Shh. The secret is out.
Vegetables aren't just good for you,
they taste good too.
But in the right hands, they could taste amazing.
That's a delicious dish.
So tonight I've invited all-star chefs
to join in an all vegetarian competition.
Let's see if they can meet our meatless challenge...
See how I get this party started, man. Ooh.
and serve up great plant-based plates
while playing our crazy games.
Get ready for the first ever four-way station swap.
- What? - No.
[laughs]
It's all-start vegetarian right now
on Guy's Grocery Games.
You're gonna love this one.
Let's meet our vegetable-loving
all-star chefs.
Now, first up, renowned restaurateur
known for Korean barbeque, OMG, it's Chef Chris Oh.
[Chris] Korean barbeque isn't all about just meat.
We have all those dishes,
all those puncheon, those green side dishes.
Those are all vegetables, so...
I am going to teach Guy a lesson in Veggie 101.
- Looking good, heavy hitter. - What's up? What's up?
White crocs? That's the look.
Next, acclaimed chef, The Ninja herself,
Chef Nyesha Arrington.
I am a conduit of Mother Nature,
and I'm here to celebrate and spread love through food.
Part of Nyesha is like running
through the farmer's market
or like fields of lavender
and then she's also like a ninja assassin.
Hi-yah. [laughs]
There's just kind of two sides to me.
I don't know without the warrior buns.
Let's see... What things are changing?
Then there's season one Tournament of Champions winner
who always curates her menus
with a focus on seasonal produce,
the one and only B-Dub, Chef Brooke Williamson.
I wouldn't say I'm an expert at vegetarian food
but I do feel like I'm an expert in vegetables.
Every dish of mine starts with produce.
Ta-da. There she goes.
And, finally, successful restaurateur
and partner in the largest
plant-based online grocery store,
The Superman himself, Chef Darnell Ferguson.
People don't know that I'm an expert
in vegetarian cuisine.
In addition to all my restaurants,
I just became a partner with the largest
online plant-based grocery stores.
I'm here to show that vegetarian food
can be just as delicious as any cuisine.
I know that intro. I know that intro.
There was a time when eating your vegetables
was just something that parents said to kids.
You gotta eat your vegetables.
And now eating your vegetables is a worldwide movement.
So, tonight, the four of you
are gonna show us how delicious
and super versatile vegetables can be...
in a one-hour battle.
- One hour? - Yes.
You see I'm giving you one hour
to make two totally different
produce-based courses
at the same time.
The chef with the highest combined score
for both dishes will get a chance to shop
Flavortown Market for up to $20,000.
For your two vegetarian courses,
I really want you to show the range
of vegetarian cooking by making the judges
a classic bar appetizer
- and a fine dining dish. - Hmm.
Those appetizers have to be delivered within 25 minutes.
Once you get done with that appetizer,
you'll continue to cook your entree.
So it's seamless.
You don't have to stop. All right.
I want you to express your full bandwidth
of your talents.
And speaking of express,
we're gonna play the game that every shopper loves
in Flavortown Market.
We're gonna pray-- We're gonna pray.
- You should be praying. - [Brooke] We are.
- Already doing that. - We're gonna pray
and we're gonna play Express Lane.
- Yay! - [Guy makes sound]
You have to make both courses using...
- Oh, no. - 15 ingredients.
- Seventeen. - These four...
No, you're not getting 17 of anything.
So you have one hour to make two courses,
a classic bar appetizer and a fine dining dish,
using only 15 ingredients.
I'm just reminding three of you
are gonna lose the two-course challenge.
One person is gonna go where?
Uh, excuse me. Excuse me. Excuse me. Excuse me.
[laughs]
Coming around.
Today, we get to play Express Lane,
which I've always wanted to play.
This is a 60-minute cook.
I can only shop for fifteen ingredients for two dishes.
A classic bar appetizer.
And a fine dining second course dish.
This is triple G vegetarian.
Oh, my gosh. So difficult.
I love French fries,
but I was like anybody can make a French fry.
So for my bar starter,
what if I make them mushroom fries?
Beer battered with an avocado aioli,
but instead of using eggs,
I'm going to use cashews to bring
that textural element into this dipping sauce.
- [Guy] Hello. - [Nyesha] Hi. [chuckles]
Fine dining is about precision, right,
and detail-orientated and focused,
and you almost have to sort of be like a robot.
Excuse me.
I see this amazing savoy cabbage,
and boom. For my fine dining dish,
I'm going to make a cabbage roulade
with a wellness broth.
I wanna bring anti-inflammatory
ingredients into this.
I want this to be healthy and also delicious.
[Darnell] Oh, fresh mozzarella?
There's some right back there, Chef.
- You just passed it up. - [makes sound]
You have burrata right here. You have bufalino in the back.
When I hear classic bar starter,
I think fried.
These would be perfect.
Because all great bar starters are fried.
So for my classic bar starter,
I'm going mozzarella sticks
with marinara sauce and Alfredo.
