06x08 - Pigs and Pinot

[bunniefuu]

[Padma]

Previously on

Top chef.

This piece needs to be

Turned up again, mike.

Robin's my partner.

Great.

[Mike] I'm gonna cry.

When I see her cooking the tuna

And it's just, like, burning--

I'm going home.

Did we blow a circuit?

[Bleep] you know,

If I was a judge,

I--i would be heavy

On critiquing me.

I thought that

Was really delicious, guys.

Congratulations,

Jennifer.

I don't wanna discuss it.

You didn't try the dish,

Did you?

No, that's what I'm saying.

You can't pass judgement.

As it gets down,

There's less room for error.

I mean, it only takes



One mistake to really go home.

Ashley, please pack your

Knives and go.

Thank you, very much.

[Padma]

At stake for the winner,



A feature



In food & wine magazine,



$, Of merchandise



Provided by macy's,



A showcase at the annual



Food & wine

Classic in aspen,



And $,

To help turn their

Culinary dreams into reality,

Furnished by the makers



Of the glad family of products,



And the title of

Top chef

.

[Rock music]

♪ ♪

[Michael]

Last elimination



Challenge was

A very new experience for me.

I ended up in the bottom



And I almost actually



Went home.

I don't want to talk

About it right now.

For the first time,



I felt like I messed up

In a challenge.

But I won't make



That mistake again.

You know,

Babe ruth has struck out

Once or twice in his career.

And he left a legacy behind

And I plan on doing

The same thing.

-Hey, what's going on?

-[Woman]

Hey, sweetie.



-[Eli]

I'm real close



With my mom.

-So how are you?

Very good.

What's happening?

I know it's kind of hokey,



But I live with my parents.

It's actually really great,

Like, I don't mind

'Cause I don't pay rent

And [bleep], so...

Do you want to come home?

There's just a lot of--

There's a lot of, like,

Emotional stress, you know,

A lot of frustration.

I was in the bottom



For the first time last night

And, you know,

I'm not happy about it.

All right, love you guys too.

I'll give you a call.

You know, the reality is,



Is that top chef can



Change your entire



Culinary career.



If you do really poorly,



You gotta live with being



The dude who did



Really poorly on

Top chef



For the rest of your life.



[Robin]

My pilates



In the morning helps



Balance me.



Staying in shape is really



Important to me



Because of my health issues.



Being diagnosed with cancer was



Terrifying at first.



Oh, my god, cancer,



That means death.

And it doesn't

Have to mean death.

You know,

I fought through it.

And it makes me stronger

And it also makes me

Appreciate the moment

That much more.

I appreciate who I am

And what I can do.

And it is always

An empowering process

To come out

Of something like that.

I think winning



Top chef

Would be profound



For my life



In so many levels,



Like, I'm invincible.

That's what it

Would feel like to me.

And that would

Really make me happy.

-How was pilates?

[Robin] it was delicious,

Thank you.

All right, guys, let's go.

To the m resort.

Good morning, chefs.

[All] good morning.

I'd like to introduce you

To your guest judge

For this round.

He is chef

And celebrated restaurateur

Mr. Charlie palmer.

Good morning, chefs.

[Michael]

Charlie is the pioneer



Of american cooking.

And paved the way for young

American chefs

To get recognized

In the world as chefs,

Not just, uh, cooks.

Bryan and michael,

Both have worked

With me in the past.

But I can assure you that

I will be totally impartial.

[Bryan]

I know charlie



And I worked



For him for about ten years.



I know he is definitely



A perfectionist.

So I'm very interested

In what he is gonna throw at us.

So this round is gonna be

All about the art of pairing.

I think as chefs we all know

That, you know,

Pairing is such an important

Part of menu planning.

Whether it's

A contrasting ingredient

That makes the dish special

Or something that really blends

To make it

A very h*m* dish.

Creating natural pairings is not

An easy thing to do.

And in this round,

We're not taking it

Easy on you.

We want you to create

A dish incorporating

A snack food.

Alexia's new crunchy snacks.

There are six different flavors

Made with real vegetables

To choose from.

Alexia's snacks, which we have

Been munching on

At the

Top chef

House,

Have lots of flavor.

It's incredibly difficult



To pair something



Of such complexity



With, uh, a dish.

Your alexia quickfire

Starts now.

-Good luck.

-[Charlie] good luck, chefs.

Charlie palmer was

My biggest influence,

You know, he was the one

Who gave me



A first start in new york



As an intern coming out



Of cia.



He saw a lot



Of promise in me.

So he invested a lot.

I mean

The last thing



I wanna do is let him down.



[Bryan]

I'm thinking



Steak onions.



The onion flavor's a part



Of the dish



And it pairs with



The savory onion strips.

Charlie makes me nervous.

Charlie has

Very high standards.

[Michael]

I was charlie's



Executive chef



For over a year.



But my brother worked



With charlie

Pretty much exclusively until

Bryan went off on his own.

I'd say if charlie had to pick

Between bryan and i,

He would certainly

Go with my brother.

[Bryan]

Michael seems to think



That charlie doesn't like him



But I think



It's complete

[Bleep].

I think it's funny.

A little nervous.

More than a little nervous.

Very nervous.

Charlie palmer is

An american icon.

