Gordon: Previously on "next level chef"...
Go! Today's challenge, a next-level steak dinner.
Two of you will be sent into a head-to-head battle
to determine who's going home.
The winning dish-- the chicken.
Congratulations, amber.
I have got to level up.
Tonight...
Your main challenge for today is devoted to Italy!
I make money with meatballs. I'm in this to win it.
I grabbed the lobster!
I have never cooked a live lobster.
- What's wrong with me? - Let's go!
The competition's gone up a level.
I did not come to play today.
- I'm making rookie mistakes. - Oh, my god.
- Come on. - Jonathan is a hot mess.
We have to completely start over. ( bleep )
I could be in the bottom two today.
Gordon: Line up please.
Oh, boy.
Welcome back. We good?
- All: Yes, chef. - Glad to hear it.
Team nyesha, you guys are looking real confident over there.
Good job.
- Team blais? - All: Yes, chef?
- We're down a chef. - We are.
- Yes. - Correct, yeah.
What are we gonna do to keep ourselves safe this week?
- We're gonna be focused. - Yes, focused.
Team ramsay, we're five strong.
Whatever floor you end up on, stay that way.
We all locked in. We're ready to roll.
And after that last challenge, amber,
you had to face that dreaded elimination cook-off.
How nerve-wracking was that?
I would say I am disinclined
to put myself there again any time soon.
Part of me is a little shaken up
because I came this close to being the first person to go.
But I wouldn't be here if I couldn't win this.
We told you all from the beginning that the competition would only get harder.
Listen up.
Your main challenge for today is not based on an ingredient.
Instead, it's devoted to an entire cuisine...
- Oh. - ...From a country with a long history
of culinary excellence.
Oh, gosh. France.
Italy!
- Oh! - What?
- Oh, my gosh. - Oh, wow.
This is a cuisine that I'm actually quite comfortable with.
I cook a lot of italian dishes at home.
Pizza, pastas.
I really wanna impress the judges so I'm safe from elimination.
The chef who creates the best dish
will keep their teams safe from the elimination cook-off.
And two of you will go into a head-to-head battle
to determine who will leave this competition for good.
Let's find out where you're cooking today.
Team ramsay, do you wanna be in the basement?
- We ready. We ready. - We're ready.
- The middle would be preferable. - Appreciate the honesty.
Tricia: I'm a little scared of the dungeon.
I don't know what's down there.
People make it sound like hell on earth.
It's evil.
Team trailblaisers, head to the elevator
and grab a keycard that will randomly assign you to a floor.
Be careful. One of those cards
could land our team in the bare-bones basement.
- Good luck, guys. - Good luck.
Bye!
Please open the door! Please open the door!
I'm ready for the bougie kitchen.
Uh-oh, wait. Is it gonna open?
We are fancy!
- ( cheering ) - yes!
I've been in this elevator twice now,
and both times I've gone to the bottom level.
So I'm like, "yo, it's top notch."
we are so fancy.
Top kitchen. Shiny!
Everything, it's beautiful.
The stainless steel, we've got ricers,
we've got sous vide machines up here.
Wow! Okay.
I've never cooked in a kitchen like this before.
If you could just wrap the whole thing up,
stick a bow on it, and deliver it?
Yeah, that'd be great.
It's beautiful.
- Please, not the dungeon. - Ooh!
We good, we good, we're good.
It's gonna bring us back down. It's all right.
Roice: The specific dish I have in mind going into this challenge is a pesto.
I'm really hoping not to get the bottom
because I know that's going to be
extremely challenging with a pasta dish,
especially if all the pasta's taken away.
- It's gonna go. - Oh! Okay.
- What? - Yes! I told you!
- Okay, okay, okay. - I'm not complaining. It's not the bottom.
- We're not in the dungeon. - There are peelers! There are peelers!
There's a brush!
We've got this no matter what.
- Okay, we can do it. - It's beautiful.
- It's not that bad. - It's gorgeous.
Everybody else in the kitchen is positive, but it's hell down here.
All right, what do we got to freaking work with around here?
I can only imagine what's gonna be left on the platform.
Being on the middle a couple times,
there wasn't exactly the greatest spread to choose from,
so it's gonna be a lot harder to get safety for my team.
That is some raggedy-ass tools, man. ( bleep )
what's up, guys?
- Hi. - Hi, chef.
- Chef. - Let's go. Huddle up.
Huddle up. Huddle up. Let's go.
- Let's go. - Let's do it, chef.
- Right, how are we feeling? - Good, good.
- Determined. - Second floor, first thoughts?
- Well-equipped. - Very well-equipped. Everything's here.
You gotta bring that energy on those plates.
- Chef blais! - All right, team, here we go.
We're down a chef today,
so it's very important that we have the best dish.
Nyesha and gordon have five chefs on their team.
We definitely want to go down two chefs.
Everyone's reputation is on the line,
including my own.
Listen, at this point, you should be thinking about,
like, what kind of dish you're gonna make.
We need to have the best dish here
to win safety for our team.
Let's line up back on the elevator.
Big bold flavors, layering flavors.
- All right, let's do this. - Let's do this.
All: Team nyesha!
Let's go! Big voices!