When I think of fine dining dinner,
I think high execution,
bring your A-game or don't even show up.
Where the hell is cauliflower?
Where would I get it? Not over here, obviously.
And I'm a super chef and I'm here to show people
how to turn vegetables from simple to super.
For my fine dining dinner,
I'm gonna do a chimichurri roasted
cauliflower with a butternut squash puree,
a mushroom ragu, and fried mozzarella on top.
Magnifico.
This is a 60-minute cook.
Sixty minutes seems like a long time,
but when you gotta make two meals,
it's not really that much time.
And we have to shop.
I've been in Flavortown long enough to know
that you have to cross-utilize.
But I'm not gonna tell the other chefs that.
That's my shortcut.
Let's get to cooking.
[chuckles] We're going.
I have to make two dishes with only fifteen ingredients.
Tortillas. That's a drop in the bucket.
My Korean barbeque sauce alone has 45 ingredients.
No. No. So when I'm at the bar,
you know, I want something salty, hot,
handheld, delicious. So for my bar appetizer,
I'm thinking immediately Korean barbeque beef tacos.
But for today, we're swapping out
the beef for some mushroom.
Sorry.
Mushrooms could be meaty.
You can actually disguise mushrooms as meat.
Bring it on in. Sure.
Fine dining to me is just recreating
an elevated comfort classic.
It's just taking high-end ingredients,
high level technique and plating
and making comfort food super fancy,
but charge like $150 for it.
Say what... That's what fine dining is.
Let's go to the ethnic aisle.
So for my fine dining dish...
Ta-da. All right.
I'm giving the judges a ultimate fine dining
Korean barbeque vegetarian experience.
[chuckles]
I don't know where anything is in this place.
What are you looking for, Chef?
- I'm your personal shopper. - Pine nuts.
- Right behind you, Chef. - Thank you. That's amazing.
Pine nuts are right here.
Oh, my God. Amazing.
Today, we're only playing one game.
We have to make two dishes.
But we only get one opportunity to shop.
I don't love this idea.
Would you like me to keep coming with you?
I'd stick right with you, Chef.
Okay. Really?
I mean, only if you're gonna keep up though.
Classic bar starters to me are something
that make you want to drink more.
I'm thinking fried cauliflower
with chickpea ranch.
Garbanzos. Garbanzos.
This is kind of what I crave when I sit down at a bar,
as long as it's really good.
And ranch to me is like the perfect condiment.
- Guy, where's tahini? - Right here, Chef.
- I've been waiting for you. - [Brooke] Oh, my God.
I love you. I love you. Thank you.
What else can I get for you? What's my next item?
[Brooke] I don't know.
I also have to make a fine dining dish.
I grab some Japanese eggplants.
Eggplant will take on a lot of flavors.
So I'm gonna make roasted eggplant
with sweet and sour pine nuts
and a radish top hummus and a little pickley salad.
I have judged here in Flavortown,
and I may be the TOC Champ,
but this will be my first time competing
at Guy's Grocery Games.
This is a whole different planet.
There are people who have competed here
multiple times.
That is not the situation that I'm in.
I don't feel the most comfortable in this kitchen.
[intense music playing]
There's so much unpacking.
Thirteen minutes left to make this appetizer.
I can't even get my head around this right now.
This is a really difficult challenge.
[intense music playing]
So here to discuss our vegetarian super battle
is our super panel of judges.
An award-winning food writer who has been
thrown out of countless salad bars,
the one and only Troy "The Boy" Johnson.
Food Network star who literally wrote the book
on vegetarian-based Southern cooking...
Wait a second. She did write a vegetarian book.
The one and only Damaris Phillips.
Six-time James Beard Award-winning author
and internationally acclaimed restaurateur...
Can I tell you any more about him?
He's the one and only Marcus Samuelsson.
In 25 minutes, the bar snack bar appetizer,
it's gotta be great.
To take high-end in 15 ingredients,
my mind hurts.
[Damaris] It's so hard to do in this amount of time.
All righty. Let's see how we get
this party started, man.
Mozzarella sticks are the perfect classic
bar starter because there's almost no bar
you can walk into that doesn't have it on the menu.
We got two sauce that I need to really get
kicking on right now.
I think mozzarella sticks need
Alfredo sauce because everyone's
not a fan of marinara.
Some people like a little change-up.
And that's what I'm here for, the change-up.
For my Alfredo sauce, I get my garlic,
my onions going. I put little butter,
my flour. There we go.
My heavy cream.
Then I grate some parmesan cheese
and let it start boiling.
Put salt. How you doing, Brooke?
I'm great. How are you? Oh, fantastic.
If I can find, uh, a can opener,
I'll be even better.
Now it's time to focus on my tomato sauce.
People think vegetarian food is all about less flavor,
no fat, but you could still add
those things to your cooking.
- Oh, fantastic. - Okay, Nyesha.
If you wanna get a lesson in competition cooking,
watch Chef Nyesha.
