PADMA: Previously on "Top Chef"...
[speaking Italian]
- Oh! - Oh.
For your Elimination Challenge,
you get to tour Tillamook Creamery
and get some amazing cheddar,
which you will then use five different ways.
- Get that cheddar, baby. - [laughs]
Do you do a lot of cheese in sea bass dishes?
Uh...
This idea of trying to work a protein into the dish
I think was a big mistake.
Less than 30 minutes.
Oh, sh--. I am tired of racing the clock.
We can nitpick, but Dawn's food makes me happy.
Still cooking some moisture out.
The cheese is starting to caramelize a little bit.
I think it was beautiful, and his technique is spot-on.
Japanese cuisine doesn't use cheddar.
- Wow. - Delicious.
The winner is...
Shota.
Jamie, please pack your knives and go.
These are the risks that in this competition
get you to the top.
PADMA: Only three 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.
♪♪♪
- Damn. - And then there were three.
Here's to, uh, the final three.
Cheers. Cheers to us.
Congrats on your victorious, flawless victory.
- Ah, thank you, Chef. - Yeah.
Winning the last Elimination Challenge
doing something extremely Japanese
gives me a big confidence boost to be able to be me.
It really felt like you went out on a limb today, Shota,
and I'm so glad you did.
Don't underestimate us. We are here for it.
This one in the last Elimination Challenge
I've been a lot more, like, mentally relaxed
and just cooking.
All good things that you learn every time.
- Yeah. - And try and take with you
and not make the same mistake twice.
For sure, except for me.
[timer beeping]
Am I allowed to put this on?
[bleep]
- What is it, Dawn? - I missed one.
- [sighs] - No.
- That is the red eye gravy. - Okay.
- I didn't get any gravy. - I didn't either.
The thing that's standing in the way of my success here
is consistency, and there really is no room for that anymore.
Everything you cook is well seasoned.
But you left the Gruyère off one plate.
You gotta pay attention to this stuff, Dawn.
And so I have to give these last challenges
everything that I have.
- One week. - One week.
One of us will be the, uh, Top Chef.
- Right? - Next Top Chef.
I'm definitely nervous and anxious in a good way.
We're all fatigued both mentally, physically,
homesick, but I have so much gas in the tank left.
There's no other option for me than to go home
with the title of Top Chef.
Push a little bit harder and dig a little bit deeper,
sleep a little bit less. - Yeah. That's right.
At least you get to wake up to another beautiful view.
- For at least two days. - At least two days.
[laughter]
♪♪♪
[knock on door]
♪♪♪
[ knock on door ]
[switch clicks]
♪♪♪
- Good morning! - Good morning, Padma.
- Very nice caftan. - [laughs]
What time is it?
- Hello. Good morning. - Good morning.
You're very smiley this morning.
[laughing] Always.
Sun's not even up, but what am I supposed to do?
I'd like to see you downstairs, please.
Absolutely.
Hi.
Hello. I'm sorry I had to wake you from your dreams.
Hope you're not feeling too crabby
this early in the morning.
I'm happy as a clam because this is your last Quickfire
of the whole competition.
♪♪♪
When people think of the Oregon coast,
there's one ingredient in particular
that comes to mind--clams.
For your final Quickfire Challenge,
we want you to make a dish featuring this local delicacy.
And the clams that you'll be working with
are gonna be incredibly fresh,
because you'll be digging for them yourself.
- [laughter] - Okay.
Right.
I don't really work with clams that much.
I've had basic clam chowder
with littleneck clams,
uh, and...
that's pretty much it as far as my clam experience.
♪♪♪
Right now while the tides are low,
you'll be heading out to meet Brooke Williamson
at the Yager Creek Flats in Netarts Bay.
Afterwards, you'll come back here to the Surfsand Resort
to cook Brooke and I a dish that features
this wonderful shellfish.
The winner of this Quickfire will receive an advantage
in the Elimination Challenge.
- Have fun. - Thank you, Padma.
- Thank you. - Say hi to Brooke.
Tell her I'm sorry she had to go so early in the morning.
♪♪♪
[bird squawks]
♪♪♪
- Morning, Chef. - Good morning.
Welcome to Netarts Bay.
The sun just came up.
It's actually, like, optimal time to be out here.
This is called Yager Flats,
home to many different types of clams.
The gapers are the largest.
You'll see a large hole,
and then you're gonna have to dig
a good 3 feet.
We also have butter clams.
There are also a lot of cockles out here.
I'm really excited for this.
I go clam digging every year,
but it's gonna be my first time digging on the Oregon coast.
Kinda gives me a little bit of an advantage. Yes.
This is your land to shop for your Quickfire.
- Awesome. - Amazing.
♪♪♪
I like the sea.
- He ran. - I don't think they run.
If you kind of, like, skim over the top of the land,
you can see little squirts coming out.
That's where they are.
I'm really interested in catching the butter clams.
Found a nice cockle.
I want to attempt to use the clams to make a bisque.
♪♪♪
How about I look for the holes, and, Gabe, you dig.
- Yeah, okay. - [laughter]
It's kinda surreal to pull this beautiful, delicious life
out of the--the ground and treat it with respect
and create something delicious out of it.
- Oh. - It's beautiful.
I carry so much respect for the ingredients that I harvest.
♪♪♪
Bingo!
Oh, yay!
If you dig it, they will come.
Good job, Gabe. [laughs]
Shota, go for it.
[groans]
- You get one? - Yeah.
Oh, yours is way bigger.
Hey, size doesn't matter to us.
[laughs]
I love using gaper clams because it's really large,
so I don't have to clean a bunch of smaller clams
to get the portions I need to.
I wanna do something that I can execute, uh, properly in time.
Starting to get a little hot. I'm-a take my jacket off.
Can somebody cue slow music, please?
[slow sexy funk jazz music playing]
[laughter]
Let's see what you guys got.
These guys.
You got a decent number of butters there.
- Yeah. - I can make some food.
I got three gapers, some purple varnishes,
and a couple butter clams.
- I got one... - One gorgeous gaper.