I'm just nervous.

I don't wanna screw up

In front of him.

I just think I'm a little hard



On myself sometimes.



I'm a perfectionist



And I just want



Everything to be perfect



And so I stress myself out.

I'm doing a little clam

Celery salad

With, um,

Like a potato-leek soup.

A good pairing-- things can

Either compliment

Or they can match perfectly.

But a really bad pairing could



Just be totally clashing.

You know, think about eating

Marshmallows with a steak.

I went to culinary school,



Then I worked with



A bunch of different chefs



Who helped develop



The skill set for me.



Looking around, I think a lot



Of people don't understand,



You know, what works with what



And why it works with what.

So I feel pretty comfortable.

Minutes, guys!

[Ash]

In the last challenge,



I was on the bottom.



I think what's kept me



From being in the top is



Seeing what a lot



Of other people are doing

And being really influenced

By them.

Moving forward,

I'm gonna do my food.

And it's gonna be

Clean, simple, awesome.

[Mike] I'm confident in myself,

As always.

[Robin] minutes,

Seconds left,

You guys.

Who's using the vita-prep

Right here?

I'm using the savory

Seasoned onion snacks.

From the very beginning



When eating them,



It always made me think



Of green bean casserole.

And so I'm gonna sort of

Take a cue from that

And update it.

[Mike] one and a half.

[Jennifer]

Not feeling so great.

I'm worried that I cooked

My pork chops too early.

And, uh,

They're sitting too long.

Hot, very hot!

[Padma] four seconds!

Utensils down!

Hands up!

[Jennifer]

I'm just trying



To keep it together right now.

I already know that

If padma and chef palmer

Don't come to my station first,

That I'm done.

Because my pork will definitely



Be overcooked.

-Hi, eli.

-Hi, padma, how are you doing?

-Eli, great to meet you.

-Chef palmer.

-Pleasure, nice to meet you.

-What did you do for us?

A little warm potato

Clam salad

With a cold fennel

And celery salad

To go with the onion alexia

Crunchy snack.

Nice smokiness in there.

I used the onion snack

As well.

What I have here

Is a warm bean and, uh,

A confit tomato salad



With some fresh herbs.



It sits on top of a traditional



Southern style cream corn.

-Thank you so much.

-Thank you so much, guys.

Thank you.

So I did a seared rib-eye,

Uh, little soy air,

Uh, pickled onion,



Sauteed mushrooms,

Uh, chive puree, and then

I crumbled the onion shells

And then finished the steak.

The onion seems to be

A popular choice, huh?

-It is.

-Think that's

-Because it's a safe choice?

-No.

It was your favorite

Of the chips.

It was my favorite

Of the chips.

-So I chose

The jalapeño snacks.

I wanted to play with the spice

And the sweet

So I brought in



A sweet corn panna cotta



And then I did a, um,



Avocado mousseline.

-Sort of like a parfait?

-It's a parfait.

It's definitely--

I'm an old fashioned girl, so--

It's quite a tang, huh?

So I did a spin off

Of a traditional

Mexican dish called

Uh, chilaquiles.

I used the waffle fries

With hot peppers.

Spicy.

There's some heat there.

Yeah, that's

The guajillo sauce.

I did a tuna tartare.

Avocado, some pickled onions,

Green onions,

Chive and some jalapeños



That I put in ice water

For a couple minutes

To take a little heat off.

-Thank you.

-Thank you, chef.

So what I did is

A chilled cucumber avocado soup

Garnished with creme fraiche,



Crab, roasted red pepper

And brunoise of cucumber.

And I paired it with the,

Barbeque bold and spicy.

The chip tends to,

Like, kind of overpower

The mellowness of the dish.

-I used the onion strips

As my breadcrumb.

I have some spinach



And asparagus



A little fava bean puree.

What's the fish?

The fish is swordfish-- sorry.

-Swordfish? Okay.

-Yes.

So what I did,

Is a sauteed pork chop

Over a light tomato sauce



With black olives,

Um, lemon zest, scallions

And, um, some feta cheese.

I am just ridiculously

Embarrassed right now that

I'm serving a well-done

Pork chop to chef palmer.

You might need a little more

Sauce for the pork chop.

And basically, I just wanna walk

Away from my station.

Could've been a little less

In the pan, huh?

[Padma] yeah,

It's a bit overdone.

One of the least successful

Dishes, I thought, was robin's.

You know, the textures were

Very creamy

And the relationship

With the chip,

Also, i, you know,

I didn't get it.

Ash, there was something very

Peculiar

About the combination



Of ingredients.



It didn't work well together.

Jennifer, conceptually, I think

The dish was a good idea

But it wasn't ex*cuted well.

Who did impress you?

Eli, you know, I was impressed

With the idea.

Cooking of all

The components was really good.

The clams were tender.

And I think it was a kind of

A natural choice,

You know,

To go with that chip.

Bryan, I mean, the execution

Of the dish was spot on.

Caramelized onions.

Crisp onions.

Kind of a safe dish

But very good.

Very good.

Kevin, incorporating

Those ingredients in there

And the onions in that was a

Very good way to pair the chip.

But at the end of the day

I have to say

The best dish, for me...

Is eli.

Thank you.

-[Padma] congratulations, eli.

