Whoo-hoo!
Whoo-hoo-hoo-hoo-ha-ha!
I feel like I came back
from the dead,
and now I'm in the final three,
going to Aspen.
I'm losing
my damn mind.
First and foremost,
to Carrie, huh?
-She was the one to beat.
-She's a genius.
Last challenge
in Talluride,
we were cooking
for our families
and the judges.
-[laughter]
-Oh, my God.
I had the greatest food
of the season.
[Thomas] This is a tough one.
Someone's going home
for a good dish.
Carrie, please pack
your knives and go.
[Joe]
We're in
the home stretch.
You wanna start
thinking about,
oh, you're so close
to winning,
but you can't
let yourself.
You're not there yet.
-Let's light this town on fire.
-Whoo!
[Padma]
Only three 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
San Pellegrino,
and coveted title
of Top Chef.
[Joseph] Whoo!
Aspen, baby!
I'm pretty sure everyone
we've all worked for
are gonna be here
at this weekend.
Yeah. It'll be interesting
to see who the judges are,
'cause literally,
everybody in the [bleep] world
is here.
Anybody could
be the judges.
Oh, I'm so ready
to go to Aspen.
I have been
dreaming of this.
The Aspen Food & Wine Classic
is a huge deal.
And it's going on
right now.
Guys, I think we're staying
at the Viceroy.
-Oh, wow.
That's a nice place.
-Yeah.
I called ahead,
I tried to make
a nice room for us,
so we'll see.
[Adrienne]
Thanks, Joe.
Yeah,
there we go.
-All right, all right.
-Nice.
[Adrienne]
Fine cheeses.
Welcome to Aspen,
guys.
It's just
a gorgeous hotel,
and we're in this big,
beautiful suite.
It's everything you want
Aspen to be.
It feels incredible.
Why don't you pop
that bottle, eh, Sizzle?
-Whoo!
-[clapping]
-[cork pops]
-[Joseph] Whoa!
-Guys.
-Gentlemen.
-Final three, huh?
-[glasses clink]
Check out the view.
-[chuckling]
I hate you.
Did you not see it?
[Joseph]
Man, what is life like
down here?
[laughter]
Oh, wow.
[laughter]
[phone line trilling]
Hi, this is Hillary.
-Hey. It's your
old roommate, Joe.
-Hi!
Oh, my gosh,
how are you?
I miss you so much!
I miss you
like crazy.
I'm almost home.
I'm like a week away,
my love.
My wife Hillary and I
have been married
for almost two years.
She's from
the South Side, too.
We met at
a friend's party,
drinking beers
in the backyard.
I think the most time
we've really spent apart
since we've been married
is maybe a week.
-You wanna tell me anything?
-I'm in the final three.
What?
She's such
an integral part
of my everyday life,
it's hard operating
without that.
I'll see you so soon.
We're almost through this.
-All right, I love you.
-I love you, too, so much.
Talking to Hillary
this morning,
it reminds me
of the bigger picture
of all this.
It's so personal
for me to win.
I've only ever worked
for other chefs.
I've never owned
my own restaurant.
I'm trying to prove
to everyone
that I'm ready
for my own shot.
Let's do it, guys.
Good morning, chefs.
-Morning, Padma.
-Welcome to Aspen.
This is the last stop
on your Colorado journey.
Please meet our guest judge
for your very last
Quickfire Challenge,
Chris Cosentino.
-[all] Chef.
-Welcome.
Chris Cosentino won
Top Chef Masters.
He's a Bay Area chef.
And to see him there
is pretty intimidating.
-How's it going, chefs?
-Really wild, but fun.
-It's not over yet.
-[all] Yeah.
We're here at the beautiful
T-Lazy- Ranch.
Look around you.
Any guesses to what your
last Quickfire will be?
-[Adrienne] Jump in that lake?
-Something with trout?
Bingo.
Chefs, you'll have minutes
to create your best dish
featuring trout.
-But
-Here's the catch.
You're right, Adrienne.
You have to
catch your trout
in that timeframe,
and cook it.
[laughter]
Oh, my God.
I cook seafood,
I don't normally
catch seafood.
I grew up
commercial fishing.
But fly fishing was always
something we coveted.
Trust me,
it's not easy at all.
There's a beautiful
stocked pantry over there,
as well as
some canned fish.
You'll have to use it
if you don't catch fish,
but we're hoping
you don't,
'cause the trout is really
beautiful right now.
-Got it.
-The winner of this
Quickfire Challenge
will get an advantage
in the next elimination.
Good luck, Chefs.
I hope the fishare hungry,
-'cause Padma
and I sure are.
-[laughs]
Chefs, your time starts now.
Good luck.
[laughing]
Oh, my God!
-[Joe] Oh, man,
I'm in trouble.
-Oh, sad.
[Joseph]
Adrienne, you ever
do this before?
-[Adrienne]
Never, ever, ever.
-[Joe] I got one!
Oh, no,
he let go!
[grunts]
That'd be awesome
if we're all using
canned fish.
[Adrienne] Oh, God,
that's gonna be
so bad.
I do not wanna serve
Padma or Chris
cat food.
Oh, mine just keep
getting let go.
That's the second bite
I had.
All I really know about
fly fishing
is what I've seen
in the movie
"A River Runs Through It."
You know, they're looking
all awesome,
ripping beautiful trouts.
It's definitely not what
we look like right now.
-Hello!
-[Adrienne]
Oh, Flammy.
Come on,
you son of a b*tch.
