The wait is finally over.
It's time to hurry on down
to the grand re-opening of Flavortown Market.
We added real-deal new features
that will keep the culinary curve balls coming.
What they got all here?
- [man] Let's see what you got. - Oh, no.
And, best of all, we're celebrating our re-opening
with an epic two-part tournament.
Whew.
[Guy] Three of our greatest chefs of all time
are taken on our revamped store
and a shot of up to 25,000 bucks.
No stopping us now!
[Aarti] These are the greatest of all time,
this is probably the toughest competition of their lives.
[Guy] The finale of our grand re-opening games starts now,
on GGG.
[sighs] It's great to be back.
So let's welcome back the GGG champions
that invaded our renovated store last week.
Now, first up, Chef Tracey Shepos Cenami,
Northern California executive chef de cuisine,
who has won the GGG Supermarket Master Championship,
along with 48,000 bucks.
Last week was wild and crazy,
and I was only saved by one point.
Okay, sure.
I'm shaking off my re-opening jitters,
and I am ready to take Tobias and Laura down.
What's up, Chef? Welcome back.
[Guy] Then there's Tobias Dorzon, a Houston executive chef,
who has earned $41,000 on GGG,
and tied Chef Tracey for second place
in part one of the tournament.
Can't get rid of me that easy.
I'm one of the greatest to cook in Flavortown, so you know it.
It's no surprise I'm still here.
Oh, all that. Go get 'em, champ.
And, finally, Laura Fonner,
executive chef from Charlottesville,
who continued her GGG winning streak in part one.
I'm still undefeated on GGG.
I plan on taking home the title today.
I already know that I have a target on my back after last week,
but I am just now getting comfortable, and I am not slowing down.
- [laughs] - Okay.
Well, chefs, welcome back.
Wonderful to have you here for this
exciting finale of our grand re-opening games.
Flavortown Market,
the re-opening has been a huge, huge success.
I mean, we have done it all.
We've been giving out balloons to the kids,
we've given out free tattoos to the 50th customer,
I mean, it has just been one event after another.
The best part has been watching GGG's greatest of all time
take on our revamped store and our re-amped games.
We're down to the final three,
and undefeated chef Laura is still on a roll,
which of course means you have a big target on your back.
And these two are sharpshooters,
I'm telling you.
Tonight, we're gonna start off with a clean scoreboards.
The chef with the highest combined score
at the end of the evening
will be crowned a champ against champs
of shop Flavortown Market, for up to $25,000.
Last week's one-hour mega challenge was so exciting.
Since I'm giving you an hour, I want you to make
two completely different courses.
Ahh!
Let's crunch on, guys.
Hunter, what is up, dude?
Come back soon, thank you.
We're gonna do it again.
We're about to compete in a winner-take-all super battle.
One hour to make two courses.
A 25-minute appetizer,
and a 60-minute entrée,
at the same time.
So, I want you to show the judges
your culinary bandwidth.
I want you to make them a comfort classic appetizer,
and a high-end entrée,
and I want you to feature the exact same protein in each.
In fact, we actually are gonna play a game called Butcher's Choice.
Now, Hunter, he's gonna be working over there
at the deli counter, and he has a fine selection
of mystery meat that he will be ready to give you.
So, when I say go, you're gonna run over
to the deli counter and he is going to serve you up
some fantastic protein in a package.
I wanna see if you can express
high-end and comfort
using the same protein chosen by somebody else.
Okay? See if you can really express yourself.
Speaking of express...
Oh, no.
Let's play that GGG classic that everybody hates,
let's play a little Express Lane.
- Huh? - [Laura] Oh, my God.
Exactly. Let's make this one hour to create
two courses, a comfort classic appetizer,
and a high-end entrée using the mystery protein,
and nine other ingredients.
I personally asked the three of you to come back,
just so you know.
Well, actually, you two.
You were one guy that--
- Excuse me, excuse me? - You said three, two, one.
No, no, no. I have to say the...
Go first dig up holes-- No, that was--
No stopping us now!
Here you go, mystery meat.
Mystery meat here, mystery meat.
- Thank you. - Here's your mystery meat.
- Thank you. - Have fun with that.
I don't know what it is, I'm not the butcher today.
- [Guy] There is Hunter. - Hi, Dad.
[Guy] Hi, Hunter.
Hunter looks real cute behind that deli counter, I'm not gonna lie.
But my heart dropped a little bit
when I opened the package up and saw it was flat iron.
Flat iron.
Flat iron steak is not a high-end steak.
It is a grilling steak.
[Tracey] I opened it up and there's pork tenderloin inside.
Seriously?
Like, what would I want?
Lobster was a thought, crab would have been great.
Already I'm stumped.
[Tobias] Bone and chicken thighs.
It's good in a comfort dish.
In a high-end dish? What am I gonna do with that?
- Tracey, what did you get? - I got pork.