-Thank you.

This is my first win overall,

[Eli]

I was in eliminations



Last week.

And now I'm able to

Bring it back straight

To the top.

So I feel like I've got

A little vindication.

I'll take what I can get.

[Ash]

I land



In the bottom again.

Uh, I'm a little, uh,

Surprised.

But, I mean,

Eli deserves to win.

He's an amazing chef.

Not that I don't deserve

A [bleep] win.

Chefs, to find out what

You'll be working with

In your elimination challenge,

Please draw knives.

Wild.

[Michael]

I knew immediately



When I saw jen's knife

That this was a pig challenge

And I knew it was gonna have

Something to do

With the whole animal.

Charlie loves pork. I mean,



When I worked for charlie

I remember one day

He shot a wild boar

Outside of his house

And he brought it into the

Kitchen and just left it there.

And I pretty much made

A country style terrines

Out of the entire pig.

Cheeks.

Ribs.

Tenderloin.

Butt.

Belly.

You lucky guy.

Center cut chops.

Shoulder.

-[Padma] and kevin has--

-Leg.

-The leg.

-I love pork.

I think it's the best thing

In the world.

I have a pig tattooed on me.

I probably use more pork

At my restaurant

Than any other protein.

Jennifer, you've got

The wild card.

Which means, you can cook

Any part of the pig you want.

The belly.

Pork belly has

A lot of fat content

And hopefully it will stay

Nice and juicy.

Creepin' in on my space.

I didn't want

To pick the tenderloin

Because I don't want

It to dry out

And be well-done

Like I served today.

So for your

Elimination challenge,

You're going to be pairing

Two of charlie's

Favorite things,

Pig and pinot.

Tell us

About your event, charlie.

It's a charity event

That I do every year.

It's very intensely looked upon

By a lot of culinarians.

And this time we're very happy

To be working

With

Food & wine

Magazine

In conjunction

With the entire event.

But it really comes down

To the one thing.

It's about creating a dish

That works well

With pinot noir.

[Eli]

I feel good



About this challenge.



I think the trick is that I'm



Just gonna nail the pairing.

So I'm gonna take a stab

Being the first, uh,

Elimination and quickfire

Challenge winner.

[Padma] you'll

Each be responsible

For tasting portions.

This is very close

To my heart

So please make me

Some great dishes

That are gonna

Make pigs and pinot proud.

[Eli]

We show up at aureole



At mandalay bay

To meet up with charlie

And, uh, his master sommeliers

And, uh, talk about some wine.



It's a legendary space



Here in vegas.



It's got a wine tower known



For its wine angels.



Where they hoist and lift



And launch and move



People around in this



Giant three story wine cave.

Chefs, I wanna introduce

You to william sherer.

William's our master sommelier

Here at aureole, las vegas.

We have nine,

Pinot noir here.

We have a little new zealand,

Oregon,

And little california

And a little france.

Let's go ahead and step up.

[Laurine]

Pinot's, actually,



My favorite red wine.



It has a lot of finesse.

It's not over powering,

Like, you drink a cabernet

And it's just so heavy

Which helps it stand up to,



Like, a piece of red meat.



But pig is considered more



Of a white meat.

So pinot, um, just has

A real affinity to pork.

[Charlie] a lot

Of it's about balance.

Not unlike a dish.

Where you're trying to create

A balance of flavors.

Maybe something contradictory

Here or there.

But how that really, like,

Plays on the palate.

All right, so we have

Our nine pinots here.

First choice.

What is your selection?

Um, I was completely torn.

[Bryan]

I do a lot



Of wine dinners.



When I plan menus,

I look at wine as an ingredient.

It completes a dish

That's gonna be paired with it.

So you have to try



All of the ingredients



In order to make sure



That they're gonna work.

I know, rochioli.

I think it'll be my choice.

[Ash] I was torn a lot too

But I think I'm gonna go

-With the sanford.

-[Charlie] all right.

I'm gonna go with the terlato.

I'm very familiar with wine.



At my restaurant,

We have wines by the glass,

Uh, and we pair every dish

On the menu.

Everything we do goes



With a glass of wine.

I'm taking

The sockol blosser, pinot noir.

-Excellent.

-I'm gonna go

With the new zealand,

Wairau river.

I'm taking

The chambertin, clos de beze.

Beautiful.

I'll take

The chanson, clos des feves.

[Robin] and I will chose

The mischief and mayhem.

Which, I feel, is a little

Fitting for me.

Perfect.

I'm gonna go ahead and choose

The cuvaison.

I'm kind of surprised

The cuvaison didn't go earlier.

Well chefs,

I wanna thank you

And wish you all

Good luck tomorrow

With your, with your

Pairings and your dishes.

-[All] thank you.

-[Eli]

I could tell



There was definitely a couple



Of amateur palates running



Around the room.

They were going for the candy-

Palate wine choices.

They weren't picking the real

Dogs in the fight.

Give me some pig.

Is this all the bacon

You have right here?

I need to get some fat.

Leg tends to be very lean.

So I buy up

A lot of their bulk bacon.

You guys don't have any other

Type of pork fat

Of any sort, do you?

Lard.

I really wanna win

This challenge.

