Previously on Top Chef...
It's a meat raffle.
- Let's go. - I'm going to go corned beef.
Oh.
I like what you did with canned meat.
- Savannah. - Yes!
- What is this? - Gregory Gourdet.
- It's Mei Lin. - Holy sh--.
Have you ever heard of a fish boil?
Woo! That is hot.
This is physically the most demanding challenge
I think we've had.
I've never cut myself like this.
I'm trying to not think too much about the pain.
- Are you okay? - I'll be okay.
My water's tasty.
I'm getting ready to blow this mother up.
The fish got a lot of flavor from that broth.
- Danny, you killed it. - Thank you.
- Good luck, Soo. - Oh, man. I need it.
The fish itself is terribly bland.
It tasted like a raw casserole.
I feel really defeated.
I love wilted salad, but not like this.
Manny, Savannah, and Soo,
you had our least favorite dishes of the day.
Savannah, good thing you won the Quickfire.
Soo, please pack your knives and go.
Five 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 Springwater,
and the title of Top Chef.
It's a new day. My hand feels a lot better.
But having a really hard week last week
made me homesick and I miss my family.
My dad, in his retirement, has actually taken up a lot
of knife making, and I actually had knives to bring with me
that he made for me specifically for this competition.
It is a fun way to have him support me being here,
and it also is a nice way to remind me
that home isn't that far away.
Man, this competition is almost over.
Almost over. What are you looking forward the most?
- Like, going home and what? - Being with my wife.
As much as I love y'all, I want to just be with my wife.
No, I get it. No feelings are hurt.
Me and Kate have been together for 18 years,
and not only is she my wife, she's my best friend.
Knowing my wife is a five-minute drive away
and I can't see her is difficult.
But I've tried out for Top Chef,
legitimately, like 13 times.
She knows how much it would mean to me to be the next Top Chef.
We're talking about what we're doing first thing off the plane.
Oh, I'm gonna kiss my boyfriend.
That's the first thing.
My boyfriend is my greatest supporter.
I know he's proud of me, and these chances that I'm taking,
like, being in barbecue, starting my own business,
he's everything to me, and I'm about to start crying.
I just miss him so much, but that's not distracting me.
I think I have a good chance to win this.
Molly and I talked about getting a cabin
in the mountains in Colorado.
Be there, like completely disconnected.
The person that is rooting for me
the hardest is my fiancée, Molly.
She's somebody that has supported me so much.
I truly wouldn't be here without her.
We're close.
Couple more cooks and then that's out the door.
- Speaking of out the door. - Yeah, let's go, let's go.
Man, what does today have in store for us?
What are you making, Tom?
You know, it's kind of like Thai-inspired.
I figured, why not wok some lobster?
It smells so good.
I know, it already smells so good.
- Ginger always smells good. - Stir-frying aromatics.
Fennel, leeks, ginger, garlic.
Yeah, so I'm gonna make a dish,
and we're gonna play a little game.
Ooh.
I wanna walk in there,
and see someone cooking already.
What's the inspiration for this dish?
- The wok. - The wok one.
- The wok. - It's gonna be the first thing
I've ever eaten that Tom himself has cooked.
- Oh, really? - Mm-hmm. It's a big moment.
Smells pretty good.
- Here we go. - Here we go.
- Let's dig in. - Yeah.
I made lobster stir-fry.
It's like a cooked lobster salad.
Yeah, exactly.
As the kids would say, this----s, Tom.
- Is that what they say? - That'’s right.
This----s.
And we're back.
That was delicious. Grab the cloche.
Oh, chef's got his chef coat on.
And a mic?
- Are we doing karaoke? - Absolutely.
- Good morning, chefs. - Good morning.
That fish boil was tough, but you guys are all still here.
I can't believe there's only five of you left.
Oh, not for much longer.
I've had my work cut out for me the last couple weeks
on Last Chance Kitchen.
The chefs made some spectacular dishes,
but only one is joining you. Not two.
- No, just one. That's it. - Okay. Great.
Please welcome back into the Top Chef kitchen...
Oh, my God.
Yay. Laura's back.
- Welcome back. - Thank you.
Welcome back.
I can see their faces.
I think the chefs are scared to see me back.
It's a competition,
and it's going to be one of us at this point.
Laura coming back is definitely the scariest.
She's probably the biggest competition coming in.
And I think if she can put her flavors together,
she's there in the finals.
Laura, how was the time in Last Chance Kitchen?
The toughest time from the whole competition.
It'’s time for the final test. Make a great plate of food.
It's right there. I mean, I just have to do one more dish.
I want to focus on vegetables.
- We had a favorite, Laura. - No way.
- Feels good to be back, huh? - Absolutely.
Don't get too comfortable. No.
All right, chefs. Who's ready to take on Tom?
Chefs, you're in for a very special treat.
Underneath this cloche right here is a dish
that's going to really challenge you.
- An empty plate. - Not completely.
Earlier, before you got to the kitchen,
I made a dish that both Kristen and Gail tasted.
I want you to make the same dish.
But how are you going to figure out what I made?
We have to taste it.
No, you have to get inside my head.
- Oh, wow. - We're going to play
a little game of 20 questions.
- Mm. - I'm feeling a little generous.
- 24 questions. - Oh, my gosh.
You can ask anything you want,
but Tom can only answer yes or no.
Each of you can ask one question
before the clock starts,
so you have a starting point for the day.
Then when time starts,
you'll each have an additional three questions to ask.
That's why that microphone's there.
