15x06 - Now That's a Lot of Schnitzel

[bunniefuu]

[Bruce]

Joe. You slept hard, dude.

Yeah, I've never been so excited

to sleep in a [bleep] bunk bed.

[laughs] Me too.

Here, you want

some protein shake?

-Thank you.

-You got it, brother.

Everybody's feeling the effects

from being at such

a high altitude,

the lack of sleep.

I love this pink comforter

so much.

[groans]

-Peaches in here?

-Peaches and cream.

Mmm.

We're camping hungover.

[Christopher] Yo, this is crazy.

My worst nightmare.

We're just exhausted.

We're still cold.

a*s is freezing.

-Tanya, you having fun?

-No.

[laughter]

I think a week ago

I was on a beach.

That was a lot of snow, like--

That was t*rture.

[Brother] When it comes

to Top Chef, you never know.

You have no idea what's coming.

It's crazy.

[Christopher] Don't care

how many wings you got,

today could be the day

that you're going home.

Because of Last Chance Kitchen

and the whole bringing back

Lee Anne and Claudette,

there's even more pressure



to step your game up.

There's more contestants,

and you're not top ten anymore.

I'm a little freaked out.

That's [bleep] up.

[sighs] Getting ready?

Oh, hola, mama.

Yeah, I'm not feeling awesome.

I have a headache

that won't go away,

and it's like

I'm a little dizzy,

and I just feel worse

than I did yesterday.

I am really feeling

the physical effects

of being on the mountain for

hours in the freezing cold.

I'll be honest, I had a really

rough first trimester,

and it was just like...

I'm just starting to get my...

get myself back again,

-my energy back.

-Yeah.

But like,

I feel terrible right now.

You gotta take care of yourself.

You got that one body,

and you got that one baby.

I'm growing a human being.

Growing...

I did that [bleep] at .

I can't imagine doing

that [bleep] now.

We push our bodies

to the max as chefs,

but once you have a child

growing inside of you,

that needs to be priority.

It's hard to focus right now.

Yeah, your health is number one.

%.

[Tanya] Hey, dad.

-Hey, Tanya, we were just



talking about you.

-[chuckles]

[Tanya] This whole competition,

it's exhausting,

negotiating all the egos.

[chuckles]

How's Janelle

and the kids doing?

They're doing fine.

I do not like to hang out

with chefs all day long.

I mean, my tolerance

for [bleep] is really low.

So, talking to my dad,

that helps me a lot.

Do you have any travel plans?

We're going to graduation.



Robert's graduating



from high school.

Oh, great. That's great.

But when you go through

an experience like this,

you grow significantly.

So it's been good for that.

Good talking to you. Love you.

Okay, love you too.

Take care. Bye-bye.

[sighs]

As much as I want

to compete today...

-You ready?

-Let's do this.

...I'm more worried



about my health status,

and, uh, I don't feel good.

[indistinct chattering]

And so I decide



that I need to sit out today.



I can't compete.

It's more important

that I go to the hospital

and I get checked out.

[Padma] Eleven chefs remain

to compete in the ultimate

culinary showdown.

At stake for the winner,

a feature in Food & Wine

magazine,

an appearance

at The Food & Wine

Classic in Aspen,

$, furnished



by Sanpellegrino,

and the coveted title

of Top Chef.

[Padma] Hi, chefs.

-Hello.

-Morning.

Did you guys finally thaw out?

-A little bit.

-Yes.

I know you know that Lee Anne

went to the hospital,

but I wanna let you know

that she's doing okay,

and they're just

checking her out.

I hope she's okay.

Chefs, please say hello

to Richard Blais.

-Hi, chef.

-Hi.

Richard. I know his restaurant's

out in California,

Juniper & Ivy.

Richard is all about

sous vide this,

and air and foam that.

You don't know what to expect.

[Padma] Chefs have a tendency

to complicate things.

Sometimes, simplicity is key.

Richard?

-I'm ready.

-Okay.

What is happening?

I recognize my dish.

Ippogloss salmoriglio is a dish



off my spring tasting menu.

What the [bleep] is this?

-Recognize any of these dishes?

-Yep.

[Padma] That's because

they're all from your own menus.

Bruce, how long

does it normally take

to make roasted duck diavolo?

It's a two day process.

Claudette, how's that octopus?

At least three days.

Brother, your squid ink paella?

Takes a minute.

[laughter]

Are you ready for

your next Quickfire Challenge?

You can't scroll through

Facebook these days

without seeing one of

BuzzFeed's tasty videos.

They distill complex recipes

into something approachable

for the home cook.

Hi, I'm Richard Blais.



We're making spaghetti



and meatballs



with bone marrownara sauce.

[Padma] We thought

it'd be fun to look up

each of your most

complicated dishes.

Your task is to make your dishes

in minutes.

Whoa. Like, are you kidding me?

It's really a big challenge

to take a restaurant dish

and simplify it

for the home cook

without removing

the sense of authorship

that made it your dish

to begin with.

The chef who wins this challenge

will get immunity

in the next

elimination challenge

and have their recipe featured

in a BuzzFeed tasty video.

[Fatima] That's super cool.

Like, your Instagram followers

would quadruple,

like, overnight.

I wanna be



a social media star.



I'm so ready for this.

