PADMA: Previously on Top Chef World All Stars...
I'm on top one day, I'm on the bottom the next day.
Tell me. I've been on the bottom four times.
I need to prove that I deserve to be here.
PADMA: Asma's prepared this beautiful thali.
For your elimination challenge,
you'll have to create your own thali.
VICTOIRE: We are in India.
I just made that! I always underestimate myself.
The fact that he never cooked Indian food before.
If I ate this, I would never say that.
Pressure cooker burning something.
Huge mistake. I burned my frijoles.
Did you season your salad?
No, no, no, no. I don't season it.
The rice is just bad.
Here you have chefs at the very top of their game
not being able to deliver rice.
The winner is Amar.
Papi for the win!
Victoire, please pack your knives and go.
Six 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,
$250,000 furnished by Saratoga Spring Water,
and the title of Top Chef World All Star.
It was a tough challenge for sure. I dodged a bullet.
You know, I've done 24 challenges now,
back to back, two seasons in a row.
I'm gonna trip at one stage.
Just don't fall down.
Gabri, how many times are you gonna be
on the bottom and survive?
- Five times already. - SARA: Five times?
- Yes. - You're a cat, bro.
- A cat, yes. - El gato.
GABRI: This competition has been a roller coaster.
I just wanna continue and keep going and keep going.
After I won Top Chef Mexico,
I was able to buy a farm with my mother,
but it's in the weeds right now, my farm.
Winning $250,000, I can build the farm
to create a better life for me and my mother and my family.
You know what though? It doesn't matter
how many times you're in the bottom.
It's how many times you bounce back.
[all laughing]
♪
How's it going, love? You alright?
I've left my wife, Rebecca, back in New York.
How you been?
I've got a lot of goals.
Not only just have a restaurant and a career,
but Rebecca and I are hoping to start a family very soon.
What's happening?
Everyone's just such a higher caliber
and you can just learn so much from everyone
and it's been really interesting to be a part of
and everyone's food looks great.
When it came to having the conversation about season 20,
I know how hard it is for her,
but within half a second, she says, you gotta do it.
There's my baby.
And I am here to show exactly why
all those sacrifices brought me here.
[laughs] My baby.
♪
What can this be?
PADMA: Good morning, chefs.
ALL: Good morning.
Top six. Quite an accomplishment.
- Incredible. - Feels good.
I'd like to introduce you to this week's esteemed judge,
two Michelin Star Chef and restaurateur, Andrew Wong.
Welcome, Andrew.
TOM: Andrew Wong. He's a big fish.
Two Michelin Stars, he's a beast of a chef.
I'm just thinking, Andrew,
what are we gonna cook in a dishwasher today?
So who here likes to do the dishes?
- ALI: I don't mind. - You don't mind?
- I mind. - [all laugh]
I prefer to cook.
When it comes to water conservation,
there are many ways in the kitchen
to lower the amount of water wasted.
Did you know that you can save up to 20 gallons of water
per load by just skipping the rinse
when you use the dishwasher?
Another way to conserve water as chefs
is to take a look at the way you prepare meals.
Steaming is an incredible 5000 year old technique
within our gastronomy anyway.
It's a delicate way to not only maintain moisture,
nutrients, but also flavor.
For this Quickfire Challenge, our friends at Finish
want you to support their purpose to conserve water.
We want you to give us a dish featuring a steamed element.
But since we're trying to conserve water,
the only water you can use for this challenge
must fit into that one pot.
And that will be the only water
that you will all be able to use for this challenge.
Good thing there's only six of you.
Just one gallon of water for all six of us to prepare dishes
for this gentleman who has two Michelin Stars?
This is gonna be really, really tough.
The winner of this challenge
will receive $10,000 from Finish.
I got this. I got this.
All right, chefs. You have half an hour for this Quickfire.
Your time starts now. Don't run out of steam.
SARA: I have no clue what I'm gonna cook.
Me neither.
If you all know me, I fry,
I sauté, I don't steam anything.
- Where's the water at? - SARA: It's right here.
You guys, the math works out.
Everybody gets about two and a half cups of water.
So how much do I get?
Like a completely full one of these containers.
And then if there's extra, people can come back for more.
Being a mother, I know that sharing is the way to go.
There's your water you guys.
- ALI: How much? - A pint, all the way to the top.
It wasn't me being the water police.
It was me having to be the water mom.
Thank you for the two cups of water, Sara.
You're welcome.
I've never had to work with limited water like this.
- Buddha, what you doing? - I'm gonna do a steamed fish.
I wanted to make something that you'll get in a hotpot.
I'm gonna steam sable fish and some clams.
I don't see anything respecting steam
as much as this dish.
- ALI: Have you seen ginger? - Yeah, it's over here.
Right there, right there, right there, right there.
I'm gonna make a mixiote,
which is steamed [indistinct] tamale.
...for about seven hours.
I'm going to make a fish mixiote.
Does somebody have peanuts
- on their station? - No.
I'm going to do the quickest adobo of my life
because adobo is an essential part of the mixiote.
There's no industry that wastes more water
than the culinary industry, so I think it's a good challenge.
There's still some in the pot if people need a little more.
Alright, thank you, Sara.
♪
TOM: I'm making a scallop mousse.
Oh, you're fancy, bro.
The scallop mousse. Super bloody tasty.
The mousse gets cooked because of the egg white inside.
Through the steaming, it becomes...
Behind you, behind you.
AMAR: This is like the Indian challenge.
Do I eat a lot of dumplings?
Yes. Do I make a lot of dumplings?