I get a bite
on the line,
and I'm kind of brought back
to the memory,
me and my dad were fishing
in Florida one time,
and I caught
this huge fish.
I reeled it up
onto the shore,
it snapped off the line,
and it rolled back in,
so we've had
this argument
for years
of whether or not
I caught that fish.
[Adrienne]
Oh, Flamser.
[Joseph]
It's coming to Papa.
[laughs]
Oh, no!
And the line snaps.
I just keep thinking about
my dad saying to me, like,
"You didn't catch
that fish."
Yeah!
[laughing]
Got myself a fish.
Later, guys.
I hate you,
Flamm.
[Joseph]
Not bad for a city boy.
[bleep] Flamm.
[Joe] What are you
gonna make if
you catch your fish?
A shasimi at this point.
That's all I'll have time for.
-This is not my day.
-Oh, here we go.
-Aw, man, you too?
-Here we go!
Whoo-hoo!
-Oh, he's strong!
-Damn it.
I am a bear
in its natural element.
-Meh.
-All you, Adrienne.
You made it look
so damn easy.
-I think mine's defective.
-[duck quacks]
[exhales sharply]
-That's so far.
-It's so far.
-Did you catch one?
-I got one.
-Go, Joe.
-This is the first time
I've ever butchered a fish
in my entire career.
There are tons
of pin bones,
so I cut the belly
out of each of the fish.
-I'm gonna try
to smoke it.
-Yeah?
Even though I got
this river monster
here on my board,
I'm positive
I can get this
cooked in no time.
Here,
fishy fishy fishy.
Come on, guys.
Show me some love.
Bite me.
Little wine,
little herbs
I'm gonna do
a pan-seared trout
over a black garlic
beurre blanc.
I'm using something
so fresh as this
piece of trout
to use something fermented
like this black garlic.
It's gonna have
a ton of umami
and punch to it.
I think this is
gonna be beautiful.
This is awesome,
you know.
This isn't stuff
we really
get to do a lot of,
so to be able
to cook like this
is pretty fun.
Adrienne's still not
there with us,
and I know fish is, uh,
one of her specialties.
So I'm happy to take
some extra time
to figure out
how this is all gonna
come together,
because this close
to the finals,
any advantage
would be great.
Where's A-Sizzle?
No fish yet for her?
Okay,
[bleep] me.
Ugh! I hate canned fish.
This is slow t*rture.
Got ya! Damn it!
[grunts]
Didn't get him.
I'm gonna
give myself, like,
maybe five more minutes,
and then I'll give up.
Don't look at it,
just bite it.
Oh, God.
[whimpering]
Oh, I'm hooked on it.
I'm trying
to stay calm.
But it's nerve-wracking.
Much better cast.
Yes!
Oh, God.
Please don't do that.
It's like, Lord, please
don't let this fish
jump back in the water.
Twenty-two minutes.
Sweet
baby Jesus,
okay.
A-Sizzle!
Adrienne, you get a fish?
-Yes!
-You get a fish?
-I finally got a damn fish!
-My man!
Guys, minutes.
You know, that's more
that enough time, right?
Fishing,
mucho harder
than I thought
it would be.
I clearly don't have time
to do a whole lot,
so I'm gonna do a crispy skin,
barely cooked, fresh trout.
I mean,
fish that fresh
you normally serve
pretty raw.
In Chicago, we pull 'em
right out of Lake Michigan
across the street
from the restaurant.
Only the finest
Lake Michigan fish.
That's not true,
everyone would die
from those fish.
-Oh, sorry.
-God.
-Are you even
from Chicago?
-Hey, hey, hey.
Fightin' words,
Flamm.
[Joe]
Given the time here,
I decided I just want
to flake all the bellies
into a really light
trout rillette.
I just want to get
a little kiss
on the grill with those,
not even necessarily
cook it all the way through,
and serve it with grilled
spring onion corn cakes.
Seven minutes.
[bleep] me. Behind.
I want to do something
a little unexpected,
so I fry some
rice paper,
just to add
a little more texture
Do we have limes?
and make
a spring onion
ponzu vinaigrette.
How you doing,
A-Safe?
Oh, never better,
you know?
Chefs, you have
five minutes left.
Five minutes.
I'm so [bleep].
The tent that I had made
to capture the smoke
sped up
the cooking process,
and I'm little nervous
I overcooked the fish.
It's definitely not as raw
as I had intended it to be.
-I'm in trouble.
-Three minutes, homies.
Anybody have cilantro?
When you're in a rush,
you're not really focused.
You're just, like, reacting,
and I hate that feeling.
Very close to raw,
but not actually raw.
-One minute!
-[Adrienne] Oh, God.
-Time's up! Hands up.
-[timer beeps]
-[Padma]
Utensils down.
-[exhales]
-Hi, Adrienne.
-Hello, how are you today?
-Good. Meet Chef Cosentino.
-Hi, how are you?
-Nice to meet you.
-Pleasure to meet
you as well.
-What'd you do for us?
-So I did a pan-seared trout
with a spring onion
and jalapeno ponzu
vinaigrette.
Little bit of crispy skin,
fried rice paper.
Did you want
to cook this fish?
I wanted to sear
the skin side
-Okay.
-but leave it
pretty much raw.
There's an old saying,
does a bear [bleep]
in the woods?
Um, they do.
They do, uphill.
And it taints the water.
-[Padma] Ah.
-So, fish of this caliber
needs to be cooked
all the way through.
[Joe]
We all learned
something new.
You can't serve
raw mountain trout.
Should I eat this?
Which in my case,
could work to my advantage.
I'll taste everything else.