[Kevin]

As a pig guy,



I honestly would be



A little embarrassed



With myself if I didn't.

[Ash] minutes!

You guys carry duck fat?

So the inspiration

Of this dish is

The french pinot.

So what I'm thinking



Of doing is a rillette.

A rillette is, like,

A potted pate.

It's kind of a peasant dish

In france.

I have not made



A pork rillette before.



I've made rabbit a number



Of times.



But I've kind



Of now committed myself

To this path and I feel like

It's gonna work.

Don't look in my cart!

Don't look in my cart!

[Ash]

I really need to get



A win at this point,



So I have to do



A perfect dish.

What I've decided to make is

A roasted pork tenderloin

With a soft polenta,

Topped with a cherry

Demi-glace.

I need some queso.

I'm confident it will taste

Really good

And go really well

With the wine.

Okay, cool.

Thank you, very much.

Have a great day.

We're leaving whole foods,

I feel pretty good

About my dish.

But, you know,



Charlie's involved



In this elimination



And both my brother



And I wanna win it.



So in order for me to even have



A shot at this,



It's gotta be something



That's gonna blow his mind.

So that's what I plan

To do tomorrow.

So we jump back



Into the venzas and head home.

[Kevin] if you, uh,

Are gonna use

The grill to cook anything,

Then use the downstairs one--

Hanging out at the house



And making dinner



Can be very interesting.

[Belch]

I try to get along

With everyone in the house

If I can, you know.

I don't try to be the center

-

Of the attention.

-I bought some sweet potatoes

'Cause I think, you know,

The sweetness will play nice

With the tart cherries

And the coffee.

I was thinking of doing, like,

A white slaw with it.

Um, so I have some crunch

On the plate.

Robin, she has

The best intentions at heart,

[Kevin] but she is driving

Some people in this house

Up the [bleep] wall.

Am I in your way?

Kevin, did I steal your station?

And then,

When you start talking with her,

You say one word to her,

She won't shut up

For another hour.

So I try not to talk to her.

What's this?

I try to keep the salt over here

And the sugar over there.

But it doesn't seem

To stay that way.

Oh, christ.

I don't want to touch

Eli's scallops.

He'll get mad at me.

You should use

One of the large platters.

There are large plates

Everything's cool.

'Cause there's this guy

That's a little bit--

There's no need for it.

We got everything under control.

All right.

[Robin]

There's a lot of tension



In the house.



Some of the other chefs



Don't feel

That I deserve to still

Be here.

They're just pissed

I'm still here

Because they didn't love me

As much as hector or mattin.

And so be it.

I can tell you what I'm making.

Robin's practicing

Her dish for tomorrow.

It has nothing to do with

My dish for tomorrow, actually.

Why do you gotta get angry

At me all of the time?

I'm hardly angry,

Just clarifying.

Hey, mike, will you look

And see

If there's any, like, uh,

Scallions or cilantro

Or anything like that

In the fridge?

There's some scallion

Right here.

You probably don't want

To use those, huh?

We need more than that.

Let's go eat.

I just cleaned this

So that I can cut on it.

That's alright, I'll [bleep]

Clean up after you.

Be a [bleep] martyr--

I don't give a [bleep].

Eli, I offered to help--

-Robin-- robin, listen.

-I offered to help.

Listen, if you wanted me

To clean it up

You could say,

You could clean it up,

Without copping

A [bleep] attitude.

Eli, I also am--

[Eli] you're not my mom!

Cut it out!

[Robin] I don't wanna be

Your mom, believe me.

I would like to be

Your civilized housemate.

But apparently,

You're not civil.

You got your mother

Up there.

"You're not my mother."

I heard that coming down

The stairs.

You're fired up.

They think I can't hear them.

[Robin]

Eli is and I'm ,



So I'm almost years



Older than him.

And I think I've had a few

Extra hurdles in my life.

You know, 'cause, eli,

If I was your mother

I would've raised you better.

Have some [bleep] manners.

It disappoints me that...

There isn't an interest

In sharing this house

And getting along.

But I have a hard shell.

They're rotten.

Are they? Cool.

No, they're not rotten

They're robin.

I am rotten.

To the core.

Rotten robin.

[Robin]

As much



As I really want people



To like me,

This is a competition.

I'm, maybe, not gonna be



Standing at the top at the end



But I am still



Standing here, damn it,

Right now and I'm proud

Of where I'm at.

[Ash] come on, guys.

We have four hours to cook



For the pigs and pinot event.



I wish I had more time.

Basically, I was

A little nervous

About my tenderloin overcooking.

And last night at the house,



Mike isabella suggested



The idea of doing



A chilled tenderloin.



So what I've decided to do is



The polenta

Because I really wanna keep

The dish cold

All the way through.

I think it's



A much better idea

Because it's gonna insure

That the pork doesn't overcook,

And it's gonna keep it moist.

And that's one thing that makes

Pork tenderloin great.

Can you get by?

I'm making a pork leg pate.

It does worry me

Because I know for a fact

That I have

The most simple dish of everyone

And so if you're only gonna put



Three components down



On a plate,



There's no room for error.

There's nothing else there

To cover it up.

[Bryan]

Might hurt me



A little bit--



Try to braise it this fast.



For ribs, normally, I'm looking



At eight to twelve hours.



