02x06 - Thanksgiving

[bunniefuu]

Frank asked me if you want to be my partner, it
was kind of like being asked to

go on prom with somebody that
you're not totally interested in.

It's very disconnected to me.

Whose idea was it to make the
prickly pear with the coconut?

It was our idea, you know.

Forget about just getting by. You think
you're going to win with that dish.

Sometimes maybe you have to,
like, stand out and maybe

that would be the thing
that sticks in your mind.

But the goal was to win.

Marisa.

And Josie.

The King's Packer and I was involved.

Now ten chefs remain to fight it out.

At stake for the winner, a state
-of-the-art Kenmore Pro Kitchen.

Burnished by Sears, an editorial
feature in Food & Wine magazine.

A chance to showcase their
culinary talent at the


Wine Classic in Aspen.

$100,000 to kick-start
their culinary career.

Furnished by the makers of
the GLAAD family of products.

And their title, Boss Tasha.

It sure is quiet in the girls'
room without Josie and Marisa.

It's really quiet, Josie.
But I still want to win.

I was shocked because
Josie was one of the

most talented people
here in this competition.

So to see her go just sort of lets
reality really, really set in.

See that? That's what this
card says in the back.

How many of those are you handing out?

I think that there's a lot of
people that dislike Marcel.

Maybe he's a little bit
c*ck. I don't know.

I like him. I have dealt
with him in a different way.

I don't really know if they all got together
one night, rolling darts at a board,

trying to figure out, oh, it
landed on Marcel. Let's hate him.

This is about the food. I don't care.

You could be my best friend.
You could be my worst enemy.

It doesn't matter. We just
need to cook together.

All right, folks. Let's find out
what's going to happen today.

We walked into the Kenmore kitchen
and we saw a bunch of canned goods.

Hello, chefs. Welcome
to the Kenmore kitchen.

There are 10 of you left to compete for
the title of top chef, Tom Colicchio.

We'll be judging today's
quick fire challenge.

It was a big surprise to
see Chef Tom as our judge.

So far as my track
record, I've done better

with guest judges than
with our own Chef Tom.

With the holiday season upon us, we
typically do a can drive in our restaurants.

We ask our guests to
bring in canned goods

that we distribute to
community food banks.

Not everyone has access
to fresh foods, but

that doesn't mean that
they can't eat well.

So here's my quick fire challenge to you.

Take an unexciting ingredient and
turn it into something fabulous.

You'll have to use at least
three cans for your final dish,

and you'll have 15 minutes
to prepare that dish.

Trying to make tasty food with
canned goods is asking a lot,

and I'm thinking that it's going to
be an extremely difficult challenge.

You know, when my family was homeless,
the food bank really helped us a lot.

So, you know, I'm not
scared to cook out of a can.

Remember, if you win this challenge, you'll
be immune from elimination in the next.

You have 15 minutes, and
your time starts now.


even know what the cans are.

Within like a minute, you have to
decide what you're going to make.

I was scrambling. Everybody was
scrambling. It was a man dash.



f*ck on.

I'm very surprised when
I look over my shoulder

and see that there are
people that are brave enough

to try to attempt hot food in 15 minutes.

I'm thinking immediately south.

Oh, here we go.

To try to assimilate some
dish and twist it enough

so it doesn't taste
like it came from a can,

that's going to be the challenge.

Can I just... I'll take the bag.

Five.

Not a lot of...



Oh, I just need a mess. It's okay.

One minute 38.

What do I need? What do I need?

Okay, your temple's down. Hands up.

Right now.

They're up. Good.

We have a new potato salad.

It's strong mushroom, baby corn,

and they're in the orange
vinaigrette with grilled anchovy.

They're not fresh anchovy, which
would have been a lot better.

It's a can challenge.

It's a can, yeah.

Go, Betty.

I have made for you lemon hummus,

beets, and artichoke hearts
in a sage vinaigrette.

Sam.

So this is a crunchy anchovy
over a garbanzo and beet salad

flavored with little Dijon
and lemon vinaigrette.

I've created a nice little
canned dish for you guys.

We have some hearts and palm with clams

and a little coconut milk foam,

a creme fraiche with trout and chervil,

and then lastly, some water
chestnuts with citrus.

Why the coconut?

I think that the coconut milk goes nice

with the hearts, palms, and the clams.

