Previously on Top Chef...
[bell ringing]
We want you to honor
the indigenous people of this area.
This is a double elimination.
We have harvested all of these foods for you
for the first time in probably over 100 years.
Wow.
- It's almost there. - No, man, it's gotta be
- faster than that. - It's not crispy.
This steelhead was cooked too hard.
Felt like they weren't really talking to each other.
We have a few different ways we're going to prepare smelts.
I definitely ---ed this one up.
I'm loving this dish.
Yeah, I'm going to coat a rabbit loin in smelt.
- I'm a fan. - The team that had
the winning dish for us tonight was...
- Sara and Shota. - [applause]
In the attempt to crisp up the skin,
the albumins on the side of the fish were coming out.
Please pack your knives and go.
Tonight, one of you are going to earn a chance
to get back into the competition.
Last Chance Kitchen's starting right now.
Let's go.
What the [bleep] was that?!
Eight chefs remain,
to compete in the ultimate culinary showdown.
At stake for the winners, a feature
in Food & Wine magazine, an appearance
at the Food & Wine Classic in Aspen...
a quarter of a million dollars furnished by San Pellegrino...
and the title of Top Chef.
♪♪♪
- Good morning, good morning! - Good morning.
- And then there were eight. - Just like that.
Please welcome back Melissa, your judge for this Quickfire.
Hi, chefs.
We're always happy to have you with us.
Thank you.
But, there's one more person
who can't miss out on this part.
One other contestant?
[nervous laughter]
Why do you have to open your mouth?
They've earned their second chance
to compete in this competition.
♪♪♪
I am hoping for Jamie.
♪♪♪
Not to be rude, but, I'm hoping it's not Gabriel.
♪♪♪
I think that Sasha would do very well.
♪♪♪
I give up. [giggling]
Please welcome back, the winner of the first part
of Last Chance Kitchen.
♪♪♪
- Jamie! - [cheering]
I'm back, bitches!
Yes! [laughing]
Jamie!
I'm so happy that she's back.
Hell yes.
She is very fierce.
But she hides it behind a smile.
[mimicking Jamie's sound effects]
[laughing]
Hi. [giggling]
I don't think I've ever seen a group of chefs
more excited to see another competitor.
[laughter]
When I got terminated, I didn't think
I was going to come back.
But I went Arnold Schwarzenegger on everybody.
[imitates Arnold] "I'm bahck."
- Welcome back, Jamie. - [giggling]
Whether it's in life, or in the kitchen,
your greatest successes
can be a result of your biggest failures,
if you take the opportunity to learn from your mistakes.
♪♪♪
For your Quickfire Challenge,
we want you to take a second chance at a dish
that may not have been your proudest moment.
Whether it was a familial fail on holiday,
or a major mishap during your early days as a cook,
or even here in the competition,
we want to taste the lessons
you've learned from your mistakes.
And do it using ingredients
from our Second Chance Marketplace.
There are so many ingredients out there
that often get overlooked,
especially the imperfect produce.
But, you know, there's so much beauty
in these ingredients up here.
We have a lot of options.
We have some fish collars, some chicken feet,
wrinkly peppers, and some fresh heels of bread.
Our bread partner, Dave's Killer Bread,
based here in Portland,
is focused on second-chance employment,
hiring those who are ready to make a change
in their lives after being incarcerated.
- Nice. - So we felt
it was only appropriate to include them in our
- Second Chance Marketplace. - That's awesome.
You'll have just thirty minutes on the clock.
And the winner will receive immunity
in the next elimination challenge.
And this will be the final immunity of the season.
It's last immunity!
I mean, it's like the last candy bar.
All you want to do is just snatch it.
You guys ready?
Your time...starts now.
♪♪♪
Meow!
I mean, the ingredients are not pretty.
You see super-ripe bananas.
Cheese that is not prime.
[muttering] Moldy cheese.
- But, I mean, we're chefs. - [bell chiming]
- Can I borrow just a tad? - Some of it. Yeah, go for it.
What did you grab?
I grabbed bananas and shrimp,
because I served Padma dry shrimp.
- Oh. - So I'm trying to--
- Redeem yourself. - I actually am.
Who wants this final immunity?
I was very tense about who was walking in there,
and you just brought a smile to my face, so--
I definitely missed you guys.
I was like, "Oh God, you guys are so fun!"
I'm making mutton, because I'm not a big fan of it.
So, hoping, you know, the second chance that I get
is to go around and make it taste good,
and actually get to like it.
So, what second chance ingredients you got, Jamie?
I'm doing the turkey because, remember
when the turkey happened to me? The first challenge?
Were you happy with your dish?
I wasn't happy with the turkey. I overcooked it.
I can't, like, let my anxiety get to me no more.
Me being eliminated and coming back,
it's definitely the biggest second chance of them all.
I plan to focus on making things that make me happy.
I love making poultry.
I eat turkey sandwiches almost every day.
But, for some reason, on Top Chef,
the poultry is trying to kill me! [giggling]
Jamie, did you miss the Quickfires?
