PADMA: Previously on "Top Chef"...
Dessert will be a bittersweet ending for one of you.
Byron, please pack your knives and go.
Byron then unpacked his knives in "Last Chance Kitchen."
We're gonna gonna give you a chance to defend your turf
and keep him out.
- Wow. - Whoa.
Byron, you're gonna have to win
two out of the three rounds to get back into the competition.
Okay.
While I love Byron like a brother,
it's gonna make the road for the rest of us longer,
so we're gonna push him out the door today.
First round goes to...
Gabe.
The winner of round two...
Byron.
You win this one, you're back in the competition,
you lose this one, you're out for good.
Winner of the third round is...
Jamie.
Bam! [imitates machine gunshots]
[laughter]
PADMA: 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,
a quarter of a million dollars furnished by San Pellegrino,
and the title of Top Chef.
♪♪♪
That was an interesting turn of events.
That was crazy.
Way to hustle, chef.
- You don't need to feel bad. - You did you, sweetheart.
I wanted Byron to have another opportunity
'cause I was able to get a second chance.
I'm back, bitches! [laughs]
But at the same time, I'm taking my second chance
and making the most out of it.
It feels fantastic. Fantastic five. [laughs]
- Final Five. - Final Five.
- What do we say? - Let's get us some.
- Let's get us some! - [cheering]
Oh, you're such a dork.
Let's see what Padma has for this Quickfire.
♪♪♪
- No, no, no, no. - Interesting.
Ah. Oh, no.
She doesn't have good intentions.
[laughter]
What's the door, huh?
[laughter]
- Hi, everybody. - Hi.
Hi.
I don't see any new chefs here. Fill me in.
What happened at "Last Chance Kitchen"?
Byron beat Sara. He battled me, then Maria, then Jamie.
So you kept him out.
- Jamie was in rare form. - Yeah.
Sounds intense. [chuckles]
Maybe as intense as this giant black box behind me?
[cautiously] Yes.
It reminds me of a peep show, honestly.
I'm sure you guys know there are "Top Chef" spinoffs
all over the world.
So for this challenge,
we're doing it "Top Chef: France" style.
Oh.
This is their infamous Black Box challenge.
[laughs]
♪♪♪
For this Quickfire Challenge,
you'll be working in pairs to recreate
an entire 5-star dish that's been prepared
by this week's guest judge.
So that dish is what's inside this box.
Once you enter this box, you'll be in total
and complete darkness.
Okay.
Ehh, as long as a clown doesn't pop out.
I'll punch you. [laughs]
We're gonna need a little help, 'cause there's five of you.
So I have called in for some all-star reinforcement.
[applause]
Hi.
Brooke Williamson,
AKA the Quickfire queen of her season.
- I love a good Quickfire. - [laughter]
The chef who's going to cook with Brooke
has the most individual wins so far this season.
♪♪♪
I think you guys know who that is, right?
- No. - I don't know.
It's Dawn.
Oh. [laughs]
It actually took me by surprise, but I'm happy
to kind of solidify my position on top.
The rest of you, please pair up.
♪♪♪
- Finally. - [laughter]
You have 35 minutes total for this Quickfire.
Each team will be assigned a prep and hot line station.
Just like a relay race, one team member will wait
outside of the kitchen
while the other team member enters the black box.
The first chef will have 15 minutes
and one turn in the box to taste, smell,
touch the dish you're recreating
and come out here and get started.
When your time is up, you'll stand by in the kitchen,
unable to communicate with your partner
while they have their 15 minutes to pick up
where you left off.
In the final 5 minutes, both you and your teammate
can run inside the box...
- Oh, a whole five minutes. - [laughs]
...with the lights on to fix any mistakes.
All the while,
the chef who created the dish will be watching.
- Oh, shoot. - ...from another room.
Hi.
[laughter]
It's up to you guys to decide
who's gonna go into the box first and cook.
Okay.
- Try not to [bleep] up too bad. - It's all good, chef.
That's totally up to you.
This is really difficult.
What happens if we both taste two different things?
You tell me.
- Me? - Yeah.
Shota, Jamie, and Brooke, you're going first.
Don't get blindsided by this challenge.
[laughter]
Your time starts now. Good luck.
- Go, Shota. - Let's go.
Yikes.
♪♪♪
[lids clank]
Stepping into potentially the most difficult Quickfire
I have ever experienced, I'm starting to rethink
what I'm doing with my whole life. [laughs]
Mmm. It's delicious.
Good, good. There you go.
Using your fingers-- that's smart.
- Hi. - Hi. How's it going?
Good.
- How are they doing? - They're doing pretty good.
But I think this would be really hard to do.
