Tonight is the finale of Top Chef.
Shota, Gabe, Dawn,
you're going to the finale!
-We could not decide! -Thank you so much!
Dawn Burrell, former-Olympian-turned-chef,
has impressed the judges all season
with her global comfort food.
Had me at ham hock roe.
I'm jealous that I didn't create this dish.
Feels like I made the Olympic team again.
It's a culmination of all my hard work.
The winning chef today is Dawn.
Everything you cook is well-seasoned.
But you left the gougère off one plate.
-[timer beeping] -[bleep] me.
I'm tired of making time mistakes.
Time's up! You are doing a disservice
to how talented you are.
I'm gonna leave nothing behind.
I'm here for the win.
Whoo!
Gabe Erales, the master of mole.
We're short on sauces, let's go!
It's very exciting to cook food that I feel
is part of my culture and my soul.
The winner of this round is Gabe.
-Great job, man. -I feel very accomplished,
and I don't ever want to give up because I'm happy
with how far I've come. Bingo!
Gabe's masterful when it comes to sauce-making.
I want to do this real quick, guys, I'm sorry.
[laughter]
-Gabe. -Thank you guys so much.
Gabe.
Crab fat tortillas are a big idea, Gabe.
I'm gonna keep pushing.
I would not be here if I didn't think
I was the next Top Chef.
-[laughs] -Shota Nakajima,
a true technician of Japanese cuisine.
Lobster sunomono, coffee and stout reduction inside.
-Totally original. -I prepared tofu cheddar manju
with a cheddar dashi.
I've never had anything like this.
Braised purple daikon with crab dish.
That beautiful brininess in that broth,
-it was so well-balanced. -Shota.
-I need to breathe.
[laughter]
That quarter million would really, really change my life,
but it's not gonna be easy.
This is a challenge for me, and it excites me,
it drives me and it makes me want to cook better.
♪♪♪
Three chefs remain to duke it out in the finale.
At stake for the winner--
a feature in Food and Wine magazine,
an appearance at the Food and Wine Classic in Aspen,
a quarter of a million dollars,
furnished by San Pellegrino
and the title of Top Chef.
♪♪♪
Aw, damn.
Good morning, chefs.
-Good morning! -Good morning!
Congratulations, you are officially in the finale.
-Thank you, ma'am. -Thank you so much.
I made it through every challenge.
I'm just really proud to be standing here
with these two people.
Nice view, huh?
Yeah, it's beautiful.
Well, it's our pleasure to welcome you
to the stunning Willamette Valley Vineyards.
-It's breathtaking. -Breathtaking.
♪♪♪
The rules for this one are super simple.
For your finale challenge, you'll be tasked
to create the best 4-course progressive meal
of your lives.
-That's all? Okay. -No pressure.
Think about the way your menu flows.
Think about the progression and the creative choices.
All of this to tell the story of why you should be Top Chef.
You'll have the rest of the day to shop
for local goods and specialty products.
For your first stop, we've arranged for you
to meet with some local farmers and growers,
here on the Willamette Valley food trail.
After that, the state of Oregon is your oyster.
Feel free to visit Oregon's Mount Hood territory.
You could spend your day gathering
all the ingredients you need.
Just hit the road in that BMW X6M,
and go explore.
Sounds like you have a lot of work ahead of you.
There's a quarter million dollars on the line, yeah.
Don't worry. We're calling in the cavalry.
Oh, cavalry!
[cheering, laughter]
-Hello, kids! -How's it going?
-Yeah! -I love you guys!
Seeing Byron, Maria and Jamie, I am extremely excited.
It's been a minute.
-I'm back, bitches! -[laughter]
It's time to draw knives one final time.
Ah, look at that. Dawn's got first choice.
So Dawn, do you know who?
-Jamie. -Yay!
[giggling]
Why did you choose Jamie? I'm curious.
She is very, very fierce and feisty in the kitchen.
We also have similar flavor profiles that we build.
All right. Shota?
-I'm gonna go with Byron. -Yeah!
All right. Well, you lucked out, Gabe.
This one just kinda makes sense.
Yeah.
[laughter]
Guys, this is an experience that none of you
will ever forget. Tomorrow,
you'll have six hours to prep and cook
here at the Willamette Valley Vineyards,
and the following day, you'll have three hours
-before service begins. -Good luck.
One of you will be Top Chef.
-Oh, my God! -Bye-bye.
-Bye! -Thank you, chef!
[laughter]
Oh, man!
It's just you, at the finale.
-I know. -Top Chef.
I have found my mentor in you.
Aw, that's so sweet.
And I really, really, admire you and love you,
and it's gonna be an honor and I'm here for you.
It worked out perfectly.
I got a basis of a plan so far, but I really
kinda want to see what's out there.
-Yeah. -This menu needs to tell
a story of who I am and who I have become on Top Chef.
-Short rib? -Mm-hmm.
