Tournament of Champions - Season 7 - Episode 03: Just Win - video Dailymotion

LunarEchoStudio

Watch Tournament of Champions - Season 7 - Episode 03: Just Win - LunarEchoStudio on Dailymotion

Transcript

00:00:00TOC 7 is in high gear.

00:00:03Let's go!

00:00:04TOC 7, baby!

00:00:06Last time, the baller chefs of the B Division

00:00:09squared off in the arena.

00:00:10The winner is Joe Sasko!

00:00:13Kevin Lee!

00:00:15Chef Bringer-Signo!

00:00:17Wow!

00:00:18And in the main event, the qualifying winner,

00:00:20Chef Katsuji Tanabe.

00:00:22Dad, what you making?

00:00:23In an unforgettable showdown

00:00:25with top-seeded culinary icon, Chef Lorena Garcia.

00:00:28Lorena Garcia!

00:00:30And tonight, the action continues

00:00:32as our C Division Daredevils begin

00:00:34for the battle for the belt.

00:00:36First, Chef Dale Tallade challenges

00:00:38returning TOC quarter-finalist, Chef Shirley Chuck.

00:00:42I'm so excited to be back.

00:00:44I want to be one of them.

00:00:46The TOC All-Star Christmas Champion,

00:00:48Chef Brian Voltaggio,

00:00:51takes on five-time Food Network winner,

00:00:53Chef Carlos Anthony.

00:00:55Nothing fuels you more than beating somebody great.

00:00:59Then it's TOC six runner-up, Chef Sarah Bradley,

00:01:03versus top chef runner-up, Chef Dan Jacobs.

00:01:06This is a fantastic dish.

00:01:08Maybe one day I'll get to be an icon.

00:01:10And finally, the C Division's top-seeded culinary icon

00:01:13will be revealed as they step into the arena

00:01:16to battle season competitor, Chef Viet Pham.

00:01:19It's definitely a David and Goliath.

00:01:20Who will win the title?

00:01:22The belt?

00:01:23The $150,000 bucks?

00:01:25This is Tournament of Champion 7.

00:01:31Are you ready to meet our first two gourmet gladiators?

00:01:36First, we have number five seed, Chef Shirley Chung.

00:01:39She's returning after taking a year off

00:01:41to tackle a real-life battle.

00:01:45I was diagnosed with stage four tongue cancer

00:01:472024 in June.

00:01:50I haven't cooked or barely ate

00:01:52the last one and a half years.

00:01:54So now, not only I'm cooking,

00:01:58I eat, tasting, compete.

00:02:00I'm super nervous, but I'm pretty nervous.

00:02:03Her opponent is the number four seed, Chef Dale Talday,

00:02:06who rebounded from last year's first round loss

00:02:08to TOC heavyweight Sarah Bradley

00:02:10with an impressive showing

00:02:12in our recent all-star Christmas competition.

00:02:16All right, Dale, tell me, how you feeling?

00:02:18Ready.

00:02:19You know, I think Shirley is an ultimate competitor.

00:02:22I think she has fought the most important fight of her life,

00:02:25and I respect her immensely.

00:02:27But, you know, that doesn't take anything away

00:02:30from what I need to do.

00:02:31I came here to win, and that's my goal.

00:02:34All right, Chef, they're ready for you.

00:02:36Okay.

00:02:49Are you ready to see these two pros go toe-to-toe?

00:02:52And let's line it up!

00:02:57She moved to the U.S. from China when she was 17

00:03:00and opened restaurants for culinary greats

00:03:03by the time she was 35 years old.

00:03:08And last year, she beat out eight other elite chefs

00:03:12to win Food Network's House of Knives.

00:03:14Now, after waging the fight of her life

00:03:17against tongue cancer,

00:03:18she's back to take on the randomizer one more time.

00:03:21Give it up for a true champion,

00:03:24the Mafia Dumpling Queen,

00:03:27Chef Shirley Charles!

00:03:40Chef, you have had probably one of the most challenging battles

00:03:45that anybody's ever seen.

00:03:47And I remember when you called me

00:03:49to tell me what you were getting ready to face,

00:03:51and you said,

00:03:52I'm just taking a year off.

00:03:54I will be back.

00:03:59I'm a woman of my word.

00:04:02I won.

00:04:02I beat my tongue cancer.

00:04:05She's four.

00:04:06I never felt like a victim.

00:04:08I know.

00:04:09I'm here to fight.

00:04:11I am back.

00:04:12She is back, ladies and gentlemen.

00:04:15She is love in this circle.

00:04:18Well, Chef, good luck.

00:04:23He's the proud son of Filipino immigrants

00:04:25and has showcased his distinct Asian American experience

00:04:29in over a dozen celebrated restaurants.

00:04:34His acclaimed goose feather was named Esquire's best new restaurant in 2020.

00:04:40And he was a 2022 James Beard nominee for Best Chef New York.

00:04:47And he recently teamed up with his friend Kevin Lee

00:04:50to reach the semifinals of TOC All-Star Christmas.

00:04:54Give it up for the Boogeyman!

00:04:58Chef Dale Paulde!

00:05:02Let's go!

00:05:04Come on!

00:05:13This is your third year coming back into the arena.

00:05:15Yes, sir.

00:05:16Why?

00:05:17Because I want to be one of them.

00:05:19I want to be one of them.

00:05:23So, Chefs, to the randomizer.

00:05:25Let's do this.

00:05:30As you know, Chefs, the randomizer will determine the mandatory details of your dish.

00:05:35The protein, the produce, the equipment, and the style.

00:05:39And finally, the wild card.

00:05:40Spin.

00:05:41Let's go with the spin.

00:05:42Here's our protein.

00:05:52Calamari flanking ground, calamari ground beef.

00:05:57Ground beef.

00:05:58And cremini mushroom.

00:06:00Blender.

00:06:02Herbaceous.

00:06:03Herbaceous.

00:06:04Ha!

00:06:04An audience choice.

00:06:11The audience, you can pick one category that you would like to see re-spun.

00:06:17Protein!

00:06:18Protein!

00:06:19Protein!

00:06:30Protein!

00:06:31Proteine brown!

00:06:32Calamari!

00:06:34Calamari steak!

00:06:35Calamari steak!

00:06:37The audience has spoken, so it's calamari steak, cremini mushrooms, must employ the use

00:06:44of the blender, and the style is herbaceous.

00:06:47Audience, you did a great job!

00:06:49Chefs, it's time for you to do your job.

00:06:51Go!

00:06:52What do you like to do?

00:06:55Go!

00:06:56Oh!

00:06:58Go!

00:07:02Calamari is the Italian word for squid, so these are larger portions of the squid flesh.

00:07:08For many mushrooms, this to me is the everyday go-to mushroom.

00:07:12Blender, boy, the judges are sure expecting a lot of the equipment use.

00:07:15It's an herbaceous.

00:07:16They're going to be looking to see it, they're going to be looking to taste it.

00:07:19I mean, basil, cilantro, parsley, oregano, sage, chive, dill, you name it, it's available.

00:07:24How are they going to play it?

00:07:26Ooh, what a round this is going to be.

00:07:29I love calamari steak.

00:07:30What's the plan with these, Chef?

00:07:32Mushroom calamari fried rice, and then I'll make it crispy, like a crispy rice.

00:07:35Got it.

00:07:36I am known for, I think, my modern Asian-American takes on cuisine.

00:07:40You know, I'm a classically French-trained chef, so I have, I think, all the tricks in the bag.

00:07:46I've got to win this first round because it's all that matters right now.

00:07:49Win and move on.

00:07:52Tonight, I'm joined by my two indispensable culinary commentators,

00:07:55Michelin-recommended chef, with a brain-bursting with food knowledge, Chef Justin Morner.

00:08:00Andra Down, Boston restaurateur, and the TOC3 champ herself, Chef Tiffany Faison.

00:08:05Now, Justin and Tiffany will be closely following our chefs' every move,

00:08:08so they can give a detailed description of their dishes to the judges during the blind tasting.

00:08:12And we'll also be joined by our roving reporter, the one and only Hunter Fieri,

00:08:16who will be talking with our winners backstage.

00:08:18And culinary scholar Simon Jandar will get our judges' honest appraisal

00:08:22of the difficulty of each challenge.

00:08:24Hi, Chef.

00:08:25Hi.

00:08:25Happy to be back.

00:08:26We're thrilled to have you back.

00:08:28We have a blender of our equipment, of chefs.

00:08:32We blend everything, especially me.

00:08:35I've been using blenders to blend all my food for the last year.

00:08:39Making a coating?

00:08:40Um, no.

00:08:41I'm making porridge.

00:08:43Are you making conchie?

00:08:44Yeah.

00:08:44Hell yeah.

00:08:46Yes!

00:08:47Chopping up some kumini mushrooms so I can blend them.

00:08:52I'm going to add the earthy umami into my porridge.

00:08:56Ginger, onion, garlic?

00:08:58Yep.

00:08:59Chef Charlie's essentially using this like a food processor.

00:09:03Buy anything that's necessary.

00:09:04Finally.

00:09:05Get it out of there.

00:09:05During my recovery, the moment that I can start, eat a little bit food, instead of soup,

00:09:12it's actually rice hungries mixing with meat, with protein, with vegetables.

00:09:17So I feel like today, as my first battle back, it's the perfect stage for me to show everybody

00:09:25my past journey.

00:09:27Spin me, baby, one more time.

00:09:29Yeah.

00:09:30Uh, calamari steak?

00:09:31I think we're going to see a much more creative, unique...

00:09:34100%.

00:09:34...with the calamari.

00:09:35I agree.

00:09:36This is actually going to be a tough battle.

00:09:37I think this is going to be one of the best first round battles that we see.

00:09:41Shirley came to win this thing.

00:09:42I know that.

00:09:45Chef Shirley, Chef Dale, halfway point.

00:09:4815 minutes to go.

00:09:4915.

00:09:52No one's happier to have Chef Shirley Chung back in the kitchen and on my side than me.

00:09:56I'm honored to be her voice in this competition.

00:09:59What's the broth for the congee?

00:10:00All the aromatics, so ginger, garlic, and onion, and then mushrooms and butter made into a stock.

00:10:05My strategy is really use the randomizer multiple times.

00:10:11I already have minced mushroom in my country, but nothing beats a butter roasted mushroom.

00:10:18Tournament champions is the biggest culinary competition stage, and it is the most important competition for me.

00:10:27Throughout my three months, I was still dreaming about coming back to congee and then back at it.

00:10:36What are you looking for in that?

00:10:37Just some, like, umami.

00:10:39What's inspiring this dish 100% is how I cook at home.

00:10:41I love crispy rice.

00:10:42I mean, look at the profile.

00:10:44This is body built by rice.

00:10:46There's a lot of pressure cooking for TOC because, you know, you want to make everybody proud.

00:10:49Also, you know, you come home to your wife and your family, and you want to tell them how well

00:10:53you did, and I'm blessed to do this.

00:10:55I also want my kids to look at it and say, yo, my dad's a winner.

00:10:57That's something that's important to me.

00:10:59You've made fried rice before.

00:11:00A few times.

00:11:01I'm a little familiar with it.

00:11:02When you're cooking up against a juggernaut like Shirley, you know, you've got to cook everything perfectly.

00:11:11When I see all these ingredients, I'm, like, ingravitated towards, like, squid ink.