No! [laughing]
20 minutes.
Did anyone want moldy cheese? No?
- You go to the bathroom? - No. I went shopping.
Gabe, what you doing?
My dish is another chef's dish that I worked for,
and the first time I tried making it I ---ed it up.
Burnt bread mole with carrots.
My ingredients, most of them are coming from
the Second Chance Pantry.
I love taking vegetables and, you know,
making them the star of the dish.
- [processor whirring] - I'm juicing carrots.
So, essentially I'll be glazing the carrots in their own juice.
The burnt bread adds a lot of depth of flavor
when it's cooked out properly.
I'm going to request permission to Captain Yogurt.
Chef, permission to use yogurt, okay?
- Permission granted! - [Shota laughs]
♪♪♪
Shota, can you pop that open for me?
Thank you, chef. I love you. Thank you.
I am thinking very far into my past
to one of the first times I started cooking.
A jing du style turkey chop.
This was not only my first recipe,
but my first epic failure. [chuckling]
I almost burned my apartment down
trying to make sweet and sour turkey.
I put peppers into a pan with very hot oil.
Not only did our neighbors on the other side of me
run out thinking that they were being tear gassed,
but I also set the fire alarm off.
And at that point I realized that
this is what I'm going to be doing for the rest of my life.
You're my favorite Shota in the whole wide world.
- Hey! - [knife slamming]
♪♪♪
I'm doing a soy-braised fish head dish,
because one of the first dishes I had to do,
and I got yelled at about it a lot, so,
it's kind of my redemption.
Fish heads is one of my favorite ingredients.
The lips are one of my favorite parts because
it's pure collagen, and it absorbs all that flavor.
I'm using fish heads, the soft ginger,
and leftover wine.
I don't know how old these gingers are,
but they're so dried out, and it's just not grating well.
All right. Sup, old ginger.
Mmm. Sexy.
15 minutes, chefs.
I'm coming, I'm coming, I'm coming, I'm coming.
Jamie! [mimics machine gun]
Dawn, what do you have in the wood fire oven?
- I had a tuna kama. - Oh, cool.
A tuna kama, it's like a fish neck,
an often-discarded piece of protein.
It is very rich, with nice fattiness.
So I'm making a peanut curry,
which is redemption from our first challenge.
[timer beeping]
Am I allowed to put this on?
[bleep]
This time, I won't be sprinting to finish my dishes.
Where is cooking oil? [chuckles]
Six minutes, fifty-five seconds, cheffers.
♪♪♪
What's up, sexy? What is that?
Smashed cucumbers. I'm using old cucumbers
to make some smashed cucumber sauce,
to get flavor into the dish.
These cucumbers are a little bit older.
They're a little bit... more flaccid?
[laughing]
I'm going in right now into this fryer.
- It's all you, baby. - Oh, thank you.
- How are you doing over there? - Um, I'm good. I think.
[humming]
Coming down! Very hot! Very hot!
- One minute! - [exasperated groaning]
Weak.
[yelping]
♪♪♪
Three, two, one.
Time's up.
Hand up, utensils down.
That was hard.
Shrimp cakes look beautiful.
But I'm allergic to shellfish.
I have no idea how they taste.
Why did I do this?
♪♪♪
Shota, please come up.
I've prepared aradaki,
which is a soy-braised fish head.
It's one of the first dishes that I started making.
I got yelled at a lot,
because it was too sweet, it was too salty.
What did you braise it in?
I used the leftover plum for sweetness,
and leftover ginger for spice.
Thank you so much. Sara?
Thank you.
I did spoon bread with shrimp gravy.
That was my second chance at the shrimp and grits fritters.
The winner is Jamie.
- Whoo! [imitates pistols] - [laughing]
This is a jing du style turkey chop
with smashed cucumber salad and a chili yogurt.
I used the bread for the actual chop itself.
I used the old cucumbers for the smashed cucumber salad.
Gabe, come on up.
I made carrots and burnt bread mole.
Everything in the mole came from the Second Chance Pantry.
How many different moles do you make, Gabe?
I think about 12 or 13?
I marinaded the turkey because I fudged up
the first challenge.
So, turkey karaage with Indonesian corn fritter.
I made a North African mutton tartare.
This dish is based on more of a personal challenge.
I'm not a big fan of lamb.
- So you gave it to us raw? - No!
[laughing]
This is a celery root and pear bisque
with carrots and chive oil.
And what is this a redo of?
A vichyssoise that I tried making for a party of 700.
I made a fire-roasted tuna kama with peanut sauce.
This is a redo of the very first challenge.
- Thank you so much. - Thank you.
Thank you.
It's a shrimp cake with a grilled habanero banana salsa.
I served you dry shrimp on the rose challenge.
- Yeah. - I don't eat shrimp.
I'm allergic to shellfish,
so it's always a hail Mary.
Thank you.
Overall, there were some really great triumphs today.
You know, it's not very easy to come back from a mistake.