One beautiful one, and a bunch of butter clams.
The smaller ones, the purple varnishes,
and Manila clams-- I personally like to poach 'em
or cook 'em in sake really quick.
All right, let's wrap up digging and get back.
I think the tide's coming in.
As I'm walking along, I see some seaweed.
Uh, so I'm gonna grab those as well
to add richness into the dish.
♪♪♪
I'm feeling good.
I've cooked with clams numerous times before.
I wanna do a seafood soup in 30 minutes,
so it's gonna be a time crunch.
I think I got everything. Do I have everything?
Oh, that's not my station.
Ooh. Yeah.
The view behind me is gorgeous.
Haystack Rock is this magical rock formation
in the "Goonies" movie that was shot there.
[heavenly choir vocalizing]
Brings back some incredibly good childhood memories for me.
[laughs]
♪♪♪
A little sandy, so I'm gonna open it up and clean 'em.
Clams tend to carry sand and rocks inside,
so you wanna have hot, boiling water to clean them.
You get your water to boil yet?
Almost. It's taking a little longer than I expected.
[chuckles] Yeah.
I'm no clam expert, that's for sure.
I've destroyed them nicely.
I'm in unfamiliar territory.
I haven't learned clam anatomy, and I'm trying to figure out
the best way to treat it.
I really enjoy crustacean bisque
because they're really common in the region in which I live.
This is the very last Quickfire Challenge,
so the pressure is high.
I'm feeling challenged.
Can't believe it's the last Quickfire. How you feeling?
Feeling like I need to win.
I'm-a block you, Chef. [laughs]
I've been in the top a lot in Quickfire Challenges.
I just haven't hit it on the bull's eye yet,
and I'm hoping to do that today.
Cook, mother----er.
- Gabe, I'm using habaneros. - Oh, really?
I learned this from you.
I have one goal and one goal only--
defend Gabe from winning a Quickfire.
[laughs]
All right, Shota, focus.
I am making this simple butter yuzu, sake soy sauce dish
and adding some of the kelp I found to add
that depth and umami.
- 20 minutes. - Aah! Gabe!
I'm just right here. Quit screaming in my ear.
- Whoa. Whoa. - [laughs] I'm just kidding.
Hey, you wanna come open these clams for me?
- You need a hand? - No. [laughs]
- Huh? - I got it.
- Oh. - [laughs]
- See? I'm there for you. - You're so sweet!
These clams are beautiful.
I'm excited to cook with gapers because it's so fresh.
I used to have this dish.
It was kinda like a caldo de mariscos.
So I'm doing something inspired by that.
That sounds amazing.
The gapers will be the star of the dish.
I want the clam flavor to come through
in every single component.
So I'm seasoning my broth with a little bit of Kosher salt.
♪♪♪
9 minutes!
♪♪♪
I'm only gonna use specific parts of the butter clam.
This is the kimo. I don't know what it's called in English.
I'm only using the inside of the butter clams
because they're a little bit sweeter,
and I'm gonna fry up and turn into a crunchy texture
that's gonna go on top.
Damn, these shells are brittle.
You open up a clam from the backside.
You kind of scrape the edges so it opens up.
[bleep]
Medic. [groans]
5 minutes.
It's between the thumb.
I'm losing really precious time.
I'm working as I talk to you, my friend.
I still need to get these clams in the sauté pan.
I'm starting to freak out
that I'm not gonna get this dish done.
[groans] Mother----er.
5 minutes.
I'll work with it, dude. Thank you.
My hand is throbbing, but I need to push through
and get these clams in the sauté pan.
[groans] Mother----er.
Oh, man, time is going like crazy.
- Come on. - You guys have a chinois?
I don't. I wish I did. I need one.
I am desperately trying to puree this soup.
It's not going very well.
Hope for the best.
[bleep]
Olive oil.
♪♪♪
Three...two...one.
Time's up! Hands up!
[bleep]
♪♪♪
- Hi! - Hi.
It's pretty.
I made a dish inspired by sopa de mariscos.
So I've got gapers, and the butter clams
are gently poached,
and then I've created a broth of all the clams.
Were the clams hard to clean?
The gapers, uh, felt like were a little bit harder to peel.
- Mm-hmm. - The skin didn't get as easy
after blanching. - It doesn't peel right off.
Yeah, it doesn't peel right off,
so I had to cook it a little bit longer.
- Thank you so much, Gabe. - It's lovely.
- Thank you. - I made a clam bisque
with an apple and pepper salad on top.
Are there chunks of clam meat, or is it all pureed?
They are chunks, but I also had
a little bit of problem pureeing it.
- Thank you so much. - Thank you.
So, Shota, what did you make for us with these clams?
Sake yuzu butter clams with pickled onions.
I floured the butter clam, and the gaper--
just lightly poach it in the sauce.
And what are the crunchy pieces?
It's the outside of the butter clams.
- Okay, yeah, yeah. - The outer rims,
and I just fried 'em. - Thank you so much.
Thank you so much.
♪♪♪
Brooke, how do you think these chefs did with the clams?
Shota, I really liked how you tried to showcase
a couple of different types of clams
in many different styles and textures.
I found some of your clams a little chewy.
But I loved the idea,
and it looked beautiful when it came to the table.
Thank you.
Dawn, I had a slight issue with the texture.
I wanted more clam pieces.
I love the flavor of it, but it did eat very grainy.
It was challenging for me,
but I'm glad you liked the flavors.
Gabe, I was-- I was very impressed with
the depth of flavor, and I really enjoyed the simplicity
of how you cooked the clams.
I thought it looked stunning.
I couldn't believe you only did that in half an hour.
- [chuckles] - All right, Brooke,
out of these three dishes,
which one made us happy as a clam?
- [laughs] - There was one person who
showcased cookery of the clam
a little bit better than the others,
and that person is Gabe.
- Yeah! Finally! [laughs] - Yay!
- Great job, Chef. - [laughter]
- Congratulations. - Only took 13 weeks.
[laughter]
I finally won a Quickfire Challenge.