No. I'm doing the kiss of death. Oh sh--.
If I'm gonna make a statement in Top Chef,
why not cook dumplings for a two star Michelin dumpling chef?
- 19 minutes. - SARA: 19.
I'm doing like a steamed cabbage.
Five spiced cabbage.
For me, it's hard to develop as much flavor
with steam as it is with, like, fire.
Like, roasted, charred, burnt.
I like that flavor. Oh, my God.
Everything that I've done this whole season where I'm like
take this food and put your southern twist on it.
I'm gonna totally throw that out the window
and I'm gonna use Asian ingredients
and see where it gets me.
My husband is a farmer, so water is really important to us.
Without water, there's no crop.
Conserving water to put it where we need to
is really important.
It would be huge for me to win this challenge.
All of it a quarter?
Yeah, I mean, you're taking all of it?
In Arabic we say...
We need to appreciate these resources.
I'm doing steamed fish.
I'm gonna wrap it in banana leaf.
We grow bananas in Jordan a lot,
For this dish, you don't need that much water
because using banana leaf adds moisture to the food.
It adds flavor, it adds aroma.
So I'm using a sea bass, the Chilean sea bass.
It's not really a thick fish, so it's gonna cook faster.
SARA: 12 minutes, boys.
Sharing water, you know, I'm kind of used to it
because, you know, I grew up with three brothers.
...I'm wrapping the mussels,
the fish with adobo.
Hopefully it's going to be cooked in eight minutes
because I don't got that much time.
10 minutes, guys, 10 minutes.
ALI: What?
Steam evaporates.
So you're essentially losing water,
but the bamboo basket is quite insulated.
It's really good for retaining that moisture.
AMAR: Six minutes.
♪
I'm living the dream. Making a salsa.
The vegetables bring sweetness to the dish.
I'm just hoping my steamed buns come out properly.
♪
Chefs, you have five minutes left.
Watch your back. Hot stuff coming through.
I still have to pan fry steamed dumplings.
It's time to steam you, baby.
Which is a technique when you use a little bit of oil,
you get some color on it.
Water covers and the steam cooks it through,
still keeping it crispy on the bottom.
- Full steam ahead. - ALI: How are you doing, papi?
I don't know, how much time left?
ALI: Two minutes, guys. Two minutes.
AMAR: There's no way.
I cannot check the fish before I serve it
because if I would have opened the banana leaf,
I would lose all the moisture.
I hope it's cooked. Fingers crossed.
Ha!
One minute.
SARA: Jesus Christ. I don't know about my dish.
I'm not happy that I didn't incorporate anything
about myself into this dish at all.
It is what it is.
PADMA: Five, four, three, two, one, hands up.
AMAR: I'm going to my funeral.
Straight to the cemetery.
PADMA: Previously on Top Chef World All Stars...
Gabri, come on up.
Thank you. What did you make for us?
Traditional mixiote is made with lamb,
but instead I used sole, mussels, and adobo.
Where does the sourness come from?
The lime pickled onion.
- ANDREW: Okay. - GABRI: Yes.
How did you divvy up the water?
Sara took the water for all of us
and we just take what we need.
- And did you all have enough? - Yes.
I did a take on a hotpot with a black vinegar
and shaoxing sauce.
The sable fish has been cooked in a marinade.
There was a watermelon radish dumpling
that's filled with shrimp.
- Thank you, Buddha. - You're welcome.
I made a steamed cabbage with five spice
and then there's a little tofu puree
and just lightly steamed scallops.
That's what, a crispy chili oil?
Yeah.
ANDREW: Thank you.
I have prepared steamed sea bass wrapped in banana leaf
to give it that fragrant smell.
And the sauce I made from bell peppers,
onion, garlic, chili, and ginger.
- Tom. - Hello.
Thank you.
I made a very fine scallop mousse.
Inside is a little bit of charred chorizo
and I made a marination with the chorizo oil.
Is this the texture of the mousse
that you're looking for?
Yeah.
- Thank you. - Thank you.
I think he didn't like it.
And the kiss of death.
Why are you saying that?
It's the dumping master here, so.
- Did you make a dumpling? - I did make a dumpling.
Okay, well, that's your own funeral then.
Looks pretty.
So you have a steam
and pan fried pork dumpling
with a beat tweel.
What exactly did you steam here?
- The dumplings. - Oh. You still fried a lot.
Well, it's steamed first and then fried.
- Thank you. - Thank you.
Andrew, how do you think our chefs did overall?
It was a fantastic mix of dishes.
Ultimately, we were looking for steaming to be celebrated.
Who had one of our least favorite dishes, Andrew?
Sara.
Your dish didn't necessarily have to be Asian,
I think you forced it to be Asian.
100%.
Tom.
The mousse on top had a very wet texture to it.
Thank you.
Who else?
Amar, there were some technical issues with that dish.
The filling ended up being quite dry.
You should just steam them and let it go.
And now for some good news.
Who had one of our favorites?
Gabri, it was just a delicious plate of food.
I loved that adobo sauce.
It was really savory, really craveable.
Thank you so much.
Buddha. Technically, the fish was cooked beautifully.
There was a lot of variety, both in flavor and in texture.
Thank you.
The chef who had our favorite dish of the day
really celebrated steaming and that chef was...
Buddha.
PADMA: Congratulations, Buddha.
You just won yourself $10,000 from Finish Quantum.
Thank you, Finish.
Yes! Another Quickfire. That's three.
I'm breaking records from my last season.