You think so?

Well, I made the 15-minute salad.

I got garbanzo beans,
green beans, kidney beans,

and some artichoke hearts.

Why don't you put the mint in there?

Just to give it a little bit of a twist.

That's actually pretty nice.

It makes a difference.

Yeah, it does.

Thanks.

Thank you.

I sauteed a canned spinach
with cannellini beans

and a little red chili flakes.

The new potatoes, I drossed them,

and Vienna sausages, I roasted as well.

Somehow you managed for
it to lose its caniness.

Thank you.

I don't have Thanksgiving in
Mexico, but we have Christmas,

and we always make a salad fruit.

And then this is hash with
shallots, fresh parsley,

and I put some kidney beans.

Why the two things together?

We always eat the salad with meat.

Hello there.

Okay, nice.

Pasta puttanesca.

I use the double ham instead
of anchovies at the base,

and we do the tomatoes,
the capers, the peas.

What I've done here is I've done a
blueberry yogurt cream on the top.

In the middle I have a
peach-coconut Italian cream.

Hey, how's it going?

Good.

It's made of mashed potatoes.

You butter all the oil, all the cream,

some chili, the bacon-wrapped corn.

I think if anybody really put
themselves out there today,

it was Mike.

Never in a million years would 15 minutes

would I have tried to
make mashed potatoes.

Tom, what did you think?

No, overall I thought you guys
really embraced the challenge.

I thought some pretty interesting things.

Cliff didn't taste like canned food.

It was really clean, fresh.

Sam, I love the idea that you
thought about frying anchovies.

Marcel, I find when you work with clams

and if you work with coconut,
it has to be a place cold.

Or they taste off.

The hash on its own was wonderful.

I thought the fruit was wonderful.

I'm still not sold on
putting the two together.

Elon, I'd like you to
come stand over here.

Mia, why don't you come
up to the front here?

Sam, you can come up as well.

Right, Cliff, you can just
change places with Michael.

And Frankie, you can stay where you are.

Okay, so who's your winner?

The winner of the canned
good challenge is Sam.

Chef Coelucchio announced
that Sam was the winner

and I'm thinking, damn
it, there I go again.

I'm that close to winning a
doggone quick-fire challenge

and it slips through my fingers.

Mia, you have also won.

And Cliff, what?

I'm in shock.

I'm absolutely in shock
with the judge's decision.

I tried Cliff's food
and I tried Sam's food.

I spit out Cliff's food.

And Elon.

Frank, you are a winner as well.

All five of you actually
won the challenge.

I feel great about this.

This is my first time
winning immunity number one.

So congratulations.

That means none of you
five can be eliminated.

And the next challenge,

Mike, Marcel, Betty, Elia and Carlos,

you are the only five cooking
in the elimination challenge,

which means one of you
will be eliminated.

I was really disappointed.

There's five of us in this
elimination challenge.

Our chances of losing are doubled.

For this elimination challenge,

you'll be cooking Thanksgiving dinner.

Your challenge is to use the time
-honored Thanksgiving ingredients

and reinvent them for a cutting
-edge Thanksgiving dinner.

It is very oxymoronic
that we have to make

a cutting-edge Thanksgiving dinner.

Those are two things that
are diametrically opposed.

Which you'll serve to ask the judges

and the other five chefs.

To make it even worse,

the five losers get to
make Thanksgiving dinner

for the five winners.

The number of courses and how
you serve them is up to you.

You also have to work
out which one of you

takes responsibility for
which part of the meal.

You will be judged on your
individual contribution to the meal,

and one of you will be eliminated.

You have one hour to prep
this evening in the laws,

and then tomorrow you'll have four hours

to work before dinner time.

So you five winning chefs,

as a prize you get to
relax this afternoon.

You'll drop off the rest of
this food at the food bank,

and then you can play,

while the others have to
sl*ve over our hot stores.

I do feel bad for those guys.

That's a tough group to be in,

to every man for themselves.

Someone's going home.

All right, you guys.

Better get busy.

We'll see you tomorrow at the loft.

Good luck.

All right, guys.

Let's figure out the menu for this.

We have an hour in the kitchen
to decide on our dishes

and then start to pull,

because we are going to
be cooking at the loft.

Can we just talk about what
we definitely have to have?

We have to have the turkey.

Yes.