00:11:14What's the juice?

00:11:15Lime juice.

00:11:16Lemon juice.

00:11:17Because I think squid, squid ink, they go together.

00:11:20You're seeing the squid ink mayo get mixed in with that rice.

00:11:23Something tells me it's going to live on these little cast iron pans.

00:11:26That oil within the emulsion is going to crisp up the bottom.

00:11:29I think that's awesome.

00:11:31Going out in the first round last season, it just feels awful.

00:11:35I want this so bad because I've always come up short.

00:11:39I've never made it to the top.

00:11:41This is my time.

00:11:42I want to prove to my family, my kids, that when I'm away working, that daddy's coming home with the

00:11:48felt.

00:11:48And that check, baby.

00:11:50Chef Dale, Chef Shirley, 10 minutes, 10 to go.

00:11:52Now, our judges are currently sequestered in their trailers, so they don't know who's even competing.

00:11:56They'll be judging the dishes based on taste, the use of the items on the randomizer, and presentation.

00:12:02The chef with the highest total score heads to the second round.

00:12:05And the other chef thinks about next year.

00:12:09Chef, what's the plan for the calamari?

00:12:11Calamari, I'm around South Asia.

00:12:13Also, poach the small calamari into my porridge.

00:12:17Working on the salsa verde, Chef?

00:12:18Yep.

00:12:19OK.

00:12:19Like she never left.

00:12:21So the salad is herbaceous.

00:12:23One of the first things that I would be able to taste were fresh herbs.

00:12:28A sauce that I immediately went to is the salsa verde.

00:12:32So I have garlic, cilantro, lots of parsley, a touch of mint.

00:12:37The brightness of the mint makes your salsa verde extra herbaceous.

00:12:42If I'm going to guess, she's going to let those pans get screaming, screaming hot before that calamari goes into

00:12:47there.

00:12:47The minute it goes in, it's going to go up in flames.

00:12:49Careful.

00:12:53To saute my calamari, I'm going back to my sweet favorite sauces, oyster sauce, soy sauce, and black vinegar.

00:13:02This is the first cook of TOC.

00:13:05I want to have a big return.

00:13:09A little fat familiar.

00:13:11Final five minutes, five to be plated.

00:13:16This dish has to be really herbaceous.

00:13:18Basil, cilantro, chive?

00:13:19Yes, sir.

00:13:20What's that going to be when it's done, Chef?

00:13:22Marinade for the calamari.

00:13:23Smart play, though, using the blender to make a super herbaceous marinade.

00:13:27Because that thing is already scored, it's going to work itself in every nook and cranny.

00:13:30I want to cook my calamari steaks on the grill because the key words I'm linking into is steak.

00:13:35It's a really big piece of calamari.

00:13:37So how do I, like, steaks cooked?

00:13:39Right on the grill.

00:13:39There's a cross-linking of muscle fibers there that are basically used to propel a squid through water.

00:13:45So as they cook, they tend to curl.

00:13:48To counteract that, Chef Dale has placed a pan on top of the squid.

00:13:53And I'm going to make the salsa verde that goes on top.

00:13:54What's big in TOC is that if you can taste it, you also want to see it.

00:13:58Chef, you're doing the salsa verde by hand.

00:14:00Yes.

00:14:00The blender could be a trap in that case, right?

00:14:03I think so.

00:14:03Some people like to puree them down.

00:14:05And I don't want that.

00:14:06You lose that integrity.

00:14:07You lose that kind of mouthfeel.

00:14:08And I want the judges to really taste that.

00:14:11145!

00:14:12I have my umami bomb mushroom and calamari congee as my base.

00:14:18And I have the beautifully butter-roasted chumini mushroom.

00:14:23And followed by my perfectly rock-chart calamari steak.

00:14:28I'm putting my salsa verde into my calamari steak.

00:14:33Just to really emphasize our ambitiousness.

00:14:37So amazing to be back cooking TOC steaks again.

00:14:41I cannot wait to get charged.

00:14:43Oh, wow.

00:14:44Did I just say that?

00:14:45Yeah, I cannot wait to get charged.

00:14:48I pull my calamari steaks off.

00:14:50They look fantastic.

00:14:52And I think the cook on them is perfect.

00:14:54I have my sliced calamari.

00:14:55I take dollops of my squid-y gaioli and dot that around.

00:14:59And then a little bit more salsa verde on top,

00:15:01so they feel that herbaceousness.

00:15:03I love and adore Shirley Chung.

00:15:05But I'm the fourth seed.

00:15:07And I got to take down the fifth seed.

00:15:09And she's the fifth seed.

00:15:11Five, four, three, two, one!

00:15:20Chef Dale Tallade.

00:15:22Chef Shirley Chung.

00:15:23Great job, Chef.

00:15:25Thank you so much.

00:15:27Get those judges.

00:15:28It's their lucky day.

00:15:33Oh, my God.

00:15:36Everything goes through your head right now.

00:15:38It's like, what could I have done better?

00:15:39What could I have done different?

00:15:40It felt very good to put in that kitchen in hand.

00:15:44I'm very proud of what I thought.

00:15:45Ladies and gentlemen, our DOC judges

00:15:47have been anxiously awaiting their first tasting

00:15:49of the evening.

00:15:50First up, we have the Michelin-starred chef

00:15:52with a restaurant empire that spans three continents.

00:15:55Who redefined American pizza, artisan bread,

00:15:59and high-end desserts.

00:16:00Chef Nancy Silverton.

00:16:04Of course.

00:16:05Of course.

00:16:06Oh, my God.

00:16:07Yes, it's Nancy.

00:16:09Next, we have eight-time James Beard Award winner

00:16:13and internationally acclaimed restaurateur,

00:16:15the fashion man himself,

00:16:18Chef Marcus Samuelson.

00:16:20Another legend in the culinary world.

00:16:23It's amazing.

00:16:26And last, definitely not least,

00:16:28the James Beard Award-winning restaurateur

00:16:30who received a coveted three-star review

00:16:33for the New York Times.

00:16:34Chef Scott Conant.

00:16:36Oh, my God.

00:16:38Oh, my God.

00:16:40I'm so sorry.

00:16:42You ready to do this?

00:16:44It is good to see you, sir.

00:16:46Tonight, the randomizer determined the dish

00:16:48would have calamari steaks, cremini mushrooms,

00:16:51employ the use of a blender.

00:16:52Style was herbaceous.

00:16:54Here to present the dish, Justin Warner.

00:16:56Judges, this is a herbed and charred squid

00:17:00with squid ink and cremini crispy rice.

00:17:02It's accompanied by a raw cremini salsa verde.

00:17:05Now, for the blender, we have marinade for the squid.

00:17:08The blender was also used to craft a squid ink mayo.

00:17:11In terms of herbaceous components,

00:17:13not only is there that blender marinade,

00:17:15but the salsa verde contained Thai basil,

00:17:18lemon juice, chives, cilantro, and Fresno chilies.

00:17:23This is delicious.

00:17:27I love the flavor development inside this dish.

00:17:30I love the textural contrast.

00:17:32I love the usage of the cremini as well.

00:17:34The rice itself with that squid ink aioli is wonderful.

00:17:39That great crispiness, real nice depth of flavor.

00:17:42It's not too much fishy flavor.

00:17:44Squid ink could be a real challenge sometimes.

00:17:46Whoo!

00:17:48What I love about this dish is the balance, right?

00:17:51And there's many different techniques used here.

00:17:54Really well done.

00:17:54Chef, thank you.

00:17:55Marcus, you're the man.

00:17:58Well, this is delicious.

00:18:00The only thing that I think it lacks

00:18:02is I do not taste any bit of the randomizer in this dish.

00:18:09When I saw the word blender,

00:18:11I know that there was a blended aioli,

00:18:13and yet I guess I expected to see something more visual

00:18:18about that puree.

00:18:19I mean, Nancy is a very tough judge,

00:18:21and for a good reason.

00:18:22She has high standards

00:18:23because she has done so much in her career, so.

00:18:26In front of you are your scorecards,

00:18:2750 points available in taste,

00:18:2940 points in the use of the randomizer,

00:18:31and 10 points in presentation.

00:18:34Nancy made a very good point.

00:18:36Oh, here.

00:18:38Judge is here to describe the second dish

00:18:40to your C3 champ Tiffany Faison.

00:18:42In front of you, you have a melody of cremini

00:18:44and calamari congee

00:18:45with wok-style roasted calamari steak,

00:18:48mushrooms, and an herbaceous salsa verde.

00:18:50The congee was constructed by jasmine rice

00:18:52being placed into the blender

00:18:53to then create the congee.

00:18:55Cremini mushrooms were also processed in the blender.

00:18:57As if we weren't finished with the blender,

00:18:59you'll get another blended sauce of salsa verde

00:19:00with the blender of parsley, mint, cilantro, chive, and dill

00:19:03that was then also tossed with the calamari steak on top.

00:19:09Fantastic cooking.

00:19:09How much of the dish is left?

00:19:11I know.

00:19:12Like, I did not just taste this.

00:19:14I really went in.

00:19:15Oh, yeah.

00:19:16Let's talk about textures in here.

00:19:18You have the soft congee, which has one texture.

00:19:21Then you have the cremini and the calamari,

00:19:23which has this kind of double texture,

00:19:25both from the wetness from the cremini,

00:19:28but it's seared and charred.

00:19:30And then on top of this,

00:19:31this kind of like casual salsa verde

00:19:34adds so much flavor.

00:19:36This is a fantastic dish.

00:19:37Oh, I love it.

00:19:39Thank you, Chef.

00:19:40But it might be a little bit too much congee ratio

00:19:44to calamari.

00:19:46Wow.

00:19:47Expert cookie.

00:19:49There is nothing missing in this dish.

00:19:52Thank you, Chef.

00:19:54Really, I cannot get over how everything is cooked

00:19:59so perfectly.

00:20:01Yes!

00:20:02Yes!

00:20:03I'm just really distracted by the guy at the end.

00:20:09This is the type of heartfelt, emotional cooking

00:20:12that really deeply resonates with me.

00:20:15It's not just the flavors.

00:20:16This is a point of view.

00:20:18This is a nod to heritage.

00:20:19It makes me emotional.

00:20:21This is a person opening their chest

00:20:23and showing you their heart.

00:20:26That's what this dish is.

00:20:27It is that good.

00:20:28Wow!

00:20:30All right, judges.

00:20:31Thank you very much.

00:20:32And again, your scorecard,

00:20:3450 points available in taste,

00:20:3640 in the use of the randomizer,

00:20:38and 10 in the presentation.

00:20:40I was really cooking with all my heart and soul.

00:20:45You know, you don't want to go home.

00:20:46You just want to keep going forward.

00:20:47So hopefully that I did enough to go forward.

00:20:50Whew!

00:20:52Now I just need to win.

00:20:53Thank you so much.

00:20:55We'll see you shortly.

00:20:57She's ready for you.

00:20:58Someone's ready.

00:21:01Hey.

00:21:03Let's bring our chefs back in.

00:21:05I'm gonna choose.

00:21:06Chef Dale Talday!

00:21:07Chef Shirley Chan!

00:21:16Chef, these are extremely high scores.

00:21:20One chef scored a 87.

00:21:25Outstanding.

00:21:26The other chef scored a 94.

00:21:30Wow!