Your time starts now. Good luck.

[Bruce] Bacon.

It's insane.

This dish can take up to

three days to make.

I'm frightened

that I'm not gonna be able

to pull this off in minutes.

[groaning]

[bleep]. Totally fine.

Part of the plan.

I was planning

on not using octopus,

but then I said, "[bleep] it."

The dish on my board

is a grilled octo al pastor.

Normally, for the octopus,

I would let it cook for at least

a couple of hours,

but today I am beating

the [bleep] out of it,

cooking it as fast as I can,

and grilling it.

[Fatima] Whoo. Almost fell.

This recipe is actually one



that I do it at my food stall,



but growing up,



I used to watch



Padma's travel show...

Behind!

...and I remember

this one specific episode

where she was cooking biryani,



a very classic chicken



and rice dish from Pakistan.

And it turns out so perfect.

Oh, my God.

I have so much [bleep] to do.

Now I have to make Padma

a biryani in minutes.

It usually takes six hours



to complete.

I don't know

how I'm gonna do it.

[Adrienne] Okay,

that'll have to be

thick enough.

Normally, hush puppies

are a lot of fun to make.

Do we have tasting spoons?

But I would have much preferred

another dish

to be chosen for this.



Getting the actual stuffing



into the hush puppies,

I can't seem to get

the proportion right.

This is normally

a lot different.

Eh, maybe I might cry.

-[Richard] Sixteen minutes.

-[bleep] me.

[Bruce] [bleep] is flying by.

[Joe] The original dish

is sauteed sea scallops,

potato gnocchi,

and sauce bourguignon.

Gnocchi is out of the question

in the amount of time

that we have,

but I get the crazy idea to make

a scallop gnocchi dumpling,

fusing the two together.

So I grab the food processor,

get the scallops,

a little bit of cauliflower,

potato, egg whites,



buzz that all together...

poach that off,

kind of mimicking

the flavor and texture



that you would find in gnocchi.

I'm on track

to win my first Quickfire.

Whoo. Fuego.

[Christopher]

How are you gonna make

your dish so easy simple?

I'm just gonna do it faster

than normal.

[Christopher] All right.

Go ahead, speed buggy.

My dish is pepper pot shrimp.

Back home, I do it with rice.

It's certainly faster to do



polenta today.

Come on.

My daughters would think that

me competing

for a BuzzFeed video

would be very cool.

But me, I don't even know

what a hashtag is.

[chuckles] I'm lying.

I know what a hashtag is.

So, Brother, how are you

simplifying that paella?

-Run faster.

-I know that's right.

[Brother] This is pretty much

impossible.

Paella requires a lot of time,

so I gotta boil the hell out



of this rice to get it cooked.

This is a great opportunity

to market yourself

to the masses.

I want this Quickfire,

and I'm taking it.

Come on.

[Adrienne] Claudette,

how's your octo looking?

One more cook. I gotta grill it.

How you doing?

Oh, God.

Could be better, you know?

You have five minutes, chefs.

[sighs] Don't panic.

It's not right.

I haven't allowed

any development of flavors,

and that's the whole essence



of this dish.



But I've had to take shortcuts.

[Padma] One minute thirty.

-[Tanya] One and a half.

-[Brother] Hot, hot.

Last few minutes,

I'm trying to get

a crust on this rice.

I'm gonna throw it



in the broiler



and caramelize it



from the top.

Hopefully that worked.

-Behind you, hot.

-[bleep] shaking.

[Fatima] Me too, dude.

[Richard] Twenty seconds.

[Claudette] Behind.

It's that last seconds,

and I still have to get



my tortillas from the skillet.

-[bleep].

-Time's up. Hands up, please.

[Claudette] I have

all my components

just staring in front of me

with a dollop



of pineapple sauce



on the dish plate.



I didn't even get the octopus

on the plate. [bleep].

Are you [bleep] kidding me?

[blows raspberry]

[Claudette] The only thing

I have on the plate

is pineapple salsa.

It's the worst place to be.

-Hi, Claudette.

-Hello.

What did you make for us?

Well, apparently,

just pineapple salsa.

-[Richard] What happened

to the octopus?

-It's right here.

Oh, but it didn't make it

onto the plate.

As you probably guessed,

you can't win this one.

-Hi, Joe.

-What's up, Padma?

So, originally,

it was potato gnocchi,

sauteed scallops on top,



sauce bourguignonne.

So I simplified it

by just making the gnocchi

and scallops in one.

Scallop gnocchi.

I'm having trouble

concentrating on the food

because of your epic mustache

to be honest.

[laughter]

-[Padma] Hi, Brother.

-Hi, how are we doing?

-What do we have here?

-Well, I wanted to simplify

a paella for the home cook.

[Padma] And what rice is this?

It's black.

I used an arborio

to try to create

some of that texture.

I used the broiler.

Do you think that a home cook

could do this in minutes

or less?

Definitely, it's two pots.

So, I made a mushroom tart

with walnuts

and a mixed green salad



with a lot of radishes.

Having premade puff pastries

saves several hours.

So the original dish is

a crawfish stuffed hush puppies.

It's usually got



a super-rich shellfish stock

that takes about a day

to make and reduce.

There's a molasses cane syrup

on top of it.

Is this supposed to be

a savory dish?