I know I want to roast the pork tenderloin
for my high-end dinner, and then I'm going to use
all these beautiful vegetables and cook them
in different ways to show off technique.
Onions.
If you want beet salad, you have some right there.
- [chuckling] Seafood salad? - No...
- [Hunter] Fruit salad? - No, thanks.
- [Hunter] She's got-- - [Guy] Nine other ingredients,
she can get me, like...
- [laughs] - So, if you want the beet salad, right here.
That was so helpful, Hunter.
I have no clue what to make with this first round,
How can I use pork tenderloin in my comfort classic appetizer?
- Sorry. - [Laura] You're okay.
[Tracey] And I think, chicken tenders,
so I can cut this pork tenderloin and make little crispy nuggets.
So, I definitely need panko breadcrumbs
that will be nice and crispy.
Heavy cream would make a great sauce.
So, if I make the slaw, something, like, fresh,
with this crispy pork, then I can use
some of those same ingredients and roast them for my high-end dinner.
I need to start cooking.
Lots of great things here.
Those beets are awesome, seafood salad,
- feta salad, delicious. - Love that.
Dolmas, prosciutto stuffed peppers.
Oh, I counted how many are in there,
do not get caught eating these.
[Tobias] Chicken thighs.
This shop is tough because I gotta get
nine ingredients for two dishes.
I have to make a classic comfort appetizer,
and a high-end entrée.
High-end just means when I come in
and look at the plate,
I understand why I'm paying $100 for an actual dish.
A high-end entrée,
I'm thinking shrimp and chicken linguini.
Where's pesto?
For my comfort appetizer,
I'm thinking fried chicken tacos.
What's more comfort than fried chicken?
I just gotta make sure the items I'm grabbing
can be cross-utilized.
You have to make sure that you bring it every round.
When I was a football player, there's four quarters,
and you had to bring it every quarter.
Oh, my God, there's a lot of this.
So, for my high-end dinner, I am thinking of making
a grilled flat iron steak with crispy fried potatoes.
Laura, what protein did you get?
[Laura] I got flat iron steak.
- [Guy] Flat iron stake? - Yes.
Hey, I told you, on the proteins, make them wacky.
It was the sous chef that did them.
For my classic comfort appetizer,
I'm going to make a version of a soup
that I'm pretty well-known for in my town.
It's a riff on a tortilla soup.
Corn tortillas, where are you?
So, I also need a couple of packs of the peeled garlic cloves.
- Beep, beep! - Was that a "beep, beep" we just got?
[Laura] That was a "beep, beep!"
A Costa Rican salsa.
Excuse me. Ahh!
This is a traditional Costa Rican condiment,
it's like ketchup is to Americans.
This is actually one of the grocery stores
that I've been able to find it in,
I normally have to order it online.
I'm coming in to this undefeated,
I know my competitors are really good,
but I'm not planning on going home today.
And back to judge our GGG champions
are our three all-star champions.
Flavortown's spice authority
and all-star family tournament winner,
the one and only Aarti Sequeira.
James Beard Award winning author
and champion of our Superstar Tournament,
the one and only, the godfather.
- Rocco DiSpirito. - [laughs]
And executive chef, the one and only mayhem, Chef Aaron May.
Anyhow, I think everybody is looking good.
They got a good sampling last week
about what a one-hour competition was,
and how to get these appetizers ready in 25 minutes.
And speaking of which, time is ticking.
All right, Chef Trace, what's giving?
I'm gonna do a little pork cutlet nibbles,
like a play on chicken tenders.
- Ooh. - And then I'm gonna do
a little bit of a slaw with apple...
Like, this slaw with apples, going over the fried pork.
Fried loves its acid.
[Tracey] I don't have a ton of time left to make
this classic comfort appetizer.
So, I cut the pork into medallions,
pounded it out a little bit so it's a bit thinner.
I get my pork in with the heavy cream,
drudge it with the panko and get that in the fryer.
While my pork's in my fryer,
I'm gonna work on my apple-fennel slaw.
I want this slaw to give a refreshing addition to the pork nibbles.
I'm gonna julienne my apples,
mandolin and shave my fennel, cut up my radish
and then I'm gonna add all that with some fresh dill.
Adding some dill.
I'll tell you what, that slaw is delicious.
- Thank you. - [Guy] Delicious.
Tobias and Laura are fierce competitors.
Those two can cook, so I need to knock this out of the park.
[Tobias] First thing I get started on,
I get my rice going for my comfort classic appetizer.
[Guy] Chicken thigh. What's your game plan?
[Tobias] Fried chicken tacos.
Okay, I like fried chicken tacos.
And my rice is cooking, let me go in
and start seasoning my chicken thighs.
You know, I'm making quick rub,
a fresh basil pesto.
I've never used pesto as a rub,
but I gotta stretch these ingredients out.
