Tonight, it's all on the line for the final three chefs.
I'm always the bridesmaid, never the bride.
I really question coming here 'cause I knew
that I was gonna leave before my son went off to boot camp.
Good luck, okay?
But he was the one who kept saying, "No, you have to do it."
I really miss you.
Throughout this competition,
sometimes I've done too much and it has backfired.
Sherry. There was a lot going on on the plate.
This needs to be focused.
[groaning]
The past few challenges I've pivoted in my approach
to this competition,
to cook food that's really close to my heart.
- Oh, wow. - Insanity.
And the winner is... Sherry.
- Sherry. - Oh, my god.
I've given everything that I have.
I'm doing this for both of us.
I'm not going home, but someone is.
I told myself this is not a journey to self-discovery.
You are the only chef in 23 seasons
to get two individual wins
in the first two elimination challenges.
- Rhoda! - Two for two!
But I stand corrected.
Rhoda, please pack your knives and go home.
[dramatic music]
Last Chance Kitchen gave me a new perspective.
[cheering]
Some people, like, you know this entire competition
is just about pivoting.
It's a mindset.
- Chef Rhoda. - No.
Congratulations!
Whoa!
You wanna know you're good enough, and I'm ready.
I want you to remember my name.
I'm not gonna forget it.
[grunting]
I never went to culinary school.
I've always felt in my career, like, I'd catch up.
These are looking really, really delicious.
There's a target on my back because I've done well through
the season, I've won the most elimination challenges.
The winning chef today... Laurence.
[applause]
Every single challenge, I've learned to trust my instincts,
to trust my ability to cook with my heart.
I wanna do it for my wife and for my son.
What I did here will give us...
everything that our son deserves.
I'm willing to do whatever it takes.
I want it.
Three chefs remain to compete in the ultimate culinary showdown.
Woo!
At stake for the winner:
the grand prize of $250,000 provided by Graza Olive Oil,
a feature in Food and Wine Magazine,
plus an appearance at the Food and Wine Classic in Aspen,
their own exclusive dinner
at the historic James Beard House in New York
and the title of Top Chef.
[uplifting music]
[birds chirping]
Wow, look at that.
Oh, I'm so scared.
- Okay. - Hold tight.
This is awesome.
Look, the colors are starting to change.
I'm just so excited to be here. We really made it to the top,
like, I don't think we can go higher than this.
I cannot stop walking 'cause then I'll panic.
Oh, hi!
- Hi! - Hi!
It's a nice view, isn't it?
- It's gorgeous! - It's beautiful.
Welcome to Grandfather Mountain!
- Thank you. - It's amazing.
This is the highest peak
of The Eastern Escarpment of the Blue Ridge Mountains.
I mean, it's really only fitting because the three of you
are really standing at the highest peak
of your Top Chef journey so far, the finale.
- I like what you did there. - Thank you very much.
But there is still quite a bit of work in front of you.
[dramatic music]
For your final challenge, we want you to create
the best four-course progressive meal of your lives.
Some of your best dishes really came from taking inspiration
from parts of your life,
and that's what we want you to do here.
Each course of your meal must be a toast to someone
or something that has impacted your life.
That's awesome.
This moment is really big,
and we want your dish to pay homage to that.
Don't worry, you're gonna have some help.
It's time to draw knives.
[tense music]
- Okay. - All right.
Oh, wow. Who's Sara?
What is this mononym, like, Madonna, Cher... Joe?
You know who they are?
[dramatic music]
- Oh, wow. - Oh!
No way!
[uplifting music]
Say hello to Top Chef winner Stephanie Izard,
Top Chef winner Joe Flamm,
and two-time finalist, Sara Bradley.
- Hey, you guys. - Hi!
What's up, chefs?
I'm excited to see Chef Stephanie,
I have the utmost respect for her as a chef.
It's so good to see you. Yay! You made it!
I'm still not sure what's happening here.
Before you go shopping, each of you will have a chance
to sit down with one of these acclaimed chefs.
They're here to listen, help guide you along the way.
Bit of advice,
use the experience and knowledge of your mentor.
Sara Bradley has been a finalist twice on Top Chef,
so I can't wait to share my menu and get some feedback.
There's a lot to unload.
After you meet with Sara, Joe and Stephanie,
you'll each get one sous-chef to join you on the shop.
Sherry, as the winner of the last elimination challenge,
you get first pick of your sous-chef.
You can choose anyone from the last three eliminated chefs,
so Jonathan, Anthony and Sieger.
I'm gonna have to go with my buddy, Anthony.
Who gets to pick next?
Please, Rhoda.
I'm gonna have to go with Sieger.
Laurence, that means you get Jonathan.
- Love it. - Yeah.
We're gonna give you some time here to menu plan,
chat with your mentors.
You'll have $2,000 and four hours to shop
at a variety of local markets back in Charlotte,
and then you'll have five hours to prep and cook.
Tomorrow, you'll have an additional two hours to prep
and cook before service begins at Peppervine Restaurant.
You're gonna be serving your meal to a very impressive
table of diners, including these three amazing chefs right here.
[cheering]
There's a lot at stake,
including $250,000 furnished by Graza Olive Oil,
a prize package from the James Beard Foundation,
and Food and Wine Magazine,
and, of course, the title of Top Chef.
- I'm nervous too. - Yeah!
Yeah!
[laughter]
Well, good luck to all of you, and we'll see you a bit later.
Have fun!
[tense music]
Oh, my gosh, it's so good to see you.
Yeah!
How are you feeling about the menu?
They say you're making the best meal of your life.
I mean, that just puts a lot of pressure,
the way that it's worded.
What I'm thinking is, it's gonna be almost a progression
through how I understand my community and my food.
Okay, love that.
Second course, I wanna do three different, essentially,
pieces of dim sum.
This was always a gathering point for my family,
it was always dim sum.
There's a lot. You have two pages of notes of things
you're going to get done.
- Course two is three courses. - Right.
I know. I've been doing a lot of that.
The question is, how do I push that boundary of ambitious
to almost impossible?