And chichilo negro mole. For me, I want that
to be the showstopper.
This particular mole was taught to me by Susana Trilling,
who lives in Oaxaca, and has a cooking school there.
She has been very inspiring to me.
Five hours to cook, minimum.
I want to pay an homage to her through this mole.
So, Susana, that one's for you.
Your menu looks amazing.
They're going to sh-- their pants.
-[laughs] -What do you have planned?
My big thing is I wanna make sure
that it's not a crazy hard menu,
so we can, like, execute it properly.
That's like, my always, always thing.
Going into this finale, I had a goal of showcasing
Japanese cuisine and technique, and I think
I've been able to showcase a lot of that.
But for this whole competition,
they've been asking about cooking from the heart,
and I'm gonna lean towards that and do more soulful cooking.
My third course, I'm thinking, I'll do Japanese curry.
-Oh, really! -I haven't done Japanese curry.
-It's kind of a sweet curry. -Okay.
It was my mom's favorite food.
Cozy, in your face, super...
-Japanese as you can get. -Yeah, yeah.
First course is gonna be cold,
but I'm wondering whether I should do beef twice.
I'm considering lamb as well.
There are lots of things that are up in the air in my menu.
I gain my inspiration by looking
and feeling and tasting,
and I don't want to leave anything out.
But my goal is to highlight pan-African cuisine.
Second course, I'm gonna do green gumbo.
That's in honor of Chef Leah Chase.
She's a trailblazer in New Orleans.
I am making a play on Gumbo Z'Herbes,
a dish that was created by Leah Chase.
She uses at least five types of greens and herbs.
I am going to firm up this menu tomorrow.
My goal is to make sure that my plates are finished.
I will stare at it-- "Bitch, you forgot that!"
[both laughing]
We're good to go.
-Let's get out of here. -Should we go shopping?
Whoo!
-We're back in the car again! -Whoo!
♪♪♪
Get out of here! [giggling]
I'm looking for something for a dessert course.
This would probably be the sweetest one we have.
-The delicata? -Yeah.
I think a lot of what Top Chef is about is
telling a story through food.
Ooh, tepache.
Candied squash was a big part of my childhood.
Esta perfecto!
It's a traditional Mexican dessert where squash
is essentially candied in Mexican cane sugar.
I hope for it to impress the judges by really
telling the story about who I am as a chef.
Okay. I think that's it, no?
Dawn, are you excited?
I am excited, but I had a couple of rough cooks.
Honestly, don't get down on yourself.
You do awesome flavors and stuff like that.
If we do a plate up an hour before service,
I can see what you want me to do
and we have that rehearsed already.
That's my goal.
♪♪♪
And these are, like, the tiniest baby kohlrabis.
That might actually be good with the octopus.
Yeah.
Sorrel.
I'm gonna take a saba.
Saba? This one?
I'm leaning more towards a cozy coursing.
Aw, sexy, dude!
Japanese food seems simple, but it's not.
One little edge off on acidity,
or sweetness or saltiness, it's gonna show more.
So, I just gotta make sure I execute
the dishes that I want to do properly.
-Can't forget these. -If I don't win
and can't give you anything, at least I got you that.
-Remember that, all right? -[both laughing]
-Thank you very much! -Thank you.
Thank you very much.
-Look at this. -Wow!
-Oh, wow. -This house is amazing.
Shota, this is your room, right here.
Or we can all stay in one room together.
-Big day tomorrow. -Big day.
This menu is really coming to me slowly,
but just as in my athletic career,
I would train for years to be on the Olympic team
and compete for only a few seconds.
This is the meal of my lifetime.
I'm gonna give the judges everything I have.
All right, one thing at a time.
-What's up? -Hi, bosses!
-You ready, brother? -What I'm gonna
have you start with
is get the pig heads going.
Me and you can double team the squash.
I'm gonna do basically all the dessert sh---.
-Okay. -Almost every dish
-has a bread component. -Cool.
It sounds like a lot. We'll get it.
So the first course, I'm doing kind of a raw course.
Trying to showcase different styles
and different techniques.
Course two is an octopus karaage.
I haven't done octopus yet. It's one of my favorite courses.
-This is burdock root. - Can I see what this is like?
We're doing a puree out of it, It's got that super Earthy note.
Yeah, yeah it's very earthy.
-So, third course. -Beef tongue curry.
Beef tongue is an extremely good braising meat, and
I want to make curry for my mom.
I don't think I was an easy kid
to take care of, for my mom,
but my mom made curry once a week.
It's her favorite food. Just want to kind of honor that.
I actually like to peel the skin first,
potato starch it, fry it and crust the outside.
-You fry it? -Then I braise it overnight.
-Crazy, right? -Just a classic Japanese dish.
You're a classic Japanese dish.
[giggling]
[humming]
We finally get to cook together, Maria.
-Yes! -First course,
we are going to be doing pig head cheese.
It's kind of an homage to both the Yucatan and Mexico City.