So what's in it?
Pigeon, roasted carrot and grilled pear,
carrot mustard purée and then pistachios.
The curveball is like a gribiche sauce.
- What's in it? - Hard-boiled eggs.
It's a small bird, cooked mid-rare
maybe it's squab.
I taste carrots and carrot purée.
[bell dings]
I taste pear, and the pear tastes acidic,
so I felt like there was some sort of acid cooked with it.
♪♪♪
I'm getting carrot, pears, and a small bird.
[bell dings]
Tasting a little bit of smokiness,
so I'm thinking bacon. - [buzzer]
Maybe they're mixing two proteins to mess with us.
♪♪♪
There are a lot of ingredients on this plate.
My inkling is that it's a squab.
- [bell dinging] - I do get pear
and carrot and carrot purée.
There's one flavor that I can't quite pinpoint.
This seems like a really obvious flavor
that I just can't nail down in my head.
♪♪♪
Here we go.
♪♪♪
- All right. - I'm-a follow you.
- I'm-a grab what you grab. - [laughs]
Looks like they got pigeons.
My goal, really, is to set Dawn up
for the best success possible.
Looks like someone's got some bunches of carrots.
That's good.
Aside from breaking down the squab,
I really wanna get these carrots going
because Dawn's not gonna have time to start a carrot purée
from start to finish.
The carrots--I get 'em sliced so Maria knows to cook them
so we can purée 'em, and then I wanna get the pear
so it can pickle a little so she can sauté 'em.
- I think we all grabbed pears. - I definitely tasted pear.
I think they're doing a really good job.
That's great.
Having the pears is a good move.
The hardest part of this challenge
is not being able to communicate
with your teammate, so my strategy
is don't do cooking but mise everything out.
Because if I bring stuff to the hot line,
Gabe might not see it, but if I have everything on the table,
at least he can just really concentrate on the cooking.
I'm waiting for somebody to get some eggs going
in the gribiche sauce.
There was a weird consistency in there.
Yeah, there was, like, some-- something chewy.
[laughs]
All right, I need to be in the kitchen.
- Okay, sounds good. - Okay.
Time's running out, then I thought about the squab.
I wanna butcher it airline so Maria can just cook it.
There's a piece of corn in my squab.
These guys are spending a lot of time
on butchering those pigeons.
♪♪♪
Minute and 49 left, guys.
♪♪♪
Oh, wow. Is that a lamb shank?
At the very end, I thought there was two different proteins,
so I grabbed a little beef shank as well.
That's coming out of left field,
but interesting to see where it goes.
One minute left.
♪♪♪
[timer beeps]
Chefs, your time is up.
Damn it! [laughs]
Please step to the side.
It's time for your teammates to take your places
with a refresh of the same dish.
Your time starts now.
♪♪♪
[lid clanks]
I have a really good palate.
I feel that it is a squab. I sense creaminess.
I think it's carrot purée with mustard.
I taste roasted carrots and pear.
[bell dinging]
There is something hard textural,
and I'm thinking pistachios. - [bell dings]
It's really hard to pick up a lot of details off this dish.
I'm getting some flavors of mustard and carrot.
- [bell dings] - Some type of pheasant or bird.
[bell dings]
♪♪♪
Right away, you can tell it was a bird.
I can pick up a carrot, pear, and an onion.
I'm trying to figure out the components of the sauce,
but I need to start cooking.
This is so ----ing weird.
♪♪♪
Brooke's pulled pears and carrots,
so I immediately start peeling and getting ready to cook those.
[bleep]
All I wanna do is tell Dawn
that her carrots are already on the stove boiling,
and I can't.
But even if it's 10 seconds, that's 10 seconds
that could make or break a dish.
[bleep]
♪♪♪
Run over to the stove, and I see carrots already cooking.
There's absolutely no communication allowed
between the two chefs.
So I need to open my eyes and be more careful.
♪♪♪
I see that Jamie got me all set up,
and then all of a sudden, I forgot how to butcher a squab.
[sighs]
That looks so ugly.
Like, my brain goes, "You don't know how."
Uh-oh. What is she doing?
Oh, Maria.
♪♪♪
I saw the beef shank Shota pulled,
and I definitely didn't taste beef anywhere,
so I'm just leaving that alone.
My plan is to get the bird cooking,
but I'm not 100% confident on the sauce.
♪♪♪
I can't ----ing find the mustard.
I'm looking for mustard because I know for certain
it was present on the plate.
I'm impressed.
[exhales deeply]
♪♪♪
How you feeling about this, Dawn?
I feel like I at least picked the sauce up.
- Of course, the bird is there. - Yeah.