And how do I execute that at a really high level?
If there's a little trims that you have to make,
it's still gonna be above and beyond incredible.
[tense music]
I know that you went through Last Chance Kitchen.
- Yeah. - As did I.
That was my biggest advantage, when I got back I was cooking
loose, I was having fun,
'cause your biggest fear is you're gonna go home.
Be that you that got you here,
be that you in Last Chance Kitchen.
Getting into this menu,
what direction do you wanna take with it?
I don't cook Filipino food, like, professionally.
There's a challenge that I won,
I made a play on like an egg roll, but it's cabbage.
Like, really just cooking from the heart.
Lean on those techniques that you know are your strong suits,
and then take those risks on flight.
What are we doing for--
And then fourth course,
I'm gonna do like a braised short rib, with--
Are you doing no dessert?
No, no dessert.
[dramatic music]
Why you looking at me like that?
I don't know, I just... it's a choice.
Doing a toast for every course, it makes sense for all
these people, and the places, and the things
that I'm toasting, to not make a dessert course.
I need to give homage to the right people.
My god, you're making me [bleep].
No, don't be nervous about it, you got the right idea.
Trust yourself, trust your instincts.
I was born in New York, I grew up in Brazil.
This is kinda an ode to New York and restaurants
that were very formative in my younger years as a line cook,
but this is a South American approach to some of it,
not all of it.
My main course is braised beef tongue
with tempura langoustines, so it's a surf n turf.
And then that's where the Brazilian comes in
with the yuca purée.
If the beef tongue and the langoustine
are not equally as perfect,
then they're gonna talk about one being worse than the other.
Does that make sense?
I think that in the history of Top Chef,
not doing a duo is always a better idea.
Got it, okay. All right.
The food needs to be beautiful, it needs to be executed,
it needs to be all those things,
but also tell a story with your food.
I was so excited when I walked up and saw two ladies.
- Yeah, yeah, I know! That's-- - I know!
I was excited for this.
Hey, guys, the sous-chefs just arrived!
- All right, good luck. - Bye, thank you!
Comin' in hot!
Look at these studs!
Wow!
Johnny, it's you and me baby!
Hell yes!
Hi!
I know!
You're stuck with me!
I wouldn't have it any other way.
Yeah, little brother.
[tender music]
And we used to have this dish that was fancier frog legs,
we'll try it with the langoustine.
Langoustine is a very delicate shellfish, it shows a lot
of technique when you can cook a piece of langoustine properly.
And to open my menu with that, I think it's a big deal.
We need to pick up pork chow,
beef tongue, frog legs.
We go to dim sum, then we go to Chinese BBQ,
but I want a nice, medium rare duck breast.
One of our concepts, we cook 'em to be...
135 for one hour.
Oh, okay.
And then it's like a rosy pink throughout, it's beautiful.
The main thing is, I want that layer of skin, thin...
- To get perfect. - Yeah.
Okay, let's do this.
I'm doing Lugaw, which is porridge, congee, with abalone.
I'm writing all this down,
I'm your stenographer right now, chef.
What kinda rice are you going to be using?
Oh, yeah.
Jesus Christ.
[tense music]
Shiitakes.
The strategy here is crossing off things
that we're putting on our carts,
making sure that a lot of it makes sense for the dishes.
You got bay leaves or something?
- Yeah. - Sick.
The last thing I want is to have so much stuff
that you're just paralyzed,
and you're not even gonna use half of it.
This is a great sized potato.
My first dish, I'm thinking, sweet potato and uni.
I want this to be a toast to California.
My sister Katrina and I moved to the States together,
twenty-something years ago, and I knew if I worked hard enough,
I could make something of myself.
- You got two pounds of butter? - Yeah.
This is one pound.
Come on, chef!
Oh, boy.
Ay, dios mio.
[upbeat music]
Whoa.
Thinking 'bout some pork.
It's gonna be for congee.
For the first course, I'm toasting my mother.
She opened a bakery and 22 years later, she handed me the keys.
She said I could do anything I want, the only thing
that she'd ask of me,
was that I keep the congee and the you tiao on the menu.
Thank you so much. Appreciate it.
Congee is normally done with just water and rice.
What I wanna do is build flavor in the stock,
so we're putting in a bunch of smoked pork bones
that are really gonna add this deep, deep flavor to it.
Johnny!
Yo, I'm in the chip section!
Great.
This is the only 00 they have, it's pizza flour.
- You're fine with that? - Yeah, that's fine!
Champagne vinegar's here.
Chives will get there.
Okay, we're ready to go to Super G.
I'm planning to get pork chow and frog legs at Super G Market.
I think we got it.
Hopefully, we'll be able to get these proteins, otherwise,
I gotta rewrite this entire menu.
Let's go!
[upbeat music]
Going to the meats first thing, okay?
I'll see you in a little bit.
Yep.
Tomatoes?
How many do you need, total?
I think this.
All right!
[dramatic music]
Damn! These are so beautiful.
Like, I'm so happy. What a treat.
For my first course, I wanna make a frog leg moqueca.
I'm feeling pretty good about it.
Moqueca is an afro-brazilian dish.
I wanna make it with a very luxurious ingredient
that I first encountered at Le Cirque.
So I'm grabbing my frog legs.
They have beautiful frog legs here.
Go and grab the lobsters then?
We're gonna be buying a lot of things in order
to make the different sauces that we're making very unique.
Comin' for you, buddies.
- Sherry? - What's up, girl?
What does your cart look like right now?
Insane. Look at this pork chow, do you see a pork chow?
Where?
I feel like Sherry should have three more people
pushing her cart down the aisle.
- And you got pig ears? - Yeah.
Oh, my god.
She's buying for plan A, B and C.
Anthony, we have money!
Everything will play a key role on all of these dishes.
Thank you.
Let's live it up!
[dramatic music]
Let's ----ing do it!
----ing do it.
Let's get this party started!
They're not ready for us.
All right, you get going on those stocks and those pickles,
and stuff.
This is what I do, brother!