The most difficult aspects of the menu
are getting the pig head cooked, picked, seasoned,
and pressed so that it can be portioned the following day.
So, how do you want this? Water...
-Just puree it to make a paste. -Okay.
For the second course, I am doing
a scallop and tepache aguachile.
-Yeah, that's great. -One point for Maria.
For the third course, I'm doing short rib,
Oregon mushrooms, and chichilo negro mole.
It's about to get smoky in here.
The ashes of the tortilla and the seeds
is one of the components of the mole.
Mole is a Mexican term for "sauce."
It's not just throwing everything in a pot,
letting it boil away and then pureeing it.
Varieties of mole are endless.
The way that I make mole is I create a bunch of subsets
of sauces, and then they all come together and cook down.
-Now it's getting good. -A trip to Mexico.
No passport needed, ladies and gentlemen.
[laughs]
Four hours.
What's the inspiration for the first course?
I am doing a play on kitfo, which is an Ethiopian tartare.
It sounds delicious.
My first course is luiijuh tartare
with beef tendon and honey bread.
The gumbo, I nixed the pork.
We're not doing that. We are making this
-a seafood gumbo that is green. -Got it.
For the second course, I am making green gumbo
with a Carolina gold rice fritter.
Beef cheeks, it's like if short rib
and oxtails had a baby.
- [laughs] - Third course,
I'm making a jerk beef cheek
with braised black-eyed peas and buttered turnips.
Strain this stock out and reserve it for me.
My goal is to present this very humble dish...
Double the amount of onions, equal amount of peppers.
...that is full of flavor and technique.
Okay. Oh God damn it. Okay.
I want her to win, but it's a lot.
Stir hard. Thank you.
♪♪♪
Byron, let's focus on that dessert real quick.
So, hoji tea is a roasted green tea.
It's a tea that my mom made all the time.
I smell that tea, I taste that tea, it reminds me of home.
Fourth course, I'm making hoji tea cheesecake
with cedar-smoked gelato.
Yeah, literally just cold smoking
trying to get that smoke flavor in.
-Want to smoke it one more time? -One more time?
Yeah, let's smoke it one more time.
I am going to get the squash nixtamalised.
For the final course, I am doing a squash
candied in Mexican cane sugar with cafe Mexicano ice cream.
It's delicious!
I'm gonna ask you to take over this half for me.
'Cause I have to start on baking bread.
My fourth course is yam and buttermilk bread pudding.
Bread is a very common thing in Southern culture.
We have it at all dinner tables.
-Now what do you want me to do? -Just cut,
as if your life depended on it.
The judges will gain the knowledge
of who I am as a chef, and how we cook as a family.
56 minutes!
Can you put a tape on that oven just to make sure
no one touches it? If you know what I mean?
-You gonna leave it on all night?
No, it's off. Beef tongue needs to cook
with that residual heat.
You're a brave soldier.
Yes, chef, I am.
-Seven minutes! -We'll have the pig head
-pressing overnight. -Okay.
Curry is in, bada-bing, bada-boom!
Tomorrow, when you first walk in,
I have to get the bread baked first.
I am not able to bake off this bread.
I'm gonna proof my bread overnight,
and bake it first thing in the morning.
That's going to be integral to our success.
♪♪♪
-It was so much fun, man. -All right, I'll see ya.
-Thank you! -I'm proud of you!
♪♪♪
Home sweet home, guys. I smell something.
Oh, shoot.
-Chefs, please. -Hi, chefs.
All the all-stars here?
What in the world is happening?
Couldn't make it that easy, right?
You three have to choose one of us to cook against
and the loser will be going home.
♪♪♪
-Psych! -[laughter]
[laughter]
I was like, "Later..."
[laughter]
That was the worst joke ever.
Come in! Hi!
There's no cooking except for us cooking for you guys today.
-Whew! -Amazing!
[applause]
Congratulations, guys. How do you guys feel?
You know I'm, I'm running things through my head.
You know, you know how it is.
Dawn, scale it back.
Don't overthink adding that extra garnish.
Like is it, does it need it, or is it just for color?
Chef, I hear you.
All right guys, dinner's up.
-Shota, where's your plate? -Oh.
Tonight, we're nice to you. Tomorrow we will be mean.
- [laughter] - Hey! Uncle Ed!
Gabe and his 1001 moles.
-1001 moles! -He's got four left, four left.
-[laughing] -A sweet mole for the finish.
There's gonna be some mole dipping sauce.
[laughter]
This meal is a meal that I think many chefs
and many people would dream of.
It's a collaboration of amazing chefs
cooking and taking care of you tonight.
That means a lot.
Once you get home, your creativity starts
to blossom in directions that you never expected it to,
because of all the people you get to meet
and all of the experiences you have because of this.
But also, I think the different backgrounds that you guys have,
which is very unique, it's about showcasing that.
Also, other communities that you each represent, you know?
You're all winners right now.