I've only got ten of them.
Dressing my chicken in flour, then I drop them in the fryer.
No time to rest, I gotta make sure, like,
this time around, can't play the cool game.
Gotta make sure I get things done.
All right, chef. What is the menu?
A steak in tortilla soup as my comfort.
Okay. And, this is one of my favorites.
Oh, don't you love it?
- It is a secret weapon. - [Laura] Hell yeah, it is.
The Costa Rican salsa, it's sweet, it's sour,
it's salty, it's spicy.
That's where all of the umami is gonna come from.
So, I want to get that into that chicken stock
and let it simmer down for a little bit.
So, I decided to marinate the flat iron steak
and throw it on the grill and cook it separately.
I wanted to cook it very rare,
'cause I was gonna finish it with a hot broth.
After last week, there is a target on my back.
Hopefully, I can run faster than they can shoot.
[chuckles]
[Guy] The store missed this, missed the terror,
screams going down the aisleways. [chuckles]
People completely losing their mind
in station one, two, three and four.
[breathes deeply]
It's great to be back.
Is this cooking yet? Son of a biscuit eater.
[Guy] Chefs, 14 minutes to have those aps up.
14 minutes!
This is so difficult. You're trying to cook the ap,
get it done on time, and in the meantime,
in the back of your mind, you gotta have running
this idea of getting this entrée done.
And you're cooking in two different directions.
Comfort, high-end.
Twelve minutes, guys.
[Tobias] Hurry.
Getting ready to take it off, slice it up,
table up, throw it in there.
While my flat iron steak is resting,
and my soup is where it needs to be,
I need to start working on the garnishes.
So, I figured a nice seasoned mashed avocado
would go really well, and it would give it a very silky texture.
- [Guy] Guacamole for the soup? - I'm gonna do a steak
in the broth with the tortillas in there,
top it with cilantro,
some shaved cheese and some avocado purée.
- Okay. - [Laura] Kind of funky.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
[Laura] I cut up my corn tortillas to strips
and throw it in the deep fryer.
I wanna get them crunchy before I throw them
into the broth. They're gonna be salted
and then they're gonna go in and on top
of this soup for garnish.
Laura has never been sent home.
Never.
So, that's a lot of pressure too.
I mean, the more you win, the more you feel like
you have something to lose.
[Guy] Chef, now I didn't see soup coming.
How did you add the meat in there, chef?
I shaved it very thin, so when the hot broth hits it,
then it'll finish cooking it without overcooking it
like it would be in a soup.
Oh, she can cook.
[Tobias] My rice is cooking and my chicken is deep frying
for my fried chicken tacos.
I started sautéing my asparagus
with some crushed red peppers, some salt, some butter.
[Guy] Tobias, how are you doing, buddy?
Feel good about this? Six minutes.
Should be there.
This past year, it's been a tough time for me,
I lost my best friend, Solo.
He always pushed me to go big.
He went with me when I did a dinner at the James Beard house.
So, today, I'm playing for the memory of my brother Solo.
My one concern about Tobias' ingredients
is that he did not have a lot of fresh, right?
He had jarred pesto, jarred salsa, rice pilaf.
So, my concern is,
does Tobias have enough fresh ingredients
to balance out all those jarred ingredients?
[Tracey] So, I've got my fried pork nibbles working,
I've got this great slaw, but comfort
warrants a little bit of creamy, some richness.
How much time, Guy?
You have five minutes until those appetizers need to be up.
Five minutes.
[Tracey] The fennel was almost like two ingredients in one.
You've got the bulb, I used it in the slaw.
But then you've got the top and the fennel front,
which have a tremendous amount of flavor.
So, I've got this cream
and I've got the fennel fronts and some dill.
So, I'm want to make a quick cream sauce
I think will go great with this crispy pork.
A little bit of a fennel cream reduction
going with that comfort.
I've had the pleasure of eating Tracey's food
a number of times.
This woman is a beast, she has knocked out
all the competition when I watched her before.
[Guy] 2 minutes and 15 seconds, chefs.
These chefs were here last week, and I'll say
the last week they had, there may be a little jitters.
Now here we are, these three chefs are going to the finale.
The winning chef's gonna get a chance to shop
Flavortown Market for up to $25,000.
This is down to the nitty-gritty.
[Laura] I need to plate my classic comfort appetizer.
At the bottom of the bowl, I put the very thin-shaved
rare flat iron steak.
And I ladle the hot tortilla soup over it,
which will finish cooking the thin-shave beef.
For the avocado mash, is kind of an anchor,
and then I can top that with the cilantro
and the crispy fried tortilla strips.
And I'm just gonna put all this cheese on top
of this soup, 'cause what's more comforting than that?
- [Guy] Chef Tracey, you done? - Just about.
So, I'm gonna get this pork plated.
Really simple, right? This is comfort food.