We need to make the hominy today.
Oh, yeah.
We need to do the silk corn, we gotta braise collards.
We're gonna do this, we're gonna ----ing win.
- I'm gonna grab the abalone. - Sick.
These are really nice.
My second course is a toast to my mother.
She'd make me lugaw, which is a Filipino porridge,
but I'm making this with abalone.
It's super comforting and it transports you
back to being cared for.
How do those egg plants look, Siegs?
Getting nice and soft, getting some char.
My third course is tortang talong.
It's also known as torta, which is grilled eggplant omelet.
It's usually eaten with banana ketchup,
but instead of that, I'm making XO sauce.
This is the base for the XO sauce.
I want it to be a toast to my first food memory.
I succinctly remember an eggplant,
and thinking to myself, "Oh, I actually like this."
[hissing]
That just gave me a heart attack.
[tense music]
I'm cooking down some black garlic,
and then we're gonna make the hoisin from there.
This is for that dim sum.
Second course, I'm making Lo Bak Go, which is a daikon cake,
a scallop and shrimp tofu roll,
then we're also doing a lobster sticky rice.
Just do the beets with the daikon and that's it, right?
This dish is a toast to generations old and new.
The last time I had dim sum was with my grandma, my mother,
with me and my son,
so four generations in one table
is just a really beautiful thing.
I'm gonna start working on the duck breast,
I'd rather play it safe and go with the sous vide.
Yeah, yeah, 100 %.
I think that makes more sense, actually.
Let's not play around.
- Okay. - Yeah.
The third course is Chinese BBQ, and I wanna highlight the duck.
Finding a Chinese community whether I was in London,
in New Jersey, in Boston, was always if you find
the hanging ducks, I think you found the Chinese people.
This is gonna be aromatic water
that we're gonna use to make a duck sauce tomorrow.
We have 3 hours and 46 minutes left!
The texture of the dumpling is nice, right?
Perfect. Soft, sexy, velvety. It's gonna be a great dish.
For my second course, I'm making a potato dumpling
being served with a pig ear broth.
I wanna take it nice and slow,
so I'm gonna let the bones come up.
I wanted a toast to Anthos, that's where I learned
to celebrate very humble ingredients.
They're so good because there's so little flour on it,
but it makes it really hard, you know?
But it's still worth it, I think. You know what I mean?
I'm using the dumpling that we used in the restaurant,
I'm just making a different version of it.
I'm gonna get this beef tongue braising.
My third course is beef tongue with foie gras,
matsutakes and a Carolina Reaper leche de tigre.
This dish is a toast to Per Se,
being a chef just became part of my being from that point on.
The beef tongue, it's a riff on the tongue and cheek dish
that we had at Per Se.
- Wanna try this? - Yeah.
It feels very full circle.
Nice heat.
You think they're going to be scared that everything
has a little bit of heat?
I hope not.
Hello!
Oh, wow!
- What's up, chefs? - Hey, chefs!
- Hey, Laurence. - Hi, chefs!
- What are you making? - This is making me so hungry.
We're gonna do kind of a tour around Chinese food
- as I know it. - Okay.
We're doing dim sum, we're gonna do some Chinese BBQ,
and then we're gonna make a little birthday cake
for my wife.
Oh. So is that who you're toasting?
Yeah, I missed both our anniversary and her birthday
whilst here, so I have to make up for it.
This is a very old-school Chinese sponge cake,
this is gonna go well with a white chocolate mousse.
- Melts in your mouth. - Yeah.
You think you'll leave today,
kind of, almost ready and tomorrow is just finishing up?
That's the idea. Making sure everything is cooked right.
It's those tiny little moments where, "Overcooked that."
You know? But you know how to cook it perfectly.
[chuckling]
Yeah.
- Bye, chef. - Thank you.
- Hey, Sherry. - Hi, chef!
- It's so good to see you! - How are you?
It's going.
How was your time with Sara? What did you pull out of her?
As much as I could. We did some editing, overall this is
a toast to some of the most special places that I worked at.
Dessert, this is an ode to my mom,
to the farm where I grew up in Brazil.
I wanna do a sweet hominy dish,
I wanna finish it with corn ice cream.
- How nice. - Yeah.
Being at Per Se, at Le Cirque and at Anthos gave me
a great foundation but it's started at my mom's kitchen.
I love that the last course is the most wholesome one.
I really like the progression of this menu.
Yeah. Good luck.
Thank you, thank you.
- Rhoda. - Hey, chefs.
How you doin', chef?
What you working on?
Fourth course for my dad, it's a dish called Kaldereta,
it's one of my favorite dishes that he makes usually,
like, Christmas or New Year.
My dad's a merchant marine.
He wasn't around a lot when we were growing up because of work.
He's the best dad,
I can't think of a better dish to honor him with.
So what are you doing with?
- Short rib. - There's no dessert?
[sighing]
We don't hold it against you.
No, no, I understand. It's an amalgamation of things
I was trained on,
and now I can apply it to the food that I grew up eating.
You're gonna crush it.
- Get it. - Appreciate it.
All right, chefs.
Listen, everything looks great. When you're finished,
meet me at Hello, Sailor on Lake Norman tonight.
Sounds good!
Thanks, chef!
- Take care. - Good luck, chefs.
Maybe we're gonna go have some drinks with Tom?
That's exciting. I need a night out.
One hour and 34 minutes, chefs!
Collard greens are gonna cook for 30 minutes.
'Bout to be, yep.
If you wanna peel that corn at some point, too.
Got it.
Duck is ready to go.
Biggest worry going in tomorrow is just the timing.
In the second course in particular,
there's three different dishes in one dish.
There's not much room for error.
We're getting there, brother!
30 minutes, y'all!
No uni left behind.
Anthony! What do you still have left to do?
- Pickles and candy. - Okay.
Then I'm gonna peel kohlrabi and slice it up on the mandolin.
That would be great.
Tomorrow, I gotta portion the beef tongue, we gotta cut out
the veggies for the moqueca, and I gotta make the yuca pureé.