Look at this, she lays out her equipment.
I mean, she really is a disciplinarian.
In this hour cook, we have to make a bar starter
and a fine dining second course dish.
It's a lot. It's a lot. This is too much.
For my vegetarian bar starter,
I am going to make beer-battered
mushroom fries with an avocado-cashew aioli.
For my mushrooms,
I don't need to do much to them.
Portobellos are very, very delicious on their own.
So I get my mushrooms into my beer batter
and I get them in the fryer.
I just think, "Oh, you hear a vegetarian challenge
and we're gonna get a bunch of salads." No.
Vegetarian food actually can be rich.
It can be filly. Not just all like rabbit food.
[producer speaking]
Uh, it's gonna be Korean barbeque tacos.
The first thing I do is work on my marinade
for the mushrooms for the tacos
which has soy sauce, sugar,
sesame oil, garlic, and some water.
Korean barbeque is sweet, salty, tangy, spicy.
Get that marinade in. Bright.
So we'll take all those flavors
and put them into these mushrooms.
So just like the perfectly-grilled
Korean barbeque beef,
I'm doing the same thing with the mushrooms.
I'm looking for that char,
that caramelization on the grill.
Just deliciousness.
Oh, come on.
I'm gonna do a fried cauliflower,
if I can find what I'm... Where my head is.
For my cauliflower batter, I'm using flour,
cayenne, water.
I really just wanna get these cooked all the way through
so that they're tender inside but crispy on the outside.
[Guy] Eight minutes. Eight to go.
All right. We got to hurry the hell up.
Now, it's time for the star of the show.
My fried mozzarella balls. All righty.
The perfect mozzarella stick has to be creamy inside
but have a nice firm texture with a little bit
of saltiness and cheesiness in there.
So for my breading, I'm using panko,
parmesan cheese, parsley, salt, and pepper.
This is a lot harder than it looks, people.
I've been cooking on triple G long enough to know
that clock is real.
You try doing a one-hour cook with two dishes
and you really can only start cooking your appetizer
with ten minutes left.
- Mushroom fries. - Chef, what, uh...
That's for my guests.
You cannot have bar food without a beer.
Oh, these are for your guests? I'll put the lid back on it.
I think you're... Yeah. It's a life rule.
So while my mushrooms are frying,
I'm going to start on my avocado aioli.
But instead of using eggs, I'm going to use cashews.
Cashews are perfect in adding creamy texture.
I add water. I toss that into the blender
and I start to blend that down
with a little bit of olive oil
and some red wine vinegar.
In my food processor,
I'm going to place my avocado,
my red white vinegar, and my miso paste.
Get that processed.
I'm going to marry the two together
to make the most delicious sauce in the world.
[sighs]
[Chris] While my mushrooms are on the grill,
I'm gonna work on my kimchi mayo.
What I'm looking is a nice,
funky, creamy, delicious sauce.
I like that Chris Oh pickled up some onions for it.
- [Troy] Yeah. - That's so nice.
[sighs] That's hot.
[Brooke] My cauliflower comes out of the fryer.
It looks crispy and delicious.
I'm gonna work on my garbanzo ranch.
I got tahini.
It's good when they're snack at the bar.
They're sort of salty and little bit greasy.
You should feel a little bit guilty
eating a classic bar snack.
[Guy] Two minutes. Two to go.
[Darnell] Now, it's time to get started on plating.
I put my marinara sauce in the bottom.
My fried mozzarella balls on top.
I see that the batter's breaking off a little bit.
It looks nice and crispy,
but you could see a little bit too much cheese.
And then I just spoon a little bit of the Alfredo
just so they can get enough.
For the bar starter, I'm plating my radish salad,
and then I add my garbanzo ranch sauce,
and, last but not least,
the fried cauliflower.
[Guy] One minute, chefs.
My 25 minutes, it's coming down to the wire,
and I know that I need to get this mushroom fries
out of the fryer, season them, and get them
in these fryer baskets as quick as possible.
I placed my aioli in my ramekin.
I know that I need to get these mushroom fries
in their vessels.
Done. Did it. Happy with it. Guy, take it away.
[Chris] I put down those nice grilled tortillas.
A spoonful of the kimchi mayo,
my barbequed mushrooms, some avocado,
and those perfectly pickled onions.
I would eat this. I wish I had one right now.
[Guy] Five, four, three, two, one.
- [Troy] Yes. - Chefs, that's it.
- Stop working. - Yeah!
Well done, guys.
[Damaris] Great job, everybody.
We continue cooking?
[Brooke] I'm gonna keep cooking.
[Guy] Continue on with your dish.
Now, they've got 35 minutes to get the entree done.
This, I think, might be one of the most difficult
competition we've put together.
[intense music playing]
[Guy] I've challenged the chefs to a one-hour
vegetarian two-course super battle.
The chefs are still hard at work on their entree.
First up is the bar snack.