Say it loud so everyone can hear it.
You don't want to waste a question by asking
- the same question twice. - This is terrible.
This is genius.
As you can see, Tom was kind enough
to give you a little hint to start you off.
You can smell it, you can look at the dish,
but don't stick your fingers in it and taste it.
Perfect.
And just remember, how you perform in the Quickfire
will come into play if you are on the bottom
in the Elimination Challenge.
- Yes. - Of course. Yes.
Laura, since you just got back into the competition,
why don't you go first with your question?
Is this dish some sort of pasta?
No.
- Is this dish a soup? - No.
Does this dish contain any fruit?
Yes.
Does this dish contain a protein?
Yes.
- That's the most vague thing. - Dan?
- Is that protein from the sea? - Yes.
I know it's seafood. I'm really hoping
that Manny's just going to follow up to narrow that in.
- Manny? - Um, is it like a porridge?
- What the [bleep]? - Nope.
- No. Okay. - What? What? Why?
When was the last time you ate a seafood porridge?
Each of you has up to three more questions to ask.
And make sure you're asking the right questions, '‘cause
there is $10,000 on the line in Quickfire Quick Cash.
- Yay! - Let's go. Let'’s go.
You have 30 minutes on the clock.
Your time starts now.
Everybody seems to be running
and already starting to cook.
And I'm like, what the heck is everybody cooking?
I take a moment to smell the plate to try to get some
more inspiration for what questions to ask.
Parsley for sure. Garlic.
Having an understanding that it is seafood,
I look to see what seafood is in the region.
I see lobsters, clams, and a little bit of everything.
I got it. Chef, is it a cioppino?
- No. - Okay. Not a cioppino.
I don't even know where to begin for this.
Chef, is it bouillabaisse?
No.
- Is this Asian? - Yes.
- Asian. Oh, sh--. - All right, that just changed.
It has to be something with Asian ingredients.
And I smell beef sauce.
She took a minute. That's good.
- Chef, do you have fish sauce? - Yes.
Okay, fish sauce, fish sauce.
This is really hard.
I have no idea what the heck I'm making. Come on, questions.
Smelling it, I'm picking up on wok, ginger and garlic.
I've worked in a very small restaurant for four years where
that smell, it's like it's burned into my nostrils forever.
Chef, do you have coconut?
No coconut.
Chef, did you cook any components using heat?
Yes.
- He said yes to coconut? - No, no.
Chef, is there lobster in the dish?
- Yes. - Lobster.
- God damn. - Now we're getting somewhere.
Lobster in the dish.
- You say heat or cooked? - Cooked like heat.
Okay, well not ceviche.
- It could be. - 11 questions left.
Chef, did you cook this using acid?
- No. - Chef?
- Yep. - Is lobster the only protein
- from the sea? - Yes.
My strategy is I'm going to have people ask
the questions so I can focus on the cooking.
And I saw that there was some sort of red broth in it,
so I'm thinking, how's have tomato?
Chef, is there tomato paste?
No.
- Oh, no. - Is there tomato at all?
No tomato.
Oh, well, that goes out the window.
17 minutes left.
Chef, is there a spicy element to the dish?
Yes.
- Chef, is there any bok choy? - Yes.
I----ing got him. I got him.
You know what it is?
I think it's a----ing mung curry.
- Chef, I have one more. - I know they said tomato paste,
- but is there any-- - No, no, no. Don't ask it.
Don't ask that. No tomato at all.
- No tomato? - No tomato. Don't ask that.
Do you have any red pepper in it?
- Yes. - Ah, yes.
- This is the craziness. - Four questions left.
Any question, guys, that you want to ask?
Is the protein served hot or cold?
Is the protein served cold or hot?
I guess you can't ask that. That's a stupid question.
- Is the protein cold? - No.
- That means it's hot, guys. - This dish is starting
to remind me of a stir-fry situation,
but I don't want to say stir-fry because I don't want
everyone to run and grab a wok.
Chef, would you call this a salad of sorts?
Yes.
- A salad of sorts. - Of sorts.
I don't even know what that means.
The salad question definitely threw me for a curveball.
Candied ginger would be nice.
I'm making this onion, fennel, red curry situation.
Maybe I have it, maybe I don't, but regardless,
I need to just make a tasty dish.
13 minutes, chefs, 13 minutes.
Oh, God, this is stressful.
I'm going to go around and ask them what they're making.
- Report back. - You're using a wok?
- Yes, chef. - Okay.
I don't know, maybe it's just me.
I haven't noticed them in here before,
so I'm going to wok some garlic
and bok choy with red chilies, and that's what I got.
- Okay. - So far.
- Chef? - Yes?
Do you use any spring rolls in this dish?
- No. - Laura, what are you making?
Oh, my God, chef.
A little bit of a salad for garnishes,
some ginger, bok choy, curry paste, and the lobster.
And the lobster.
I definitely know this is not like Tom's dish.
I'm just hoping it's a little bit close.
Anyone close? And who?
Savannah said she's using a wok,
because, "I noticed there's a wok in the kitchen and
- we haven't seen it before." - Smart.
Okay, chefs, you have five minutes.
There's still one question remaining.
I have a question. What do you want?
What's the fruit? Is it pineapple?
- Is it pineapple? - No.
God damn it.
Okay, chefs, there are no more questions left.
I think I'm in the ballpark of Tom's dish, but I look over,
and Savannah's got a wok, and I'm like, God damn it.
One minute and 50 seconds.
Oh, too high. I got it charred all the way. Woo!