I don't know why I think creamy and curry,
you know, eastern flavors.
So I go grab butter and heavy cream.
I don't know what that is.
I'm grilling the squab and then putting it back in the sauce
so it's absorbing the flavor.
Is she cooking the birds in gravy?
♪ Amazing grace ♪
♪♪♪
Uh...
♪♪♪
You have 10 seconds before all of you
get to go into the box.
♪♪♪
- [timer beeps] - Chefs, you now have 5 minutes
to fix any mistakes you've made.
Gabe.
♪♪♪
I had these just in case. I don't have that.
Eggs. I'll make the relish.
Okay, and I did make a purée.
Dawn, thank you very much for that.
A pear? Taste the squab.
- Gribiche. - All right, what do you want?
- Eggs. I got gribiche. - What do I do?
I don't think it's queso, though.
What is it?
If we can get that purée, we can be there.
I'm gonna try to rush and make the carrot purée.
I'm gonna try to throw it in the fryer and blitz it.
♪♪♪
The squab is done.
You made it. Like, rocked on.
Mm-mm-mm-mm-mm-mm.
- One minute! - Let's get the bird down.
- You want what in here? - Mustard.
- Jamie, let's plate. - Yeah, okay.
Right behind.
10 seconds.
You got this, you got this, you got this.
It's fine.
- [timer beeps] - Time's up!
Hands up. Utensils down.
[beeping continues]
[bleep]
- Holy sh--. - Whoo!
- Damn, y'all. - How do you guys do this?
- You all did... - [laughs]
You guys really ----ing killed it.
Are you guys ready to find out who your guest judge is?
- Yes. - Yeah.
Please welcome James Beard Award-winning chef
from right here in Portland.
- Hi, chefs. - Gabriel Rucker.
How's it going?
- That looked fun. - [laughter]
Everyone is dying to know what is the dish
that you prepared for all of us?
It was a grilled breast of pigeon
with roasted carrots, marinated in grilled pears,
a fall spice gribiche, and a carrot mustard,
with a little bit of crunch
from a pistachio pumpernickel bread crumb.
Yeah.
Why don't we start with Dawn and Brooke?
Looks good.
Wow. So what did you think you were making today?
I knew that it was some small bird.
I tasted the pear, the carrot, and the mustard
in the carrot sauce.
Brooke, what was it like to be back with the timer
and the running?
I enjoy it, but this was
a really difficult plate of food to recreate.
- The purée is really yummy. - Yeah.
- Thank you. - They did a great job.
- Thank you so much. - BOTH: Thank you.
- Shota and Gabe? - Hey, chefs.
Thank you. What did you think this was?
Shota did a really good job of setting me up
with the pears and the carrots,
and he had the bird broken down already.
And I didn't pick up the purée.
I did pick up on the egg whites,
so I knew there was some type of gribiche.
The fact that you even got that it was a gribiche
was quite impressive, I think.
I'm picking up a lot of the flavors
that are in the original dish on this, too.
- Thank you both. - Thank you.
Maria and Jamie, bring up your dish.
- The sad plate, you mean. - It's a sad plate?
- It's a sad plate. - We'll decide.
I was trying to keep track of what you're doing.
I grilled it first. Some curry spices I put in there.
And, uh, poured a little bit of cream and butter
to give it more body.
Mmm. That pear is delicious.
Thank you.
- Thank you both. - Awesome.
Okay, Gabriel, how do you think they did
with this challenge?
Overall, I was absolutely impressed.
But there was definitely one plate that got
the most of the components right,
most of the textures right, and the highs and low notes
of the acid and the base,
and that winning dish is...
♪♪♪
Dawn and Brooke.
[applause]
[laughs]
So congratulations, Dawn and Brooke.
I had a great partner.
This is the third Quickfire in a row of my winning streak.
I have to kind of get over myself
because it was a partnership, but I did my part,
and I'm pleased.
Gabriel, thank you so much for joining us.
And thank you, Brooke.
Thanks for letting me cook with you guys.
- Thank you. - Thank you so much.
- My pleasure. - Thank you both.
All right, chefs, you guys are officially entering
the home stretch now.
You guys have to be exhausted, right?
- Yes, ma'am. - Yes.
I mean, the "Top Chef" journey isn't for the faint of heart.
- No, it's not. - No.
It is not.
Tonight, pack your knives and get ready for a night
that you've all been waiting for.
- We're going to the bar? - [laughter]
I will be the first one to join you, my friend, but no.
[laughter]
A night off.
[cheers and laughter]
It's well-deserved.
Maybe even something a little special waiting for you.
- Have a great night off. - Thank you.
- I'm enjoying this. - [laughter]
[sighs]
♪♪♪
Oh.