Judges, remember,
you get 20 points available in gameplay,
20 points available in tastes,
and 10 points available in their plating.
I'm excited to see what you're gonna get, chefs.
So excited.
Oh, it's right there. Oh, my goodness.
[Guy] Chef Darnell,
front and center to the judges.
[Damaris] This looks great.
[Marcus] Yours did. Not mine.
Well, I got to comment on mine.
[Damaris] Oh, no.
- [Marcus] What? - Chef. What's happening?
What do you have for 'em?
Mozzarella. Fried mozzarella sticks.
- Fried mozzarella balls. - Very good.
I felt like mozzarella sticks when I go to bars.
It's a happy appetizer, so I wanted to play off that,
with marinara sauce. Got a little bit of Alfredo,
which I kind of like to go with my fried cheese.
Uh, sorry. You only got one. It was in the basket.
I apologize about that.
Fantastic. Thank you, Chef. Back to cooking.
- [screams] - Troy, what do you think?
Darnell goes to fancy bars. That is a beautiful plate.
I love the fact that he did those two sauces.
That tomato sauce is really nice and light and refreshing.
His fry didn't quite stick together.
[Damaris] I thought the crunch was delicious.
And the sweetness of the tomato sauce
balances really, really well.
I didn't get a lot of mozzarella on mine,
so I got a little different dish.
But delicious.
All righty.
Where am I at in life? [screams]
I wish I had a little more time to properly
sell my dish to the judges.
But there's a lot of going on right now.
For my fine dining dish,
I'm doing a cauliflower steak.
You can cook cauliflower just like steak.
Oh, here we go. Stay together. Stay.
[Guy] Chef Nyesha, front and center.
- [Marcus] Wow. - What's up? Okay.
So, guys, you are watching the Super Bowl,
you're in a crowded bar, you're looking for a snack,
but you want it vegetarian, right?
So beer-battered Portobello mushroom fries.
And also you have an avocado-cashew crema
to dip your beautiful Portobello mushroom fries in.
I hope you enjoy your first course experience.
That is a delicious dish.
[Marcus] I love this Japanese play on it.
This one nails the like bar food feel,
especially even in the plating.
Okay. Anything we didn't like about it?
- It's a little greasy. - Mine's a little greasy.
- But, you know, it's good.
Not it's time to focus in on my high-end dish.
And it's not a lot of time. I mean,
we get these short cook times.
Okay, Nyesha.
I'm going to make a cabbage roulade.
- You done, Chris? - Yes. Thank you.
And, Guy... Hello, everyone.
Thank you for coming today.
My name's Guy and I'll be bringing over your...
- Thank you very much. - Thank you.
- I like it. - [Troy hums]
- Thank you so... - Take a look, Troy.
[Troy hums]
[Damaris] Okay.
This is my take on the classic Los Angeles
Korean barbeque taco. It's soy,
marinated mushrooms, grilled kimchi aioli,
pickled onions,
a little avocado creaminess to like give it
a nice little creaminess.
- And that's it. - Great, chef. Back to work.
- Enjoy. Thank you. - I love this bite.
- It's really delicious. - I thought it was delicious.
- Yeah. - Really got the acid, power.
The char and the tang and the way he's able
to imitate that barbeque flavor
in a vegetarian dish in like 15, 20 minutes...
[Damaris] Doesn't really seem like an appetizer to me.
It's the only thing that is a negative for me.
Now, it's time to focus on the fine dining
Korean barbeque dish.
I have multiple components for this dish,
so it's a lot in an hour.
The first thing I do is pickle my daikon.
I'm gonna get them into the same pickling liquid
that I used in my bar appetizer.
So that's that.
[Guy] Let's go. Next round up. TLC Champ,
I need front and center.
I don't remember what I made you.
- Okay. - Um...
- [laughs] - What did I make you?
- Best answer ever. - Okay.
[Guy] Fried cauliflower with the. garbanzo beans hummus.
[Brooke] Fried cauliflower.
It's got a little bit of spiciness.
There's some cayenne. There's some chili oil.
Garbanzo bean, it's not a hummus really
- as much as it is a ranch. - [Guy] I apologize.
- Thank you very much, Chef. - Thank you.
[Guy] What do you think, Chef?
Well, maybe it's not the healthiest
but it's the most delicious.
This is amazing. She's giving out
two different textures.
And plating it, it's just gorgeous.
When I look at this,
I think about bar appetizers 'cause it looks like regret
but tastes like a good decision.
Looks like regret but it tastes like a good decision.
Damaris, this is right up your alley.
Yeah. You know, I like the cauliflower.
It's a little soggy for me.
But I think it's beautiful with the ranch hummus.
Okay.
[Damaris] It looks nice. It's real pretty.
Boy, you got a good job today.
- Yeah. - Mmm-mmm.
[Guy] All right, judges.
Let's total off those scores and get them on the board.
[Brooke] If all I had to do was create a classic
bar snack in 25 minutes, it wouldn't be difficult.
