Over the years we've invited the most memorable chefs
from Diners, Drive-ins and Dives
to compete her in Flavor Town.
But, the DDD chefs that have won multiple times
keep coming back for more.
- Yes. - Whoo!
- Ah! - [Guy] Those are the DDD champions.
And tonight, for the very first time,
the top four DDD Champions
are competing in a series of head-to-head battles
to decide who is the ultimate DDD champ.
Here we are in this position again, you and me, huh?
[Guy] The winner will earn bragging rights
and an automatic $15,000.
- Yes. - No way.
- [all applauding] - [all cheering]
DDD champs are coming at you, right now on Guy's Grocery Games.
All right, folks. Let's meet our DDD champs.
Now, first up we have two-time GGG winner,
Chef-owner of the Flagstaff joints Salsa Brava
and Fat Olive,
who always plays for a good cause,
the one and only Chef John Conley.
I've won almost $86,000.
- Chef Felicia and John. - Yeah.
[Guy] One of the highest scorers we've seen in GGG Delivery.
I've given it to special Olympics.
There you go, big man. Looking good.
If I win today, that gives me serious street cred.
Then, there's our three-time winner,
successful restaurateur from Miami to Tampa
and owner of Grateful Hospitality,
this guy's one of a kind. Chef Richard Hales.
[Richard] My first appearance on DDD to my last appearance here on GGG,
I've really grown as a chef.
[Guy] For the win, Chef Richard Hales.
- Thank you. - [applauding]
Looking very nice. Nice, fancy jacket.
My arsenal, my palate, is big.
I came here thinking, don't worry about the win,
focus on the plate.
Next up, Chef-Owner of four, count 'em, four,
popular southern eateries,
who has taken two victory laps around Flavor Town market,
the one and only, Sandwich Paul.
I mean, Panini Pete, Panini Pete.
[Pete] Being a part of the DDD-family is
all fun and games
until we compete against each other in Flavor Town.
Panini Pete.
[Pete] I've won two shows and a total of $20,000.
What was that? [chuckles] What was that?
-Sandwich Paul, good luck... oh, Panini Pete. -It's good to see...
- [chuckles] - I get it wrong. I know it's
Sandwich Paul, not Panini Pete.
And finally, ladies and gentlemen,
Chef and Co-owner of the North-Cal, Wine Country Restaurant Catelli's,
who has won GGG
six times,
the record holder,
Domenica Catelli.
I'm six and three coming into Flavor Town.
Team Catelli.
[Guy] Domenica, you are our winner.
- [Domenica] Can these guys say that? - [Guy] There she is.
Welcome. In my book, really, you guys are champs.
Now, you've competed alone,
you've competed in teams.
But, you have never competed against each other
to pick the Ultimate DDD Champ,
until now.
Two rounds to pick one winner,
who will win not just the bragging rights of all bragging rights,
but also, a guaranteed $15,000.
- Yes. - No way.
- Ooh! - Yeah...[chuckles]
- Here we go. - Now, to make this show even more intense,
I'm witching up the formula.
This is gonna be high-level stakes, big money.
We're talking about no-holds-barred
night of one-one-one, head to head battles.
- Whoa... - Two head to head battles first round.
And then the winner of those battles will go head-to-head
for the championship for the money and the title.
Question is, who is battling who?
We're gonna draw straws.
Ho-ho-ho.
Now, on these straws are everybody's names.
Domenica, because you are the leading champ
with six wins and $80,000,
.I'm gonna hold on to yours.
And I'm going to let you pick.
First, who will you go against?
And then, the other two,
will go head-to-head.
- Wow. - No pressure.
No pressure, chef. Come on over.
- Pick your destiny. - Here we go, here we go.
Don't worry about the short one.
This, tall, short... oh...
Oh... [laughs boisterously]
And Catelli goes against...
- [cheers] - Richard Hales.
So, that means...
Panini Pete will battle John Conley.
We've got two head-to head battles going on the first round,
so, two chefs will be departing after the first round.
Whoo!
As DDD Chefs, I know you guys all make great comfort food.
So, I wanna take it to the next level up.
I want you to make elevated comfort food.
I've got he perfect Diner, Drive-ins and Dives game.
- Whoo! [chuckles] - Great.
First, we're going to do a little order wheel.
Hunter...
- There we go. - Hello, friends.
Fantastic.
The order wheel's so iconic in the world of diners.
So, as you can see, we have swimps...
- [Hunter] Swimps? - [Guy] Pork tender loin,
chicken thighs,
ground beef, top sirloin.
So, Hunter and I will cover these up.
John Conley, I'm gonna spin these around
and I'm gonna let you say stop and when you do,
hat will be the protein that everybody's going to use.
Stop.