00:21:32That is the high score of TOC7 so far with a 94.

00:21:36Ladies and gentlemen,

00:21:37the winner of the first C-Division battle

00:21:39between Chef Dale Talday and Chef Shirley Chung is...

00:21:55Shirley Chung!

00:21:58Congratulations!

00:22:06You're the best.

00:22:07You deserve all this and more.

00:22:09This woman is the ultimate fighter.

00:22:13She fought for her life.

00:22:14And now she's here, two years later, to do this.

00:22:19She deserves all the flowers.

00:22:21Give her all her flowers.

00:22:24Ladies and gentlemen, the boogeyman, Chef Dale Talday!

00:22:34I'm not holding my head down at all about this.

00:22:38You just run into a juggernaut like Shirley.

00:22:4094?

00:22:41Ultimately, something never changed.

00:22:44It's cooking from my heart.

00:22:45And that was my heart on the plane.

00:22:48Ladies and gentlemen!

00:22:49The mafia definitely queen herself, Chef Shirley Chung!

00:22:54Unbelievable.

00:22:58How do you feel, Chef?

00:22:59Emotional.

00:23:00So excited.

00:23:02And I'm so proud of myself.

00:23:05And I won my first battle with the highest score.

00:23:15Chilled squid, crispy rice with squid and aioli, and raw cromini salsa verde.

00:23:21It was a spectacular dish.

00:23:23Any other given day, that dish would have won its run.

00:23:28The cooking was that good.

00:23:29But then the second dish hit.

00:23:30And once we took that bite, it was over.

00:23:34That dish sets the bar of TOC.

00:23:37These next two TOC prize fighters, I'm telling you what.

00:23:41They will bring the energy.

00:23:42They will bring the heat.

00:23:43We have the number six seed, Chef Carlos Anthony.

00:23:46Has scored first round victories two years in a row.

00:23:50And is looking to make it even further this year.

00:23:53I mean, I am slowly just crawling up this bracket.

00:23:57It all starts with Brian Voltaggio.

00:23:59I am ready for this.

00:24:01His opponent, Chef Brian Voltaggio, has struggled in this arena

00:24:04despite his years of competition experience.

00:24:07But thanks to an impressive performance he and his brother did

00:24:12at the Christmas competition, Voltaggio is a number three seed.

00:24:17I just came off of a TOC holiday win.

00:24:20You know, so that's a big deal.

00:24:21But my history at TOC is not that great.

00:24:24Both times I was here previously, I went home in the first round.

00:24:26I am not planning to do that this time.

00:24:29I have a little bit more experience under my belt.

00:24:31And I want to prove that, you know, I have what it takes to get all the way through.

00:24:35I want the title of Tournament Champion 7 Chef.

00:24:37Chef Brian, they are ready for you.

00:24:39All right, let's go.

00:24:44Let's do this.

00:24:46Folks, are you ready to meet these culinary contenders?

00:24:50Let us light it up!

00:24:52He has helped open more than a dozen restaurants

00:24:55and was named Best Chef San Diego in 2023.

00:25:03And he is now garnering rave reviews for his ranch-to-table cooking

00:25:07as executive chef of Oregon's Hawkeye and Huckleberry Lounge.

00:25:13Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome...

00:25:18Carlitos!

00:25:19Chef Carlos Anthony!

00:25:22Good way!

00:25:27Make some noise, guys!

00:25:28Come on!

00:25:32He's back!

00:25:34Whew!

00:25:35Carlitos!

00:25:39Now your opponent...

00:25:42Your opponent is a two-time James Beard nominee

00:25:46who has opened more than a dozen restaurants over his distinguished career.

00:25:52The Washington Post called his latest venture, Y Oaks Tavern,

00:25:56a divine restaurant.

00:26:01He is a three-time Top Chef finalist.

00:26:05And in December, he scored his first major competition victory

00:26:09when he and his brother Michael cleared a 16-team field

00:26:13to become the first TOC All-Star Christmas Champion.

00:26:18Ladies and gentlemen, the Bolts of the East,

00:26:20the one and only Chef Brian Moltaggio!

00:26:35Where has Brian Moltaggio been?

00:26:38And thank goodness we get him.

00:26:40I've been saving up for this moment.

00:26:41This is why.

00:26:43This is time.

00:26:44Gentlemen, honor and a pleasure to have you.

00:26:45Let's take it to the randomizer.

00:26:47Let's go!

00:26:57Chefs, the randomizer will determine the mandatory details of your dish.

00:27:01Let's talk about proteins.

00:27:02We have never had eggs as the protein.

00:27:07Yeah, I only had it one season, but I, through therapy,

00:27:09have been able to forget that.

00:27:12Let's get after it.

00:27:13Here we go!

00:27:13Go for protein!

00:27:17Come on!

00:27:19Oh, God.

00:27:20I can't ever look at it.

00:27:22You gotta look at it at some point, Chef.

00:27:24I understand.

00:27:26Oh, no!

00:27:31That's just what I want,

00:27:33is a bunch of eggs getting cooked in my dojo.

00:27:35Eggs, Swiss chard, microwave, breaded.

00:27:39Wild card.

00:27:41Equipment and style re-spin.

00:27:43Equipment or style.

00:27:44What do you think?

00:27:45We getting rid of the microwave or we getting rid of breaded?

00:27:47I say we getting rid of the microwave.

00:27:48I say breaded.

00:27:50I know the microwave doesn't work for him,

00:27:52and that's why I do not want it to change.

00:27:55You can't bread something and cook it in a microwave.

00:27:58It doesn't work.

00:27:59Is this a little Rochambeau?

00:28:01What's gonna happen here?

00:28:01Rochambeau.

00:28:02One, two, three.

00:28:04Paper covers rock?

00:28:05If it was best a seven,

00:28:07I bet you the rock would have worked.

00:28:08I'm going, uh, I'm going equipment.

00:28:10Come on back, baby.

00:28:11Come on back, baby.

00:28:15Come on, baby.

00:28:18Digital steamer.

00:28:20Eggs, Swiss chard, digital steamer, breaded.

00:28:26That's odd.

00:28:27Any way upside down or over easy.

00:28:30You're probably a little bit scrambled right now.

00:28:33Go.

00:28:37Three parts to an egg.

00:28:38I don't like any of them.

00:28:40The shell, the yolk, and the white.

00:28:41I love to cook with them.

00:28:43Don't get me wrong.

00:28:43This is actually going to be one of the most exciting TOC rounds,

00:28:47having this all be egg-centric.

00:28:49Swiss chard.

00:28:50This is one of my favorite vegetables.

00:28:52Super versatile.

00:28:53These digital steamers are great because they get hot really fast.

00:28:57We all know what bread it is.

00:28:58This really should be an exciting one.

00:29:02Sorry, chef.

00:29:03Sorry, chef.

00:29:03Eggs.

00:29:04This is probably the most difficult protein that I've ever used.

00:29:09Not the first time I've used it in this arena,

00:29:11but the first time where it's the star.

00:29:14We definitely have some eggs.

00:29:15I'm going to make a perfectly steamed egg,

00:29:20breaded and fried with a steamed, charred,

00:29:23and that Swiss chard Bernays.

00:29:25I think this is really a winning dish.

00:29:27One protein that I know loves to be steamed is an egg.

00:29:32However, I've never used a digital steamer.

00:29:34I'm going to have to figure out how long it takes

00:29:38to make a six-minute egg inside a digital steamer.

00:29:41Do you have a digital steamer?

00:29:42Uh, yeah.

00:29:43Believe it or not, we hold our dumplings in a digital steamer.

00:29:46What I do like about this is the continuous and monitorable water flow.

00:29:49The randomizer also gave a Swiss chard,

00:29:52which is an incredible ingredient.

00:29:54And you can use every bit of it.

00:29:56So I'm going to do this for two things.

00:29:58I'm going to do like a really nice, simple,

00:29:59just charred with a little bit of preserved lemon.

00:30:02And then I'm also going to do some to put into my Bernays,

00:30:05steam it, shock it, use some of it fresh.

00:30:09Shocking.

00:30:10Shocking.

00:30:10You're good.

00:30:11Oftentimes at home, we take the charred stems and we throw them out.

00:30:15But these are incredibly flavorful.

00:30:18So I immediately know I want to get a pickle on them.

00:30:20Let's go!

00:30:22Come on!

00:30:23What it really comes down to is this first round.

00:30:26And now to go up against somebody like Brian Voltaggio,

00:30:29nothing fuels you more than beating somebody great in the first round.

00:30:35Hi, Chef.

00:30:36We use chicken eggs.

00:30:37Eggs.

00:30:38It's the one ingredient that Guy hates the most.

00:30:40So I can't even believe it's on the randomizer.

00:30:42I'm very versed in cooking eggs.

00:30:44It's something I do all the time.

00:30:45I hope I can knock it out of the park.

00:30:47You have a pen?

00:30:48I got a plan.

00:30:49An open heart and an open mind.

00:30:50Let's go. What do you got?

00:30:50All right, so I'm going to braise down some greens.

00:30:53Garlic.

00:30:54Obviously, some onion.

00:30:55A little bit of tomato.

00:30:58I'm not doing, like, shakshuka, by any means.

00:31:00Okay.

00:31:01But kind of, like, leaning into the base of that.

00:31:03Eggs, I'm going to steam.

00:31:04I'm going to bread.

00:31:04I'm going to fry.

00:31:05I want to put an egg sauce in there, too.

00:31:08The charter, I'm going to do two ways.

00:31:09It'll be in the braise.

00:31:10I'm also going to do super light tempera with some char leaves.

00:31:13So steamed and breaded.

00:31:15Steamed, breaded, and fried.

00:31:17Swiss charter is a great green.

00:31:18I love cooking with it.

00:31:20Once the Swiss char starts to wilt down,

00:31:22then I'm going to add some of the strained tomatoes to that

00:31:23and just put the lid on and let it braise.

00:31:25You know, every day I get ready for this competition.

00:31:27And to get beyond the sort of black clouds

00:31:30that have been kind of hanging over my head

00:31:31of getting through the first round of COC

00:31:33would be an immense win.

00:31:34I'm ready for this.

00:31:3720 minutes, 20 left in competition.

00:31:39You guys having fun out there?

00:31:43Right at 6 minutes and 37 seconds on this digital steamer.

00:31:47I check my eggs.

00:31:48Normally it takes 6 minutes, but this is raw.

00:31:53Not even a little bit cooked raw.

00:31:56Still needs a little bit more time.

00:31:57I'm going to go, I'm going to push that down to the wire.

00:31:59Oh my God, look, these are still undercooked.

00:32:02I don't know when it will be done.

00:32:05I have to keep cooking.

00:32:07Going out in this first round would be devastating.

00:32:09I'm going to work on like a Bernays.

00:32:11So infusing the white wine vinegar with tarragon.

00:32:14Yes, sir.

00:32:14If there's one thing I'm very good at is making a delicious sauce.

00:32:18A Bernays is screaming to me.

00:32:20It's a classic French egg sauce.

00:32:22You hear what I hear first.

00:32:24Made with eggs.

00:32:25But I want to do something to really elevate this.

00:32:28I'm going to add fresh steamed herbs and that steamed char to give it a wonderful herbaceous and earthy flavor.

00:32:37Oh my God.

00:32:43All right, I'll take these out.