Put a nice pile of the slaw,
and then two little crispy pork nibbles.
The last thing, I get my cream sauce on the bottom.
- Okay, done. - [Guy] One minute, chefs.
[Tobias] I'll grab my fried chicken,
and I had to chop them up so I can make sure
they get into the taco,
I couldn't just serve them a whole chicken thigh.
So, I put my tortillas on a taco wrap,
I added my Spanish rice,
and then my diced fried chicken on top of the rice.
Salsa right on my fried chicken,
and as time runs out,
I drop my asparagus on top of the tacos.
[Guy] Five, four, three, two, one.
[Aaron] Guy's called time on the appetizer.
They're all done with that. Now we we're working on this high-end entrée,
I am excited to see how these turn out.
Keep cooking, chefs.
[Guy] Judges, in honor of our GGG grand reopening,
I've challenged the chefs to
a one-hour two-course super battle.
The chefs are still hard at work
on their high-end entrée with protein,
provided by the Butcher's Choice.
Now, first up is their comfort classic appetizer
using the mystery protein and nine other ingredients.
And you know that you're gonna be scoring this
based on taste, gameplay and plating.
Chef Tracey, would you like to come and present?
Love to.
Hi, I've made for you what I call "little pork nibbles."
Um, kind of in the vein of chicken strips, maybe?
I did a little bit of a fennel cream sauce
on the bottom for some richness,
and then a slaw with fresh fennel,
apple, radish, dill,
little bit of vinegar and oil.
Enjoy.
I think these pork nibbles, as she called them,
are actually delicious.
The pork itself is moist and crispy,
the slaw is refreshing and delightful.
I think this is right smacked out in the middle of a comfort classic.
It's chicken nuggets but made of pork with a refreshing slaw,
and one of my favorite herbs, dill.
- Always a good choice. - That's a big dill.
[Rocco chuckles]
I think the pork is a little overcooked.
[Guy] Aarti, what do you think?
It's delicious. I love the crunch on the pork, the crunch of the slaw.
The fennel cream was a brilliant idea as a sauce.
I think the whole thing needs a little more acid
and a little more salt just to really bring it to life.
[Guy] Okay. Up next, Chef Laura.
- Thank you. - [Guy] You are welcome.
So, I made a very brothy tortilla soup
with a flat iron steak,
a little bit of smashed seasoned avocado,
shredded cheese, cilantro,
and I used one of my favorite ingredients,
it's a Costa Rican salsa.
So, it's meant to be a thin, brothy
but also very comforting, 'cause it's a very warm soup.
- Thank you. - [exclaims]
She wasn't kidding around, she's made this before.
- This is delicious. - Mmm. Wow.
[Aaron] Shaved steak put at the bottom of the bowl.
[Aarti] Holy cow!
- It's really good, right? - I'm gonna eat
- this whole thing. - Yeah.
The avocado in this broth? Sublime.
What do you think? Give me the pros and cons.
Well, the small thing that Laura did
was use that jarred Costa Rican salsa,
because it added so much flavor to this broth.
Yeah, it feels like we're tasting Laura's true cooking here.
[Aaron] That flat iron steak is cooked perfectly.
I think the soup is great,
it's really well-balanced, there's a nice sour and nice savory.
If anything, it could have used maybe, like,
I know she's limited on the ingredients,
but I would've loved to have seen some radish,
something fresh.
Uh, I have nothing negative to say about Laura's dish.
Really?
This is one of the best tortilla soups I've ever had.
The one thing I would like is some crispy tortilla on top,
I wish she had reserved some on the side
and just serve it on top last minute.
But it's absolutely delicious,
you would never have guessed she had any limitations.
[Guy] All right. Tobias!
- [Tobias] Yes? - [Guy] You're up, buddy.
[Tobias] Coming.
So, I did something real simple, real quick
but I know is very comfort-y, by frying some chicken,
mixing it with something Mexican,
so it's like a fried chicken taco,
Spanish rice,
finished with some salsa and asparagus tips.
You know, just build it up, this whole thing
coats your stomach.
[Guy] Coats your stomach. I like it, buddy.
What do you think of that taco?
I feel like this is a bunch of different comfort classics.
- [Aarti] Yeah. - [Aaron] I've got the, like, Rice-A-Roni thing going on,
I've got the Nashville hot chicken thing going on,
I've got this great taco going on.
He is killing this comfort classic vibe.
Tobias really understands what makes good food.
It's like he's distilled it down to its chemical compounds.
This is spectacular,
but these are very thick tortillas,
I think they could've stayed on the grill just a little bit longer.
[Rocco] You know, this taco does not look like much.
The plating is haphazard, a little sloppy.
I'm not expecting this to taste great, but I'm wrong.
- [Aarti laughs] - It's really delicious.
I think he invented a new comfort food.
This should be an instant classic,
this is heading home even more
than the tortilla soup did, and I love that 100%.