And they're donating $10,000 on your behalf
to the World Wildlife Fund for River Conservation initiatives.
Thank you, that's incredible.
Andrew, I want to thank you for joining us today.
It was lovely to have you. Thank you for coming.
It's been an absolute honor. Thank you so much, chefs.
- Thank you. - Thank you. Chef.
Take care.
Chefs, why don't you join your colleagues over here?
Congrats.
And although you may be friends,
the battle has only just begun.
One of the most iconic dishes that England has contributed
to the world is the beef wellington.
The welly!
Beef wellington is beef that's been coated with pâté
and duxelles, wrapped in puff pastry.
and baked.
This dish is often associated
with the first Duke of wellington,
Arthur Wellesley.
The beef wellington was created for a celebration commemorating
his defeat of Napoleon in the battle of Waterloo.
Who here is familiar with beef wellington?
How about cooking it?
It's basics in school, you know, making a wellington.
But, hey, that was 10 years ago.
For your next Elimination Challenge,
we're having a battle of our own.
A battle of the wellingtons.
We're looking for not one, not two, three wellington dishes.
AMAR: Three different wellingtons?
I don't like it.
One with seafood, one with meat,
and one that is a dessert.
You'll be cooking for me, Tom, Gail,
our guest judge two Michelin Starred chef
Kirk Westaway, as well as 25 diners
who will all be voting each round.
We'll be taking the diners' votes into account
in the final judging.
To serve 25 diners wellington is very difficult,
but to serve 25 diners three different kinds of wellington?
There's no way.
But that is too much work
for one person to do alone, right?
Chefs, please draw knives.
Go ahead, Amar. One.
Sara's also a one.
Gabri, you're three. Three as well.
- Ali and Tom. - Tom, Thomas, Tommy.
I guess I don't need Amar anymore. Sorry, bro.
Your wellingtons don't need to be traditional,
so we're excited to see what you guys will come up with.
This is the final team challenge of the season
and it's an important one
because this is a double elimination.
GABRI: Man, come on.
Double elimination on this stage of the competition?
We really need to nail this challenge.
Tonight you'll go shopping at Whole Foods Market
and then tomorrow you'll have three hours to prep
and cook at the historic Tobacco Dock.
Good luck, you guys.
We'll see you at the docks tomorrow.
I learned wellingtons working at Gordon Ramsey.
I've probably have done about 30 wellingtons in my career.
I'm not the most experienced doing wellingtons.
The last wellington that I made was five years ago.
I've seen salmon done many times before.
Salmon?
Because it's traditional and safe.
So, the key of a beef wellington is the crêpes
and so they really soak up all the juice from the meat.
If the puff pastry becomes soggy,
that's, like, the worst thing you can do.
I don't remember the last time I made a wellington.
Me neither.
But are we going traditional flavors?
Probably not, I mean, that's not our style.
Part of what we do is like big, huge flavor.
Like, we don't shy away from it.
I like apple pie, yeah.
I think our team is gonna do really well.
Every decision that we make will be made together.
All right guys, let's get out of here.
- Let's get our wellies on. - SARA: All right.
Buddha's like, "Let me turn to the wellington page in my book."
BUDDHA: For dessert, peach melba wellington.
GABRI: I like it.
Traditionally, it's roasted peach
with almond frangipane.
We're going pretty classical, but I think
it's just all within the technique.
For the seafood wellington, we doing...
Dry aged tuna.
Maybe we get shrimp
to make the nice sauce américaine.
- And then for the meat-- - Lamb.
Yeah, I love that idea.
I mean, lamb, we can put more flavor into it.
Yup.
This is going to be tough.
We're getting closer to the finish line,
the title of Top Chef World All Stars
and it's getting harder every challenge.
I have worked so hard for this.
It would be really devastating for me to go home,
like I'm this close.
SARA: Come on, daddy. Come on.
[Amar laughs]
TOM G: All right, I got some puff pastry.
- How about that? - SARA: Get puff pastry.
We already have to make three wellingtons in three hours.
I cannot make puff pastry in that time frame.
It's not happening.
Four lobster tails.
Let me also get a kilo of those prawns.
Instead of using duxelles for the seafood wellington,
we're gonna make a seafood mussoline.
So basically lobster meat, shrimp,
scallop wrapped around the tuna.
And I'm still here, right?
Now I'm feeling really confident
going a different route as the other chefs.
Keep betting on me, you're gonna win, huh? [laughs]
Hi, you getting apples?
Of course. We're making apple wellington.
- You too? - Really? That's good.
Not really.
It's pretty much gonna be like a battle of the apples.
Double elimination sucks. But you know what?
The less people the better, I just hope it's not me.
SARA: 14 minutes everyone.
♪
- You saw marzipan somewhere? - What? Maxi pads?
It's probably in the lady's aisle.
Oh, marzipan.
Come on!
You got extra mushrooms?
Mushrooms, I'm gonna grab some more.
Yeah, double it.
AMAR: You got everything? You got filo?
- SARA: Yeah. - All right. Let's go up.
What do you think? We're done?
How long we got left?
It's gonna be amazing if he does it.
Yo, papi, tomorrow, we're against each other.
But you know that I love you.
I love you too, papi. It doesn't matter, okay?
He is el gato.
Thank you!
♪
SARA: What up? What are you doing?
I made it to the top six and I'm the only girl left.
- Yes, Sara! - I know.
I know, but I mean, I'm not gonna think about it like that.
I'm just gonna do my thing.
Kelsey is one of my oldest culinary friends.
We worked together in New York City
well over a decade ago.