- Okay, guys. - It's almost go-time.
Gordon: When that goes green, stand by.
- Okay, here we go. - Okay.
It's moving, you guys.
Go!
Oh, my god, oh, my god, oh, my god, oh, my god.
- Richard: Let's go, team. - Do we see beets? Do we see beets?
Roice: I really, really would love to be able to stick to the coast.
It's kind of my forte, and for some reason
I grab the only thing I've never cooked before,
and that is clams.
( muttering )
do you see beets?
In past challenges,
I haven't been happy
with the ingredients I selected.
So my focus is grab the right ingredients.
Grab some flavor! Flavor!
- Oh, my gosh. - Grab everything that you can now.
You still got a second. If you can grab it, it's yours.
Good job. Way to get down there.
Okay, back to your station.
Courtney: I think mariah had, like, 14,
15 ingredients, if not more.
Mariah is a g.
I got some stuff in my pockets.
And let's go! Grab, grab, grab. Come on.
- Does anyone see pasta dough? - Grab a proper handful.
- Some watercress. Okay. Ooh, I need this can. - Got it.
Devonnie: Grab things, devonnie.
Ooh, dungeness crab.
I see dungeness crab.
"I'm grabbing it! That's it."
grabbing my dungeness crab.
- Eggs where? - Eggs right here. Grab them.
- Five, four, three... - Guys, there's a cheese over there.
- Where? - ...Two, one, and stop!
- ( bleep ) - let's go, let's go, let's go! Well done!
( bleep ) oh, I didn't grab a hero!
You didn't grab a protein?
- ( bleep ) - tricia.
Oh, my goodness me.
I don't have a cheese. I don't have an egg.
I have pasta dough, canned tomatoes,
spinach, and a zucchini.
What am I gonna do with that?
Tricia, you got this. You'll be fine.
Nyesha: Here we go. Italian!
Go, it's green!
I need cheese, herbs.
Breakfast sausage.
I know I can cook.
I just want great ingredients.
I don't want crap.
Angie's got the lobster. Let's go.
I don't know what personality of mine
grabbed the live fricking lobster,
but she's a jerk.
Pasta, pasta.
Nyesha: Three, two, one!
Time's up, time's up, time's up. Let's go.
Oh, my god. I grabbed the lobster.
- What the ( bleep )? - Yes!
I am incredible surprised that a live lobster
made it down to the basement.
I would've thought that it's something
that somebody would take on the top floor.
I grabbed the lobster!
I have never cooked a live lobster,
and I have to cook seafood in the basement.
I don't know what I'm gonna do.
Your 45 minutes starts now! Let's go! Excellence!
- Heard. Let's go. - Elevated italian dishes.
- Making money? Let's do it. - Making money.
All right, what do I wanna do first?
Angie: Oh, my god, I grabbed a lobster.
This is a really great ingredient,
but the only experience I have with lobster
is previously frozen lobster tail.
Angie, walk me through your process.
Well, I grabbed a lobster.
So I can do some great stuff with this.
Yes, you can. You got some great ingredients.
I am making sun-dried tomato béchamel sauce on bowtie pasta.
It may be pedestrian, but it's delicious,
and I'm gonna set a ( bleep ) lobster on top.
Maybe a little nice breadcrumb would be beautiful.
- Oh, yes, chef. - To finish your pasta?
- Oh, yes, chef. Yes, chef. - Okay, okay, okay.
I got you, I got you.
My name is angie, I'm from lubbock, texas.
I was a clinic nurse for 11 years,
but I always dreamed that I would get to be a chef one day
and really get to speak to people through my food.
I'm not classically trained. I am a home chef.
For the last two years,
I've been catering and doing what I love.
A big part of me coming to this competition
is just to show my kids
you can live the life you were created to live.
I'm gonna squeeze everything I can
out of being able to hone my palate
and train under these phenomenal chefs.
I did not come to play today.
I do not want any of my chefs going home.
- Never. - No, chef.
Chef, not today.
We are bringing a-plus dishes today.
Chef angie is throwing it down with the lobster.
I'm really excited about this cook.
The intensity is definitely here.
Bring it home.
- Something creative on top of that, yeah? - Oui, chef.
Gordon: You're going vegetarian, right?
Yes, I'm trying to see if I can flex a little bit.
Gordon: So we're 10 minutes gone. 35 minutes to go.
- Kenny: Roice, you good, baby? - Doing great.
- Y'all looking good. - Kenny: Trish, trish, how you feeling, baby?
- Uh... - Kenny: You're in your zone? Stay in your zone.
Check in with each other. Push each other. Drive, okay?
We came out of the gate strong.
We got a target on our backs. Let's go.
- Everybody start shooting out ideas. - I'm doing a pesto pasta.
No, uh-- no protein?
No, chef. Not with pesto.
But where's your ingredients for the pesto?
- Right here, chef. - So, no pine nuts or walnuts?
Oh, ( bleep ).
The freaking pine nuts.
I forgot the pine nuts for my pesto.
I don't know how you're gonna make a pesto with no nuts.
- Yes, chef. - The competition's gone up a level.
The cooks on that floor and in the basement are getting good.