I feel so much judgment right now.
I don't even know where I am anymore.
Yeah. I am just winging it.
Five, four, three, two, one.
- Time is up. - Time is up.
I don't know what I just made.
So, chefs, I don't know enough about this type of food
to actually do it in a restaurant,
but I love cooking it at home.
- That's the dish. - Beautiful.
What I did here is I made a stir-fry of lobster,
ginger, bok choy, red onion, there's fennel.
- Fennel. - You got fennel.
- There's candied ginger. - Yes.
- Oh, you got candied ginger. - Yeah.
A little fish sauce, lime juice. That's the fruit.
And then there's Thai basil, basil, parsley, cilantro.
- Yeah. Meh. - And curry leaves.
It literally took me eight minutes to cook it.
- It was fun. - For you.
Michelle, why don't you bring yours up here?
Let's see how close you got.
I quick-poached lobster.
I marinated it in a sauce that had most of
the ingredients time-listed, but not all.
You smelled the plate a lot.
- What were you getting? - I knew it wasn't a sauce dish,
but I could see that there was remnants of something.
Manny, come on up.
I poached the lobster and bok choy.
Then I added some lime juice, cilantro, parsley, ginger,
and then infused seafood stock with a red miso.
That's where the red came from.
Just came from the lobster.
All right, Savannah.
I made a lobster stir-fry.
There's red fresnos in there, bok choy, ginger, and garlic.
When you looked at the bottom of the bowl, there's no sauce.
Why did you think you needed a sauce?
I thought that you guys ate all the sauce,
so I thought it would be saucy.
We would really have to lick the bowl to do that.
Laura.
- Okay. - Thank you.
I blanched the lobster.
I made a sauce with a little bit of curry,
a little bit of fresnos, some garlic,
parsley, and fish sauce.
Did you smell the curry in the dish?
- I did. - Mm-hmm.
All right, Dan.
I also smelled the curry.
I started off cooking the lobster in broth
made with lemongrass, onions, ginger, and then I stir-fried
it with onions, bok choy, cilantro, and the lobster.
The one day you go easy on the herbs, Dan.
Danny.
Kind of a fennel curry.
There's fish sauce, onion, ginger.
I poached the lobster in the sauce.
What did you think of this challenge?
Um, it was a fun one.
I have to say, you all got a lot more than I expected you to.
Yeah, this was fun.
Let's give them a little bit of feedback.
Who do you think got the closest to your dish?
- Savannah got the wok-- - She did.
Which was a good observation.
I love the texture of your vegetables.
They were pretty damn close to the vegetables in Tom's.
Michelle, look-wise, it was there.
It was the only one without sauce,
but some of the ingredients weren't cooked enough.
Dan, look-wise, pretty close, and I was really impressed
with how many ingredients you got.
All right, Tom, which chef got the closest
in taste and presentation?
The chef that came the closest in spirit of the dish...
Savannah. Yes!
- Congratulations, Savannah. - Thanks, guys.
This feels really good.
I didn't let myself get too in my head.
I trusted my gut, and these are all things that I really need
to gain my confidence back after this last Elimination Challenge.
Congratulations, Savannah.
You just won $10,000, thanks to our friends
at the Wells Fargo Active Cash Credit Card.
- Nice. - Yes.
Unfortunately, there were a few dishes
that did fall just a little bit short.
Laura, your dish is in the Tom direction.
It was a little bit salty.
Manny, you got there, too.
I just thought there was an overabundance of lime juice.
Danny looked nothing like it.
However, it was one of the more delicious bites.
- Wasn'’t close, I mean- - It just wasn't his dish.
All right, so now that we have all the fun and games
out of the way, back to business.
Let's lay it all out on the table.
Hm.
Chefs, what does a crawfish boil,
a kamayan, and a grazing table all have in common?
- It'’s eaten on the table. - There you go.
They are types of meals that are served directly
on tables without any plates.
Crawfish boils, that's up my alley.
Grazing tables, that's up my alley, too.
But what else is there, Kristen?
We want you to throw the norm out the window
and think beyond the plate.
There are fine dining chefs all over the world
that are actually using the table to plate their food.
You have Grant Achatz at Alinea,
creating desserts for guests literally to eat off the table.
Over at Disfrutar in Spain, the chefs have a living table
with secret compartments for dishes to be placed inside.
For your Elimination Challenge, we want you to create a dish
that is directly plated on a tabletop.
Instead of giving us one great plate of food,
give us one great table of food.
Your creation can be sweet or savory,
as long as it all fits on one tabletop.
This tabletop, to be exact.
You'll have your tabletop at the station during the cook,
so you can plate it right there.
Or you can plate it tableside, in front of us.
You'll be serving an intimate table of Gail,
Tom, myself, and two Michelin-starred chef
and owner of Ever Restaurant, Curtis Duffy.
So cool.
Curtis Duffy's incredibly fitting for this challenge.
My man is a mad scientist.
He's just doing some really outside-the-box
cooking and thinking.
Danny, as the winner of the last Elimination Challenge,
you'll have an additional 30 minutes to cook on day two.
Dope.
Good luck, and we'll see you tomorrow.
See you tomorrow.
I know.
Now, we're back to girl car, boy car.
- Here we go. - Congrats, Savannah.
- So good. - Just racking it up.
What are you thinking for this?
Uh... I'm gonna go sweet, actually.
This is a good challenge to go sweet. I, however, am not.
Are you gonna go with barbecue?
[laughing] No.