00:32:44I'm going to let them in shock quickly.

00:32:46So to add another element to the dish that's breaded and using the digital steamer again,

00:32:50I'm going to take some tender leaves to make a crispy tempera Swiss char leaf.

00:32:54AP tricelle soda.

00:32:56Yeah, baking soda, yeah.

00:32:57Or baking powder.

00:32:59I've always been competitive in nature.

00:33:00I grew up next to Michael Voltaggio.

00:33:02So obviously there's no lack of competition there.

00:33:05Who can get down the hill faster on a big wheel?

00:33:07That was definitely the games we played, so yes.

00:33:09Would it be nice to sit down over a holiday dinner and be able to brag a little bit to

00:33:14Michael

00:33:14that I finally won a competition by myself?

00:33:17Yes.

00:33:17But I think a lot of people who have watched me over the years competing,

00:33:20they want to see me win.

00:33:21Make a little quick salad, too, of like Swiss char leaves.

00:33:24I'm going to do a fine julienne, like lots of herbs.

00:33:27I want to make sure that I crush a randomizer.

00:33:29That's something that I feel like I go home on a lot.

00:33:31So I'm mentally creating a checklist.

00:33:34I'm using the Swiss char in three or more ways.

00:33:37Then I'm going to use egg in two or more ways.

00:33:40Nobody could say I did not respect the randomizer.

00:33:4313 minutes, chef.

00:33:4513.

00:33:48This works on my breading station.

00:33:50The salad's breaded.

00:33:51I can make a crusty, crumbly crust that will taste delicious.

00:33:56A little chicken bouillon.

00:33:57I just want to give it a little bit more like depth of flavor.

00:34:00I come back to the eggs.

00:34:01It has now been a total of 12 and a half minutes that I've had these eggs in this digital

00:34:08steamer.

00:34:09I know because it's got a timer on there and it's yelling at me.

00:34:12Ten minutes to go.

00:34:15They're good.

00:34:16They're good.

00:34:17They're good.

00:34:18It was probably should have been pulled out at 11 and a half minutes.

00:34:21I think they might be over.

00:34:23My heart is absolutely breaking inside.

00:34:26I do not have time to start new eggs in Terminator Champions.

00:34:30With that timer going, you have to put something on the plate and it's got to be something that can

00:34:34win.

00:34:35As far as I can tell, as long as these eggs get breaded and fried, we'll be in the clear.

00:34:39But all those eggs are in one basket.

00:34:43You want to just put your clipboard down and just do a walk of...

00:34:45Shame?

00:34:46No, of applause?

00:34:47I mean, that's pretty massive.

00:34:53The biggest challenge that I have right now is the digital steamer, just because I haven't used it before personally.

00:34:59And then there's tons of opinions on how people like their eggs cooked.

00:35:02That's why this one is an incredibly hard challenge.

00:35:06That's where you want.

00:35:07Eggs are good, yep.

00:35:07Perfect.

00:35:08Soft-centered.

00:35:09Yep.

00:35:09You have to be very careful and make sure I get four perfect eggs.

00:35:12We have a peel-off going on in the TOC arena right now.

00:35:21On the list of things that I've done in competition I never want to do again and chefs generally don't

00:35:24want to do,

00:35:25it is peeling eggs.

00:35:26It's time-consuming and needing to focus your time in one specific area with one specific ingredient while everything else

00:35:32is cooking around you.

00:35:33Nerve-racking.

00:35:34It's working!

00:35:36This is my fifth year of Tournament of Champions and motivation comes in a lot of different ways.

00:35:41I have a mom who is a fighter.

00:35:43My mother has had breast cancer for over 20 years and she has fought and survived and come out with

00:35:50this fire.

00:35:51But I always think about her.

00:35:52I think about how she fights every day.

00:35:55This is something where I get to fight and prove myself.

00:35:59I want to win not next year or five years from now.

00:36:02I want to win right now for her.

00:36:05I think that's really fueling me to be great.

00:36:08Okay, eight and a half minutes.

00:36:12Egg dipped.

00:36:13Egg dipped.

00:36:14Yep.

00:36:15And then I'm going to work out a sauce here.

00:36:17Eggs and oil.

00:36:18Aioli.

00:36:18So I want there to be a punch of acid on the dish.

00:36:21QP.

00:36:21Yogurt with acidity.

00:36:23Eggs.

00:36:24I'm going to throw some herbs in that.

00:36:29Look at those fried eggs, chef.

00:36:31Little golden nuggets.

00:36:32The eggs come out of the fryer.

00:36:33They're crispy on the outside.

00:36:34They held their shape.

00:36:35They look great.

00:36:36Seven minutes, chef.

00:36:37Seven to go.

00:36:38I've got parsley, tarragon, and dill.

00:36:41Okay, they're steaming.

00:36:42Getting a lot of use out of the steamer.

00:36:44I just want to do kind of like the steamed Swiss chard to kind of hold the egg up.

00:36:48Yeah.

00:36:49I'm going to put it with a little bit of preserved lemon and lemon juice.

00:36:52Just under six, chef.

00:36:54Six minutes?

00:36:55Yeah.

00:36:55Oh, God.

00:36:56Let's plate this dish.

00:36:57I set down that beautiful steamed chard and some of those pickled chard stems.

00:37:03I want to put this like a beautiful nest that's chicken egg sitting right in there.

00:37:07Pour this sauce.

00:37:08I'm more motivated than I've ever been.

00:37:10There's nothing more powerful than belief in yourself.

00:37:13To show why you're great and to do it amongst the best chefs in the country.

00:37:20I want to win to prove it to my peers.

00:37:23Two minutes!

00:37:24So the way I'm going to plate this, I'm doing it with intent for sure.

00:37:27I'm going to put the braised greens down in the center of the plate, but then I'm not

00:37:30going to put the egg directly on top.

00:37:31I'm going to kind of like lean it off to the side, and I'm going to place the salad

00:37:34over the top.

00:37:35Then I'm going to take the tempura leaf and just drape that off the salad to the edge

00:37:40of the bowl.

00:37:40So it's going to remain crispy.

00:37:42Plate looks great.

00:37:42I feel really good about what I've done.

00:37:45Five, four, three, two, one.

00:37:49We're done!

00:37:52Brian Botaggio, Carlos Anthony.

00:37:56Let's bring in the judges.

00:37:57Great job, guys.

00:38:01Excellent!

00:38:02I feel...

00:38:05I feel strong.

00:38:07All right, ladies and gentlemen, let's welcome back our judges.

00:38:10Oh, God, here we go.

00:38:11Three legendary restaurateurs, the one and only Chef Nancy Silverton,

00:38:15Chef Marcus Eggleston, and Chef Scott Connick.

00:38:21What?

00:38:22Oh, my God.

00:38:25Wow-wee.

00:38:27The randomizer, well, sure laid an egg on this one.

00:38:32Protein offered up tonight is going to be eggs.

00:38:35Produce with Swiss chard.

00:38:37Equipment, digital steamer.

00:38:38Style was breaded.

00:38:39And those are just all the nicknames of Justin Warner.

00:38:42Go ahead, Chef.

00:38:44This is green eggs and steamed fried eggs.

00:38:47Firstly, eggs were separated, put in the blender to make a sauce.

00:38:52It was treated with a medley of digital steamer steamed herbs

00:38:55and digital steamer steamed shard.

00:38:58We have the egg in the very center, so that was steamed,

00:39:01was then peeled, breaded, and fried.

00:39:04In terms of the shard, more of those digital steamer leaves were added to the sauce with digitally steamed herbs.

00:39:10They are digging into this thing.

00:39:12Say something, please.

00:39:13Just say you love it.

00:39:14Just say you love it.

00:39:15So I think one of the best compliments that you can give a dish is that it reminds you or

00:39:20harkens back to a memory of your childhood.

00:39:22And there's a little bit of my mother's egg salad inside here that I really love.

00:39:26And that's kind of drawing me in again and again.

00:39:29I like the wilted greens on here.

00:39:31I think the one challenge is that the egg doesn't have that beautiful, runny yolk.

00:39:37That's a lost opportunity.

00:39:38Yep.

00:39:39Yeah, I agree.

00:39:40No, you're right, Scott.

00:39:42That is not an overcooked egg.

00:39:45That is a perfectly cooked, hard-cooked egg.

00:39:48Come on, baby!

00:39:50Come on, baby!

00:39:52It's creamy, plus it's not crumbly.

00:39:55Yes, Chef.

00:39:56Thank you, Nancy.

00:39:57If I had my challenge, it would be that it's a little bit difficult to cut the Swiss chard.

00:40:03I agree with Nancy.

00:40:05That big piece of Swiss chard just makes it a harder dish to eat.

00:40:10The most successful thing is this sauce.

00:40:14Come on, baby!

00:40:15Absolutely delicious.

00:40:16I don't want the most creamier beurre blanc.

00:40:18It's getting a lot of positive comments.

00:40:19All right, judges, thank you very much.

00:40:2150 points available in taste, 40 points in the use of the randomizer, and 10 points in plating.

00:40:26That went well.

00:40:27That went well.

00:40:28I think that went well.

00:40:29Sounds like we did a lot of similar things.

00:40:31That's what it sounds like.

00:40:33So I just hope mine is enough to pull the wind.

00:40:35All right, judges, and here to present the second dish is our TOC champ, Tiffany Faison.

00:40:39Judges, in front of you, you have crispy breaded, just jammy egg with Swiss chard braised, raw, and fried.

00:40:45You also have an egg-fortified herb aioli, a raw chard frisee salad.

00:40:49The eggs have been digitally steamed and twice egg dipped into a breaded coating.

00:40:54The Swiss chard was braised down with a little bit of tomato product.

00:40:57We then had digitally steamed chard leaves that were tempura breaded and fried crispy to accentuate the crispy egg on

00:41:03the side.

00:41:03Well, I bet the chef quickly took the egg out of the steamer when they heard your comment on the

00:41:11last egg, which doesn't necessarily make it a better egg, it's a different egg.

00:41:15You talking to me?

00:41:17A perfectly cooked jammy egg.

00:41:20Difficult, difficult challenge.

00:41:23But I think for me, the dominance of the tomato, that's the one part that I could just push aside

00:41:30and I would be happier with eating everything else.

00:41:34What? Oh my gosh.

00:41:36Okay, we got Nancy on our side.

00:41:39You know what I want to honor, first of all?

00:41:42Effort.

00:41:42Think about the ambition of this cook.

00:41:46First of all, the tempura.

00:41:48How fun.

00:41:49How the crunch is just, mmm.

00:41:51Really delicious.

00:41:53Aesthetically, how chef plated this dish, just really the next level plating.

00:41:58Thank you, Marcus.

00:41:59Bring it around, man.

00:42:00Bring it around, chef.

00:42:01I like this dish a lot as well.

00:42:02I like the usage of the yogurt.

00:42:04I think that brightness with the cilantro and the vinegar inside there is really beautiful.

00:42:08All in all, it's a really flavorful, delicious plate of food.

00:42:12There's a lot of similarities here between these plates.

00:42:15But good cooking.

00:42:16Judges, thank you very much.

00:42:17Let's go to the scorecard.

00:42:20I feel pretty strongly I did the right thing.

00:42:23There's definitely a lot of flavor on that dish.

00:42:26Did I do enough?

00:42:27I have no idea.