Yeah, it's usually infused

with bourbon and chili.

I would have loved to have

more chili in there.

It could use

a couple grains more of salt.

Thank you.

-Hi, Carrie.

-Hi.

So, Prince Edward Island mussels

with a red coconut curry.

Normally, I would let



the curry bloom

and reduce

the fish sauce au sec,

and so I shortened

those procedures down a little.

Yeah, I love that you

actually cooked the bread.

I like toasted bread a lot.

My menu item is a duck diavolo

cooked with fresno chili,

rosemary, lemon, and garlic.

I cooked the duck al mattone,

so I put a pan on top

to really press out that skin.

Is this how you like

your duck cooked normally?

Honestly,

it's a little slightly over.

-Hi, Chris.

-This here is pepper pot shrimp.

This one was done



on the real quick,

but I think that

some of the same flavors

are there.

I like spicy food.

It's definitely on the edge.

So for the home cook,

do you think that

this is too spicy perhaps?

I think that

for the Caribbean folks,

right up their alley.

-Hello.

-[Padma] Hi.

[Joseph] My dish today

is halibut salmoriglio.

The sauce is oregano,



tarragon.

I went really thin with them

so that you could

just poach them

in olive oil

in about minutes.

It's very green

and almost bitter.

I have a buttermilk

fried chicken biryani

with cumin yogurt sauce



and a kachumber salad.

How I simplified it was that

I cooked the rice separately

and I made the potatoes

and the sauce as one.

Do you think this is

a good introduction

for your cuisine?

Absolutely,

because you got the buttermilk

fried chicken element

that everyone can connect to,

but you still have all those

very bold flavors from Pakistan.

[Richard] Mmm.

-Thank you.

-Thank you.

[Richard] Chefs,

it's a tough challenge.

Some of you did really well.

Some others, not so much.

Claudette, obviously

you didn't get the octopus

or the tortilla on there.

[Padma] There's not enough

on the plate.

I think you know that.

Another dish that I didn't

care for very much was...

Adrienne's hush puppies.

I felt like they were

a little large,

maybe a little too sweet,

and the insides were

a bit gummy.

And I also wanna

call out Fatima.

Last week, when you cooked

Western food,

it was so flavorful.

Why aren't you cooking our food

like that?

I'm like a little

deflated balloon right now.

One of my favorite dishes

of the day

was Chris's pepper pot.

There was a lot

of punch to that,

a lot of spice

right on the edge.

It was a nice, rounded,

and dynamic dish.

Thank you, thank you, chef.

Brother's paella.

In the amount of time,

you got an incredible amount

of depth.

The chorizo sort of gave it

the umami that dish wanted.

Joe's scallop and gnocchi dish.

A really great way to sort of

combine two ideas,

the scallop and the gnocchi.

Incredibly creative.

Cool. Thank you.

The winner of the Quickfire

is the chef who made

a restaurant quality dish

that any home cook

making that dish would be sure

to impress their guests.

And that chef is...

Chris.

[applause]

[Chris] Thank you, chef.

Thank you, Padma.

[Padma] Congratulations, Chris.

Not only do you win immunity,

but your dish will be featured

on a BuzzFeed tasty video.

That's what's up.

Yesterday I was on the bottom.

Today I'm on the top.

This is the reason



that I don't carry



the baggage with me.

Every day is a new day.

-Good luck, chefs.

-[Joe] Thanks, chef.

I think you guys have been

working really hard.

So who's ready for a party?

-If we're attending.

-[Claudette] Who's cooking?

[laughs]

Please welcome

celebrated German chef,

Keegan Gerhard.

[applause]

Hello.

-Hello, hello.

[Brother] Chef Keegan Gerhard,

he's here in Denver.

He's a phenomenal pastry chef.

I am so stoked to have him

as our guest chef today.

Spring and summer time

in Colorado

is all about being outside.

Even if it might snow a little.

-They've been outside. [laughs]

-Right. They've been outside.

I know you have.

[Padma] So in that spirit,

we're gonna throw

a little German festival.

We're gonna throw one

Top Chef size.

I was raised in Germany

from six months old

till thirteen,

and all of my first food

memories

were absolutely

about German food.

It goes way beyond pretzels

and beer and mustard.

What I'm hoping to see

is you guys

elevate German food

to a new level.

You're also going to create

your own version of a radler.

[Keegan] So you may not know

the term radler.

It's, uh, what you might call

a summer shandy.

Basically a / mix of beer

and some sort of fruit setup.

Where I come from,

if you order one of those,

you get kicked in the nuts.

You'll pair this with your dish

for the ultimate

German experience

for diners

at Elitch Gardens.

[mouthing] Oh, my God.

[Fatima] I've never cooked

German food.

I've never heard of a radler.

I'm really scared.

[Padma] But don't worry,

because Keegan

is going to take you

on a little field trip

so that you can experience

authentic German food.

All right.

-[Tanya] And beer.

-Right.

Pop in your BMW X vibes

and enjoy the ride.

-Take care of them.

-Thank you.

All right, are you guys

ready to go?

-[all] Yep.

-Let's hit the road.

Auf Wiedersehen.

[Joseph] Pumpernickel's German.

"Pumper" is fart,

like "fart of the nickel."

So it's the devil's fart.

-Hey, guys.

