Tournament of Champions Season 7 Episode 6

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Transcript

00:00:00So we're halfway through the second round

00:00:02of Tournament of Champions 7, and the competition

00:00:05has been on fire.

00:00:06Let's go, guys!

00:00:08Last time, the eight remaining chefs of the A and B divisions

00:00:11faced off as Chef Jet Tila and Chef Jonathan Sawyer

00:00:14continued their winning streak.

00:00:16The winner is Chef Jet Tila, Jonathan Sawyer.

00:00:22And Chef Joe Sasto toppled culinary icon Moreno Garcia.

00:00:27And the dragon slayer, Chef Kevin

00:00:29Lee, cut short Chef Brent Rossigno's

00:00:31hopes of reaching the final four for a fourth time.

00:00:35I'm holding back tears.

00:00:37I don't know how much longer I can do this.

00:00:40Tonight, the surviving chefs of the C and D divisions

00:00:43battle for the last four spots in the upcoming quarterfinals.

00:00:47First, the wolf, Chef Marcel Vignerone

00:00:50takes on the goat, Iron Chef Stephanie Izard.

00:00:53I mean, I don't think people realize how much we all care.

00:00:56Getting into round two, I just have a lot of momentum.

00:00:58Next, Dumpling Mafia queen Shirley Chung goes up against Chef Viet Pham.

00:01:04Every round, there's a winner.

00:01:05And hopefully that winner's going to be me today.

00:01:08Very exciting.

00:01:10Then Chef Kalina Bliss faces the beast of the kitchen, Chef Kenny Gilbert.

00:01:14I have to go in with a winning mindset.

00:01:16I'm about to take down Kalina Bliss.

00:01:18Not the first time that I've taken competitor after competitor out.

00:01:22And finally, TOC All-Star Christmas champ Brian Voltaggio battles Top Chef 21 runner-up Dan Jacobs.

00:01:29I want this win so badly.

00:01:31To be a winner is something I need on my mantle.

00:01:33Who will move one step closer to the title, the belt, and the $150,000 prize?

00:01:38This is Tournament of Champions 7.

00:01:45All right, ladies and gentlemen.

00:01:47The question is, are you ready for the final night of the second round fights?

00:01:54We have the number seven seed, Iron Chef Stephanie Izar, who's been on a winning streak since starting

00:02:01out in this year's qualifiers.

00:02:02OK, here we go again.

00:02:03The underdog once again.

00:02:05I almost didn't come.

00:02:06Guy kind of said, maybe just skip this year.

00:02:08Maybe it's just not your thing.

00:02:10You have plenty of accolades outside of here.

00:02:11That almost like fueled my fire.

00:02:13I was like, well, no.

00:02:13I want so badly to do well.

00:02:15Her opponent is the number three seed, Chef Marcel Vigneron, who's been proving he still

00:02:21has what it takes to win after recent performances on 24 and 24 and TOC All-Star Christmas.

00:02:29The wolf versus the goat.

00:02:31It's going to be a good one.

00:02:33Getting into round two is a dream come true, and I just have a lot of momentum.

00:02:37But Stephanie, whoo, she is a formidable opponent.

00:02:42I mean, I don't think people realize how much we all care.

00:02:4431 chefs walk away from this, like, bummed.

00:02:47You know, they didn't make it to the end.

00:02:49But one chef walks away with, like, a major boost in their career.

00:02:52All right, Chef, you ready to battle?

00:02:53Time to cook.

00:02:55OK.

00:02:59Are you ready for another second round showdown?

00:03:06Let's light it up!

00:03:08She has seven acclaimed restaurants from Chicago to the West Coast,

00:03:11including her newest, Valley Goat, named one of the Best New Restaurants in the Bay Area by Open Table.

00:03:19She's a James Beard Award winner, Best Chef Great Lake, and a nominee for Best New Restaurant.

00:03:24She's the only Top Chef winner to also earn the title of Iron Chef.

00:03:31And she cooked her way back into the tournament with the highest score of the qualifiers,

00:03:36and won her very first upset victory in the first round against TOC 6 semifinalist, Chef Leigh-Anne Wong.

00:03:43Ladies and gentlemen, make some noise for the GOAT, Iron Chef, Stephanie Eisen!

00:03:57Hi.

00:03:59Single mom, super restaurateur, and when we talked about what was going to happen this year,

00:04:04we said there's no openings inside of the main bracket, you have to go through the qualifiers.

00:04:08I said, don't do it. You're an Iron Chef.

00:04:10And this was the game plan?

00:04:11This is the game plan, just to prove you wrong.

00:04:13That's honestly my driving force.

00:04:17Chef, it's awesome to have you. Good luck.

00:04:23Your opponent has worked with celebrated chefs such as Jose Andres, Joel Robuchon, and Chef Michael Mina.

00:04:30He has opened critically acclaimed LA restaurants focusing on locally sourced and flat-faced dishes.

00:04:35He won the first season of 24 and 24, and went all the way to the semifinals of the TOC

00:04:43All-Star Christmas, and scored his first TOC victory in the first round with a glazed pork steak

00:04:49that Judge Kenny Oranger called, brilliant, brilliant, brilliant cooking.