But that's not the only thing I have to do.
For my fine dining dish, I'm gonna make roasted
Japanese eggplant.
I'm gonna start the eggplant in the fryer
to get a good sear on the outside,
and then I'm gonna season it and finish it off in the oven.
Attention, chefs.
The scoring is in for the first round.
[intense music playing]
Attention, chefs.
The scoring is in for the first round
Woo! Woo!
In a score of 40, Chris Oh, 41,
Darnell, 41,
Chef Brooke.
Nyesha with a 42.
Woo!
Oh.
I'm taking bets. I'm taking bets.
Chef Nyesha, would you like, Chef,
$1,000 or one point out of your score?
I'll take the point.
The one point?
Wow. I didn't see that coming.
I'm definitely taking that one point.
One point can mean win or lose.
[whistles]
[Guy] Chefs, stop working.
Now, you know, how much I love
and appreciate you, okay?
The clock is not running right now.
But I want to let you know this is one
of the most difficult competitions ever,
and get ready for the first-ever
four-way station swap.
What?
- [chuckles] - No.
[Damaris] Yeah.
[Guy] You are all gonna rotate to the left.
You are an evil, evil man.
- Are you serious? - I am not.
- Oh, my God. - There you go. Okay.
[laughs]
I do want you to know that we have
one more challenge for you.
I am going to allow you to shop for anything else
you want that is vegetarian.
You bring them over to the scale.
Hunter will be here. You get to weigh.
It has to be exactly 1.5 pounds.
The clock starts again right now.
- Let's go. - [man] Woo!
- That way. - Lettuce, this, rice.
There. There.
My head goes directly toward onions.
Onions have flavor.
- What do you got? - Two onions?
Onions? Here we go.
- Thank you. - That's good.
-One and a half. That's good. -Thank you.
My goal is to add flavor to my dish in any way,
shape, or form.
Where is balsamic vinegar?
We have a game on a game
on top of another dish on top of another dish.
I mean, come on, Guy.
It's not like we're already struggling or anything,
so why not just add another challenge on top of it?
[Hunter] Vegetable or vegetarian?
- Okay. Yeah. - All right.
- But I have to use this all? - Good. Yup.
No. You don't have to use all of it.
- You have to be able to use it. - No, vegetarian flavor,
is it vegetable or just vegetarian?
Vegetarian means vegetables, son.
I'm saying can they only grab vegetables or can
they grab balsamic vinegars or something like that?
Well, balsamic vinegar would also be vegetarian.
Okay. Never mind. You're not getting what I'm asking.
I'm trying to be a good player,
- okay? It seems... - Do you see what's going on here?
This is when you're gonna get written out.
What's gonna make sense with cabbage?
It's almost like it's a good reset,
right, to be able to like walk away
from your station, go back to the produce aisle,
let the vegetables talk to you and check in with you,
see how you're doing.
Like, "Hey, guys, I'm good."
And then the carrot's like, "Hey, pick me."
And I'm like, "Okay, come join the party."
And I'm picking peas and carrots
that might be a vibe.
And I'm also gonna get turmeric for my broth.
So I was stoked about that actually.
- [Hunter] What do we got? - We got peas and carrots.
- [Hunter] Okay. - [Guy] There you go.
- [Hunter] Nice. - Thank you.
Can I grab the same of what I had before?
- [Guy] No. - Okay.
Uh, furikake.
I grab some furikake.
It's a Japanese seasoning with nori and sugar
and sesame seeds. It's a flavor bomb.
So, yeah. What do we got here?
All right. Cool. Just...
- All right. Have fun. - Thank you.
Yes.
Hi. We're doing fancy Korean barbeque full-on dinner.
So for my fine dining dish, I'm giving the judges
a ultimate fine dining Korean
barbeque vegetarian experience.
Ooh.
So I gotta make a new marinade for my mushrooms.
When you make Korean barbeque, you got your meat.
You got your sides. You got your sauces.
Korean barbeque is like choose your own adventure.
Let's go.
I wanna get the marinade into the mushrooms
early into the cook so I can get that marinade
to permeate into those mushrooms.
All right. So that's gonna marinate.
Can't have Korean barbeque without a sauce.
So I'm making a sauce called ssamjang.
Gochujang, sesame oil,
some doenjang, some sugar, and some garlic to give it
a nice umami bomb.
What kind of dish is it gonna be?
I'm gonna stuff some savoy cabbage with lentil,
brown rice, and quinoa filling.
Got it.
For my fine dining dish, I'm going to make
a cabbage roulade with a wellness broth.
I wanna bring some anti-inflammatory
ingredients into this, garlic, ginger, turmeric.
While my broth is developing flavors,
I need to start working on my filling.
I get my garlic and ginger into the pan and get
that sauteed to be the base of my flavor
for my beautiful gravy.
So hard to think of a high-end vegetarian dish.
Maybe risotto. Like, a mushroom risotto.
Mmm-mmm.
- Super beautiful and high-end. - Beautiful.