It's allowing me to leave on a high note
and a lot of momentum going into these final challenges.
Well, congratulations, Gabe.
You just won yourself an advantage
in the next Elimination Challenge.
Damn it. I'm super happy for him, though.
But damn it. [laughs]
Thank you, Brooke. We'll see you tomorrow.
Thank you. Good luck, Chefs.
- Thank you, Chef. - Thank you, guys.
Please welcome back your guest judges
for this challenge-- James Beard Award winners
Nina Compton and Kwame Onwuachi.
- What's up, what's up? - Hello.
Last Quickfire. Who won?
- Gabe. - Okay, all right.
- Congrats. - Thank you.
I hope you guys were inspired by the Quickfire today,
and now you get to see what Oregon's coast has to offer
with the beautiful seafood.
You wouldn't be the first chefs
to fall in love with the amazing local products that's here.
In fact, Chef James Beard was born and raised in Portland.
James Beard was an incredible food author
and a dominant figure in the industry.
Being recognized from the James Beard Foundation
is incredibly prestigious.
His good friend Julia Child
created the James Beard Foundation,
which honors the best chefs across America.
And two of 'em are right here--
Nina, a 2018 winner, Best Chef: South,
and, Kwame, I believe 2019
you were the Rising Star Chef of the Year.
- Yes, I was. - I thought you had
a little swagger that you didn't have before.
[laughter]
Have any of you guys been nominated?
You have? Which one?
- 2020, Best Chef: Texas. - And what about you?
Actually, Rising Star, the same as...
- The same year? - [laughter]
Been a semifinalist for Rising Star for three years.
[clicks teeth] Never got it. [laughs]
All right, Chefs, this is it.
You have a one in three chance of winning the grand prize
of $250,000 furnished by our friends at San Pellegrino.
And the title of Top Chef!
Kinda crazy. [laughs]
But first, it's time for your Final Elimination Challenge.
♪♪♪
Since we're here on the coast, it only seems right
that we pay homage to James Beard
by cooking with one of his favorite ingredients.
- The Dungeness crab. - Oh.
And because his favorite way to enjoy crab was hot and cold,
we're asking you to make one of each preparation.
That's right. Two dishes, both with Dungeness crab.
You can add other ingredients and proteins to your dish,
but the star has to be that Dungeness crab.
Got it.
Tomorrow you'll have two hours.
You'll serve your cold dishes first,
and then you'll have an additional hour
for your hot dish.
Padma told us that the Elimination Challenges
are going to get harder, and she was not lying.
You're gonna hit up my man Gregory.
He's gonna take you crabbing at Kelly's Marina.
Nice.
After you've caught your limit,
you'll then have $300 to shop at Astoria Co-op.
Gabe, as the winner of the Quickfire,
you'll have $400 to shop for ingredients.
Ooh. Get it.
- [laughs] - [cash register bell dings]
I can't wait to eat all this crab.
- Good luck, guys. - Thank you.
- Bye. - Thank you so much.
All right.
Are you all in much of the weeds as I am? [chuckles]
- Why did I do this? - Why did we do any of this?
[clatter]
♪♪♪
What's up, Chefs?
- How you all doing? - Good.
- Today we're gonna go crabbing.
- All right, let's do it. - Awesome.
Who won the Quickfire this morning?
- Gabe. - Well, Gabe,
you're gonna come with me. - Dope.
It's your lucky day. You won a date with G.G.
Been dreaming of it. [laughs]
Crab wars, begin!
[motor turns over]
May the best crabber win.
♪♪♪
The Oregon coast is amazing, man.
It's so beautiful out here.
Being in the open water surrounded by trees,
I'm just really inspired by everything that I see.
So you grab that buoy. Pull as fast as you can.
- Fast, fast, fast. - I'm not gonna fall.
Oh! [laughs]
I actually have never been crabbing.
I think it's cool. You have to pull really fast
because if you slow down,
the crabs can swim up and out of it.
- Really big. - Really big.
- Yeah. - Wow.
♪♪♪
- Okay, who's gonna go? - I'll go.
That way if I fall in, Gregory can see me.
[laughter]
To be in Oregon where there's beautiful things
like Dungeness crab
and where James Beard loved all of these ingredients,
it's very inspiring.
Oh! Damn!
I didn't come to "Top Chef"...
- Amazing. - ...with any other intentions
than winning "Top Chef."
And that's what I plan to lead at.
♪♪♪
Look at that. Watch your finger. Look at--
- Ahh! - [laughter]
[crunch]
[laughter]
These dudes are pissed.
- I've got 25. - 25?
- No, totally joking. - [laughter]
Here's all these guys.
Ah, that's a good size.
Did you put one down Shota's shirt?
Yeah. I kinda liked it.
[laughter]
That was a good haul. [grunts]
- Back to the dock. - That was awesome.
- I can do this all day. - [laughs]
♪♪♪
Let's have some crabs, y'all. Whew.
- Man, that was fun. - Super fun.
- I'm glad I didn't fall in. - [laughs] Glad no one fell in.
- [laughter] - At the end of our crab haul,
we were able to eat some of what we harvested.
Amazing.
- Beautiful. Thank you. - Oh, wow.
- It looks salty and delicious. - I love it.
These crabs are so good.
When they're fresh, you can't beat that.
- How's the journey been? - Challenging
and also gratifying.
You've all done an amazing job,
but you've definitely shown us a lot this season, Shota.
I grew up over here. You know, I was kind of ashamed
of being Japanese, to be honest.
I was embarrassed when people would, like,
look at my lunch box, and I know a lot
of Japanese American friends who--
they aren't, like, extremely proud of their culture,
their food, and so I'm, like, hoping that
me being on this competition and, you know,
if any kind of kid watching who has their own heritage
can be more proud of their culture and their food.
Absolutely.
That sucked growing up,
and it was a very confusing time for me.
I think there's a big beauty in Japanese culture
that needs to be introduced to people,
and I wanna keep pushing that. - Last week was kind of
the first time I did something super Japanese.