00:04:53Give a big howl for the Wolf, Chef Marcel Dignaro!

00:05:15Every time you win something, you come out of that door, the howl gets bigger.

00:05:19Well, this will be action-packed. I promise you that. As soon as we take it to the randomizer.

00:05:26Right this way, Chefs.

00:05:30Okay. Okay.

00:05:32The randomizer will determine the mandatory details of your dish. The protein, the produce,

00:05:38the equipment, the style, and finally, the wild card, which would be a fantastic,

00:05:43fun ingredient that you must incorporate into your dish. Let's party, folks. Here we go, going protein.

00:05:53Sword, lamb, sword, swordfish. Gotcha, gotcha. King trumpet. Mushrooms.

00:06:00Oof. Blowtorch, New Year's Eve, and canned beets. 35 minutes. Go.

00:06:18Blowtorch, they're huge. They're 10 feet long, 1,000 pounds, really dynamite to work with.

00:06:22It could be overcooked pretty easily. King trumpet mushrooms, thick brown stem and cap,

00:06:27firm meaty texture. I think this is not going to be a problem. Blowtorch, definitely not going to be

00:06:32a problem. There's a million things they can do with it. New Year's Eve dinner, this is going to be

00:06:36a

00:06:36more refined, special, unique presentation, and canned beets. Good luck.

00:06:44Let's talk about this randomizer for a second. I think that the ingredients become a little bit

00:06:49more obscure, the cooking equipment becomes a little bit more unusual, and the competition

00:06:55gets a little bit more fierce. Chef Stephanie is a remarkable chef. She is no stranger to competition.

00:07:03This is going to be a long, hard road, but you know what? I'm built for this.

00:07:11Mirren, mirren, mirren, mirren. I'm known for doing different techniques and flavors from

00:07:15different parts of the world, whether it's big spices or different cooking techniques. I think

00:07:19I'm going to go a little light Japanese-French influence because growing up, my mom cooked food

00:07:25from all over the world. I just thought that's how everyone cooks, and that's just how I've always

00:07:29approached food. I'm trying to figure out what I want to do here. So I'm joined as always by my

00:07:35incredible culinary commentators. We have the Michelin-recommended chef and the font of food

00:07:39knowledge, Justin Warner, the brilliant Boston restaurateur, and the TOC3 champ, Chef Tiffany Faison.

00:07:45Now, Justin and Tiffany are shadowing the chefs so they can faithfully present their dishes to the

00:07:50judges during the blind tasting. We're also joined by our roving reporter, Hunter Fieri, who we talked with

00:07:55our winners backstage, and the culinary scholar, Simon Majandar, who will discuss each randomizer

00:08:00challenge with the judges. I am excited to get this thing going. For my New Year's Eve dinner,

00:08:07I'm thinking I'm going to grill the swordfish. I want to make a salsa matcha and canned beet levna.

00:08:14First, I need to tackle these king trumpet mushrooms. One of my favorite ways to prepare a king

00:08:20trumpet mushroom is by frying it. If it's a New Year's Eve dinner, I feel like we've got a party.

00:08:26Are you guys ready to party or what? Party! Woo-hoo-hoo-hoo-hoo!

00:08:32Only Marcel savors this right in the middle of the whole thing. Everybody on New Year's Eve,

00:08:39they think about that glass of champagne. Let's go. Champagne batter, coming up.

00:08:46Woo! This is sour cream. I was thinking doing like a little like beet levna to go with the

00:08:51swordfish. Got it. Wish you got me.

00:08:55Levna and the beets doubling down on that sort of earthy umami with black garlic. I love the color.

00:09:01Essentially, a salsa matcha is nuts, seeds, and chilies. Oftentimes for a salsa matcha,

00:09:08I would roast my nuts and seeds. In this case, nobody got time for that. So I go ahead and

00:09:16I

00:09:16drop my nuts into the fryer. Then I'm going right out of the fryer into my sauté pan and hitting

00:09:22it

00:09:22with the blowtorch to continue to caramelize. There's 150 grand on the line. There's our reputation.

00:09:30There's our little egos. And I want to make myself proud, my family proud. I'm a little dude at home

00:09:36watching me cook. And I'm proving that you know what? You can do it.

00:09:41Salsa matcha. So all of those toasted nuts, chilies, red wine vinegar, olive oil.

00:09:46That's enough for a good group of people.

00:09:48Mm-hmm. Yeah. I'd like that move.

00:09:52I'm going to try to do a duo. So I'm going to have like swordfish tataki.

00:09:55Tataki! On one side and then trumpet scallops on the other.

00:09:59Use the swordfish to make a sauce for that.

00:10:02Chef is just making quick work of that, taking all the skin and the bloodline right out of it and

00:10:06just using like the center. For swordfish, it has a very similar texture to tuna. And one of my

00:10:11favorite things to do with tuna is treat it like tataki. So poaching the swordfish. This is like

00:10:15true Japanese tataki. So will you poach it for a second? Yep. And then it's going to soak in this

00:10:19mirin soy and some of the juice from the canned beets. Canned beets, Jeff? Long history with them or?