Kristen spoke about a crawfish boil,
we just did a fish boil.
Those are the first things that I would typically go to,
but I don't want to be too cliche.
I think I'm gonna utilize salmon.
For my highlight, beets,
and play either a deviled egg or egg salad.
Putting, like, a brunch idea on this table
could work if I'm able to execute it.
There's so many things you can do with brunch,
and I definitely want to be impressive.
I don't know what it's gonna look like.
I gotta think some more
as to how these components will come together.
- So what are you doing? - Squid ink risotto
with a scallop and a sun-dried tomato puree.
I am very confident with risotto because of the background
that I have had in Italian cuisine, working at Frasca.
This dish can be spread throughout the table,
and can be eaten separately or mixed together.
So, it's perfect for this challenge.
Let's go.
Run, run, run, run, run. I'm behind you.
Okay, don't run me over.
I'm still trying to figure out all the components of my dish.
Okay, I'll take three of those, please.
My knee-jerk reaction for this is to do a paella.
All the paellas that I've ever cooked or eaten
are fairly large
and they're for a substantial amount of people.
And so this challenge is a really great opportunity
to create this kind of communal dining experience.
17 minutes, chefs.
I need some eggs.
I'm actually doing dessert. I'm just loving this challenge.
...like, a seafood boil with some spices on top.
Serving food on the table is going to be like
having a blank canvas, and a really big one.
You have to show some creativity to it.
I'm actually doing a play on sour cherry,
baklava, pistachios, the idea of honey presented
in many different ways.
Fresh horseradish.
'‘Cause it pairs well with beets and salmon.
Ten minutes, chefs.
Savannah, what route are you taking here?
Um, I'm going, like, zensai, the first course of a kaiseki?
Traditional zensai is a bunch of little different bites
that are all really fun, but they have a connection.
Do you guys have octopus?
So, I'm leaning into doing a celebration of the sea.
I want to get a lot of seaweed
and different types of seafood items.
What are you looking for, homie?
I don't really know at this moment.
Figs might work.
I don't know where my cart is. Grabbing some figs.
I don't even know if I'm going to use it, but I'm grabbing it.
Two minutes.
I need to get my butt in line.
We have, what, 300?
Yeah, so let's do this first.
And this, 270.
Can I just do less lemons?
Yeah, that feels right. Cool. Thank you.
Ooh, Lord.
Good luck, everybody.
This is the biggest table ever.
Savannah, how are you using your table?
I'm going to be painting on the table.
There will be sea moss on the table
with oysters coming out of it.
I don't know. I'm still figuring it out, Manny.
The biggest thing on my prep list is
I have to cook my octopus.
I will not have time to do this tomorrow,
and if it doesn't have enough time to cook,
it's not going to be tender.
What are you working on, Manny?
My sofrito for the risotto.
Last elimination challenge,
Tom told me that I needed to swing for the fences.
A lot scarier than doing risotto on Top Chef.
I've made a butternut squash risotto.
I call it the curse of the risotto.
I'm making like a sausage risotto.
Please pack your knives and go.
However, I am very confident with risotto.
I think I have made more risottos
than I have made tortillas.
So, I got this idea for a beet tartare.
I need to get those guys in the oven now.
I have this smoked beet dish that mimics beef tartare.
All right.
And then I want to tie this all together with a flatbread.
Whoa, too much.
I want them to try different bits of everything
and swipe through and, who knows?
Oh, yeah.
The fact that I'm going with something that
doesn't need to be hot, I think, is really smart.
You know, Manny wants to do this risotto,
but it's going to hit a table and just seize up or get cold.
It's all about having a good time.
One hour and 15 minutes, guys.
These are the seasonings for the salmon.
I'm going to do a play on brunch.
Beet biscuit with salmon, eggs, and caviar.
I have several purees,
so I want to knock all those out.
Having worked with the Bocuse D'’or team,
everything was meticulous, and it's perfect.
I've definitely grown away from cooking food that way.
I like to cook food that's a little bit more playful,
so I'm looking at this table as a canvas.
I want to highlight a negative space
with these dark green purees and black rice.
I think chefs are artists.
I've staged at Alinea, throwing purees and sauces around.
I'm going to let it loose a little bit.
This is ice cream number one, clotted cream ice cream.
This is a Turkish ice cream from Maras.
It's a little bit chewier, so it will hold up
very well on the table.
I'm making honey and I'm making sour cherry ice cream.
Nice.
My integration of the plating is based on
the idea of my restaurant and what inspires me.
Top Chef taught me to be very confident about who I am.
I'm very proud of being an immigrant from Mexico,
that can cook anything, and just being me.
This challenge seems like a lot of fun.
Do you have an idea how you're going to be using the table yet?
Honestly, I really don't know what my final plating will be.
I have zero background with art.
Typically, my plates are just comfortable.
I don't play at all with tweezers, to be honest with you.
Ah! That didn't work out so well.
Look at my beets.
These beets are not cooked. Like, not cooked at all.
Oh, my God.
They're like rocks.
How are these not - ing cooked yet?
My plan right now is to crank the oven up
and I'm just praying.
Oh, dude.
Savannah, do you want to check this?
It should have five minutes.
Ugh. No, this is bad.
The octopus is stressing me out.
I'm wishing I had used a pressure cooker.
It's not going to be tender. I needed more time to let it go.
15 minutes, chefs.
Why won't you cook?
I'm in full panic.
If I don't get the beets cooked,
I'm basically giving them a table of puree.
It's not going to get done in time.
It'’s not getting done?