But also, Kelsey and I competed together
in Top Chef 16 in Kentucky.
Kelsey. You are Top Chef.
She won. I got second.
- How are you feeling? - I feel good.
But now this challenge that we're doing,
it's a double elimination.
No. It doesn't matter.
I have zero doubt you're gonna be in the finale.
- Zero. - Thank you, baby.
Everybody needs, you know, a little boost of confidence
and to get one from a fellow competitor is really nice.
She knows what to say to me to remind me, like,
what is the end goal?
Tell Amar I told him don't [bleep] it up, dude.
I'll tell him.
♪
- Oy, oy. - All right. Let's go.
These challenges just push the limits for sure.
How do you feel, Ali?
I'm always worried, you know, because if it doesn't worry you,
if it doesn't stress you, then it's not important.
I felt some stress from the other teams.
Gabri has no stress in him, he's with Buddha.
[sings] Come on, Gabri, let's go party.
GABRI: Here we are.
SARA: Tobacco Dock, we're here.
AMAR: Show time.
SARA: Behind.
- BUDDHA: Let's do this, Gabri. - Ali, at least we're working
- next to each other, huh? - ALI: Always.
AMAR: I'm gonna start with the lamb shanks right now.
- Get those brazing. - SARA: That'll be good.
Sara, we're forgetting something.
Oh, oh!
Yeah, well, buddy, I'm gonna start with the duxelles...
- Yep. - ...you know, and the cabbage.
Buddha is in charge of all the wellingtons
and I'm going to take charge of the duxelles, the sauces,
the garnishes for every single course.
I've been trained in French cuisine,
so I'm pretty confident with all these French techniques.
This is my comfort zone.
Well, one of the most important parts.
- How are you with the salmon? - Frying salmon.
ALI: Tom is just focusing on doing the wellington.
I'm gonna be doing the cauliflower puree,
the charred leeks, the onion puree, the red wine jus.
To serve for 25 diners...
That's torture.
- How many filets? - Make it three.
AMAR: Oh, my God. Look at this tuna.
I'm gonna start doing the seafood wellington.
I have to make a seafood farce that's gonna go around the tuna.
I'm peeling all the shrimp right now
to get that lobster sauce going right away.
I also have to make the sauce américaine.
It's more like a lobster cream sauce.
- 2:25 left, guys. - BUDDHA: Yeah.
♪
The crêpes are, like, uneven.
Not cooking well.
We're gonna have to scrap the crêpes.
Crêpes are an extra layer
of actually making wellington a little bit more dryer,
but we're running on such a strict timeline.
If I don't focus on trying to get the wellington together,
I might not even have one.
Yeah, that's fine.
AMAR: Papi, how you doing, bro?
ALI: We're not together anymore.
AMAR: They make us a break up, huh?
You guys aren't broken up,
you're just seeing other people right now.
It's an open relationship, right?
[laughing]
ALI: So the plan for the beef tenderloin,
I'm gonna heavily season it then pan sear it.
TOM G: The tricky part about wellington is literally
over-cooking the protein or undercooking the protein.
And here comes the worst part.
You have no idea how you do until you open it.
And when you open it, it's too late.
Ali, how are we looking on time?
I think we're going according to plan.
- Lamb shanks are working? - Oh, yeah.
With lamb, we could go a lot heavier flavors like our style.
For the lamb wellington, I made this harissa
to rub the lamb all around it.
I'm gonna simmer lamb loins for a lamb wellington.
And then on the side, we're gonna do a nice date puree
with a little bit of cumin.
Apple filling's working.
SARA: You go and get those, like, starting to cool.
It's going to be apple wellington
versus apple wellington.
And so I think it's important to stand out.
I got the apples turned off as soon as I get this sponge
and I'm gonna strain it and reduce the juice.
And so I'm making the apple filling, the sponge cake,
and then we're gonna roll that in filo dough,
not puff pastry.
Gonna get three out of each one.
Buddha, how you doing, bro?
Good. I'm just starting to roll the salmon wellington.
The seaweed's gonna keep everything together.
Also absorbing all the liquid.
Come on. I need more time.
Gabri, try and get those done in like two minutes.
- Yes. - You're 15 minutes behind.
These peaches are hard to peel.
Cut them in half, destone them, yeah?
- Yes, chef. - We're in it together,
it's a double elimination.
It's almost two hours now.
He should be pushing me and I should be pushing him.
Oh, [bleep] this sh--. This is hard.
♪
Ali, what are you doing now?
I'm doing a cauliflower puree.
Yeah, right next to you.
ALI: We need to start rolling, man.
TOM G: Yes, sir. Before I use the puff pastry,
I roll the fish itself on the crab.
On the crab I put the leak duxelles,
then I put it in the fridge to cool it down.
Every single ingredient who goes inside the wellington
needs to be as cold as possible. That's very important.
If not...
After the fish is cooled down,
then I roll it into the puff pastry.
Try to keep it as tight as possible.
Next is the beef wellington.
- Yeah, it's just enough. - ALI: Just enough, yeah?
And then you start all over again.
Why is my life so complicated?
♪
- How are you doing, Gabri? - Already finished.
Hey, chefs, how are we doing?
[chefs] Hello.
I want to introduce Kirk Westaway
from restaurant Jaan in Singapore.
- Hello! - Hi, chef. Nice to meet you.
Hi, good morning, guys. Good to be here.
- Hey, Sara. - Hello.
- You guys a team? - Team USA, baby.
Team USA, okay. What are you guys making?
So the first course we're gonna do a tuna
and seafood wellington.