-Hi.

[Brother] First thing I notice

is lots of handles.

There's beer everywhere.



And I can smell sausage



and pretzels.

This is like big guy heaven.

As classic as the food

you're gonna to eat,

um, is this radler.

I mean,

just let your mind go crazy

with where you could take it.

-Enjoy. Yeah.

-Thank you, Chef.

[Fatima] Cheers.

[Keegan] Who knows "cheers"

in German?

-Come on, guys.

-[all] Prost.

-[indistinct chattering]

-[Claudette] Cheers.

[Christopher] I don't drink.

So what's it taste like?

[Joe] It taste like

the Sanpellegrino Limonata.

-So it's like bright...

-Bright.

-...citrusy.

-Citrusy, sweet.

It's sweet? Like sugar sweet?

Up until three years ago,

I was an alcoholic.

Alcoholism runs deep



in my family.



My mother passed away



the day before I got married,



and that led to



just such grief and despair.



Starting early in the morning,



going from beer to wine



to the full bottle of whiskey.



It was a mess.



So, I don't put myself



in situations



where the old demons



are knocking at the door.



I'm drinking juice,



but even going through



the motions



was uncomfortable.

Are you ready to cook?

'Cause we're hungry.

[laughter]

Whoo, baby.

Landjaegers are the thin ones,

and then some duck prosciutto.

[Claudette] Oh, my gosh.

[Peter]

This is the schweinshaxe.

It's a pork shank.

We braise them in cider.

We brine them for three days.

And we have a curry wurst.

[Tanya and Fatima] Wow.

-[Peter] It's our

traditional strudel.

-[Keegan] Yes.

-This is the best strudel,

though, I think I've ever had.

-Yeah.

[Keegan] It's really good.

I mean, you guys know.

There's no Michelin two,

three star chefs doing this.

They're inspired by this,

and they're taking it

to another level.

I know that's what

we're looking for.

Elevated German food.

Ah, [bleep], this was awesome.

-Thank you.

-Yeah.

Thank you for coming in.

-[applause]

-Appreciate it.

[Bruce] I hope

Lee Anne's all right.

If that was my wife,

I would just be like,

"No, like, it's risky."

So my wife and I,

we're adopting a baby,

and he's due any day.

And it's so important

for Lee Anne to take care

of herself,

and make sure

her baby is healthy.

When I first heard

them talking about, like,

-interpret it in your own way...

-Mm-hmm.

I'm immediately starting to

think about doing like

a spring roll.

The filling, it's like,

German ingredient.

That sounds hot.

My parents traveled



around Asia,

and they were both

exotic dancers.

My dad, his stage name



was Mandingo, so...

[chuckles] ...y'all can imagine.

He was a rock star,



and Asia was magical for them.



So I was raised around



a lot of Asian culture.

I use that as my inspiration.

I can fry it. It's quick.

I can do like a cool

mustard seed...

[Christopher] That sounds hot.

[Fatima] Go, go, go. Go!

-[Bruce] Uh, goat cheese.

-[grunts]

-Dass should be interesting.

-Limes, limes, limes.

We have $ to put together

a German-inspired dish

for about people,

and pair everything

with a radler.

It's like, "Meat, potatoes,

why would I want that?"

But there's so much more to it,

so that was really inspiring.

I wanna use wollwurst

as an inspiration for this one.

I know I got a lot to do,



but if I move quickly,

I should be able

to get everything done.

Let's do Applewood.

Give me like a pound of that.

-Fifteen minutes.

-[Adrienne] Okay.

I heard a rumor

you used to date

a Prime Minister of Germany

-for a while in the 's.

Is that true?

-[laughs]

No. Nein.

I feel really confident about



cooking another cuisine.



I worked in kitchens



in France,



and I didn't have any problems



in Europe.



But growing up in the States,

I was always reminded

of the color of my skin

and my gender

and how that affected

things that I had access to.

I'm making a peach radler,

and pork and apple croquettes

with a black bread crust.

I think this challenge



is great for me



because I love Europe.

I've always loved exploring

other cultures.

So I feel like my experience



translates to this really well.

Eight and a half minutes.

Cheddar pork bratwurst

right here.

I'm trying to be inspired

by German food,

but I feel myself

going into a deep, dark,

funky kind of spot.

Let me have five pounds more

of whatever you got.

-[man] Can I give you Italian?

-Sure.

I end up buying pre-made

sausages and pretzel rolls.

It's not going to be good.

I knew that

when it was in my hand

going into the cart.

Fifteen. Thank you.

I can get through this one

'cause I got immunity,

but, you know, I'm struggling.

[machines beeping]

[man] Hey, are you okay?

No, I'm in the hospital.

We went up to this park.

It was like , feet,

and my body just went

into shock and like...

Is the baby okay?

Baby's fine. [laughs]

I'm suffering from dehydration

and altitude sickness.

They hooked me up to an IV,



gave me medicine to help



my headache go away.

I basically have

to sleep it off.

I'll call you a little later,

okay, love?

Keep your phone on you.

-I will.

-All right, bye.

I wanna compete.

I think that I could actually

go all the way and win,

but I don't want to put

my body and my baby at risk.

[machine beeping]

Watch the door, watch the door.

Two hundred potatoes,

here we go.