Yeah, that's an entree.

Stuffing.

How about twice potato entree?

Very deserved.

Yes, but the entree.

The entree.

No, no, no, no.

At the beginning, I tried
to initiate something like,

hey, I cook Thanksgiving every year, man.

There's too many eagles
on that team, you know?

Right, so we just do a family style,

bust out dishes, put it on a plate,

because that's Thanksgiving, you know?

Family style's a horrible idea.

It's cutting edge, dude.

It's cutting edge.

But, dude, you want to
make it cutting edge?

We can get a chicken,
a duck, and a turkey

and make it into like a
turkey chicken duck lasagna.

No, I think...

Okay, I make a rule.

You can only talk if you have
the pepper mill in your hand.

I think that we should do
plated soup, plated salad,

plated dessert, and family
style Thanksgiving dinner.

That's too much food.

Thanksgiving's so heavy.

I mean, we were trying to sit
around and figure this stuff out.

Betty wants to be the leader,

but she doesn't want anyone
to tell her what to do.

I know how to come up with good ideas

and put a twist on things,

but they don't want to give me a chance.

Fourth course.

Any suggestions?

I suggested that we work as a team

and do a fourth course menu.

Everybody has a say.

We all decide on every course.

I don't see it being done that way.

Unfortunately, that idea was shot down.

Let me throw out my ideas, okay?

For the soup, I was thinking with
like an egg custard at the bottom,

maybe like a bacon custard,

maybe make like a bacon custard
or like a nutmeg custard

or like a cinnamon custard.

I'll do the soup.

Oh, my gosh.

That's such a mess.

I'm really mad with this decision today.

I'm just devastated, completely
demotivated at this point.

This is like a slap in your face.

What kind of soup are you gonna make?

Probably I'll just give
them a shot of vinegar.

I don't want any kamikaze action.

I'm concerned that Ellia is gonna
bust out like suicidal maneuver

and I would hate to see that happen.

Ellia is doing soup.

I'm gonna do a salad and dessert.

No, you cannot do both.

You wanna do salad?

You have to delete it.

Is that what you would like to do?

Not really.

Not really, but I'll
throw something together.

I have a clear game plan for
remaining in this competition.

Middle, safe, is fine with me.

I do that or I do mushrooms too.

I think mushroom would be
lovely with what we're serving,

but this is your dish.

Truly do, apparently.

I'm gonna make the cheese with it.

Ellia started to lose it a little.

What's the point of staying?

Ready, Carlos, Mike
and I are going to Wild

Oats to shop for our
ingredients, while Ellia

is going to Charlie's Fixtures
to shop for plates, sauceboats...

This is an extremely
difficult challenge because

we're trying to take the most traditional

American holiday, Thanksgiving, and
put like this cutting-edge twist on it.

Carlos, you just kind of
roam in for your stuff?

I am thinking butternut
squash, fall flavors,

pumpkin seeds, and I'm
trying to formulate

a way to integrate those into a salad.

Do you have fresh honeycomb?

I decide I'm going to go the extra mile,
so I'm going to make a twice-baked potato.

I'm going to put out a cheese plate,
and I'm going to put out a cannape.

Someone's going to go
home out of us five.

If I rock three solid dishes, I'm
definitely not going to go home.

It's about 10 pounds.

No, it's going to be
too big on the table.

Let's take them here.

Wait, wait, wait.

It's too big, too big on the table.

It's fast, man.

It's fast, man.

My plan of attack for
Thanksgiving Day is to

blow away the judges
and do an avant-garde

twist.

Cranberry jelly with cranberry foam.

I'm taking stuffing.

You know, stuffing it inside
the turkey was nice roulade.

I'm just trying to use
cutting-edge techniques.

I decide to do a chai pumpkin pie creme brulee
with a chocolate hazelnut creme brulee.

That sounds to me like the perfect ending
for a cutting-edge Thanksgiving dinner.

I'm also going to get some
of this ground turkey.

It's fine.

Where did you find the queso
fresco at the Wild Oats?

I bought the cheese that
was in the salad bar.

Salad bar.

Thank you, sweetheart.
Bye Carlitos

I'll take four of these ones.

Four?

I know what good food tastes like and
I know what bad food tastes like, too.

So when I saw the decision of the judges,

I was like, okay, is
there any point for me

to cook?