Skin's delicious.
-Sorry, Chef.
-No, thank you.
-Joe, how are you?
-Good to see you.
-Good to see you as well.
-How was fishing?
I've been maybe once
or twice before,
uh, on a boat,
and I don't think
I ever caught anything.
So it's nice to actually
catch something.
What did you make
for us, Joe?
I made smoked
trout rillette
with some spring onion
corn cakes
and a summer
berry glaze.
This is really lovely.
I like the corn cake.
-[Padma]
Thank you very much.
-Thank you.
Chef, I made a black garlic
beurre black with fennel,
and then I did mushrooms
and asparagus and bread crumbs.
I didn't wanna
bread the fish itself
'cause I thought it was
so beautiful on its own.
[Padma]
How long did you smoke
this fish for?
I did not smoke the fish.
I just seared it in a pan.
-Beautiful.
-Thank you very much, Chef.
-[Padma] Thanks, Joe.
-Thanks Padma.
Pleasure, Chef.
Chris, how do you think
our chefs did
with their final
Quickfire Challenge?
Considering they
not only had to
catch their fish
and then cook
all in that time period,
I'm really impressed.
[Padma]
Let's start with Adrienne.
You just gotta
cook trout through.
The sauce,
absolutely incredible,
and I could've eaten
a whole bowl of the skin
just with the sauce.
That's all
I should've done.
[laughs]
Joe, I really loved
the fun play
on the frontier.
You know, that absolutely
beautiful corn cake,
the blueberry,
really hit it on the mark.
-Thank you.
-[Padma] And Joe Flamm.
Joe, I think way you
cooked your fish
and the thought process
that you used on it
was really nice.
I love the red crumb
with the fish.
I would've liked the skin
to be a little crispier.
I mean, after having
Adrienne's skin,
it's kind of hard to follow.
Yeah, she could definitely
teach me a thing or two
about fish skin, for sure.
The winner for
today's challenge
is someone that really
embraced the fish
and really made it feel
as special as it really was.
Chef Flamm's.
-Thank you, Chef.
-[Adrienne]
Nice. Way to go.
Congratulations, Joe,
you've just won yourself
an advantage in the next
elimination challenge.
Nice.
[Joseph]
It's been a long,
crazy road for me,
and now, you know, I'm only
a couple wins away from
being Top Chef.
-My head's just buzzing.
-Congratulations, guys.
Good luck, have fun.
-Thank you.
-Chefs, please follow me.
-Oh, boy.
-Oh, wow.
-What is this?
-Aha.
Mighty large cauldrons.
-Ta-da.
-I don't know
about those.
This is the only challenge
that stands between you
and the finale.
[sighs]
For this
Elimination Challenge,
we want you to make
a good impression
on the best of
the culinary world
by hosting
your own event
for the Food & Wine Classic
in Aspen.
I've always wanted to cook
for the Food & Wine Classic,
let alone that
this is gonna
be my ticket
to getting into the finale
of
Top Chef,
it feels like
a perfect storm.
You'll be serving
your dishes
to over attendees,
right here
at T-Lazy- Ranch.
Among the guests
are some superstars
of the culinary world,
such as Ludo Lefebvre,
Curtis Stone, Tim Love,
the Voltaggio brothers,
Jonathan Waxman,
and your guest judge,
my dear friend
Daniel Boulud.
-We saved
the best for last.
-[laughter]
-That's a pretty good one.
-Oh, [bleep].
Chefs, at this point
in the competition,
we really need to see
your culinary skills
put to the test,
without relying on
a protein.
That's right, your dishes
must be vegetarian.
All right.
Tomorrow, you'll have
three hours to prep and cook
on these
cowboy cauldrons
before our own Food & Wine
event begins.
These cauldrons
will be your main
heat source,
so we want to see
what you can do
with smoke and fire.
I've never seen
anything like this.
Cooking on these cauldrons
is going to be interesting.
To add on,
doing a vegetarian dish
for the Who's Who
of the culinary world,
and it has to be, like,
damn good, too.
No half-stepping
on this one.
The stakes here
are incredibly high.
-So, we're gonna give you
an extra set of hands.
-Nice.
-[Padma] Hi, guys.
-What's happening?
-Howdy!
-[laughter]
[Padma]
Welcome back.
Joe Flamm, since you
won the Quickfire,
-you get to pick
your own sous chef.
-Awesome.
-I'll take Carrie.
-Hi!
-[giggles]
-Ah, you know,
me and Carrie
were on a bunch
of teams together,
and we usually did really well,
-so, bringing it back.
-Thanks, buddy.
You also get to assign
the other two chefs
their sous chefs.
Um,
let's go Bruce
and Adrienne,
and Chris and Joe.
-So happy.
-How you doing?
[overlapping chatter]
Joe and Bruce
both cook Italian,
so I figured
separating them out
is probably a good idea.
Today, you'll have
access to a pantry
of premium produce
and ingredients.
Then, you'll have minutes
to shop at Whole Foods.
Good luck,
and I'll look forward
to eating your
food tomorrow.
Bye, guys.
-Thanks, Padma.
-Thank you.
-Grab some of that garlic.
-How much do you want?
Ah, like,
maybe six.
-[groans]
-Yeah, get that,
get that.
-I'm with you, homie.
-Zucchinis!
All the zucchinis!
I got 'em!
Let me grab
my notebook.
My original idea
was to play on, like,
a caprese salad.
The pressure is on.
We're debuting ourselves
to Aspen Food & Wine Classic.
This is not the time
to drop the ball.