We're so proud of you and you're a part of our family.
-So, cheers. -Aw, Mel!
Welcome to the family one more time!
♪♪♪
It's crazy that our-- it's our last cook.
I can't wrap my head around it.
How'd you feel about the surprise last night?
It's the perfect ending to our journey.
-Yeah, final supper. -Yeah, exactly.
I'm really proud of us. Like, we did this.
Yeah.
Today is an emotional day. I'm here,
not only just cooking for myself, but for my family
who are also making sacrifices for me to be here.
And for the chance to walk away with this
incredible title that can change our lives.
♪♪♪
Oh my God, one last cook! Ha ha!
♪♪♪
Good morning, beautiful people!
Good morning. Good morning. Good morning. Good morning.
-Good luck charm! -Ah, mi amor!
-Let's do this, kid. -Let's go. [sighs]
♪♪♪
Get this mole cooking again.
We need the cooked bone marrow.
Puff the crisps, make the tomato and celery salad.
That's a lot for the first one.
I need to do lamb first, for sure.
I'm gonna start crossing off whatever is done.
Heard.
How did the beef tongue turn out?
-Oh my God. -That's stupid, right?
-Wow. Oh, yeah. -Super soft.
That technique is freaky. I've never seen that.
That's so cool.
Oh, I'm so glad that worked out. [laughs]
-Love it. -I'm just cutting
the banana leaf that we're going to cook the bread in.
The honey bread for course one is priority.
-Yesterday was intense. -Was I intense?
-A little bit? -I'm an intense person.
-I'm sorry. -No!
Even though the whole bread pudding for course four
has to be created, I feel like we can do it.
Sweet potato bread going in.
-How does it look, Gabe? -Amazing.
We're going to bread it, dredge it in masa, and fry it.
Being able to have someone like Maria
who understands my flavors, you know,
Mexican cuisine as well as she does, is huge.
It's going to absorb a lot of grease.
They're not going to be able to taste the cochinita.
Let's try it on the pan. That'll make it more crispy.
The pan, it's going to be day and night.
-Look. -I like it.
Good call.
♪♪♪
Second course, I'm going to change a little bit.
I'm going to make it more of a vegetable course,
with a little bit of bone marrow and octopus.
I think the vegetable-forward dish makes more sense
with the progression because it's light and simple.
And then you go into curry with beef tongue,
so the curry stands out more.
Can you cut the octopus into that size?
-Those sizes? Yeah. -I think, about three to four
-pieces per dish. -Got it.
One hour to first course, guys!
♪♪♪
-Puree, done. -Ash emulsion done.
Here's first course.
Jamie, we have to start getting our plates laid out.
Ten minutes and I'll be done with this.
What else do you need on this?
The celery, the beef tendon?
The green tomato, I need to cook the bread.
I'm behind. I'm working on bread
longer than I anticipated.
Before you fry the beef tendon,
can you slice this celery real quick?
Could you fry these too?
The green tomatoes?
Yes. Aah.
-What's next? -We need to get the plates out.
-Okay, tell me what to do. -Go, ice bath those.
They are ice bathed.
I just need a little spoon of salt.
-Show me. -Just enough to hold it on.
-Got it, got it.
- Thirty minutes, chefs. - [bleep]
♪♪♪
-Oh, thank you. -Welcome, everybody.
I want to propose a toast to this grand meal
we're about to have.
Tiffany Derry is back with the family.
Welcome, everybody, we're about to have
what I hope is one of the best meals.
-Cheers! -Cheers! Cheers!
-To our last meal. -I'm going to miss you all.
-Cheers, everybody. -Seven minutes.
Okay, we gotta go, we got lots of touches, okay?
-Okay. -We don't have a lot of time.
I-I just need direction. Show me?
-First course, we have sashimi. -Okay, chef.
A lot of fat, umami, this one is going to
cut through and that one's gonna be rich.
-Right here? -Yeah, right there.
When you taste it, it's crispy, yeah?
-Yes. -Dawn, what is next? Tell me.
-We're halfway through plating. -Aah!
All right, course one is done.
Let's go, let's go! It just takes one component
to not be able to win.
Uh, four minutes!
We still have three more touches.
We still have to get all the breads on the plate.
-Where do you want it? -Uh, in the middle!
-In the middle of this. -Okay. Got it.
-Go, hurry! -20 seconds!
Oh, [bleep]. Just get it on the plate.
No, no, don't unwrap them!
Don't unwrap them. [bleep]
Five, four, three, two, one.
Oh, [bleep]!
Okay.
♪♪♪
I've done it again.
♪♪♪
She did not finish her plates.
♪♪♪
Yaas!
-Thank you. -Ooh! Holy moly.
-Gorgeous. -The sashimi is beautiful.
You gotta throw a little gold leaf on there.
Oh wait, you're missing-- you're missing something.
Oh, wow.
-This is Dawn? -Yeah.
