

in the sweet potato puree to make it really earthy,

an herbaceous puree instead of, like, a really sweet puree.

It still overall ate sweet.

Louis, I thought it was really ballsy

to come back to the challenge and to choose opah.

Pretty gutsy with Sam choy,

who probably put opah on the map.

Chef.

It is a very difficult fish to cook.

There were some inconsistencies,

but it really showed

that you were up for the challenge.

It was definitely in the back of my head

that two people were going home today,

and it was a very, very simple dish.

And that worried me because everybody did

so many different components.

There's a certain confidence in the simplicity.

It takes a lot of guts to do that.

Thank you, chef.

Nina.

I wanted to make a dish that signifies the islands,

something that I grew up with,

and to highlight every single ingredient individually

on the dish itself,

but it harmonized when you tried the dish completely.

This is exactly the kind of food that we expect from you.

This is how you started the competition.

You're continuing just along that line,

and it's exciting.

I loved your dish,

but I could see where the heat level

may have been a lot for some of the guests.

It's not New Orleans.

They don't like spicy here.

The sauce was so bold.

There was a ton of flavor.

And that really hit you, and it lingered.

Nick, I liked the dish.

You know, I looked at all of the crops not as, like,

restrictions, but as, like, jumping points.

Like, "I get to use all this stuff,"

instead of, like, "I have to use all this stuff."

You know, typically when you're in front of us

at the judges' table, you're not that confident.

You seem to be a lot more confident today.

I had a really great time off.

I mean, I really spent a lot of time with my family.

For me, it was more about the experiences from the swamp

to emeril's to here.

I've done a lot of dishes I've never done before.

The entire experience has just been beautiful.

However it goes, I know all of us should be...

walk out of here with our heads high.

You were like, "you know, I'm trying not to overcomplicate."

I tend to complicate things."

but there was still a lot going on.

I feel like all of you came in with so much confidence tonight.

The intellectual experience,

the professional experience,

seeing you guys from the beginning,

and now the four of you standing here...

it's been a great season.

Thank you, chef.

We have a really tough decision to make.

We'll call you back in a bit.

Thank you.

- Thank you. - Thanks.

That was the most positive judges' table

I've ever been at in my Top Chef career.

I want a do-over. This was fun.

That's true. That is true for you.

That was the only positive experience I've ever had.

Looking at this group and the chefs that are here,

it just reminds me of what a great season we had.

You know, it's gonna be very difficult

choosing who's going home.

No, this is about the two best dishes.

When I did my walkthrough,

Nicholas said,

"this is gonna come down to someone making a mistake."

So where were the mistakes?

I think there was more pressure on Louis

than there was on the other chefs to prove something.

There were inconsistencies of how the fish was cooked.

One of the best elements of that dish

was the seaweed with the lime.

- But not enough of it. - Wasn't enough of it.

There wasn't enough to carry through the entire dish.

Now, Nicholas gave us an example

of how to work several of these canoe crops in flawlessly.

I think that tonight

Nicholas really thought about the components of that dish

and where it was going

and where it ended up on the plate.

I really liked Shirley's dish.

But if I had one complaint,

I think the mistake that she made was the honey.

It's just one of those things where a little more acid

could've completely changed that dish.

The pork was perfectly cooked.

It was juicy. It was delicious.

I wish it could've almost stopped there.

Let's talk about Nina's dish.

The habanero and the combination turmeric

was a little bit too powerful for the fish.

I thought Nina's confit

was a fantastic way to cook the fish.

I thought it was beautifully done.

I just don't know if it stood up to the sauce,

and therein lies the issue that I had with the dish.

Oh, lord.

It sounds like we know which chefs are moving on

to the finale.

Absolutely.

We made it really difficult for them today...

- Yeah. - Which is fine.

We did exactly what we were supposed to do.

Chefs, you all prepared a wonderful meal,

but only two of you can move on to the finale.

Emeril, please announce the winner.

The winner used a great deal of canoe crop.

Delicious food, great technique.

The winner...

Is Nicholas.

Oh, man, I think I just made it to the finale.

This is a huge deal for me.

Congratulations, Nicholas.

You gave us such a delicious plate of food.

You've also won yourself an important advantage

in the final challenge.

Guys, good luck.

One of you will move on to the finale

and cook for the title of Top Chef.

Chefs, I have to say that each one of you

are deserving of the next spot.

I mean, you've cooked great food all season long.

But unfortunately, we can only bring one more along with us.

Padma?

Louis...

Please pack your knives and go.

f*ck!

I'll see you.

Thank you, guys.

I wanted to win.

Everything was there. Just it wasn't my day.

See you later.

The idea of having my son see me winning

was really important to me.

This is why I've done everything.

Shirley and Nina,

one of you will be going home.

Shirley...

Please pack your knives and go.

Congratulations.

I'm very disappointed in myself.

It's going to be hard for me to face my family

more than anything else.

So close. I'm number three.

- I love you. - Oh, I love you too.

Thank you, emeril.

I've learned so much from you.

Great job.

But now I found my own style

that I can say is Shirley Chung.

Everybody always talk about how much they have confidence in me.

Now I think I have the same confidence in my own cuisine

as well thanks to Top Chef.

Nina, you will be joining Nick in the finale.

Congratulations.

It's just like, "I can't wait."

It's like crossing the finish line.

Thank you.

Bye.

What a season.

Yeah, one more.

I'm not done yet.

I'm not patting myself on the back.

There's just one more step.

I'm gonna have to go out and b*at Nina,

and it's gonna be tough as hell.

Cheers.

Next time on the Top Chef finale.

Good morning, chefs.

Whoo!

It's like old times.

Nick, I'm gonna take you down.

Fyi, there's no ice cream machine.

f*ck!

I need these guys here, like, now

so we can do this and get going.

Nina's the odds-on favorite,

but I'm gonna give her one hell of a fight.

Throw me a f*cking bone.

No!

My heart jumped up into my throat.

I'm gonna go down.

We can't give service together.

I'm f*cking a brick right now.

I want another bowl. Here, I'll eat yours.

This is the closest finale I've ever experienced.