[Tanya] Adrienne,

what do you think about

this German-inspired meal?

I'm really excited about it.

Chicago and even New York

there's, uh...

-A lot of German descendants.

-A lot of German.

I've worked with a couple

of German chefs.

I've been cooking

other people's food

for , years.

So within the past



eight months



after leaving Red Rooster,

I've been really focusing

on what I want to cook.

My radler is gonna be

kind of like a German rauchbier

-which is a smoked beer...

-Oh, wow.

...to go with the smoked brine

of the arctic char.

I'm not gonna win doing



somebody else's food.

So let me figure out

how to cook my food.

-It's gonna be awesome, lady.

-[chuckles]

-[Claudette] Kraut.

-Kraut.

[Fatima] Bruce,

what are you making?

Like a sauerbraten-style

braised slab bacon.

Bavarian food is very soulful,

very comforting.

I relate to that



with Italian food.

So my idea for this dish

is a smoked braised pork belly

with spaetzle cabbage,

but I'm really trying

to tie in Italian cooking.

Yum, all right.

And it hits me to make

a tart cherry mostarda

which is Italian fruit,



mustard condiment,

and it's gonna be

the punch of flavor

that's gonna cut through

all of that richness.

[Adrienne] Brother,

what do you have going on?

I spent time in Japan.

I spent time in China.

-So I'm gonna make

a spring roll.

-Nice.

And I wanna saute that up

with some bok choy,

and wrap it up and fry it.

That way it looks like

a spring roll,

but it's got that

melted cheddar,

sausage, and cabbage inside.

Hell yeah.

[whirring]

[Joe] A radler? What's that?

I have to make a radler?

That sounds really bad.

[grunts]

[Claudette]

I've never made a radler.

I've drinkin' many a radlers.

[Tanya laughs]

You know I love working

with big, bold flavors,

and making these



ground pork croquettes,



the spice mixture is a cross

between a blackening spice

and a creole spice.

It just give them

a little bit of Tanya flavor.

[Fatima] I wish there was

an easier way to level out cake.

I'm most inspired



by the dessert at Rhein Haus.



Believe it or not,



there's a lot

of black forest cake

in Pakistan.

It's like a mainstay

in every bakery.

I don't know why.

I am so nervous



because of the Quickfire

and how Padma pushed me

to not hold back on my flavors.

Fati, what's your radler

gonna be?

A black cherry... radler.

I always forget the name

of the beer I chose.

[laughs]

One hour, guys, one hour.

-Oh, hey.

-Chefs.

[Thomas] Hey, chefs,

how's it going?

How we doing?

Who's boiling

these sausages away?

-Me, me. I'm almost done.

-Okay.

-It's about to come off.

-All right.

-I'm gonna do

a bratwurst slider.

-Okay.

My radler is gonna be

honey, ginger, and cloves.

-Got it.

-[Keegan] What beer

did you choose for that?

I had a very light wheat beer.

I don't drink,

so I got the team

to help me out.

You got the team to help you.

That's cool.

You gotta hope they don't

screw you on that one.

-Exactly.

-[laughter]

-Good luck.

-Thank you, chef.

-Chefs.

-[Keegan] How are you?

-How are we doing?

-We're making...

-Meatloaf. That's great.

-...free-form sausage.

-Free-form sausage.

-Inspired by the wollwurst.

I'm gonna braise it

in some pickle juice and milk,

and cook down with some beer.

-Is that enough for ?

-Yeah, this is about , chef.

-Two hundred what?

-Two hundred wollwurst.

-Two hundred

little wollwurst ba*ls.

-Yes.

-That's hard to say.

-[Thomas] All right.

God, Tom,

why'd you have

to say that?

-What?

-Two hundred.

It's enough! I did the math.

[laughs]

-Hey, Carrie.

-Hey, chefs.

-What are you working on?

-Well, I made up something

called a David "Hassle" Hoff

potato.

-You made it up?

-[both laugh]

Well, who knows anything

about Germany?

I was like, "David Hasselhoff."

Right?

-Sure.

-I don't know.

My family makes this thing

called a Hasselback potato

-where you roast a potato--

-Hasselback, right, right.

So I'm gonna stuff

my Hoff potato

with my sausage.

The whole

David Hasselhoff thing...

Hasselhoff's coming back.

It's a Hoff potato.

-Get it? Huh? Huh?

-[Keegan] Yeah,

he's coming back.

-Okay, got it.

-Yeah.

-Thanks for stopping by.

-Whoop, sorry.

Okay, chefs.

We'll see you

at the beer garden.

-[Claudette] Thanks, chefs.

-See you soon, chefs.

[Carrie] Bye.

[Bruce] Twenty one minutes.

[Claudette] Sweet. Curd on that.

[Bruce] Sas, how you doing, man?

Really bad. I took on too much.

I kind of start seeing

all the cracks

coming out of my dish.

[sighs]

I got way too many things

going on.

I don't know



how I'm gonna plate this



and serve the radler.

I definitely didn't think

this one all the way through.

[Brother] Ten minutes!

[Joe] How the [bleep]

did I just do all those things?

-Right here.

-We'll see.

-[Bruce] Good game.

Good game.

[laughter]

[indistinct chattering]

-[Bruce] Hey.

-Hi.

How are you feeling?