And that protein's gonna be...
-Ground beef. Fantastic! Good pick, John. -[Domenica] Mm-hm.
Good pick.
- All right, thank you very much, Hunter. - You're welcome, father.
This is where it gets really fin, kids.
Who's having fun? I'm having fun.
- Oh yeah. - This is awesome.
I want you to pick now, the mandatory ingredient
that you must use, using our drive-In menus.
Garcon!
- And I'm back again. - Oh, my...
These menus represent
a different category of every type of drive-in restaurant,
Indian, Chinese, Mexican and Greek.
Now, you don't have to cook this style of food,
but the secret ingredient inside
is a mandatory, must-use ingredient in your dish.
Chef Hales...
- We're going Black Brick. - Going Chinese!
Yes, sir.
One of my favorite restaurants the city has.
- Chef Richard Hales... - Chinese...
has picked out...
Canned chow mein Noodles.
- Oh...[chuckles] - Oh...
Isn't everybody having a blast?
- [chuckles] I am. - Yay!
- So fun. - Can you hear me swallowing over here? [chuckles softly]
[Guy] What could be last?
Dive Bar Dice.
The adjective that you must use describing your dish,
Tangy, Blackened, Smoky, not my dog,
- crunchy, grilled, cheesy. - Mm.
All right, so you can through right here in the center.
- All right, here we go. - And...
cheesy.
- Fitting. - Nailed it.
30 minutes to create
an elevated comfort meal, which incorporates ground beef,
canned dry chow mein noodles
and is gotta be cheesy.
Which station are you?
- Four... - Three...
- Two... - One.
I'm gonna just tell you right now,
there's gonna be an extra whammy if you go to the wrong station.
[Pete] What?
- Oh... - Whoo!
First time, I made them do their own number countdown.
[grunts]
[Domenica] I drew Richard.
He's the person I'm most scared to go up against.
I lost to Richard not that long ago.
I'm not even healed from that wound.
- And now, I've got to go up against him again. - All right.
I've gotta go up against Catelli, head-to head.
-[whistles] -She's great chef. She's ready for war.
[Domenica] I feel like I can do elevated comfort food well.
When you add the Flavor Town craziness,
that's another story.
I'm going to make a rip on the meatloaf
with a mushroom cream-sauce
and cheesy mashed potatoes.
Cheesy, cheesy.
Parm and...
I have to grab the canned chow mein noodles.
I can use these
and grind them up to be
part of the binder for the meat loaf.
To elevate it a bit more,
I'm gonna do a truffle mash.
Two people are going home this round.
If I can get through Richard, I can get through anything.
So, Hales and Domenica
both are...
tacticians. Richard with his background in
Asian food is just unbelievable.
And Domenica in Italian food.
So, I think, it's a great pair-up.
Even though, that wasn't the way it was intended to be necessarily.
Where are the noodles?
I am part Asian and part-Italian.
But, I didn't want to do a pasta.
So, I decide to do tiger head meatballs
and sticky rice.
Tiger-head Chinese meatballs are an elevated dish in Chinese cuisine.
Meatballs must resemble a tiger's head.
What are you thinking? Asian and cheesy?
White asparagus. That's where the cheese is gonna go.
Don't let the cheese be on a side dish.
Make cheese at the center of your dish.
Guy's advice to me is, it better be cheesy.
So, the cheese is going in to my sticky rice.
I wanted an ingredient that was definitely elevated.
I'm making white asparagus tossed in garlic oil
and chow mein noodles.
I knew this was gonna be hard.
But, I didn't realize it was gonna be this hard.
Ground beef, ground beef, ground beef.
Two head-to-head battles in the first round.
We never anticipated this.
I get stuck with Pete.
Behind you.
I'm going against DDD champ. Conley has won a lot of money.
He's not gonna be a pushover.
Come on! What's up with this?
In Alabama, I really focus on simple southern food.
I start thinking hamburger steak.
Plenty of that.
Coming around. Okay, out of the way, out of the way.
Where's the Chinese noodles?
Their required whammy is canned chow mein noodles.
- Here you go. - Oh yeah, canned...
There's no more left, Johnny. [chuckles]
I can use them to add texture into that hamburger steak.
Probably gonna need some bacon.
Bacon... southern stuff,
For my mashed potatoes, I know I need them to be cheesy.
That's lovely.
I get some mascarpone cheese.
So, I know I can help elevate this dish with some brussels sprouts.
All right. I think I'm ready to start cooking.
Come on. Bring it on, Johnny.
[John] I love Panini Pete.
I'm still gonna crush him.
I know exactly what I'm gonna do.
I'm gonna stay with the Asian theme.
So, I'm gonna make eggrolls and fried rice.