In between the tuna and the pastry,
you've got some kind of a lining?
- Oh no, we don't have a lining. - Seafood sausage.
You're wrapping tuna with the sausage
and then pastry on top of that.
Why, is that a bad idea?
Tom never gives advice in the kitchen.
- Good luck. - Bye, you guys.
He just asks questions in a way
that makes you realize you're doing something wrong.
Hey, Ali and Tom, how you doing?
Hi, chef. We're doing good.
Have you made much wellington before?
What are you doing for dessert?
For desserts, we're doing an apple wellington
and we have here our custard. Do you wanna try it? Taste?
That's our custard, it has the orange blossom.
- Very good. Yeah. - Clever, creamy.
Orange blossom is a really nice touch in there.
Just a kick. Not too much. It's not overpowering.
Yeah, it doesn't taste like your grandma's closet.
[laughing]
- Good luck. - Thank you, chefs.
Hey, Gabri, Buddha, how you doing?
- Hello, chef. - What are you making here?
- You already melted butter? - Yes, Chef.
Okay.
And then we got a beef wellington.
We're gonna do like a take on a tournedos rossini.
Fois gras mousse and black truffle sauce.
Have you made a lot of wellingtons in your day?
Yeah, I love doing wellingtons,
it's one of my favorite things to do.
Hopefully I can pull this one off.
How long are you gonna bake this one for?
Salmon's probably gonna have to take a little bit less,
but also a higher temperature just because
we want to get that pastry cooked
and the beef is gonna be a little bit longer.
- Nice. - Okay, chefs, good luck.
KIRK: Good luck for today.
♪
So the first team, Amar and Sara, Team America.
Right, Team America. I didn't see them wrapping yet.
You want to get that wrapped up so it rests
in the refrigerator before you cook it off.
- How hot are those crêpes? - They're behind you.
Hopefully they'll make it.
The next team, Ali and Tom.
It sounds like they've got the good ingredients,
a great concept, and just a very classic, clean flavors.
I'm scoring the salmon to try and do different patterns.
Gabri, I'm getting the fish in now.
- Perfect. Yeah. - And then Buddha and Gabri.
Buddha was rolling them,
he already had a bunch in the refrigerator.
They're all wrapped up ready to go.
They seem to be very switched on.
Looking forward to seeing what they can do.
- How you doing, Gabri? - Good.
Come on, Amar. We very quickly need to get rolling on the lamb.
ALI: Tom, we need to bake the salmon.
- Put it in the oven. - Yeah. Yeah.
I feel a little bit like...
when she runs on the ground and behind her
everything falls apart and there's lava everywhere
and she's just one step away of falling down to it.
- You put it in the oven? - Yes, sir.
In 15 minutes we need to put the [indistinct]. Okay?
I'm trying, bro. I'm trying hard.
It's definitely a race against the time today.
Do you have everything out for the first course?
Yes, now I'm gonna start plating.
It's all about internal temperature.
I use a cake tester to go in and I'm gonna feel that temperature.
The whole idea is to get that exterior pastry super hot
and crispy by removing it out fast enough so when it cools,
it's actually continuing the cooking of the fish.
The first fish wellington's gonna rest.
I've got my peach melba wellington and then now
I'm just layering the puff pastry on top.
What do you need to do for main course?
- Or can I focus on dessert? - Focus now on dessert.
We do a chestnut duxelles around the apple.
It's gonna take the moist away
and it keeps the apple really dry.
I took one bite. I loved it. I think it was awesome.
♪
DINER 1: Tuna and seafood, salmon.
DINER 2: Apple wellington. Oh, wow.
- Nice and toasty. - Perfect.
Have you guys eaten a lot of wellington?
- I've eaten a few. - It's a really complete dish.
In the UK, these are great on a Sunday.
- Yeah, Sunday roast. - At your mom's house,
- it's great. - Yeah.
When you did your walkthrough,
was there anyone struggling with their pastry?
To me, they seemed to be all behind.
And they have to work extra hard to support each other
whilst competing against each other.
That is always where the tension lies. Right?
- SARA: Five minutes. - This is crazy.
- AMAR: How much time, Sara? - SARA: We gotta get them out.
TOM G: Do you have the sauce already filled up?
- Yeah. - Mash ready?
- Yeah. - I'll start plating.
Making a wellington is one of those things that you don't know
how good it's gonna be until you open it and slice it.
Moment of truth.
Oh, my goodness.
Ali, what are you doing now?
SARA: Moment of truth.
AMAR: Oh, my goodness.
SARA: It's perfect.
That's the thing about wellingtons.
You don't know till you take it out.
BUDDHA: That is textbook.
The fact that the fish is levitating
in the middle of that, it is stunning.
It's like a picture. It's a piece of art.
ALI: How are they looking? Good or sexy?
- TOM G: I think they're perfect. - Okay, we can do this.
- Get the sauce on them, go. - Where's the sauce?
- In the jugs. - Did you try the sauce?
Yeah, it's delicious. That's how we win the meal.
♪
[beeping]
Here they come. That's the tuna, it looks good.
- Really nicely cooked. - Yeah, they all look great.
Nice job, nice job.
Okay, Amar, tell us what you made.
Sara and I made a tuna and seafood wellington
with asparagus puree, asparagus spears.
The tuna is wrapped in a spinach crêpe.
Then you have a seafood mousseline around
and then sauce américaine.
- PADMA: Ali? - We have prepared for you
a Salmon wellington, leeks duxelles,
chopped with spinach crêpe,
charred leeks, and cauliflower puree.