A little better. [chuckles]

Oh, baby.

-[Claudette] How are you?

-Okay.

-I'm okay. Hi.

-[Joe] How you doing?

Hey!

So I was suffering from

severe altitude sickness,

and so they basically put

an IV in me.

And she's like, "You should get

back down to normal altitude."

And even this is taxing

for me right now.

I think because of that,

I'm gonna gracefully

just bow out

and leave you guys.

[Brother] Aw.

-You'll be good.

-Gracias, chica.

Thank you.

I am definitely sad

to see her go.

I think that she was



one of the few chefs here



that I could have bonded with.

Like, she's a badass.

[Lee] Definitely one of

the hardest decisions

I've ever had to make.

The competitor in me



wants to stay.

Hopefully it won't be the last

you see of me on Top Chef.

Dude, she would have

destroyed us though.

[Lee sighs]

[cheering and screaming]

[Adrienne] Are we running?

We're running?

Why are we running?

Elitch Gardens

is a beautiful amusement park

in downtown Denver.

We have minutes to set up



before the guests arrive.

Ooh, yeah, wind. Whoo.

[Brother] True to form,

here comes a storm.

Welcome to Colorado, everyone.

[thunder booming]

[Christopher]

Not the best weather.

It's raining onto the grill.



The grill fire keeps going out.



And I'm serving up alcohol



that may or may not even



taste good.

It's just not a good day.

-Ah.

-[shattering]

[Adrienne]

[bleep] flying e'where.

I never ever made this before.

First time for everything

here on Top Chef.

I start thinking about

the timing of everything

and having to serve



people.

The mustache might be doing

that little frown-ie thing.

Mamma mia.

[German folk music playing]

-[Claudette] They're all here.

-[Bruce] Yep.

-[laughs]

-[Graham] What's up, guys?

[Padma] At the German festival.

[Graham] All right,

how we doing?

[Padma] Wow,

look at that outfit.

Wow.

-Prost.



-Prost.

-[Padma] Hi, Bruce.

-Hi, Padma. Hi, Keegan.

I made a radler

with Drumroll APA.

-Cheers.

-Prost.

Blood orange and tangelo.

That's delicious.

It makes me wanna drink

beer more.

So what I've prepared is

a braised smoked pork belly

with goat cheese spaetzle

and a charred cherry mostarda.

[Padma] Well, I really like

the sour notes in this.

-Wonderful.

-The pork is tender.

-It's delicious.

-It is.

Thank you so much.

Pork belly's, like, super tasty.

-Hey, Joe.

-Hey, how are we doing, chefs?

So I have an apple ginger

with a little bit

of key lime radler,

and then I made a pork dumpling,

pork belly, nutmeg mace,

a little bit garlic ginger

and shallot.

[Graham] I like the radler.

I thought it went well with it.

You get the apple,

you get the ginger.

I also like there's a little

bitterness in it too.

Thanks, guys. Have a great one.

-[Padma] Hi, Brother.

-Hi.

-The Shilling radler.

-[Keegan] Prost.

So you have chai tea,

pomegranate, molasses

a little bit of honey,

and then I decided to go savory.

I did an egg roll filled with

summer sausage, bok choy.

There's some apples



in there, potatoes.

-I guess I wasn't sure about

the chai in the radler.

-Yeah.

-Me neither. [laughs]

-I think the eggroll's tasty.

It loses me for German.

[Thomas]

What have you had so far?

I had the egg roll.

-The egg roll?

-Yes.

So we're at a German

beer garden,

and we're talking about

egg rolls.

Something's wrong here.

I know.

[Graham] Tanya,

how are we doing?

We have got a peach

and ginger radler

and a pork and apple croquettes.

The pork is breaded



in pumpernickel.

[Thomas] I like pumpernickel.

It's nice.

And the flavor? Nice and crispy.

-Radler's nice too.

-Yeah.

-Oh, great. Well, thank you.

-Thanks.

-Hi, Chris.

-Hi.

I have the wheat beer

that's scented with clove

and honey.

-I like the radler a lot.

-Thank you so much.

-I really like the clove

with beer.

-Delicious.

Thank you.

I have sausage sliders

with a fermented caraway slaw



and potato salad



with Osceola cheese.

-Did you make

your own sausage?

-No.

Somewhere between

the cooking of the sausage

and the grilling of the sausage,

it's a little dry.

Fair enough, chef.

[Graham] Hello.

The radler today

is ginger apple,

and it's also got

some of that rauchbier,

the German

smoked beer flavor in it.

[Thomas] I'm not a fan

of smoked beers,

but I like adding the apple

and ginger to this

to actually cut through it.

It's nice.

So the arctic char is brined

in a smoked salt.

Asparagus is served



with a pumpernickel



butter-fried crumble.

-Cookery's great.

-Yeah, I think so far,

it's the prettiest

and definitely

the most ambitious.

-I think it needs a little salt.

-Mm-hmm.

-A little salt?

-Yeah, it's lacking a little.

Fish especially.

I'm not really getting the smoke

that she was referring to.

Hi, Fatima.

What did you make for us?

A tart cherry radler.

[Keegan]

I taste the cherry in it,

but I think

it's a little bit flat.

[Padma]

It's a little bit bitter.

But it has a depth

and darkness to it.