What's that? No! This is...No! [laughs]
- Hi, chefs. - Hi!
Why do you seem so disappointed?
No, it's not you guys. It's this...It's...Yeah.
You guys made an incredible first impression, I have to say.
But I can't wait to see what else you guys have for us.
Here we go.
Is anyone feeling a little bit homesick?
♪♪♪
These are care packages personally curated
by each of your families.
[laughs]
Try to make us cry. You can't do it.
[laughter]
I know. I can already feel it.
And remember which box is yours.
"Hello, Mom, I want you to know that I love you. I miss you.
[voice breaking] And I wish you...
[clears throat] And I wish you were here at home.
But I don't want you home, so don't come home."
[laughter]
Very well put.
"And I'm proud to call you my mom.
Please kick some butt for me."
- Yay. - Yay.
Wow, you did so much better than I expected.
[laughter]
"Hey, Jamie, we hope you're doing great
and having so much fun.
I've seen you work so hard to get where you are now."
[imitates sobbing]
[laughter]
Reading the letter makes me sad.
It's been a minute since I've seen my family and friends.
I miss them, and they miss me.
But I don't wanna cry in front of everyone.
[laughs]
"You inspire me, and keep kicking ass
and acid, acid, acid always."
This is not drugs. Acid-- he's talking about limes.
- [laughter] - Yeah. Figured.
[laughing] Okay, your turn.
"Dawn, uh, it's only been a few weeks
since you--you've been away, but it seems like longer,
and we miss you very much. We know that it's really
pulling on your heartstrings being away...
[voice breaking] while Mom is recovering."
[crying]
I'm sorry.
"While Mom is recovering from her stroke."
My mother was a single parent of five,
and she had some crazy challenges
raising all of us by herself.
So my mother is my inspiration and the strongest woman I know,
and she continues to teach me that
anything worth having is worth fighting for.
"And it is your dream to become the next Top Chef.
Just keep striving."
Thank you.
- Shota. - Uh, "It is great to know
you are still in the competition.
We are very proud of you. While we miss you and your food,
we are having a great time with your dog Dodger."
Mine's really short and simple.
- [laughter] - I have Asian parents, so...
- Gabe. - "I hope this care package
brings you the same feeling knowing how much
the kids and I love you, support you,
and just so proud of you."
Especially with everything going on
in a crazy world right now,
family is by far the most important thing.
"No matter how far away you are from us,
we are by your side cheering you on."
[laughs]
Getting a letter from home--
it's inspiring and motivational for me.
I mean, it's so clear that you have so many amazing people
rooting for you back home. - I for one am really glad
we got to share this moment with you, so thank you all.
- But... - But...
It's a trap.
This is "Top Chef" after all.
You guys are in luck,
because tonight we've arranged a little taste of home.
[laughs]
♪♪♪
For your next Elimination Challenge,
you'll be using the ingredients sent in the care packages
by your families.
[laughter]
Go ahead. Just open your box.
Oh, that's--that's mine. I hope it's not chicken wings.
- [laughs] - All right. She definitely sent
the most important ingredient. - Ooh! Tequila.
[laughter]
Chicken wings. Typical sister.
Sent me a kiss-of-death packet.
I'm not gonna do chicken wings.
You do not have to use all of the ingredients in the box.
- Okay. - But you do want
to be inspired by the box and try to utilize
as many as you can.
Tomorrow you'll head to Scholls Lodge,
located in the Tualatin Valley.
You'll have two and a half hours to prep and cook
before service begins.
- Good luck, chefs. - Thank you.
- Thank you very much, guys. - See you tomorrow.
- Thank you. - Thank you, guys.
Yams, beets, coffee,
oh, and pork belly.
I'll just make all of this into a dish.
Mezcal, pork shoulder--
the essentials.
I got all of the ingredients
for making a traditional dish called cochinita pibil.
It's the first thing my mother taught me how to cook,
but I really wanna take a bigger risk
and try something that maybe the judges haven't had before.
I'm confused by my wife's choosing a box.
What did you find out?
Bean sprouts.
My favorite dish that my wife makes
is a stir-fry.
Chicken, because that's our staple.
These ingredients represents our family.
But never in a million years they thought
that I was going to cook with that box.
You can tell that my wife doesn't cook.
Matzo ball soup.
There's brisket.
Chili. It's a lot of--
mainly it's Jewish food.
[laughs]
Guys, I know you want me to make the matzo ball soup,
but it ain't gonna happen. [laughs]
There's like a Jewish deli that my friends and family
have been going for 11 years.
Jewish food is comfort food.
Challah.
But, uh, I don't know what do with what I got.