There's a lot of garnishes.
Tomorrow's gonna be another very busy day.
Anthony, blink once if you're okay.
[chuckling]
Still gotta finish the XO.
Tomorrow, one of us is going to be Top Chef.
I was thinking of maybe adding a little hoisin.
Laurence made some hoisin, we could just use that.
Hey, if the price is right, Rhoda, we got you covered.
I'm just kidding.
Laurence is a crazy talented chef, and then Sherry,
she has so much training and life experience.
It makes me nervous to go up against the two of them.
I think this is good. Just let it sit overnight.
We're so close to the end I can taste it.
[dramatic music]
[alarm chiming]
- We got a lot done. - Yeah.
- Adios, bye-bye. - Bye.
[bright music]
[birds chirping]
Oh, what a nice day.
Beautiful day.
- It's gorgeous. - Wow.
Oh, my goodness.
- Come sit. - Have a seat.
This is gorgeous!
Oh, my god!
We wanted to share a meal with you.
- Oh, my gosh! That's amazing. - Aw!
To celebrate your accomplishments.
This is so cool.
There's three extra seats, so I don't know who's coming,
but maybe it's our mentors.
- Are you guys hungry? - Starving.
- Oh, good. - Great. Okay.
We'll be right back, you just hang tight.
- Oh! - This is special.
It really is.
You know what they say, like, you gotta just take it all in.
Whoa.
Wow!
Did you just make that? [chuckling]
[gasping]
No! Are you kidding me?
It's beautiful!
I'm sorry, what?
I know this dish like the back of my hand.
Who made Kare-Kare?
Ooh, we've heard about some things you like.
- Oh! - Oh, my god!
There's more coming.
Is that like a Malagasy curry?
Maybe.
We know some people who know some people.
- Oh, my god! - Oh, my god!
You're kidding me!
[uplifting music]
[exclaiming]
I'm just so happy to see my sister. I needed the hug.
Oh, my god! You're here!
My sister's here.
I see Rary, but I can't believe it's her.
I'm here.
[gasping]
To be in her embrace, it feels...
like everything I needed.
Well, you have to all introduce yourselves.
Tell us your name and what you made.
[laughter]
uh, my name is Katrina, I'm Rhoda's sister.
- Are you the oldest? - I'm the oldest.
- I'm the second oldest. - Beautiful.
I made this Filipino dish called Kare-Kare.
Beautiful.
My name is Meire, I'm Sherry's older sister.
Sherry's the pride of the family
because she's been cooking for us about 20 years!
I made Picanha,
which is a Brazilian, you know, statement on the table.
Also looks gorgeous.
My name is Rary, this is a coconut curry from Madagascar,
where I'm from, and when we met in China,
I wanted to bring a little bit of myself to him,
so it's a nice loop.
It is, it is.
All right, let's do this.
We're all starving.
I cannot wait any longer.
Dig in, pass around.
[chattering]
[laughter]
- Oh, so good. - Uh-huh.
The potatoes are so good.
They're really good.
Mmm.
This is so special, we all needed a home-cooked meal.
- Yeah. - Thank you.
Thank you. No, thank you.
Family means home, family means safety,
and my sister means all those things to me.
And to have her here, experiencing this with me,
it's very special.
[insects chirping]
I'm curious to know what you all would think if your loved one
was the person to take home the title of Top Chef.
She's worked so much, so hard.
And she really fought for this, she put a lot of things on hold.
I wish I had the same amount of confidence in myself
as other people do with me.
She just really fought for her calling. This is her calling.
She genuinely loves it.
Like, she said it with such certainty.
This is the boost that I didn't know I needed to just cook one
of the best meals of my life.
She's seen me at my worst and she's seen me at my best.
I think we got to see the best of you as well.
[sighing]
This is incredible.
I personally would not be surprised.
It's a force that's within you, and you're brilliant at it.
You're incredible.
And I've known it the moment we were in this like,
13-hour train in China, and he was like,
"You know what?
Maybe someday I'm gonna have like a sandwich shop."
[laughter]
She was the first one I ever told that.
"I might wanna like, cook." Yeah.
She always supported me, she always said keep going,
she always believed in my skill and my talent.
I'm so proud of you.
You know, Sherry, she didn't have like the typical,
normal teenager thing. I think she had a plan.
She always says, "Whatever I do is for the family."
And we couldn't be more proud of her.
It's all the sacrifices that the women in my family
did for me so I could be here.
My mom crawled so I could run,
and I would see my mom cleaning these beautiful houses
that these rich people lived in,
and she was back there scrubbing the toilets.
And that just like, lit a little fire in me.
Even if it meant not seeing my son in the morning,
and not seeing him go off to boot camp.
And I hope that by me being here, it does make him proud.
Your son will be able to say, "That's my mom."
Aw, that's so sweet. I hope so, yeah.
So cheers to all of you. Congratulations again.
- Cheers. - Cheers.
[overlapping toasts]
Thank you.
Cheers.
[dramatic music]
No turning back now.
Let's go, let's go, let's go.
There they are! Good morning, good morning!
- You get some rest? - Yeah. Oh, yeah.
- Let's go, chef. - We got it.
Had a late night last night,
is it okay if I go home early today?
- Aw, f... - Let's talk real quick.
First thing that I'm gonna need from you,
carrot leche de tigre for the beef tongue.
Heard.
I feel like I'm about to go to war.
I'm moving the mastutake into the dumpling.
After sleeping on it, I'm doing some editing.
We'll do a couple poached and we'll do some shaved.
I'm gonna move the matsutake into the second course,
I know that the mushroom can stand up to all that flavor.
It's a great day to win Top Chef.
[upbeat music]
Hey, I'm gonna braise some more short ribs for my fourth course.
Gotta taste this XO after it sat for overnight.
[intriguing beat]
Think you can go a little bit more of everything.
First thing I'm doing, I'm gonna work on this congee.
We built a lot of the flavor already
with the stock yesterday.
Congee garnish will be right here.
Yup.
Chef, what would you like me to jump on for congee?