Dawn's dish, I didn't get the bread
or the chicharon.
Dawn, no! I don't have it either.
I'll split the bread with you. - Yeah, okay, cool.
You're missing too.
Yeah.
We missed two plates.
Hello, chefs.
-Hi. -Hello.
Shota, tell us about your first course.
First course, I did a raw course.
Three different bites.
Pickled mackerel with pickled watermelon radishes
in the middle, salmon cured inside
a pickled radish overnight with a lotus root chip
and tuna tossed in soy sauce, caviar, and some gold flakes.
- Gabe. - I prepared
a mixture of one of my favorite dishes from Mexico.
Chicharrón prensado and then
cochinia pibil in the form of head cheese.
Three different sauces-- a habanero ash emulsion,
an avocado mousse,
and then the last is reminiscent of sour orange
in the Yucatan but made with kumquats.
Dawn.
My first course is a lamb tartare with
a tomato and celery salad
a beef tendon puff
and a rice honey bread.
I intended for everyone to have a beef tendon chip
and also a honey bread,
but you may have not have gotten that.
Okay.
Thank you.
-Thank you. -Thank you.
Thank you.
-Wow. -Shota's dish is stunning.
So clear and focused.
The flavors are very clean.
Using three very fatty fish just really delivered on flavor.
The acidity from the pickled daikon
left a very clean, delicious flavor.
And that toro was exactly as buttery as it should be.
It went down really smoothly.
-How did that go? -Good, good. Yeah.
I mean, they didn't really say anything.
I think Gabe gave us a beautiful first course.
This is an amazing way to start a finale.
It's pretty special, and the three sauces
on Gabe's plate were fantastic.
The sauces were delicious but Gabe's pig head pibil,
it wasn't as crispy as I would have liked.
Start with your third course.
-I got the second. -You sure?
I am positive.
Out of all three courses,
I think Dawn's is the most dynamic,
but she didn't need 15 ingredients
on this first course.
And I told her last night, less is more.
You don't have to put all these things on.
Just focus on flavor and start plating early.
I wish Dawn would've just gone chili
and bread and tartare.
The chicharrones were really delicious,
but maybe we could've had one or the other.
Yeah, but they're done ahead of time.
Just put 'em on a plate. It's not like you're--
Nothing here is à la minute. Everything's cold.
I want to know what's going through Dawn's head right now.
♪♪♪
-I'm sorry. -Don't worry, okay?
I need you to do the bread pudding.
I'm about to finish cooking the callas.
It's very frustrating, but I'm not going to quit.
Golden brown and delicious. That's what we're looking for.
♪♪♪
-Where's the octopus? -Right here.
-Drop it in the big fryer. -Big fryer, chef.
-We need finger limes for this. -I got it.
I am going out on a limb using kombucha
to create a sauce that resembles tepache,
which is fermented pineapple drink.
I'm just gonna put some drops. There's a lot of touches.
It's something I've never done before
but it's fermentation, it's seafood,
-all the things I love to eat. -It looks gorgeous, dude.
Three minutes, papi. I need to help, yo.
Okay, octopus here.
-Let's just get them down. -Like this, Dawn?
- Beautiful. -Forty-eight!
-We gotta go, we gotta go. -Everything's on.
- Deet deet deet deet... Thank you.
-Anything else, Dawn? -That's it.
[timer beeping]
That was close, dude. Oh my gosh.
♪♪♪
-Well, this looks beautiful. -Damn, yo.
-This is nice. -How you doing, chefs?
Shota, tell us about your second course, please.
I did a vegetable course. It's sauteed water spinach,
sauteed burdock root, white miso burdock root puree,
and haystack burdock chips on top.
-This is octopus, yeah? -Yeah, for that chewy texture.
Dawn, what did you make for us?
Green gumbo made with seafood, an herb puree at the bottom,
with a fermented rice fritter.
My inspiration was the famous Leah Chase Gumbo Z'herbes.
-Gabe. -I've prepared for you guys
a scallop aguachile.
The scallops have been cured in hibiscus.
The base of the aguachile is fermented pineapple drink
and then a roasted scallop oil.
Thank you all so much.
Thank you.
Damn, all these dishes are gorgeous.
Every one of them.
I keep going back into Gabe's
for that gorgeous sauce.
I love this dish.
The sweetness was surprising
and yet it worked with the scallop.
I was really trying to figure out that sweetness
but knowing it's pineapple I think is really amazing.
This is the most refined dish that I've gotten from Gabe.
-Yeah. - We got short ribs,
shrooms are done, mole's done.
Pickled persimmons, you have those?
Yeah.
I love Dawn's gumbo.
I did really enjoy the flavors of her dish.
My one concern was the octopus. To me was undercooked.
The original gumbo by Leah Chase,
it's just braised greens with this beautiful stock.
There was just too much seafood.
Yeah, it doesn't connect to the gumbo.
But that said, you know,
there's something enjoyable about the dish.