00:10:25No, I don't think I've ever opened a can of canned beets in my life. So canned beets are not

00:10:28something

00:10:29that I've used all the time, but they're on the randomizer. And that means they have to find their way

00:10:32to

00:10:33the plate in a few different ways. I'm also going to pickle them. Pickled beets are delicious. And

00:10:37also turn it into a vinaigrette. Using my poaching liquid from my swordfish to cook some new year's

00:10:43traditional lentils. Lentils are a sign of prosperity in the new year. And they're nice and earthy to go

00:10:50along with the king trumpet mushrooms. Chef is taking them and peeling the sides of them because

00:10:54they get a little bit tough to eat. And then she's cutting them in what would be like the shape

00:10:59of a

00:10:59scallop to get a nice year on it. I am always shaking and sweating and crazy going into any

00:11:04competition. It feels good to have made it through the qualifiers and to made it through round one

00:11:09and to be in round two. But I still feel just as nervous as that first second that I walked

00:11:13in

00:11:14against Angelo. I'm like stressing the heck out because I'm trying to make way too many things.

00:11:19A bit of a mild panic.

00:11:23Chefs, we have 20 minutes left. 20 to go.

00:11:29I pull my mushrooms. This is the crunchiest batter I have ever made.

00:11:35How do you feel? So far so good, I think. Next, the protein is swordfish. It's something I'm very

00:11:41familiar with. I always go to the grill or the plancha. It's a pretty lean protein. So I decide

00:11:48to rest my swordfish steaks in a salsa matcha brown butter. Chef's kiss.

00:11:57You know, the swordfish is a little bit of a trap. It takes so long to cook. Any fat lost

00:12:01in the

00:12:01cooking process has now been reapplied on the exterior. Okay, cool. For New Year's, I like to do

00:12:07collards, right? For prosperity into the New Year. What do you guys think? Collards? Should I do them fried or

00:12:13blanched? All right. Come on, guys. Let's do it. Deep fry some. I got to give the people what they

00:12:22want. And then I also like to blanch some of my collards with some peas. What motivates me in these

00:12:30competitions is the love for the craft. We get the opportunity to create some incredible dishes. And

00:12:38for me, that is, that's the best. You guys said two ways for the collards. So, you know,

00:12:44might as well go two ways, right? As always, judges are sequestering their trailers, totally unaware

00:12:49of who's out here cooking right now. So their focus will be entirely on the food itself.

00:12:54They'll score the dishes based on taste, use of the items on the randomizer, and presentation.

00:12:59The chef with the top score will move on to the quarterfinals. The other chef, this will be their last

00:13:04cook. Chef Marcel, Chef Stephanie, 10 minutes. Time to go to be plated. 10.

00:13:10I'm gonna do the blue torch. I take the scallops and I start blow torching them with just a little

00:13:15bit of sugar.

00:13:18Which is gonna essentially, like, make them look like scallops. I think the trumpet

00:13:22scallops will show that I really looked at the randomizer and thought, how do you elevate a king

00:13:26trumpet mushroom? Torching brown butter to put in with them. You turn it into a scallop, one of the most

00:13:31celebratory seafoods that you can have on New Year's.

00:13:36I start thinking I should probably make some sort of sauce. So I'm gonna take some scraps from the

00:13:41swordfish, along with some shallots, some mushrooms, some champagne, cream. You can hear a pin drop in

00:13:50here, you guys. After the swordfish has marinated as long as I can give it, I'm gonna torch the outside,

00:13:55really just caramelizing all of those natural sugars from the beets and from the soy and from the mirin.

00:14:00Can someone stand here and do this while I work on other things? I need, like, five different hands.

00:14:05I am, like, literally blow torching while straining beets at the same time. It's very mom thing. Like,

00:14:10moms can always do, like, 25,000 things at once. Mom's multitask.

00:14:17Something about tournament champions has just never happened. And for me, I just want this so

00:14:20I can feel like I haven't, like, lost my edge. And I also want Ernie to see, you know what,

00:14:25I didn't give up, bud. I came back this year and look what happens when we just keep going.

00:14:30Okay, let's start just spraying this together. Chef, two minutes, two minutes left.

00:14:36I've got my canned beet lebna puree, my collard green chiffonade, and I top that with my salsa matcha

00:14:45swordfish. We put a nest of crispy collards for our king trumpet mushroom to sit atop of. A little

00:14:56dollop of caviar on top to really celebrate this New Year's Eve dinner. One minute! One minute to go!

00:15:04So I decided to go two separate plates rather than doing, like, a duo on one. I take the pickled

00:15:10golden

00:15:10beets and put them down like a little bed for the tataki swordfish to go on top of. Then I'm

00:15:15going to

00:15:15take my pan sauce that I have and just drape that over the top. A little bit of that salad

00:15:20of the

00:15:21lentils, mushrooms, chives, and some of that beet vinaigrette. 30 seconds! Then I'm going to take two of

00:15:26the king trumpet scallops and put them in the bowl. I top each scallop with some caviar. I really elevate

00:15:31the dish. And then I add in some of that lentil mushroom salad, just kind of tying the two dishes

00:15:37together. Five, four, three, two, one! Done!

00:15:48Dynamite Battle Chefs! Great job!