I'm going to sous vide these suckers overnight.
You know, I really wanted to get them
peeled and dealt with tonight.
Tomorrow's just going to have to be very, very efficient.
Two minutes, chefs.
I got all my prep done,
so tomorrow I'm just going to focus on
my pesto and my risotto.
Let's get out of here.
I got a lot to think about tonight.
Yeah.
Hi, guys.
Oh, you all moved in?
I'm already moved in. What are you guys drawing?
We're trying to get some inspo for tomorrow.
Like, even-- even what I pictured that
I want to plate, I cannot draw it.
My artistry did not come in the form of drawing.
My artistry was in sports, singing and stage plays.
Mine was music and sports.
I had a band, had three albums with them.
- For real? - Wow.
When I was in high school, I played bass in a band,
what now would be considered emo punk.
So, I'm an elder emo.
Look, this is where I'm at. This is my drawing.
I'm just going over and over how this table could possibly look.
With all of the colors that I'm going to be able to get from
these ingredients, designing a mosaic might be a good idea.
Danny is very lucky to get extra 30 minutes.
Oh, my God, yeah.
I'm going to use every second of this 30 minutes.
This is my kind of kitchen, this is what I'm talking about.
First order of business, hard cook my lobsters and my mussels.
And then I get my rice into some Viking pots.
The towel is going to absorb the moisture from the rice
and catch the steam.
I mean, I don't want it to be cooked, but slightly chewy,
I want it to have some texture.
But then the base of it, I want it to be like, hella crispy.
This black rice got me thinking about Basquiat paintings.
A lot of his work is typically on a large white canvas,
and he'll start with a painting, and a lot of times he'll start
an entirely different painting over top of that.
And that's kind of where I got the inspiration to frame
everything in and make it this paella portrait.
Holy sh--, you're all here.
Kitchen to yourself, not for long.
We heard you were a little lonely.
Honestly, I didn't miss any of you.
Ooh! They are definitely cooked.
It is a major relief my beets are cooked.
I gotta get them peeled
and then get them over to that smoker.
One hour and 18, guys.
So...
I need to make the filo.
I need to make a couple sauces,
but I just want to make sure
I have everything done in the next 50 minutes or so,
so I can dedicate my time to plating.
It's like Bob Ross is home again, baby.
I am working on a buttermilk beet biscuit.
The key to a great biscuit,
I like to work the cold butter with my hands.
I pride myself on making a really great biscuit.
It's really a simple task that many don't get right.
Charring my octopus. Oh, my God, this is so----ing hot.
I tasted the octopus the night before
and I thought it was like a little chewy,
so I'm charring it,
and hopefully it's not, like, octopus jerky.
So raspberry, cookie crumble. Okay, got it.
I didn't get nearly as much done
as I wanted to get done yesterday,
so really today is all about having to figure it out.
And I'm not going to mess around with the pitas in the oven.
I'm just going to do them on the flat top.
This is going to give the bread a really nice
crispy outside, like an English muffin,
and real fluffy on the inside like a pita.
I'm just calling it a puffin.
I don't really know what this is.
- I need a minute. - Danny, what's going on?
Not now, dude.
My heart stops.
Burnt some of my rice.
My entire dish is based around this rice.
If this is all burnt, I'm going to go home.
Think I burnt some of my rice.
Oh, boy.
The bottom of my rice is burnt.
The bitterness and the char, it's bad.
My timing was totally off, but the top of the rice isn't burnt.
Pivots, baby. It's all about pivoting.
Making some chips.
They'’re just crunchy texture for the dish.
Ice cream is good.
I have this like energy, I think,
from going through Last Chance Kitchen,
and I actually see that I can win it.
Making honey sauce.
Pray for me. Taking off the tape.
This pesto is from Sicily.
Being on the coast, it goes really well with seafood.
I'm leaving myself with a 30-minute window
to cook my risotto.
If I leave the risotto resting more, it may overcook.
As long as I follow the timeline
that I set for myself, it should be fine.
I don't nearly have enough rice in this.
Okay. Pivoting. Pivoting.
Make it stretch for a mile.
Smells good.
Yeah, it smells great.
Very quiet in here.
- Focus. - Everyone's very focused, yeah.
The final plate doesn't look like I'm missing rice.
It looks full, it looks intentional.
I'm excited about this.
- Yeah, it looks fun. - Hi, Danny.
- What's up, chefs? - Tell us about your table.
This is my version of a paella.
So, I've got some black rice that's been tossed
with a piquillo pepper puree.
I saw this as a big canvas. I thought of Basquiat.
You know, a lot of his work, he'll start
and then paint over with black.
Um, which is basically where the black rice came into play.
The border is several different purees.
There's black garlic, there's zucchini,
and then there's a creme fraiche,
all to kind of tie into everything on top.
- Thanks, Danny. - Thank you, chefs.
I do love the border.
When it first was presented, I thought, where's the sauce?
As we went and realized it'’s-- That's actually the sauce.
- Yeah. - I think it's beautiful.
I also think it's very clever with the white space,
which I think adds to the sort of
artfulness of the presentation.
Yeah. It's almost like framed.
- Really thoughtful. - Very.
- And it tastes pretty good. - It does.
- It tastes really good! - And it complements everything.
And the texture of the rice is really fantastic.
Yeah. And the seafood's all really nicely cooked.
It is.
I got no notes.
Off to a good start.
Bye.
Oh, my God.
My anxiety level is through the roof.
I am doing three things at the same time.