-I love the hush puppy. -Hush puppy's so good.
- That's in the oven. - Okay, um,
you can cut them like that, exactly like that.
Yes, right now.
I thought Shota's was a perfect second course.
It almost read to me as, like, a warm salad.
I love burdock but it did feel kind of like
a vegetable side dish.
I thought it was a little oily.
Overall it was just kind of an oily salad.
The octopus was very oily.
-What do you think? Like that? -Yeah.
So you get that crispy top and then put that in the curry?
♪♪♪
All right, curry's in. 15 minutes, guys
- Go, come on, rice-o. - You okay?
We're going to cut it pretty tight, dude.
'cause the rice is going to be done a little last minute.
-Whew. [bleep] -How long on time?
Five minutes!
Coming with mushrooms.
There's a few in there that are kind of dark.
Little pieces like that. I want--
-Like this? -Yeah. Like, smaller.
That mole tastes pretty ----ing good.
Three minutes.
You gotta plate.
This plate-up is super simple, Jamie.
Just put peas in every bowl, okay?
Okay, two minutes, Dawn.
I think this is going to be enough rice, hopefully.
Hurry up, hurry up. Go. You got it?
♪♪♪
[timer beeping]
-Oy! -[chuckles weakly]
[sighs]
♪♪♪
Oh, my God.
So much cow on the table.
It's beautiful. Unbuckle that belt.
Okay, chefs, third course.
Growing up, my mom's favorite food was Japanese curry.
So it's a beef tongue curry and braised turnips
with fukujinzuke pickles.
-Dawn. -I made for you
braised beef, black-eyed peas, and buttered turnips.
Basically the things I love.
-Gabe. -I have prepared
a shio, koji and pasilla chile-cured
beef short rib with mushrooms.
The mole is chichilo negro
inspired by a good friend from Oaxaca.
One more course. Get back in there.
-Heard. -Get you some dessert.
Mmm, this tongue curry.
This is stunning.
Shota's dish kind of got me a little emotional.
To see something that kids would make fun of me
at school for eating, to now see this on Top Chef,
to me is a very special moment
and I absolutely love this dish.
-Having said that... -[laughter]
the rice was definitely a little crunchy.
He did a great job making a true version of it,
but I did feel it's a little staff mealy.
It's the plating.
-All right. One more, guys. - Oui, chef.
Dawn presented one of my favorite dishes of the evening.
That beef cheek was super tender.
Those black-eyed peas, astounding to me.
Flawless.
I don't really have a busted pea on my plate.
My favorite part is her turnips.
Just mix it in and you want to spread it all over these.
This is typical Gabe cooking.
To me, the sauce is the most beautiful thing
in all three dishes.
All the subtleties of that black mole
is probably my favorite sauce of the evening.
His mushrooms, he charred some of them so much
which just added an intensely bitter note.
The bitterness, I didn't mind it.
I like a bitter with a short rib.
Now, that said, I'm loving all three dishes.
A lot of great technique here.
Picking it apart is gonna be difficult.
-You like it, chef? -Yeah.
The ice cream is really nice.
I personally like it that strong.
-That's a sexy dessert. -Here, chef.
Let's taste one right now.
-So good, right? -[giggles]
It's like I'm back in Mexico,
eight years old with my grandmother.
A $250,000 pumpkin.
They don't know what's gonna hit 'em!
A Mexican fly coming their way.
Tell me what you think.
So, it's a butter pecan anglaise.
That tastes really good. It's like marshmallow.
This is the dessert that is the most near and dear to me.
Chip, chip, chip, pudding, pudding, pudding.
I feel really good about the turnaround
that Jamie and I made after first course.
That's beautiful.
Come on, come on, we gotta--
They gotta be on every plate.
Four, three, two, one.
[timer beeping]
-All right, top chefs. -Argh!
We're done! Ha!
Oh my God, you have such an impressive menu.
[both laugh]
All right, shall we?
♪♪♪
I love you!
-Wow. -Damn, that's ----ing beautiful.
[laughs] -Let's start with you, Gabe.
My dish is inspired by
a traditional dessert from Mexico--
candied squash served alongside an ice cream of cafe Mexicano.
-Dawn. -I made a yam bread pudding
with butter pecan anglaise.
The compote on top is purple yam and apple,
Shota, what did you make for us?
I made a hoji tea cheesecake
with a cedar-smoked gelato.
Chefs, I want to congratulate all three of you.
We've had glorious, amazing, diverse food.
It's been so wonderful to see your growth.
So, thank you.
[applause]
-Thank you. -Thank you.
We all won!
[laughter]
Shota's dish, the presentation is so beautiful.
If I was going to go back to a restaurant
and order a dessert, I would order Shota's dessert.
I love the airiness in the cheesecake.
I did really like the smoked ice cream
on Shota's dish, but it totally overpowered
the subtlety of the cheesecake.
-Thank you, chef. Thank you. -It was such an honor.
