Everyone loves the Triple G game Budget Battle.
[laughing]
Well, except for the chefs.
Uh-oh.
I mean, the only thing harder than out-cooking other chefs
on a shoestring budget
is trying to out-cook a Triple G judge.
Whoever beats their fellow chefs
in the first round of Budget Battle,
must face off against one of our all-star judges
in a second Budget Battle.
Now I'm nervous.
It's Beat the Judges Budget Battle
right now on Triple G.
I love this show.
So let's meet our budget stretching chefs.
Now first up, we have Marco Olivares,
the chef owner of two El Paso restaurants,
who learned how to stretch dough and dollars
growing up in his grandfather's bakery and restaurant.
There you go, brother.
-Whoo! -Next,
Deborah Pak, the LA executive chef
whose Koreatown restaurant made the Michelin guide.
That's big.
Chef, go get him with that smile.
And finally, Cameron Ingle, executive chef
of an upscale Italian restaurant
who uses his Michelin Star kitchen training
to turn a handful of basic ingredients
into a fine dining dish.
He's all smiles, too.
Here he comes, all smiles, 6'5".
Chefs, very nice to have you.
You've all been invited here because you possess,
one, amazing cooking chops,
and two, impressive budgeting skills.
Tonight, I've got two very intense games
that will test your culinary
and budgetary abilities to the max.
The good news is first round winner
gets an automatic $10,000.
Whoo!
But with the good news comes the bad news.
The bad news is the chefs who do not win the first round
are instantly eliminated because the winning chef
will get a shot at earning up to another $10,000
in the second round.
And you only get that if you can defeat
one of the high profile chef judges sitting right there,
back there behind you.
Yeah.
The winning chef gets to pick...
You get to pick which judge you want to go up against.
Sounds like fun.
I can tell how excited you are.
First challenge, I want you to prepare the judges
your signature dinner.
You have to put your best food forward on this
because only one of you will move into the second round.
We also want to test how frugal you can be
by making this the official Budget Battle.
Okay, Hunter!
What's up, chefs?
[Guy] Hunter's got some money for you.
This time I counted, right. We're good.
-You want to give them the money? Great. -Yes.
[Hunter] $25. For you.
-[whistles] -And for you.
-Oh. -Yeah.
Okay, you have 30 minutes to shop, purchase, prepare,
and plate your signature dinner.
Remember, you have to pay for the items at the register.
Hi, Wendy.
What are you thinking, chefs?
-Uh... -Just wingin' it. It's going to be great.
The aisles that you want to watch out for,
aisles five, four,
three, two, and one.
Do not go to nine.
That's tough.
So close on that one.
[Guy] Here's the thing.
They got to cook or be cooked.
And then once they've cooked and won,
they got to go against my judges.
I'm going against the judges?
Ha! Excuse me.
Now I'm nervous.
Whoo!
Ha!
I only have $25 to make my signature dish.
So the first thing that comes to my mind is pasta.
Growing up in Mexican restaurants,
I'm known for my Mexican flair.
But I now own my own upscale
Spanish and Mediterranean restaurant.
So Calabrian chili pasta is our signature dish
at Lola Rose.
So I want to do a play off of that.
No.
Normally, I would do lobster,
but that would have eaten up my whole budget.
So I had to grab pork.
Pastas.
So I go to the pasta aisle and got cavatelli.
Bread crumbs, bread crumbs.
Where would I find bread crumbs?
Oh, found it. Ha!
I basically grew up in my grandfather's bakery.
He taught me everything,
including "everything has value."
And to survive in the restaurant business,
you have to budget.
-Ready. -[Wendy] Ready.
-[Marco] Let's go. -All right.
So you're $25.31. That puts you over.
I grabbed two packages of pasta, but it took me over.
Let's take one of those off.
[Wendy] All right, $24.09.
[Guy] $24.09? Wow.
Spending the last penny.
[Marco] This better work.
I'm very resourceful
because I grew up really humble beginnings.
And we definitely had to budget.
Pasta is a great way to stretch your money.
I don't have enough time to make my own pasta,
so I grabbed lasagna sheets.
I own a very traditional Korean restaurant,
but I used to manage a pasta restaurant.
Ravioli is basically an Italian dumpling.
So for my signature dinner, I'm thinking of making
a ravioli filled with crab and corn.
Because the crab is the main component of this dish,
I didn't mind spending $6.99.
I'd love an opportunity to face one of the judges
because it would be really cool
to beat someone that won Top Chef.
Then it's like, I won Top Chef?
I wish I had a little bit more money for citrus or acid,
but I can handle budget, and I'm going to prove that.
All right.
$20.17 with nothing left in your cart?
[Guy] $20.17.
So $4.73.
-Yes, Chef. -Something along those lines.
[Cameron] Ooh.
[snapping fingers]
Uh, let's see, let's see, let's see.
I hunt a lot, but also I love grocery shopping.
It's the modern hunter gatherer, essentially.
I'm going to hunt and gather
all the way through flavor town.
I saw the bone marrow, and it just kind of clicked.
Price point for it was really, really good.
Bone marrow is often overlooked as like a main course.
Guy, where's the pre-made polenta?
-I saw it somewhere. Five? -[Guy] Uh, on five.
[Marco] I want a starch on the plate,
so I'm going to do creamy polenta.
I want the tubes.
I worked at a two Michelin Star restaurant.
It was an amazing experience.
The chef there really drives food and farming.