I'm gonna use the sesame seeds and toasted panko just to get that nutty flavor.
Okay. Cook it beautifully, yeah?
Roice: By day, I'm a teacher.
By night, I'm a tiktok chef.
It's beef and broccoli. Let me show you how to make it my way.
I teach eighth grade science and I love every bit of it.
The fact that I'm a science teacher gives me a huge edge over the competition.
All right, let's do this.
I understand how heat works, how thermodynamics work,
how starches function under heat.
The first thing you need is a dry steak.
This has too much moisture.
If I can inspire people to understand
that you don't have to go to culinary school to be an amazing cook,
then I've done my job.
Gordon ramsay would call me a freaking doughnut right now.
Careful. Control. Control, roice. Come on.
This is where this competition literally takes off,
and three of my cooks have got not protein,
so if you're gonna make an italian vegetarian dish,
trust me, tonight it needs to be perfect.
Just over 26 minutes to go, guys, yes?
- Oui, chef. - Let's go.
All right, we gotta push now.
Okay, okay, okay, okay, okay.
Oh, my god.
You have the zoodles already cut?
Yeah, the zoodles are here.
I have struggled in this competition,
and from here on out, I have to rise to the occasion
and exceed everybody's expectations.
Richard: Courtney, you're looking outstanding.
I deserve to be here for sure.
Do I need anything else to that?
A little more salt in the zoodles.
- Just a little more salt? Okay. - Yeah, a little more salt.
Let's get that team immunity.
I make money with meatballs. I got this. I got this.
What are you tasting in there? What's in there?
Some kind of breakfast sausage. I wanna know what it tastes like
- before I start adding my spices to it. - Okay, okay.
So I'm going towards a meatball with cheese sauce.
What you got? What you working with, chef?
- I got a pizza dough. - You got a pizza dough.
- A little marsala, pancetta, veal, leeks. - Where are we going?
I'm probably gonna turn this into some sort of gnocchi.
You're gonna turn a pizza dough into a gnocchi?
Did you grab potatoes?
No, chef. Yeah, so-- good point, chef.
- You're better than that. - Yes, chef.
- You're better than that. - Thank you, chef.
Oh, sweet zachary.
You're never gonna turn pizza dough into gnocchi.
Gnocchi is 70% cooked potato.
Zach needs to completely rethink
his entire conception of this dish.
Nice little pizza right there.
You got some garnish to flake right on top of your anchovies?
I can make something happen from this.
I'm not a pizza-olio, I'm pretty freaking close over here.
I'm zach, I'm from milwaukee, wisconsin,
and I am professional line cook.
Growing up, I didn't really fit into any social group,
didn't have any self-discipline,
and I was going down the wrong path.
But then I found myself and family in the kitchen.
A real chop going into the marinara over here.
I'm gonna win "next level chef"
because I got more heart than anybody else here.
I want to open up a food truck
and hire at-risk youth who don't have a career path,
and I'm gonna inspire them to become great chefs.
Ooh!
Let's do this!
Hey, if we're faced with a problem,
- let's bounce back, okay? - Yes, chef.
I'm gonna use the pasta dough,
and then I'm going to stuff them with homemade ricotta cheese.
- So you're gonna make ricotta cheese... - Yes, chef.
- In 45 minutes? - Yes, chef.
It's just not an easy thing to do.
Tricia: "are you sure you can make a ricotta?"
I was pretty sure before he asked me that question.
I'm not so sure anymore.
Who taught you how to make ricotta like this?
I practice at home.
I need some type of creamy element to my dish,
otherwise it's just gonna be a tomato sauce with squash.
It's gonna suck. I don't know how to put on this pasta maker.
Oh, my god.
I can't believe I forgot to grab a protein, man.
- I'm so ( bleep ). - It's italian, baby.
You can make magic without a protein, I promise.
Relax and do your thing.
20 minutes remaining. 20 minutes.
We're on the top floor.
My chefs have a clear vision. They've got classic dishes.
They got ingredients.
The question is do they have enough time?
All right, jonathan, I'm with you now. What's up?
Would you say these need to go into water with flour before I cook?
- Water with flour? - To make them spit out the sand.
- No, there's no sand in them. - No? Okay.
- This is "next level chef." - got it.
Richard: That's it. Get them going.
I've never worked with clams before. I've seen it done a million times.
I've watched gordon do it a million times.
Whoo!
I'm a little nervous, but I'm confident for sure.
Oh, there you are. I found you.
Gordon: All of you, platform is on its way.
Let's go, let's go, let's go.
What goes well with italian dishes?
- Bread. - Parmesan.
What's happening right now?
Chef ramsay's like, "expect surprises."
and I'm like, "okay, but can't they be good ones?"
oh, my god. You guys, there's an ingredient coming.
There cannot be a mystery ingredient.
And it's mushrooms! Mushrooms!
Mushrooms? Whoo!
Richard: You got a couple seconds.
You can grab as many or as many varieties as you'd like.
Grab what you need. You gotta incorporate it into your dish.
The platform drops again,
and thank god they're mushrooms, okay?
Because I love "umamies."
richard: Three, two, one.
Ae: I'm making a shrimp capellini.
So, super herb-y, super fresh ingredients.