I like the idea of eggplant,
but I almost want
to see if we could
turn it into a fritter.
Uh
[laughs]
I'm just so hung up on
the idea of having to prepare
portions of it
in three hours
that I can't figure out
what to make.
Tomatillo, gooseberry,
salsa.
-Fine.
-We make a water
-out of, like, fennel.
-Okay.
And then featuring
the fresh
something.
Or we put the yellow beets
in with that yogurt sauce
on the bottom.
I just don't know]
if it'll be cooked in time.
I don't wanna
cut it close.
What's the plan,
Stan?
Roasted
baby squashes.
-Okay.
-A little verde.
And make, like
a pesto out of,
like, charred veg.
Grilling vegetables
in summertime
is kind of the first one
that pops in my head.
When I was a kid,
my grandfather cooked
zucchinis and summer squash,
and we'd eat 'em
right off the grill.
We could find a cool goat
or sheep's milk cheese.
-We can.
-That'll go
into the pesto,
but also
shaved on top.
That sounds awesome.
I want
the charred flavor,
which is gonna be
a little bit more rustic.
But because
of the clientele,
because of
what's at stake,
we're gonna have to
up that game a little.
So what are
you thinking?
[Adrienne]
I want to make a charred corn
and serrano puree.
Smooth. I'm trying to think
of how to form it.
I want to wrap it in something
so it stays contained.
We could
wrap it in pasta.
No.
If your lime might be a--
a nice addition,
like an Asian noodle
-sort of has, like
shaved raw mushroom.
-Mm-hmm.
Bruce definitely
has a lot of ideas.
I would go
right to pesto,
for me.
What if we--
these?
Like, just spring, you know.
Leeks, garlic scapes
It's my dish. He's not gonna
get sent home for this one.
I am.
What about the idea
of crepinette style?
We could substitute that
with rice paper
-or cabbage leaf,
for sure.
-Yeah.
-Yeah, that would be dope.
-Do you feel like that
fits your style?
Yeah, definitely.
But I wanna keep it
tight and focused.
I really wanna show
some of my skills
and elevate it a little.
I don't wanna play it safe.
I definitely wanna win.
-Thanks for picking me, buddy.
-Ready to do this?
-Let's get out of here.
-Let's go.
We didn't get this far
for nothing.
-No, hell no.
-That's for damn sure.
All right.
Green things, huh?
What do you think, Joe?
You want yellow squash?
-Yeah, yellow squash.
Joe, what are you making?
[Joe] I can't tell you.
I don't want you to copy me.
Carrie, throw everything away,
buy everything
that's in Joe's cart.
I still don't have
a clear vision
on what I want
this to be.
I do know that
I want to showcase
one or two vegetables
rather than
just a variety
of vegetables.
Glad to see Aspen
is in full spring
with summer veg.
I'm thinking about beet yogurt
with summer vegetable salad.
Let me see that yogurt.
Being on
Top Chef,
I've learned to edit myself.
I know how to do a lot
of different things,
but I didn't know
when and why.
At this point,
I've got to stay focused
and really make sure that
I'm cooking something
I'm gonna be really proud of.
-Uh, bread.
-Bread and cheese.
Right behind.
Um, sorry, people
are working here.
-Behind, shopping.
-We're a little bit busy.
-Trying to shop. God!
-[laughs]
That's a white
goat's milk.
-Wow. Ooh.
-So good.
I'll take a pound,
please.
So have you ever used
the cowboy cauldron?
Um, don't tease me,
but my dad would build
a cowboy cauldron.
Well, like
[laughs]
She's the mountain woman.
She's got this.
Twenty minutes!
Okay, so I know it's crazy,
but I'm thinking about
changing it a little bit.
-Yeah.
-And doing the inside
wrapped with corn.
I'm thinking about more
than just the challenge.
I'm thinking about
who is going to be
eating my food.
And I want to
play it safe.
Adrienne, why are you
keeping it secret?
-What are you making?
-Shut up.
Chris,
scratch everything.
We're making what
they're making.
I'm thinking about, like,
a Southern corn pudding.
But elevate it a little.
Tie in coconut milk, finish it
with a little champagne.
Anybody seen limes?
The best thing I've
cooked this season
was the gumbo dish.
Before that,
I was neglecting
what I feel more
comfortable doing,
elevated Southern cuisine.
It's my food.
If we do pickle on the bottom
I don't think we have time.
That's a lot.
-We have to haul a*s.
-Yeah.
dollars even.
-Oh!
-Get out of town.
Price is right!
-Want to make some dinner?
-Yes.
-The last supper?
-I'll make the wine.
Ooh. Do you guys
know how to fold
these into swans?
[laughter]
[Adrienne] That's a talent
I never developed.
I'll show you.
It's the last time
the Three Amigos
are gonna be
in the same room.
Someone's not
gonna be coming
home tomorrow night.
[laughing]
This is
-Fancy.
-[both laughing]
I still don't think it's hit me
that I'm this close to the end.
I want it. I want to add
to my list of achievements.
It'd be a huge sense
of accomplishment.
-Cheers, guys.
-To our last supper in Aspen.
Whatever happens,
this has been a blast.
-It's been a blast.
-Good luck, you guys.
Good luck tomorrow,
guys.
Anybody you're looking
forward to meeting today, Joe?
Do you think John Elway's
gonna be there?
-He's from Aspen, isn't he?
-Yeah.
He used to throw footballs at
the guys that drove by.
That's how he got so good.
You know, to be
in the finale with these two
is amazing.
As much as
we're competing
against each other,
we're pushing each other.