- It's a random cucumber. - [laughter]
- One cucumber. - Just one cucumber.
♪♪♪
Wings, people see 'em as simple,
but I want to cook these wings for Rene and Lilly.
Oh, wow.
Look at that.
It's Final Five.
I feel the pressure,
but I want to give it my all.
♪♪♪
Who needs lemongrass?
- Me. - Matsutake.
Here's the mushrooms, bro.
I have onions.
Shota, what are you making, baby boy?
I'm making a dish inspired by my dad.
He used to take me matsutake foraging
and he loves wagyu.
- Fancy parents. - [Shota chuckles]
Well, when you forage, it's free.
Matsutake is one of my favorite ingredients
and puréeing that is almost a no-no,
but we're Final Five, we gotta try something a little crazy.
Okay, go.
We have a family tradition-- Monday wings.
But sometimes we cheat-- we have Friday, too.
We love wings.
And then my son put "octopus" on the thing
and it's one of his favorite dishes,
but I feel intimidated a little bit by octopus
and I know chicken wings--
or what he calls "chimken" wings--
- [laughs] - will work.
My salad is a bean sprout salad.
The only issue I'm seeing, the bean sprouts,
they're super wet, so I'm trying to pat them dry.
But I feel confident, I really do.
My glaze for my wings has soy sauce, miso,
cilantro, chiles...
and love.
The sauce will be a showstopper.
James, what are you making?
I'm making braised brisket, thit kho-style.
In my head I have a lot going on,
but I decided to use the brisket
because of my family.
We do eat thit kho a lot,
so it's like a family-style meal.
I only have 2 1/2 hours to prep and cook
and brisket takes longer.
So I have to use the pressure cooker.
I never used a pressure cooker in my life.
Go, go, go. Stop, stop, stop, stop.
Where do I put it? Over there?
Put it on the fire.
Whoo!
I got some persimmons, so I'm gonna do
a light persimmon vinaigrette on the side.
I decide to use these persimmons
because it's my dad's favorite ingredient.
It's a very elevated version of steak and mushrooms
with fruit salad.
How's the steak look, Shota?
All good.
I got a lot relying on how my proteins cook.
Can you cook mine too, then? I'll buy you dinner.
Oui, chef.
For this challenge, I want to create
a traditional street food called a panucho.
It's a masa that's fried and then stuffed,
and then topped with a type of braised meat.
Dude, that looks delicious.
A lot of my dishes have been more composed
but street food is amazing, and I want to
add some beauty to it and some technique to it.
Are these the reapers or the ghost chilis, Dawn?
- I think these are the ghost. - You using 'em all?
I'm not using any. [laughs]
At this point in the competition,
you really have to cook with your heart
and be confident in your food.
That's gotten me to the top five.
Whoo!
That is definitely a ghost chili.
I'm trying to prep my tomatoes, get my mushroom going,
cucumbers working, cook the chantarelles.
- Well, you have time. - Yeah.
[gasps, whimpers] What is that?
- Where? - It's a crawling thing.
I thought it was an onion skin. [laughs]
My brother sent me ingredients
that we would normally use for a holiday.
You know, sharing a meal.
So I'm just trying to honor, like, my aunts
and my grandmother.
I'm definitely thinking of my mom and my family.
I was very happy to hear from them,
but it puts a little bit of pressure on me as well.
I am braising pork belly
and serving it with red eye gravy.
It means so much to me to really honor
my family in this challenge.
Yeah. Perfect.
- Hot, hot, hot. - Look at that gorgeousness.
- Are you super happy? - I think so.
- A little bit longer? - A little longer? Yeah.
Ah, I used the brisket.
I'm taking an extra time to make sure
the brisket is the right texture I want it.
How do you put this on again?
- Need help, Jamie? - I'll figure it out.
But I haven't really focused on the rest of my dish.
- I gotta go. - You okay, mama?
No. [sighs]
♪♪♪
- This is beautiful. - Yeah.
Like, I'm gonna put this on my Pinterest.
[laughter]
How was it yesterday?
How did they receive their care packages?
It was actually really touching.
It was really a beautiful moment.
Three out of five cried
- after reading the letters. - Well, if you include us...
Then there were five out of seven crying.
[laughter]
I know at this point in the competition,
I was weeping daily because
I missed my family so much.
So I think that that hit them in very different ways.
Definitely homesick, for sure.
- Oh, you and me both, girl. - [chuckles]
I just need to hope for the best.
The wings are delicious. It's just the salad.
It's like, less, more?
Should I add more dressing? But I don't want to get soggy.
[groans]
- One minute. - Go, Maria, go.
I'm like, "Maria, walk away."