This is something my kids and I make all the time.
I gotta have a special cheese for this.
I grabbed cheddar cheese, 'cause I knew it was gonna melt.
It's gonna flow through the whole eggroll.
For my friend rice, I'm gonna grab pre-cooked rice.
This is my tenth time on Guy's Grocery Games
and I'm taking my buddies down.
Lot of prep to do.
[Domenica] Jeez Louise.
All right, Henderson, here's what you got.
Some of your favorite DDD chefs,
who also happen to be great competitors.
Who also happen to be all really great friends.
On top of it all, the bragging rights of all bragging rights.
- It's huge. - Big one.
25 minutes.
So, let's meet some of the biggest champs I know, tonight's judges.
Food Network Star, head of his own ramen empire,
the Tournament of Champions commentator,
the one and only Wild Card,
Chef Justin Warner.
East Coast Play-Ins winner, the one and only...
- [chuckles] - Chef Tiffani Faison.
What's up big boss?
Food-critic, world-traveler and fellow TOC commentator
Sir Simon Majumdar.
This is title fightage, don't you think?
- It really is. - Get ready to enter the arena.
I think, what excited me most about this,
is that we've got these head-to-head battles.
We've got Richard and Domenica
and then we have Panini Pete vs John Conley.
And there's just something so intense about that.
Are you comfortable over there, Johnny?
I'm good, buddy. How are you doing?
Here we are in this position again,
- you and me, Huh? - Yeah.
What could be better?
Now, I have to turn my elevated comfort food into a dish that incorporates
canned chow mein noodles.
My dish has to be cheesy too.
[Guy] All right, Cheesy Pete,
what you got, buddy?
A southern hamburger steak with an
upscale demi with some mushrooms.
Some really nice mashed potatoes.
Sounds like elevated comfort to me.
[Pete] I've thrown my canned chow mein noodles into the food processor.
Spin it around.
Break 'em down just a little bit,
give some binder, it can still get some crunch.
There'll still be some identity in there.
[Guy] Conley, what's elevated comfort?
I'm gonna do an eggroll with the noodles in there.
Elevated Asian. Got it.
First up, I'm gonna work on my eggroll filling.
Ground beef, cabbage,
onions and the garlic.
Shredded my carrots straight into the pan.
Get me canned chow mein noodles in the food processor,
whip 'em up...
right into the pot.
It gives this really nice texture to it.
Little bit of sesame oil.
And then I hit it with sesame oil
and hot chili oil.
Gonna bring a great Asian flavor to it.
So, we're gonna put the cheese inside of the eggroll.
[John] Yeah, gotta make the perfect eggroll.
It's gonna lead me to $15,000.
Then we're gonna give it to Flagstaff Family Food Center.
It's gonna feed ten to 12,000 people.
Domenica is the most winning chef in this kitchen.
But, the person she lost to, Mr. Richard Hales.
[Domenica] I know that Richard makes incredible food
that people line-up for.
I know what a fierce competitor he is.
I'm hoping my fear can turn into fierceness.
Yeah. Don't try this at home.
[Guy] All right, Chef Domenica. What's on the menu?
Elevated meatloaf. cheesy truffle mashed potatoes.
Elevated meatloaf and truffle mashed potatoes, I like it...
I'm starting with my meatloaf.
Ground beef and I'm gonna do a little sausage.
I'm adding fresh chopped garlic.
I have to use these chow mein noodles. So, I'm gonna smash 'em up
to use as the binder for the meatloaf.
Usually, it's panko. But, I'm gonna use it as bread crumb in here.
Chefs, 16 minutes. 16 to go!
[Richard] I have to beat Domenica.
I know Catelli can bring it. I'm a competitor.
I wanna win.
I'm making tiger head Chinese meatballs with cheesy sticky rice
and white asparagus tossed in chow mein noodles.
I start my umami sauce for the meatballs.
Bone broth, soya sauce, oyster sauce, sesame oil.
While my sauce is simmering, I take my meatballs and I through 'em in the fryer.
I'm playing for the National Pediatric Cancer Foundation.
I had thyroid cancer over the last couple of years.
It just breaks my heat every time I see
somebody with cancer and especially with kids and babies.
I really wanna help them out.
So, often times in Grocery Games, what you'll see
is people not bringing up their biggest guns in the first round
and playing safe so that they can make it to the next round.
This is like, a double-sudden death.
And I gotta say it, I'm feeling the heat.
All right, Pepperoni Pete, what's on the menu?
What's up my man? I'm doing an elevated hamburger stake.
Little mushroom demi with that.
I'm gonna do some cheesy brussels sprouts.
The cheese is not gonna be in the burger at all?
- No. - Chefs,
I cannot recommend enough that you get your cheese into your main dish.