- This is incredible. - Wow. Wow.
All right, judges, let's score it up.
20 points in taste, 20 points in gameplay
and 10 points available in plating.
Mark your scores and we'll find out
which appetizer left you feeling
classically comfortable and not comfortably numb.
All right, chefs, hear ye, hear ye.
I'm gonna stop the clock 'cause I'll read you the scores.
In round one, the 25-minute comfort appetizer,
the scores are:
Chef Tracey: 41,
Chef Tobias: 46,
- Chef Laura: 47. - Whoo.
Chefs...
would you like to have
$1,000 or one point?
Ooh. I'll take the point.
All right, point it is. No moola.
Chefs, I've got one more gift
that will help make your high-end entrée
really, really special.
Hunter, bring out the cart, please?
- Is this the one you wanted? - [Guy] Oh, that's it.
All right, I'm here with Chef Laura.
You'll spin the wheel to determine which
of the special ingredients in Hunter's cart
you have to incorporate in you entrée.
Guys, this is a really, really, really special delivery.
- Really bad idea. - [laughs]
Take a look at the choices.
Pea purée, liverwurst pâté and wild mushrooms in a can.
This is high-end.
- Ready? - Spin it.
Oh, oh, oh.
Ah.
-[Guy] Wild mushrooms. Congratulations, chef. -Thank you.
- Enjoy. - [Laura] Canned mushroom.
That will fit the high-end aspect of the dinner.
[Guy] Chef Tobias, my good buddy.
- [chuckles] - Come on over
and spin your wheely, really good opportunity here.
There we go, let's see what you got.
Ooh, a little liverwurst pâté.
- [Tobias] Mm. - Huh?
I thought I was getting the upscale pâté,
and I just got a knockoff.
[Guy] All right, chef Trace.
- There we go. - [Tracey] Who do I got?
[Guy] She gets a little wild mushroom!
If you've ever had canned mushrooms,
they're not the same as fresh, wild mushrooms.
- All right, nice job. - You got it.
- Good job with that. - I'm gonna go this way.
I dare to say this, new revamped Flavortown Market,
it's almost like a Homer epic, right?
Challenge upon challenge, upon challenge.
You're saying cooking in Grocery Games is like a Greek tragedy?
- Kind of, yeah. - [laughs]
All right. Dinner, right?
High-end dinner with canned wild mushrooms.
Ugh. Need salt.
They taste like absolutely nothing.
Literally nothing. [chuckles]
I figured if I spice up enough of the flour mix
and deep frying 'em, it will give me a nice textural element.
So, for my high-end dinner, I'm gonna make
a grilled marinated flat iron steak,
some crispy fried potatoes, and now I'm gonna add
some crispy fried canned wild mushrooms.
The flat iron steak is the most important part of this dinner.
I add a little bit of the Costa Rican salsa
and throw it on the grill, let it get a good char.
Whoo.
[Aarti] Guy just threw all the rules out the window.
How can you take one set of ingredients
and make them comforting and high-end?
I wanna rest this as much as I can.
So I get the perfect cook on it.
Tobias, what did you get, my friend?
- Oh. I got liver. - [Laura] The pâté?
- [Tobias] Pâté. - [Laura] Fantastic.
[Tobias] Oh, that's nice.
For my high-end entrée
I'm making shrimp and chicken linguini.
It would've been really difficult
to do a high-end dish with just chicken thighs.
Shrimp was, like, my element of upscale.
I added some salt, crushed red peppers.
After I seamed it up, I start to baste it with some butter.
It's neck and neck here. You know, Tobias doesn't have
a lot of fresh ingredients, but what he does have
that I like, is it really screams high-end.
He almost has a surf and turf going
with the chicken thighs and the shrimp.
Hey, Tobias, what are you making?
- Um... - You don't want to talk about it? I understand.
- [chuckles] - I'm just making a hot mess.
- Don't worry about me. - No, you're not. You know, I don't believe that.
I'm two points behind Laura,
that means I have to come with it,
make sure that it's super elevated.
[Guy] Chefs, 20 minutes.
I've still got a lot to do for this high-end dinner,
so I need to get this pork tenderloin in the oven.
I'm gonna use my spices that came with my pantry,
thanks, Guy.
Some cumin, paprika, salt and pepper,
and then I'm gonna get this pork tenderloin
a beautiful sear on the outside,
add some thyme and onion to the pan,
and get that in the oven.
Next, I'm gonna work on my onion soubise.
This soubise is like a puréed sauce
that's with onions that had been cooked for a really long time.
I got mushrooms, I'm gonna put it in my soubise.
So, I don't want to hide the mushrooms,
but I don't really just want to throw them on the plate.
And I think they're gonna just be wonderful
in the soubise, it's gonna add an umami,
a nice earthy flavor to the dish.
I'm lowest on the score at this point.