Kinda gave me confidence that maybe I'll just keep
pushing that boundary. - Yeah, you should. You should.
How has the clock been?
'Cause you should kind of know how much time you need.
I can honestly say that's my biggest challenge.
- Yes. [laughs] - I just need to...
I know. I can admit that.
You know, like, when you realize what holds you back,
it's like, I'm fighting the clock every week
till I get everything on the plate.
Maybe I should have less things on the plate.
There is never an opportunity like this
in your career where you can get such sound advice
from a constructive place.
Me and the other judges are just super excited
to see what you all have left in you.
I am going to take this experience as fuel
for the next Elimination Challenge.
What an amazing day.
Have fun shopping.
♪♪♪
Ahh!
- Oh, my God. - What the [bleep]?
- Look at these. - Right? ----ing beautiful.
Are we buying 'em just to buy 'em?
- [laughs] - I'm inspired by them.
It's a nice treat to have the extra $100.
It's amazing.
I'm blown away by this incredible lobster mushroom,
and my plan is to mix with the crab for the first course.
Showcasing the crab is gonna be of the utmost importance.
The flour section looks good.
So my mind is going to creating a crab fat tortilla.
Masa.
I always wanna try and present something new to the judges
and not be as predictable.
Stock, stock, stock.
[bleep]
- This is a great shop. - Oui.
Oh, they have...
[laughs]
When I was living in Japan, you can go to a gas station
and get a piece of braised daikon in dashi for 50 cents.
Braised daikon is something I love,
and it's very dear to Japanese culture.
Yeah, I have to count in Japanese. I can't do English.
[laughs]
But my plan is to elevating this very simple Japanese dish
by making an extremely good crab dashi.
We got 15 minute left, guys.
15 minutes. Heard.
I'm looking for a Pilsner. Something refreshing.
- ...is great. - Yeah. Is it great?
My family and I love crab boils.
It's our favorite pastime,
and it's something that we love to do together.
Five chiles, no corn. I got grapes.
So my hot dish is going to be a Viet-Cajun style crab boil,
which has beer, lots of garlic, citrus,
spice, and butter.
Butter on your hands and all on the shell.
- 5 minutes. - 5 minutes, heard!
It's so good.
Oh, my God.
Take one of the green onions off, please.
Look at that genius. $299.93.
- [laughs] - thank you.
All righty.
♪♪♪
This is nice.
- Proud I made it here. - Yeah.
Between you and I and Dawn, we have a lot to be proud of.
Yeah.
I've definitely seen personal growth through my cooking
as I've been down the "Top Chef" journey.
The winner of this round is Gabe.
- Awesome, man. - Gabe.
Hey.
We have really liked so many dishes
that you've created for us.
Tonight was not one of them.
- Pretty close to perfect. - Thank you, Chef.
He's cooking to win. This is lights out.
You know, at this point, it's really hard.
This is where you have to dig the deepest.
Yeah.
I've definitely been able to get a better understanding
of what I can do to be a better chef
and make it to the finale.
- Good morning, Dawn. - Good morning, guys.
- How you doing? Aw. - Fine.
I just started breakfast without y'all. How'd you all sleep?
A little anxious when I woke up, but...
It's 'cause this one's a little bit of a hard challenge.
The anxiety level is...
- Pretty high? - Steep.
Now you know why I didn't walk with y'all. [laughs]
I don't mind nervousness. I am able to use that as fuel,
but the weight of this challenge is everything to me.
- Last cook. - For one of us.
I have what it takes.
If I keep my head in the game, I can win this competition.
- Morning, Chefs. - Morning.
- How you doing? - Oh, good morning.
- Come on over here. - How are you, Tom?
[sighs heavily]
You know, every single time you see Tom
in an unexpected area, there's a high possibility
that he's gonna give you a twist,
and it just makes me wanna puke a little bit.
Morning, Chefs.
Come on over here.
I just wanted to give you a little chat
before, uh, you guys start cooking.
I know there's a lot on the line here.
James Beard loved this area so much,
and you're cooking with one of his favorite ingredients,
and I thought it might be best to bring someone on
to give you a little encouragement.
She's considered the queen of the farm-to-table movement.
[gasps] Oh! Sick!
Let me introduce you to Alice Waters.
[laughs]
Tears well up in my eyes.
I'm a huge fan of hers.
Alice is a great friend of mine,
and so much of her cooking has informed me.
And I'm so pleased to meet you,
and I'm sorry I am not there.
She's an amazing restaurateur of Chez Panisse,
such a trailblazer,
and she was a very close friend of James Beard.
I'm tongue-tied right now.
I met him about 48 years ago.
- Wow. - He came to Chez Panisse,
and he said, "Alice, this isn't a real restaurant.
It's like eating in somebody's home."
It was the greatest compliment.
He understood what we were trying to do.
If you were cooking a crab meal for James Beard,
what would it be?
[laughs] Well, I loved it when
he would take out his napkin and tie it around his neck.
[laughs] But it's very important
that you can really taste that ingredient.
That freshness is the most important.
Oh, man.
Thanks so much for joining us,
and, uh, hopefully I'll see you in person soon.
See you, guys.
- Thank you for that, Chef. - Okay.
- Thanks, Chef. - Thank you so much.
- You're welcome. - [laughs]
James Beard and chefs like Alice--
they paved the way for American cuisine,
and you guys are the future.
Cook your best. Honor the crab.
And your time starts now.
♪♪♪
Blenders...
They're right there.
Ow!
Good thing I'm tough, huh?
Watch out, watch out.
Three hours to create two dishes.
Hot coming through. [whistles]
And we've gotta cook and process crab on top of that,
makes this a very, very aggressive challenge.
Coming through.
Hey.
Really want to highlight the flavors of the crab.
For my cold course, I am doing
a crab salad with a cool crab soup.
The inspiration of this dish comes from crab chilpachole.
The base of the soup is made with the crab bodies,
the heads, tomatoes, onions, garlic, chiles.
And that will be poured tableside.
Whoo!
- This is a tough one. - Dawn, how you doing?