00:42:28Egg, center of the plate, I'm telling you.

00:42:30Yeah.

00:42:30They did a fantastic job, right?

00:42:32Let's bring it back out.

00:42:34Brian Voltaggio, Carlos Anthony.

00:42:41Here are the scores.

00:42:43One chef scored a 82.

00:42:45The other chef scored a 79.

00:42:48The winner of the second battle between Chef Brian Voltaggio and Chef Carlos Anthony is...

00:43:02Brian Voltaggio!

00:43:06Congratulations!

00:43:11Chef, incredibly competitive dish.

00:43:13Thank you so much.

00:43:14Ladies and gentlemen, Carlitos, Chef Carlos Anthony.

00:43:21Oh, my gosh.

00:43:22There's one door.

00:43:23Oof.

00:43:24Oof.

00:43:25Oof.

00:43:26Oof.

00:43:26It hurts.

00:43:28It always just...

00:43:29You put so much into it.

00:43:31You really give your all to be here.

00:43:34And you think about it.

00:43:36To go out in the first round, it's just devastating.

00:43:38So...

00:43:39We've never had a chance to do this.

00:43:41We've never had a chance to.

00:43:42Let's talk about the road ahead.

00:43:44That leaves you to battle the runner-up from last year, Sarah Bradley, or Dan Jacobs.

00:43:52Congratulations, Brian Voltaggio!

00:43:53First win at TOC!

00:43:57Big win!

00:43:59Yes!

00:44:03What?

00:44:05I feel...

00:44:06I feel amazing.

00:44:07I feel like a huge weight is off my shoulders now.

00:44:10You did great.

00:44:11And you're continuing that winning streak from TOC Holiday.

00:44:13Right.

00:44:14So we're starting out pretty good here.

00:44:15It means nothing but up.

00:44:16It means one bracket to the next and then keep on going.

00:44:19We've seen so much already, but are you ready to see...

00:44:23Two Culinary Masters go mano a mano!

00:44:29Now we have the number seven seed, Chef Dan Jacobs, who defeated Top Chef winner Joe Flam in the TOC

00:44:35qualifiers...

00:44:36Chef Dan!

00:44:37...to earn his spot in this year's tournament.

00:44:39I'm ready to take Sarah on.

00:44:41I've already fought through the qualifiers, which gave me a ton of confidence going into this first cook against Sarah.

00:44:45I feel calm.

00:44:46I feel ready for the moment.

00:44:48And number two seed, Chef Sarah Bradley made it all the way to the final battle of last year despite

00:44:55being a TOC first timer.

00:44:57Last season I came in as a rookie and I made it all the way to the finale where I

00:45:03sadly lost to Antonia Lofaso.

00:45:06It was a wild ride, big letdown, but I learned a lot from it.

00:45:11I keep telling myself it's technically a onesie, right?

00:45:13Because the icons are going to get the ones.

00:45:15I'm playing for, you know, all those people that think they can't do something.

00:45:19I was diagnosed with a rare neuromuscular disease known as Kennedy's disease.

00:45:23And eventually I'm going to lose the ability to, you know, move around the way I do.

00:45:27I refuse to back down.

00:45:28I refuse to let people tell me what I can and can't do.

00:45:30And I feel like that message isn't given enough.

00:45:33Let's go.

00:45:35All right, let's go.

00:45:38Ladies and gentlemen, you ready to meet these kitchen combatants?

00:45:42And let's light this up!

00:45:46He worked his way up the ranks of Michelin-starred Chicago restaurants

00:45:50before taking the executive chef job in Milwaukee

00:45:53that landed him on several best restaurant lists.

00:45:59Now, as the head chef and co-owner of two acclaimed Milwaukee restaurants,

00:46:04he was a 2024 James Beard Award nominee for Best Chef Midwest.

00:46:12Ladies and gentlemen, Chef Dan Jacobs!

00:46:25What an amazing story.

00:46:27You're battling so much more in life, yet you choose to come and put yourself

00:46:32in the epicenter of the most difficult culinary competition that exists.

00:46:37Yep.

00:46:38There's no way but forward.

00:46:39And I'm just willing to push, push, push.

00:46:41The great thing about it is, is you're doing it amongst the greats.

00:46:45And speaking of the greats, your opponent.

00:46:49This Michelin-trained chef returned to her Kentucky hometown

00:46:53to open her award-winning restaurant, Bourbon & Bar,

00:46:57that celebrates her Southern, Jewish, and Appalachian roots.

00:47:03She was a James Beard semifinalist for Best Chef 2025.

00:47:07She has twice competed in the final battle of Top Chef,

00:47:11and in her first appearance in this arena,

00:47:14she won four battles in a row to become the TOC 6 runner-up.

00:47:22Ladies and gentlemen, Chef Sarah Bradley!

00:47:39Welcome back.

00:47:41It was so amazing to watch your wins and your trajectory

00:47:46in your first season, four wins in a row.

00:47:50It was a major accomplishment, and congratulations.

00:47:53And it's time to take it to the randomizer.

00:47:55Let's go.

00:48:01You ready?

00:48:02Let's get after it.

00:48:03Go for protein!

00:48:15Pork blade steak, and celery root,

00:48:19toaster, buttery, and low-seed re-spin.

00:48:24All right, let's go protein.

00:48:25Pork blade steak.

00:48:26Never used it before.

00:48:27Not familiar with it.

00:48:28You sure you want to go protein?

00:48:29Yeah, let's do it.

00:48:30Let's spin it.

00:48:31Go for protein.

00:48:36And ground beef!

00:48:38All right.

00:48:39Oh, here we are.

00:48:40Ground beef, celery root, toaster, and buttery.

00:48:44I can't wait to see this concoction.

00:48:48Good luck.

00:48:48Time to go.

00:48:51All right, they're going.

00:48:56Ground beef.

00:48:56There's a million things they can do with this,

00:48:58and we're going to be giving them

00:49:00fried black Angus beef in Kansas.

00:49:02The best of the best.

00:49:03Celery root, one of my all-time favorites,

00:49:05but a little troublesome in manipulating

00:49:08because it's so gnarled and bold,

00:49:10it takes a little bit of time and maintenance.

00:49:12We all know what a toaster is.

00:49:14The question is,

00:49:15how are we going to get the toasted flavor

00:49:17and the toasted presentation?

00:49:19Buttery.

00:49:19Buttery can come from a lot of things.

00:49:21They're going to need to be creative with this,

00:49:22seeing it and tasting it.

00:49:25Buttery.

00:49:25Man, I'm from Wisconsin.

00:49:27So I'm going to go this way with that.

00:49:29And so, buttery, this is great.

00:49:32I'm thinking, like, luscious.

00:49:34I'm thinking something elevated.

00:49:35I'm thinking luxury.

00:49:37Root is the dill.

00:49:38I am comfortable in Southeast Asian cuisine.

00:49:41I'm going to go full in.

00:49:43But the challenge here, with ground beef,

00:49:45how do you make it elevated

00:49:46and how do you make it beautiful?

00:49:49Let's go!

00:49:50Stephanie, fill me in.

00:49:52Start off with, like, a celery root and butter curry.

00:49:55Okay.

00:49:56And then a Southeast Asian-style seared meatball.

00:50:00The toaster is going to be the rough one,

00:50:02but we'll get there.

00:50:03Great.

00:50:06Buttery.

00:50:07I'm thinking of style.

00:50:08So I'm immediately thinking butter burgers

00:50:10on a brioche bun, which is all butter.

00:50:14I'm going to make a...

00:50:16Oh, no, hi.

00:50:17We can't. Hi.

00:50:17Hey, how are you?

00:50:18Hi.

00:50:19Oh, cool.

00:50:20So I'm going to make a butter burger.

00:50:22That's it.

00:50:23Celery root remoulade.

00:50:24To go on the burger,

00:50:25I'm going to have, like, a little celery apple slaw.

00:50:28Okay.

00:50:28Glad we talked about it.

00:50:32I love celery root.

00:50:33Me too.

00:50:34I want to do something that's completely different.

00:50:37I think the magic of Tournament of Champions

00:50:39is those dishes that nobody would have thought of.

00:50:42For my celery root and butter curry,

00:50:44I'm going to add some kombu.

00:50:45This is basically going to be our base.

00:50:47And then I'm going to add some green curry paste

00:50:50just to really reinforce

00:50:51that Southeast Asian style of cuisine.

00:50:53What I love more than anything

00:50:55is seeing somebody use kombu instead of MSG.

00:50:58Boy, it gets me going.

00:50:59This is my morning coffee.

00:51:04I'm going to toast a little celery seed

00:51:06and a little fennel pollen

00:51:08to go into my celery root slaw.

00:51:11Okay.

00:51:11Stop this, Sarah!

00:51:14Thanks, y'all.

00:51:15Obviously, I want to prove that, you know,

00:51:18getting to the end the last time

00:51:20is something that I can do again.

00:51:21I'm a restaurant owner, a business owner,

00:51:23a mother who wants to create a good life

00:51:25for her family and children.

00:51:27I think all of those are motivators

00:51:30to get back to that finale

00:51:31and push me towards winning Tournament of Champions.

00:51:34Dan, watch out.

00:51:40I can smell this toasting.

00:51:42It smells good.

00:51:42Yeah.

00:51:43It's working, y'all.

00:51:44Chef Sarah, Chef Dan, 20 minutes left.

00:51:49Oh, shucky-ducky.

00:51:51Using Sichuan peppercorns, five spice.

00:51:53We're going to do some chili flakes.

00:51:54Now we're going to do some peanuts.

00:51:56I know where it's going.

00:51:56I know what you're up to.

00:51:57The toaster's not my favorite thing

00:51:59I've ever had on the randomizer,

00:52:00but I'm going to use it to toast my spices

00:52:03and my peanuts.

00:52:04Ooh, yeah, yes.

00:52:05We got it.

00:52:06I mean, you could smell it.

00:52:07That's what we wanted there.

00:52:08The sort of warming spice

00:52:09that's really going to kind of bring everything together.

00:52:11I'm going to add that powder filling from my meatball.

00:52:14I'm also going to use it in my sauce.

00:52:16I think this is what's going to really

00:52:17kind of pop these both off.

00:52:19Where's our butter?

00:52:20Oh, you just wait.

00:52:21Oh, you just wait, Dan says.

00:52:24This curry, this is going to be

00:52:25my big component for buttery.

00:52:26I'm going to substitute coconut milk.

00:52:28We're just going to use the butter to be that fat.

00:52:31It's going to create this lusciousness on this curry

00:52:34and this fat that you would get from coconut milk,

00:52:36but I don't need it.

00:52:37Butter instead of coconut milk.

00:52:40COC-7, baby!

00:52:43This is a celery root remoulade for my burger.

00:52:47It has celery seed, celery root, celery stem.

00:52:50I'm going to add toasted spices in there.

00:52:52A little mayonnaise.

00:52:53I'm going to add chopped capers.

00:52:56Also, I'm going to make celery root and apple slaw.

00:53:00So I'm going to put a little salt and sugar

00:53:02on the celery root now to kind of cure it a little bit

00:53:05and get some of that moisture out.

00:53:07Right now in the Wayfair screening room,

00:53:08Chef Brian Voltaggio is spectating this battle.

00:53:11He will face the winner in his second round.