There were a couple of dishes
that gave us some second thoughts.
Maria, your shrimp cake, I thought the idea was great,
but I wasn't getting any shrimp.
Byron, with your mutton tartare,
I thought it was an interesting choice of protein.
- It came off really gamey. - Who else?
Avishar, your turkey dish came off really dry.
And also, it didn't need so many sauces.
- Sure. - Whose dishes
were successful today?
So, Dawn, your tuna with the peanut sauce was fantastic.
You had a lot of flavor in that sauce.
- Thank you, chef. - Shota,
I thought you really utilized
a lot of what was up here,
and I thought that fish was perfectly cooked.
- Thank you. - Gabe.
You had a lot of complex flavors going on.
I also really loved that you gave us something
- that didn't need meat. - Thank you, chef.
There can only be one winner. Melissa?
The chef with the winning dish really did
an amazing job taking these imperfect products
and turning it into a perfect dish.
And so, the winner today is...
♪♪♪
Shota.
[applause]
Congratulations, Shota.
You snagged that very, very valuable last immunity.
Feels really good. Yes!
Finally won a Quickfire. [laughing]
Gives me confidence to be able to do more dishes like this.
Maybe not to everyone, because
they are fish heads, but... [laughing]
- Melissa, thank you. - It was my pleasure.
- Thank you guys. Bye. - Thank you!
Chefs, I think it's safe to say that
the world as we knew it changed
when the COVID-19 pandemic hit.
Volunteers all across the world jumped in
to help make meals for those
battling on the front lines of the pandemic.
Including World Central Kitchen,
an organization founded by my dear friend, Jose Andres.
Whoo.
♪♪♪
Hello, everybody.
Are you ready to change the world?
[overlapping agreement]
Jose, why don't you tell all our chefs
a little bit about World Central Kitchen?
Every time after an earthquake, hurricane, fire,
people need people like us to take care of the food needs.
So World Central Kitchen is very simple.
Over 40 million meals already served in this year alone.
Jose Andres, to me, is like a godsend in this industry.
I really value what he's done in his career,
but inside and outside of the kitchen.
Aren't some of our Top Chef alumni involved?
Oh, yeah!
Sorry!
Kwame's been an amazing leader.
Top Chef should be very proud.
We are very proud. And he's here!
- Kwame! - Hey, what's up?
We're following your lead, so thank you.
All right, Jose, tell our chefs please why you are here today.
Thank you so much, Jose.
We're going to let you go because I know you're busy.
- [blowing kisses] - Bye, guys.
Good luck, all of you.
Maria, were you getting a little emotional there?
- I'm married to a firefighter. - Oh, okay.
So, I know what they go through.
This challenge, it hits home.
They are truly heroes.
Doctors, nurses, all these people,
they're not thinking about themselves, and their families.
They're just putting the sick person first.
That speaks volumes.
We're turning the Top Chef kitchen
into our very own World Central Kitchen.
And you'll be making the meals
for hardworking staff at three local hospitals.
You'll each have to make 65 portions of a dish
that can be packed in to-go containers.
So as World Central Kitchen recommends,
each dish should consist of protein,
vegetables, and starch or grain.
And with nurses and doctors working at all hours,
they need to be good also when reheated.
These are the people that take care of us,
so take care of them. This is really special.
This is awesome.
You'll get two hours to begin prepping
your dishes tonight here in the Top Chef kitchen,
then two hours tomorrow to finish and pack up your dishes.
You'll serve the judges here at the Top Chef kitchen
while the all-stars deliver your food
to the front line workers.
So remember, they should travel well.
You saw me struggling to roll this thing in here.
So there's PPEs, hairnets,
everything you need to make sure you're up to code.
Why don't you guys head to the stew room
and suit up while we stock the pantry
with a variety of bulk ingredients,
so you'll have enough to cook with.
- Good luck, chefs. - Thank you.
Whoo.
This is a good one.
"In light of the COVID-19 outbreaks,
World Central Kitchen is taking extra precautions..."
"COVID-19 Health and Safety Guidelines."
Giving back is also showing gratitude
for what it is that you have
and what you've been blessed with.
And to feed front line workers,
the people that take care of us,
it's a very spiritual thing.
It's the reason why I cook for a living.
This one is, like, hitting home to me.
Two of my uncles contracted
and one of them passed away in May or June.
I'm sorry you had to go through that.
Sorry to hear that.
My uncle was very supportive in all that I do
and he's come and eaten at the restaurants many a times.
He was always just in it to have a great time.
I know that he's still watching down on me and providing me
the courage that I need to continue to push forward.
This challenge was a good reminder for us
of the reality of life outside of the bubble.
While we're in the bubble, everyone is still existing.
We have to be a team to remember
the bigger problem at hand.
Ready to go cook some food?
- Yeah. - Let's do it!
Hopefully, we get to give back a little bit today.
♪♪♪
[indistinct chatter]
Sorry.
♪♪♪
[exasperated groan]
This is so hard to shop!
Is there any lettuce?