So I gotta do that in four.

I got a lot

Of [bleep] ribs, man.

That's the only part



That's just making me unhappy.



[Michael]

This challenge



In particular,

Is a little more

Nerve-racking

Because my food

With charlie,

Uh, has a tendency to be



A little bit out there.

You all set over here?

[Michael]

The difference



Between bryan and i,

Is that I'll take a risk

Faster than bryan will.

I travel a little bit more.



I work in



Some different environments.



He consistently stayed



In one place

And got really good

With one style of food.

[Ash] / hours left!

That's going fast.

After last night at the house,



I really wanna take it today.



Oh, I would say



There's kind of a big clique



Of the young kids.

Maybe all against me.

I don't know. But guess what?

I didn't come here



To make friends,

I came here to frickin'

Compete.

Dude, blanch

Or deep fry my pork?

[Bleep]

I definitely feel like I have

A lot of ground to make up.

I want to take

Away the embarrassment

From yesterday.

I am going to do a play



On pork and beans,

But I'm going to do a lighter

Summer version.

[Eli]

Jen has



Also got pork belly.



Our dishes are different



Because mine's

A little more robust,

A little heavier,

A little more creative

And exciting.

Hers is a little more basic.

Hi, chefs.

Hey, chef.

-[Tom] hey, ash.

-Hey, chef, how are you?

-Got your corn on?

-Got my corn going.

Last challenge,

You had a, you know,

Pretty rough time

At judges' table.

-Yeah.

-How you feeling?

This dish is--

Is definitely my style.

You had mentioned

That you still haven't cooked

Your food.

Yeah and think

This is really it.

All right, cool.

Let's get back to work.

All right,

Thanks a lot, chef. Take care.

-How's it going?

-Good, good.

How are you feeling after

Last, last challenge?

I made some mistakes.

You know, I learned from it.

But I'm not gonna look back

And dwell on it.

You know,

My best dish is gonna be today

And the next best dish is

Gonna be tomorrow.

-Sounds good.

-Thanks, chef.

-Hey, michael.

-How you doing, chef?

So what do you got

Going here?

We call this kibbeh.

It's lebanese.

I got the shoulder cut

And I'm gonna fry these

To order.

-How many are you making?

-I have to make .

How many you have made

So far?

I've got about made.

So you have a bit--

A ways to go.

Yeah, I got a ways to go--

I'm in the weeds today.

I'm gonna let you keep doing

What you're doing.

-I'll see you later.

-Thanks, chef.

Thanks a lot, chef.

We'll see ya.

Thanks, chef.

See ya later.

Yeah, I'm a machine.

Half man, half machine but this

Machine is running out of gas.

In this competition,

I've probably done about,

Seven or eight different



Cuisines already.



You know,



From morocco, greek,



French, mexican,



Spanish, asian.



I bring to the table



What no one else has.

Pull through like always, baby.

Pull through like always.

I wanna be top chef.

You know, like, anything less



Then the finals



For me is unacceptable.

-Push, push, push!

[Mike] are you sweating

Over there?

Yeah, and I don't

Understand why.

I'm cutting [bleep]

Citrus fruit.

I'm more sweating

Because I don't know

If that stuff's gonna be done.

[Mike] minute left.

I'm not finished!

I'm not finished!

-Hurry up!

-Shut the [bleep] up, bryan.

Go [bleep] yourself.

[Michael]

I know



That bryan looks at me



As competition.

I know, exactly, what buttons

To push with bryan.

I'll take my time now,

You [bleep].

I didn't realize it.

You're acting like a [bleep].

Bryan doesn't always have



One up on me



Because he's older.

Just 'cause you're in

A [bleep] bind doesn't--

Don't come over here and start

Getting all [bleep] upset now.

Michael voltaggio tries

To manipulate his brother.

It's like he's setting

A time b*mb, you know,

Like, he's putting something

In his head

That's eventually gonna explode.

It's gonna wreck his chances.

[Bleep]

[Jennifer] five, four, three,

Two, one!

[Michael] we arrive

To the springs preserve.

The setting is beautiful.



This feels like the first event



In the competition.

As opposed to just feeling like

A competition.

[Grunt]

I usually have

Two sous chefs helping me

At an event like this.

How's your [bleep]?

It's [bleep] tasty.

Here we go.

That's a lot of people, guys.

Oh, my god.

[Jennifer]

I can see



The line forming of people.

And it is just getting longer

And longer and longer.

So I'm getting

A little stressed out

Knowing that, seriously,

People are walking in

All at once.

Showtime!

Please, help yourself.

-Hello.

-[Robin] all right,

There you are.

-Yummy.

-[Eli]

When the diners



Start pouring in,



It's a cattle call.



They all come at once.

They don't really care

What you're doing.

They just wanna eat.

Wow.

That's good.

Good pork.

-Hello, michael.

-Good evening, padma.

Let me introduce you to

Our judges for this challenge.

Of course you know,

Tom colicchio, our head judge.

As well as, dana cowin, editor

In chief of

Food & wine.

Our returning guest judge,

Toby young.

-And charlie palmer.

-Good to see you again.

[Tom] michael, how did you cook

The pork cheeks?