The cheese is for the main dish.
So, I have to make sure that cheese is going in the hamburger stake.
I get 'em into shape, so I can start cooking these.
By elevating this mushroom gravy,
the demi sauce.
Nice, fresh, bright brussels sprouts with that bacon.
Another layer of elevation.
Given the opportunity of coming here and be the ultimate GGG champ is huge.
If I win, the money's going towards PR Foundation.
PR Foundation helps adults with developmental disabilities,
veterans and no-kill animals shelters.
[John] So, now that the eggrolls are perfect,
I'm gonna start on my ginger fired rice.
Carrots, onion, garlic,
precooked rice. Hit it with some soy sauce,
- sesame... - What are you giving for cheese here, Conley?
I got cheese in my eggrolls.
All right, where else we got cheese?
I'm gonna put cheese in my fried-rice right now.
I've never used cheese in fried rice.
I gotta play the game.
- [John] First time Guy came to see us in Flagstaff... - Mm...
we really didn't know what to expect. And then he walks in
- and everybody froze. - Wow! That's hot!
[John] Ten years ago, seems like yesterday.
The DDD effect, people from all over the country, coming in.
DDD is the gift that keeps giving.
[Guy] Seven minutes! Seven to go.
[Domenica] My potatoes are done.
I'm getting them cheesy.
The judges wanted cheesy, Guy wanted cheesy.
I'm gonna put three cheeses in the potatoes,
fontina, parmesan and burrata.
We've got all sorts of goopy looking cheeses. That's high-end.
I'm seeing some morel mushrooms there,
which I'm always happy to have.
[Domenica] Now, I'm gonna start my mushroom sauce.
Garlic and olive oil.
I'm adding truffle oil and butter to my mushrooms
to elevate the dish and
give it that next level of rich flavor.
One of the things I have in common with Guy,
one of the things I love most about Guy,
he has a heart for the community.
Giving back is probably my biggest passion.
So, I'm playing for Corazon Healdsburg,
which is local and close to my heart.
Corazon Healdsburg is helping kids in our community
with everything, from education to food
and is making a difference in so many people's lives.
[Richard] The sticky rice is gonna be the main cheesy component in my dish.
I gotta make this cheesy. So, the farmer's cheese.
Some parsley. And then I saute some garlic.
I just want something that's creamy.
I take the asparagus. I toss it with my garlic oil
and chow mein noodles.
The orange, I take the peels off and I through 'em in the fryer.
I pull 'em out and I through 'em in the sauce.
You're gonna get some of the aromatics from the orange
rather than the acidity.
[Guy] Two minutes! Two minutes to go!
[Domenica] First, I put the smashed potatoes in the plate
and then I put my meatloaf pie on top.
Next, I pour my creamy mushroom sauce.
I finish by putting a few of the crispy chow mein noodles.
[Guy] Guys, we got 90 seconds. Gotta get plated.
[Richard] I first spoon my cheesy rice.
Then I take my three meatballs.
I put 'em right next to the rice.
I've already beat Domenica once
and I'm confident I'm gonna beat her again.
[Guy] One minute!
[John] I start with the fried rice.
And then I slice the eggrolls on the bias
and put 'em right up on the fried rice.
I made a ponzu sauce
and then I'm giving a sweet and sour sauce as well.
I love Panini Pete. He's beat me
and I beat him. And I just crushed him.
[Guy] 30 seconds to plate.
[Pete] It's comfort food, but it's elevated.
Elevated, you have to plate properly.
I'm outta time. Burgers are coming off.
The demi's going over the top.
I don't care what it looks like... [chuckles]
I gotta get in on the plate, I gotta get it on now.
Six, five, four,
- three, two, one. - Oh...
That's it!
- Wow. - Whoo!
- [Guy] Nice job. - [Pete] Good job, everyone.
Chef's looking at these elevated comfort meals is elevating my appetite.
Let's take it to the judges right this way.
All right, judges. This is it. This is the first round of the DDD champ.
The chefs, they had to make it elevated comfort classic. They ended up with
ground beef, canned chow mein noodles
and cheesy. Who likes to party?
The winners of each battle will move on to face each other in the final round
and losers, well, they'll be talking about it for a long time.
First, Chef John and Chef Panini Pete.
Chef John Conley, tell us about the dish.
So, elevated comfort food, ginger and garlic fried rice with cheese,
fried eggroll with the wontons in there, ground beef, ginger.
And there's cheese in the eggroll.
There's cheese in the eggroll, there's cheese on the rice
and then I drizzled a little cheese right on top.
You've got all of those components in that eggroll.
You've got the ground beef, you've got the cheese, you've got the chow mein.
I think the fried rice is a little under-seasoned.