[exasperated groan]
I had seven ideas on my mind,
but I literally don't see anything that I wanted.
They really don't have sh--.
I really wanted to do rice balls or takikomi,
something that's really cozy and comfy,
but they only have basmati rice.
I don't know what I'm going to make.
So I grabbed drumsticks.
[cursing and muttering]
♪♪♪
How many portions we need?
- Sixty-five. - Holy sh--.
Using the big boy mandoline, huh?
Yessir! I'm working a potato--
sweet potato gratin with grilled chicken breast.
Hopefully I can get it set in time and into the oven.
I want to do a gratin as I know it's going to be
a great application to be able to cook it today, have it cool,
press it, cut it tomorrow to place in the to-go package.
I'm definitely worried about being consistent
in 65 portions.
This is a special one, man.
Yeah, it's really touching to see Chef Andres.
Oh yeah, for sure.
♪♪♪
My nani, she was a heck of a lady.
She taught me how to make tortillas.
Nice.
I want to give them the most homey dish
that's okay to reheat in the microwave.
I'm doing a puerco and salsa verde,
and making my own flour tortillas.
The front line workers will get a tiny bear hug
in their hearts if they get a flour tortilla.
♪♪♪
What did you grab, Gabe?
What are you thinking about? I'm going to make
some sweet corn tamales.
Oh, sh--.
Achiote-marinated chicken breast.
- That sounds awesome, dude. - "Sounds" awesome?
I'm going to go Mediterranean.
I'm doing pita, and I think I'm going to try
- mung bean lentil falafel. - Amazing.
And then, roasted carrot hummus.
I choose to keep everything vegetarian.
Ultimately it's a risk,
but I don't want it to be too heavy.
Guess what I have to use?
Mother----ing yogurt!
- Oh, sh--. - [giggles]
♪♪♪
Shota, did you grow up with a big family?
Just me, my brother, my mom and dad.
How many family members did you have?
We had the nine kids and my mom and dad.
- Nine kids? - Yeah, we ate a lot of soups.
I fall right in the middle. I'm the middle child syndrome.
[laughing]
I think I'm going to make kimchi soup
with a kind of braised bulgogi-style pork.
My intention for the front line workers,
I feel like working under that stress
and they're saving these people's lives,
they probably want that little warm comfort.
- Damn, this is a hard one. - Yeah.
"Welcome back, Jamie." "Goodbye, Jamie."
- [laughing] - Don't say that!
- An hour and four, guys. - Hour and four heard.
♪♪♪
- Fried chicken, chef? - Braised chicken.
I'm just getting the outside coated with this.
At this point I'm doing a miso-braised
sweet potato and drumstick.
Oh, [bleep] off. Ugh.
I just can't find inspiration
after not being able to find stuff.
- Shota, are you good? - Yeah, I'm good.
Which sucks. Because I want to be inspired for this challenge.
Hot. Coming through. Ugh!
♪♪♪
Do you need more spices or...
Ah! I didn't know, man. This is how we cook at home.
Spice is nice, they say.
- What are you making. - A beef curry.
Something my dad likes a lot, so...
Oh, okay. Oh, so this is, like, for your dad?
For the first responders and my dad.
My dad is a doctor.
I know what my dad has eaten in the past at the hospital,
and, you know, I know the food isn't always best.
Can you make sure my seasoning is okay on this?
I don't want to, like, blow anyone's palette or anything.
Working with different spices,
I feel right at home, but I want
to translate that to the plate in a way
that I would find accessible
for an audience of first responders.
Uh, just gotta keep cooking this and then put it away.
Everything else should be good for tomorrow,
- and I'm feeling good. - Ten minutes!
[clattering]
- You all right? - Yeah.
Your beef is safe, though.
You need a marker.
The last ten minutes, it's a madhouse.
- Four minutes! -Put it on the speed rack, yeah.
I feel exhausted because of the weight of this challenge
on my shoulders and the amount of work I have tomorrow.
I honestly put, like, my whole body into today.
[laughing]
♪♪♪
[line ringing]
Hello?
Mom.
- Hey. - Hey.
How you doing?
I'm doing good. How are you?
Good. I miss you so much.
Not as much as I miss you.
[giggling]
My mom recently had a stroke about six months ago.
I actually stayed in the hospital
when she was recovering.
Any problems?
No. You still safe?
I'm still safe. I'm talking about you!
My mother kind of ordered me to come.
Like, she was like,
"This is an opportunity of a lifetime,
and you will take it."
Are you walking a lot?
I wouldn't say a lot, but I walk when I can.
Okay.
I'm learning from her, so much,
about how to do the seemingly impossible.
You just keep taking care of you.
I want to show her what her competitive spirit
looks like by winning on Top Chef.
- Love you. - I love you more.
[laughing]
♪♪♪
- Woah. - Ahh! [laughs]
♪♪♪
If I get my sh-- done in time, I'm happy to help you
- with whatever I can. - Thank you.
And if not, I still might.
- One team, one dream, right? - That's it, chef.