It is something that is super, super important to me
and how I like to cook.
Watch out!
What are you looking for here?
[Marco] Uh, something crunchy.
-Pumpkin seed. -Is that at a good value?
Yeah.
So I started cooking at a pretty young age.
To go up against one of the judges
would mean a little bit of validation
that I'm actually not a horrible cook.
[laughs]
This looks very minimal.
I trust the process.
-[Marco] It's going to be great. -Okay.
All right, you're at $23.10.
Ooh, yeah, I don't have 10 cents
-[Wendy] Nothing left in your cart? All right. -Here you go.
[Guy] $1.90 back.
Do I get to keep it afterwards or...
Yeah.
If that's what you're looking forward to.
But I think you might have to go and get something with it.
You know I cook for a living.
-I'll take anything I can get. -Right?
-Good luck. -You didn't bag it for me, Wendy? Come on, man.
Am I going to bag it for you?
-I don't know. -I thought maybe you would.
[continues laughing]
[Wendy] Have you watched this show?
All right, folks. Let's meet the judges
who will be choosing a chef that will choose one of them.
That sounds crazy.
Cookbook author, Top Chef winner,
and chef owner of KBC.
The one and only KBC Kelsey Bernard Clark.
[laughs] Thank you very much.
Award winning executive chef driving the cuisine
of 48 restaurants, such an underachiever.
The one and only Chef Adam Sobel.
Hey now.
And East Coast restaurateur James Beard Award winner,
the one and only on TOC,
you've seen her, Chef Karen Akunowicz.
-[Kelsey] Yoo-hoo! -Uh, everybody looks smashing.
You guys got all dressed up for this.
-We got to. -Now, wait a second.
You understand that one of the three of you
will go into battle against the winning chef.
I hope they pick me so I can show them
how I cook in a dress.
[Karen] Oh, I love that.
[Kelsey] I can do this, y'all.
[Adam] I believe it.
[scoffs] I can't wait.
Twenty two minutes!
[Deborah] So I have to win this round
if I want to compete with one of the judges.
The first thing I really want to work on is ravioli,
roll it out a little bit thinner.
Chef, what's on the menu?
I'm actually going for a corn crab ravioli.
Corn crab ravioli.
Yeah, not so Korean.
[Guy] And why did you get a pasta sheeter?
I feel like it's a little too thick
and a little too dry for--
I think you're going to be too dry.
I don't think that's going to make any movement personally.
Oh, got it. Heard, Chef.
I think you are barking up the wrong tree.
[Deborah] This ravioli is not working for me.
I thought it would be much more malleable, so...
Oh.
I kind of just totally scrapped it,
scrapped the whole idea of the dish itself.
I have to win this round if I want to compete
with one of the judges.
I don't have very much time left.
Also, I have $4.83 left over.
I need a pivot.
A little deer in the headlights there.
I feel like Deborah is in trouble.
[Deborah] My ravioli plan didn't work.
I need a pivot, but there's only 18 minutes left.
What is something that's so signature for me
in my childhood
at the same time I can make in 18 minutes?
Y'all, Deborah is gone, and she's running
-through the aisles again. -Where's she gone?
[Deborah] I have $4.83 left over.
I'm going to make a chawanmushi.
So the chawanmushi is something my mom taught me,
and that's something I do at the restaurant.
This is going to go perfect with the crab I already have.
I'm going to return my herbs and get eggs and dashi.
Deborah is back at checkout with quick-draw of Wendy.
-Your total now is $2.70 that you owe me. -Perfect.
[Guy] What are we working on, Chef?
So I'm going to go ahead and do a chawanmushi
like an egg custard, basically,
like a savory egg custard.
[Guy] So what is in this custard?
It is a little bit of seafood tajima,
which is kind of like a dashi, MSG, umami kind of thing.
How do you cook this?
I'm going to go ahead and microwave it.
[Guy] Interesting.
This dish, for me as a child, was, like, something I eat every day.
And my mom used to actually, microwave hers, too.
What she's doing, you know, in a microwave,
might take eight minutes.
If that comes out, and it's not okay,
we're gonna get a bowl of, like,
flat, runny microwave eggs.
Adam, you and I make... both make a lot of pasta.
-In this game, are you making fresh pasta? -[Adam] Not a chance, Chef.
But, um, I haven't cooked in this forum.
I've just judged.
-You've not cooked here? -You never cooked
-in this kitchen? -You've never cooked in Flavortown?
-[Kelsey] What? -Shh.
You never run the aisles?
-Felt your heart thumping against the clock? -[chuckling]
-[Kelsey] Wow. -[Karen] Oh, my God.
I probably shouldn't have revealed that, but anyway...
[Guy] Seventeen minutes, 17 to go!
All right, brother, what's on the menu?
[Marco] Well, I'm doing fried pork cutlets
with a Calabrian chile butter.
Top it with some lemon panko.
Pork goes a long ways,
so I'm able to feed
-more than just four people at this point. -Right.
[Marco] For my crispy fried pork cutlets,
I make the dredge station,
flour, eggs and panko mix.
[Kelsey] Marco looks focused.
Now that I know that I can go up against
one of these three judges,
I feel even more anxious to win.
Possibly going up against Chef Karen
would be intimidating, but really awesome.
She's been on Top Chef, Tournament of Champions.
Of course, possibly going up against Chef KBC
is really exciting.
She's a big role model.
She won Top Chef.
I mean, she's no joke.