Gabe's delicata squash.
I love that texture. I thought there was, like,
this sticky toffee quality to the squash.
You could put that on a Michelin star tasting menu right now.
It just made me think of where is Mexican cuisine going?
And that's what he's showing us right now.
I'm proud of you. You're amazing, chef.
Dawn's yam bread pudding is taking me home!
I feel like I should get a hallelujah.
The yams and the apple and pecan caramel anglaise
is just so delicious.
While I love all the flavors,
this feels a little bit basic for a finale dessert.
I actually think this is probably
the most successful course from each of them.
Yes.
You did a thousand things today.
She did. I'm not gonna lie. I was like,
"This bitch is crazy, but I'll just do it."
[laughter]
Thank you all for being here.
And I really want to thank all the All-Stars
for making this season so special.
It feels like one big family reunion.
Thank you for a great season
and thank you Tom and thank you Gail.
-Thank you, Padma. -Yeah.
Let's get back to Judges' Table.
♪♪♪
It's been great watching the three of you guys
cook all season long
and great to see in the finale that you stuck
to what you do.
I want to talk about the different meals
that each of you gave us now.
I'm going to start with you, Shota.
I wanted to showcase raw seafood
and show that side of Japanese cuisine.
It's kind of a very light starter.
A light start but really big on flavor and precision.
It was one of my favorite dishes of the whole night.
This is the perfect start for our meal today.
-Thank you. -Dawn.
The progression of the menu was really challenging for me
because there were so many things I wanted to show you,
but I chose lamb to be the first course.
I gotta tell you, you left tendon off
of some plates and bread off other plates.
Otherwise, I thought it was really, really tasty.
[sighs]Oh, God.
What happened, Dawn?
I had a lot of prep for the other courses
and we just lost track of time, honestly.
You bit off more than you could chew.
-Yes.
-Gabe. -First course,
it's very traditional in Mexican cuisine
to have a fried snack.
I definitely wanted to have this pig head dish.
The flavor in that beautiful rectangle was deep
and rich, which I really enjoyed,
especially with the kumquat sauce.
Thank you, Gail.
Shota, for your second course,
I love water spinach and burdock root
and I thought it was a very bold and confident move
to go with a vegetable dish.
The burdock miso puree was delicious,
but it did feel like a little bit of a side dish.
Dawn, I love how you elevated something
so personal to you and so homey.
I thought it was fantastic and that fritter was divine.
-Thank you. -I liked the gumbo part of it,
but I felt that the seafood was somewhat disconnected
from the dish.
Gabe, the flavors in this aguachile
were some of my favorite flavors of the night.
Your placement of the scallop dish
as the second course was brilliant.
It just sort of was this beautiful,
bright palate cleanser,
That broth that you used with kombucha...
[imitates explosion] That was just like mind-blowing.
Shota. Let's talk about your third course.
The curry was completely intoxicating.
I was really happy to hear
that it came from a really deep place of love.
I do think that as a finale meal,
it could have been presented in a slightly different way.
It was like from your casual concept,
but we started at your fine dining.
For me, the rice was not cooked all the way through.
Okay.
Dawn, your beef cheeks were like heart and soul in a bowl.
I loved it so much.
But the star of it all were those black-eyed peas.
They just smelled and tasted of the garden.
-Thank you. -Gabe.
How many ingredients go in that mole?
That one was probably closer to 20.
The sauce was just mind-blowing.
I mean, texturally, visually.
It was really, really delicious.
But the mushrooms, a lot of people thought
they were just overcooked and burnt.
-You wanted that. -Yeah, absolutely.
I mean, I like that texture.
And now for the sweet part.
Let's start with you, Shota.
My mom always used to make
cream cheese cheesecake with crumbles,
kind of soft place in my heart.
I love the texture of that cheesecake.
It didn't feel heavy
like cheesecake sometimes can feel.
I loved your smoky ice cream.
-It was so unexpected. -Thank you.
Dawn, pretty sure Tiffany Derry gave us a hallelujah
-when she ate that dessert. -[laughs]
It should be on everyone's Thanksgiving table.
It reminded me of autumn.
-It's there on a plate. -Thank you.
Gabe, it was a study in textures and every time I took a bite,
it just changed because there's so much going on.
Thought it was really, really successful.
-Thank you, chef. -I mean one word
for this dish--fearless.
Like you gotta be kidding me, dude.
Like, this is the Top Chef finale and you're like,
we're going to grow some squash for dessert.
Chef to chef, your dessert inspired me.
It really felt like I was sitting in Mexico City
at a Michelin star restaurant.
That means so much, chef.
I want to thank the three of you for being away
from your families and coming to Portland.
You just cooked your heart out.
We have a very difficult decision to make,
the most difficult decision.
-That will be all. -Thank you so much.
- Thank you very much. - Thank you guys.
-I'm so proud of you guys. -I'm proud of you.
That was one for the books.