Gabri, what did your team make?
We made salmon wellington with a shrimp pâté wrapped in seaweed
a beurre blanc with salmon caviar,
and robuchon potato puree.
PADMA: All right. Thank you so much, chefs.
CHEFS: Thank you. GAIL: Thank you.
Buddha and Gabri's, in terms of the seasoning
and the sauce is bang on.
The wellington itself I think is done really well.
The pastry is flaky.
But the potato puree, it's almost too rich.
You don't use melted butter when you do it
because it's eating a little greasy.
Yeah, there's sort of butter leaching out of it.
The nori was a beautiful twist on it.
It's just bright and really well seasoned.
Wow, that's fantastic.
Pastry is amazing.
Tom and Ali's looked great.
I like that the accompaniments weren't as rich
because the dish itself was rich enough.
The salmon was nicely cooked.
I like the idea of the leak duxelles.
I just found that overall, be under seasoned.
The yogurt is so bland.
- That's cauliflower. - It's cauliflower?
Got it, all right.
It doesn't taste like cauliflower at all.
And I find the texture weird. It's like gummy.
So hot.
I think Sara and Amar's was a good dish.
It was adventurous and I think they chose something difficult.
Tuna, there's not a lot of fat and so the challenge is how
to keep it moist and still, you know, cooking the pastry
and they did a pretty good job with that.
I like the crêpe.
I thought the crêpe gave it a nice, beautiful color.
I think it is really well constructed,
but I feel like there's some competing flavors.
The sauce américaine and the tuna,
I don't think they're best friends.
Yeah, I don't think so either.
DINER: The asparagus is incredible.
DINER 2: It's delicious.
I really like the seafood sauce.
I was really expecting at least one disaster
- Not yet. - and I'm happy to say not yet.
The lamb's not ready. We put them in a rack.
- They're not cooked though. - It's gonna steam over.
I think this lamb needs more time, but it's hard to tell.
It has to be a team decision.
Leave it out, leave it out.
- All right, demi-glace ready. - Finished with the truffle?
Yeah.
BUDDHA: I'm gonna start carving, Gabri.
[Bleep].
- Hey? - Oh, beautiful.
Start plating, let me cut the rest.
I start slicing the lamb.
It's raw.
There's no time to reheat.
I should have just listened to my gut and kept it in the oven.
♪
[beeping]
All right, second course.
Oh, I like the design of the top.
If you guys will put my sauce right on top of the lamb. Yes.
- You want it on top? - Yes. Right on top.
Please tell us about your meat wellington.
Amar and I made a harissa rubbed lamb wellington.
It's wrapped in a lamb shank and swiss chard
and then you have a date and black garlic puree.
Ali. Can you tell us about your meat wellington?
We have made a beef wellington chopped with mushroom
and pomegranate molasses duxelles.
On the side we have onion puree, roasted carrots,
- and red wine jus. - Gabri.
We made a dry aged classic wellington
with mushroom duxelles, truffle demi-glace
with a pickled beetroot and foie gras.
- PADMA: Great. Thank you all. - SARA: Thanks.
On Ali and Tom's, the cooking of the beef is great,
really tasty, the seasoning is great.
One thing I don't love is the onion puree.
Once again, low on seasoning.
I think there's too much mushroom duxelles and the steam
and the duxelles kind of force the pastry away from the beef.
But I have to say, Ali and Tom's crust is also the flakiest.
Yes. Very crispy, very crunchy.
Ali and Tom's beef wellington was good but also traditional.
Nothing really popped out.
Did you think one beef was better?
Buddha and Gabri's was far superior.
The way it was constructed, it stayed tight.
I thought it had better beef flavor, too.
A bit of a different presentation
- which is interesting as well. - Yeah, I like it.
Nice little work putting the basket weaver out.
I love the pickled beets.
It gave it a nice hit of acidity.
I like the way the truffle wasn't overpowering the beef.
Sara and Amar's, interesting dish.
I love the braised lamb wrapped around the lamb itself.
And those beautiful kind of Moroccan, North African spices.
PADMA: Which blends beautifully with the date sauce.
I think it's the most creative wellington.
It's the most flavorful of the wellingtons,
My only issue, which is a real issue,
my lamb loin is undercooked.
Yes, mine is very undercooked.
- It is under and it eats under. - It's very raw.
The thing about the wellington, the most complicated thing is
making sure that the internal protein is cooked
at the proper temperature while still getting that golden crust.
That's what this challenge is all about.
It's what it's all about.
Okay, dessert. It's time for pie.
BUDDHA: Just pour it all in and get it back in the heat.
- Yes. Yes. - You get the tonka bean in?
BUDDHA: I'm making my raspberry sorbet.
Gabri is getting the custard on the go for the peach wellington.
It's gonna be incredible.
Gabri and I work as a very good team.
- Yeah, that's good. Strain it. - Yes.
- TOM G: Closed or open? - ALI: I think it's too much.
- How about only half? - Only half?
- I would say so. - I'm certainly relieved.
The apple wellington turned out very nicely.
Okay, let's get some nut crumble on it.
Okay, we're gonna pulverize it in the blender.
Get the blender ready For the spiced crème anglaise,
the whole idea is to freeze it in the liquid nitrogen
to give a different texture.
It's gonna be like an ice powder.
If it doesn't work, we're doing sauce.
After serving our lamb undercooked,
- we need to nail this one. - You like it?
- Good call now. - Yep.
BUDDHA: One minute.
Also put some fresh on the bottom
so it lifts up in wellington.