[Cameron] Kelsey and Karen are also just pretty
dialed into the competition game.
Adam Sobel has got James Beard on his belt.
He has multiple... multiple Michelin stars.
He's a heavy hitter in the industry.
[Cameron] To, like, have a chance to compete against him
is something that is always, like... It's a no brainer.
But first, I have to take down these two.
Let's drop these porks.
So for the heat of the sauce,
I take the Calabrian chiles,
and I put them in the Vitamix,
and I add some butter to emulsify it.
I also add paprika and cayenne,
stuff that we already have in our station.
Ah!
So my grandfather had a bakery in Juárez,
and he was known for his bread.
Don't forget.
So, just having all that inspiration,
and all the... all the roots, right...
Ooh, that's good!
...that's what gives me that inspiration to open restaurants.
-Judges, do you like spice? -[Kelsey] Oh, yeah.
-We like spice. -Don't be scared, Marco.
-[Kelsey] You do you, Marco. -Okay.
It's spicy, but it's good.
This will either make me or break me.
Let's see what happens here.
[Cameron] Well, that's hot.
I'm into a dish that I don't even know what I'm doing.
It's great.
Tell me what's going on with the bone marrow there, Chef.
Uh, I'm gonna blanch 'em, so I can grill 'em faster,
-and have them cooked all the way. -[Guy] Got it?
[Cameron] But beyond that, I'm not really sure yet.
You don't know what the, uh, menu is?
No, just got to get there on the plate. I promise.
Well, they're looking for signature dish.
You're gonna need... You need to be able to sell this
-to the judges. -Oh, I cannot sell it, Guy.
Are we sure that he doesn't have any other protein?
-Bone marrow is the primary? -[Kelsey] I'm not positive, but I haven't seen it.
[Cameron] The next thing I'm gonna do is get my peas blanched,
and ready to make my pea stew.
In the pan, goes ramps.
Sweat them until they're just translucent.
Next, I'm gonna lightly grill my mushrooms,
just enough to get some smoke on them,
get a little bit of flavor.
I hate losing.
I really want to get to the next round,
and $10,000 is great.
Who doesn't wanna win $10,000?
[Guy] Ten minutes, chefs, ten to go!
[Deborah] While my chawanmushi is in the microwave,
I just wanted to make sure that the crab
was warmed up with a little bit of butter.
So, I've worked in restaurants for a really long time.
Everything I've learned from Soban, it's been directly from my mom.
So, if I won the money,
I'd love to put some of it back into the restaurant.
It was my mom's restaurant,
and now I am continuing that legacy.
[Guy] Did your egg cook enough, Chef?
[Deborah] So I check on the first batch.
I look at it.
It's not exactly how I want it,
but I'm pretty pleased with it.
And the second one's the same.
And then I get the third and the fourth in the microwave.
I'm a little bit scared about the time,
but I'm gonna make it to the judges.
Those look just beautiful, Marco.
Thank you so much.
Golly, look at that.
Thank you, Chef.
[Adam] We've got front-row seats to the Marco show.
[Marco] So if I win the $20,000,
I really want to open a food truck
to feed the immigrants
that are migrating in El Paso.
That's important to me because we were also immigrants.
It just holds a real deep meaning in my heart
to just help people as much as I can.
Yeah, baby, let's go!
[Guy] Seven-and-a-half minutes!
Chef, have we come up with a menu idea yet?
[Cameron] I'm gonna do peas stew with ramps,
and lightly grilled mushrooms and bone marrow.
Be able to sell that with a little more
-convincing, uh, approach. -Oh, okay.
One of my last phases for this... this dish is
I need to get my polenta done.
So, I add a little bit of bouillon water to get it thinned out,
and then hit it with the hand blender to get it smoothed out.
I love vegetables.
It's one of my favorite things to cook.
So my signature dish and the idea behind it
is to cook something that's bright and exciting,
um, and to really show this transition into spring
and the vegetables that go with that.
If I win $20,000,
I want to put a down payment on a farm.
It became my dream really fully at the two Michelin-star restaurant,
seeing this beautiful, symbiotic relationship
between a farmer and a chef,
to have something that brings
the two things together that I love would just be amazing.
A little salty, but it's okay. We'll make it work.
[Guy] Four minutes, four to go!
Whoa! Hot, hot, hot!
The pasta was cooked at the right time.
Everything was just falling into place.
So, first, I put the pasta in the bowl.
It better be cooked perfectly.
Next, I slice the pork cutlets,
and I put them on top of the pasta.
Finally, I top it with panko and chives.
[Guy] Three minutes!
And now we plate.
First, I'm gonna put on my creamy polenta.
Next, I'm gonna put my bone marrow down on the plate,
and then my pea stew.
And then the last thing I need to do is,
top my bone marrow with my mushrooms.
They're either gonna like it or not.
[Guy] Two minutes! Two minutes flat!
Gotta be plated!
[Deborah] I checked the third and the fourth containers.
It did not heat up at all.
Oh, my God.
[Guy] One minute and 30 seconds left!
[Deborah] There's not enough time for me to re-cook it.
-Oh, that's her corn... -Yeah.
-...porridge. -That's mush on mush.
-Okay. -Yeah, we're in trouble, Deborah.
[Guy] One minute, one to go!
[Deborah] There's not enough time for me to re-cook it.
So the only way to fix this
is for me to get smaller containers,
and split the two portions that I had
into the four portions.
My heart is beating so hard
for Deborah right now.