We do have two hours today.
but I am taking into consideration
at least half an hour to package.
♪♪♪
Need help with the pots?
- No, no. - You good? Okay.
[angry growling]
The grill is super-occupied.
♪♪♪
Whoo!
So, I decide to make
65 fresh flour tortillas in the pizza oven.
Holy sh--, that's hot!
I have zero hair now.
♪♪♪
- How's that working, chef? - Good!
I'm grilling some chicken right now.
It's getting a nice char.
Caramelize some of the spices that I have in the marinade.
Then I'm going to finish them off in the oven.
Jamie, you doing good? You gotta finish
- in, like, 30 minutes. - I know.
I got to get my eggplant, and they took
all the oven space, so I'm going to deep fry it.
My first job was at the Chinese restaurant kitchen with my dad.
And I see him do fried eggplant with soy and eat over rice.
By frying it, it's going to give me that creamy texture.
So when you pour the soup over it,
it just becomes like tofu.
Jamie, are containers up front?
Yeah, put 18 in the first bag and two in the back bag.
Everything is great. Everything is great.
I don't know if this is a great idea.
This flatbread is going to be my starch element.
Oh, mother of God!
I wanted to call it a flatbread
in case the bread didn't puff up.
Hells to the yes.
But now I will gladly call them pitas.
♪♪♪
Fifteen minutes, y'all.
- Fifteen! - Fifteen heard.
Oh, my God.
- Oh sh--! - [angry growling]
Everything's fine. Everything is great.
We have to go out to judges.
Breathe. You've got this.
♪♪♪
I'm really excited for this challenge.
World Central Kitchen is doing amazing work.
It's really nice that our chefs get to feed some people, too.
To give back, in any way that we can.
- Hi, guys. Hey. - What's up, y'all?
Oh, y'all are suited up!
- Ready to deliver. - We're ready.
Thank you guys for doing the delivery today.
It shows that it takes a team to get this done.
When our restaurants closed during the pandemic,
we couldn't hire an outside source.
So I did all the delivery for restaurants.
- Wow. - All right, well,
I think you guys have some deliveries
to make, so, get to it!
- Bye! - Bye, guys. Drive safe.
Everything's fine. Everything's great.
Having this opportunity to give back
is exactly what I came here to do.
The biggest part of me just doesn't want to mess it up.
So, I'm going to try to channel some more positive vibes.
Everything's going to be so good.
Keep pushing.
Gangster, dude.
♪♪♪
All right, chefs! Time's up!
♪♪♪
- Thk you. - Thank you!
It's nice to be able to give back to some people
who have worked really hard throughout the pandemic.
This is amazing, right?
Get these front line workers fed.
- Here you go. Still warm. - All right.
All of us say thank you very much for all of your efforts.
Oh, thank you. Truly. We appreciate it.
Thank you so much. Enjoy.
Yeah, we will love it. Thank you.
You don't want to give them something that's too heavy.
I mean, they are working and running around the hospital.
My mother was a nurse for 50 years.
- Really? - I remember she saying,
like, she was really hungry
but sometimes if she ate too fast or ate too much,
then it would just slow her down.
It's like working in the kitchen.
Totally. She was on her feet the whole day on the floor.
- Jamie, let's go, let's go! - Sorry! Aah.
- Hello. - Here we go.
- Hi everybody. - Hi!
Oh, you're working as a team here.
Thank you very much, Shota.
Wow, this looks beautiful.
Well, let's start with you, Jamie.
I made a kimchi tofu soup,
bulgogi braised pork,
eggplant and steamed rice to soak up all the flavor.
I love having kimchi with my rice,
so you eat it like a stew.
Sara, tell us what you made.
A falafel out of lentils, a little bit of carrot
and pumpkin seed hummus-y thing,
and flatbread and a tomato salad.
- Did make this pita? - I sure did.
And you couldn't stay away from the yogurt.
- I love it. - Stop it!
I like that you went vegetarian.
What inspired you to do that?
If you have to go back to work,
you don't want a super big gut bomb.
So, keep it light, but super nutritious and filling.
- Awesome. - Hi, Shota.
I did miso-braised drumsticks with sweet potatoes
braised together, cauliflower pickles
and Napa cabbage cooked with cashews and eggs.
Thank you so much. Get back in there.
- Thank you. - Thanks, guys.
Jamie's soup is delicious.
It has the flavor that I was hoping to get from this soup.
Putting the rice with the eggplant, and pork,
and then having the soup separately
so you can eat it on its own,
she really thought through how to package the dish.
The eggplant is really flavorful.
It's cooked nicely.
Jamie really crushed the braised meat here.
It's not easy to pull off in a couple of hours.
I think there's some good sour notes in here.
You've got this, Jamie.
I think that Sara's pita
- is so damn good. - It's so fluffy!
That yogurt sauce here with minh is super bright.
And her falafel's super flavorful, too.
I love the sesame crust.
There's no meat in it, and you don't miss it.
You don't miss it for a second.