00:53:13So it looks like she's making some sort of a slaw

00:53:15with the celery root, which is a smart play, too.

00:53:17Absolutely.

00:53:17There's a million little things that Chef Sarah is doing

00:53:19that are smart.

00:53:20From the julienne in the spa that she's making

00:53:22to, like, the little brunoise of the celery root

00:53:25in the remoulade.

00:53:26Those are all indications to the judges

00:53:28that the chef knows what they're doing.

00:53:32Play it.

00:53:3416 minutes, chefs.

00:53:36I'm going to add some butter, OK?

00:53:39The key to a good meatball is keeping that moist ball.

00:53:41And so I'm going to start to create what's going to be

00:53:43the meatball base.

00:53:44In the blender goes some oil, lime leaves,

00:53:48little garlic shallots.

00:53:49Galangal is a root vegetable.

00:53:51Basically, what I'm doing here is getting that galangal

00:53:54as small as possible so it doesn't get stuck

00:53:56in the judges' teeth.

00:53:57Whoa!

00:53:59I put a good amount of butter in here,

00:54:00and I realize these are not going to hold shape.

00:54:03These are not going to be meatballs.

00:54:04Well, I like the smell of it, Chef.

00:54:05I feel like we're going to kill the flavor.

00:54:07Maybe not so pretty.

00:54:08I'm going to pivot here and go to almost like

00:54:10a seared meat patty.

00:54:12What's the plan now?

00:54:13The celery roots, I'm actually going to mandolin it.

00:54:16I'm going to try to use these guys a little bit like noodles.

00:54:18I think this will work.

00:54:20We're actually going to poach these.

00:54:21Once those are pretty much cooked all the way through,

00:54:23I'm going to transfer that to a pan

00:54:25and finish the cooking in the butter, just like you would pasta.

00:54:29When I do feel pressure, I think I put it on myself.

00:54:31I often feel that pressure is a privilege.

00:54:34Having kidney disease has really pushed me to do as much as I can

00:54:38and whenever I can.

00:54:39I know that I have a finite amount of time

00:54:41that I'm going to be able to do stuff like this.

00:54:43Don't just sit on the sidelines.

00:54:45Like, get out there.

00:54:45Do whatever you want to do.

00:54:47Like, don't let anybody tell you no.

00:54:49Going into Chef Sarah Bradley is a daunting task.

00:54:51She understands how this kitchen works.

00:54:53She understands how this game is played.

00:54:55But every year, there's lower seeds that take out the high seeds.

00:54:58And I think I got a good dish here.

00:55:01Five to go.

00:55:03I feel like you've done this before.

00:55:06I've made a few burgers in my life.

00:55:07I'm no stranger to the burger game.

00:55:09Like, I have the trophy for best burger for Burger Week in Paducah.

00:55:12Maybe I'll take home another one.

00:55:14Butter burgers are like a Midwest thing.

00:55:17You stuff butter inside the burger, and as it cooks, it cooks out.

00:55:22You see that butter coming up right off the bat.

00:55:24Little butter geysers.

00:55:27I go ahead and add some toasted spices on my burgers.

00:55:30I grab my brioche buns to toast them.

00:55:33Three minutes, three to go, Chef.

00:55:35It's not a lot of time.

00:55:37Seeing the drippings reserved,

00:55:39I think we're going to see that as a finishing drizzle.

00:55:41Ground beef, not necessarily the prettiest thing.

00:55:43So we're actually going to hide this.

00:55:45So you're going on top.

00:55:46And I think this is one of those things that's kind of fun.

00:55:49It really allows for that aha moment as you get into a dish.

00:55:52This is not the most beautiful thing I've ever made.

00:55:55This is very one color.

00:55:56But I think there's so much flavor here, this could be a winner.

00:55:5960 seconds, let's rock and roll!

00:56:02Ready for plating, I start with the buns down.

00:56:05Put a really nice big dollop of the silver root remoulade.

00:56:08I put some slaw.

00:56:10I feel really good about this.

00:56:11I think I just nailed the randomizer.

00:56:14I want to show that last year wasn't just a fluke.

00:56:17I want $150,000.

00:56:19I want a belt.

00:56:20I want a ring.

00:56:21Sounds fabulous.

00:56:22Five, four, three, two, one!

00:56:26We're done!

00:56:29Well done, Chef.

00:56:31Thank you, Chef.

00:56:32Creative cooking.

00:56:33I love it.

00:56:36Well, it's over.

00:56:39Time to just see what they say.

00:56:40Ladies and gentlemen, welcome back.

00:56:42Our powerhouse panel of judges, the one and only Chef Nancy Silverton.

00:56:46Oh, Nancy, Nancy, Nancy.

00:56:48Chef Marcus Samuelson.

00:56:51Whoa!

00:56:52Oh!

00:56:54And Chef Scott Conner.

00:56:56Scott Conner and I became the first ever chopped legends together.

00:57:00For this next round, the randomizer served up a delicious offering of ground beef, celery root, the use of the

00:57:07toaster, and the style was buttery.

00:57:09And here to present the dish, Justin Warner.

00:57:11Woo!

00:57:13Esteemed judges.

00:57:14This is a celery root butter curry with seared ground beef.

00:57:19The ground beef was emulsified in the stand mixer with butter.

00:57:22It was seasoned with fish sauce and then celery root was added to it.

00:57:27A foil packet filled with spices was toasted in the toaster and used to season both the curry and the

00:57:32meatball.

00:57:33In terms of buttery components, a pound of it was added to the curry sauce.

00:57:37As always, judges, if you have any questions, I have the answers.

00:57:40How do you make ground beef sexy?

00:57:46This is how you make ground beef sexy.

00:57:48I don't think it's about the ground meat.

00:57:50I think it is about the accompaniments thereof.

00:57:52I think that this sauce is just steep and luscious.

00:57:56Yes!

00:57:57I'll take that.

00:57:58That green curry is really outstanding.

00:58:00I want a vat of this and I want to swim in it.

00:58:03Good job, Chef.

00:58:05Good job.

00:58:08The patty, even though there's a nice amount of fat in it, it's still not as much fat as I

00:58:13would add to a patty.

00:58:15And so all the additions that have been added to it really help that texture.

00:58:21This is like a tasting menu idea, but to do it in 30 minutes.

00:58:27Many people have thought about great dishes that might not taste great.

00:58:30Just to have the know-how, well done, Chef.

00:58:34Yes!

00:58:35That feels good.

00:58:36Thank you, judges.

00:58:3750 points in the taste, 40 points in the use of the randomizer, and 10 points in the plating.

00:58:42I don't think that I represent the celery root more.

00:58:45I definitely think they're going to see ground beef online more.

00:58:48Up next, TOC champ Tiffany.

00:58:51We'll see.

00:58:51If you were dreaming of a butter burger, don't wake up.

00:58:55In front of you we have a butter burger with celery root slaw and a brunoise celery root remoulade, butter

00:59:00lettuce and brie.

00:59:02The ground beef was treated to a seasoning of toaster packet toasted celery seed, fennel pollen and black pepper.

00:59:08A generous knob of butter was packed and smacked into the middle of the ground beef, ultimately creating a butter

00:59:13crust.

00:59:14It does sound good.

00:59:15Like, I'm not going to lie.

00:59:16It's a really, really good burger, and Chef truly followed the randomizer.

00:59:22It was celery three, four different ways.

00:59:25Theme of butter everywhere.

00:59:27Yeah.

00:59:28This is just a perfect dish to make, given the randomizer.

00:59:34Toaster toasted the bun.

00:59:35It's a great burger.

00:59:36Love it.

00:59:38Sounds like they like hers, too.

00:59:39I think a burger is a series of a bunch of different things done well.

00:59:44Don't bring my heart, Scott.

00:59:46The flavors are wonderful, but cook on the burger, I think it could be a little less cooked.

00:59:50It seems to be slightly over for me.

00:59:53Great.

00:59:53Thank you very much, judges.

00:59:56This is gonna be close.

00:59:58Here we go.

01:00:01Ladies and gentlemen, great round of competition.

01:00:04Let's bring our chefs back in.

01:00:06Chef Dan.

01:00:09Chef Sarah.

01:00:14Good cut.

01:00:15That was a really good cut.

01:00:16That was fun.

01:00:16I think that the judges gave you fantastic compliments and your scores reflect.

01:00:21For a score of 87 to 84.

01:00:25Ladies and gentlemen, in the first round battle between Chef Sarah Bradley and Dan Jacobs,

01:00:31the winner is...

01:00:38James Jacobs.

01:00:42Wow.

01:00:43Great job.

01:00:50Congratulations.

01:00:52Chef Sarah.

01:00:53I am sorry that you're going home, but we know how great you are.

01:00:57We have seen this from you.

01:00:59I'll be back.

01:00:59There's no question.

01:01:00She'll be back.

01:01:02Bye, y'all.

01:01:03Ladies and gentlemen, it's Sarah Bradley.

01:01:08Boo.

01:01:09But that's okay.

01:01:10Good for him.

01:01:11I'm not upset about that.

01:01:12I mean, I still wanted to win.

01:01:14Congratulations, Chef Dan.

01:01:16First round win, TOC 7.

01:01:19Huge.

01:01:20Let's take a look at where you're going, my friend.

01:01:23Ryan Voltaggio takes out Carlos Anthony.

01:01:26Yeah.

01:01:26Dan Jacobs takes out number two seed.

01:01:30Sarah Bradley.

01:01:31Rock on, man.

01:01:32You got this.

01:01:34Ladies and gentlemen, Chef Dan Jacobs going to the second round.

01:01:39Wow.

01:01:45That's crazy.

01:01:46I mean, whatever.

01:01:48I feel great.

01:01:48I feel I'm at cloud 10.

01:01:50Cloud 10.

01:01:51Just great.

01:01:52You thought, and this kind of stops it winning.

01:01:57You said the burger is a little overcooked.

01:01:59Well, taste is subjective.

01:02:00That's why there's three of us and not one of us.

01:02:02That burger would have been a winner had it not been up against...

01:02:06The first dish.

01:02:07Yeah.

01:02:08You're dealing with good and gooder.

01:02:09Yeah.

01:02:09That's what's really different.

01:02:10It's time for the finale of the C Division.

01:02:13The big battle you've all been waiting for.

01:02:16We have a qualifier winner going up against tonight's mystery icon.

01:02:21Here we are.

01:02:22And there's no bracket because I'm going against an icon.

01:02:26And I have no idea who I'm going against.

01:02:29As iconic as this icon is, the way that I see it is that this icon is going to be

01:02:33a distraction.

01:02:34So, going to zone out of the icon and just focus on my cook.

01:02:38It's time.

01:02:43Are you ready to see two food world warriors take culinary competition to the next level?

01:02:49Yeah!

01:02:51And let's line it up!

01:02:54The son of Vietnamese immigrants, he is a successful restaurateur with almost two decades as an executive chef.

01:03:05He was named Food & Wine's Best New Chef of 2011 and is a three-time James Beard Award semifinalist.

01:03:16Put your hands together!

01:03:18Chef, get five!

01:03:30Any idea who you might be battling?

01:03:34You know, I haven't even attempted to go down that road.

01:03:37I feel like if I continue to think about it, it's going to bother me.

01:03:41Had you known, you definitely would have lost sleep.