I'm gonna miss
our mornings together, guys.
I'm excited to get out there.
I wanna get out there,
I wanna get cooking
'cause I know
these guys are gonna
cook incredible food,
so I need to be
absolutely on point.
[Adrienne]
Oh, Joe.
-[Joe] Yo!
-[Adrienne] Hey!
Good morning.
The fires are going.
We can get these
wicket hot.
-Perfect.
Ay, yi, yi!
-I got gloves, dude.
Yeah,
but I'm a daredevil.
Three hours,
that's gonna be
a crunch
to get this all done.
Here, put--
whoa.
The fact that we only get
to use these cowboy cauldrons
is really gonna
make this difficult.
Don't put your shoe
underneath the cauldron, guys.
It starts to melt.
-That should boil you.
-In theory.
All these beets, right,
you need maybe
like shaves.
I'm working with Joe Sasto.
Of course there's gonna be
a lot of prep.
After the good night of rest,
I have a plan in place
for my dish.
I'm making
beet carpaccio
with gooseberry relish,
yogurt, and sourdough.
And then we got to
punch the bread,
plus the crumb.
It's gonna be tight.
Oh, yeah it is.
I'm feeling in much
better shape.
Trying to make it
all about the beets.
And using the sourdough
as an anchor and an accent.
Carrie, you know what I'm
making today? Fancy toast.
-Are you really?
-[Joe] No. [laughs]
[Adrienne]
So we're gonna do
the corn pudding in the roll
in the Swiss chard leaf.
-Okay. g*dd*mn, that's hot.
The sauce is gonna be pureed
with ponzu coconut milk.
Hopefully, you know, we'll get
the starch out from the corn.
-Oh, we will.
-Oh, we will.
There's a lot to do,
but you want to swing
for the fences
on this one.
Being in Aspen Food & Wine,
this is a huge deal.
Failure's not an option.
Adrienne's going
super ambitious.
She's doing like
a corn custard
wrapped in a Swiss
chard leaf
with like a corn coconut milk
champagne dashi.
-Whoa!
-Uh-huh.
-All right.
-I know.
[Adrienne] :.
-Oh, look!
-Oh!
Hey, Sasto, you know elk
and deer are the same thing?
Elk are just deer
over , feet of elevation?
-Really?
-Yeah.
[laughing]
This is probably plenty hot,
and then we can keep
fire going in here
and just feed this.
[Joseph]
I'm super psyched to use
the cowboy cauldron.
I love wood fire cooking.
I want this to taste
like a dish that
came off the grill.
That's a tasty
little [bleep].
This is the one dish
that stands between
me and the finale.
My biggest concern
about this dish
is maybe
I'm going too rustic,
but I feel good
about it.
I just burned my
eyelashes off.
If we win, I'll donate you
some of my eyelashes.
-Okay.
-I have really long,
luxurious eyelashes.
Hey, Chefs.
How's it going?
Hey, Chef.
-Adrienne.
-Hi, hi.
-Hey, Chef, how are you?
-Bruce, how's it going?
-Hi, Nilou.
-Hi, how's it going?
-Good to see you.
-Good to see you, too.
And we're at the Food & Wine
Classic in Aspen,
the granddaddy of all
food festivals.
The granddaddy
of all festivals.
My first trip was .
-When you were
a restaurant chef?
-Yes.
This is where
up-and-coming talent
gets celebrated,
so the fact that you guys
are here is a big deal.
It's awesome.
It's a great opportunity.
What's the plan
for the dish?
So we're doing
a corn pudding
wrapped in a Swiss
chard leaf.
Why this dish?
And you're this close.
You got to let your ba*ls
hang out at some point.
-Yes.
-But, you know, it's
-Okay!
-When Tom and Nilou
come up,
I'm in an okay place,
but not great.
The more I stand there
talking, I'm like,
sh--I got--
I have st-- I have
a lot to do, Chef.
-In a restaurant,
there's a system set up.
-Right.
Pretty good
at managing my nerves,
but I'm feeling 'em.
It just evolves every day.
Just gets better, better,
better.
Constantly, it's a wave
up against your surfboard.
-Yeah.
-Near times, few stars.
-Here, there's no team.
-No.
I have to start
walking away,
because I have to get
stuff done.
All right, listen,
we'll let you go.
-[both]Thank you.
-Good luck.
Good luck.
See you soon.
Hey, Joe.
So what vegetarian
extravaganza
do you have for us?
We're gonna do
a dish of beets
and some summer beans.
The beet is going to be
the meat of the dish.
-Beet in lieu of meat.
-Beet in lieu of meat.
-I like play on words.
-Prior to coming on the show,
you were a sous chef?
-I was an executive sous.
-Executive sous, right.
So you really haven't done
your own food.
-You haven't done a menu
of your own yet.
-No.
And so do you think
this process
-is gonna help you?
-It's huge.
'Cause that's your next
step, is being a chef,.
-Yeah, absolutely.
-Well, good. Good luck.
-Thank you.
Thank you, chefs.
-Thank you, guys.
-Joe,
what's going on here?
-When I was a little kid,
my grandpa would always
do zucchini off the grill.
So we're doing real
baby zucchini, and then
I roasted big zucchinis
that I made into, like,
a pesto with hazelnuts.
You know,
it's just all about
the vegetable.
-Save the cow.
Cook a vegetable.
-Yeah.
Joe, how do you
think you've grown?
Top Chef's
like, you know,
an exercise in clarity.
For me it was finding
that, you know,
simple, concise flavors.
-Good luck.