Bigger than that

That's you, okay?

Yeah.

That's good.

That's very good.

We are going to take
the canned goods to the

food bank, which I'm
really excited about.

Because when I was 13,
my family had some,

we had some problems
and my mom and I ended

up homeless.

I know how important the food
bank is to a lot of people.

Hey, man.

Hey.

How are you? We had some
extra food, thought you guys could use it.

We sure could.

This is great.

Turkey, we're getting
ready for the season.

There you go.

Wonderful.

We'll take these in.

Awesome.

Thanks, man.

Thank you.

Anytime that somebody can
give back to a homeless

person or to an
underprivileged family, it's

very important.

And we in the restaurant industry have
such a great opportunity to do that.

Thank you, guys.

Thank you.

Take care.

Take care.

Thank you.

Thank you.

We have two kitchens to work with.

An hour of prep the first day to be followed
by four hours of prep the second day.

I'm so glad we cleaned our apartments.

How about if Marcel
and Mike, you guys work

in the other kitchen,
you guys are cool with

that?

Yeah, that's fine.

See you all later.

Marcel and Betty don't get along and
I don't really want to work with her.

She likes to take control.

It assumes you don't have any skills
and so we went to work in a room.

This is like a nice,
sanitary place to cook.

I'd throw up if I knew food
came out of this place.

It's gross.

I was like a*s and cigarettes in here.

You should have seen
it when I came in here.

It was like deodorant and necklaces
and toothbrush and toothpaste.

All that just like sitting out.

I've already blown 15
minutes into my prep

time and the kitchen
is not prepared to be

cooked in at all.

There's toiletries all
over the countertops.

I take everything and I
put it over in the corner.

How much time do we have?

Like 30 minutes.

I have just been so pissy since
this happened this morning.

Me too.

It makes me angry too, Betty.

Maybe it's my ego being put
chosen in the bottom five.

Betty, this has nothing to do with ego.

I can take criticism when it's fair.

I'm just really, really, really upset.

In my school, they taught
me not to lick the whisk.

All the spatula.

Elia started to lose it a little bit.

Make sure you have chocolate everywhere.

Elia has it.

A chocolate meltdown, no pun intended.

It is the perfect comic
relief for this frustrated,

rambunctious, angry, confusion
that we're dealing with.

It can't open my eyes though.

Am I warmer?

This is the professionalism.

Ten minutes.

Are you f***ing kidding me?

These cameras are like floating.

I didn't anticipate that.

Time?

I'm going next door, dude.

Two to have a day off,
I think is awesome.

I think there's going to be some animosity
from the other group, definitely.

There was a bunch of stuff that was on the
table, like toothbrushes, toiletry bags,

and I just took all that s***
and threw it on the floor.

It's all like in one pile on the floor.

Marcel only cares about himself, and
it's really hard to work with him.

He seems to think that he's a
cut above from everybody else.

Your roommate threw your f***ing
toiletries on the ground.

If that kid was my roommate and threw
my toiletries on the ground, man.

I haven't dealt with that situation yet.

I go back to the room to discover that,
yes, my toothbrush was on the floor,

so I'm a little boiling at this point.

I want you to look into my eyes.

If you ever touch
anything personal of mine,

I will beat you so bad that your
mother will not recognize you.

That wasn't cool. Don't let it happen.

I'm just chilling with
all the other chefs

when Frank comes up
like a crazy wildebeest,

flaring his nostrils.

What are you talking about?

My toothbrush on the floor?

I thought I put it in your toiletry bag.

I guess I'm probably not
Frank's favorite at this point.

It's gotten beyond food, and it's
getting a little bit personal.

What kind of crap house
are you running in?

This is an atrocity.

Ah, God.

So it's Thanksgiving morning, and
we've got like four hours to bang out.

Thanksgiving in a dorm room?

It's like totally hairy.

I don't even want to think about
the fact that it's an elimination.

What do you think before?
Let's go over to the table.

What do you think before, Elia?

I wake up today, and I'm just not
very into the whole challenge.

I'm thankful because I have
completely caused my challenge.

So thankful.

All right, what's the word?

The timer starts. We've
got our four hours to cook.

I've got a lot of work to do.

It was relatively quiet in the kitchen
because I needed to concentrate.

I think that Mike was
also pretty focused.

So you're doing twice
baked and mashers, or what?