[Deborah] So after I get the egg on the bottom,
I put the corn chowder on the top.
I'm worried this is not a dinner size,
but I know my flavors are there.
-She needs to get that crab on the plate now. -Crab's going on now.
-You got it. You got it. -[Guy] Five, four...
three, two, one...
-[Deborah] Whoo! -[Guy] That it, chefs! Stop working!
Whoo!
[Kelsey] Nice.
I love this show. I love it.
You love it because you've never... you've...
-You've never had to run it. -Shh.
[laughs] Oh, boy.
[Guy] Judges, this is it!
Game one of "Beat the Judges",
and it was a "Budget Battle."
Up first, uh, Chef Cameron,
what'd you make for the judges?
I wanted to make you guys something that represents me.
I love to forage. I love to hunt, love to fish,
and therefore, it's my signature, so...
roasted bone marrow with a little bit of peas
with some fiddleheads, blue-foot mushrooms,
and some creamy polenta.
How is one supposed to eat this, Chef?
[Adam] Spoon is essential.
You know, this really tells your story on the plate.
When you talk about foraging,
when you talk about the things that you love,
the peas, the mushrooms,
-this really epitomizes that. -Right.
The technique you applied to this bone marrow, fantastic.
It's perfectly cooked.
However, I'm missing,
just, like, a slice of a protein,
something to make this a dinner.
Beautiful dish. Great job.
The interpretation of signature dinner,
it is up for interpretation.
Is it different? Is it unusual?
Sure, but that makes you awesome.
-Fantastic job. -Thank you very much.
Nice job, Chef. Up next, Chef Marco.
Yes, Chef. So tonight, guys, I prepared for you
a fried pork cutlet
over a Calabrian chile pasta.
This is a signature dish that we do at Lola Rose,
but we do it with lobster.
So for budget battle,
pork cutlets is one of my favorite things.
This is what I presented.
I am really particular about my fried things,
especially pork.
You nailed it, honey. It's delicious.
The only thing I would say is a little salt.
A little salt would have gone a long way.
We had front-row seats to the Marco show.
-Yeah, we did. -[chuckles]
And you had me craving a cutlet,
and this delivered. The spice, right on point.
-As far as cooking on a budget, you nailed it. -[chuckles]
Maybe a little more acidity, for me,
-would have just made it, you know, sing a little bit. -Pop.
I think that the pasta is more than al dente.
I think it is undercooked.
-I think it's pretty hard. -Okay.
And last, but not least, Chef Deborah.
What I have for you today is a chawanmushi,
which is like a super classic banchan, like a side dish.
It's what I grew up eating my whole life.
It's a steamed egg.
And we specialize with, like, a raw crab at the restaurant,
so I tried to incorporate that
with a little bit of corn as well.
Enjoy.
What a beautiful little jewel box of a dish.
I love that you use crab and corn.
What a classic pairing
to go with this steamed egg.
Sophisticated elegant, suave--
-No, we're talking about the dish, sir, not yourself. -Oh. Hey!
-[all chuckling] -[Guy] Not about yourself right now.
[chuckles] So, you've got a lot of delicate and sophisticated flavors.
The egg is custardy.
I'm wondering if the egg is a little more scrambled
than maybe you wanted it.
Also, this is 100% a side dish.
This is an appetizer.
Yeah. If we were hanging out,
you're like, "Oh, I'm making dinner,"
and this is what happened, I... I'd be hungry.
But otherwise, beautiful attempt at a budget meal.
-Thank you. -[Guy] All right, judges,
thank you very much.
Chefs, I'm gonna send you back to the kitchen.
We'll call you when we have a decision.
-Thank you, chef. -Thank you.
[Guy] Who made a $10,000 worthy meal?
Real talk, it's definitely not Deborah.
I think we can all agree.
-That's a bummer, too, 'cause she was going. -I know.
That was her-- She downsized
because she didn't get everything cooked.
Cam's dish was delicious.
Flavor-wise, he knocked it out of the park.
But... But shame Marco took that one handedly.
That pasta was raw.
Mine was raw.
So, whoever wins this gets 10,000 bucks
and then goes up against one of you three.
I'm very torn.
-I'm very torn as well. -Interesting.
[Guy] Go ahead and bring our chefs back in, please.
Thank you very much.
We asked for a signature dinner.
Two chefs will be checking out.
One chef stays to compete against one of the judges.
The chef that gets $10,000 and will be moving on
will be...
Congratulations...
-Chef Cameron. -Thank you.
-[Guy] Well done. -Thank you very much.
-[Kelsey] Whoo! -[Guy] Deborah and Marco, I'll say this to you,
it was great to watch you cook,
and we appreciate you being here.
-Okay? Thank you. -Thank you so much.
[Marco] Just being here in Flavortown with Guy is... is amazing.
I still feel like a winner.
What a pleasure.
My signature dish, I kinda overthought it.
In hindsight, I wish I kinda just went
with a little bit more of a straightforward dish.
You know, do something that really represents me.
[Kelsey] Oh, my God!
[Guy] Well, well, well, Mr. Cameron.
[judges laughing]
Mr. Forage With His Bare Bands.
-Yeah. -[Guy] Uh, congratulations.
That gets you a guaranteed $10,000.
-Right. -[Guy] We're gonna give you a chance
at another $10,000...
if you can beat one of our superstar judges
in a final budget showdown.
So, take a look.
We have KBC.
She beat out 15 amazing chefs to win Top Chef season 16.