I think the cheese felt as a little bit of an after-thought.
A steak and cheese, cheesy eggroll?
So smart. I agree with Justin.
When I eat fried rice, I really want all that umami.
Fried rice isn't really hitting that.
The fried rice here, reminds me of like,
Filipino breakfast fried rice
with that garlic coming through and it's soft.
And I think it goes against the crunchiness of that exemplary eggroll.
- That's a great combination. - Thank you, Chef.
All right, up next.
Panini Pete, what do you have for us?
I have prepared an elevated, southern hamburger steak.
Chopped chow mein noodles. Left a little bit of bit to 'em, crunchy.
I added in some shredded cheddar in there for the cheesy factor.
I sauteed them off with a little bit of bacon and some seasoning.
I'm gonna say, I think that the best example of elevation here,
is using brussels sprouts that have say, like, collard greens.
I think, you really brought out the beefiness of that beef
using that demi-glace.
It kind of, raises the whole thing up.
What I'm not getting that you crushed into there, is the noodles.
I'm not getting the texture that I would've hoped that brings.
The potatoes are a lay-up for the cheese.
But, it's not a cheesy dish.
You think about cheesy, it's ooey-gooey stringy cheese,
lots of umami, lots of creaminess. I'm not getting it.
All right, up next,
the battle that we've all been waiting for.
Chef Domenica Catelli vs. the one and only Chef Richard Hales.
Thank you, chef.
For my elevated comfort dish,
I went with a tiger head meatball.
On the side, I did a cheesy sticky rice
with white asparagus, added the crunchy noodles
with the garlic oil.
I think your meatballs
are fantastic. I'm getting the garlic,
I'm getting a little bit of orange too, there.
Works really, really well.
The rice works much better than I thought it would,
with the cheese going through it.
This is so clever in so many ways.
It just has, like this incredible, like synergy that's working with it.
And then, I have the asparagus with the parmesan and that's like,
you know, as classic as it can possibly get and so delicious.
What is really so striking about this is
the farmer's cheese with rice.
- That's great cooking. - Thank you.
But, what I don't love is the chow mein noodle.
I think, the chow mein noodle could've been treated
a little bit more,
so that, it was clear that you've manipulated this.
Next up, six-time DDD champ,
Chef Domenica Catelli.
So, I have a triple-cheese smashed potato
with the rip on a meatloaf.
And then, I took those chow mein noodles, blended them and I used that
to hold the meatloaf together.
When it comes to cheesy,
uh, you annihilated that aspect of this.
There is so much cheese in every component of this.
I think, the chow mein noodles, I don't know, necessarily how
successful it was as a textural foil.
Because, there's so much moisture and fat
in this, that they kind of become sogged out right away.
This dish is cheesier than two twins getting married on The Young and The Restless.
- Huh... - [chuckles]
This is so cheesy in there.
But, the beef, it is a huge amount
and I do think it could've been a little more elegant on there.
This is elevated.
It's definitely, like, rich.
I mean, you smell this dish
and it is coming at you with like, thyme and cheese
and you know what you're getting when this comes in front of you.
Thank you very much. Quite the head-to-head battles.
That's what we're looking for.
You know what happens now. Go, sweat it out in the kitchen.
- See you in a bit. - Thank you.
Whose elevated comfort food elevated them to the final round?
John vs Pete, let's talk about that.
Between the two of them, I think John's dish was far more creative.
Pete's dish was a little clunky and had some missteps in
simple things like potatoes.
So, it's very, very close. It might just be down to the execution for me.
[Guy] Next up, Chef Domenica vs Chef Richard.
I think, with Chef Richard, probably the best bite on any plate,
was the meatballs.
Probably the best thing of the whole competition so far.
Domenica's dish, it's very comforting.
It tasted really good. I thought, she had some great flavors.
All right, let's total 'em up.
Get the scores posted.
The fearsome foursome.
You're not only some of my favorite Diners Drive-ins and Dives people,
you are also incredible chefs.
It all comes down to the final scores.
Let's start things off, first with Panini Pete vs John Conley.
Pete, let's take a look at your score.
Gameplay, 14.
Taste, 14. Plating with a six for a score of 34.
Okay.
John Conley, you need to do better than 34
to go into the finals.
Let's take a look. Gameplay 16.
Taste 14.
Unless it's a four.
- Plating it at seven for a 37. - Oh!
- Congratulations, John Conley. - [all applauding]
[all applauding]
Panini, we love you. But, we're gonna say
- adios. - Jonny, I love you, buddy.
- No, you don't. - [all laughing]
Conley, I couldn't ask for a better guy to compete against.
I've won against him, I've lost against him.
More importantly, I love this guy like a brother.
Sadly, I'm going home.