I hope they feel the love.
Okay. We need to talk about Shota.
That chicken has a gray color.
The cabbage and egg isn't far behind.
This to me is very much Japanese comfort food.
But, there's nothing to me less appealing
than poached or broiled chicken skin.
This is not up to Shota's normal level of execution.
[sighs tensely]
- Five minutes! - Five minutes heard.
[bleep]. Yeah, yeah.
[laughs] We got five. We've got five.
- Just take these all-- -No, no! Leave this, leave this.
- I'm sorry. Sorry. - Here, take that. Take that.
Everybody is helping.
- Ten seconds. - Second, seconds, seconds,
[overlapping clamoring]
It's unreal, the brotherhood that we have formed.
Put 'em right here. Put 'em right here.
Three, two,
- one... - Gangster, dude!
- Time's up! - Time's up, guys!
Oh, my gosh.
- I love you. - Great job, dude.
- I believe in you. - Thank you.
And, we're off.
♪♪♪
- Smells like tacos in here. - It does!
You guys had to make 65 plates
and you're stressing out like that.
Dude, we had to do 300 plates.
I know. Kids these days.
♪♪♪
Thank you.
Maria, tell us about your lunch.
My lunch is puerco verde.
So, pork and grilled tomatillo salsa
with a cabbage and avocado slaw, and corn salsa on top,
and a tortilla on the side.
I know how first responders eat.
Lily, my wife, she's been a firefighter for 20 years.
That's why I separated the meat and tortilla and everything.
If they don't eat the meat right away,
they can just munch on the salad.
Avishar.
I made a Bengali-style beef curry
with chana and cauliflower,
and basmati rice that I cooked through this time.
What kind of meat did you use for this?
I used beef flank steak.
And what did you want the texture of this to be?
So generally we eat curries with our hands.
So, you gotta have some texture, not completely shreddy.
- Byron. - I made a pollo a la brasa,
Peruvian-style grilled chicken.
Potatoes are with aji amarillo sauce
and then you have a vegetable corn salad
tossed in a cilantro and lime vinaigrette.
- Thank you guys. - Thank you.
- Enjoy! - Thank you all.
I actually think Avishar's rice is cooked properly.
He did a good job with the rice.
Yep. Just not a ton of flavor.
The stew is broken. It's, like, mealy.
All of those ingredients he put in there,
- I can't taste them. - No.
It's not even a matter of heat.
It's a matter of flavor.
Where's the curry?
Where's the heat? Where's the spice?
It makes me question, did he taste this?
Do you guys usually use basmati rice?
Serve a lot of different rices.
Maria's dish, on the other hand, is really tasty.
I love the tomatillo. I love the salsa.
You taste the char.
I think she did a beautiful job on this braise.
I appreciate that she made her tortilla herself.
Unfortunately, it's raw. Turn it over.
- [gasping] - It's quite raw.
Oh, look at that.
Yeah, it hasn't been cooked through.
[in Spanish]
Now here's a way to do chicken legs.
- Yeah! - Byron did a great job.
- I love the char. - There's seasoning,
and it's sticky, and there's a glaze.
After being inside dealing with the pressure,
it's like you're outside on a picnic eating this food.
Just the right amount of vinegar.
And it's well-seasoned.
♪♪♪
Coming through, hot and heavy! [groans]
♪♪♪
Coming down. Be very careful.
Who needs help?
- Nine seconds! - I'm not going to make it.
- Yes, you are! - Do it! Do it!
- [timer beeping] - Time's up, guys! Time's up!
♪♪♪
Beautiful Portland.
♪♪♪
- [grunts] There you go. - Oh, thank you!
- Thank you guys for everything. - Thank you.
People are going to love it. Thank you so much.
Thank you.
- Thank you. - Lovely.
Pretty, pretty food.
Wow.
Let's start with Chris.
I did a grilled chicken breast
with potato and sweet potato gratin,
and roasted brussels sprouts.
What did you season the chicken with?
Bell peppers, habaneros, parsley.
There's habanero in this?
Yes, just enough for the flavor,
not so much for the spice.
I made a achiote chicken with a black bean sauce,
a sweet corn tamale and some green beans.
I flash fried them and then dressed them
in a mixture of salsa macha and XO.
- Dawn. - So, I made for you
a tamarind-braised top sirloin
with coconut rice grits and a braised
and seared cabbage wedge.
Thank you, chefs.
Chris's chicken breast was cooked immaculately.
I mean, that's as good as you can cook it.
The thing that throws me off was the lack of seasoning.
He said he used habaneros. I don't taste any habaneros.
It's not seasoned at all.
Chris did a great job beautifully layering
the gratin, but it's not cooked enough.
How'd it go, buddy?
Mentally, physically, it's just...
I'm ----ing tired.
Gabe's chicken tamale has a ton of flavor.
Everything has flavor here.
But I gotta say, the chicken is a little on the dry side.
There's so many different competing flavors.
I wanted there to be more of a focus.
It's, like, beautifully presented.