She worked in multiple Michelin Star restaurants in New York City,
-so she's really just a, you know, probably a pushover. -[Adam laughs]
[Guy] Then you have Adam Sobel.
Oh, boy! As an executive chef for over 20 years,
he has earned his restaurant two Michelin Stars, the James Beard Award,
and three and four star reviews all day long like it's no big deal.
Then Karen Akunowicz,
she's a James Beard Award winner
for Best Chef: Northeast.
She's the chef-owner of two acclaimed Boston restaurants.
So, the question is, my friend,
which one do you want a shot at?
So, the question is, my friend,
which one do you want a shot at?
I think I gotta go with Chef Sobel.
[Karen and Kelsey exclaiming]
I have to.
He's never cooked in here before.
-Did you know? -[Karen] He's never cooked here before.
Great.
-[laughs] -He doesn't know where anything is!
-[exclaims] -[laughs]
-All right. -[Karen] Welcome.
-This is the best thing ever! -Let's do it.
-Perfect. -Chef, why Chef Sobel?
I mean, he's got a great resume,
and you gotta try and take down a giant.
I think this guy might have a little beef,
"no pun intended," that there wasn't a cutlet on his plate.
-Maybe that's what's going on. -[laughs]
Chef Sobel, step up, step in. Come in and win.
-Okay, it's time to tango, big fella. -Chef, looking great. Excited.
-I'm sorry, what shoes are you cooking in? -[Kelsey laughs]
[Guy] Just because he's a hunting forager
doesn't mean you have to wear your boas out.
[laughs]
This is going to be-- Oh, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait.
We got a problem.
I need someone to take the judge's seat.
Oh, you know what, who is that?
Wait, wait a second.
-I got the job? -[Guy] Oh, boy!
-Here she is. -[Karen and Kelsey exclaiming]
If it isn't the winner of Tournament of Champions III,
the one and only Chef Tiffani Faison,
TOC champ.
This is gonna be fun. Don't go anywhere.
Chefs, to your cards. Good luck.
Chefs, welcome to the second final round
of Beat the Judges: Budget Battle.
Chef Cameron, you've already beat out two other great chefs
-and won $10,000. -[cash register dings]
And you can potentially win up to another $10,000.
But now you're taking on Chef Adam Sobel.
Let's talk about you, chefs,
making your winning dish for the judges.
Now, here's where things are gonna get messy.
Since you didn't break a sweat
making a winning dinner with 25 bucks,
I want you to make this round
a little bit more challenging for everybody.
So, we're gonna make a winning dish with...
-$20. -[cash register dings]
-Oh. -[laughs]
[Guy] Chef, you won $10,000.
Why don't we play a little game called "double jeopardy?"
I don't know how confident you are in your win.
-[Adam laughs] -But how much of that $10,000 would you like to bet
in this next round against Chef Sobel?
I'd put up three grand.
-Three grand? -[Cameron] Yeah.
You got a third of your money
you think you could put up towards Chef Sobel?
-Yeah. -Okay.
Never cooked here before.
Never shopped here before.
You've got more advantage than he does.
You wanna up that a little?
No. He's pretty good.
-[laughs] -[Guy] He's kind of a big deal.
-[Cameron] He's pretty good. -He's kind of a big deal.
You're too kind.
[Guy] Wait a second. Something's missing.
Hunter, do me a favor.
-It's a liability. -I know.
I was-- I ran literally to the trailer.
[Guy] Help him out, please.
[Adam] I was getting a little worried.
-Oh, yeah. -There we go.
[Adam] That's much better.
Oh, boy, that feels much better.
-We're cooking. -I just wanna say, chef,
I think that when you go home...
Excuse me. Excuse me.
-What are you doing? -[Adam] You said, "Go."
[laughing]
He said, "Go."
-[Hunter] You've been judging. -You're worried about this guy?
You're worried about this guy?
I have more faith in you than that.
Yeah, so let's do,
uh, let's do $7,500.
-Okay. -[Kelsey] There we go.
-That's what I'm saying. -Okay.
$7,500?
-Uh-ho! -If you win, you go home with $17,500.
If you lose, you go home with $2,500.
-Okay. -You win, you get $7,500.
-I'm in. -[Guy] Okay.
Now, Hunter was supposed to bring out the carts for you.
-And-- -They're being fixed right now.
-Thank you very much. Bad wheel. -... Mm-hmm.
That's the bad with the ones with the... [mimicking wheel wobbling]
That cart, that's one you're gonna get.
-So, everybody's gonna love this. -Wow.
Every shopper's least favorite game
is called Cart Search.
Three carts with three different proteins
around the store
with three different price points
clearly marked on them.
So, the more expensive the protein is,
the less budget you're going to have leftover
for your remaining ingredients.
When I say "go," you will race to pick the cart
with the protein you desire.
And do not forget to check out with Wendy before you start.
Any questions?
What have I gotten myself into?
That would be the bigger question, chef.
[laughs]
-Those-- -[Guy] There you go, chef.
Thank you so m-- Oh.
[cash register dings]
[Guy] Thirty minutes to find your cart
to shop to prepare and plate your dish.
Don't forget, your carts could be on any one of the aisles.
It will not be on three, two or one.
Don't go there first, okay?
[laughs]
Run, Adam, run!
[exclaims]
[Cameron] You have two options.
Either are you gonna run into the first protein you see and go for it
or you can play the game
and try and get the less expensive protein.