But, I will be back.
Domenica and Richard.
All right, let's take a look. Chef Richard.
15 in gameplay.
16 in taste.
Seven at plating for a 38.
Nice.
Chef Domenica needs a 38 or better.
Let's take a look.
Chef Domenica, gameplay 14.
Taste, 15. Better do at plating.
Six, for a score of 35.
Congratulations, Chef Hales.
Chef Domenica, we love you.
It's just a pleasure. I'm sorry this isn't your win.
- Thank you. - [all applauding]
I'm bummed.
- Come here. - Good bye.
What I tried to get done and how that dish came out was
not enough to impress the judges. Not my day.
Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls,
fans from around the world,
this is like that entry-level title fight,
that if you get this, you're gonna go to the big games.
This is the battle that matters.
Forget your scores from round one
because we have an all new score board
for this final round.
It's mano a mano.
The rule's simple,
whoever has the highest score, wins.
Wins the 15 grand
and most importantly wins the bragging rights of all bragging rights.
So, to prove you're worthy of this win,
I want you to make something
truly impressive.
I want you to make the judges a high-end dinner.
Show them that you can elevate your cooking to a higher level.
To help inspire you with that menu,
I though we would play a game of multiple levels.
This will select the exciting details of your high-end dinner.
For instance, if you look here at the bottom,
the adjective perhaps will be glazed,
boozy, hot and cold, rich,
silky or tart.
Is there one in particular you'd care not to have.
- Hot and cold. - Hot and cold.
Here we go.
- Oh, Guy's a master. - Oops.
The dish must incorporate hot and cold
in your elevated dinner.
Next, this is piece of equipment you must use.
Let's see what you get.
Equipment, juicer, spiralizer, pressure cooker
or siphon.
- You know what you don't want Chef Hales. - Maybe the spiralizer.
Here we go.
- I mean, oh yeah. - I mean...
[chuckles] It's like...
[all laughing]
[chuckles]
- Oh no. - [laughing] Everything you hate.
How does that happen?
Try reverse psychology on the ball.
All right. Next...
Salmon, bone-in ribeye, lobster tails and duck breast.
These are the must-use proteins
in your high-end dinner,
I don't want duck breast.
You don't want duck breast?
Well, in reverse...
- You want duck breasts or not? - Yes.
- You do want the duck breasts? - I would love it.
- Wow. - Here we go.
- Oh... - Lobster tails.
You must use the spiralizer,
you must make your dish hot and cold
- and you must incorporate the lobster tails. - Awesome.
Out of these three, which two would you keep
and I'll let you get rid of one.
One can go away.
Out of those three which two would you keep?
Uh, I mean, I think the hot and cold is probably not gonna do us any favors.
- Oh, my God. - Have you guys ever burned rosemary?
Smoked it before.
Have you ever burned time?
You're burning it right now.
- Oh... - [laughs]
Wow! What was that?
Huh?
Point guido.
[John] I made it through my first head-to-head battle,
now, all that's standing in my way is Richard Hales
to be the next DDD champ.
All right, where's the lobster?
For my high end dinner, I'm thinking it's gotta be visually stimulating.
But, I want something that separates me
-from Richard Hales. that guy over there. -[chuckles]
[John] So, for my high-end dinner, I'm thinking,
Lemon-poached lobster tower, so that I can have some height.
Roasted tomato, Chile De Arbol base.
'Cause I want it to be heat-hot and I want it to be temperature hot.
Now, I gotta figure out what to do with the spiralizing.
But, I have a plan.
Zucchini, zucchini, zucchini.
Why can't I... here we go.
I'm gonna spiralize it out,
I'm gonna leave it raw and I'm gonna use that
as kind if a border to my tower.
Richard Hales, I'm coming for you.
[Richard] John Conley's a friend of mine and he's a great chef.
Awesome guy, but we're here to compete
and he knows it and I know it.
Lobster, all right.
High-end dinner means that
you have to use luxurious ingredients.
I just pick up the most expensive, fanciest butter I can find in Flavor Town.
For the hot part of my dish, I'm making butter-poach lobster.
I see this beautiful heirloom tomatoes.
The cold part of my dish, I'm gonna make
an heirloom tomato and basil tower.
The spiralizer lends itself great to making
spiralized purple sweet potato chips.
So, this is the challenge that matters.
I just beat Domenica and now I have to beat John Conley.
I never would have guessed this.
It's gotta be nerve-racking. Both of these guys know how good the other one is.
And they gotta be in their head right now.
They gotta be in their heads so bad.
This isn't just for the money,
this is actually more important. This is for DDD glory.
[Guy] 22 minutes left.