[timer beeps]
Good job, Maria!
This looks beautiful.
- Hola. - Hi, Maria.
Hello. I got wings.
My son thinks he's the connoisseur of wings.
I got bean sprouts, so I did a bean sprout salad
with a tequila cilantro vinaigrette,
and then a grilled wing with miso, cilantro,
ginger, and red jalapeño.
So is the chicken just marinated and grilled,
or did you do any other cooking?
I actually, uh, vacuum-seal it,
and put them in the immersion circulator.
- Thank you. - Thank you.
- Thank you so much.
Enjoy.
I felt these flavors were very refreshing for Maria,
because they didn't feel like
all the food we've gotten from her before.
I actually liked the marinade.
I enjoyed eating it. I was licking my fingers.
There's a ton of flavor. It's just,
the sauce is not cooked in with it.
And there's no acid in this salad at all.
I think the bean sprouts and the cabbage
just watered down the vinaigrette.
- Yeah. - Yeah, sure.
Whoo! That was interesting.
Okay...
I checked the rice, and it seems dry and weird.
But at this point, I just need to get something on the plate.
Dawn, can you help me real fast?
- Coming. - Can you put
the sauce on for me?
Can you just drizzle a little over?
Yeah. You good, mama?
- Yeah. - Mushrooms, right?
Sh--.
- Thank you for your help. - Sorry.
[timer beeps]
Hi, Jamie. Tell us what was in your care package.
My care packet was matzo ball soup...
- [laughs] - challah bread,
brisket, Thai chili,
and she had chicken wings in there, and I was like,
"I'm not gonna do chicken wings."
[laughter]
So it's just thit kho brisket,
a caramelized Thai chili jus,
and then I did pickled cucumbers.
- Thank you, Jamie. - Thank you.
Who would've ever thought that
Jamie and I would have the same box?
[laughter]
My piece of brisket was just perfectly tender.
I wish there was something a little bit more done
than just cold rice.
The rice was like Maria's salad to me.
It was like the little thing that was just kind of there.
It doesn't scream any sort of one point of view.
If I went to a local Vietnamese restaurant
and got this dish, I'd be perfectly satisfied,
but five contestants left on "Top Chef," I want to see more.
Thank you, Dawn, for helping me.
- You're welcome. - Six minutes.
This dish is special, because
I'm doing this for my dad.
Whew! That's a hot plate.
I hope the judges feel the same way about it.
[timer beeps]
Those look beautiful.
- Is that a persimmon? - Yep.
- Hi, Shota. - How you doing?
In my care package, I had wagyu,
persimmons, lotus root.
I made miso-marinated wagyu with mushroom purée,
and a persimmon salad.
- Thank you, Shota. - Thank you very much.
Visually, I thought it was absolutely stunning.
I really love the compressed persimmon
with the smokiness of the bonito in there.
And I love the fact that he made
the matsutakes into a purée.
It's really light, it's creamy. It has so much umami.
It was a perfect bite. It was really lovely.
He's not gonna give you a flavor bomb.
Everything he does is very delicate and elegant,
and I thought it showed him beautifully.
- Gabe, how you looking? - Pretty good, chef.
Wrapping it up.
And a prayer.
[timer beeps]
You guys enjoying the beautiful day?
- We are. - Yes.
Gabe, what did you do?
My wife sent me a pork shoulder.
She loves when I make cochinita pibil or carnitas.
What I prepared is a traditional dish
from the Yucatan called panuchos
where masa is fried raw.
I filled it with braised pigskins, braised kale,
in a tomatillo and chile de árbol stew.
For the pork shoulder, I braised it
and then finished it on the grill.
Thank you so much, Gabe.
- Thank you. - Thank you.
Mmm. So different.
I think this is Gabe's best dish all season.
I love that the kale has this, like, chewy pigskin,
that's been braised in this really spicy salsa.
Gabe really showed us where home is, for him.
I've been to Mérida before, I've had panuchos.
This is an excellent one.
You really get the char from the grill on the pork.
What Gabe did here, I think, you don't see it happen
frequently where you could take a--
a dish that you find in the street
and dress it up, and not lose its soul.
- Yeah. - He's cooking to win.
Lights out. This is lights out.
I'm a little behind. Two minutes.
I wish that I had time to make it prettier,
[softly] Aah...
But no matter what,
this dish is who I am as a chef
and how we cook as a family.
[muttering]
Is this 12?
[timer beeps]
♪♪♪
Smells delicious.
- Hi, Dawn. - Hello.
Every holiday, I make sweet potato with pecan praline.
So I wanted to kind of honor my aunts
and my mother by making it here today.