Check on the shiitakes.
I'm slicing the abalone for the congee.
Are you making congee?
- This is Filipino congee, sir. - Oh, sh--!
- What course is yours? - First one.
Mine's second.
I'm doing congee as a third course!
[laughter]
One hour until first course, everybody!
Gotta get the frog legs cooking.
So the duck, it's ready to go, right?
Yeah, yeah. Yeah.
And we're just gonna get it in a pan, sear it.
I think the most difficult thing to pull off today
is making sure that this duck is okay.
The decision to do the duck in the sous vide
is really about consistency.
35 minutes, chefs!
35, damn.
Just a little bit like this, and that's it.
- You wanna keep them that size? - Yup.
Frog legs in.
- Feeling good? - Yeah.
Right now, I'm finishing this congee with the pork
and the century egg.
[tense music]
That's the best congee I ever made in my life.
Sweet p's out.
Potatoes look nice, they look juicy.
There's not a lot of components in this dish,
so every element needs to be perfect.
[humming]
I'm gonna fry some things.
I'm just finishing frying the you tiao.
Try this, Johnny.
And then, check the crust on that, it's airy, it's light.
I want them to see the skill that it took
to make that you tiao...
Mmm!
...as a vessel to hold a lot of that congee.
- Oh, my god. - It's game over.
Pull that frog leg out.
We gotta cook 16 pieces of beautiful langoustine.
- 16 minutes! - 16.
[dramatic music]
These sweet potatoes look ready for the judges.
Thank you everyone for being here.
The task is quite simple:
to find the next Top Chef of season 23.
10 minutes, chefs, 10!
We just keep pushing and we got it.
Yup, hell yeah.
We got three great mentors. Sara, Joe and Stephanie.
I feel nervous, I'm not even there, you know?
I feel nervous 'cause I want them to-to...
- To do well. - ...to show in here.
6 minutes, 50 seconds, chefs.
You're going to plate already?
Uh, yeah. Congee retains heat really well, so.
I'm gonna start plating.
[sizzling]
Crème fraîche, chef.
[tense music]
I'll take the lango when you have them.
- Heard. - Gorgeous. Gorgeous, gorgeous.
30 seconds!
Uni going down.
Just drape over like a little blanket.
Okay?
[beeping]
Let's do this, babies!
First course is on its way.
Oh, my gosh.
Here we go.
- Thank you. - Gorgeous.
That's a lot of sea urchin.
Very pretty.
- Hi. - Hello!
If cooking the meal of a lifetime is not enough pressure,
we also have these legends sitting at this table.
It's nerve-wracking.
Rhoda, we're gonna start with you,
can you just tell us a bit about your overall menu?
My overall menu today is a toast to all the things, and people,
and places that really
put a stamp in my memory as to why I'm here.
So my first course is a toast to California.
This is roasted sweet potato with miso butter,
Santa Barbara uni and charred sweet potato leaves.
Sherry, can you tell us about your overall menu?
I wanted to toast to past experiences,
moments, places and ingredients that have shaped me.
My first toast is to the legendary Le Cirque,
my first kitchen job.
- It's nicely done. - Mm-hmm.
That was when I was first introduced
to French langoustines and frog legs.
I transformed the langoustines into a moqueca,
and the chayote, zucchini, shiitake mushrooms.
My first kitchen job, too.
No way!
A few years before you.
[chuckling]
Laurence, tell us about your menu.
Really, what I'm trying to do
is take you not just on
a traditional four-course menu, but more how I eat now,
in different spaces
and the different people that made that happen.
So, my mother operated this old-school Cantonese bakery
for 22 years, and then, she was like,
"Do you wanna come take over?"
And she said, "The only thing you have to do
is keep the congee and the you tiao."
So, the you tiao is a fried dough stick
and we have a pork and century egg congee.
- Thank you very much. - Thank you.
All right, Johnny, where we at?
I think that Laurence's congee
developed the different layers of flavor.
Each time I took a bite,
I'm getting a highlight from a different flavor profile.
The umami is great,
but the texture, this is on the thicker side for me.
I which it was a little warmer,
I think that's why it thickened up, 'cause it set.
I really admire this you tiao
because there's no grease on my finger.
We're a team now.
Like the first challenge, huh? Full circle.
I really enjoyed Sherry's dish,
I thought it was incredibly unique and delicious.
I love the frog leg. Spicy, delicious.
I think it's a nice dish, it gives me French,
but also takes me a little bit southern.
I think overall, it was pretty good.
Joe, what did you think of Rhoda's dish?
The uni's unbelievable. There was sweetness there.
That uni was spectacular.
Don't know if I've ever had sweet potato
and sea urchin before.
I had not.
It was something new and something different, and...
you know, I think we all eat out,
when do you see something new these days?
It felt good out there, they're really excited.
I think they all have very interesting perspectives.
And they all seem very ambitious in the best way.
I'm enjoying it.
Really good. Good start.
Where are the dumplings, Anthony?
I'll grab 'em.
20 minutes.
How's the eggplant, chef?
Great. You feel good for the next course?
Yeah, feel good.
All right, let's fry these off.
All face down like that.
[sizzling]
All right, Johnny,
once those are done, let's start plating together,
we're gonna need a lot on this one.
All right, I got ya.
Let's go, let's go, let's go, let's go.
There's so many elements
for three different items on one dish,
it's gonna be a lot to plate before time runs out.
[tense music]
13 till second, y'all.
This gonna be a push, Johnny.
Yeah. It's gonna be a push.
We have 10 minutes, Johnny, let's go.
Oh, my god.
Okay, abalone is nice and warm.
How are you looking?
Thought I looked okay this morning.
Can you stop ----ing around, okay?
We're trying to put out second course.
Anthony, I'm gonna put the pork jowl down,
and then, meet me with the stock from the dumpling, okay?
I like to plate early
because a lot of my plating has a lot of steps,
but that attention to detail,
I know it's gonna make it stand out.
Beautiful.
- Four minutes. - Four.
All right, we're going, we're going.