In the domestic pinots,

You'll smell a lot of root beer

Because of the french oak,

So I actually braised the pork

Cheeks themselves

With a little bit of root beer.



A little steam bun of truffle



For the earthiness.



The cuvaison--



I actually smelled



A little bit if vanilla



When I opened it up.



So I made a sauce



With cherries cooked them down

In the cuvaison itself.

And then blended it

With some vanilla bean.

-Thank you, michael.

-Thank you.

Have a great evening.

The pork is good.

The truffle bun is really good.

[Charlie] the truffle bun is

Very good.

A lot of flavors that,

I think,

Work really well

With the wine.

-Oh, my god.

-That's a good flavor.

-Really yummy.

-It's amazing.

What I've got

For you guys today,

Is a chilled pork tenderloin



With a cherry and corn salad.

I kept it pretty simple

'Cause I thought I'd let

The pork speak for itself,

As well as the wine.

Thank you so much, guys.

The pork is a little clammy.

It's overcooked

And a bit oversalted.

It's a big rich wine

And it needed something big.

So I did a little, uh,

Braised pork belly

With a play on, um,

Mirepoix.

So I have



A roasted carrot puree



And then, uh, raw celery,



Raw fennel--



I thought



That the root vegetables

And all that would go

Really well with, like,

The kind of cola and vanilla

Properties that this wine has.

-Here you go.

-Thank you so much.

Thanks, guys.

[Ash]

I think my dish could be



A winning dish.

My dish pairs well

With my wine

Just because it matches

The earthy notes

And I think the levels



Of acidity are really spot on.

Oh, that sauce is phenomenal.

The carrots have oomph

And delicious flavor.

I thought the pork belly

Itself was great.

Eli did great with

The dish.

I don't think it's a great

Pairing with the wine.

I had the leg

So I've made a pork leg pate.

And then there's



A mushroom salad



And pickled cherries.



All the fat that I took



From the leg was rendered down



And a mayonnaise-based



Dressing was built off



Of that pork fat.

I lived in oregon

For a number of years

And I've been

To sockol blosser many times,

So I know they have hazelnut

Trees growing on their property

And so I've also incorporated

A little hazelnut--

-Thank you.

-You're very welcome.

I thought it was

A great decision

To make a terrine.

It's punched up.

It's really smart.

It's very well thought out.

Good dish. Works great

With the wine.

-Oh, that's really good.

-Oh, wow.

[Mike] I did a spin on

A traditional lebanese dish

Called kibbeh.

I ground up the shoulder.

Put in some bulgur wheat,

Whipped it up and I stuffed it



With a little prosciutto,



Dates and pine nuts.



I'm serving it over



An orange blossom yogurt

To kind of go with the wine

'Cause it has

A lot of florals in there,

A little hibiscus and rose.

All right, enjoy.

Thank you.

The orange in mike's dish is

Incredibly over whelming.

I, actually, I don't mind

The kibbeh though.

It's--it's well seasoned.

I get the italian feeling

And I get

The middle eastern thing.

It's just great.

-[Padma] hi, bryan.

-Hi, how are you?

What did you do for us?

[Bryan]

I did



A braised pork spare rib.



Served over a parsnip puree



With mostarda.

Bryan, did you braise the pork

With the bones?

I did, and then I removed

The bones afterwards.

Enjoy.

Tang in the mostarda is

Picking out

Some orange notes in the pinot.

-Just enough--

-Yep, just enough.

Not too bitter.

Love the puree underneath.

Bryan and michael's,

I very much enjoyed.

It's kind of a toss-up.

[Jennifer]

I have



The chanson.

There's a lot of mushrooms

And tannins and acidity

In there.

I braised the pork belly



In some soy sauce.



The salad is tomatoes,



Black olives, apples

And celery and truffles.

[Padma] thank you, jennifer.

[Sighs]

Mm.

Nicely seasoned.

Jennifer's pork is delicious.

And I think works great

With the wine.

Wow, that's great.

-[Jennifer] thank you.

-Excellent.

[Laurine] because I have

A french wine, I wanted to do

More of a french inspired dish.

So I did a pork rillette.

It's on arugula salad,



So I wanted to bring out



Kind of the peppery note



Of the wine with the salad.

And then a golden raisin

And pearl onion chutney on top.

Thank you so much.

It's not a party in my mouth.

-Wow.

-Pork rillette.

[Dona] I'm gonna defer

To the chefs here.

Because maybe

This is perfect rillette

But I say cat food.

Chutney, all good.

Goes quite nicely with the wine.

But the rillette is a disaster.

I have prepared a center cut

Pork loin that I brined

To hopefully impart

Some extra flavor into it

That compliment the wine.

What I did was stuffed it

With a sweet potato

Apple fennel roulade and



A sour cherry coffee demi,



Um, to pick up some of



The cherry and coffee elements

In the wine, that has a lot of

Nice balance and acid

And not a lot of heat, so

I didn't want to overwhelm it.

So enjoy.

-Okay, thank you so much.

-Thanks, robin.

I think

The coffee's too strong

And you don't taste cherry

At all.

The over all sensation was one

Of sliminess.

I don't taste

Any porkiness to the dish.

It could've been

Anything wrapped around that--

That bundle, so--

I think part of it was

It was cut too thin.

-Yeah.