It think it actually carries really well.
- How'd it go? - Heh-heh.
- Yeah. You never know. - I don't know.
Dawn's meat is super flavorful.
She does not lack on the flavor.
She pulled it off.
She was really brave in giving us a quarter head
of braised and grilled cabbage.
The seasoning was really nice.
I think that was a bold move.
- We all did a great job. - I'm proud of us.
Great job to the chef.
Hi guys.
Hey, fam. What's going on?
- Hi. Pull up a chair. - All right.
- Hey. - Genius here.
[overlapping greetings]
- The gang's all here. - [laughing]
How did your delivery go?
You know, it's good to give back.
They were really happy to see us.
- Okay, how was the food? - A lot of them just tapped
into their comfort dishes, and that showed.
What were your favorite things?
Sara's dish really stands out for the fact that
it brought so much freshness to it.
Jamie was good.
We really liked that kimchi soup.
- It's cozy. - What was the least favorite?
Chris, once again.
No seasoning, lack of vision.
What about Avishar's dish?
What I love about Indian-inspired food
is the spice and the intensity of flavor,
and it completely lacked in any of that.
Thank you so much for all your help
in delivering these meals.
We have to go back to Judges' Table and hash this out.
- Enjoy. - Have fun.
♪♪♪
Listen, this is a tough challenge,
but before we get into that, let's not lose the fact
that you cooked, I believe, 585 meals today,
for front line workers.
So that's pretty awesome. We should applaud that.
We did get a few responses from some local hospitals,
so let's see what they had to say.
It's been really tough.
You know, I feel...
I feel really blessed to have this.
It has been hard. There have been tears every day
This is an incredible gift.
We really appreciate the showing of support.
♪♪♪
Working every day since the pandemic hit,
trying to maneuver around the new normal.
So this kind of brightens everybody's day.
♪♪♪
We're so delighted to get a meal cooked with love.
I really want to thank World Central Kitchen
and Top Chef for delivering this,
these hot meals.
Thank you so much, Top Chef team.
It's great to be appreciated. Thank you.
♪♪♪
I see you getting emotional there, Maria.
What's going through your head?
I mean, it touches home for me.
This is special. I wanted it to be good,
and at the end I was cutting it close.
and it shows the brotherhood that we all have.
This challenge really got at the heart
of why you all do what you do
and why you do it at the level you do it at.
Dawn, Jamie,
and Sarah.
Please stay here.
The rest of you, please step to the side.
For now. Thank you.
♪♪♪
The three of you
had our favorite dishes of the day,
- so congratulations. - [both giggling]
You seem a little surprised.
I think Sara always looks surprised.
I didn't think I could get that all done.
You got it done and it was really good, actually.
No, I wanted them to open the box too,
and look at it and just feel excited.
You did a great job
making that fresh pita bread, and it showed.
It wasn't like store-bought bread at all.
- Thank you so much. - The best indication
of a good non-meat dish
is when you don't miss the meat at all.
It was clear that it was well-intentioned,
very well executed.
Trust us, it was nicely delivered.
- Thank you. - Jamie.
- Walk us through your dish. - My family's big,
and Mom always makes soup to feed us all,
and that's a comforting thing.
I don't know, I just wanted to put out
something that I love.
There was some heat to that soup.
- Yeah? - But you balanced it
really beautifully.
The eggplant had great texture. It was full of life,
and it definitely had a lot of you in it.
It's like me on a plate. A little bit!
For me, the spice level was perfect,
and you seasoned that broth beautifully.
Thank you.
Dawn, walk us through your dish.
I braised a top sirloin in tamarind that I reconstituted
with lemongrass, ginger, garlic.
Listen to the way you build those flavors.
The sauce was really delicious.
- Really, really flavorful. - Thank you.
And Dawn, you give us an intelligent
and comforting dish all in one.
You just have a way with seasoning your food.
I'm not reaching for anything.
And that's what a chef wants when they eat, right?
Thank you, chef.
Kwame, as our guest judge,
you have the pleasure of announcing our winner today.
The chef that had our favorite dish of the day
really put their soul into that plate of food.
And the winning chef is...
♪♪♪
- Jamie. - What?
[applause]
Congratulations!
I won! [laughing]
Pew, pew, pew, pew!
This challenge was very rewarding.
They're working so hard in the front lines
to help people and save people's lives.
Jamie, way to make a splash on your first week back.
- I want to do a robot. - Don't let us stop you.
I'm back, bitches! [giggling]
I'm happy.
- Congratulations, Jamie. - Thank you.
- And to all of you. - Thank you.
Next, we'd like to talk to...
Avishar, Chris, and Maria.
The rest of you can step to the side.
[whispering]
The three of you had our least favorite dishes today,
and one of you will be going home.
♪♪♪
You worked your ass off today without a doubt.
Put a lot of heart and soul into what you did,
so, take this in the spirit of competition,
You know, that's the way it goes.
Shota, I just want to say,
it's a good thing you have immunity.
The dish was just not there.