It's gonna be hard to get all this crab processed
along with the other components.
Same, same.
For my cold dish, I'm doing a cold crab salad
with cold cashew soup.
Cashew soup, it's very creamy, unctuous.
Cashews just make it really rich.
Where'd I put it? Here.
The soup will serve as this velvety base
and the crab salad will be bright.
Do y'all have shiro dashi?
I'm also pickling mushrooms
in a little bit of shiro dashi
as another textural component.
I'm really pressed for time.
I have to start breaking my crab, like, now,
and get it cold, which is another challenge.
I am cleaning crab right now.
This is a lot to prep,
doing course one and course two at the same time.
What's your first course, Shota?
Two types of sushi, one with the legs
and the other one with kind of the body meat.
My hot course is gonna be a braised daikon.
In Japanese cuisine, daikon is braised
with a lot of seafood because
it absorbs flavor very well.
By the time it goes out,
it's gonna have so much flavor inside,
but I need to start my stock, start getting rice ready,
make my sushi vinegars,
and finish picking my crab.
The timeframe that we have scares me a little bit.
Shota, are you a big fan of Alice Waters?
I've actually recently heard about her just 'cause
I'm kind of newer to all the American chefs and stuff.
But it was really cool talking to her.
Yeah. It was super incredible
to hear her memories of James Beard
It's a true honor to be cooking
in memory of him in this particular challenge.
James Beard, I mean, he was considered
the dean of American cooking.
People know about the awards and maybe about the foundation,
but they don't know about the man.
He was a living, breathing person who cooked
and taught so many people through his cookbooks.
He mapped the diversity of the foods in this country
and if you think about how those foods got there,
they were usually brought by immigrants
who had to adapt what was local to their cuisine.
And to see young chefs cooking in Oregon,
especially seeing the diversity right now
that we have in these three chefs,
I think he'd get a kick out of this.
Uh, one hour left, guys.
What?
Gabe, how you looking, my man?
I'm looking good. These are some lobster mushrooms
that are gonna go in my crab salad.
I thought these were apples. Yeah, they're nice.
It has a little bit of a seafood flavor, I think.
- Yeah. - For my hot course,
I'm gonna be doing crab fat tortillas
and a mole rojo,
and then some sunchokes.
These sunchokes are Jerusalem artichokes,
as they're also called.
They have this really meaty flavor.
I think it will pair really nicely with the crab.
Forty-five minutes.
I need to pick crab.
Me too, Gabe.
My goal for this crab boil
is to get the flavors of home.
For my hot dish, I am
doing my best to honor James Beard
with a simple preparation in the shell.
I just want to do right by it.
But everything is taking longer than I anticipated.
Where is it?
At least the rice is getting to the right temperature now.
Cooking sushi rice is such a simple thing, it's hard.
The ratios for how much salt, sugar, is very dependent on
what you're trying to go for.
Two different kinds of rice vinegar.
One is regular sushi vinegar,
the other one is ume sushi rice vinegar that I made.
There's definitely an art to creating sushi.
I want to really showcase
that sweet flavor of a fresh crab.
Holy sh--! It's sushi hour!
I do want to make it a little fun.
I'm gonna add some yuzu kosho aioli on top,
brûlée it with a little bit of shiso
so it's a composed dish,
not just a piece of nigiri.
- Did you make me some, chef? - [laughs] Not right now!
I'm like, crunching it really tight on time!
♪♪♪
This is gorgeous.
This is prime real estate.
Right?
- Wow. Amazing. - Mm-hmm.
Well, I want to welcome everybody here
and also want to welcome Naomi Pomeroy,
another James Beard award winner.
[applause]
Uh, this is the final challenge before the finale.
Whoever makes it out of here will go on to compete
for the title of Top Chef.
What was it like at this point in the competition,
when you knew it was coming down to you
or two other people?
It's so thin. The margin is so thin.
- Any little mistake... - Sure.
...can send you home.
I was competing against myself.
I was literally just trying to focus on making good food.
I feel the same as Brooke.
All three of them are amazing chefs
but I think the winner's gonna be the one
that's the most confident and pushing forward.
Twelve minutes!
Twelve minutes, heard.
I try a little bit of the rice
for my second piece of sushi.
The ume in the vinegar is a little bit stronger
than what I wanted it to be.
Ah, [bleep], man.
I'm starting to contemplate if I want
to put this on the course.
You know, I'm Japanese, and if I mess this up
it will be a little embarrassing.
[bleep]
Are y'all as much in the weeds as I am?
As a "cold course," I had every intention
of getting everything chilled, but time is on a crunch
so the coldness is gonna have to come from the avocado yogurt.
Two minutes 28 on the time!
Ah, [bleep].
Why did I do this? [laughs]
I don't know, chef. Why did we do any of this?
The flavors are exactly as I want them to be.
I'm just anxious I'm able to get on the plate on time.
I'm just gonna give up.
Just sushi one way.
[rattling loudly]
♪♪♪
- [timer beeps] - Oh, sh--.
This is gonna be sushi one way.
[metal clatters on floor]
- I am ready. - So excited for this.
We're going to get all three cold preparations at once.
- Okay. - Okay.
Anybody allergic to crab?
[laughing] Good time to find out now.
Smells very good.
- Smell how roasty it is. - Oh, wow.
- Hey, chefs. - [overlapping greetings]
Shota, what did you prepare for us?
I prepared a crab nigiri with a yuzu kosho aioli.
The crab itself is flavored with
a little bit of ginger-flavored vinegar.
So it says "two ways."
Yeah, it was two ways, but the ume rice
wasn't coming out exactly the way I wanted,
so I didn't want to put anything
that I wasn't comfortable putting on the plate.
- So it's only one way. Okay. - It's only one way.
- Gabe? - I prepared some Dungeness crab
and lobster mushrooms braised in crab stock.
There's also an avocado yogurt and aromatic oils.
Gabe, if this is a cold preparation, why the hot soup?
The soup is hot, but I intended for the salad
- to be just room temperature. - Dawn.
I made a Dungeness crab salad
with cashew soup and pickled oyster mushrooms.