So I made a pork belly with sweet potatoes,
a red eye gravy, and collards.
What's sitting in the sauce?
- That is the red eye gravy. - Okay.
I didn't either.
- Thank you, Dawn. - Thank you very much.
Thank you very much.
A few of us were missing one of the sauces.
- Did anyone else... - Oh, no! Really?
- ...miss the gravy? - That gravy was incredible.
I think Dawn's really shown us,
you know, her food here, in this plate.
She's really trying to modernize Southern cuisine,
and show off her techniques here.
And this is like a Michelin-star cookout for me.
I loved that pecan caramel around it.
You know, I think, Dawn for president.
[laughter]
It's gonna be sad to send any of these chefs home
because I think, all in all, we really enjoyed the food.
- Thank you all. - Thank you.
Thanks.
♪♪♪
Obviously, you guys are missing home,
but it's getting close to the end,
and so there's a lot on the line here.
And little mistakes are going to make the difference between
taking home a title and not, so we gotta start
focusing on every single thing that goes on a plate.
There were three dishes that we felt
were a cut above the rest.
Shota...
Gabe...
...and Dawn.
Please step to the side. Thank you.
Shota, how was today for you?
I just thought about, like, what my dad would kind of like,
and how do I kind of make it creative and fun?
The persimmon was perhaps my favorite bite of the day.
The purée was beautiful and lovely.
I feel inspired by that dish,
uh, and I'm gonna go purée some mushrooms.
[laughs] Thank you very much.
You showed us an incredibly elevated and sophisticated
side of these flavors from home,
and it showed us who you are as a cook.
Thank you very much.
Gabe, I thought your dish was stunning.
What I loved most is that you were able to take
this beloved street food
and turn it into high art.
It was definitely a little bit challenging
to want to cook something that
not everybody has ever had before,
because your expectations for what you see on the plate
might be different in your mind.
I don't have a frame of reference for this dish.
I--I know it tasted really great.
[laughter]
I like where your head's at right now,
that you're willing to take that kind of risk
this late in the game. It shows confidence
and it shows that you're here to say something.
Thank you so much, chef.
Dawn, I loved this dish
because it continued to tell me the story of you.
And it's delicious.
But Dawn, Gail and Dale
did not get the sauce that was so delicious.
The red eye gravy.
Really?
I'm sorry. I apologize.
I--I had scanned them.
Maybe I missed them.
That was the only thing I can say
that wasn't fantastic about your dish.
Thank you.
Out of all of the dishes tonight,
the first bite felt the most balanced to me.
I got sweet and savory and salty
and all these different really beautiful notes.
It was spectacular.
So I just wish that everyone else
got to experience what we got to.
Making those mental errors,
it's not gonna get you where you want to get to.
Get your head on straight, 'cause your food's really good.
You gotta stick the landing now.
Okay.
Well, Brooke and Kristen,
who won this challenge today?
The chef who won this challenge
was able to combine technique and creativity
but not lose heart of what the dish was.
And the winner is...
♪♪♪
Gabe.
[applause]
It feels absolutely amazing to win.
So much of this competition for me is my mother,
my grandmother, my family.
One of the special things to me all throughout "Top Chef"
has been my grandmother's rosary.
It's been with me on this entire journey.
This one's emotional for me. [laughs]
I'd like to think that my grandma
was with me this entire time.
- Great work. - All three of you.
- Thank you. - Thank you.
You can step to the side. Maria and Jamie,
please step forward.
Both your dishes were delicious,
but you're here for critical decisions
that you both chose to make,
and one of you will be going home.
Maria, let's start with you.
Thought about my son, and he loves wings.
But apparently not the right choice.
I don't think it's necessarily the choice.
I thought the sauce was delicious.
I thought it was really tangy.
It had the right amount of heat.
The problem for me is that very watery salad
that was not seasoned or dressed.
The bean sprouts, they were water.
Did you have to use it, though?
My wife put them there for a reason.
You put those bean sprouts in
because you had an emotional attachment to them.
Yeah, no, it's Cooking 101.
Damn it.
This is all mental right now,
and I almost feel a sense of you
feeling like your time's up, and...
No. I'm intimidated.
Yeah.
I am scared sh--less.
I get it. There's a self-worth.
I have the same thing, and that's why I got kicked off.
- [hiccups] - But once you realize that
you are also good enough to be here
and other places after this show,
everything will come together for you.
Thank you.
Jamie, the dish that we had today,
is that exactly how you make it with your family?
No, when we cook it, we just throw it in the pot
and we do "tshhh," and then we cover it
and just let it dance its way out.
I wish I had tasted that dish.
The rice was really what held me back.
It felt a little lacking.