00:15:53Let the judges come in!

00:15:57How are you feeling? I mean, I thought it was good. I like that dish.

00:16:01I did use the torch a lot. I burned my finger. My hands smell.

00:16:09Either I'm going to stay and get a chance to do round three, which would be sick, or I'm going

00:16:13to go.

00:16:16All right, we have cooked. And now we await judgment.

00:16:23I think by doing two separate dishes, I kind of maybe hurt myself a little bit,

00:16:27because I had to make garnishes for two things instead of just focusing on one. We'll see.

00:16:32Ladies and gentlemen, our TSC judges have been waiting in their trailers for their first blind

00:16:36tasting of the night. Let's meet him. First, we have the legendary Southern California restaurateur

00:16:40and winner of both the James Beard Award and coveted Julia Child Award. Ah, one of my favorites. Chef

00:16:47Susan Fettiger. Oh, I love Susan. She's awesome. It's a good dish for her. I mean,

00:16:54she's the chili lady. She's the hot tamale. Next, acclaimed restaurateur, shop judge, and the only

00:16:59two-time T-O-C champ, Chef Monique Shohan.

00:17:08She also likes spicy too, actually. Okay. Oh, nice. And ladies and gentlemen, for his first

00:17:15appearance here in T-O-C judging, the James Beard Award winner for Best Chef California,

00:17:20whose Michelin-starred Bleu de Ley helped redefine San Francisco fine dining.

00:17:25Hubert? The one and only Chef Hubert Keller.

00:17:29Ah, Chef Hubert, ça va? Both of my sauces I did today are definitely lean a little more front.

00:17:36Tonight, the randomizer gave the chefs a fantastic selection. Swordfish, king trumpet mushroom,

00:17:43the equipment was a blowtorch, the style tonight, New Year's Eve dinner, the wild card ingredient was

00:17:49the canned beets. And here to tell you about this fantastic dish, Chef Justin Warner.

00:17:56Tasted everything on my dish, thought it was really good.

00:18:00Judges, this is a salsa matcha grilled swordfish with prosperity collards, beet labneh,

00:18:06and crispy king trumpet mushrooms. The canned beets were done with labneh in the food processor.

00:18:11In terms of the blowtorch, it was used to roast morita, ancho, and guajillo chilies,

00:18:15and that crafts that salsa matcha. In terms of New Year's Eve, we have champagne in the batter,

00:18:21we have collards, which typically are associated with prosperity in the South Cape. And then we

00:18:26have Ocetra caviar crowning the dish. That crunch. The level for TOC7 is at another level,

00:18:35and you can see that in the dish right over here. The swordfish has been cooked beautifully. The

00:18:41champagne king trumpet fritter with the caviar right on top of it. Dust cream celebration. The use of the

00:18:49canned beets as a labneh, great idea. For a New Year's dish, it's gorgeous. It's got all the elements

00:18:57with caviar and champagne that you want. The use of the torch, I think, could have been a bit more

00:19:02than going with yuzu and matcha. To me, maybe stretches it a little bit. Maybe you didn't need

00:19:08both of those. A smaller or thinner piece of sword cooked quicker with the torch would have been really

00:19:13a perfect way to use the torch too. The fritter is really good, but I wish that the trumpet

00:19:18was a little bit more used in that dish. This swordfish is the star. Thank you very much,

00:19:24judges. Your scorecards are in front of you. 50 points available in taste, 40 for the use of

00:19:30the randomizer, and 10 points in plating. All in all, relatively good feedback. See what they say

00:19:36about Stephanie's dish. Judges, here we are to present the second dish, our TOC champ herself,

00:19:41Chef Tiffany Faison. Thank you. This is a multi-course countdown. Let's begin our toast

00:19:48with a tataki of swordfish. The chef has fabricated the swordfish that was then poached and cured and

00:19:53marinated in canned beet juice, mirin, and soy. A salad was constructed of grilling the king oyster

00:19:59mushrooms and then slicing them into a torched beet juice vinaigrette. Crispy lentils were also added

00:20:05to this vinaigrette. Lentils obviously being a symbol of wealth, the chef wishes you prosperity

00:20:09for the new year. Let's move along to the second course, king trumpet mushroom torch scallop. The

00:20:14chef peeled and butter torched the scallops using a little bit of brown butter. A sauce was constructed

00:20:19of roasting king oyster mushrooms and swordfish with some ginger and allium in seafood stock, miso,

00:20:25and cream. Stephanie can cook, man. She can cook. I think since the chef really went that far on

00:20:31preparing two different dishes in those 35 minutes, pretty spectacular. I really have to say the

00:20:38combination with the beets, you have them under the swordfish. Actually, when you eat it together,

00:20:42it really comes together. My favorite part is the scallop trumpet mushroom. The use of the blowtorch

00:20:52on top of it gives it that wonderful sear. Really, really smart. Great presentation.

00:20:58Love that. Swordfish is cooked perfectly, but the trumpet mushroom, for me, it needed salt and a little

00:21:06bit of acid. Judges, thank you very much. Scorecards in front of you. I mean, I think it's anybody's game.