I think these mushrooms will help me elevate my dish, for sure.
Umami came to my rescue.
- Mushrooms, yes? - Mushrooms!
10 seconds! Go! Let's go!
- I'll take it. - Let me get those baby creminis.
Devonnie: I'm making tomato broth with homemade gnocchi
with a dungeness crab tower and fried capers.
How am I gonna incorporate mushrooms into my current dish?
Devonnie, what did you get? Chestnut mushrooms?
- Oh, chestnut. - Really good.
- Thank you. - A touch more oil in there.
Grab as many mushrooms as you can.
Let's go! Let's go, guys!
Sergio: This is great.
I already made a mushroom sauce
with a beautiful can of cream of mushroom soup.
Nyesha: Let's go, let's go, let's go.
Hustle, hustle, hustle!
My biggest goal at this point
is to balance out that concentrated can taste.
This is gonna be easy.
All I gotta do is slice it up and add it right into my sauce.
"chantellies," anything special about these?
I've never cooked with those, bro. Sorry.
Me neither. Are they, like, poisonous or something?
Oh, my god.
I turned off my pasta water on accident.
Oh, my gosh.
Boil please. Boil please.
Courtney: Jonathan is a hot mess.
There's just no room for error right now. None.
- Come on. - Something smells like it's burning.
( bleep )
my spaghetti is a mess.
My breadcrumbs are black as all get out.
We have to completely start over.
- What's going on over here? - Burned.
- Is this you? - Yeah. Burned the breadcrumbs.
I could be in the bottom two today, for sure.
Please, sweet baby jesus.
Something smells like it's burning.
( bleep )
I have completely burnt these breadcrumbs,
and I've accidentally cut my pasta water off.
I'm making rookie mistakes.
- Is this you? - Burned. Yeah.
- Burned what? - Burned the breadcrumbs.
- Whoo! - You don't need a lot.
You're making too much food.
I am used to making a lot of food.
- Done, done, done. - So I have to start over
and just hope for a miracle.
Keep an eye on that now.
Now we can't make a mistake, right?
Jonathan: Right.
Jonathan is making one mistake after the other.
He's putting the whole team's safety in jeopardy here.
We do not wanna send another chef into elimination.
Jonathan's gotta pull it together.
We're just over 12 minutes to go.
- Tricia: Yes, chef! - 12 to go. Heard.
Gordon: Reuel, great technique. Who taught you that method?
Online, chef. University of youtube.
If you're a good competitor, you push the other person,
and I'm here to push everybody.
I'm making vegetarian parisian gnocchi.
Just a touch under still.
I wanna show even though I'm not classically trained,
I've learned little hacks that culinary school wouldn't teach you.
- Oui, chef. - Great job.
Nice, kenny. Great precision.
- Yes, chef. - So you go nice and wide on that...
- Yes, chef. - ...So it absorbs that sauce there as well, yes?
- Yes, chef. - You're not a knife for hire tonight.
Kenny: I'm kenny from atlanta, georgia.
Back my home, I'm a knife for hire.
Any restaurant, they call,
I come and help them out where needed.
I joined the military straight out of high school.
Did four years, three tours to iraq.
Upon leaving the military in 2008,
I said, "why not try culinary school?"
so, I joined le cordon bleu and I've been cooking ever since.
Today I'm a proud father of four kids,
two boys, two girls.
I'm here for a reason,
and that's to win this money for my kids.
When I win, we're going to disney world.
I'm gonna prove to chef ramsay that I will be next level chef.
Keep it going, guys. We are the team to beat.
- Yes, chef. - For sure, for sure.
Downstairs and upstairs, they want to knock us down flat, okay?
So get a grip. Think about this, okay?
- Yes, chef. - Heard, chef.
It's just with pasta, you wanna feel like you're eating something--
- kinda sexy, yeah. - Yeah, sexy!
- Sexy. - Sexy food!
I love sexy food.
Sex sells, we all know it. I'm not giving that to y'all today.
But what I can do is make you feel something similar.
I am making a spicy herbed fusilli pasta.
- Mmm. - You and I just hit second base.
Yes, make it sexy!
- Chef angie? - Yes, chef?
Are you serving it out of the shell or in the shell?
This? In the shell. In the shell.
If you're serving the dish with pasta that I want to eat,
it's gonna be so hard to get at it, you know what I mean?
Yes, ma'am. You're correct.
I'm trying to get my thought process
out of my hometown culture,
and go, "okay, I've gotta bring this next-level."
why did I do lobster?
Team blais cannot afford to lose another team member.
No pressure. How are we doing on the raviolis?
I just took the lamb out.
Okay, let me see. It's rare.
I am concerned about the lamb, and I cook lamb all the time.
All the time.
Aah!
I'm sticking to my guns. This is what I wanna do.
The other chop is smaller,
so I'm hoping that it's cooked perfectly.
Three minutes left. In one minute, we're plating.
Jonathan, I'm worried about your pasta now.
Yeah, I'm really worried about my pasta.
Y'all all right? Y'all all right?
- Start thinking about your plate, yeah? - Feeling good, feeling good.
- All good. - Feeling pretty good.
Let's go, guys.
Dang it.