01:03:48With a degree from a prestigious French culinary school, he shook up the food scene in Los Angeles to New

01:03:54York with his fresh new take on classical cuisine.

01:04:01His trailblazing restaurants attracted celebrity patrons like Julia Child and Andy Warhol.

01:04:07In 2016, he received the James Beard Award for Best Chef New York.

01:04:14He has earned his place in culinary history by introducing the East Coast to the pioneering California cuisine he first

01:04:21mastered with his mentor, Alice Waters.

01:04:24Chef, Jonathan Waxman!

01:04:35I love this.

01:04:36Somebody's getting this, right?

01:04:38Oh, my God!

01:04:43Wow.

01:04:44Chef, good meeting.

01:04:46Absolute pleasure.

01:04:47Pleasure's all mine.

01:04:49Where do we begin?

01:04:51Sir Waxman.

01:04:53I always call him Sir Waxman.

01:04:54He is nobility in the world of cooks.

01:04:56You've judged with us so many times.

01:04:59You're now on the competitive side of this.

01:05:01But honestly, Chef, why are you here?

01:05:03I love cooking.

01:05:05I love it.

01:05:06You know what?

01:05:06This is my favorite thing in the world to do.

01:05:07This is fun for me.

01:05:08Thanks for being so brave to do it.

01:05:10I'm like in awe, so...

01:05:12Let's take it this way.

01:05:13Follow me, guys.

01:05:18I knew you'd love this one.

01:05:20Oh, man.

01:05:23Tonight, protein, produce, equipment, and style will dictate the dish that you're gonna make.

01:05:28Soak it in right now, gentlemen.

01:05:30Going for protein.

01:05:35This is cool.

01:05:36I never saw this.

01:05:37It is not your friend.

01:05:40Striped manila pork.

01:05:42Striped bass.

01:05:43Fine tomatoes.

01:05:45Muffin pan.

01:05:46Muffin pan.

01:05:47And whiffs.

01:05:50Chefs, collectively, between the two of you, can make a decision to re-spin the whole thing.

01:05:54Your call.

01:05:55Let's do this.

01:05:57Let's stay.

01:05:57We're staying.

01:06:00I love that.

01:06:01Striped bass.

01:06:02Fine tomatoes.

01:06:04Muffin pan.

01:06:05And whipped.

01:06:05Gentlemen, it's been an honor and a pleasure.

01:06:08Your time starts now.

01:06:09Go.

01:06:14Striped bass.

01:06:15Silvery fish with black horizontal stripes.

01:06:19Fine ripe tomatoes.

01:06:20Tomatoes that are still on the vine.

01:06:23The muffin pan.

01:06:24Everybody knows what one looks like.

01:06:25Whipped.

01:06:26It'll be interesting for Chef Waxman, who's judged this a lot of times.

01:06:29But I promise you, this will be a master class.

01:06:31The muffin pan and whipped is really where the randomizer kind of, you know, went haywire.

01:06:37He's not at all concerned.

01:06:38You know, I love being a judge, but I never got to see the action.

01:06:41When I got the opportunity to compete today, I said, why not?

01:06:45Judging is great, don't get me wrong, but cooking is what I do.

01:06:48The reason I'm competing today is the culmination of all the things I've done in my career.

01:06:53Bobby Flay worked for me for five years, so I was his mentor.

01:06:55I did two years at Top Chef Masters.

01:06:57I beat people like Roy Yamaguchi, who actually used to work for me.

01:07:01Michael Chimroosti.

01:07:02And I said, you're younger, you're smarter, you're quicker, you're better cooked than I am.

01:07:06I don't know how I beat you, but I did. And it was fun.

01:07:11What's going on with the heating of the muffin tin?

01:07:13Preheated always.

01:07:15So when the mixture goes in, boom.

01:07:18Icon is a difficult word.

01:07:20Michael Simon once called me a legend, and I told him I wasn't dead yet.

01:07:23You know, so I don't know if I can live up to the moniker, but I'll take it.

01:07:28Well, the color of these eggs are beautiful, huh?

01:07:30Aren't they pretty?

01:07:31Fish and eggs, they're kind of synonymous.

01:07:33So I just wanted to make like an egg kind of fluff thing that I do for brunch sometimes.

01:07:38And then the grazed lettuce as sort of a base for the fish.

01:07:43And then the tomatoes and little mashed potato thing on top.

01:07:46Maybe it's too many items, but you know, that's me.

01:07:49Never in all of the days of my life could you have told me that I would be standing here

01:07:54watching Chef Jonathan Waxman cook.

01:07:56This is a pantry moment in my life.

01:08:00This is fun, huh?

01:08:02That's what you think.

01:08:03I am battling against the one and only Jonathan Waxman.

01:08:09He is an iconic chef.

01:08:11He's trained some of the best chefs, mission stars, James Beard winners.

01:08:15That's like the Oscars of the food world.

01:08:18To be here with him is crazy.

01:08:22Chef, welcome back.

01:08:23Thanks.

01:08:24When you have a plan, throw me in.

01:08:26Something along the line of a fish fry.

01:08:30I'm a chef and restaurateur from Salt Lake City, Utah.

01:08:33This name right here, Pretty Bird.

01:08:35I'm a fry cook.

01:08:36I fry chicken every day.

01:08:37You know, we don't have a lot of time.

01:08:39So the quickest and easiest way is to fry the fish.

01:08:43I want to use the skin in a different way.

01:08:45I don't have that many years of experience as Jonathan Waxman does.

01:08:49And I'm just literally trying to do my best.

01:08:51Are you another chef?

01:08:53Cool as a cucumber, huh?

01:08:55Iconically.

01:08:56And here I am right in my mouth.

01:08:57I am an award-winning chef, and I've beaten a lot of famous chefs.

01:09:04You might have heard of this guy named, um, what's his name?

01:09:07I forgot.

01:09:08Bobby Filet.

01:09:09I beat him on Irish Chef America.

01:09:12Bobby Filet was probably the only person that is a direct descendant of Jonathan Waxman.

01:09:18Hopefully, I'll be taking down his mentor as well today.

01:09:22I go to the fire.

01:09:23I check up on the fish.

01:09:24It looks pretty good.

01:09:25I let it rest for a little bit.

01:09:27And then right before I'm going to plate, I'm going to drop it in the fryer one more time

01:09:31as a double fry.

01:09:32I'm looking around like, what am I going to do with this fish skin?

01:09:34It would be a terrible waste not to use it.

01:09:37And then I look over and I see the muffin pan calling out to me like,

01:09:40Hello, B. What about me?

01:09:42And then I get this idea.

01:09:43I'm going to throw it into the fryer.

01:09:45And then after it's fried, I gently push it into the muffin pan

01:09:48so that it forms around the bottom of the pan.

01:09:51So that way, the judges will at least know that I used the muffin pan.

01:09:57Do you have a backup plan if this doesn't work?

01:09:59No.

01:10:00With 30 minutes, there's not a lot of room for a backup plan.

01:10:02So it better work.

01:10:03To be on the TOC and going against an icon like Jonathan Waxman,

01:10:07we're going to figure this out.

01:10:10Chefs, we are at the halfway point.

01:10:12You have 15 minutes left to compete.

01:10:1415.

01:10:17So if you feel like telling me what's rolling around in that Jedi brain of you,

01:10:21yours, I'll be right here.

01:10:22I'm too simplistic for words.

01:10:25I have a trick where I fire blast tomatoes in a super hot oven until they char.

01:10:31All right.

01:10:32I want a little bit of acidity to go along with the fish.

01:10:36I want to make brown butter, sherry vinaigrette to graze lettuce as a base for the fish

01:10:42and then the tomatoes as the sauce.

01:10:45Chef Jonathan Waxman is not just an icon.

01:10:47He's a legend.

01:10:47He's also one of my favorite chefs and people.

01:10:50And I've never seen food handled in a way that he handles it.

01:10:54So for the whip portion.

01:10:56Whipping tofu.

01:10:56I'm whipping tofu with some tomato.

01:10:58I'm going to make a dipping sauce for the fish.

01:11:01Not a lot of people use tofu or even like tofu,

01:11:03but I feel like it's going to be a great vehicle to carry some additional flavors.

01:11:07Smart work by Chef Viette.

01:11:09You can see that he's taking the seeds out of the tomatoes.

01:11:12Of course, that's where the majority of the water content is found.

01:11:14Water.

01:11:15That ain't flavor.

01:11:16Star anise.

01:11:17Star anise.

01:11:18Little bit of smokey printa.

01:11:20Garlic powder.

01:11:22Oyster sauce.

01:11:22Little bit of oyster sauce.

01:11:24I'm going to whip that, and then I'm going to siphon it.

01:11:27Whee!

01:11:28You've done this before, Chef?

01:11:29Something similar, yes.

01:11:34I cook with striped bass in New York all the time,

01:11:35but the striped bass we get are for 35 pounds.

01:11:38So my plan with the striped bass is to put them on the grill.

01:11:41I always say this is going on.

01:11:43That's where all the nutrients are.

01:11:45Grilling fish is really difficult.

01:11:47The only thing that's hard is grilling chicken.

01:11:49So why are you going to grill it if it's so hard?

01:11:51Well, because I've been doing it for about 50 years.

01:11:54Oh!

01:11:55What's the plan for the bass, Chef?

01:11:56I'm getting old.

01:11:57You're not.

01:11:58I was trying to really channel the randomizer.

01:12:01I think, as a judge, that's the thing that most cooks really failed on.

01:12:05I was thinking about what I could whip, and I could either whip the tomatoes or the potatoes.

01:12:12I tried to use a little hand immersion blender.

01:12:16I don't think I really have anything to prove anymore.

01:12:19My sort of history speaks for itself.

01:12:22Winning is fabulous.

01:12:24If it happens, great.

01:12:26The more important thing to me is how well I cook my dish.

01:12:30Waxing is having to get on.

01:12:31It's freaking like the Jedi videos.

01:12:32Look at that bass.

01:12:33Truly, if I were to put that on the grill, I wouldn't have been able to get my skin off.

01:12:36It's like backspin magic.

01:12:39Ten minutes, Chef's time to go.

01:12:41How are we looking?

01:12:42The muffin tin has been used to give form to the fish skins,

01:12:45crisp up gently in the fryer, and put in the oven.

01:12:47Blending isn't necessarily whipping because it's not incorporating air.

01:12:51The whipping part goes when it goes into the cream whipper,

01:12:54and then you charge it with a nitrous oxide charger.

01:12:57This is a first.

01:12:58So this is also a very big risk, but you know what?

01:13:02You have to take big risks in order to win.

01:13:05I want to further enhance the randomizer option, which is the tomato.

01:13:09In Vietnamese cooking, you know, there's actually a lot of tomatoes.

01:13:13So it is something that I'm very familiar with.

01:13:15What's the plan here, Chef?

01:13:16I'm going to make a relish with this.

01:13:18Copy.

01:13:19Using just traditional Vietnamese nigmam.

01:13:21Growing up, I think deep down I resented my parents

01:13:24because they named me Viet and my brother Nam,

01:13:27and because of that, we were bullied.

01:13:29As I've gotten older, through my cooking,

01:13:31and especially learning about Vietnamese cuisine,

01:13:33it makes me feel closer to my family,

01:13:35and to my heritage, and my upbringing.

01:13:38And that, I'm grateful for.

01:13:42Seven and a half.