♪
BUDDHA: This is nice.
- [beeping] - It's over.
♪
Beautiful.
Ooh, everybody.
We made it through three rounds of wellington,
so you should feel good about that.
- That was rough. - This is a rough one.
- I know. - I'm fully exhausted.
Sara and Amar, tell us about your dessert wellington.
We did kind of a play on apple pie tres leches.
The apples are braised, wrapped in a vanilla sponge cake
and then rolled in cinnamon filo.
And there's apple puree and a spiced crème anglaise.
- Ali and Tom? - We roasted an apple
with some marzipan on the bottom
and nut crumble, covered it
with a chestnut duxelles, and then on the side
you have a hot apple butter sauce and vanilla sauce.
Buddha and Gabri?
So this is a take on two classics, obviously.
wellington and peach melba.
The peaches have been roasted and encased with a pastry
that has an almond frangipane
with raspberry sorbet and a tonka bean custard.
This round is gonna be tough. They're all really good.
CHEFS: Thank you.
They're so delicious. They're so different.
Ali and Tom's is just like it's home cooked.
Sunday afternoon kind of apple pie with your mom
and your family. Rustic but delicious.
I think their pastry was fantastic.
It was airy and light and golden and the orange blossom water
gave it this lovely uniqueness that I've never seen before.
When you cook with chestnuts, what do you think of that?
My God. What a mess. It was the craziest ever.
What did you think of Sara and Amar's dessert?
Very creative once again.
I love the crispy filo around the outside
and frozen drops of crème anglaise?
- Perfect touch. - I thought it was good.
I just-- I don't, I don't know if this checks
the box for me as a wellington.
Something about using filo for me is a bit of a cop out.
I don't know. I was kind of charmed
by the fact that they used filo pastry
in the sponge instead of just crust.
Yeah, they didn't have to use puff pastry.
Love this spiced crème anglaise.
Tastes like a fall.
I got this Northern Ireland cheese.
Okay.
Sit in my room after I get to France
- and eat this sh--, baby. - Mm, mm, mm.
Buddha's and Gabri's I really loved.
I thought the construction was beautiful.
I just think the technical work showed more effort to me.
It was just a really phenomenal dish.
I'm a huge fan of the tonka bean crème anglaise.
I think the sorbet was impressive to do
in the time allocated.
It's a restaurant dish.
In this peach melba wellington, the flavor is just amazing.
I love this raspberry sorbet.
Some sorbet, cool you down.
Let's walk around and see what some of the diners think.
- Hello. - [overlapping greetings]
Which wellington was your favorite?
The salmon wellington that Buddha and Gabri put together
was incredible. It was delicate.
This one just made us sad because we loved
all of the flavors, but we couldn't eat our lamb.
- It was so raw and undercooked? - It was so raw.
They were quite cheeky at the end adding the sponge.
Do you think it's still a wellington?
I think they pushed the envelope just right on
- the right side of the line. - Okay.
So, did you have a favorite team?
I had one from each team, so I don't really have a favorite.
Oh, okay. That's good to know.
I don't envy your decision today.
It is a very difficult one.
I think we'll have a lot to discuss. Thank you.
SARA: Ugh. That was a dirty challenge.
- It was tight. - That was rough.
Absolutely rough.
- For me, it was the toughest-- - ALI: It is the toughest.
When they asked me to explain the dish,
I was completely out of breath.
I think a lot of Top Chef greats would have
struggled with this one as well.
Cheers, everyone.
Top six down to top four.
♪
Wellingtons are something hard to do really well
and from the first course that went out,
they all looked fantastic.
You should feel good about the work you did today.
But we did have a favorite team.
Kirk, as our guest judge, you have the pleasure
of announcing who won this challenge today.
Thank you. The team that put together
the best selection of dishes
from the beginning to the end is going to be...
The green team. Congratulations, guys.
[laughing]
We won!
Buddha, that's the biggest smile I have seen all season!
That was the hardest challenge, hands down.
- What about you, Gabri? - For me too.
It is the hardest challenge ever.
- First win. - Yeah, it feels really great.
Everything was so beautifully plated.
Your crust was lovely.
Great dishes. Meat was cooked perfectly.
It was just perfection on a plate, bite after bite.
Did you use the thermometer or you just kind of
- left it to the chance? - I don't use the thermometer.
I use a cake tester. I just know the memory of touch.
The peach wellington was one of those things
that's like, why haven't I seen this before?
You executed it so well. You were loving that one, huh?
I loved them all. Really.
I mean, the melba wellington combo
was brilliant and your salmon was seasoned immaculately.
Everything, I think, today that you served us
was seasoned really well.
The diners agreed. Your team got the most votes.
They loved your dishes as well.
Congratulations again.
You can step to the side.
Yellow team and red team,
you had our least favorite dishes of the day
and one team will be going home.
BUDDHA: One minute.
While there was some stunning food today,
there were still some issues with your wellingtons.
Let's start with you, red team.
I thought that your seafood wellington
was beautiful, but the sauce américaine was unnecessary.
I agree. The sauce américaine was a little sharp.
It overwhelmed the tuna.
Ali and Tom, how did the day go for both of you?
I think it was the most challenging day in my career.
Did you both taste the cauliflower?
- Yes. - You [indistinct] and season?
We did season it and I tasted it and I thought it was okay.
We all felt it was under seasoned
and also had a little bit of a strange texture.
Did you add anything to it?
It was boiled then pureed
with xanthan gum and that's it.
Xanthan gum.
We thought it had a gummy tackiness.