-Yeah, right? -How do you guys feel?
-Relieved? -[Dawn sighs]
Let's talk about the dishes we got today.
I mean, I think the first course, all around,
was a very good course. Unfortunately for me,
I didn't have two elements of Dawn's plate.
I know she was completely heartbroken.
Her lamb tartare had so much flavor.
Even just one paper-thin slice of celery
had such a beautiful pickle on it.
But with Dawn missing these components,
-it's inexcusable at this point. -Yeah.
You know, I had a lot of lessons to learn,
but I'm really happy with what I did today.
I really enjoyed Gabe's pibil.
I thought there was so much flavor in that pig's head.
His sauce work in general is on point.
I thought it was beautifully done.
But I thought the breading on the head cheese was just wrong.
I give the first one to Shota, slightly.
It was just precise and I thought it was fresh and light.
He gave us something that was different
than just a traditional sashimi plate.
Pretty flawless.
Feeling really accomplished.
I think the best second course we got was from Gabe.
That pineapple kombucha with the mild chilis
and the charred cucumber.
-It's like poetry. -A lot of complexity to it.
I thought the dish was really successful.
I think because of the charred cucumber, it was really nice.
I thought it ate really well.
Shota's vegetables, I thought were great.
There was a bit of bitterness
in that fried burdock at the top.
It just kind of felt like a vegetable side, you know?
I agree.
But there was a lot of flavor in that dish.
Dawn's, I loved the gumbo. The seafood wasn't so good.
I just loved that green gumbo.
I thought it was inspired, I like that she elevated it.
And that fritter was beautiful.
So, now we're on to the third course.
Shota's dish, wow! Really humble.
I liked eating into the curry
and I thought his tongue was perfect.
But the rice was lacking.
Yes, it was crunchy.
I felt the story of his mother's dish,
but I wanted to see him push himself a little bit more.
Felt like we were eating
at two different restaurants with Shota.
I did kinda go cozy on the last one.
I guess I should've kept my style and went more fine dining.
Gabe's mole was just so memorable.
It just could have been mole, literally.
-In a saucer? -Yeah. I mean the balance
of all 20 ingredients coming together.
But I thought his mushrooms were burnt.
Out of all three dishes, I liked Dawn's the best.
I enjoyed Dawn's dish. I thought it was really sound.
I loved the peas. I loved the turnips.
Her beef cheeks were perfectly cooked.
I left it all out there
and I'm proud of what I did today.
So you have one for Shota, one for Gabe and one for Dawn.
And that brings us to the glorious dessert course.
It was a great round, all the way across.
I loved Shota's dessert.
It was technical, intellectual, creative.
I liked how delicate the cheesecake was
because it let the smokiness shine.
They were all stunning. They all tasted great,
but Dawn's dessert was just pleasurable.
She showed us that she could make a bread pudding
unlike any other bread pudding I've ever had.
And then there was Gabe's.
Gabe showed us something that I don't think
any of us could ever claim to have tasted before.
The texture of that squash, and the ice cream
and then all the crumble, there was so much there.
He gave us something that was very innovative,
marrying these Mexican flavors
into such a modern approach of a dessert.
Gabe really took us on this journey through Mexico.
Well, whatever happens...
-We made it hard for them. -Yeah.
All right, I think we know who the next Top Chef is.
Yes, we do.
Yes? All right, let's get them out here.
♪♪♪
[applause]
Chefs, I think I speak for all of us when I say,
it's been amazing to watch your journey,
taste your food, and get to know you as people.
I can't thank you enough for the work
that you've done all season long.
All three of you are winners.
Unfortunately, only one will have the title.
♪♪♪
Padma.
♪♪♪
Gabe...
you are Top Chef!
[cheers and applause]
♪♪♪
Congratulations!
I'm a little mind blown that I won
a quarter million dollars right now, to be honest.
I'm very inspired right now.
I'm so inspired by learning from the fellow chefs
that were here, learning about myself
and learning from the judges
about what I can do to be a better chef.
-[bleep] -One of the biggest things
that has really warmed my heart is knowing
that I am the first Mexican Top Chef.
-Papito. -I'm happy to be
representing my culture,
my cooking, and also a group of people
that really operate the kitchens across the U.S.
Congratulations.
I think I needed Top Chef.
It's just been such a tough year,
closing my dream restaurant.
I love you. I'm so proud of you.
I really did need this as a chef,
but I'm really excited to go home
and cook without a time clock. [chuckles]
Dawn, congratulations.
Thank you so much.
I am very proud of my journey here.
I did not leave anything on the table.
My heart is full. I am so proud of myself.
We did so good today.
I'm thankful for everything in this journey
and I feel very accomplished for my culture, for my family.
[phone ringing]
-Daddy! -I won!
-Yay! -[laughs]
Daddy won!
[laughs]
Gabe, you just won $250,000
furnished by San Pellegrino!
-[all cheering] -[glasses clink]