It's supposed to be saucy, not a soup.
Finish me with a little lime.
- Juice? - Yeah.
Got one minute. Go, go, go, go.
This one's missing sriracha.
[groaning]
[dramatic music]
We got it, we got it.
[alarm beeping]
Thank you. Great job.
[tense music]
Thank you.
Congee!
Rhoda.
This dish is a toast to my mom.
Every time we were not feeling well,
she would make this porridge for me.
So this is abalone and rice, with abalone liver mousse.
All right, Sherry.
Yes, so I wanted to make a toast to Anthos,
one of those restaurants that
really valued the simplicity of the ingredient,
and I wanted to do that here
with the matsutake potato dumpling,
pig's ear stock and pickled hon-shimejis.
Laurence.
For me, growing up, dim sum was like,
the gathering point for every generation.
So, we have a daikon cake with a black garlic hoisin sauce,
a lobster sticky rice folded in XO sauce,
and then, we have scallop and shrimp roll
with some fresh tofu skin.
Great, you can get back.
[all]: Thank you.
[Laurence exclaiming]
Third course!
Rhoda's dish... the flavors in this dish were really great.
The abalone was totally beautiful
and such a great textural component.
I love abalone,
I don't usually like abalone liver sauces,
they can have a very off flavor,
and this one was actually really delicious.
They just seem like they're in good spirits,
hopefully, it continues.
I wanted Sherry's broth to be warmer.
The texture of the gnocchi, though, was so light and fluffy.
But between the matsutakes, the pork jowl,
the hon-shimeji mushrooms,
there were all kind of chewy, but slimy at the same time.
- How'd it go? - It was good,
but I'm getting in my head, so like...
Yeah, don't-don't... yeah.
Nok, what did you think of Laurence's?
Complex, lots of love, lots of flavors.
I was just blown away by the sauces.
Yeah, the sauce is the best.
There's just like, all these little touches
to elevate what your normal dim sum experience was.
- How we looking? - Good.
- You feel good? - Yeah.
If this were a boxing match,
it's early rounds, they're feeling each other out,
no one's throwing a knockout punch.
Nobody's hurt yet.
But it's just a good fight right now.
[tense music]
How we looking over there?
Looking great, I'm lacquering them up.
Once those ducks are done,
I want to get those cut and I wanna start plating.
The duck, I think because we sous vided, it had time to rest.
I just wanna get all these ducks out.
So we're just crisping up the skin.
Let's do this, babies!
We gotta think about searing foie gras.
The beef tongue is the star of the dish,
I don't want to give it too much
'cause I don't want it to overpower the dish.
They all look beautiful.
Oh, yeah.
- A little more or you good? - Yeah, make it nice and glazy.
Five minutes, chefs!
Getting a bunch of these bowls, one gets soup, one gets rice.
I can't believe I'm making this on Top Chef.
I love my vegetables,
I love my funky sauces,
those are the things that bring it home for me.
- It's okay, this dish? Or no? - Yeah, [bleep] it.
It's a bombshell in a few bites.
I love it too.
We're there.
[dramatic music]
[alarm beeping]
Hands up.
Oh, my god.
Go, let's go, babies!
Nice job. Give 'em hell out there.
[rhythmic music]
Thank you.
This is awesome.
Rhoda, tell us about your next course, please.
This is a toast to my very first food memories.
This is called torta.
Grilled eggplant, shallow-fried on a pan.
XO sauce instead of the banana ketchup.
Sherry, tell us about your dish, please.
So, I wanted to do a toast to Per Se and my time there.
I made my own version of a Tournedos Rossini
with braised beef tongue
and I made a Carolina Reaper leche de tigre
and seared foie gras on top.
Okay, Laurence.
This is a toast to community.
This is a take on the roast duck
that you see hanging in a lot of Chinatowns
and different Chinese communities.
You have the seared duck breast with a glaze of sorghum,
and you get some broth.
Well, you're about to serve your final dish on Top Chef.
You can get back there. Thank you.
[all]: Thank you.
[clapping]
Dessert time, Johnny!
Let's go, brother!
Sherry dish...
- Oh, yeah. - Oh, my goodness.
She ate with that one.
Yes! Exactly.
This dish is... perfect.
I'm not sure if Chef Thomas
ever put the Carolina Reaper
in his dishes, but maybe he should.
I think we're getting a little peek into how she cooks,
which is big flavors,
high acid, high heat, high all of that.
This is it, y'all! Last course!
I'm trying not to panic, but I'm panicking.
[tense music]
Laurence, I think the problem is that the duck is over-rested.
My duck is really tough.
[tense beat]
The broth is just under seasoned,
that was a big disappointment for me.
How was it out there? Was it good?
Yeah, yeah. Very happy.
Camari, what did you think of Rhoda's dish?
It's crispy and yet... soggy.
I understand where it's coming from,
growing up in Thailand,
but the XO sauce doesn't taste like XO.
It's more like
- shrimp paste relish to me. - Yeah.
I'm like, the defense lawyer she didn't hire,
but it was a revelation to me.
- I really liked the eggplant. - Yes!
I love the creaminess of the interior.
When you got that little crispy edge, though,
it was perfectly fried, I thought it was delicious.
[dramatic music]
20 minutes till fourth course, y'all,
we're gonna be done after this!
Short rib just getting gently warmed through.
Laurence and Sherry are both doing dessert,
and maybe it's a little risky, making this dish,
but it makes sense for my progression.
You can taste the liver.
I'll just call it caramelized white chocolate cream.
- We'll do that at the end. - Let's do it.
It's pretty hot in here.
- The quenelle goes last? - The quenelle has to go last.
Seven minutes, want me to get started or no?
Yeah, let's do it.
Isn't it easy to quenelle or is it super hard?
- A little hard. - Let's see.
[tense music swells]
It's not gonna work. [Bleep].
[tense beat]
The quenelles are fairly small,
so it starts melting almost immediately.
Pop it in the freezer.
Hopefully, the freezer will stop the ice cream from melting.