Okay.
Let's move on to the meat course.
How did you guys decide to use lamb?
We thought we'd maybe try to do a few outside
of just straight wellington.
I have to applaud you to your whole menu.
You really did that and it did stand out.
It was a courageous choice to do lamb,
but the lamb was a little under.
I saw it was a little under.
We wish we had another extra 10 minutes to cook a little longer.
There was a lot going on there.
Using the braised lamb was a really smart move.
But we walked around and talked to some of the guests.
One person said they couldn't cut it, it was so wrong.
Ali and Tom tell us about your beef wellington.
I did some beef wellington before,
so I said I want to roll it.
I have a passion for it.
The beef is rolled very well,
but the onion puree was an issue.
It was a bit sticky, gummy.
It did feel very tacky and the sides didn't play well
with the rest of the dish.
And that brings us to something sweet.
Talk to us about the decision to do filo pastry.
I think it goes back to what we said earlier.
We were trying to be creative and imaginative.
In terms of creativity, the apple wrapped in the sponge
and the filo, it was a great different selection
- to the rest of the day. - Thank you.
I loved your apples.
I liked that they weren't overcooked and mushy.
It brings a freshness to the dessert
that I really appreciated.
Ali and Tom.
It was a very homely dish.
I think it reminded me of something my grandma,
my mom would cook on a Sunday.
All the flavors are really yummy comfort food.
Tom, you ever thought you'd come here
and someone would tell you you cook like a British grandma?
Congratulations.
I liked the dessert.
Maybe it's not so pretty, but you can't pass it up.
Thank you, Chef.
I think they don't know if that was a compliment.
This is such a hard decision.
- Two people are going home. - Yeah.
We have a lot to discuss. We'll call you back in a bit.
- Thank you. - Thank you.
Whatever happens, happens, yeah?
It was an honor, buddy.
Congrats to Buddha, baby.
Congrats, Buddha and Gabri.
Congrats, well done.
Papi, we're still together.
Even when we're at the bottom, we are together, papi.
Always. I guess me and you are cooking
in Last Chef's Kitchen.
I don't know, man.
There was positives about each and negatives about each
and I don't know.
We broke some Cardinal rules.
We served an undercooked protein and one little technical error
can be the deciding factor.
You go dish to dish, right?
I thought the tuna was slightly better than the salmon,
only because of the underseasoned issues.
And that cauliflower puree was also very tacky.
They weren't mistakes of the wellington,
but they were mistakes on the plate.
Once you get to top six, it's hard.
Especially because it's true, no? It's so painful.
After so many grueling challenges, it is heartbreaking,
just the thought of going home.
I'm not ready. It's not time yet.
The flavor, we all agreed, of Amar and Sara's lamb dish
was truly superior to the beef dish.
It was also the only course
where the protein was inconsistent.
That's, to me, probably the biggest problem.
If you were to receive that in a restaurant, you'd send it back.
Raw lamb goes back. Yeah.
Whereas Tom and Ali's meat course,
it was cooked to perfection.
The pastry was crispy throughout.
But it was a way less exciting, dynamic plate of food.
Which dessert did you prefer?
I would put the apples towards Ali and Tom.
I thought it was a better apple dessert.
I'm gonna have to go to the other side, I think.
Filo pastry and this frozen crème anglaise on top
was an interesting technique.
It added to the playfulness of that dish.
Lady and gentlemen, that was by far the toughest challenge
and I couldn't have chosen six other chefs around me.
Okay. I think we have our decision, yes?
Let's get them out here.
♪
Chefs, you've given us some great meals and it's tough
to send anyone home for a team challenge this late in the game,
but I wouldn't walk out of here with your heads down.
You should feel really proud of what you've done.
Sara and Amar. Please pack your knives and go.
Last Chance Kitchen.
We'll see you there. It is the finale, too.
So you could turn around and get right back in.
Making it this far has been, you know,
a blessing and thank you so much guys.
Thank you for giving me the opportunity to be
part of the Top Chef family again.
Thank you both.
It's tough. Tough choice.
I'm proud of what I've accomplished.
This was a once in a lifetime thing
to be surrounded by other winners, other runner ups.
AMAR: That's okay.
And, I mean, you know, I made it to the top six,
but it still sucks. It still hurts.
Better make America proud.
You better bring it home, you better bring it home to America.
I thought I was too old to compete again,
but making it this far in this competition is--
I feel super accomplished, super happy.
Go get 'em, papi.
Last Chance Kitchen, that's how I made it
into the finale in my season.
I hope that history repeats itself.
It's not over until it's over.
Tonight,
it's the Last Chance Kitchen finale.
Amar and Sara face the current champ.
One of these three will return to the competition.
What's he saying, you guys? What's he saying?
We're saying you look marvelous.
Watch now on Peacock or wherever you stream Top Chef.
PADMA: Next time on Top Chef World All Stars.
Please welcome back to the competition
the winner of Last Chance Kitchen.
Oh, my God!
For your final challenge here in London,
you'll need to impress us with your very own
trompe l'oeil dish.
Tromp what?
It's tromploy or tromplay?
I've never seen anything like it. So cool.
- Look, that's beautiful. - How are you doing?
I think seaweed is a nice alternative for caviar.
I'm making a garden. I'm looking forward
to put the "Ali" in the "finale."
♪
JUDGE: I have to say, it's pretty clever.
I wanna make sure that I push myself.
You're fighting for your life now.
TOM G: Push!
JUDGE: You got my attention.
TOM C: Sh-- just got serious.
Please pack your knives and go.