[Guy] $8 chicken thighs.
Tilapia for $5.
[Cameron] I ran up to the first cart
and I saw a flat-iron steak,
and I know that Adam can cook the steak really well,
and my immediately thought was, "Okay, get the steak so he can't have it."
It would be pretty awesome to beat Adam Sobel.
The cash prize would be even cooler.
But beating him would be pretty rad.
[Guy] Cameron grabbed the flat-iron for $12,
that only leaves him $8.
Yikes!
[Cameron] So, for a winning dish,
I wanna do a play on barbecue,
steak, potatoes.
I love, like, a summer grill out.
And so a little slaw and some cream corn
is, like, a perfect option.
And then turnips, I love turnips.
They're just delicious.
Like, root vegetables are great.
$20 is not easy.
And I'm cooking against Adam Sobel,
who has Michelin Stars in his background
and has won James Beard,
and yada, yada, yada, yada.
I've never cooked in Flavortown,
but that ended today.
I'm a judge. I've got a lot of experience.
I'm supposed to win.
If I lose, I'll be very upset.
I came across chicken thighs. For $8, this seems like a good deal.
So, I have $12 left to make a winning dish.
What's the perfect accoutrement for a crispy chicken thigh?
Creamy orzo.
Pasta, pasta.
Orzo, you can make elegant and sexy and risotto-esque.
And then I grabbed green curry paste
because I wanted a concentrated pop
to my creamy orzo.
Some green.
I want it green and fresh and herbaceous.
So, I just really plucked all the perfect green veggies that I came across.
[Guy] You didn't like the tilapia for $5?
-No, chef. -"No, chef."
-[rattling] -[Wendy] Whoa!
[Cameron] Oh!
I panicked when I saw him go to the checkout,
because you're watching the people check out in front of you
and you're just standing there waiting and waiting and waiting and waiting.
Time is the enemy.
All right, chef. You have $20 to spend.
You're at $21.85 right here with none of this.
-So this is what you have. -[Adam] Oh.
What do you-- What do you want me to take away?
I'm standing there waiting as he's so far over budget.
It wasn't even funny.
[Tiffani] So, Adam and Wendy are having a chat right now.
He's having the, um, checkout sweats.
[Wendy] Take away one of those.
Okay, so that drops you down to $19.06.
-Done. -That gives you-- Done?
-We're done? Okay. -[Adam] Yeah.
Wait, wait a minute. Wait a minute.
I, I'm not getting this stuff?
[Wendy] You're not getting any of that stuff.
[Guy] No, No, you're not getting any of that stuff.
[Tiffani] You know what I cannot stand?
When you get in line behind someone
that makes checking out at the grocery store complicated,
Meanwhile, Cameron's like, "Clock is ticking.
-[Karen] Look at Cameron. -[Tiffani] Let's go."
Oh, my God.
I made my purchase. I was over.
So, I'm not getting green curry paste.
I In fact, I have to return [laughs] green curry paste 'cause I'm over budget,
so I can get the green veggies necessary
to make this dish work.
Excuse me, if you need to make a refund,
you need to get back in line.
-[Kelsey] Wow. -Oh, Adam, get it together.
Cameron, go ahead.
-[Guy] Get back in line. -Get behind him.
[Adam] This isn't mine. I wanna do this.
You can start cooking.
You can start cooking and come back.
I had to go to my station,
get my chicken thigh started
and then return the curry paste,
to then redeem the other ingredients that were necessary.
to make a winning dish.
Okay. All right.
[register beeps]
-[Wendy] All right, $17.35. -[cash register dings]
Wow, a little money left over.
Yeah, I got a plan for it.
Pretty wise shopper I see there.
[Cameron] I got a plan for it.
-What's this dish gonna be, chef? -Thank you.
-[Wendy] You're welcome. -[Cameron] Uh...
I don't know. I'll tell you in a minute.
-We'll find out in a minute. -Famous last words.
[Guy] So, a lot at stake.
Cameron could go home with 2500 bucks
since he bet $7500,
or he could go home with $17.50.
It's a big deal.
[Adam] I know what these chefs want in a winning dish.
They want acidity.
They want contrast and texture.
They wanna see great technique,
and they expect it from me.
Is this water salted?
The water salted.
The valet didn't salt your water for you?
[in gruffy voice] Who didn't salt my water?
-[Karen] Did you salt my water for me? -The nerve.
-How dare they? -Where's my sous chef?
[Adam] Look, this is Beat the Judges.
I, I can't lose. I mean, I'm a judge.
You're an esteemed judge. You can't lose.
I kinda wanna go hard on him.
[all laugh]
[Kelsey] But we will be fair, you know, of course.
-It's all about whoever puts the best dish up. -[in normal voice] 100%.
[Guy] 19 minutes, 19 left.
[Adam] The objective is get the chicken thighs going
as fast as possible in the cast iron,
because getting that crispy skin is essential for victory.
[Guy] What's the game plan, chef?
I'm gonna do a springy, creamy orzo
with crispy chicken thighs and a little asparagus salad.
-I like this. -[Adam] Mad flav going on.
I was gonna do the green curry, but you know,
it was too expensive-- too rich for my blood.
This guy is a legend.
He's up for the challenge.
Has he ever shopped with a budget?
That I would question.
I wanna get those limes in there.
-Uh... -Okay.
Now I'm gonna return my green curry paste.
Uh, two limes, three tomatillos, one jalapeño, dill.