I'm gonna yell at you when there's one minute.
I'm extremely nervous.
[dramatic music]
One minute, Anthony, let's go!
[dramatic music]
Ready!
- Ready? Okay. - Yup.
- Did it all melt? - A little bit.
- A little lot. - Yeah, it's too hot out here.
We scooped it way too early,
I kind of have to make peace with that.
I'm hoping that the flavor will carry this dish through.
Damn.
This is a good amount,
I'm just being a bit intentional
about all the different elements.
We also have the strawberry dust if you want to...
No, we're done, man.
Good to go. GTG.
[dramatic music]
[alarm beeping]
Ah, my little brother.
Nice job.
- Appreciate it, man. - That's a dad slap, right here.
[uplifting music]
This is a tough course.
[music continues]
There's a lot of fun on this plate.
Rhoda, tell us about your final course, please.
This is a toast to my dad, kaldereta,
braised in liver and vegetables.
Why did you choose not to do a dessert?
After we talked about all the courses
being a toast to something,
it was important for me to honor my parents.
Sherry.
My uncle used to grow a lot of corn during the summer.
I wanted to honor the corn,
so I charred the husk and I turned it into an ice cream
that's finished with toasted Brazil nuts.
And Laurence, tell us about your final course, please.
This is a toast to my wife.
In the time that I've been here on Top Chef,
I've missed both our wedding anniversary and her birthday.
There's a broken birthday cake,
so you have fruit, you have old-school Chinese sponge cake
and some caramelized white chocolate cream
that is meant to be melting a bit,
because it's supposed to look kinda sad.
[laughter]
Yeah.
There are a few people at this table
that certainly know what it feels like
to be where you are right now.
[tender music]
[voice breaking] It was a pleasure... eating your food.
Thank you for all the hard work, and the dedication,
and the passion in creating this meal for us.
I truly hope that you guys feel so proud of yourselves.
Thank you.
[applause]
- All right, thank you. - Thank you.
Thank you so, so much.
[applause]
Oh, mates!
[Laurence sighs]
What did you think of Rhoda's dish?
It's delicious. The meat is perfect, the sauce is delicious.
I found Rhoda's dish to be very well executed on the short rib,
it's very tender, it's very well seasoned.
It was sort of everything else on the plate
that kind of felt like it didn't get enough love.
This was the start of something really beautiful.
That flavor on everything, but like...
Yeah, if she glazed the vegetables
in the braising liquid, it would've been better.
The little things that we're finding on each dish
that we have comments about, are so small.
So small.
You really have to nitpick at this point.
- Nice job. - Thank you.
I really loved the flavors in Sherry's dish.
The berries, and the nuts, and the hominy,
I just think the way she plated it... was a miss.
When she said ice cream,
I thought I, like, missed something.
[sighing] I wish my ice cream was ice cream.
- It's knowing not to cry. - Yeah, no, no, you're right.
What did you think of Laurence's dessert?
I really loved this caramelized white chocolate cream.
The cake itself, I would've loved to see soaked in
maybe some of that poaching liquid he had.
The cake with the cream and the nectarine,
that was a dessert for me.
You're the best.
As much as this dinner was really about the company
and having a lovely meal with all of you,
we do have to discuss who's standing out for you.
- I don't know. - I don't envy you.
This is the most difficult one I'm seeing in years.
This is going to be a nail biter.
Let me get in on it.
- Yeah. - Oh, boy, here we go.
[tense music]
You're not making it easy on us.
There were some, just, amazing highs.
And then, there were a couple dishes that were, you know,
little misses here and there, but we'll sort through it.
Rhoda, can you walk us through your first course, please?
There's roasted and smoked sweet potato,
I didn't want the urchin to get lost,
that's my ode to California.
The smoke on the sweet potato really came through.
How that sea urchin really
shines through some of that sweetness,
I thought it was really successful.
I thought it was just a fantastic dish, very original.
Thank you, chef.
Sherry, can you tell us more about your first dish, please?
A langoustine moqueca.
The idea was to highlight that broth.
I thought it was, quite frankly,
one of the better dishes you've cooked all season long.
It told the story really, really well.
I was surprised at first by the level of heat,
but it was really nice once I got into it.
That sauce is really the star of the dish.
Thank you.
Laurence, what temperature
did you want the dish to be served at?
I wanted it hot.
- Hot? - Yeah.
- Was it not? - It was room temperature,
and I think because of the way you plated it,
it was a very thin layer, it cooled off really quickly.
That being said, I thought it was a beautiful bowl of congee.
All that complexity that you put in there came through.
The you tiao was like, airy, not greasy.
All right, Rhoda, second course, please.
It's my version of my mom's porridge.
I made it with abalone.
I think that abalone, texturally,
you really nailed that.
I think that liver sauce really added a really nice funk.
Abalone is a tough ingredient to work with,
it was just beautifully braised.
Just tons and tons of flavor.
Thank you, chef.
Sherry.
That was toast to Anthos,
the idea was to highlight this really soft, delicate dumpling
and then, build around it.
Those dumplings, they were pretty fantastic,
but then, there were so many kind of strong flavors
distracting us.
I was a little curious, like, if there was something
that went wrong with the temperature of it?
I think we plated too early.
Laurence.
Dim sum, I wanted to kind of do at least three things.
Flavor-wise I was happy.
I thought it was a lot of little things, tons of flavor.
The sauce work really set the whole thing apart.
The black garlic hoisin was fantastic.
I loved the dish. All three were really good representations
of what those things are, but then you expended
on your vision of those things.
The lobster sticky rice was my personal favorite of the three.
Thank you.
Third course.
Rhoda, how did you make the XO?
Just blended it so that it kind of mimics banana ketchup.
I don't think you did service to the XO by blending it.
I feel you lost a lot of texture there.
What's the texture you were going for with the eggplant?
Just soft.
[chuckling] Okay.
I was all over this dish.
It is soft, it is fried eggplant.
- I was a big fan of it. - Thank you.
Sherry.
You pressure cooked the tongue?