Yeah.

I'm doing a twice baked potato shrimp, a

turkey canopé, and corn,
and a cheese plate.

Five things. I'm going to
knock it all down. No problem.

Dude, I'm going to be
cutting it so close.

It's 15 minutes into it.

What do you think
they're doing next door?

My prep day consists of
concentrating on the salad.

So for the four hours, I really
try to dedicate myself to my salad.

Elia, you're awfully quiet.
How's the soup coming?

It is coming dandy.

This oven must be lower than normal.

I'm having a little bit of
trouble getting my creme brulees

to be the exact consistency
that I would like them to be.

I'm going to put it for another


When the other half of the group
were back at home, cooking away,

we went over to the Soap Hotel
to Simon LA to have breakfast.

Cheers, guys.

Cheers.

They're not cooking tea day dinner.

Yeah.

Do you think they
picked the leader or no?

No, I think Marcel pretty much separated
himself from the rest of the group

and is doing whatever
Marcel is going to do.

I think Marcel being
totally separate from

everybody, I think it
could be to his advantage.

It's going to have to be
some level of camaraderie,

otherwise the whole meal
is going to be a disaster.

What are you guys cooking?
What are you working on?

I am working in chopping my mushrooms.

For the mushrooms for?

For a mushroom soup.

Okay.

Can I ask you a question?

Okay.

Why did you like yesterday
about Clif's dish?

Clif's dish?

To understand.

I actually thought it was pretty good.

Really?

Yeah.

What about it?

I spit it out.

I was very in shock with the decision.

Really?

Really, really, really. I'm
just being sincere here.

It's really good. You had
to try the whole thing.

I was so mad and demotivated.

But if you're saying that you
really like the flavors...

I guess part of it was
judging on how it tastes,

but also judging on how
the products were used.

I thought it was good.

Okay.

This made me realize
that she's being honest.

We just have complete different palates.

I let all the obsteteness get over me.

I respect this man, and he's my judge,
and I have to stick with his decisions.

You're going to have
a lovely Thanksgiving.

Bye.

Bye-bye.

See you later.

I'm going to make it look beautiful
and taste the best as I can.

I really want them to enjoy the meal.

And conceptually, you know, I was the
only one who understood the challenge.

Trying to utilize
cutting-edge techniques.

I'm feeling pretty good.

My salad wasn't my best performance, but
it wasn't as bad as Michael's side dishes.

Phase, phase, phase.

Carlos is doing a salad, so we
go up on the chopping block.

I know for a fact that,
Carlos, what did you do?

You want me to salad?

He sat himself up to go home.

You go out.

Fifteen minutes later, salad goes out.

Is that what we're suggesting?

I brought our dinner guest with us.

Obviously, Tony doesn't
need an introduction.

Not at all.

Author of Kitchen Confidential.

Personally, I totally look after the guy.

He's not scared to tell
someone their food sucks.

Just hope he doesn't tell me I suck.

Yeah, looking forward to an
inspiring Thanksgiving dinner.

We'll catch up to the dinner table.

Man, do you cook for
Anthony Bourdain, you know?

He's a pretty tough critic, though, man.

When Chef Anthony Bourdain walks
into the room, we're totally shocked.

It is huge to be able to sit
and have a meal with him.

I'm very happy that I'm not
cooking Thanksgiving dinner.

Awesome!

Looking forward to smashing the
hopes and dreams and ambitions.

Yes! Awesome.

All right.

So I'm the first dish to go out.

I feel pretty good.

I made this k*ller little can of egg.

I knew everyone was going to like it.

All right.

So I just got a little can of egg.

It's turkey meat.

Kind of a little spin on deviled egg.

Happy Thanksgiving.

Thank you very much.

It's a pleasure to serve you.

It's really tasty.

It was really fun.

Tons of flavor.

Mine is the first main dish to go out.

It was very nerve-wracking.

Hello there.

Here we have a roasted butternut squash

with chipotle queso fresco on top.

Enjoy.

Where's the lamb?

It's a bunch of masculine greens.

The onions, most of them are burnt.

I'm just not quite sure
I get the dish at all.

It's limp.

It's really...

It's unattractive.

I'm just really nervous at this point

because just the idea of going home

makes me really sad.

Hi.

This is my first Thanksgiving.