00:21:12They seem to really like my dish. They seem to really like Stephanie's dish. I want to win, but if

00:21:18I

00:21:18don't, I am still very happy that I came back. All right, chef, the scores are in. All right,

00:21:25let's go find out. Ladies and gentlemen, I've got the scores. Let's bring our chefs back out.

00:21:30Chef Marcel Vigneron. Chef Stephanie Izard.

00:21:40I mean, this was great gameplay. And here are the scores coming together. One chef scored 879.

00:21:49The other chef scored 884. Ladies and gentlemen, the winner of the second round battle between

00:21:55Chef Marcel Vigneron and Chef Stephanie Izard is...

00:22:07Chef Izard.

00:22:09Congratulations, Chef.

00:22:10Wow.

00:22:11Wow.

00:22:16Chef Marcel, dynamite dish. It's just a couple points shy, but I will tell you, every time we get a

00:22:22chance to

00:22:22have the Wolf and TOC, we love it. Pleasure and an honor to be here.

00:22:26The Wolf. Chef Marcel Vigneron.

00:22:34I'm not going to lie. I kind of had my eye set on that belt. I still got a long

00:22:38way to go.

00:22:39I did not see that coming.

00:22:41Chef Izard making it to the quarterfinals.

00:22:46Let's take a look at your bracket up against either Kalina Bliss or Kenny Gilbert.

00:22:52They're both great.

00:22:54You are dynamite. You deserve this.

00:22:56Congratulations. Big win. Let's go.

00:22:58Bye guys. Thanks.

00:23:07Happy New Year.

00:23:08Happy New Year.

00:23:09Well done, Chef. Congratulations.

00:23:11I mean, this is the farthest you've ever come in TOC.

00:23:14I'm excited. I mean, I think it's going to be, it just keeps getting harder and harder.

00:23:17But I feel maybe a little more confident.

00:23:20Well, congratulations, Chef.

00:23:22You've seen the great eight.

00:23:23Nice job.

00:23:23He cooked a salsa matcha grilled swordfish with crispy king trumpet mushrooms.

00:23:30That little fritter itself looked sensational.

00:23:33Yes.

00:23:33Did you not want it just to be on its own?

00:23:36Well, since it was an item that was supposed to be represented on that dish,

00:23:40I think it came out a little bit short.

00:23:42I was kind of looking in the dish to see if there's any more of those mushrooms.

00:23:46And I guess they were not.

00:23:47It tasted really good.

00:23:48But in TOC, it does come down to gameplay.

00:23:53Now, up next, we have the number eight seed, Chef Viet Phong,

00:23:57who just took down a massive culinary icon, Chef Jonathan Waxman,

00:24:01in a stunning first round victory.

00:24:03What did you learn in the last round against Jonathan Waxman?

00:24:07Just calm and steady.

00:24:09But, you know, I'd be lying if I were to say that I'm not nervous,

00:24:11because I'm going against Shirley Chung.

00:24:14She's really good.

00:24:15She is a fierce chef to have to reckon with.

00:24:17His opponent is the number six seed, Chef Shirley Chung,

00:24:21who stepped back into the arena after winning the fight of her life

00:24:24against tongue cancer and earned the highest score of the entire first round.

00:24:30This is a necklace that's been blasted by a monk from a famous temple in Beijing.

00:24:36So this is such a lot of fun.

00:24:38And it's been helping me win my battle with cancer.

00:24:42And you won your last battle?

00:24:43Yeah.

00:24:44It was high score.

00:24:45So it's definitely working very well.

00:24:47Are you ready to meet the culinary contenders?

00:24:50Let's light this up!

00:24:54The son of Vietnamese immigrants, he is successful restaurateur with almost two decades

00:25:00as an executive chef.

00:25:04He was named Food & Wine's Best New Chef of 2011,

00:25:08and is a three-time James Beard Award semi-finalist.

00:25:16Put your hands together, Chef Viet Phong!

00:25:28You've had some fantastic wins and have gone against some heavy, heavy hitters.

00:25:33This is the farthest you've made it.

00:25:34It's the farthest I've made it.

00:25:36And this is big.

00:25:37This is huge.

00:25:38Your opponent!

00:25:42She moved to the U.S. from China when she was 17,

00:25:46an open restaurant for culinary greats like Thomas Keller, Guy Savoy, and Jose Andres.

00:25:52By the time she was 35 years old.

00:25:55Now, after waging the fight of her life against tongue cancer,

00:25:59she's back to take on the randomizer one more time.

00:26:02Give it up for a true champion.

00:26:05The Mafia Dumpling Queen!

00:26:08Chef Shirley Chan!

00:26:16The Dumpling Mafia Queen, who has been through the toughest battle of all battles.

00:26:21You both are going to be facing not just each other, but more importantly, the randomizer.

00:26:26Time to get busy.

00:26:31I think it all looks, um, potentially hazardous.

00:26:34Very.

00:26:36Go for the proteins!

00:26:44Hanger lamb, chop, hanger steak, perico bear, immersion blender, appetizer duo,

00:26:55and hollow cheese.

00:26:59I know that you just prepared, those were easy for you, so we can just go.

00:27:10The hanger steak, pretty dynamite piece of meat.