-Yeah.

All right, well,

Let's go back to judges' table

And hash it all out.

This is an elimination

Challenge today.

And someone is going home.

I feel good about my dish.



I feel I could be on the top,



But we've seen it before.

You don't necessarily know what

The judges are gonna think.

If we went on what

The people thought

I think I'd be

In the winner's circle but--

Hey, well they told me

I was their favorite.

Good evening.

[Padma] can we see

Michael, bryan,

Kevin, and jennifer?

[Padma] congratulations.

You have the best dishes

And the best pairings

Of tonight.

It was

A really great representation

Of pigs and pinot.

I think the four

Of you really were spot on

With, uh,

What the whole event was about.

Thank you, very much.

[Charlie] michael, I think that

You took a lot

Of very daring steps there.

There was a lot of things

Going on with the dish

And I think they worked really,

Really well together.

Thank you.

Jennifer, I thought it was

The lightest pork belly dish

Maybe I've ever eaten

In my life,

Which was very surprising

And very good.

Thank you.

The challenge you had,

Is that the pinot

We had with your dish was

The first european pinot

We'd had.

Up until then we'd had these

Very nice american pinots

Suddenly we had these kind

Of barnyard, funky flavors.

It was like, you know,

The difference between

A shaved armpit

And a hairy armpit.

You know, we knew

We were in france.

[All laughing]

And, uh, you try to capture

Some of those funky,

Hairy notes

In the sauce and

It actually brought out

Some of the earthy flavors

In that pinot.

[Tom] kevin, you went deep

Into that wine.

You hit all the right flavors

And so i--i thought,

Not only was the cooking

Very successful,

The pairing

Was very successful.

-Nice job.

-Thank you, very much.

[Padma] bryan.

[Charlie] the dish was

Very successful.

I really tasted pork,

Which I think is important.

And honestly, you couldn't have

Chose a better wine.

-I think it was a great pairing.

-Thank you.

So charlie,

As our guest judge,

You have the honor

Of announcing our winner.

[Charlie] first of all,

I have to say,

The four of you--

I'm very impressed

With what you did.

Especially in the time

That you did it in.

Very, very worthy

Of pigs and pinot.

But there can only be

One winner in this challenge.

That winner tonight is kevin.

-Thank you.

-[Padma] congratulations, kevin.

Thanks, guys.

Thank you. Very much.

And charlie has

A special surprise for you

For winning this challenge.

Kevin, I would like

To invite you

To be a guest chef

In the pigs and pinot

In healdsburg, california.

That's awesome!

[Laughing]

[Kevin]

This challenge



Really hit home for me.

If I hadn't won it,

I'd be very disappointed

With myself.

I'd like to point out

That i, in fact,

Have a pig tattooed

On my arm.

That's how close it is

To me.

So, yeah, thank you--

Thank you, very much again.

[Kevin]

I can't



Even really express



How excited I am about that.

It's an amazing thing

To win.

Please call back

Some of your colleagues.

[Eli] just saying,

You just sort of question

Everything on your dish,

You know?

You start to think, like,

[Bleep].

Obviously, someone's going in.

[Scattered applause]

Sh.

[Beep] love me in there.

Laurine, and robin.

-Good luck.

-Good luck, guys.

[Ash] I'm so [bleep] over

This [bleep].

I hope they make

The right decision tonight.

Yes, I hope they make

The [bleep]

Right decision tonight.

What is the right decision?

[Mike] we all know

What the right decision is.

Big "r" little "obin."

You couldn't taste pork

In her dish.

I don't even care about

The dish at this point.

-[Bryan] I hope grandma goes.

-Yeah.

The three of you had

The least successful dishes

At the event.

Let's start with you, robin.

I stand by

What I put out today.

You know, I was complimenting

The wine's notes

Without dominating the subtlety

Of the wine itself.

The pork was cooked nicely.

It went quite nicely

With the roulade.

There just wasn't enough of it.

I think there's

Something really luscious

About a really thin piece

Of meat.

If I'd a paid $ for that,

I wouldn't have been

Very happy.

The dish was supposed to be

About pork and pinot.

-Fair enough.

-I thought the texture

Of the sauce was

A little weird.

Uh, I don't know how

You thickened it.

But it was a little gummy.

[Charlie] you know, like I tell

A lot of my chefs,

You have to be honest enough

To say to yourself,

"Was this great?"

And I honestly don't think

You could say that

About that dish.

Ash,

Are you surprised to be here?

I'm a little bit surprised

To be here.

But right before you came in

To the stew,

Everyone was saying

Their dishes--

And I started to go, like,

Well, maybe mine was

Too simple.

Simple is fine.

But you still have

To develop flavors.

The wine was screaming

For a lot more notes

In the dish

Than we got.

[Charlie] pigs and pinot is

About showing the wines

In their best light.

This one, maybe,

We should have drank the wine

As an aperitif.

Wow.

-Did you taste your dish?

-Yes.

You didn't think

It lacked flavor or seasoning?

My original dish was not

The dish I made today.

I originally was gonna do, like,

A really nice polenta

With like a nice dry,

Aged jack.

Um, and I was gonna smoke

The pork loin--

Why didn't you go there?

It sounds fantastic.