So, black forest cake

with a little cashew



and sesame brittle,



chai mousse,



a chai and chocolate sauce

with a cherry

and kirsch compote.

Sliding in the chai spice

is my little nod.

These warm chai spices

go amazingly well

with chocolate,

and that sauce is really good.

Good job.

-Thank you so much.

You know, after yesterday

on Quickfire,

I didn't wanna let you down.

I'm so happy that this hasn't

blown up in my face, honestly.

-Thank you.

-Thank you very much, chefs.

I love the jalapeno.

That radler was awesome.

-Hey, Carrie.

-Hi, chef.

"Hassle" Hoff potato.

[Carrie] The first thing

I thought about was, uh...

How much Germans love

David Hasselhoff?

That's what I thought of.

[chuckles]

The radler is Oskar Blues IPA.

I cut it with jalapeno

and limonata

from Sanpellegrino.

Whoa. [coughs]

Is it brutal? [laughs]

Did you get a spicy one?

-That tastes really green.

-Yeah.

The potatoes are roasted in

duck fat.

The sausage, it's a bratwurst.



The slaw is apple



and red onion.

[Graham] I like the kraut,

especially.

-[Thomas] Yeah.

-To cut through.

[Thomas]

A great asset to this dish.

Not a huge fan of the radler.

-It's so vegetal.

-Oh!

-I love the dish, though.

Thank you.

-Awesome.

-[Padma] Hi, Joe.

-Hey, guys.

What are you making?

The radler has apple,

ginger, and beet.

[Keegan] It's hard for me

to taste beer in it.

The candied ginger

made the whole drink too sweet.

So here I made a wollwurst

bound together with pretzels.

There's a little beer cheese



down at the bottom.

I'm perplexed.

You described to me

this cheesy beer sauce,

and what I got was

a sweet apple-y sauce.

And it's confusing.

-Thank you, Joe.

-I really love this radler,

which is a lot of

beet and ginger.

-Is that the sausage ball?

-Yes.

That was really good.

Yeah, and it's just enough

horseradish

to make it really good

without clearing my sinuses.

[laughter]

-[Graham] How's it going?

-Going good, chefs.

So this is grapefruit

with a Mama's Little Yella

Pilsner

-and some mezcal

and candied ginger in the base.

-Wow.

So I went with liverwurst



with cilantro and lemon

and beef schnitzel

with potato salad.

-The liverwurst is really,

really flavorful.

-[Graham] Uh-huh.

There's also a lot

of different texture.

-[Graham] Yeah.

-Thank you so much.

-[Graham] That's good.

-Enjoy.

This is Claudette.

This is probably my favorite.

It's fantastic.

So tell me about your dish.

-Please enjoy.

-Thanks.

I love the simplicity

of this dish.

-Meatball's need a little...

-A little dry, little crumbly.

A little crumbly,

maybe too much pretzel.

I'm not crazy about this.

The potato salad?

Salty. One-dimensional.

The dish to me is super clean.

Fruhlingsrolle, egg roll,

whatever you wanna call it.

Everything I do is me.

I have to maintain my integrity.

-Thanks, man.

-Appreciate it.

[all] Cheers.

[Padma] I enjoyed

a lot of the food I ate today,

-I gotta tell you.

-Yeah, food's good.

Well, let's get to

judges' table.

We have a lot to talk about.

[groans] I hope

I didn't split my pants

-'cause I've eaten

a lot of schnitzel.

-[laughter]

[Christopher] Today was by far

the worst service that I've had

in years.

[Joseph] What happened?

As you know, I don't drink.

It started to remind me

of like...

bad decisions while drunk.

[Brother] Hey, Chris,

you earned that immunity.

-You beat me

for that immunity so...

-Right.

You got another challenge

coming right back-to-back,

you can always recover, like,

just get out

of that head space, man.

Tom, how do you think

our chefs did overall today?

You know, I think overall,

really good.

Ultimately, you gotta make

this guy happy over here.

[Padma] Keegan,

what did you think?

You took some food

and some radlers

to places they've never gone,

and I liked the way

you attacked it.

It was inspiring.

[Padma] Of course,

there were some standouts.

Bruce.

Claudette.

And Tanya.

Congratulations.

Thank you, thank you.

Everyone else,

please step aside.

Tanya, you were so surprised

when I called your name.

I can't hide my feelings,

you're right. [laughs]

What touchstones did you use

to come up with your dish?

I was inspired

to caramelize the apples

and put it with the pork,

that sort of traditional

flavor profile.

I really enjoyed the radler.

You attacked that as a pairing,

and I was very impressed

by that.

-I appreciate it, thank you.

-[Padma] Claudette.

I thought yours was super tasty.

It had a great heat.

What was that from?

The serranos

and I had a little bit

of habanero ash

in the potato salad.

That ash from the peppers

was absolutely delicious.

There's a word, "gemutlichkeit."

It's somewhere between cozy

and a hug.

And I got that.

-Well done.

-Thank you.

-Bruce.

-I think the thing

that I was struggling with

was getting across, "Hey,

this tastes like a German dish

but really, it's kind of like

an Italian dish in a way."

The spaetzle

was really nicely cooked.

I liked that you worked

the cabbage into the dish

and the spices.

It's great that you have

your own style, you know.