00:27:12There's only one per steer.

00:27:13The haricot bear, slender, thin, skinny bean.

00:27:16Immersion blender, I think it's one of the greatest pieces of equipment I have.

00:27:19Appetizer duo, now here's something interesting.

00:27:21This is two appetizers.

00:27:22We're not requiring that the haricot bear and the hanger steak are in both.

00:27:26They want to mix the two, they can't.

00:27:28Cottage cheese separates the curd in the whey by adding acid to the milk.

00:27:31This was big during the war.

00:27:33This is what people were eating for their protein.

00:27:34There's going to be sauces made, and this will make it into a great sauce.

00:27:37Sweet Soda?

00:27:38After the first battle, I have the highest score.

00:27:42I know to win.

00:27:44I cannot play safe.

00:27:46After the battle of my life, I'm back, stronger than ever.

00:27:50I feel like now I really know how to win.

00:27:53Baking Soda?

00:27:55Baking Soda, it's in your station.

00:27:56I've made it into the Sweet 16, and this is the farthest I've ever made it.

00:28:01Very hard on myself.

00:28:02I don't want to go home.

00:28:03I want to be able to have that belt.

00:28:08And there she is, my dumpling queen.

00:28:11This looks very French.

00:28:13Very.

00:28:14Marisa made a Paris-Dade Capaccio with cottage cheese mustard and yoli,

00:28:19followed by a butter-roasted shaken beef with a whipped cottage cheese on the bottom.

00:28:26I want to make this appetizer jewel that highlights both of my ingredients.

00:28:32Hanger steak and heritage bear.

00:28:34But I really don't have time to cook two appetizers.

00:28:38So my mind is falling through Capaccio.

00:28:42The hanger steak can easily be a Capaccio.

00:28:44She just really needs to pound it out.

00:28:46So when the judges eat it, it eats like a paper-thin Capaccio.

00:28:52Ah, she's using the tortilla press.

00:28:54God, so smart.

00:28:55I love it.

00:28:56Yeah, that's a good move.

00:28:58Harry Culvera going.

00:28:59Harry Culvera being blanched right now.

00:29:01I don't know what the leader planned for it.

00:29:04What is the story on the cottage cheese?

00:29:06The cottage cheese has been made into an aioli.

00:29:08Since my cancer, cottage cheese actually became a source of my morning protein.

00:29:15Using an Emotion blender is my everyday life right now.

00:29:19For my breakfast, when I make my protein shake.

00:29:22Chef Shirley, Chef Viet, 25 minutes, 25 to go.

00:29:27I'm gonna do like a french fried tempura batter here,

00:29:30and then grill the hanger steaks, slice them thin,

00:29:35and they're gonna be served in a lettuce wrap with a Vietnamese inspired dipping sauce.

00:29:40So first thing I'm gonna do is start on the steak.

00:29:42I'm going to grill it, slice it, and make a nice marinade.

00:29:46I'm gonna blitz this with a hand blender,

00:29:49and then this is gonna go into the marinade for the beef really quick.

00:29:52Shallots, some lemongrass, fish sauce, sugar.

00:29:56I get it back on the grill.

00:29:58Cottage cheese?

00:29:59Cottage cheese, I am going to whip, make a sauce as a dipping

00:30:03for Ihera Colbert.

00:30:05I want to preserve the integrity somewhat of the cottage cheese,

00:30:10where the judges hopefully will be like, wow, this is cottage cheese.

00:30:13And wow, it's amazing because typically cottage cheese doesn't taste this way.

00:30:17Fish sauce and cheese, why not?

00:30:21Umami's umami, Chef.

00:30:22Umami's umami, that's right.

00:30:23This is the moment of truth because one of us is going home.

00:30:2820 minutes.

00:30:2920 minutes, thank you.

00:30:30Shirley and I belong to a very special club.

00:30:34We both had our bouts with cancer and in a lot of ways we're very similar.

00:30:39We're both Asian descent and we both cook Asian food.

00:30:42It's like me going up against literally myself.

00:30:45I think this is going to be an incredible battle.

00:30:5318 minutes, 18 minutes to cook.

00:30:57What you got?

00:30:58Uh, we have carpaccio.

00:31:00The idea is carpaccio and then shaking beef.

00:31:02Shaking beef is really classic Vietnamese dish.

00:31:04A hot and a cold.

00:31:05Hot and cold.

00:31:07Our style is appetizers roll.

00:31:10Now we have twice of opportunities to mess up.

00:31:14So you're just going to marinate it and it's going to be cooked very high,

00:31:16high heat to like caramelize with the seasoning sauce

00:31:18and everything that's on the outside of the meat.

00:31:21Chef Herrick Goubert also in the shaking beef?

00:31:23Yup.

00:31:23And then in the carpaccio, got that.

00:31:25Right.

00:31:25And then the hand mixer is just the aioli?

00:31:27Mm-hmm.

00:31:28My chicken beef can totally use another creaminess.

00:31:33So I'm cutting up some fresh earth, parsley, and chai.

00:31:38And then putting some honey cheese and also a fresh loaf of garlic.

00:31:43Now this is a cohesive dish.