How nervous would you be right now
to know that not only are you going for the DDD title,
the 15,000 bucks,
but to also know that you're on the precipice
of DDD glory.
This is the moment that actually changes your life.
- Right. - You have a chance to become something even more superb.
[John] I can't wait to cook against Richard Hales.
He's an animal in the kitchen.
This is gonna be the DDD battle of the ages.
First, I gotta poach the lobster.
I cut it down the middle into the boiling water,
hit it with fresh lemon.
I want the citrus, I want the acid, I want the lobster to shine.
I let is poach for four to five minutes, I pull it out,
I put it in an ice bath.
Next, I'm gonna work on my sauce.
On to the grill goes Roma tomatoes,
sweet, Maui onions
and chili pepper.
I'm toasting my Chile De Arbol.
'Cause I know, that's gonna be the...[pops] pop heat.
I love that John has a fresh jalapeño that's grilled.
And then he's got Chile De Arbol that's been toasted like,
with juxtaposition of dried and fresh chilies.
One of my favorite things ever.
[John] Roast 'em up, blacken 'em up.
Into the blender.
And then add the toasted Chile De Arbol.
I love Chile De Arbol. It's an intense blast of heat.
The DDD fellowship
is absolutely amazing
and I've had the benefit of really creating
and developing lifelong friendships.
That is absolutely perfect.
But not tonight. Richard Hales...
you're going down.
So, what's the hot in this dish, Chef?
The hot is gonna be that roasted tomato sauce.
- It's hot spicy... - And it's heat hot.
It is hot. That's my kinda spice.
- [whistles] - I think this is the kind of competition,
where you've got two DDD legends going head-to-head for the title of DDD champ.
These guys are so competitive.
I know they're gonna go for each other.
I'm very excited to see this round.
What are you doing with the butter, chef?
[Richard] I'll make a butter-poached lobster.
I like that. What's gonna be the cold in this?
I'm gonna actually make a nice heirloom tomato salad.
Got it. Got it. Got it. Got it. Got it.
The lobster tails, I do what's called a Beurre Monte.
In the pan, I just add a little bit of water.
And then I start to put my cold butter and then you have to whisk that
like, really fast.
I add all the lobster in.
And the lobster's actually flavoring the butter.
And then you can use that as a sauce.
So, I gotta use this spiralizer.
I spiralize my sweet potatoes and that's a gonna add
a little bit of crunch to my high-end dish.
John Conley, I've met him through DDD, but,
I can call him truly a good friend of mine.
Nobody wants to see John lose.
But, when I'm cooking against him, he's gotta lose.
Because, I make great food
and I'm ready for the next step in this world.
[Guy] Seven minutes. Seven to go.
[John] I'm gonna work on my tower.
It's got height, it's fresh, it's clean,
it's crisp, it got cold.
I want these farm-fresh vegetables to shine.
- Lot going on. Lot of mince happening here, Chef. - Yup.
- Yup, yup. - [Guy] How did we incorporate the spiralizer?
- I haven't got it yet But, I know what I'm gonna do. - Okay.
[John] I have a zucchini and I'm gonna spiralize it out.
I'm gonna leave it raw and I'm gonna use that
as border to my tower.
So, let's build this tower. I get all of my farm-fresh,
hand-cut vegetables into the spring-mold.
This has to be the perfect high-end dinner.
It's gonna lead me to $15,000
and then we're gonna give it to Flagstaff Family Food Center.
It's gonna be ten to 12,000 people.
-How are you feeling, Chef? -I'm feeling good. I'm doing a little...
- butter-poached lobster. - Great.
Where we at with this cold?
I'm gonna start making that tomato salad.
It's time to put my attention on my cold part of my dish.
[Richard] I just wanted to cook 'em just a little bit...
And then ice bath 'em. Got it.
What else is gonna be in this tomato salad?
[Richard] I'm gonna do like, a basil tower with it.
[Guy] I dig it, I dig it.
To make the tomato tower, you need perfect horizontal cuts.
And it looks like, it's actually a whole tomato.
When I was sick,
Guy, he was the one that stepped up.
He was talking to doctors.
He said, "Where you need me to fly you, I'll fly you."
He's generous.
I wanna win the money, because, I'm playing
for the National Pediatric Cancer Foundation,
Sunshine Project
and it's be a great addition to their funding.
[Guy] Two minutes! Two minutes flat!
Gotta be plated.
[John] I top my tower with my perfectly lemon-poached lobster.
And then I have to gently remove the mold.
And then I take the roasted tomato sauce with the Chile De Arbol
and I put that around the tower.
And then I drape the spiralizer all the way around.
It's got hot, it's got cold.
It's got lemon-poached lobster right on top.
This is beautiful.
[Guy] One minute. 60 seconds to play.