I feel like I am getting my butt kicked.
Now you've got the psychological game going.
Because Tracey knows she is way behind.
So, I'm hoping she uses that
as motivation to really push on her entrée.
[Guy] 15 minutes, chefs. 15 to go!
One of the key pieces is,
who is going to plate high-end?
That's gonna be the real key here.
This is Tracey's wheelhouse.
I have to do something, they're kicking my butt.
I want to be the Greatest of All Time Tournament winner.
[Guy] 13 minutes, guys. 13 to go.
[Laura] Tracey, how are you doing over there?
- What's up, girl? - [Laura] You're doing okay?
- Yes. [chuckles] - Bleugh!
They're busy. This one-hour go-go-go competition
gets stuff down for them to, you know, be interrupted.
So, we went ahead
and put the wheely, really small wheel on the cart,
so they're happy.
[Tobias] Of course I got the liverwurst pâté.
Liver, liver, liver.
I would've taken wild mushrooms.
So, for my high-end entrée, shrimp and chicken linguini,
I start my Alfredo sauce.
I add my chicken, diced asparagus
and my julienned red peppers to the pan,
so I can sauté them up.
I add my heavy cream to thicken it up.
If I win, choose the money,
I plan on opening a restaurant.
It's gonna be called Solo.
My friend is definitely with me today.
So, I have to figure out where I could incorporate the pâté.
Diced it up, tossed it in the sauce.
Solo would've wanted me to go big.
[Aarti] Tobias had a lot of heavy cream.
I feel like that might be helpful in tempering and managing that liverwurst.
[Aaron] Are you guys not familiar with the liverwurst Alfredo
that is so popular all over America?
Maybe you guys have been living under a rock,
but that is a giant trend.
[Guy] So, the mushrooms are combined into a sauce.
The pâté is being mixed into the pasta dish
with the chicken and the shrimp.
And the mushrooms have been fried
with the fried potatoes going with the hanger steak.
They're lovely, they're nice and crunchy. You got a very light flavor,
it's a little bit earthy, it will match really well with what I'm doing here.
So, while my steak is resting, I'm gonna go ahead
and start this cilantro pistou.
Pistou is basically a pesto
without pine nuts and the cheese.
Throw it in the blender with garlic, cilantro, paprika,
red wine vinegar, olive oil, salt and pepper.
I'm kind of looking around to see what else I can utilize
to kind of elevate this dish a little bit more,
and I realized that I have leftover soup stock
from the appetizer round.
Let me revisit this.
Might be able to incorporate it somehow
as some sort of jus and drizzle.
Make magic out of nothing, my friend.
So, I strained out all the tortillas
and all of the chunks, once that's reduced down,
I mount it with butter,
and now I have a sauce for my steak.
Canned items and high-end is really not that easy.
You know, Laura, she's running a food truck,
she wants to get in the brick and mortar.
This 25,000 grand would go a long way toward satisfying that dream.
[Guy] Trace, what's this menu?
This is a little bit of onion and wild mushrooms soubise
with roasted pork loin
and some roasted, kind of, pickle-y apples.
Very much a Tracey menu, very NorCal.
[Tracey] Next, I'm gonna work on my apples.
I want these apples to be almost like a relish.
I used them fresh in that first dish,
now I want to show them in a different way.
So, I'm gonna caramelize them,
brings out some of the sweetness,
and then I want to finish it with some rosemary
and some red wine vinegar.
Apples, pork, cabbage, all very classic.
They go so well together,
but cabbage is a pretty humble ingredient.
To do it in a different way
to make it a little bit fancier,
I'm gonna quickly blanch the cabbage,
warm it with some butter, and let that become
almost like this nice, kind of oozy sauce.
Got this fresh thyme I'm gonna add in there,
and then some dill.
High-end, this is what I do every day at work,
like, I can do this, I can pull this off.
I really want that $25,000.
It's been a really long year,
I'm ready to take my family on a vacation
and go sit on a beach.
These are the GOATs, these are the greatest of all time.
Another echelon of competition.
- You're right. - Champion against champion, against champion.
This is probably the toughest competition of their lives.
[Guy] Two and a half minutes.
Plate, Tobias.
I wanted to make sure that I got red peppers,
asparagus, pâté, chicken thighs and linguini
into the plate, so the judges could make sure
that they got a taste of everything.
The pasta looks delicious.
I didn't want to mix my shrimp into the pasta,
it would get lost. So, to give it a nice pop,
I crossed them and topped my pasta
with the actual shrimp
before I add my asparagus tips.
Laura is in first place, and I'm in second.
I have to step it up, take back my throne.
[Guy] Love the way the store looks,
love the creative new games.
Chefs are playing hard.
Everything else in the dish, it's got a lot of flavor, so I'm looking to use
these heirloom tomatoes as natural as possible.