Plating the table, working the risotto,
and cooking the seafood.
Oh, [bleep]. Woo.
I'm going about this very organically.
I am taking a little bit of artistic inspiration.
There's definitely some Pollock-ness to it.
I feel good. I feel good.
I want to use just the table
and kind of let my creativity flow
in the moment a little bit.
This table looks striking. It's colorful.
I think what I've done is create something
that's really true to me.
Tartare. Beet tartare.
What, it'’s tartare?
- It smells good. - Hi.
- Dan, what do we have here? - Beet tartare.
Mixed with tahini, pickled apples, celery and shallots.
We have a beet puree with shiro dashi and fish sauce.
A fried kale and pumpkin seed puree
with a little fried kale salad.
We have some scallion powder.
There's black garlic labneh with harissa oil
and horseradish emulsion.
And then, it'’s somewhere between a pita and an English muffin.
That'’s a perfect description.
I just call them puffins.
I just had a good time with this.
- Great. Thanks, Dan. - Thanks, guys.
I mean, it's playful. It's fun.
It's a lot of organic movements going on.
Very Jackson Pollock style.
Yeah. I love these puffins.
There's like a real fluffiness to them. It's so great.
The fun thing about this, you try different pieces,
so you try some of the beets and labneh together,
and it'’s really nice.
Try the beets and horseradish together.
You kind of mix and match them.
Beets are one of my all-time favorites,
so to have them like this where if you close your eyes
and questioned if it was a beet or not
because of the smokiness, it's just a lot of fun.
- What are you doing over there? - I'm just playing now.
Make one big bite. Isn't that the whole point?
Yeah. Go for it.
Oh, you're really just...
Puffin sandwich?
Oh. Girl.
Someone had to do it.
- Dan. - Yup.
- How'd you do? - I think I did good.
I pull my biscuits out of the oven.
I feel like they can go a little bit longer,
but at this point, I don't have enough time
to let them go further because they still have to cool.
I'm a little nervous about this. We gonna pray.
- Who is next? Manny. - Manny.
Okay, so.
Oh, here. Put that...
For the last five minutes, it's just getting out of hand.
My risotto is too tight.
I am very worried. I know a bad risotto when I see it.
It's a risotto in Top Chef.
Aw, that doesn't look purposeful.
That looks like a mistake.
- Hello, chefs. - Hi, Manny.
We have a squid ink risotto with crab,
scallops, shrimp.
It does smell great.
Maybe this is the key to risotto on Top Chef. Tableside.
Right there. Yeah.
We have a pesto trapanese. It doesn't have cheese in it.
It has sun-dried tomatoes, colatura I alici,
and marcona almonds in it.
The green oil is a basil. The red oil is a calabria.
And what's this?
Just panko with butter, parsley and lemon zest.
- Thank you, Manny. - Thank you.
I mean, it's interesting.
Black risotto is very dramatic
once it hits that white backdrop.
How's everyone's seafood cooked?
The scallop I had was pretty over.
The shrimp is quite over, too.
Yeah, and the heat is a little too aggressive.
Yeah, my mouth is still on fire from the risotto.
And I think that his risotto seized up
and needed to be a lot looser.
I do like the flavor of Manny's risotto.
Yeah, the flavor's good, but the seafood's overcooked.
It is.
You know, that's not subjective.
Savannah, how's your plating going?
It's gonna come down to the wire.
What's next?
I'm a little concerned for Michelle.
Her table's very compact.
It's not what I envisioned her talking about.
There is five minutes left
and I have a ton of negative space.
That is not how I wanted to plate.
It's not enough time for me to build this mosaic
to the size that I need it to be.
I have to go with what I have.
All right, so now we have Michelle.
Do you have table-side stuff?
- No, we don't. - No.
Oh, this is it.
Michelle, can you tell us about your table?
Definitely inspired by brunch today,
so I did a play on gravlax and bagels.
Instead, I did cured salmon with beet biscuits.
There's pickled beets with capers,
and then there's a little egg with caviar
and then a fig jam with bacon.
And the chips are seasoned with beets and Cajun seasoning.
Michelle, why did you choose to not use the whole table?
Um, I really just want you to be interactive with this.
More importantly, um, time is hard.
Yeah, okay.
Thank you so much.
Thank you, Michelle.
It feels almost weird
that you're not taking it from here
to a plate to then eat.
Yes, she bunched it all up, just--
- Right. - Give it some room
to breathe, you know?
A big surface like that could be super intimidating.
You know, how do you get all these elements
to stand alone on their own?
And like Michelle, knowing the barbecue
and the crab boils and the things that she does.
- Yeah. - Just...
The biscuit is very strange to me. It feels almost uncooked.
I think it's uncooked.
It seems microwaved. Seems like that microwave sponge.
Another issue is this doesn't take collectively.
- No. - Yeah.
There's a lot of things clashing here.
This looks like it's a dish
that's supposed to be eaten together.
To eat this together, it's not successful.
This doesn't feel like her at all.
- No. - No, no.
Savannah, you have seven minutes left.
Oh, my gosh.
I have my tablescape pretty much all set,
but there's still so much to do, so I'm really having
to prioritize here in the last five minutes.
We might be shucking oysters table-side, guys.
I'm just going to plate, like if I'm plating a painting.
Holy [bleep].
Sour cherries here.
Oh, my God.
I just want to do the tempura very last second.
Oh, my God. Ugh.
Okay.
Please be careful.
More seafood, yes.
Hi, you guys.
This is very dramatic.