These ovens in the basement suck.
I just don't wanna send out raw freaking pizza dough.
Nyesha: 2 1/2 minutes, guys!
Turn on those turbo engines!
When I go back to check on it, it doesn't look done.
This is gonna come down to the wire.
- Nyesha: Start plating! - All: Yes, chef.
I'm just gonna keep my flatbread until the absolute last second.
Nyesha: The platform is coming. Let's go, let's go, let's go!
Let's go! Platform's here.
Platform's here, guys! Let's go, let's go, let's go!
We're on the bottom? We're on the bottom.
Heard, chef. Coming right now, chef.
- Zach. - Five, four...
- Zach. Come on, baby. - Three, two... - You got it, dude.
- Yes, sir. Yes! - ...One. Good job, guys!
You got it, zach.
( trilling )
please let it be cooked. Please let it be cooked.
Let's go, guys. Let's go. Devonnie, get on there, girl.
- Five, four... - Coming out.
- Three, two, one... - I'm on your back. I'm on your back.
- ...And go. - A second to go. A second!
( bleep ), wow. Man! Well done.
Richard: The platform is on its way. Here it is, guys.
You gotta get the food on the platform!
Come on, y'all.
You only have a couple seconds to plate!
Three, two, one. Last looks. There it goes.
- Good job. Way to go. - Good job!
I'm nervous because I struggled in the kitchen today.
I turned that off and didn't mean to,
and when I dropped my pasta in, it wasn't boiling.
I know that I made something that tastes great,
but I just hope that pasta cooked through.
If not, I may be going into elimination today.
It's so hard going into these judging scenarios.
I'm judging the dish based on the thoughtful intention.
I'm not judging it based on who made it, what team they're on.
Just look at these dishes with that italian influence.
I'm excited to see how everyone has elevated their dish
with these amazing mushrooms.
Richard, shall we start with your team?
- Top floor, please. - Sure.
- Yes. Yes. - Okay, okay.
This chef has prepared pan-seared chicken scaloppini, and in pasta.
Visually it looks beautiful. Definite restaurant quality.
Really nice transform something as basic as a squash and elevate it.
Courtney: The last cooks didn't pan out the way I wanted,
so there's definitely pressure on me
showing the mentors that I deserve to be here.
Shaking his head. Okay.
- Like, I wanna win. - Chicken's cooked beautifully.
- Mm-hmm. - For me, it's lacking a little bit of salt.
But gorgeous. Gorgeous.
Whoever cooked that, what a start.
Richard: The next dish, it's a lamb chop with one eggplant raviolo.
Oh, god, please let it be cooked.
- Beautiful. - Gorgeous.
Oh, gosh.
There's a beautiful balance of sweetness and gaminess.
But just a touch thinner on the ravioli.
All right, next up spicy shrimp capellini.
This chef took the hon shimeji mushrooms and puréed them right into the cream sauce.
Gordon: The shrimp are nailed. I love the heat there.
It just sort of dances across my palate.
All right, next dish up here, spaghetti and clams,
and also toasted breadcrumbs on top to sort of give textural contrast.
Please let that be cooked through, baby.
Being on the top level with the top ingredients,
there's no excuse for you not to crank out
some of the best food you possibly can.
I don't know who cooked this, but it looks like it's been cooked by a pro.
What they've managed to do is cook everything to absolute utter perfection.
Whew! Father, son, and kacey musgraves over here, baby.
I'm just like, "thank you. Thank you."
definitely from the top floor, that's for sure.
I'm feeling good about my team's dishes.
I think everyone stepped to the plate today.
Hopefully we can find a winner on this team.
We got four authentically italian dishes here.
Gordon: Right, shall we move to the middle floor?
This is one is a hand-rolled cut pappardelle.
- Wow. - It's done on a veal chop.
Mushrooms stood out beautifully.
The pasta is definitely a little thick for a pappardelle,
but the veal is cooked beautifully.
- Good job, kenny. - We're here together.
This person wanted to do a take on a fish stew.
It looks like it could be served in an upscale italian restaurant.
The gnocchi's a bit tough to get behind.
Today, this individual decided to forgo the protein
and then did the most amazing gnocchi.
Nyesha: This is exciting. It looks vibrant.
I'm getting a lot of this umami and sort of earthiness.
I'm assuming that's coming from the mushrooms.
That sauce is delicious.
Now this one was a take on tagliatelle.
No protein, fresh ricotta.
That ricotta is wonderful, a really nice flavor.
Pasta a little bit overcooked. It's a bit toothsome.
In an italian challenge, I overcook my pasta.
Elimination challenge, here I come.
This was starting out to make an incredible pesto.
We had no pine nuts, so this individual
depended on that crunch from the breadcrumbs.
It's missing ingredients. It's naked and afraid.
To me, it's underdressed and mildly uncomfortable.
- Oh, my god. - If you don't have pine nuts
to make a pesto, change the plan.
Gordon: Yes, we're mentoring you,
but understand that there's two other floors
that are absolutely on their game.
There are a lot of good dishes on my team,
but not all of them were next-level.
There's one floor left to judge,
and I'm hoping team ramsay can stay out
of that elimination cook.
Final floor.