That brisket was beautiful,
but I think the lack of sauce and the lack of
power in those flavors
we just weren't getting the full Jamie experience today.
Definitely felt like you were checked out.
- Take a deep breath. - I want to think, too.
Take a deep breath.
Yeah.
We get it, it's really hard,
and you guys have been competing for a really long time.
Thank you both. We have a lot to discuss.
We'll call you back in a bit.
Thank you.
♪♪♪
Cheers.
- Congrats. - Thank you.
I'm ecstatic that you won with a panucho.
It wasn't a very normal thing, and...
I just said, [bleep] it. [laughs]
We got to represent our culture,
and Gabriel, you've been my mentor.
- Aww. - I love you.
I love you, too, mama. I'm always here for you, too.
This is a hard one, because I think both these chefs
are capable of doing so much more, and today,
we just didn't see their best food.
Maria's did feel like she had just tossed
- boiled wings... - Ugh.
...in a great sauce.
It was the salad that was the worst offense for me.
She started overthinking in the sense of
trying to do it for her family
and then she lost sight of how to actually cook.
I never thought I was this scared.
Scared not to be at your guys's level.
But you've already proved that you are.
I know, it's just woke up a side of me
that I thought I fixed.
And what about Jamie's dish?
The dish had a lack of purpose,
and seasoning.
Jamie gave us a piece of braised meat with some aromatics
over some white rice and some pickled vegetables.
There's really nothing to that.
To me, Jamie had her technique down,
but it lacked imagination.
Cooking with you guys, I cooked happy,
had fun, and I made connections.
- And I-- - You made family.
I did.
Well, I think we have our answer.
Yes? Okay.
Let's get them out here.
♪♪♪
You know, chefs, you sign up for "Top Chef,"
you think you'll come here and cook some good dishes
and that'll be enough and along the way,
you just get tested in ways
that you never thought you'd get tested.
Eventually you find out what makes you cook,
why you cook, but unfortunately, today,
one of you has just kind of hit the wall.
Maria...
please pack your knives and go.
- I think she has more to give.
No, no, no, no, no. Don't start. Don't.
She has more to give. I think she should stay.
- Don't--Jamie. No. - No.
She definitely deserves a second chance.
I'm gonna walk away if you--
You're not. I-- listen to me.
You have a lot to give. I'm not kidding you.
I had the second chance I want for myself,
and grown so much in this competition.
You guys don't even know. I couldn't even
talk to you in the beginning.
Give her a second chance.
Please don't let her do that.
She needs it for her confidence.
I got that confidence.
You deserve this. She deserves this.
Take the second chance.
Jamie, are you saying you want to quit?
I want to give her that second opportunity
that you guys gave me.
But, do you want to quit?
No, I don't want to quit, but I would quit for her.
Please don't. I appreciate you, sweetheart,
and I will not allow it.
You have a lot to give, too.
This sounds like a Mexican novella.
- Like, a... - [laughter]
Oh, my God, seriously.
I think it's really beautiful,
the friendship that's clearly deepened.
This is, unfortunately, what the game is.
And I am in love with the game.
What Gail, Tom Colicchio and Padma have taught me,
a girl from Sonora...
We didn't teach you anything. You taught yourself it.
That girl from Sonora has a lot of talent,
and you're gonna do just well.
Jamie, you're gonna really not like yourself
if you walk out of here right now.
Please, let me pack my knives with grace.
Okay?
I love you.
Guys, it's an honor,
The honor was hours, Maria.
[in Spanish]
Gracias.
- Thank you so much. - [applause]
Oh, my God.
I know.
Love you guys.
One for you.
Yep. I am leaving.
This asshole tried to quit on me. [chuckles]
When I first put that "Top Chef" coat on,
Maria Mazon was this restaurant owner
from Tucson, Arizona,
scared out of her mind,
doubting every single step of her way.
[laughs]
[grunts] Mmm!
- You... - [chuckles]
have the kindest soul.
I am a chef, and I am a Top Five chef,
from "Top Chef: Portland," season 18.
Next time on "Top Chef"...
Let's give a big welcome
to Massimo Bottura.
[speaks Italian]
Oh!
I love it!
For this challenge, you get
to tour Tillamook Creamery
and get some amazing cheddar,
which you will then use
five different ways.
Get that cheddar, baby.
♪ Cheesy ♪
Oh, sh--!
I feel threatened by this challenge.
So, you do a lot of cheese in sea bass dishes?
Uh...
This is the first time I'm running behind
- on plating a little bit. - [timer beeps]
- Oh, my God. - You didn't get a crispy guy?
You left the Gruyère off one plate.
You gotta pay attention to this stuff.
♪♪♪