I was inspired by the first course in
a traditional Kaiseki cuisine, the zensai course.
So, the first bite is a kombu cured salmon nigiri
with a little bit of wasabi.
The second bite is shrimp tempura
with a yuzu ponzu daikon gane.
The third bite is a boiled and grilled octopus,
and then seared tuna with black garlic soy glaze.
And then the last bite, a oyster
with an aji amarillo sauce, a champagne gelee and caviar.
- Thank you, Savannah. - Thank you. Enjoy.
Thanks, Savannah.
I found Savannah's presentation
and how she described what she was doing
incredibly thoughtful and with purpose.
Yeah, I do love the minimalness of everything. It's super clean.
You can see everything. It's very well portioned.
There's a lot of restraint there.
Yep. What I don't care for is the octopus.
The octopus, the texture is really mushy,
and it's over charred.
I found the tempura ate very greasy,
but I like that she ended on the oyster.
I felt like it was leading up to the high castle
of oyster decadence.
Yeah, almost finishing it
like it was a palate cleanser at the very end.
I thought it was a beautiful touch.
Ice creams.
With my plating, I'm kind of putting myself out there.
Like, I'm actually playing with the space.
I'm using the powder. I'm using the ice creams.
Four, three, feeling great, one.
Let's go.
A little liquid nitrogen coming.
- Here we are. - Hi, Laura.
- Hello. - Wow.
So I do have a lot of stuff.
- You were busy. - So, raspberries.
And then I'll do a little bit of meringue.
This is for crunch.
And to me, everything comes together
- with a circle of baklava. - Wow.
The ice creams are chewy ice cream called maras.
Starting from the right, that's rose creme anglaise,
sour cherry, pistachio, and the last one is honey.
So, you break the baklava. Yeah, perfect.
Have you done anything like this before?
I never thought in my life
that I would be doing something like this.
I had so much fun.
- Fantastic. Thank you, Laura. - Thank you.
Thank you so much, Laura.
I'm in love with the baklava.
The filo is crispy. It's caramelly.
Nutty and buttery.
I think Laura did an amazing job here. Every bite's different.
Every bite is interesting. And everything is just done nicely.
I appreciate the table service. It all was with purpose.
Because if the ring of the baklava sat too long,
it might soak in some of the ice cream.
Yeah. I didn't see it coming, either.
And it's delicious.
Chewy ice cream, I like a lot.
You know, I've heard about it
and it really lives up to the hype.
It's like if mochi and ice cream had a baby.
Mm-hmm. All the flavors are so clear and beautiful and so fun.
This is like using your imagination.
Yeah, and the fact that she's never done this before
is clearly a mark of her taking risks.
Great way to end.
- Good way. Great way. - Fantastic.
So, I'm excited to get to judges table
because overall the day was really, really successful.
Yeah.
Oof. Anybody want a beer?
- Yep, I'll help you. - Yes, please.
I have no doubts in my mind that mine was not great.
The risotto was tight
and that's like a no-no with risotto.
I'm just really not good at structural things
and I just couldn't pull it together for some reason.
I am really nervous.
If I'm on the bottom,
I'm hoping that my Quickfire dish saves me.
- Let's go. - Let's get it.
Chefs, I think overall, we had a really fun time.
We could tell that you all were having a lot of fun.
As chefs, sometimes it's hard to let go
because we're so used to trying to control everything,
and I think that the chefs that did that had a much better day.
All right, chefs, we'd like to speak with Laura,
Danny, and Dan.
The rest of you can step aside.
The three of you had our favorite tables of the day.
Thank you.
Congratulations.
Yeah, what I love about all three is that
you all really went for it, but the cooking was also very good.
Oh, thank you.
Dan, visually it was beautiful when it came to the table.
It was like a Jackson Pollock, as we were talking about.
It was fun. It was fun.
Dan, every time you took a bite,
- it changed. - Yeah.
And at the very end,
Kristen actually built a sandwich of everything.
[laughing] Yes!
I took the two puffins, and I mashed it together.
Is that going to be a thing now, puffins?
It's going to be. It's going to be.
Also, it's a vegetarian dish. I didn't miss meat at all.
Thank you.
Danny, I for one thought that frame was tape,
and then Tom just swiped his finger through it.
I was like, "Okay, I see where this is going."
It was dead center, like you almost measured.
I did.
What I really enjoyed about it is that
it didn't have just one flavor
and collectively, it also created a nice flavor.
The marbling effect of the sauces was so stunning.
They all had delicious savoriness.
Dipping a beautiful piece of lobster through that sauce
- was, like, such a pleasure. - Thank you.
Laura, this was a good day for you.
You knocked it out of the park.
The ice cream mochi baby thing was just unreal.
- Maras. - Just sensational.
I don't think there was not one smile at any point
while we were eating your dessert.
I got to say, the filo demands respect.
When it came to the table as a finishing moment,
it was so perfectly executed.
It was such a dramatic, exciting moment.
That filo was the key to the whole experience.
- Yes. - It was very moving.
Thank you. Thank you so much.
Curtis, as our guest judge, you have the pleasure
of announcing our winner.
The winning chef today gave us beautiful plating,
amazing technique, and overall passion for
what they put on the plate today.
And the winner is...
- Laura. - Oh, my goodness.
Yeah, awesome.
Congratulations, Laura.
Thank you so much.
- Way to come back. - Yeah.
Yes. This feels amazing. Thank you.
To come back from Last Chance Kitchen
and win this, it feels great.
It's like the hard work, it'’s actually paying off.