I made a mushroom cream with portobello

and button mushrooms with the knots,

chives.

I hope you enjoy it.

I'm liking the taste of this thing.

I like the water.

I love the texture.

I love the nuttiness.

They complement mushrooms.

I made a turkey roulade,

which is utilizing the
breast meat on the exterior.

The next ring inside would be the thigh.

And then lastly, the
stuffing is in the center.

And then a cranberry
jelly with a cranberry.

Good job.

The roulade itself,

for the turkey at the time,

should be a little bit
more bang for its buck.

It's very dry.

I think there's way too much cranberry.

A bit too tart.

Marcel's plate has been a mirror image

of every plate that he's done
in this whole competition.

I can't stand the little punk.

I don't mind the roulade.

I think we asked him to
do something cutting out.

It's cutting out.

It's too dry,

but I kind of like that he's had
the ba*ls to go this far out.

As for a boy has ba*ls.

He did something.

He took a stand, yeah.

All right.

I didn't know how you
guys like the potatoes,

so I made something with shrimp
and did the parsnip mash.

So, Mike, you did all
of these sides, right?

Yeah.

Enjoy.

This is an atrocity.

Two potatoes, I mean,
and it's all white, too.

I mean, are there any fundamentals
that have not been broken

in a non-creative, non-heavy way?

What kind of crack house
are you running here?

I'm actually enjoying
the twice-baked potato

better than the dry turkey we bought.

Oh, God.

I'm basically done for the day.

And, a*s-fatty, what can I do for you?

I want to help.

Is the ginger burning?

F***.

I had decided to put
some crystallized ginger

and some fresh hazelnut
on top of the pumpkin

and then added the sugar on top.

And when I go to brulee it,
they both start to burn.

What do I do?

Take off the ginger.

Hello, it's sugar time.

Okay.

For Thanksgiving dessert today,

we have a very unique
pumpkin pie with chai,

creme brulee, a chocolate creme brulee

with the essence of hazelnut.

And, to finish it all off,

a shot of French roast coffee

with a touch of vanilla whipped cream.

For me, the beauty of eating creme brulee

is that the sugar glaze just cracks

and you get that crispy sugar.

I'm really missing that.

A custard with sugar over
the top is not creme brulee.

I think what's happened here

is what's happened throughout the meal,

a complete failure of the imagination.

I mean, this, four hours?

Four hours?

This?

A little cheese platter.

More?

More.

So it's Applewood Cheddar,

Gouda, Port-Salut, Parmesan, Brie.
Enjoy

Thank you, Michael.

I like cheese.

I love cheese.

But why are we eating it now?

Desperation.

It should be before dessert.

The mission was what?

Stretch the boundaries?

Push the envelope?

No.

It's a yes or no question.

No, sit the f*** down.

If you're asking me a question,

let me tell you the answer.

So how was your Thanksgiving dinner?

No one really took a chance.

Nobody stepped up.

Nobody really delivered at the end.

You know, the challenge was
take the traditional

flavors of Thanksgiving.
And put a twist on it.

Make it modern.

Make it special.

Make it different.

It's just disappointing to see a salad.

It's easy. Come on.

The first dish was Carlos.

Now, people may think that
salad is a no-brainer,

but great salads take
a lot of imagination.

To go with something as pedestrian

as, I'm guessing, bagged mezcla.

It was just really lame.

And what about Elia?

Her soup was actually very tasty.

It had the right texture.

Just got a tremendous
amount of flavor out of it.

I thought it was good.

Well, I have to say that

it might not have been very avant-garde.

We've all tasted millions of
cream of mushroom soup before.

But because so many of the other
dishes were such a disaster,

I was really excited to eat
something that at least was tasty.

The decision to go with it
showed the most chefly qualities.

I would just like to see her
push those limits a little bit.

I thought the roulade
was at least adventurous.

I think that Marcel needs to be
given some credit for his dish.

I thought that he definitely
pushed the boundary.

I think it looked great.

The color was beautiful.

And I really liked the flavor

of both of the cranberry components.

Because there was no skin on that turkey,

it needed fat on the outside.

Baste it with a good amount of fat.

Pork fat would have been delicious.

Actually, it wouldn't be fine.

Ready?

That wasn't creme brulee.

That was pumpkin pie filling
with burnt sugar on the top.

Just thinking about that
course sends me into a coma.