00:31:49So I closed my restaurant to really focus on my country treatment.

00:31:53In order for me to focus on myself, I made a tough decision of closing my restaurant

00:32:00with tea.

00:32:00If I won, I would definitely love to really make jumping mafia a true concept.

00:32:07Bring my jumping back to Los Angeles.

00:32:11The caramelization on that hanger steak is wild.

00:32:14It's so good.

00:32:1512 minutes, chef.

00:32:1612 to go.

00:32:17What's the plan here, chef?

00:32:18I'm going to make a tempura batter using the cream whipper.

00:32:21Tight.

00:32:21Nice and light.

00:32:23At my restaurant, Pretty Bird, we sell tempura fried green beans.

00:32:26It's going to offer deliciousness, a nice textural contrast to the lettuce wraps.

00:32:31Believe it or not, as that club soda is exposed to air, that's going to form carbonic acid.

00:32:36The carbonic acid is going to react to the baking powder.

00:32:38And that's going to make for a very lacy exterior.

00:32:41I want to show these chefs here that I'm good.

00:32:44This show is a big deal.

00:32:46It's competitive.

00:32:46It's stressful.

00:32:48It's hard in so many different ways.

00:32:50And in the end, it's really who has the most mental fortitude to filter through all the stressors

00:32:55and just maintain that focus.

00:32:57So normally...

00:32:58A little nest of green beans.

00:32:59Exactly.

00:32:59Normally, I'm against crowding the fryer on a tempura thing, but that nest of green beans,

00:33:03just to like break it apart...

00:33:04It'll look at...

00:33:05Yeah, it'll be its own entity.

00:33:07Cool little finishing touch vadovan curry.

00:33:10Just sprinkled over the end, having them on the exterior in that hot oil,

00:33:13just kind of confiting as the dish cools.

00:33:15Sign me up.

00:33:17Chefs, there's 10 minutes left.

00:33:19The next thing, I'm going to work on very traditional Vietnamese dipping sauce.

00:33:24I'm going to make a dipping sauce for the lettuce wrap.

00:33:27Got it.

00:33:28I take a pest and mortar.

00:33:29I add some garlic, shallots, lime juice, sugar, and Thai chilies, and I work it all in.

00:33:37So the idea is to form like this nice paste.

00:33:39There's a saying, cook from your heart, and where my heart has been

00:33:44has been in this rediscovery of my culture, my identity, and who I am.

00:33:49So going into the kitchen, that's where my heart leads me.

00:33:52And I have enough faith in my experience that I could hopefully make this successful.

00:33:59And selected, one of the best.

00:34:02Chefs, five minutes left.

00:34:06If you're doing a carpaccio, you've got to reserve some time to make sure that plating is perfect.

00:34:10One half of your dish is not cooked.

00:34:11Everything around it needs to be perfectly seasoned and gorgeous.

00:34:14I'm feeling extremely good about my dishes.

00:34:18Tweezers, getting serious.

00:34:19I know.

00:34:21How do you say, on the shallow plate, I have plenty of lemon olive oil, and every single

00:34:28hair for there gets a tiny dollop of my mustard cottage cheese, aioli.

00:34:35And then I want you introducing some crunchy element, crispy salads.

00:34:39And then for my shaken beef, I'm placing this creamy herb cottage cheese in motion on the bottom first.

00:34:48And then I place my perfectly cooked butter, hair cover, onto the center of the plate.

00:34:55Then I build five pieces of the shaken beef on top.

00:35:01And I really hope that judges will see all my attention to all the smart details.

00:35:1090 seconds, Chef.

00:35:1190 to go.

00:35:13Looks like Chef Viet is going to plate his duo on one plate.

00:35:16I think that's a sure sign of cohesiveness.

00:35:18I put the butter lettuce on the bottom.

00:35:20A little bit of the cottage cheese.

00:35:22And then the jam lettuce.

00:35:24And then finally the hanger steak.

00:35:25And then the traditional Vietnamese dipping sauce on the jam.

00:35:29And then the herbs, which are mint, dill, and cilantro.

00:35:33And then next to it, I'm going to put the cottage cheese dipping sauce.

00:35:38And then finally on top, the tempura hair cover.

00:35:42I've taken down Erica Barrett.

00:35:43I don't know how, but I've taken down Jonathan Waxman.

00:35:46So, uh, Shirley Chung, you are next.

00:35:49Five, four, three, two, one.

00:35:54That's it.

00:35:58Great job, Chef Viet.

00:36:00Chef Shirley, back to your trailers.

00:36:04Wow.

00:36:08I'm feeling quick.

00:36:10I did the best that I could do, utilizing the ingredients, the tools.

00:36:14I always feel like it's me against the randomizer.

00:36:18And I think I really did justice.

00:36:21All I can hope for is that I get another round of cooking.

00:36:26I'm feeling excited.

00:36:28I did exactly how I planned it in my head.

00:36:33All right, this is the moment of truth.

00:36:35Let's see who the judges are.

00:36:37Ladies and gentlemen, let's welcome back our judges.

00:36:39Chef Susan Finnegar.

00:36:40Susan Finnegar.

00:36:42The champ, Monique Chauhan.