And I think that the other chefs see it, too.
Well, congratulations, Laura.
You just won an advantage going into
the next Elimination challenge.
Thank you so much. Thank you.
You can step to the side, please.
We would like to speak with Manny and Michelle, please.
Savannah, you're right in the middle, so you're safe.
Savannah, you did a beautiful job today.
Your octopus was off,
but you gave us a really beautiful table.
Thank you.
Michelle and Manny, unfortunately, that does mean
that you two had our least favorite tables of the day
and one of you will be eliminated.
Michelle, how did the day go for you?
The day was a little challenging.
I was trying to go for a mosaic look
and I just kind of ran out of time.
You know, Michelle, the potato chips weren't thick enough.
- They broke. - And then the cake,
it was more like a cake than a biscuit.
- It didn't have the structure. - It felt undercooked.
I knew it could go for another couple of minutes,
but unfortunately, I didn't have the minutes.
Because there were sauces and soft elements,
you're almost forced to swipe everything
and eat it in one bite.
Did you want us to do that?
I don't know if I fully thought, like, you're going to take
a bit of everything to put on there, maybe.
If you think of a charcuterie board and kind of that,
I think that concept you were going for,
you had all the right elements there.
Where it falls short is in the execution
of many components.
Just needed a little bit more breathing room in there.
Gail, what did you think of Manny's table?
The flavor of your risotto was excellent,
but where the flavor really stood out,
the texture wasn't right.
It's a seafood dish and it was all overcooked.
I think we all agreed that that was probably
the biggest downfall of the dish,
was the attention to detail in the cooking of the shellfish.
Some of the ways that things were plated,
it just felt like you were rushed.
There was one pile of panko in a corner, just of panko.
Every other panko had shrimp or scallops on them.
I can't believe
you meant to leave a pile of panko for us to eat.
Yeah, no, no, a panko was not supposed to be alone.
It was unfocused in that way
and I feel like we have to pay attention
to how a diner is going to receive the food
and how they're going to eat the food.
Chefs, we do have a lot to discuss,
and we'll call you back when we're ready.
- Thank you very much. - Thank you.
- Too many emotions. - Too many emotions.
It's all a Top Chef rollercoaster.
How are you guys feeling?
Time management, that's where I feel
that my biggest failure was.
The challenge that forced you to be creative,
I think we're seeing the shortcomings in both chefs.
Manny's seafood was overcooked.
The risotto was too tight. The panko felt random and dry.
There were a lot of missing components as well.
I saw flaws, but I enjoyed eating his risotto
and I enjoyed that pesto
and they felt like they made sense together.
I have a note in my notebook, what the hell is this?
Like I just couldn't pull it together.
Michelle, I was wracking my brain
from the second her table was put in front of us.
There's like three themes going on.
There's brunch, there's mosaic and there's beets.
It's... okay, I'm lost, I'm completely lost here.
A part of me hopes that if that biscuit were delicious
or those potato chips were thicker,
that it could taste better.
You're right, both of those vehicles failed.
I think leading up to the challenge,
she probably was still in her head,
and I think when you do that,
you're not confident enough to just put it down.
Right, this just didn't work.
Oh, God.
With all that being said,
when we look at the Quickfire, Michelle, she had the salad.
Look-wise, it was there.
It wasn't as aromatic or herbaceous,
but flavors were close.
She was the only one that didn't sauce her plate,
- which was a smart thing. - And Manny?
You got everything in there.
Flavors were good flavors.
They're not quite where I was, but it was a nice dish.
I think if the elimination dishes were really, really close
then the Quickfire would have come into play,
but in this case, I don't think that the Quickfire needs to be
- part of the conversation. - Agreed.
So, I think we have our answer?
- Mm-hmm. - Absolutely.
Let's get the chefs out here.
You know, chefs, we asked you to place food on a table,
and that's pretty far in an alley into most chefs.
But we do this to make you think about food and do something new
and something exciting, while remaining true to yourself.
I know you put it all on the table tonight,
but unfortunately, one of you will be going home.
Michelle...
please pack your knives and go.
Thank you. I appreciate you guys so much.
The feedback has been phenomenal.
And you guys are welcome to Houston anytime.
- Oh, you'll see us. - We'll be there.
- We'’ll see you soon. - Such a pleasure.
I'm feeling okay, surprisingly.
Okay. Good job.
This whole thing has been challenging for me,
personally and career-wise.
I hadn't cooked in this manner in a very long time,
and to be able to hang in there to top six, I'm a badass.
You did a----ing amazing job.
- Thank you. - Seriously.
It was a pleasure cooking with you.
Likewise. I love you guys.
I love you too.
I've loved every moment of laughter,
every moment of frustration
and all of it has made me a better person, a better chef.
I'll see y'’all in Houston.
Next time on Top Chef...
Maybe you'll be needing one of these.
No!
That's right, the blind taste test.
Anchovy. Next.
Horseradish.
- I don't know. - Three, two, one.
Nailed it. Next.
Take a look back on your time here in Wisconsin.
This is the dish that's going to determine
who's moving on to the finals.
Put it all out there.
My dishes usually have, like, too many components,
so I should just probably stop shopping.
Holy sh--.
You know, I wish these things were made
for left-handed people.
Building a pavé takes time and a lot of finesse.
Say a little potato prayer.
So, I wanted to do a subtle dish.
So, you think this is subtle?
This fish is not cooking.
Am I not going to make it to the plate?
Stop the----ing-- Come on, come on, come on.