Okay, so this chef created a lobster farfalle
with a focaccia breadcrumb on top.
Wow. How the frick did a lobster end up on the basement floor?
- The lobster made it into the basement. - I know. I know.
Gordon: What the hell was going on those top two floors? Man.
It's lobster. It's either terrible or glorious.
Gordon: Whoever cooked this dish,
they know their ( bleep ).
The girl that grabbed the lobster is not a jerk.
She's a genius.
I just proved myself in the basement
with a live lobster.
I'm a badass chef.
Okay, we have a pork meatball here
with a rigatoni.
This person used cream of mushroom soup
as their sauce base.
Cream of mushroom soup in a can?
- Wow. - In a can.
Gordon: If you told me it was a fresh mushroom sauce, I would've believed you
because it tastes that good.
Next up, feta stuffed artichoke
with a whipped mascarpone sauce over fusilli pasta.
What's going on with the creativity in the basement down there?
Those ovens are older than martha stewart.
- That is good. - Sort of two dishes going on here.
Both happen to be tasty, which is great.
So, this chef has created a meatball
prepared with breakfast sausage with crispy squash blossoms.
Richard: Smart choice of breakfast sausage.
Flavor's there. Where's the mushrooms?
I'm struggling to identify the mushrooms.
Last but not least, we have our first flatbread,
oyster mushrooms and crispy pancetta,
and it has a marsala sauce around the outside.
That was a little undercooked.
We can't eat raw flour like that.
That's just a big no-no.
But I love the pork and I love the pancetta.
Yes, good effort.
Was my team perfect? No.
There's definitely room for improvement.
I'm just hoping that we did enough to survive another round.
I had to put up someone for elimination last time.
I do not want to be put in that position again.
Give us a moment, please.
I have to say, the italian dishes turned out fantastic!
But even though we're all mentors and we all wanna win,
we never play favorites when it comes to the best dish.
I think what I'm super excited about is that clams and spaghetti.
- Richard: I would agree. - It's incredible, the flavor and the texture.
So whoever cooked that, they gave me a taste of Italy.
- Mmm, totally. - Mm-hmm.
I was very surprised to see lobster on that platform,
and she did great job breaking that down.
- Gordon: Lobster was delicious. - Lobster was delicious.
- Have we decided then? - Yes. There's no doubt.
Only one of these dishes truly stood out as being the best of the best.
The spaghetti and clams.
Yes! Yes! Thank you!
- Thank you. - ♪ oh, my god
- oh! - Yes!
Thank you. Thank you, chefs.
Culinary giants telling you that you had the best dish
out of 14 people who know how to cook is so exciting.
Congrats, team trailblaisers.
I am feeling relieved that I don't have to pick one of my chefs
to go up into that pressure cooker on the third floor.
Unfortunately that means, gordon and nyesha,
you each have to pick one of your chefs to battle it out in the elimination.
I do not like the suspense. I don't like the waiting.
I wanna stay as far away from elimination as I can.
Uh, this is hard.
The person I'm sending through to elimination is...
This is hard.
I'm tied. I am really tied.
This is a tough choice.
Roice failed yet again to get the right amount of ingredients
to show how good he is.
But tricia and devonnie both overcooked their pasta.
I need to have that next-level chef on my team.
The person I'm sending through to the elimination is...
Roice. You're in the elimination, young man.
Understand the competition.
Sometimes you're just breezing. You're not giving me your all.
You've got one more chance. Cook me something that is solid.
I'm not in the business to lose.
- Is that clear? - Yes, chef.
I am not ready to go home.
I'm going to show chef ramsay
all the skills that I have
and hope that that's enough
to keep me in the competition.
Nyesha?
It's not easy for me.
So I have pyet on one hand,
who completely ignores the mushrooms,
and I have a dough that is completely undercooked.
How do you choose between that?
Cooking a great dish, it doesn't happen by chance.
It comes with a lot of focus,
integrity, and it's not just cooking fast.
Zach, we're gonna see you cook again.
This is not gonna get you anywhere.
This is just, "I'm doing the least," right?
- Yes, chef. - Focus. Intention.
I got a fire in me right now. It's about to erupt.
Neither of you got the job done in the first round,
and now both of you will head into the elimination round.
Roice, zach, you can stay here.
The rest of you, you can head to the elevator
and we'll meet you in the kitchen.
- You got this, guys. - We're gonna have five people still, okay?
You got it, bud.
Chef nyesha, I'm sorry I let you down.
I have a lot of pride as a chef.
I'm ready to redeem myself and prove why I'm here.
Come on, zach.
You cooked an italian dish today,
but for tonight's elimination cook-off,
you'll be creating a world-inspired noodle dish.
Vietnam, malaysia, singapore,
all host amazing cuisines with noodles at the heart.
I wanna see you best take on a noodle dish
from anywhere in the world.
Italian is the only cuisine you can't cook.
- Is that clear? - Both: Yes, chef.
The platform will be staying across the whole 30 minutes,
and on there, you've got the best of every ingredient
you could possibly want.
Roice, zach, I'll be with you for the entire 30 minutes.
This is a blind cook-off.
Gordon and nyesha will not know who cooked what dish.
Head to the elevator.