So let's talk about Michael.

We had a nerve to make those dishes.

That's exactly what I'm thinking.

That was so perverse, so inappropriate.

I'm almost beginning to respect it.

The most enjoyable
single mouthful of food

was that twice baked potato.

But again, I failed to
see how mashed potatoes,

twice baked stuffed potato,

and corn on the cob rolled
in cheese is cutting edge.

There was more to what he did
than just those three starches.

And I think that we do need
to give him credit for that.

He did the canapé, which I thought
was actually very, very tasty.

I like that cheese plate.

It's like Betty Crocker and
Charles Manson had a love child.

And he's cooking for me.

So we have a decision, yes?

Yes.

Okay, let's bring them in.

I'll start with you, Gail.

Was there a leader on this team?

I thought I had some clever
ideas to put a spin on it,

but they were shot down.

What were your ideas?

I wanted to make like
a turduck and lasagna

and do like a layer of
chicken or duck chicken.

Why didn't you do that?

It actually sounds good.

I thought it would be a hit.

It was like instantly shot
down by like three people.

We all actually really liked your canapé.

And it was actually a perfect
definition of an Emma's Boosh.

You know how it's a zen?

Well, you did redeem yourself, Michael,

with that amuse-bouche today.

Cutting edge cooking.

Twice baked stuffed potatoes.

I don't know, I just thought
by putting some shrimp in it,

maybe, I don't know, I've
never eaten them with shrimp

at home, so I was like,
that's a spin, you know?

I love you like a son already, okay?

I admire you.

Your sheer contrariness, your
sheer refusal to conform,

I kind of like that.

Thank you.

Your twice baked potato,

in spite of its absolutely
Flintstonian execution,

it was the single, fully most
enjoyable mouthful of food

I had this evening.

The taste, it didn't suck.

Well, thank you.

You did the salad, right?

Correct.

Why choose salad?

I didn't choose salad.

That was where everybody
was straying from,

so I decided to grab it by the reins.

You didn't have to make a salad.

No, I didn't have to, and I
was very proud of what I did.

I believe it's thanksgiving,

and you should be
thankful for your friends

and the food that you have,

because some people don't even have food.

As bad as it is, huh?

Be nice.

What did you spend four hours on?

An hour roasting the squash.

I also cut the mirepoix
for the boys next door.

On four hours, you made
dressing and you roasted squash.

Listen, if you're saying
that I sat on my butt

when I was just doing salad,

I was helping out the others as well.

I asked you a question.

What did you spend four hours on?

Arsal, what did you
think about your dish?

I thought it was good conceptually,

but I fell short on execution.

Like what?

If I was able to go back

and repoach my roulade,

I would probably do it at
a more gentle temperature,

but, you know, it's tough to do
when you're trying to sous vide

without a thermal immersion circulator.

You don't need that to do sous vide.

You're making an excuse.

But, I know.

Obviously, cutting edge is a
very different meaning to you

than it does to, say,
Carlos or probably Betty.

It was clearly further along conceptually

than some of the other dishes.

Elia, what did you think of your dish?

I really enjoyed mushroom soup,

and I thought the flavors were great.

Betty, were you happy with your dish?

I think the brûlée could
have been a lot better.

Why?

I elicited the help of two other people.

I realized that I should have
done the entire thing myself,

because I know the way
I like to brûlée it,

and that's where my dish failed.

I was very happy with the texture.

I was very happy with the flavors,

but I was not happy with the brûlée.

I mean, I didn't find
it to be a creme brûlée.

You didn't taste the chai.

It was more a pie filling.

Yes, it was, yes.

But it's not a creme brûlée.

Just because you stick
something in a vessel

and put sugar on the top and burn it,

it doesn't make it a creme brûlée.

How was this cutting edge?

The cutting edge is not quite my style.

I do focus more on comfort food.

In our mind, there were
two dishes that stood out.

And those two dishes were

Alia's mushroom soup and
Marcel's turkey ralade.

Tony, as our guest judge,

who of these two do you
think is the winner tonight?

I admire Marcel's audaciousness.

All of the chefs, he took
the assignment seriously.

But the smart, generally most flavorful

and sensible dish was
Alia's I think the soup.

It was the winning choice.

Thank you.

It feels really good
to win this challenge.

In flavor, I felt really
comfortable in my soup

and they went for that.