Maria, I don't think I have to tell you what went wrong
- with your dish. - Yeah, I know.
- What was it? - The pork.
- No. - No.
- No? - Your tortilla was raw.
- Was it? - On one side.
Honestly, this challenge got the best of my emotions.
I thought the pork-- the tomatillo gave it
a really nice acidity to it.
I thought it had a really great flavor.
And I thought the corn was nice.
- Oh, thank you. - I thought you had
the best stew of the day.
I think if it wasn't for that tortilla,
you wouldn't be standing here.
I just made a rookie mistake.
Chris, tell us about your dish.
I wanted to start by making something homey and comforting
knowing what the front line workers are going through.
For me, I would love to see you get a little
down and dirty with your food, as far as flavor.
When we asked you, like,
what did you season the chicken with,
you were like, "Habanero peppers."
We didn't get any habanero flavor in there.
It wasn't spicy at all.
- Everything just needed salt. - Understood.
Avishar, what was your thinking behind this dish today?
I was trying to create a meal that,
I think first responders would enjoy
based on something I would give to my dad.
You got the rice right. Thank you.
[laughter]
What's surprised me was
the utter lack of flavor.
What spices did you use?
I used cinnamon, clove, cardamom.
I put the whole spices in first.
I then added some stock, and then the beef.
So you know browning the meat helps the seasoning
- stick to the meat as well? - I will do that next time.
I think what happened--because you didn't sear the beef,
the flavor that I got was very bloody.
- Okay. - This is going to be
a difficult one, but thank you all.
- We'll call you back in a bit.
- Thank you. - Thank you.
Thank you.
Congratulations, winner!
Good job. Good comeback!
Maria, I mean, you had the ambition
and your flavors were there.
But, as the Mexican, to serve a raw flour tortilla...
I'm gonna be sad to send someone home today.
They all worked so hard.
It's not that difficult to send someone home
for rookie mistakes, and they all made them.
You know, Maria had one of the best bites of the night,
until I had my second bite and then it was raw.
That tortilla was not good.
You know, at least with Maria,
I really did feel that her stew was delicious.
So did I. I will go back to it with pleasure.
I'm really, honestly having a hard time
between Avishar and Chris, because,
in a way, they both suffered from the same problem.
Avishar-- the beef wasn't seared.
I don't think the beef was seasoned either.
How do you take cumin and cardamom and clove
and make it tasteless?
A lot to learn. A lot to learn.
My thing with Chris is, okay,
his chicken was properly cooked,
but it was so tasteless.
Nothing that Chris makes has any seasoning in it.
There was zero soul in Chris's dish.
Just zero salt!
Well, I mean, it's a repeating factor.
Every time I go in, it's the lack of seasoning
and the lack of identity.
Okay, I think we have our decision.
- Yeah. - Yes?
Yes.
Let's get them out here.
♪♪♪
You know, chefs, one thing this pandemic has done is,
it's really exposed who is essential in our society.
People and professions that have been overlooked
for a long time, who are on the front lines.
And in a way, chefs are also part
of those front line workers, because we've opened up
a lot of our restaurants to feed our communities.
And so it's hard sending someone home.
But often, we've sent people for making some,
as Maria put it, "rookie mistakes."
♪♪♪
Avishar.
Please pack your knives and go.
♪♪♪
- I'm so sorry. - It's okay.
See you in Last Chance Kitchen.
- Not over yet. - I'll do my best.
You got this, dude.
I was eliminated today.
I don't feel great about it,
but on every challenge, in every environment,
no matter how I felt, I gave 100%.
It's Chris.
Just kidding, it's me.
I never thought I would even cook professionally
one day of my life,
but I've made it this far in this competition.
Let me at least do a cartwheel out of here.
Yeah!
[cheering]
Just because you have a failure or crumble,
or maybe you're a Bengali person
that can't make rice a couple of times.
But I'm still alive. so take the risk,
take the chance, and go for it.
♪♪♪
Tonight, Avishar enters Last Chance Kitchen.
I'm here to compete. I'm here to win.
After making an essentially bland dish...
Making some bloody scrambled eggs, you know.
...his blood is boiling.
Can he make it back into the competition?
That looks great, right?
- Delicious. - Yeah.
Find out now on demand,
or wherever you stream Top Chef.
Next time on Top Chef...
Welcome to Restaurant Wars.
[laughing]
- It's the Chef's Table. - All: Oh...
Everything the chefs do and say is seen by the diners.
No pressure.
Let's rock and roll.
[trilling]
- Looks pretty. - Yeah, wow.
Dawn, what are your finalized dishes?
I will tell you in a little bit.
I'm nervous.
- It's a little tense. - Let's start walking.
I like a server who interrupts a conversation.
Yeah, sorry. My apologies.
I feel uncomfortable sitting here.
- You done? - No, man, I need to sauce.
Oh, look at this.
It's pretty ----ing good.
- Whoa! - Ooh.
There's no connection between the first dish
and this dish at all.
- They didn't like it. - Um...