Thank you very much. With some shaved truffles.
That's about it.
[Darnell] So for my fine dining dish, I'm doing
a chimichurri roasted cauliflower.
I put it in a squash puree and mushroom ragu
in this perfectly deep fried mozzarella stick on the top.
Boom.
That's cross-utilizing at its best.
First, I wanna start my mushroom ragu.
The mushroom ragu by itself isn't fine dining,
but it's the level of flavors that really turns
it into a fine dining dish.
I use that marinara sauce I made in the first round.
I finish it with that balsamic vinegar and add
a whole another level of flavor
that I'm really looking for.
Good.
Now, it's time to my butternut squash puree.
So I'm boiling my butternut squash off first
to get a little tender, and then I put it in a pot
with my heavy cream, my sage.
Now, I put that sauce inside of my blender
and just let it go.
Next, I need to work on my cauliflower steak.
Cauliflowers are great to make into steaks
because you can cook it almost the same exact way
and it'll give similar textures.
It's not just cauliflower anymore.
Can I get a cleanup on aisle five?
For my fine dining dish, I'm gonna make
roasted Japanese eggplant with a toasted pine nut,
toasted sesame seed mixture, pickley cauliflower salad,
and an herbaceous radish top hummus.
When my eggplant comes out of the fryer,
I'm gonna take my ranch sauce from the appetizer round
and baste the top of my eggplant with it.
Next, I wanna work on my pickley cauliflower salad.
Just mix some more stuff.
Fine dining, it's all about attention to detail
like pomegranate seeds, which are gonna give it
a sort of sweet pop of brightness.
They gotta hurry.
Y'all, this is even tougher than it seems.
[intense music playing]
[Guy] I do think for a modern chef today in America,
you just have to know your vegetarian food.
- [Damaris] Absolutely. - You cannot not know it.
[Chris] Now, that my Korean barbecue mushrooms
have been marinating, I'm gonna get them
on the grill and get a nice char and nice
smoky flavor to it.
What is this that I wanna bottle and wanna
- be buried with? - [Chris] Ssamjang.
- Absolutely. - [Guy] Unbelievable.
- [Chris] Thank you. - Oh, that's good.
[Chris] Now, I'm gonna work on my perfectly
microwaved rice, which I'm gonna throw
some sesame oil and some furikake,
and give it a nice depth of flavor.
If I win that money, I'm gonna share the wealth.
You know, a lot of my homies got restaurants
that are struggling.
So I'm just gonna throw it out.
Throw it to my homies.
Spend it like it's going out of style.
What's your dish is gonna be?
I'm gonna stuff some savoy cabbage with a beautiful
curing elixir of ginger and turmeric
and a vegetable broth base so that it'll be like nice
and orange and vibrant.
How are you gonna make this soup high-end?
Very easily.
You'll see, Guy. Just you wait.
All the hard work's done. The filling's delicious.
The broth is delicious. My cabbage is blanched.
So now it's about bringing all of this home, right?
I pull the rib out of my cabbage so I can
get these beautifully perfect sheets.
So what I'm aiming to achieve is a flat layer
of cabbage leaves so that I can fill it.
Look at what Nyesha's working on over there.
[Marcus] Cabbage rolls?
[Damaris] Oh, I love cabbage rolls.
They're one of my very favorite dishes.
[Nyesha] I think a great fine dining dish
is all about precision.
If I win the money today,
I'm donating it to Hank's Market.
They're really doing a fantastic job about
bringing healthful wellness to inner cities.
I am the messiest person at Guy's Grocery.
[chuckles] I can't even cook.
Was there an explosion?
[Darnell] Yes.
[Guy] I feel like you should wear a hazmat suit.
What's on the menu, bud?
- Chimichurri cauliflower... - [Guy] Cauliflower?
with a mushroom ragu and a butternut squash puree.
And, yeah, I got something else.
I'm bringing back my mozzarella stick,
but I'm gonna do it a lot better.
So I'm gonna use a different type of mozzarella cheese,
a string cheese, and I'm just gonna go
from flour to wet mix to my bread crumb mixture
that I still have left from the first round.
I've judged before, so if I was judging this,
I would think that was a smart
use of the ingredients
'cause this is all about using
those 15 ingredients over again.
If I was a judge, I'll say, "Darnell,
you're doing a great job,
fantastic job cross-utilizing."
But that's just me.
Parsley, cilantro.
So now it's time to make this chimichurri.
A little vinegar.
So if I win today, like this money is gonna go
to my favorite charity, my kids.
Sure, I want the prize money, but to get a win over Brooke,
Nyesha, and Chris, I mean,
that's something to talk about.
There we go.
[Brooke] I pulled my eggplant from the oven.
It's looking beautiful.
This dish has kind of become all about the garnishes.
I've used the onion to make crispy onions
that I've coated in corn starch
and a little curry powder.
Same with the chickpeas.
I've used the chickpeas in multiple ways.