Noodles are not my strong point. I do not make them often at all.
But I know how to maximize the flavors out of any dish that I create.
I really just see this as an opportunity to grow more.
The greatest athletes that there are, they grow from their setbacks.
I don't honestly eat a lot of asian noodles.
I'm feeling nervous, but I can't let myself look nervous.
- Thank you, guys. - Come on, zach. Let's go, zach.
I have more than enough to stay in this
"next level chef" competition.
If you thought I was intense before,
I'm gonna be a lot more intense going forward.
As soon as that platform drops, your 30 minutes will begin.
- Are you ready? - Yes, chef.
- Whoo! - Get close, get close, get close, get close.
Richard: The best dish of your life, zach and roice.
Go! It's go-time.
Your 30 minutes starts now.
- Scallions, roice! - Scallions, roice! Ginger!
- Is this ginger? - That's galangal!
Take it! Take it!
Roice: I have no clue what I'm doing.
I know the flavors that I want to go for...
Chilis, chili oil.
...So I start grabbing the things that I know I'm going to need.
Fresh noodles, scallions.
Where are they?
A little faster with the movement, roice.
All right, so there we go. Zach moving fastly.
I am in killer instinct mode.
Yes, yes! Yes!
I'm grabbing ground pork, vermicelli rice noodles,
a bunch of veg to make my stock taste good,
and any sort of asian sounding sauce
to give it the next level on my dish.
You got an area on the globe of inspiration here?
Yes, asia. Not any country in particular.
Okay, got it. Got it. We're going asian influence.
Zach, there's preserved fish cake. Put it in your broth.
It's gonna add some great umami flavors.
To infuse more flavor, I gotta get my broth going as soon as possible.
- Thank you! - There you go. There you go. There you go.
There's multiple layers. It's not just stock with some garlic in it.
- Yes, with the lemongrass! - All: Yes, yes!
- Yes, yes! The lemongrass! - You are killing it.
Yes! He's building those flavors.
- Stay focused though. Stay focused, okay? - Yes, chef. Yes, chef.
10 minutes have gone. 20 minutes remain, all right?
Aw, come on. My hands are shaking.
- It's all right. - You got this, roice.
- Roice, your inspiration here is? - It's thai actually.
Thai. Okay, have you cooked this dish before?
Never, but the first paycheck I ever got...
- Got it. - I took my mom out to dinner...
- Okay. - ...And it was a dish very similar to this.
I'm going to make this dish that my mom loves.
It's gonna be sweet, spicy, salty,
and have just a little bit of acidity in there.
You're using some fresh fat rice noodles, all right.
- Yes, chef. - What's gonna be the protein? It's gonna be just shrimp?
Just gonna be just shrimp for the protein, yes.
Okay, and then that sauce, what are you gonna do with the shrimp shells?
It's gonna be in the oil that I stir fry in.
My spot here in the competition is at stake,
so I have to make a phenomenal dish.
You want flavor here. You gotta get those shrimp shells developing.
- Yes. - You gotta be quick. 13 minutes.
Soy sauce? Hoisin, hoisin.
Hoisin? Yes, yes. Mix that in there, 100%.
We have roice and zach throwing down
in a global-inspired noodle dish challenge.
This one's gonna be tough.
It's gonna come down to punchy flavors,
maybe a little bit of authenticity,
but it's anybody's game.
Remember to taste your dishes as you go, guys.
Nine minutes left. Keep that flavor in that pan, all right?
Yes, chef. Time is running out.
- Reuel: Yo, take that shrimp out. - Yeah.
Start your other stuff. Let's go!
When I cook, I do it for pleasure. I enjoy it. I go slowly.
And to be in a scenario like this
where you just have to go quick, quick, quick, I'm not used to that.
6 1/2 minutes. Not a lot of time.
I need garlic.
Where the ( bleep ) did my garlic go?
- Roice? Move with a sense of urgency. - Yeah?
- Move that ass. - Reuel's telling me to move my ass.
This is the fastest I've ever moved my ass in the kitchen.
- Toss it. - Huh?
You're gonna break the noodles.
- Come on! - Come on?
Roice, let's go!
As I'm watching the elimination challenge,
my heart is in my stomach.
All right, big flavor in here.
- You're burning your sesame seeds. - Oh, ( bleep ).
Richard: You're burning your sesame seeds.
I could see, like, the panic was setting in.
- Roy, we're not going home. - I don't know if I can do this.
This is another level of anxiety.
- Roice! - Roice! - Think about your time.
You gotta be quick at this point.
- Tricia: Keep cooking. - I mean, come on.
You're burning your sesame seeds.
- Oh, ( bleep ). - You're burning your sesame seeds.
- He burnt them? - Richard: 6 1/2 minutes!
- Not a lot of time. - Roice! Roice!
Roice! Sense of urgency. Move that ass.
If you're sleeping, wakey-wakey.
Listen, everyone, I love that you're helping.
You gotta let him cook a little bit.
- Yes, yes. For sure. - Thank you.
- I know I can cook. - Yes! Let's go, let's go!
I can't just let my stress and my anxiousness get the best of me.
- I can do this. I got this. - You're doing great. Yes!