Even though your soup wasn't
the most cutting edge dish,

it was the best ex*cuted
and the most delicious,

which counts for a lot.

All right, we have to figure
out who is going home.

Betty, you're not going.

Who do you think should go?

I'm not going to say.

You have to make those kinds of decisions

in any kind of leadership
position in a restaurant.

I'll go first.

When I was working my a*s off today,

Carlos made a salad for four hours.

Who do you think should go?

Betty's creme brulee was a
little bit lacking today.

Betty, now you have Carlos is out, gone.

Why?

Because I thought it
was the weakest dish.

I don't like Marcel.

Marcel is difficult to work with,

so for that purpose alone,

I would vote that Marcel be
gone from the competition.

But out of these two, it would be Carlos.

All right, we will talk about this

and we'll call you back out.

Thank you.

Carlos threw me under the bus again.

They were trying to get Betty to crack

and we weren't leaving until...

I said Marcel.

You chose him to go home?

Really?

Mm-hmm.

Wow.

I'm still not a fan of his tactics.

Tactics as a person?

Yeah, I still think you're selfish.

Didn't I help you?

Yeah.

Okay, did you ever once ask me for help?

I totally left.

You never once offered to help me.

Mommy!

Brown!

How could you ever tell
me that I'm selfish?

Well, let's see.

You came and didn't even
help to set up that kitchen.

Did you help me set up my kitchen?

Marcel, I help you all the time.

Did you ask me if I needed help today?

I told you...

Did you ask me...

It's a yes or no question.

No, it's not a yes or no question.

It's an explanation.

So sit the f*** down.

If you're asking me a question,

let me tell you the answer.

I'm not sitting.

Did I have to help you?

No, and actually, I
kind of wish you didn't

because my brulee was one
of the things that sucked.

You blame that on me?

Well, you were the one
of the people who did it.

I thought we were cool.

You're still selfish.

I'm still not cool with that.

I'm still selfish and
you're still a b*tch.

You know what?

I hope you f***ing go home.

I hope they choose your dish.

We're picking the worst of
three really bad dishes.

You know, Michael's
stuff was inexplicable.

It was so outrageous.

But he did it with some soul

and some kind of maybe
delusional belief in himself.

But with Michael, you know,

it's not really making
a name for yourself.

Carlos's dish, I just...

I don't understand why
he picked the salad.

I don't understand why
he picked that salad.

Carlos made no effort.

On a cruise ship with Kathy
Lee yodeling in the background

on a Lido deck,

I would expect my salad to
look a little better than that.

So what about Betty's creme brulee's?

She really believed that it
was the best she could do

and that she gave it her all.

Well, if that's the best you can do,

is this competition for you?

No. You know, I don't want to hear this,

I do comfort food.

Well, so do I.

That's a poor excuse.

You three are here because yours' were
the worst dishes of this challenge.

And one of you is going home.

Nothing was necessarily cutting edge,
but more importantly, nothing was good.

And you roll your eyes and think that's
harsh, but you know what, it wasn't good.

You know, Michael, conceptually, potato,
potato, corn, nothing cutting edge.

That's why you're here.

I understand.

You know, Carlos, I
don't know why you think

that making a green
salad with some butternut

squash on there, that
makes it cutting edge.

We're asking you to try to win this.

Sometimes I get a sense that
you're just trying not to lose.

You know, Betty, you
say that you do comfort

food and that's it, but we're asking you

to stretch.

I've seen flavored creme's
brulee for the last 20 years.

There's nothing cutting
edge about it, and

you can't kid yourself
and say that it is.

Carlos, please pack your knives and go.

The rest of you can go, too.

Thank you.

It's a pleasure.

Focus, dude.

I will.

I'm going to go home
and have margarita, and

I'm going to toast to all these wonderful

people.

Remember, good luck.

Break an egg.

I am surprised I didn't go
further in the competition.

I still had a couple of tricks left
up my sleeve that I didn't get to use.

I came here for my Top
Chef diploma, and I

may not graduate, but I definitely got an

education.

Next on Top Chef.

Today's challenge is simple.

Create a mouth-watering filling entree.

But there's a catch.

Right now, I'm freaking out, and I have
the best chance of being sent home.

I don't think Mike could cook his weight
on a paper bag and listen to French fries

with it.