Uh, because I'm an idiot,

I guess.

-[Tom] ash,

This is your pattern.

-Yeah.

I've heard this before.

I want to do this

But I ended up doing this.

You second guess

Your first instinct.

Yeah, I need to not do that.

Laurine,

Were you happy with your dish?

I went in to the challenge

Today feeling really confident

And then I kind of

Ran out of time at the end

To get the rillette done.

It tasted more like a kind of

Dry hash.

It just seemed like something

Had gone wrong.

How--how do you make

Rillette?

I braised it

With some chicken stock

And some, um--

Well, you realize that's not

How you make rillette?

- Um--

- It's actually poached in fat.

And all of the flavor's

Introduced

When you're poaching it

In the fat.

And I won't use the word

That dana used

Because it was rough.

But, you know,

That's not a rillette.

All right,

We'll call you back in a while.

Thank you, all.

-Thank you.

-Thank you.

What up?

[Groaning]

Oh, I forgot flavor.

That was what padma said

'Cause she's always got

Such lovely things to say.

They all have their problems.

Let's talk about robin.

[Tom]

You absolutely got



No pork flavor at all.



It just blended right in to



The rest of the dish.

And certainly it didn't

Pair well with the wine at all.

-I don't think she has

Any idea about pairing.

To me, the weakest part

Of robin's dish was the sauce.

It was almost like

That gunk you get

When you've finished a cup

Of instant coffee.

That stuff

At the bottom of the mug.

Ash's dish, was just,

It was really sort of

An amateur's dish.

The pork was



Somewhat dried out.



And the corn was



Kind of sauteed



And that was it.

I don't think

He really understands

How to develop flavor.

-He could call it

A rustic dish

But it wasn't ex*cuted well.

Ash's decision to use

That raw but kind of dry

Bitter corn wasn't

A good one.

It seemed to kind of accentuate

Some of

The less attractive aspects

Of the wine.

And when I did my walk- through,

He said, this is it.

This is where I'm--

I'm cooking my food now.

If this is his food?

I don't know.

Charlie, you seemed

To have really bust laurine

On that rillette.

Laurine started

With an idea

That was never gonna

Come out well.

It wasn't really recognizable

As rillette.

It was a kind of pork hash.

Dana called it cat food.

The texture was definitely off.

It was terrible.

I think we have our answer.

-I agree.

-Okay. Let's get them out here.

I'm the only one

Who's [bleep] stepped up

-And [bleep] snapped at her.

-That was flirting.

You're the only one

That flirted with her.

-Eli's like the little brother

That we all never had.

He's an awesome kid.

[Jennifer] all right,

Keep going.

We're upstairs and,

You know,

I'm cooking up these scallops.

So robin's like, "fine I'll just

Clean up after you,"

And started to snap at me.

I go, you're not

My [bleep] mother.

You don't [bleep]

Talk to me like that.

[Michael] and then they had sex.

[Bryan] you did?

You know,

Do we pick on eli?

Sure, I mean,

We have fun with him.

But he certainly dishes

It out as well, so.

[Eli] seriously, are you

[Bleep] dysfunctional?

[Michael] did you get

To second base?

[Eli] dude, seriously,

Can you stop?

-It's [bleep] pissing me off.

-What?

Your challenge tonight

Was to prepare

Various parts of a pig

But more importantly,

To pair it

With great pinot noir.

Laurine, um, unfortunately,

The rillette

Was not prepared properly.

Also, the dish clashed

With the wine.

Ash, you're showing

An absolute lack of confidence.

The dish was very

One dimensional and one note.

All in all,

It just fell flat.

Robin, you didn't give us

Enough pig.

We really wanted more.

And again, I think you

Second-guessed yourself as well.

As important as the food,

The other half

Of the challenge was the wine

And none

Of your dishes matched well

With your pinot noirs.

[Suspenseful music]

♪ ♪

Ash, please pack

Your knives and go.

Thank you, chefs.

Thank you for the advice, sir.

[Ash]

The whole experience has



Been really positive.



I've gotten to work with



Some of the most amazing chefs

I've met in my life.

It's me.

[Eli] the judges say that I have

The least good dish.

Oops!

And then I tell charlie palmer

My original idea

And he looks at me

Like I've just, you know,

Told him

The secret to the world.

He's like, well,

That would've been delicious.

-Bye, guys.

-Ash, have a good one, baby.

I should have done

My original dish.

So my first plan

When I get back to new york,

Is to run a special

That's a pork tenderloin

With a polenta

And a cherry demi-glace.

And I will definitely be



Inviting charlie palmer,

Tom colicchio, maybe not padma

But toby, definitely.

[Padma]

Next on

Top chef...

It's restaurant wars.

Don't get angry.

I'm just saying,

-Like, we can't lose this.

-We won't.

[Bryan]

Michael's gonna



sh**t down some of my ideas

Because he is c*ck

And it's been annoying.

[Laurine] we have people

At the bar.

-We do?

-Yep.

The lounge is full of people

And I am not ready.

I'm just like, we're [bleep].

This is my dessert.

[Bleep] you, this is

My [bleep]damn dessert.

I'm helping you.

This is a restaurant.

-Okay? Be professional.

-Go, go plate.

Finish your plate so we can

Get it out now.