One of which is fried.
Fresh tops. A little kale.
I'm gonna turn this... I'm gonna make this green.
What I would love to do if I win some money today
is go out and dine and support
all of my local friends in their restaurants.
Ninety seconds, chefs. Ninety to go.
Oh, my gosh. It's almost over.
So, first, I get my butternut squash puree.
Fine dining is all about precision.
Then I plate my cauliflower steak perfectly on top.
I add the chimichurri glaze on top
of that cauliflower steak.
Next, I place my mushroom ragu
perfectly on top of that cauliflower steak.
Then I delicately place this fried string cheese.
[Brooke] The first thing that's gonna go on the plate
is my radish top hummus.
On top of the hummus is gonna go my roasted
eggplant that's also been topped with those
sweet and sour pine nuts and sesame seeds.
And then next to that, I have my little
pickley cauliflower salad.
This dish feels fine dining to me.
I'm really happy with this dish.
[Guy] One minute.
[Nyesha] Fine dining is all about gorgeous plating.
So I placed my beautifully-sliced
cabbage right in the center of the bowl.
This is a delicate process.
I don't wanna disrupt the beautiful layers.
There's essentially three layers
happening bound by love.
And I ever so delicately place
the broth around my cabbage.
And that's how you do high-end
vegetarian fine dining, baby.
[Guy] Thirty seconds.
[Chris] The first thing I did is put
the lettuce cups and the daikons into a dish.
Then I took the furikake rice and put them
into the bowls.
And I took my ssamjang sauce and put that
into a little dish.
And, lastly, I took my perfectly-roasted
mushrooms and placed them into a cast iron skillet.
I plate like this 'cause it look fancy.
I just gave you a Korean Rolls-Royce on a plate.
[Guy] Five, four...
- [Darnell] Yes. - [Guy] ...three, two, one.
And that's all she wrote, folks.
- [man] Woo! - [Guy] Nicely done.
Wow. What a battle.
All right. Judges,
you've already tried our chefs'
first vegetarian course.
For the second course, they made a fine dining dish.
Up first, Chef Nyesha.
Judges, I invite you to enjoy this as a sort of hearty,
elegant cabbage refined stew.
So go ahead and break down a little bit
that beautiful cabbage roulade.
At the bottom, you have a turmeric and ginger broth.
Nyesha, I can't believe
that you did this in a competition.
The dish is stunning.
And you also hit that sweet spot between
healthy and delicious.
- Mmm-hmm. - It's a beautiful dish.
I especially like that there's three sources
of protein in there, not just one.
You have lentils, you have quinoa,
and you have peas,
so that I can eat this and get my protein.
It's so well done.
If there's one negative I would say,
ginger is a real high note.
It's the treble and it might be a little bit
too trebly for me.
Up next, Chef Darnell. What do you have for us, bud?
[Darnell] It is a chimichurri roasted cauliflower
with a smooth butternut squash puree.
It has a mushroom ragu on top with a fried
piece of mozzarella.
Cauliflower steak is a fantastic main course.
That's the way you turn an unexciting vegetable
into a main entree.
My favorite jam is this ragu on top.
[Chris] Uh-hmm.
That bite is so delicious all the way through.
Instead of the fried mozzarella,
I would have maybe gotten the texture
from a nut or something that would add
a little bit more protein.
It's a very delicious dish.
It's like making me sweat. It's so good.
For real, like my armpits...
- TMI. TMI. - [Damaris] Right there.
All right. TOC Champ,
Chef Brooke, what do you got for us?
Today I have given you a roasted Japanese eggplant.
And then on top of the actual eggplant,
you have crispy garbanzos and fried onions.
Underneath that is that hummus repurposed
a little bit with some added radish tops
and kale to make it a green hummus.
On the side, you have a pickled salad.
I think that's it.
This is visually a gorgeous dish.
I love the most that you've leaned
into celebrating how beautiful vegetables are.
For me, the only thing missing
is I need a carbohydrate to kind of pull
these things together.
Your eggplant, first, I thought it's too soft.
It's a little bit overdone.
It's a little bit too mushy.
But it doesn't matter when it's that flavorful.
I mean, it really almost acts like it contained puree.
The cooking techniques here are amazing.
There's just all textures.
This is like super bright, super fun eat.
Not to be outdone, Chef Chris Oh.
What you guys have here is you have
some gochujang-glazed grilled maitake mushroom.
Then I made a nice little wrap
with the seasoned furikake rice.
No surprise that I love it.
My favorite thing on the whole plate
is the mushrooms because you grilled them
and you got that little crispy texture
and the smoky flavor elevating the meatiness more.
I want it to be plated differently.
If you had put everything together,
it would read a little bit more fine dining.
Even if I'm a carnivore looking
for a carnivore-esque meal, that's it, you know?
If I'm a vegetarian and want something
that has a vegetarian identity,
- that's also it. - This is so damn delicious.
I don't know what to say that is negative of this.
You could just stop right there.