-Awesome.
Thank you, Chef.
-Yup, thanks.
-Great to see you again.
Forty minutes!
[Joe] Aw, man.
The beets are not there.
I wanna take
one of the logs
and dunk it in there.
Okay.
[Joe]
We got the embers in there
with the beet liquid.
It's gonna give it a nice,
like, charred flavor.
I want to see
the smoke and fire
and really taste
the grill on this.
So I'm gonna layer in
as many elements of
the cauldron as possible.
-This ready to come out?
-No, they're-- they're close.
And I'm taking
the yellow beets,
wrapping them in foil,
and burying them down
in the coals,
so they pick up a little bit
of that charred flavor,
some of the smoke.
-These are looking
good, man.
-Cool.
Looks like it'll come
down to the wire,
but I got to go for it.
-Getting tight.
On time.
-[bleep] yeah, we are.
[Adrienne]
I wanted the corn pudding
to be served with
the tempura
shishito pepper.
So
[Adrienne] Eh.
Yeah, it's not holding.
The tempura batter just
is not right.
Maybe a little more flour
will bind it a little more.
Then I'm trying to make
lime juice pearls
using agar,
but it's not setting.
-[exhales]
-[Adrienne]
To add pressure
on that of that,
the corn pudding
is too soft.
Everything I'm planning
is going wrong.
-Twenty-three minutes!
-Frustrated as [bleep].
I know I have to
salvage the situation.
I'm so close
to the end.
I don't wanna
go home.
I can't blow
this chance.
[Joseph]
Twenty minutes!
All right, so,
no on the tempura?
[Adrienne]
Everything is going wrong.
This is not the day
to have this happen.
I say we just
tempura,
and we'll char the shishitos
on the cauldron.
The tempura's
not working,
we're just gonna
do charred shishitos.
Lime, squeeze bottle.
The lime pearls,
I just quickly adjust
-and make the lime jelly
instead.
-[Joseph] Six minutes!
[Adrienne]
The corn pudding
is too soft.
I don't have time
to re-cook it,
so to add
the texture,
I also have some
toasted coconut flakes.
I'm just gonna
put that on top
and hope for the best.
One minute.
-[Joseph]
Ten seconds, guys!
-[whispering] Oh, my God.
Here they come.
Lots of familiar faces
walking this way.
You ready,
Chef?
[Joe] Wow,
how you guys doing?
My name's Joe. Just don't
confuse me with that Joe.
-Okay.
-I'm Mustache Joe.
Wow, so many
handsome people.
So this is corn pudding
wrapped in Swiss chard.
-How you doing?
-How are you?
Danny Meyer.
-Pleasure to meet you.
-Nice to meet you, too.
Pressure is on.
We are serving the Who's Who
of the food industry.
Better put on a clean pair
of underwear and buckle up.
Oh, hey, guys.
I'm Joe Flamm.
How we doing?
I'm Joe Flamm
from Chicago.
I'm Joe Flamm
from Chicago.
Daniel, do you remember
when you were a sous chef?
-, right?
-.
Yeah, that was an amazing
class of chef.
Thomas Keller,
Dean Fearing
-Hubert Keller.
-Hubert Keller.
-Rick Bayless.
-[Thomas] Uh-huh.
No one knew who these guys
were at the time.
-Oh, yeah.
-That's sort of amazing.
They were
the young talent
of the ones we're
looking at right now.
-Absolutely.
-Here's to Aspen.
Thank you.
-Enjoy.
-Thank you.
Chef. Didn't k*ll
anything today,
-but we still cooked
some good food.
-That's beautiful.
So you're grilling
to order?
Yeah, we're grilling
to order?
Joe's grilling zucchini
to order.
[bleep].
That's a great idea.
Why didn't I
think of that?
-Hey, Joe.
-Hi, Joe.
-Hi.
-Hello.
It smells great
over here.
Today, I'm doing a dish
inspired by beef carpaccio.
What I went ahead
and did was use
beets instead of meat,
so we got a beet yogurt
down on the bottom,
a green bean
and tomato vinaigrette,
-some sourdough bread.
-How was it working with
the cowboy cauldron?
I really like working with
fire and things like that.
You can do
a whole lot with it.
Took some of the embers
themselves
and threw that into
the poaching liquid.
The beets,
you cooked them
in the ash?
The yellow beets are cooked
down in the ash.
The red beets,
-I cooked in the top--
-Oh, then the ember.
But I took the embers
and added them
-I see.
-into the liquid.
-Thank you.
-Bye.
[Brooke]
The flavors were all beautiful.
Like, super viti.
-I love that.
-Yeah.
Mmm. The gooseberries
are delicious.
Yeah, there's a lot of
little things happening here,
and I think
there's good acid
in the dish.
-I agree.
-There's a lot of tasty
components,
but it doesn't
eat cohesively.
And my issue also is,
if you're gonna give us
a piece of toasted bread,
butter it, oil it,
put something on it.
The bread needed
nourishment.
Yes. What he did with
the beets, though,
felt very on trend
and very of the moment,
roasting those beets
in the embers.
-Yeah.
-It's really well-balanced.
I don't think you
would even notice
that there wasn't any
meat in here, like
-Awesome.
-Overall, it's great.
Yeah, the bread is,
like--
it's like a in-between toast,
you know?
What's the recipe
behind that k*ller mustache?
I glue it on
every morning.
It's not even real.
Sorry, guys.
-Hey, Adrienne.
-How are you today?
-How are you, Adrienne?
-Outstanding.