These are three extraordinary dishes.
- All of you. - Thank you.
There's only one more dish
separating you and the finale.
- So get back in there! - Get it done.
Whew!
We got a lot to do in an hour.
What do you think of Shota's first course?
He roasted the crab shell,
which, you get that intense crustacean aroma
which helps bring in some sweetness and added flavor.
I thought it was perfect. I just want more.
[laughter]
Crab sushi two ways,
to only give us one way with all this time,
at this point in the game,
I don't think that that's acceptable.
It's not easy to execute a really excellent sushi rice.
I understand that the menu says "two ways,"
but I can forgive based on how delightful that bite was.
For a one-bite dish, I think you
really have to have the confidence,
and I think that's ballsy to serve one bite.
Shota, you looking better, second course?
My second course has a few more elements on it,
so hopefully they'll be happy with that.
I had some difficulties in my first course,
but since I already had the crab meat picked...
[clicks tongue] it's all good.
- How you doing, chef? - Good.
Course two's looking a little bit easier.
I'm gonna make a light miso paste,
That's, uh, pickled ginger juice
- and then sherry vinegar. - Oh, that's very delicious.
The mizuna, I'm gonna blanche.
It's got this nice bitterness to it.
I'm gonna let it steep a little bit more
to get that crab flavor inside.
Forty minutes!
Forty minutes, heard.
What did you think of Gabe's preparation?
Gabe gave us just a great expression of
where we are and the ingredients.
[murmurs of agreement]
So if you're walking through the woods right now,
you may find lobster mushrooms.
Clearly crab is in season.
He also worked a little bit of himself in there
with the heat, but not too much.
I--I--I think he did a great job here.
It's a little confusing whether or not
this was considered a cold preparation,
but the star was certainly the crab here.
I could not love this dish any more.
It was delicate and balanced.
I love Gabe. I love him.
- [laughter] - I want to take him home.
[laughter]
Uh, Gabe, how you doing?
Good. Uh, the big push for me is gonna be tortillas.
The tortilla made with crab fat.
Come on, bitch.
I really want that flavor
of the crab and the crab fat.
But I've got to get tortilla dough made
rested, portioned.
Have to hustle here to get to the end of the road.
It's gonna be a definite push to get this all done.
Thirty minutes, guys!
Dawn's dish, I really enjoyed the cashew sauce.
- It was delicious. - I loved how creamy it was.
I'm inspired by the combination of cashew and crab here,
- quite honestly. - Yeah, me too.
The nuttiness of the cashew,
- it has a butteriness to it... - Yeah.
- that complements the crab. - Yeah.
The crab and cashew, stop right there.
This dish was strong enough on its own.
She has a really bad habit of these whimsical garnishes
that don't lend anything to the dish.
I am smashing some sweet potatoes
so that I can fry them,
and then toss them in the crab butter.
It's common to have potatoes in your crab boil mix,
so it's a major component of my dish.
Oh, sh--, 15 minutes.
I have way too many things to do
to bring this dish together.
I'm just making sure that I get it on the plate.
We don't have a rolling pin here?
Trying to find a rolling pin up in this.
- What you need? - A rolling pin.
I got a long way to go in a short period of time
and I haven't even started making my tortillas yet.
Sabotage.
Doubles as a rolling pin.
Three minutes left, guys.
Hot behind, coming through. Hot, hot, hot, hot, hot.
I was waiting for the perfect moment to start plating.
But all of a sudden, I'm like, "Oh, wait.
I gotta actually start plating this food."
Five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten, eleven, twelve, thirteen.
Aah!
The linen that I'm keeping the warm tortillas in
by the grill starts melting,
and got on one of the tortillas.
Excuse me! Excuse me.
I am one tortilla short.
This is definitely a $250,000 mistake.
Thirty seconds, guys.
- Pistachio... - [bleep] me.
[timer beeping]
[bleep] me.
Potatoes break up the richness of the sauce.
They did not make the plate.
I'm frustrated with myself.
This is not a dish that I would want to serve to anybody.
I didn't get a chance to wipe.
- Yeah. - My sh--'s ----ed.
- One tortilla short. - Oh, well.
Good job, guys.
I am going home.
♪♪♪
- It's gorgeous. - Yeah.
You can tell that this is a Shota dish.
- Totally! - For sure.
Is this not a splatter paint design?
- It's on purpose. - Is it?
- No. - It's gotta be.
Look at how much is on there.
No, this is intentional.
- Hi, chefs. - Hi.
Let's start with you, Gabe.
Tell us about your hot preparation.
I made a mole coloradito.
So the base of that sauce was crab in clam stock,
braised some of the sunchokes in that.
And then the tortilla is made with crab fat.
Shota, tell us about your dish.
I did a braised purple daikon with crab dish,
and on top was crab salad
tossed in soy-sherry vinaigrette with persimmons.
Hi, Dawn. Tell us about this plate.
It is like a Pacific coast-style crab boil.
I made a stock of crab and braised the crab in that stock
and added some beer into it for some depth.
Did you mean for your plate to have the splash?
No, I didn't.
This was a push. I did my best.
Okay.
- Thank you. Thank you all. - [overlapping thanks]
It's over now.
Chef, I wish you'd have kept your beer cold.
Let's start with Dawn's dish.
[crunching]
[laughs] You still have it on your nose.
I'm gonna ruin my jacket and be happy with it.
I know, we're just going for it.
[shells cracking]
Wow.
[exclaims in dismay] Can you just grab my napkin?
- This is not formal dress food. - Mm-hmm.
James Beard would love this dish.
He was really passionate about
mixing flavors across the world
and I think that Dawn's dish really represents that well.
This is a delicious, delicious bowl of food.
Dawn's sauce is spectacular.
It's not too acidic, it's not too spicy.
This is what Dawn does extremely well--
create deep, homey flavors
that are extremely craveable and we can't stop eating them.
My only complaint is
I want something else to sop it up with.
Yeah.
I always push dishes that--
I want, like, bold flavors, so I do
everything individually,
kind of like you do for your mole.