- Trust yourself, roice. - Oh, I do.
5:25. How does it feel?
It's almost there, chef. I just need a little more broth.
My broth is reduced, and it's tasting awesome.
Is it a broth or does he have soup? I don't know.
No more! It's gonna get soggy!
My pork is nice and spicy.
We're rocking. It's all coming together.
Final minutes! 60 seconds!
Let's go! Go, go, go, go.
- It smells good. - Thank you, chef.
Good job, zach! He's not playing.
Taste, elegance, beauty. Last looks.
- 30 seconds left. - Roice, you're doing great.
- That looks good. That looks good. - Thank you.
- Beautiful. - Jalapeno and lime.
Richard: Ten, nine, eight,
seven, six...
It's spicy. It's good.
...Four, three, two, one.
Stop cooking. Wow.
Good job, guys.
You did phenomenal, my dude.
You did phenomenal.
- Hello, chef. - Chef.
Welcome.
I do not want to send zach home today,
but I literally have zero idea
on who cooked both dishes,
so I'm basing my decision
purely off of flavor
and which dish I wanna go in for a next bite on.
Our judges have no idea who cooked what,
so don't give anything away,
and if there's a tie, I'll be the one to break it.
All: Yes, chef.
Gordon and nyesha, here are our two dishes.
Right over here we have a spicy pork, peanuts,
and chili with rice vermicelli.
And here we have thai inspired shrimp and chili
with a wide rice noodle.
Shall we start with the thai shrimp dish?
Nyesha: Let's do it.
Roice: I know my dish tastes amazing.
As a kid, not even as an adult,
I never thought I would ever get to cook alongside chef ramsay,
and I'm really hoping to stay in this competition
so that I can keep learning from him.
I like the flavor of those noodles.
It's leaning towards a pad thai.
I think the shrimp has got a great sear.
Shrimp is slightly overcooked for me on this dish.
- 30 seconds less cooking on those noodles? - Yeah.
That stops it from becoming a little bit more gummy. They don't break up.
- However, the flavor's good. - Yes.
- Shall we? - Richard, the protein in this one again, please?
This is pork, peanuts, black vinegar.
Please be overcooked.
Zach: I'm confident in my dish.
I turned around my life through working hard in the kitchen.
I don't want to go home.
I wanna make everybody proud who believes in me.
Redemption, it was kind of like the story of my life.
I love the level of spice.
There's a beautiful sort of rich sweetness.
The secret behind these dishes is dousing the noodles in sauce.
Pork is good, but when you have that amount of noodles in a bowl,
you're underselling it.
It needs more pork.
Which dish is your winner?
Flavor overall, right?
Journey, elements of excitement...
I'm going with the pork dish.
My heart's gonna take me
to the one I'd recognize instantly on a menu...
My big worry is I'm gonna send my own person home,
because they're two good dishes.
...And that would be the glass noodle with the shrimp.
That means you've left it to me to break the tie.
Even though zach and roice are not on my team,
I don't want to send anyone home.
I don't wanna be the villain,
but it all comes down to me.
Tough decision.
We are looking for the one next level chef,
but the only thing I'm going on here
is flavor, authenticity.
That's all that this is about.
One brought more flavor to the game than the other.
Zach: I kind of feel like one of those old cartoons
where the heart is, like, thumping.
I'm extremely nervous.
For me, the dish that won...
It's the pork stir fry noodle...
- Whoo! - Yeah.
...That was cooked by zach.
- Ahh! - So proud of you. You left it all out there.
I wanna jump through the roof with joy and excitement.
I can only jump, like, two inches off the ground, but I do my best.
Roice, unfortunately that means you will not be the next level chef.
Thank you, chef.
( bleep )
this is a tough choice.
Roice was a creative chef,
and although he sometimes lacked vision,
he never lacked heart.
Team ramsay, honestly, has taken a hit.
I'm pissed that you're going,
but this just means we'll have to work even harder
to make sure we always win the next-level dish.
You've got a level of pride, and that's refreshing.
Continue that dream. Promise me.
Yes, chef, I promise.
Yeah? Please had to the elevator.
Bye, guys.
I'm disappointed. I know I could've done more,
but I never thought I'd ever meet gordon ramsay,
and I got the opportunity to do that.
He's my childhood hero.
Let's say michael jordan has a team of five,
and, yeah, he kicks you off first,
you still got to play with michael jordan.
You've all seen how difficult these eliminations are.
There's no rehearsals. This is the real deal.
Come out of the gate, play to your strengths.
Every week we climb. Every week we get stronger. Is that clear?
- All: Yes, chef. - Good night.
- Whoo!
I never get anxiety, but I had anxiety for you, man. Good job.
Gordon: Next time on "next level chef"...
We have chosen the perfect ingredient
for today's challenge-- poultry.
The other kitchens have already grabbed anything that I could possibly use.
I don't even know what I have.
This is the worst case scenario right now.
Stop what you're doing. Check your pigeon.
I need to believe in myself a lot more.
You overcook poultry and you are done-zo.
- Gordon: Dry as a bone. - I'm worried I may be going into elimination today.
Mariah: That is a huge mistake. It could send me home.
What are you trying to do, kill me?