I'm gonna place the pistou,
and then I've got the different-colored heirloom tomatoes.
Add the fried potatoes with the whammy ingredient,
canned wild mushrooms, that I fried.
And then I top it with perfectly cooked strip
of flat iron steak.
On the side, I put a little cup of the jus
for them to pour over right before they eat it.
[Guy] One minute, chefs.
[Tracey] First thing I do is put
my velvety soubise sauce on the plate.
Then I add my melted cabbage,
my red and purple radish,
then I add my sliced pork tenderloin,
then my apple relish.
[Guy] Five, four, three, two, one.
- And that's it, chefs. - Woo-hoo!
- [Guy] Nicely done, everybody. - Hands up.
[Aarti] Great job!
What a battle, one hour?
It's high time to present your high-end dishes
to the judges. Follow me right this way.
Judges, our chefs had one hour to create
a comfort appetizer and a high-end entrée.
The appetizer competition was fierce.
Chef Laura came in first with 48,
and Chef Tobias was not far behind with a 46,
and Chef Tracey nipping at their heels with a 41.
But it all comes down to the final dish,
one high-scoring high-end entrée can turn this thing around.
Chef Tobias, you're first. What did you make for us?
So, today I made a shrimp and chicken linguine.
Got my pâté so I diced up my pâté and threw it in here.
And I finished it off with some grilled asparagus.
The plating is a knockout.
I mean, you murdered this. This is beautiful.
I've been eating pasta as a comfort food almost every day of my life.
And to elevate it to a high-end dish
is very difficult, but you absolutely nailed it here.
The single asparagus spear on here
lets me know that you were thinking about some garnish, it gives it a little color.
I also like the way, for that appetizer,
you gave us this crispy, crunchy chicken,
and then now you've pulled the skin off
and you've given us this sort of silky, tender chicken.
So, I love that you've given us
two personalities out of the same protein.
My shrimp are perfectly cooked,
and I like a lot, surprisingly,
the liverwurst Alfredo. [chuckles]
Actually, gives it some richness and some depth of flavor.
You turned it into a friend, not a foe. Good job.
The one thing that I thought was missing out
of your shop was some sort of bright, acidic ingredient.
And I think, for me, that's what's missing here.
Something fresh to balance out all the richness
- that's here in this plate. - Thank you.
Up next, chef Laura. What do you have for us?
So, for my high-end dinner,
I did a grilled marinated flat iron steak
with a cilantro pistou,
some very lightly seasoned layer of fresh avocado
and heirloom tomatoes,
crispy fried fingerling potatoes
and canned wild mushrooms,
and then it's a pindjur
that you can pour over the top of your steak.
I think it's absolutely brilliant how you spun
the same ingredients from a soup
to what I consider a very high-end meal.
You could almost call this a deconstructed version of your soup.
- True. - The way you pulled everything out,
treated it really nicely, I think it's great.
I love the plating touch of putting that pindjur on the side.
Crispy bits of fried mushrooms, really nice.
The herbal sauce, which feels a little bit like a chimichurri
or something like that in that vein,
did an amazing job of adding a flavor
to a cut of beef that can be a little livery.
[Aarti] There's so much flavor here, in your dish.
It left me longing for a little sweetness and a little refreshment,
and, for me, that's what the tomato did.
That tomato, I think I maybe understand
what you're trying to do there,
but leaving it alone like that,
I would've loved to see you do something
with the tomato other than just seasoning it and putting it on the plate.
[Aarti] One thing I will say, since it's supposed to be a high-end dinner,
I would've chosen a plate that made it feel
like a pearls and lipsticks kind of dinner.
True, true.
All right, not to be outdone,
Chef Tracey, what do you have for us?
[Tracey] I've got pork tenderloin
with a charred onion and mushroom soubise,
melted cabbage, some roasted radish
and some sweet and sour apples.
My extra ingredient was the mushrooms,
and I incorporated that in my soubise.
This is what I would call an incredibly beautiful composed dish.
Looks like a plate with several kinds of colored gems on it.
And it tastes a lot like that as well.
Sort of like artwork.
[Aaron] This is like out of a magazine,
I think it's beautiful.
My pork tenderloin is cooked perfectly.
One of the things that makes a dish high-end
is showing off your technique,
and you are showing it off here.
There's just so much technique,
so you nailed high-end.
I don't love that you kind of hated the canned mushrooms.
In the soubise, it was maybe a little bit of a shortcut
to just throw it on the soubise and call it a day.
So, I don't know about the gameplay there.
Thank you.
Well, thank you, chefs. What a battle, huh?
If last week wasn't enough,
now we drag in and give it to you again.
The judges need to deliberate and score.
The chef with the highest combined score
for both their appetizer and their entrée
will be declared the champion.
We're gonna send you back to the kitchens,
we'll call you when we have the result. Thank you.
- [Laura] Thank you very much, you guys. - Thank you.