So today, making a little bit
of charred corn pudding
with some
charred shishitos
as well
wrapped in Swiss chard.
The broth is made with
the charred corn husks,
mushrooms, kambu,
and then finished with
some ponzu and champagne.
-Thank you.
-Thanks, guys.
They're gonna [bleep]
love it.
-I hope so.
-They're gonna.
I really like the coconut
and the corn.
Smart dish.
Very delicate. I really
like Adrienne's dish.
I wish the sauce
was a little thicker.
-Mmm.
-Yeah.
It's really texturally
interesting,
beautifully seasoned,
but I can't help feeling
like she missed
an opportunity
to just go a little bolder
with the chard.
-Yeah.
-But flavor, huh?
Yeah. If you have
sweet, acid, and heat,
-and salt
-Winning.
-You have a leg up.
-How are you, sir?
-Good. Mr. Waxman.
-Brother, how are you?
-Finally.
-What's up?
I hate to say,
but usually,
when people see
a male chef
and a female chef,
they for some reason think
the male chef is the exec chef.
-Hi, Chef, how are you?
-How are you?
Adrienne.
Bruce is older,
so they're assuming that
of course
he's the exec chef.
And I'm like, "Nope,
that's me.
Right over here."
You guys can talk
to Adrienne.
I'll just stand here
and look pretty.
That's what I do.
-That's good, isn't it?
It's good flavor, yeah?
-Yeah.
I love cooking
that type of spice.
It's tasty.
It's tasty.
We didn't know that
it was all vegetable.
Nice. You're the second
person to say that.
-That's a good sign.
-That's awesome.
-Chef, how we doing?
-Good to see ya.
-How are you, Chef?
-So nice to meet you.
Joe Flamm. Today, we did
grilled baby zucchinis,
a little bit of a zucchini
hazelnut pesto,
charred mushroom
vinaigrette,
little raw
asparagus salad,
shaved hard goat cheese,
toasted hazelnuts.
-Thank you, Joe.
-Enjoy.
You guys have any whiskey
with you that I can just
pound into my face?
This is pretty.
-He seemed to have
-a good use
of the cauldron.
-Yep.
This is the first time
I'm really getting smoke.
-And char.
-Mm-hmm. The zucchini
was kind of like meat.
But then the garnish,
the goat cheese, the nuts,
and the asparagus,
to me was really
the star of the dish.
-Yeah.
-I think this would've been
better if he used zucchini that
was a little bigger.
-Right, and cut them up.
-And just cut them.
This baby zucchini
doesn't have
a whole lot of flavor.
-No.
-I was a little bit curious
about the cheese,
because Joe had
so much of it on,
but it has such a rich
goat cheese flavor
that it actually really
grounded the dish, I think.
Joe Flamm gave us
a strong dish.
Joe Flamm
had me at hello
with the crunch of that--
the beautiful-cooked
hazelnut.
I cannot stand hazelnuts,
and I love these,
so I don't know
what he did,
but--
-Really, you don't like
hazelnuts?
-No.
And you're in
the restaurant business?
[laughter]
I'm glad that
all the chefs
did so well.
They worked hard
all season,
all of them.
It was delicious
and yummy,
-I just want more.
-More smoke.
Well, thank you
for being here.
I'm so happy
to have been
able to join you.
All right, let's go talk
to the chefs.
Let's go back
to the Judges' Table.
-[Joe] Cheers, guys.
-[Joseph] Cheers, guys.
I had such
a good time.
I think my dish tastes
really good,
but my dish is a lot simpler
than both of theirs.
I'm just hoping that this
isn't too rustic,
'cause
this has got to
be the dish that gets
you into the finale.
This, like--
this is nerve-wracking.
I don't know,
I just have
a weird feeling.
-Hopefully.
-Yeah.
Hopefully, right?
[Joseph sighs]
How'd it go, guys?
-I don't know.
I have a bad feeling.
Like, I ate all of
your components
and they're all
really good.
Sasto doesn't seem
very happy
with his dish,
but last time he didn't seem
happy with his dish, he won.
[sighs]
My execution wasn't
what I wanted either.
I don't know if my dish
is enough to get me
through to the finale.
I don't know.
I don't know.
Chefs, you gave us
some really vibrant,
delicious food.
Flavor was great.
Seasoning was
on point.
Overall, amazing.
What we got were
good dishes,
but I think there was
a missed opportunity
considering what you were
using to cook with.
I understand there's
that balance.
Getting to the finale
versus
do we just go more
rustic-feeling food?
-Were you conflicted?
-[Adrienne] Definitely.
This is not just an outdoor
cooking event.
This is the Aspen
Food & Wine Classic.
We didn't wanna be
too rustic.
We still wanted to try
to elevate the dishes.
Adrienne, your dish was
incredibly creative today.
I loved the coconut
champagne sauce.
The flavors were bright.
There was heat.
-There was spice.
-Thank you.
But I wanted more
smoky cauldron flavor.
And I did want to highlight
the flavor of the grills,
so charring the corn,
charring the shishitos
to really try to highlight
that smoky flavor.
I still didn't get the char
for all the work that
you did for it.
I don't know how many people
would think about putting
coconut and corn
and Swiss chard
and champagne.
-I think you did a pretty good
job of weaving them together.
-Thank you.
Joe Sasto,
I thought your
yogurt was inspired.
And I love the idea
of giving us beets
cooked in the embers,
as well as the embers
cooked in the beets.
This combination
of the tomato
and the gooseberry--
the contrast of all that
was interesting.
To me, it felt like there
were two different things
happening here,
the tomatoes
and the gooseberries
and the yogurt,
that was really successful.