Yeah.
Let's talk about Gabe.
The sauce is really deep and dark.
It's about crab but it's about all the earthiness, too.
The sauce for me would've been delicious
if it wasn't Jerusalem artichoke-forward.
I don't know, I just felt like it took over.
I agree with Naomi. There is a underlying
flavor of Jerusalem artichoke that is bitter.
Sorry, I'm, like, dying here.
I can tell, I can tell. Go on.
I get a ton of Jerusalem artichoke, but I love it.
It gives it another dimension.
My tortilla was cooked perfectly,
it had enough chew to sort of stand up to all that sauce.
Yeah, I thought it was a smart move
to be able to sop up that mole
with that crab fat tortilla.
But I had to actually take some of yours.
So there was a missing tortilla.
- That counts. - That does count.
What do you think of Shota's dish?
You know how much crab flavor the daikon soaked up?
It's amazing. It's ----ing bomb.
I love Shota's dish. To have a light broth
that is so crab-forward.
I mean, the taste of the sea water is stunning.
He didn't have to use butter and chiles
and all these things that these other two dishes did.
The restraint that he showed in this dish.
It's the sweet crab.
It's that beautiful brininess in the broth.
I thought, for me, it was so well-balanced,
and I thought that a lot of the other dishes
didn't have that balance that he showed in that dish.
Whatever happens, it's an honor, guys.
Whatever happens, love y'all to death.
All three chefs gave us beautiful food,
clearly doing justice to the Pacific Northwest
and to James Beard's legacy.
- Mm-hmm. - And now we have
a really tough night ahead of us
to figure out which two chefs we're taking to finale.
Cheers, everybody.
[overlapping cheers]
- To James Beard. - James Beard.
I regret writing "sushi two ways."
[laughing] Padma asked me if my
- splash was intentional. - [laughter]
"Did you mean to put sh-- everywhere?"
- [laughter] - I'm so sorry.
Just waiting for Padma's heels to start...
[tapping]
- Hi. - [laughter]
We'd like to see all of you.
- Thank you. - Thank you.
Last Judges' Table as a trio.
♪♪♪
[applause]
Thank you for a delicious meal.
I was able to see every single chef.
Everything was so different and complex.
- Thank you, chef. - Thank you, chef.
I want to hear from you guys.
Shota, let's start with your cold preparation.
I think after last week, I really wanted
to keep pushing more of Japanese food.
I was like, "This is a perfect time to do sushi."
The menu said "crab two ways."
You didn't think to try and pivot
and give us something else with the crab,
even if the rice wasn't working?
I guess that didn't cross my mind
and I started focusing on my second course.
- Mm-hmm. -You just needed one more thing.
But the one bite you did give us was spectacular.
- Thank you. - I agree.
The crab was really sweet.
I do like that you had roasted it a little bit.
It takes a lot of courage to put one single bite on a plate,
but I do think that that one bite
- required a lot of skill. - Thank you.
Your hot dish.
That purple radish was the perfect vehicle
for the crab.
I love braising with purple daikon.
I love crab dashi.
It was unassuming when you saw it,
but I'm just so impressed
on how you got so much flavor into that clear liquid.
The aroma hit your face,
and everything that you intended on doing
in that bowl, you nailed.
Thank you very much.
You gave us a dish that was in total contrast
to the other two dishes we received in that course.
It was a showstopper.
Thank you.
- Gabe. -For my first cold preparation,
I wanted to do a chilled crab and lobster mushroom salad.
It was a beautiful dish.
That avocado mousse was silky,
and it was the best lobster mushrooms
- I've probably had. - Thank you, chef.
We're here in the Pacific Northwest, we're in Oregon,
and you can see the forest just meets the ocean, and so
this dish completely just told that story.
And I think the sauce work was really indicative
of the sauce work that you've been giving us all season.
- Just beautiful. - But, you know,
it was warm when it came to the table.
Time was short and I wasn't able
to get the broth cooled down.
Let's talk about your second course.
I just wanted to create a mole
that had the flavors of the crab.
There was just a lot of intense crabbiness
throughout the whole dish.
And crab fat tortillas are a big idea, Gabe.
- I mean, I'm in. - [laughs]
But Melissa didn't get one.
I know there was one that didn't make it
because I was keeping them warm
in the linen by the grill, and the actual linen
melted onto the tortilla.
All in all, I loved it.
But the Jerusalem artichoke flavor took over the crab
- in that sauce. - Understood.
I didn't mind that.
I thought using the Jerusalem artichoke
was very smart because it is sweet,
and it brought the sweetness of the crab out.
- Thank you, chef. - Dawn,
tell us about your first course.
I made the cashew soup that was the cold preparation.
Sometimes you gotta sell something a little better.
This is like a creamless crab chowder.
You know, all those lactose intolerant people out there
that can't eat chowder anymore, they would line up for this.
- True. - It worked really well.
When it comes to comfort in a bowl,
like a nice hug of flavor,
that was definitely in that bowl.
And chef, that's what I go for.
You gotta snap your fingers when you say that.
- There you go. - [laughter]
The issues that I had were the persimmon and the radish.
Removing those items would have made it
one of the tastiest things we had today.
Okay.
Less is more.
Talk to me about your second dish.
My second dish was meant to be simple,
rustic, the way that I love to eat it.
We were all quiet when we were eating that dish.
That's how good it was,
and that thing for me was very soul-satisfying.
We were bathing in it, Dawn.
It had so much flavor. It was so bold.
It was one of the best bites of food I've had all season.
I just wish I had a biscuit, Dawn.
I wish I had a biscuit.
- For the sopping? - Yes!
There were potatoes.
They were the crown jewel of my dish, honestly.
And what happened?
- Time happened. - Oh, Dawn!
You are doing a disservice to how talented you are.
- You gotta resolve this issue. - I do.
I really am proud of the food that I made for you today.
I just hated how I gave it to you.
- Mm-hmm. - And that's the honest truth.
Okay, we have a difficult decision to make.
I'm gonna send you back.