Just like all the goodies that bring brightness,
and have big flavor.
-[cash register dings] -16 cents.
[Adam] Keep the change.
Sure, why not?
[judges laughing]
[Kelsey] I love this so much.
[Guy] Oh, yeah, this is great for him.
-He is tweaking right now. -[Kelsey] Yes, he's so great.
[Tiffani] Sweaty Sobel.
[Cameron] The resounding thing was
I didn't have enough protein on my dish last time.
So, I might as well give 'em a whole protein.
[Guy] What's the menu looking like, chef?
Uh, I think I'm gonna do a flat-iron steak
and turnip purée, a little bit of corn.
How are the potatoes gonna be prepared?
[Cameron] I'm gonna do like, like, pan-seared.
The idea behind my flat-iron steak
is to grill it really nicely
and put it in the oven for five minutes.
I like to use timers...
[timer beeping]
[Cameron] ...when we're in a time-constrained situation
and it's just busy.
Don't see a timer get used very often in competition.
That's a nice little move.
[Cameron] It just makes me not have to think about it.
No, it's great.
No, it makes you not forget about it is what it does.
[Cameron] So, dairy is really expensive,
and I didn't have a lot of money left in my budget.
So, I figured, you know what?
I'm gonna make a non-dairy purée for my cream corn,
turnips, butter, and a little bit of water,
and that's gonna give me a really nice, creamy consistency.
My dream is to have a farm with a restaurant.
And if I win, I want to put a down payment on a farm.
It's scary to lose.
I don't like losing.
And, and on top of it
to lose money really would suck.
Next, I need to get my corn in the pan
to make my cream corn.
[Guy] His techniques are really strong.
That little timer thing there...
Yeah, he's very cool and calm.
He is really...
And hey, we're gonna see him again.
Twelve minutes to go, twelve in the competition.
[Karen] For Adam, it's not just the money. He's a judge.
This is his reputation.
-Right. -It's his first time in Flavortown.
This is his, uh,
his Flavortown coming out party.
I was set up.
While the chicken's cooking,
I'm gonna work on my compound butter.
So, I get my tomatillo, my jalapeño,
scallion, lime zest into the food processor,
and I just let that rip.
And then I add softened butter to that
and make this, like, really intense compound butter.
It's about six minutes to boil the orzo.
I sauté my asparagus tips. The orzo is cooked perfectly.
Strain it off, and then I add the orzo,
season it and then I add my compound butter.
And it's bright green and, and just, like, it's popping.
And then the stems of the asparagus, I shaped thin
and I made a beautiful salad.
I am probably the most competitive person you'll meet.
So, like, I don't play to lose, I play to win.
-[Guy] Chefs, you have eight minutes. -[timer beeping]
[Cameron] So, I pull my steak out of the oven
after my timer goes off.
I know it's a little bit under where I want it to be,
and that's totally fine,
because I'm gonna baste it.
For Cameron, I mean,
this is taking down one of the judges
-and this is his, his own money that he wagered. -[Tiffani] Yeah.
-[Karen] In addition to the money that he's winning. -[Kelsey] Yeah.
There's nothing worse than not taking that money home.
[Cameron] For my barbecue potato salad,
potatoes cooked in butter and paprika is, you know,
basically what potato salad is.
So, it's a perfect mix.
And then I slice my steak and give it time to rest.
To finish my cream corn,
I took a little bit of my thin purée,
added that in and allowed the corn, kind of, to absorb it,
and get it a little bit thicker.
-[Guy] How are you feeling, chef? -So far, so good.
[Guy] Four minutes, four minutes left.
I can go to plate whenever I'm ready?
-Whenever you're ready, chef. -All right, plates. Plates.
You gotta go get 'em.
-[Tiffani laughs] -[Karen] Aisle three.
[Kelsey and Karen] Aisle three.
-[Karen] No, not-- No. -[Kelsey] Why are you going that way?
[Karen] Not the wrong way.
-[all laughing] -Adam didn't know that he had to go get plates.
[Adam] Where are the-- Where are plates?
Just so everyone knows,
plates are on aisle three.
[Tiffani] And he ran, like, the wrong way.
Adam, have you seen the show?
[Guy] Three minutes, three minutes, chefs.
[Adam] First thing I do,
carefully spoon the creamy orzo into the bottom of the bowl,
baste my chicken thighs,
make sure they're nice and glossy.
And as far as, like, a perfectly cooked chicken thigh,
it didn't get better.
Then I placed my crispy chicken thigh on top of the orzo,
garnish with this really fresh salad.
And uh, I'm just really pleased.
That's a wrap.
-You don't have to clean your station, chef. -I have OCD.
It's the first time he's done it in years.
-It's fine, let him go. -[all laughing]
[Guy] Two minutes, two minutes flat.
-Gotta be plated. -[timer beeping]
[Cameron] Time to plate.
Since my steak's a little bit under,
I flash under the salamander really lightly,
just to get some more temperature on it.
[Karen] Cameron's finishing a steak.
Okay, smart.
[Cameron] Now, my steak was perfect.
First thing to go on the plates is potatoes.
They look good, they taste good.
So, next my cream corn goes on,
and that steak goes down on the plate.
And then the last thing, my turnip purée.
I just did a little drizzle on top,
just to add a little bit more oomph.
Five seconds.
Five, four, three, two, one.
-That's it. Great job, gentlemen, great job. -[Tiffani] Great job.
[Adam] Service is over.