- That's all good. - [Marcus] Yeah.
We're good. We're good. [chuckles]
I will tell you, that was one
of the most impressive rounds I've ever seen here.
We'll call you back when we have a decision.
Thank you. Great job.
[Marcus] Wow.
[Damaris] Great job, y'all.
I just watched something from four totally
- different style chefs. - Yeah.
And what you got a chance to experience
was [makes sound] So score them up there, chefs.
[intense music playing]
Somebody is gonna win.
Let's start here with Chris Oh.
In gameplay, a 16.
Taste, a 19.
Wow. Damn.
Plating, a seven. For a total of 42.
Eighty-two is your score.
It's a good one, man.
Thank you, guys. Thank you.
I haven't seen 19 on that board more
- than a handful of times. - [Nyesha] Wow.
- [Guy] That's big. Nyesha. - Yes?
[Guy] Our leader at 43.
Sixteen in gameplay.
Seventeen in taste.
Eight in plating.
For a forty-one.
Eighty-four as a total.
Okay.
[cheers and applause]
- [Guy] Chef Brooke. - [Brooke] Mmm-hmm.
[Guy] Sixteen in gameplay.
Seventeen in taste. Eight in plating.
For a 41 and a score of 82.
[applause]
Oh, I'm so stressed.
As of now, Nyesha's in the lead.
Darnell, you're gonna need to have a 43 or higher.
Let's take a look.
Eighteen in gameplay.
- [Nyesha] Off the gate. - [Guy] Eighteen in taste.
Eight in plating. For a 44.
- [Chris] Whoa. - [Guy] And an 85.
[cheers and applause]
- Congrats. - [Darnell] Goodness.
Bring it in.
Good job.
Come on. Get over...
[Brooke] He's such a sweaty mess too.
I know it's bittersweet for Nyesha having
such a great lead going into this,
but I have to tell you, today is a truly
memorable day for everybody.
And congratulations.
You just won.
Amazing. Amazing.
- Well done. - [Guy] OMG, B-Dub, Ninja,
thank you very much.
[cheers and applause]
[Nyesha] Someone had to take it home.
And I lost by one point, so it's like
we're just splitting hairs here, really.
So here in Flavortown Market,
we're offering you the Recipe Spree, okay?
And I'll explain that to you.
We have a recipe with 10 ingredients on it.
Creamy vegetarian lasagne.
It is 10 ingredients that you must go and gather
in order in two minutes.
$2,000 per ingredient.
Oh. Okay.
There's the opportunity for a check that could
be worth anywhere from $8,000 to $20,000.
So what is it gonna be?
Is it gonna be Recipe Spree or do you wanna go
for the check?
I'm gonna do the Recipe Spree.
Yeah. Absolutely.
Let's go just take a look real quick
at the check that's behind the door.
$16,000.
No. No. Wait. He could do better.
Darnell, if there's anybody that can get $20,000,
- it's you. - He's gonna get $20,000.
First thing you are looking for is fresh basil.
- [Damaris] Go, go, go. - Whenever you're ready.
- Go, go, go, go, go. - [Damaris] Go, Darnell.
Fast. He's taken...
It took him four seconds to get across this door.
Right after fresh basil,
we'll be looking for shredded mozzarella.
Shredded mozzarella, Chef.
- [Tony] Shredded mozz. - [Damaris] Shredded mozzarella.
Shredded mozzarella is another $2,000.
[Guy] Then were looking for frozen chopped spinach.
- [Damaris] Come on. - Frozen chopped spinach.
[Damaris] Frozen chopped spinach.
[Guy] Ninety seconds left. Frozen chopped spinach.
[Marcus] Go, D. You got it.
- You got it. - Got it.
$6,000.
[Guy] Lasagna noodles. Lasagna noodles.
Next, we're looking for whole milk ricotta.
- Whole milk ricotta. - Whole milk ricotta.
Come on. Do it.
I'm nervous. Come on.
I know. Me too. He's gotta get over $16,000.
- Oh, there you go. - [Guy] Great. Garlic.
$10,000. Come on.
[Guy] He just... He just jump the cart.
You know where that is.
He is flying. Thirty seconds.
Canned crushed tomatoes.
Got it.
[Guy] Okay. Looking for eggs.
- [Damaris] Eggs. Eggs. - [Marcus] Go get it.
- [Guy] Twenty seconds left. - [Damaris] Come on.
- [Marcus] Go. - [Guy] Twenty seconds.
- [Damaris] Come on. - [Marcus] Go, D.
- [Damaris] Come on. - [Marcus] Yes. Yes.
Next, freshly-grated parmesan.
- Ten seconds. - [Damaris] Come on. Come on.
[Guy] Ten, nine, eight, seven, six...
- Yeah. - Woo!
$18,000.
That's a win for me and a win for my kids.
Tell me what, this guy a champ or what?
The best. We'll see next week on triple G.
-Adios. -[Damaris] Woo! Congratulations.