01:13:44Where's our whipped?

01:13:45There's potatoes and garlic that have been boiled,

01:13:48and treated to a little bit of white wine and butter.

01:13:50The egg mixture that was put in the oven, hand whipped.

01:13:53We're whipping it real good.

01:13:54Whipped it real good.

01:13:55I'm always Mr. Simple.

01:13:56I don't like to try to go too far out of my comfort zone.

01:13:59I'm like slow and steady Waxman, California,

01:14:03like not sweating the small stuff.

01:14:05Roll the spoons.

01:14:06In your bane, Chef.

01:14:07Over there.

01:14:09All I wanted to do was be a trombone player

01:14:11and play jazz as a career.

01:14:14But I somehow found myself selling Ferraris

01:14:17when I was 24 years old, and that led to my going to France

01:14:20and going and studying cooking.

01:14:22Did I have any clue that I'd become a chef?

01:14:24Absolutely zero.

01:14:28Muffin tin.

01:14:29That's good.

01:14:29Muffin tin 101 right there.

01:14:32I pulled my muffin tin from the oven.

01:14:35It is absolutely perfect.

01:14:36I'm so proud of myself.

01:14:38And let's hope the judges see my muffin tin vision.

01:14:41Three minutes.

01:14:42First, I place my fish with the tomato salsa

01:14:45and the herb salad.

01:14:46I go ahead and siphon the sauce.

01:14:48And what do you know?

01:14:50It's not coming out.

01:14:51This is like the moment of panic.

01:14:53I have to get this on the plate.

01:14:55Two minutes.

01:14:56Two to go.

01:14:57All right, you ready?

01:14:58Yeah.

01:14:59So braised lettuces with a brown butter shallot sauce,

01:15:04a little muffin man, and a little quiches.

01:15:07OK.

01:15:07And then the fish.

01:15:08I've accomplished a lot of things in my career.

01:15:10But they really don't mean anything unless I enjoy it.

01:15:14And I do actually enjoy where I've been.

01:15:16I have a lot of people that I've mentored over the years.

01:15:18So their accomplishments become part of me.

01:15:21And I think that is the most important thing about being an icon or whatever else you want

01:15:26to call me.

01:15:26I actually feel very proud of my legacy.

01:15:29And that to me is the greatest thing in the world.

01:15:31One minute.

01:15:31One to go.

01:15:32I'm slowly getting a little bit of out.

01:15:34Finally, it works.

01:15:36There's nice volume and height to the sauce.

01:15:38It looks really good.

01:15:3930 seconds.

01:15:40Man, I just literally cooked against a legend.

01:15:43This match-up, it's definitely a David and Goliath.

01:15:45The takedown, like, one of the forefathers of cuisine.

01:15:48It would be absolutely amazing.

01:15:50Five, four, three, two, one.

01:15:57Chef Ratsman, Chef Mom, thank you so much.

01:16:09It was fun.

01:16:12This one.

01:16:13That was pretty crazy.

01:16:14To be honest, I had some guesses, but I was nowhere near close to guessing Jonathan Waxman.

01:16:19I was starstruck, to say the least.

01:16:21To be able to cook with an icon like him, win or lose, I felt like I made it.

01:16:29All right.

01:16:30You know what?

01:16:31I actually probably need to take a photo of this really quick.

01:16:33Just my keepsake.

01:16:35Wow.

01:16:36Hey, you know, miracles happen.

01:16:40What did it feel like to be out there?

01:16:42Was it good to cook again?

01:16:43Yeah, it was great to be cooking again.

01:16:45Really fun.

01:16:46Are your flavors there?

01:16:47We'll see.

01:16:50All right, ladies and gentlemen, for our final round, welcome back our esteemed judges, the one and only Nancy Silverton,

01:16:56Marcus Samuelson, and Scott Conner.

01:16:59Oh, my gosh.

01:17:00Oh, my gosh.

01:17:01Okay.

01:17:01Tough, tough judges.

01:17:02Three of my best friends, huh?

01:17:04Thanks a lot.

01:17:05Judges tonight, the randomizer for this final magnificent round offered up striped bass, vine tomatoes, the use of a muffin

01:17:12pan, the style is whipped.

01:17:14And here to present Tiffany Faison.

01:17:16It's me.

01:17:18Chefs, in front of you is grilled striped bass with slow roasted vine tomatoes, a scallion and paprika mini quiche,

01:17:25braised lettuces, and whipped Yukon and garlic fondue.

01:17:29Let's get to the bass.

01:17:30The bass was simply seasoned and grilled.

01:17:32The vine tomatoes were seasoned and slow roasted in the salamander.

01:17:35It was then treated to a sherry and white wine shallot reduction.

01:17:38A quiche base was then tan whipped.

01:17:40That base was then placed in the muffin tin to create the little mini quiche.

01:17:44Yukon golden garlic were cooked and then butter whipped, creating the Yukon gold fondue that's adjoining the top of the

01:17:50dish.

01:17:50This is foundational Jonathan Waxman cooking.

01:17:53This is totally him.

01:17:54Wow, he put in a lot of techniques.

01:17:56He did a lot of different things.

01:17:57There's a lot of really good flavors here.

01:17:59I really like that acidity brought in with the sherry vinegar.

01:18:02I think the usage of the tomatoes, though rustic and chunky, I really think that's a nice touch.

01:18:08And fish is cooked beautifully.

01:18:10Absolutely perfect.

01:18:11I love the quiche.

01:18:13I thought that ate really nice and creamy.

01:18:16Flavors are all in here.

01:18:17It's a great dish with a super nice moist fish.

01:18:21Plating-wise, just feels a little rushed put together.

01:18:24You think?

01:18:26I agree.

01:18:27I think that everything together ate really well.

01:18:29The flavors really well.

01:18:31You know, beautiful colors.

01:18:32For me, I think the biggest challenge was the description.

01:18:35The tomato didn't eat like a slow roasted tomato to me.

01:18:39Nancy hated it.

01:18:40All right, judges.

01:18:41Thank you very much.

01:18:4250 points available in taste.

01:18:4440 points in the use of the randomizer.

01:18:46And 10 points in the plating.

01:18:48I think they're absolutely right.

01:18:49It was rushed.

01:18:51I mean, you don't do a competition for a long time.

01:18:52You are a little rusty.

01:18:55All right, judges.

01:18:56For the second dish presentation, Justin Warner.

01:19:00I feel hopeful, but you know.

01:19:03Judges, this is lightly fried striped bass with a Vietnamese-inspired salsa and whipped tofu with vine tomatoes.

01:19:10The striped bass was butchered, skinned, and seasoned.

01:19:14From there, it was treated to a bath of buttermilk and twice fried.

01:19:18The skin was lightly fried before being fully cooked in the muffin tin.

01:19:23The vine tomatoes you will find in this whipped tofu was done with fish sauce and most notably star anise

01:19:29and smoked paprika.

01:19:30Come on, judges.

01:19:32Come on, judges.

01:19:32Moment of truth.

01:19:33This is cohesive.

01:19:34Do you like this?

01:19:35Do you want more of it?

01:19:37Marcus is nodding his head.

01:19:39What does that mean?

01:19:41Hands up?

01:19:42It's not good?

01:19:43The sounds.

01:19:45Food can be sonic.

01:19:46When you eat this skin.

01:19:49So freaking delicious.

01:19:50I'm a fried cook through and through.

01:19:52The little foam here with the salsa, just like elegant on the side.

01:19:56Incredible.

01:19:57This is very, very good cooking at the highest level.

01:20:00Very successful.

01:20:02There's only one tiny thing I would say.

01:20:05The fish eats a tad dry, just a little bit dry, but that's nitpicking.

01:20:12Chef double fried it.

01:20:13I agree that the fish is a little bit dry, but that skin is just naughty.

01:20:18It's naughty.

01:20:20It's so crunchy and delicious.

01:20:21The usage of the fish sauce and the other ingredients that are inside there from a Vietnamese perspective.

01:20:26It is fantastic, but it's not overwhelming.

01:20:29Using the muffin tin to hold the skin was really smart.

01:20:33Loved the texture.

01:20:35Overall, a talented chef.

01:20:37Judges, thank you for your final judging tonight.

01:20:39Watching judging is excruciatingly painful and horrific.

01:20:43Look at my eyes.

01:20:44My eyes are like tearing up.

01:20:47I did everything that I could.

01:20:48I cooked my heart out.

01:20:49We're in there ready for you.

01:20:52Let's go.

01:20:56All right, ladies and gentlemen.

01:20:58An honor and a pleasure to have such a culinary icon.

01:21:02Let's welcome him back.

01:21:03Sir Jonathan Westman.

01:21:07Chef Ian Bob.

01:21:16Chefs, the judges were very complimentary to the fact that that was no simple randomizer.

01:21:21I have your scores.

01:21:23One chef scored 80.

01:21:25The other chef scored an 82.

01:21:30And the winner of tonight's final battle between Chef Jonathan Waxman and Chef Vietbop is...

01:21:42Chef Vietbop!

01:21:48Good job.

01:21:49You're welcome.

01:21:58I grew up watching you.

01:22:00It's like a dream come true, you know?

01:22:02It was such an honor to be in your presence today.

01:22:04Well, honestly, the honor is really all mine.

01:22:06And you deserve to win.

01:22:08And congratulations.

01:22:09Chef Vietbop!

01:22:10Chef Vietbop!

01:22:11Chef Vietbop!

01:22:14You're one of a kind, my friend.

01:22:16I appreciate it.

01:22:17Ladies and gentlemen, the legend himself, Sir Jonathan Waxman.

01:22:21Thank you, Chef.

01:22:28I'm glad I did this.

01:22:29It really was fun.

01:22:31His whole career is ahead of him.

01:22:33And he has all the stuff to build on.

01:22:35That is the future of our business.

01:22:37I'm going to pass out.

01:22:39Seriously.

01:22:40I cannot believe it.

01:22:41You just won your first big round inside of Tournament of Champions.

01:22:46Chef Vietbop!

01:22:48Thanks again.

01:22:49Let's take a look at this, bud.

01:22:52If you look at this, but you and Shirley going head to head, you feel it?

01:22:56I feel it!

01:22:58Congratulations!

01:22:59I feel it!

01:23:00I feel it!

01:23:00Chef Vietbop!

01:23:01Big win!

01:23:02We're so happy for you, man.

01:23:03Congratulations!

01:23:05Thanks, everyone.

01:23:14Thank you, man.

01:23:16Thank you, man.

01:23:17You honestly held a very cool common collective in there.

01:23:19Like, it went by a million miles an hour.

01:23:23And the little chef in me who first opened up a cookbook and was inspired by some of these

01:23:28greats such as Jonathan Waxman.

01:23:30This is why TOC is great.

01:23:32So the winners of the C Division Battles have earned their spots in the next round of competition,

01:23:37but we still have one more division to go.

01:23:40Yes!

01:23:41Join us next time when the chefs of the D Division face off in the final night of the first

01:23:45round matchup

01:23:46and the battle for the final four spots.

01:23:49I forgot how crazy the show is.

01:23:50That's a banger.

01:23:51That's a banger.

01:23:52Plus, we'll reveal our final icon.

01:23:57I'll see you next week!

01:23:59Adios!

Tournament of Champions - Season 7 - Episode 03: Just Win

Category

Transcript

Comments

Recommended