-Take care of my station. -[judges laugh]
[Cameron] I hope it's my winning dish. I'm pretty proud of it.
[Guy] Unbelievable for $20.
Unbelievable.
Here we go, judges, this is it.
Game two of Beat the Judges.
A little Budget Battle to make things interesting.
Up first, chef Adam Sobel.
What did you make for the judges there, chef?
I did a crispy chicken thigh
sitting on top of a creamy asparagus spring orzo.
I made a compound butter with tomatillo, jalapeño, scallion,
lot of lime zest, a lot of herbs.
And then I made a nice fresh salad on top,
something I would cook for dinner.
This is $20?
-Yeah. -[Tiffani] What'd you have leftover?
[Adam] Uh, 16 cents.
[chuckles] Right on.
-[Kelsey] Down to the wire. -[Adam] Yeah.
-Absolutely beautiful dish. Zero surprise. -Oh, thank you.
You've got, like, this very crispy skin.
So smart cross utilizing.
You can use the green onions to cook with and to garnish.
You can use the asparagus to garnish and to cook with.
You really thought this out quickly and cheap. [chuckles]
Adam, we, we know that you are, are one of us.
So, I'm gonna go straight to the food.
-[laughs] -[Tiffani] Welcome to the dark side.
-Yeah. -[Tiffani] I'm gonna go to the food.
This is such a beautiful invitation to dig in.
You feel like it's not 17 pounds of butter
because it's, like, green and gorgeous
and bright and fresh.
And I love that about it.
Uh, for me, orzo risotto, it's an invitation for cheese.
And I want something that's just, like,
a little bit more lactic other than the butter.
Tomatillo's a little astringent with the jalapeño.
But I love the jalapeño.
The jalapeño, you get a little bit of heat.
This does not feel like a $20 budget dish.
-[Guy] Good job, rookie. -Oof.
But not to be outdone,
chef Cameron, hot off his first win.
So, I wanna do a little play on, like, a barbecue.
Steak, potatoes, uh, the play is cream corn.
But instead of cream and dairy,
I used a little bit of turnip purée
and some pan roasted potatoes
with a little bit of paprika as a play on potato salad.
Chef, I've seen a lot of people cook here.
I've seen everybody cook here.
I've been here for every competition.
[all laughing]
First time, five or six years, I've seen anybody use a timer.
I was impressed. Your cookery, your style your methods,
-sharp, man, sharp. -Thank you.
There's a lot of starchy vegetables on the plate.
When you said that this was your play on barbecue,
It made a lot more sense to me.
I think the flat-iron is cooked well.
The potatoes are really yummy.
And I would've loved to see
the turnip greens used in another way.
Sautéed on the side,
something fresh, something green
-instead of just mixed in with the corn. -[Cameron] Mmm-hmm.
Um, the cream corn, for me is, it's a little salty.
I was kind of taken aback by that.
Cameron, watching you cook was fun.
-Thank you. -[Tiffani] You have a mastery of what you're doing.
I think the cream corn is really the star. It's dope.
It's, like, a little acidic and it's funky,
and it's not what I expect of cream corn.
I would eat that every day and twice on Sundays.
Twice on Sundays.
Cool, calm, collected.
Does anything ever really ruffle your feathers?
Not really.
I love that you gave us a very unusual barbecue plate.
I would come to your barbecue over and over and over again.
-Truly well done. -Thank you very much.
Listen, guys, battle royale.
Budget Battle royale.
-That was great. -[Guy] Gentlemen,
we'll send you back to the kitchens,
and we'll call you when we have a decision.
-Thank you. -That sounds good.
Nice job, guys.
[Guy] Who's gonna win in this one of the chef David versus chef Goliath?
Both really incredibly talented chefs.
There are things on Cameron's dish
that I think are so unbelievably smart.
This cream corn and using the turnip purée for that.
Wildly creative.
Adam's flavors,
they're such a testament to the years he's been cooking.
Both beautiful dishes, both delicious.
Basically, everything lacking on this dish
is what took Adam's to the next level.
Everything on Cam's dish was cooked properly,
it was cooked well
-and it was seasoned really well. -[Kelsey] Yeah.
It's a lot closer than I think we thought it might've been.
[Guy] Chef Adam, chef Cameron.
Lot going on here.
A new guy comes in,
takes out two dynamite chefs on a Budget Battle.
Then picks chef Sobel,
-gets into a Budget Battle... -Thanks, buddy.
-[chuckles] -[Guy] ...takes his $10,000 that he won,
puts $7500 on the line.
There can only be one winner.
The winner of Beat the Judges Budget Battle is...
-Chef Sobel. Well done. -[all applauding]
-Hey. Thank you, chef. -That was great.
-[Cameron] Appreciate it. -[Guy] Chef Sobel, congratulations.
7500 bucks coming to you.
Chef Cameron, $2500 coming to you.
But of course,
there's no way to put a down payment on rent for 2500 bucks.
Nope.
-So, $10,000 still coming to you. -[Adam] There you go, baby.
[judges cheering]
-There you go, baby. -[Guy] There you go, okay?
Thank you for that, Guy, I really appreciate it.
Losing to anyone, it's Adam Sobel.
It's a good person to lose to.
You know, it's okay.
Hopefully, I'll be back and maybe I can beat him next time.
-[Guy] Buddy. -[Tiffani] Oh, I can't believe you did it.
-[Guy] That was so nice. -[Adam] Holy smokes. Holy smokes!