Yes, so I pressure cooked it whole,
and then, today it was grilled and glazed in the oven.
You had a lot of fans of this dish at the table.
Yeah. The tongue was beautifully braised,
it was fork tender, and that's tough to do.
This was like if Thomas Keller was doing a pop-up in Brazil,
I think this would be on the menu.
Thank you, chef.
Laurence.
The duck, I had some kind of, like...
hesitation around how to cook this duck,
I think within the time that we had.
What was the concern about
cooking in the time you had allotted?
I felt like there wasn't enough time to get that done
and then, rested, and so,
I went with like a sous vide route.
Duck was a bit tough.
Was the broth seasoned to your liking?
Yeah, I wanted it to be under seasoned.
I thought of it almost like, drink it like tea.
I was like, hoping that it was gonna be like, flavorful broth.
That missed a little bit for me.
All right, Rhoda, tell us about your fourth course.
It's a dish that we usually cook during a big celebration.
How is it usually served?
Just in a bowl, and you eat it with rice.
With all of that stuff--
With all of that stuff kind of mixed in together.
Everything was cooked really, really well,
but it kinda felt like you got lost in that story of
trying to present a dish that you grew up with.
There's a term for that, you "cheffed it up".
- Yeah. - Yeah.
I know, I know.
Although I gotta say, you can't end on eggplant,
so you had a go to a heavier course,
so I thought it was a good move not doing dessert.
Sherry.
My mom used to make a dish called kanjika,
and that was a version of what you guys got today.
I loved the layers of texture,
I loved how pronounced the corn was.
The ice cream was a promise that wasn't delivered on.
Once it hit that hot porridge, it just kinda started melting.
Other than the ice cream, Sherry,
I really enjoyed eating the dish.
I thought it was interesting,
and I really felt like we got a really good piece of you.
Thank you.
All right, Laurence.
I actually truly loved every single flavor on that dish.
Thank you.
I was wishing it was presented in a trifle, or a one-biter,
but it was really, really tasty.
The idea is like, this bigger picture
when you get everything together,
you get this experience by those little pieces.
It almost takes that to get all of that.
All right, well...
we have a very, very big decision to make.
A difficult one.
And we will call you back in a little bit.
- Thank you very much. - Thanks.
Thank you.
[hopeful music]
[exhaling deeply]
All the chefs had really great dishes and stand outs,
and then, all of them had some issues
on a lot of dishes too.
I don't know, it's feeling very equal at the moment.
Not going head to head, but just, as an actual menu,
who would get a better menu?
I feel like Sherry took some of the bigger swings.
Sherry had my favorite dish and my least favorite on her menu.
The langoustine with the frog legs,
I thought it was just beautiful, and creative, and well executed,
and then, on the other end,
Sherry's second course was my least favorite course
of the entire evening.
Yeah.
I think her dessert was a big mess.
Oh.
She made ice cream that melted.
Sure, but what I did eat, was still very good.
How cool is it to share it with the two of you?
- Yeah. - Truly.
Like, it was genuine,
I think all of us kind of put it up there.
I loved Laurence's story throughout
and I think his progression was probably my favorite.
It was a thoughtful menu,
his dishes had identity and character.
He's riffing off of some traditional things...
Yes.
...and I think, actually, the other two
are kind of exploring more.
There was just a lot of really beautiful, refined bites
on Laurence's second plate, that I loved, that I wanna eat again.
The duck was the b...
Yeah, the duck was... off, though.
I wouldn't trade
any experience that I've had here for the world.
Rhoda's progression made a lot of sense to me.
Rhoda's sweet potato and sea urchin dish was possibly
the most delicious dish of the night,
and sort of, out of left field.
She cooked proteins the strongest
out of all three of them.
Yeah. The abalone and the short rib.
I thought Rhoda's first two courses were exceptional.
The braising liquid from the abalone
is just a big flavor bomb.
I think she kind of ran out of steam a little bit.
- Yeah. - When you look at Sherry
and Laurence, for different reasons,
their dishes didn't come to us in the way that they wanted
because of their timing issues in the kitchen.
Rhoda gave us the dishes as intended.
She did.
I'm forever grateful for this experience,
I think it was incredible.
But there can only be one.
Who is it?
[sighing deeply]
There were a lot of highlights.
You have to pick a lane in the end.
Yeah. This is hard.
This is the jump start for something greater.
For all of us, you know what I mean?
All three of them are winners,
because they really found who they are.
So, we have our next Top Chef?
Yes.
- Think so. - Okay.
- It's time, guys. - Oh, boy.
Let's go.
Ready as we're gonna be.
What a journey, y'all.
[intriguing music]
[dramatic music]
Chefs, it's been an absolute pleasure
watching the three of you cook all season long,
and you put your heart and soul into every single dish.
Unfortunately, only one of you, though, can be Top Chef.
[tense music]
The next Top Chef is...
[dramatic music]
Rhoda.
No!
[cheering]
[applause]
[uplifting music]
Rhoda! Congratulations!
[crying]
It's wild.
I can't even fathom it.
Never doubt!
It makes my heart swell.
How proud...
yeah, how proud everyone would be.
Congratulations.
- I'm so proud of you. - Oh.
To be able to go the entire way, there's no complaints.
Ultimately, I'm happy to use what I've learned here
to build the rest of my life.
[tender music]
Your son is gonna be so proud.
Thank you, I really appreciate it.
This is the finish line for this competition,
but I'm on a mission to represent where I come from,
and this was just the first step.
Top Chef has brought out so much out of me.
You know, anything worth doing is worth doing well.
And if you just put your heart into it,
you can make it happen and you're proof of it.
You know? Like, you're proof of it.
Rhoda, you served us a great meal of toasts.
Watching you through this entire competition
has been a complete honor.
We couldn't be more proud of you,
and truly, a toast to you, the newest Top Chef, season 23.
Congratulations, welcome to the club, my dear.
[cheering]
I am Rhoda Magbitang and I am...
I am Top Chef.
[Bleep] yeah, dudes! Let's go!
[laughter]
[applause]