[Richard] First thing I put down, is the zucchini and squash.
Next, I build my tomato tower
with the basil and olive oil.
Then I add my butter-poached lobster on top of my zucchini and squash.
I'm gonna beat John Conley with this dish.
Five, four, three, two, one
and that's all she wrote.
- Nice job. - Wow.
- [John] Good job, everyone. - [all applauding]
Chefs, your DDD dishes look delicious.
Let's take it to the judges, right this way.
All right, judges. This is it.
Game two, DDD champs.
Our chefs had to make a high-end dinner
that incorporated items selected
by our triangle of pain.
Chef Richard, you're first.
For my high end dinner, I did a
butter-poached lobster and it's spiralized with sweet potatoes.
And then I did a cold tomato tower
with basil.
This is so vibrant and beautiful, right?
A bite of tomato, it's the lobster and this Beurre Blanc.
It's so delicious.
I think that this dish eats exceptionally well.
I love the textural juxtaposition
and the earthiness that you get
from those spiralized purple yams.
It truly becomes, like, a delicious thing
that you just keep going back for.
Man alive, you can make sauces. I love your sauces.
That butter sauce for me has so much flavor going through it.
Really like it over the noodles.
But lobster's a little bit overcooked.
Thank you.
All right, up next, not to be outdone,
the one and only Chef John Conley.
Thanks. What I made for you tonight,
a lemon-poached and chilled lobster
with fresh farmer's market vegetables.
I did a fire-roasted tomato and a spicy chipotle base for that.
You get the spiralizer on the zucchini
'cause I want that just to be fresh and crunchy.
It all goes together.
This is just so beautiful.
The lobster is a master class on how to cook lobster.
It's just super, super delicious.
The salsa around our sauce,
so spicy, so flavorful.
Between the heat and the subtle sweetness of the lobster
is the right amount of sauce for the right amount of food.
The one thing I am noticing though,
is there's not much seasoning going on throughout the layers.
Very nice, judges. Thank you very much.
You two, what a battle.
Hot and cold, spiralizer and lobster.
It's one of my favorite albums.
- [chuckles] - The judges really need
some time to deliberate on this.
We're gonna send you back to the kitchens.
We'll come back and let you know
who is going to be our DDD champ,
who's getting 15,000 bucks.
Gentlemen, thank you very much. Back to the kitchen.
Thank you.
Judges, whose high-end dinner is good enough to
upend the competition?
I love the elegance of Richard's dish with the Beurre Blanc and the tomato
coming together with the lobster.
Super-composed, thoughtful dish.
I think one of the chefs hit hot and cold better.
I think one of the chefs used the spiralizer more.
Chef Richard overcooked his lobster.
You know, Chef John had it absolutely perfect.
[Guy] Who do you think did hot and cold better?
Chef Richard,
- Richard. - Yeah.
But, we also know who did lobster better.
- John. - [both] Chef John.
Tight race. All right, judges. Let's score 'em up.
Call the chefs back in.
Well, gentlemen, it's been a long time coming.
The chance to pick the ultimate DDD champ.
Time to find out which high-end dinner gets the high-end score.
My brother, John.
This was a new head-to-head racket.
So, this did not involve your past score.
Out of 20 points, gameplay...
15.
Taste, 15.
Plating, eight.
Score of 38.
Pretty nice score.
Chef Hales, out of 20,
gameplay, 15.
Taste, 16.
- Plating... for a total of 39! - [all applauding]
- Oh! - Congratulations Chef Hales.
[all applauding]
- And by one point... - One stinking point.
I love you, brother.
This is not the last time you'll see the great John Conley
- on GGG. - Thank you very much, Chef.
- Love you, man. - Love you too, buddy.
-Thank you. You're awesome. -I love you. Thanks for the opportunity.
And if I'm gonna lose to anybody, I'd like to lose to Richard Hales.
He's a monster in the kitchen,
great guy, And I lost by one point.
Well, there you have it ladies and gentlemen.
Probably one of the battles that will go down in history
and it's all happening at the sword of this man.
Meet the ultimate DDD champ,
Chef Richard Hales.
- [Tiffani] Whoo-hoo! - Yes.
I don't even have the vocabulary for how I feel... [chuckles] right now.
I mean, it's unreal.
I am the DDD ultimate champ.
He's the DDD champ.
He just won $15,000.
- That's... come on! - [all cheering]
- Yes. - Thank you. Thank you, thank you, thank you...
- [chuckles] - Very well deserved.
- Thank you. - Great competition.
Kept your cool. Your presentation was strong. Your dish was beautiful.
So, there we have it. Richard Hales comes and tears up the games,
become the new DDD champ. 15,000 bucks.
We'll see you guys next week of GGG, adios.