You can give me that dish,

and I knew it was yours.

-Thank you.

-Keegan.

Well, the winner

of this challenge today

is the chef who approached

a good German cuisine foundation

and then elevating that

and also pairing that properly

with a radler.

And the winner is...

Chef Tanya.

-[cheers and applause]

-[chuckles]

Thank you. Oh, my God.

I'm thrilled.

Oh, my God.

I am really about creating

opportunities for others.

Yes.

The more that people see

someone who looks like me

doing what I'm doing,

the more they'll feel like,

"Why can't I do that as well?"

[Padma] Congratulations, Tanya.

BMW is sending you

on a three night trip for two

to their driving

performance center.

That's amazing.

At Thermal Club in Palm Springs.

-Can I go now?

-You've got some cooking

to do, I think.

[laughs]

Now we'd like to see Brother,

Joe Sasto, and Adrienne.

How do you feel the day went

for you guys?

It was difficult.

I think I bit off a little more

than I could chew.

I think after

you braised the milk

you should have just stopped

and served it like that.

Because frying it again,

especially coating with pretzels

it just dried it out.

You're a guy who's got a bag

of techniques and tools bigger

than you can lift.

You have to be disciplined

about what you decide

to put in that bag.

To hear you say that, I mean,

it just validates kind of what

I've been struggling with

and what I need to,

uh, move past.

Brother, how did the day

go for you?

Were you happy with the way

your roll tasted?

I thought the filling was good.

I liked the Chinese cabbage.

I thought that was a nice way

to bring in a different cabbage

versus everyone else

going for green.

It just didn't feel German

at all.

[Graham] It wasn't

who can just make

the tastiest dish

or this is really who I am.

It's like, "Okay, is it German?

Is the radler paired well

with it?"

And it's like, "No, not really."

Adrienne.

Were you happy with how

your dish was flavored?

I wish I had seasoned maybe

a little over the top

with the smoked salt

to finish it.

Yeah, the dish

was very, very bland,

and this isn't the first time

we've said this.

Using that cheese for the salt,

good idea, but it needed salt.

It could use

a couple grains more of salt.

The chef I worked for

quite a while

was always saying that

if it tastes good

and seasoned to you,

it's probably too salty

for a guest.

-[whistles]

-Oh, I would...

I would erase that memory.

Whoever...

Whatever chef that was,

I would just ignore that.

You've gotta cook

for your palate.

You're the chef.

[Padma] We have a lot of talking

amongst ourselves to do.

That'll be all for now.

Thank you.

[Adrienne sighs]

[Brother] I made such

a stupid mistake.

We have three choices here.

Brother did not give us a dish

that was even remotely Germanic

-at all.

-[Padma] Mm-hmm.

We have Adrienne who gave us

something that was really bland.

-[Padma] Mm-hmm.

-And we had Joe

who overcooked his meat.

So those are the three



major issues.

But I think Adrienne,

her fish was cooked beautifully.

-But she didn't season her food.

-[Padma] Right.

I think the question is

what we're focusing on

for this challenge.

Seasoning,

something cooked right,

the challenge.

So it's almost like

you don't even get

a ticket to the game

if you don't make it German.

[Thomas] Two of them

gave us Germanic food.

There were attempting

to do that.

One didn't at all.

[Keegan] Mm-hmm.

But Brother's dish

was the yummiest.

Well, Joe's dish

had a lot of flavor.

He just gave us a dry...

-But that's a technical issue.

-Yeah, I know.

I mean, I think another reason

that Joe could go home,

we hated that drink.

I hated Brother's drink

as much as I hated Joe's drink.

-[Keegan] Yeah.

-Really?

Yeah. The chai radler? Yeah.

[Thomas] You know, chefs,

the challenge was to make

a German dish

that works in a beerhall

and to pair it with a radler,

and it was nice to see you guys

really embrace this challenge.

This was a tough one.

Brother.

Please pack your knives and go.

Thank you, chefs.

You know, Brother,

we just don't think

you really adhered

to the challenge.

We were looking

for a German dish,

and we just don't think

you delivered on that.

Right now,

I feel disappointed in myself.

Love you, dude.

[Brother] But being on Top Chef

was accomplishing a goal.

I wanted to prove to myself



that I can hang



with all these chefs.

And I did.

I've learned so much

about myself.

I learned that it's not about



what style of food you do.

I cook Brother Luck food,

and I'm really enjoying

where that cuisine

is going right now

because it's blank pages

ahead of me

and I'm getting to write

all those words.

[Padma] Last Chance Kitchen

is back.

It's like Eminem. Get one shot.

[Padma] Is Tu out of the woods?

I am very determined

to make it back onto Top Chef.

[Padma] Or is Brother's fire

to fight stronger?

Now it really looks like

Colorado.

[Padma] Next on Top Chef...

Her water just broke.

[cheering]

I'm gonna be a dad. [chuckles]

-Cheers.

-I love you, guys.

Welcome to the Top Chef games.

[Joe] Seeing the stadium,

the Olympic athletes.

It is awesome.

Tanya, get a pressure cooker.

[pots crashing]

I give up.

I can't even ask her

for something?

-[Padma] Can I hear your side

of the story, please?

-No

[Gail] I think this is

the first time we've ever had

a "No" at the judges' table.