[Laura] Good job, you guys.
Well, judges, the question is,
which dish would you pay $25,000 to eat again?
Lots going on. You threw a lot at them.
It is so tight.
As high-end as I've seen at Flavortown Market.
Well, chefs, thank you very much.
I'll tell you what.
You really crushed it, congratulations.
- Very well done. - [Laura] Thank you very much.
Let's take a look at the scores.
Chef Tracey in the bottom with 41.
Let's take a look at your numbers.
16, 18, 9, 43, up two points,
with a score of...
84.
Tobias gets
18, 18, 9, 45. Congratulations.
Tobias, 91. Well done.
Laura, you got the extra point
because your appetizer rocked the house.
You're gonna need to have a 43 or higher to beat Tobias.
Let's take a look here.
18,
17...
7, for a 42.
A one-point difference.
Ladies and gentlemen, chef Tobias wins.
[applause]
[Rocco] Congratulations.
Tobias, congratulations.
Laura, I mean, just edged out a little bit.
Both Tracey and Laura,
congratulations to the two of you.
We really appreciate you being here.
- Yeah, give him a hug! - [laughter]
Congratulations. You deserve it, dude.
[Tracey] Dude, congratulations.
I'm bummed about not winning.
But I always have a good time,
and this was by far the most challenging games
I've ever played in Flavortown.
- [Laura] Thank you. - Bravo.
- [Tracey] Thank you all very much. - Good job.
[Aarti] Really good job.
Yes, this is my first time walking out as a loser,
but I got to be a part of this
amazing grand re-opening tournament.
Like, I'm nothing but grateful.
Ladies and gentlemen, give it up to Chef Tobias.
- [applause] - [Aarti] Whoo-hoo.
Tobias!
We've known you for a long time.
And we've seen you grow on this show quite a bit.
And I don't think we've ever seen any amount
of emotion as we're seeing right now.
I lost my best friend last year,
that helped me get to where I am right now.
- What's your friend's name? - Solo.
- Love the name. - He was always with me
in everything I've been to.
I think Solo has been taking care of you today,
had been riding shotgun.
Definitely.
Let's talk about how to win some money.
This is something totally new.
We have different ways that you can win your money now.
We have a recipe game,
and we have a big fat check sitting behind those doors
for anywhere between $10,000 and $20,000.
The recipe game, you have an opportunity
to win up to $25,000.
I will read you the ten ingredients
in that recipe
and you have to go around the store
and find those ingredients.
That's $2,500 per ingredient.
Let's go, baby.
- So, go recipe? - Yeah.
[Aaron] Yeah!
-You got it, buddy. You got it. You got it. -Good choice.
Let's go and reveal the check.
16,000 bucks.
I think we can do better than 16,000 bucks.
So, let's take a look at this.
This is the recipe shopping spree for a lobster thermidor.
Lobster, shallots, seafood stock, heavy cream,
lemon, parmesan cheese, white wine, parsley,
dried tarragon leaves and strong English mustard.
And that's $2,500 per ingredient.
You have to get each one of them in order.
- How long I got? - [Rocco] Easy, you got it.
- Two minutes. - Two minutes?
- [Aaron] You got this. - He's off!
- [Aarti] Go, go, go, Tobias! - [Guy] He's already flying.
I'm fast, and I can get around a store better than a lot of people.
- Yeah! - [Aarti] $2,500!
[Guy] Next, it's the shallots.
[Tobias] Shallots.
- Seafood stock. - [Aaron] Let's go!
[Tobias] Seafood stock.
- 7,500 bucks! - [Aaron] Let's go!
Come on, Tobias!
- Yes, he's got the heavy cream! - Heavy cream, yes!
[Guy] Lemon. 12,500. Parmesan cheese.
[Tobias] When I'm do open my next restaurant,
my next restaurant will be called Solo.
Yes, oh, my gosh!
[Guy] White wine, there we go.
Parsley. Looking for parsley,
45 seconds still. Parsley.
- Yes! - [Tobias] That's 20K towards solo.
Thank God I didn't go for that check.
Dried tarragon leaves.
- Spice aisle. - [Aaron] Tobias, come on!
[panting]
- [Tobias] Tarragon... - Last one,
strong English mustard.
Oh, my gosh! He just has one more!
Come on, Tobias, you got this.
[panting]
[Tobias] Strong?
[Guy] Just start grabbing mustards.
[all laugh]
In five, four, three...
- Come on! - [Tobias] I got it.
- I got it. - ...one... That's it!
- [all cheer] - Oh, my gosh!
[Guy] There you have it!
[Tobias] I got all 25K.
This win is definitely for Solo.
Our buddy Tobias rolls in for the re-opening
of GGG Flavortown Market, and takes us for 25K?
That's how you get it done!
We'll see you next week. Adiós.
[Aarti] Amazing!