And then you were
also trying
to figure out a way
to give us a carpaccio
of beet.
You didn't knit these two
-together really well.
-I knew it needed something
to give it kind of body
and bring it all together,
and I really like
sourdough bread,
so I wanted to layer that
into the dish as well.
The bread was bread.
But the yogurt was really
bright, and I love that
you roasted the beets whole
in the embers.
Joe Flamm, your dish was
so completely composed.
It felt really finished,
and I think you really
embraced the challenge.
-Thank you.
-You told the story
about your father
cooking zucchini,
and I kind of was hoping
I was going to be
in that backyard getting that
bigger grilled zucchini.
Why did you decide to use
baby zucchini
as opposed to
the medium-sized
zucchini
that was cut on the bias
and grilled?
-Yeah, the beautiful
medium-sized one too.
-I liked them.
I thought they're little
they're sweet,
nice off the grill.
I used the big ones
to make the pesto.
Yeah, the beautiful pesto
that you put together
from the cooked zucchini,
overshadowed that zucchini,
'cause it was just
proportionally too small.
All right, well,
this is a huge decision.
We'll see you in a bit.
Thank you all.
Oh! Come here.
Come here.
Holy [bleep] ba*ls.
So who are we sending
to the finale?
The chefs,
they gave us
good food.
There was a few little,
tiny mistakes,
ways they could have made
the dish better.
That's what we have
to sort of discuss.
-That was really hard.
-[Adrienne] Yeah.
This is the point where
I wish it was cumulative.
Joe Sasto.
I liked the yogurt sauce.
I think that was where a lot
of the punch happened.
And those gooseberries
gave a lot of flavor
and tartness and acidity.
It was a really nice
combination of flavors.
But I never got
the grilled, charred flavor
-in the corn at all.
-The bread--
He gave a lot
of importance
to the bread,
and yet the bread
-Nothing.
-was so plain.
What about Joe Flamm?
There was some
smart choices there.
Grilling the zucchini
and then making
a pesto out of it,
using the goat cheese
to really give us
some richness
and some funk to it.
Just because it isn't layered
with components
doesn't mean it can't be
elegant, delicious,
and speak
to the challenge.
Joe did a good job of that,
but I wanted it to be
a little looser,
a little more playful.
It felt so tight
on that plate.
A little tweak here,
a little tweak there,
-and it's it's a great dish.
-Mm-hmm.
I did really enjoy
the creativity of Adrienne.
I love the concept
of Adrienne's dish,
and I loved the flavors.
The interesting flavors
in corn and coconut,
I think it's the beginning
of a really good dish.
But again, I didn't get
any really wood flavor
out of that.
And frankly,
that coconut broth
was quite acidic,
pungent, so it was
difficult for the corn.
I don't know, man,
who's safe.
This top three
is about to be
a top two.
To the top three, though,
while it lasts, huh?
[clink]
Chefs, all of you
have worked so hard
all season.
This is a really
difficult decision.
We'd love to see
all three of you
in the finale,
but you know how
this game works,
so only two are
going forward.
Joe Flamm.
You're moving on
to the finale.
-You won this challenge.
-[grunts, sighs]
[Padma] Congratulations.
[exhales heavily]
Thank you.
That was mean,
but thank you.
-[laughing]
-You didn't believe.
[laughter]
[Joseph]
I cannot believe it.
I can't believe
I'm going to the finale.
I was out. I was gone.
I was off this competition
weeks ago.
And I fought
tooth and nail
to get back.
You made a delicious
dish today.
Thank you very much.
That I'm actually going
to the finale now,
man, it's incredible.
Joe and Adrienne.
One of you will be moving on
to the finale with Joe Flamm,
and one of you
will be going home.
Joe Sasto
Please pack your knives
and go.
Dish just didn't
come together.
I understand.
Thank you, guys.
Sucks to have, like,
come this far
Thank you very much.
and not see it through
to the end.
Congrats, Joe.
-Good job, man.
-We'll see you guys
in the finals, huh?
-Congratulations, Adrienne.
-[bleep]
I feel like I've come
such a long way
in such a short period
of time.
It was like a crash course
in figuring a lot out about
yourself as a chef.
You know,
anyone that's out there
afraid to do something,
don't be.
What's the worst
that could happen?
You get third place?
Maybe you'll end up
doing even better.
Just go for it.
[laughing]
I'm actually in the finale.
Whoo!
Oh, God, that is
so amazing.
[Joseph]
South Side showdown.
Bravo.
[applause]
[Padma]
Next,
on the
Top Chef
finale
[Thomas] Final shot.
Give us everything you got.
Show us why you deserve
to be Top Chef
through a four-course meal.
[Joseph]
This is it.
It's all or nothing right now.
This is the greatest
opportunity ever.
-Just cook the best
meal of your life.
-[cheers and applause]
-Battle begins!
-No fear, brother.
[Adrienne]
I don't like the way
that turned out.
[Joseph]
It's kind of a disaster.
Throw it in,
real quick quick quick.
-What is wrong?
-[Joseph]
Adrienne's dessert
is absolutely gorgeous.
-Beautiful.
-No, throw that away.
-I'm in huge trouble.
-And peace out.
-Beautiful.
-I'm impressed.
That's the best we've ever
had in the finale.
It's hard to say
there's only one winner.
-You are Top Chef.
-[cheers and applause]
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15x13 - A Little Place Called Aspen
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Show features chefs competing against each other in culinary challenges.
Show features chefs competing against each other in culinary challenges.