We'll call you back in a bit. Thank you.
- Thank you. - Thank you.
Good job, dawg.
♪♪♪
Well, sh--.
We had such an exhilarating meal,
such delicious food across the board.
When you try and break it down,
they were all really good dishes.
- That's the problem. - That's the problem.
Shota's dish was not a dish, it was an amuse.
If Shota just gave us two of those,
I would've probably been very, very happy.
I agree, but I continue to be infinitely impressed
with how he's able to show us these nuanced flavors.
I feel like I'm going home today.
We all have a reason to feel that
- in some sort of way. - Yeah.
I will say that of those first three cold courses,
Gabe's was in perfect balance.
Yeah, he wanted to serve that cold, and it was warm.
But I still think he was actually successful.
- It was delicious. - I agree.
I think there's a lot of technique in his dish.
I thought it was just a beautiful bite all around.
If I get eliminated, I'm gonna be like, "I'm not leaving.
You're gonna have to drag me out of here."
[laughter]
When it comes to Dawn's dish, it's a very simple dish
in terms of execution and technique.
That cashew, for me, I love it.
Yeah. But then there were distractions.
The pickled stuff that didn't need to be there.
She has a tendency for overthinking these things.
I just want to have the crab and the cashews.
- Exactly. - They loved your food.
All right, second course.
This is a really tricky one, because I loved
so many of the flavors on all three dishes.
- Yeah. - And Shota's dish
really took my breath away.
Not adding the fat or any spice or any acidity,
I thought it was just this great bite,
which is very hard to do.
Well, we cooked our hearts out, right?
I really did.
Gabe's sauce was so beautiful.
That crab complemented the sunchokes being so sweet.
Those two flavors together, I don't think
that that served the crab well in my opinion.
One thing's for sure, we didn't make it easy for them.
- Yeah. - You know?
When it comes to Dawn, that is like soulful.
I want to order ten of those plates.
I do think that Dawn's dish was just like a step above.
I liked Dawn's dish a lot,
but she left something off the plate.
But I think we can all agree
that Dawn's dish just made us all so happy.
- Yeah. - I mean,
they were getting dirty for it,
but it may not have been enough.
At the end of the day, we had an amazing meal
from these three chefs.
These chefs not only did honor to the crab,
but they also did honor to James Beard.
I don't know, this is a hard one.
It's a hard one because I would order
all those dishes again.
- Yep. - Yeah.
Here's to friendship, guys.
- Here's to friendship. - Lifelong friends.
- Yeah. - For sure.
If I'm gone today, I love you guys.
- We have our answers? - Yes.
- Yes.
Okay, let's get them out here.
♪♪♪
You know, chefs, your path takes you many different places
and for the three of you, here you are.
This is a tough decision to make.
It's been great to watch all of you
just, you know, find your way through the season.
This was a delicious, exquisite meal,
but there can only be one winner.
Nina and Kwame?
The chef today that won really showed
precision and restraint.
That really exemplifies
why you're standing up here today.
The chef that did that today was...
♪♪♪
Shota.
Congratulations.
You are going to the finale!
[applause]
I'm going to the finale. Ha ha!
[whispers] Congratulations.
- How does it feel? - Like...I need to breathe.
[laughter]
It feels surreal. Like, I'm really honored.
Thank you very much for the opportunity, for everything.
I hear from people that
being in the finale really changes your life.
I lost so much closing my restaurant
that I've had for five years.
Making it to the finale and being here,
I think I might have another shot of doing
what I really love for the rest of my life.
- Thank you, Shota. - Thank you, Shota.
We're excited to continue eating your food.
Thank you.
Well, this next part is very, very hard.
Dawn...
and Gabe.
Pack your bags. you're both going to the finale!
[laughter, applause]
We could not decide!
♪♪♪
Congratulations!
I'm going to the finale!
[applause]
I'm officially a "Top Chef" finalist
and it feels amazing.
It is a goal of mine to win "Top Chef"
and I've done it.
Well, I haven't won. [laughs]
There was no way to let any one of you go
after that meal.
We can't wait for your final.
I can't believe I'm going
to the "Top Chef" finale at this point.
I'm literally, mind blown.
But there will only be one winner at the finale.
[laughter]
This last challenge will determine
who is Top Chef.
Oh, sh--. [laughs]
Tomorrow morning, you'll head
to Willamette Valley Vineyards
to find out more.
- Congratulations. - [applause]
Thank you so much.
I absolutely feel that all three of us deserve it.
We all created very unique voices for ourselves
and very different food.
We'll see you in wine country.
- Thank you all, so much. - Thank you.
But honestly, I plan on being the first Latino Top Chef.
Ha ha! We all made it!
I'm really glad that the three of us are competing.
I don't like easy challenges.
- Oh, my God! - Oh, thank you.
If it's not hard, then it's not worth it for me.
[laughs]
Aah!
[laughter]
Why me? [laughs]
The title of Top Chef is so close.
I feel like it's running through my veins.
- Cheers. - Cheers.
I'm going to continue to dig deep
and give every moment
absolutely everything that I have.
- Let's go, guys. - Yeah.
Let's go light a fire on the beach.
- Right? - [laughter]
Next time on the season finale of "Top Chef"...
Your finale challenge--
create the best 4-course progressive meal
of your life.
Don't worry. We're calling in the cavalry.
[laughter, greetings]
Home sweet home, guys.
Oh, shoot.
Couldn't make it that easy, right?
We are gonna be doing pig head cheese.
- Oh, my God. Wow. - That's stupid, right?
That quarter million would really change my life.
Follow behind me and clean up, okay?
This is the meal of my lifetime.
Go, hurry.
Just takes one component to not be able to win.
- I hope that it's enough. - We gotta go. We gotta go.
- Gotta go. - Come on.
They gotta be on every plate.
♪♪♪
Damn, all these dishes are gorgeous.
I feel like I should get a hallelujah!
All right, I think we know who the next Top Chef is.
[applause]
All three of you are winners.
Unfortunately only one will have the title.
You are Top Chef!
[cheers and applause]