00:36:45Wow.

00:36:46And the legend, Chef Hubert Keller.

00:36:48Oh, my up.

00:36:50Wow.

00:36:51Three culinary greats.

00:36:52Tonight, the randomizer served up hanger steak, Harry Cover, immersion blender, the style was appetizer

00:37:00duo, and the wild card ingredient was cottage cheese.

00:37:04And our TOC3 champ herself, Chef Tiffany Faison.

00:37:09Chefs, this chef would like to first have you remove the top, the carpaccio, from the second appetizer that's below.

00:37:15Wow.

00:37:16Quite simply, this is a master's thesis of France and Asia through the appetizer duo of Hanger Carpaccio and shaking

00:37:22beef.

00:37:22Carpaccio of Hanger.

00:37:23The Harry Cover were sliced and treated to a chili Szechuan pickling liquid.

00:37:28An aioli was obviously made with the immersion blender, blending cottage cheese and Dijon.

00:37:33Ready to shake on?

00:37:34The Hanger steak was seasoned with oyster sauce, sesame, shoyu, garlic, and black pepper.

00:37:39The garlic bourre fondue Harry Cover on the bottom obviously blanched and then treated to a beautiful bourre fondue.

00:37:46You know, this reminds me of a present, a birthday present, which is beautifully wrapped.

00:37:51And then you open it up and the gift is even better.

00:37:54This is such a smart game play.

00:37:58All the randomizer ingredients in two completely different formats, both of them as impressive as the other.

00:38:06Okay, first of all, my favorite tool in the kitchen.

00:38:10Who thinks about doing an immersion blender aioli with cottage cheese?

00:38:14So it worked great on both of these.

00:38:16I just think it was a great use of all of the ingredients that were important in this.

00:38:21First of all, the carpaccio was extremely well executed, but maybe I get a little extra touch of salt.

00:38:28The Hanger steak here, the way it has been cooked, I have to congratulate the chef.

00:38:32It's really well done.

00:38:33And the haricot vert, and then the sauce that goes with it.

00:38:36Great combination, great idea.

00:38:38I take it.

00:38:40Score cards are in front of you.

00:38:4350 points for your taste, 40 points for the use for randomizer, and 10 in the plating.

00:38:48I didn't really have anything negative to say.

00:38:51Judges, here to present the second dish is the wild card himself, Justin Warner.

00:38:55Chef?

00:38:56Judges, the first of your appetizer duo is a Vietnamese marinated Hanger steak lettuce wrap.

00:39:02The Hanger steak was sliced and marinated in an immersion blender concocted marinade.

00:39:08From there, it was grilled and then rested.

00:39:11The second of your appetizer duo is a tempura haricot vert with vodavan and whipped cottage cheese

00:39:17with Vietnamese flavors.

00:39:19For the immersion blender, three components.

00:39:21That's shallot, garlic, lime juice, sauce that is on the lettuce cup.

00:39:25We also have the marinade for the steak.

00:39:26The sauce that accompanies the haricot vert, that was black pepper, buttermilk, fish sauce, and the cottage cheese.

00:39:35Chef Keller.

00:39:37First impression when I got the dish, I think I was a little bit less impressed

00:39:41comparing to the other chef with the presentation.

00:39:44Oh, man.

00:39:45When I dig into the Hanger steak, although perfectly cooked, beautiful, moist, very tender.

00:39:51I have to congratulate the chef on the preparation of the haricot vert.

00:39:54I could eat a whole bowl of it, right?

00:39:56It's so good.

00:39:57Two-time champ.

00:39:58Come on, come on.

00:39:59I love the Hanger steak wrap right over here.

00:40:01It's delicious.

00:40:02It's packed with flavor to make the sauce.

00:40:06I think great use of the immersion blender.

00:40:09This sauce right over here, it's delicious.

00:40:12But when I look at it, it seems that it is broken.

00:40:17Oh, come on.

00:40:19The Hanger steak was incredibly tender.

00:40:22The flavor combinations here, I love with the fresh mint, the scallion.

00:40:28For me, the green beans are overcooked.

00:40:31But the batter was really quite delicious.

00:40:35All right, judges, thank you very much.

00:40:3650 points in taste, 40 points in the use of the randomizer.

00:40:39Ted in plating.

00:40:41I'm proud of the dish.

00:40:43Am I proud of the judging?

00:40:44I think I'm always nervous.

00:40:46Perhaps I have a little bit of more when it comes to randomizer.

00:40:51The chefs should be very proud.

00:40:53I've got some great scores.

00:40:55Let's go ahead and bring the chefs back out.

00:40:57Chef Shirley Chung, Chef Viet Pham.

00:41:05Chefs, I will tell you, that was some great cooking.

00:41:09Only one score moves on to the quarterfinals.

00:41:1280 to 87.

00:41:14Ladies and gentlemen, the winner of the second round battle between Chef Shirley Chung

00:41:17and Chef Viet Pham is...

00:41:25The winner of the second round battle between Chef Shirley Chung

00:41:28and Chef Viet Pham is...

00:41:33Chef Shirley Chung!

00:41:35Congrats.

00:41:37It was great cooking.

00:41:44I'm sorry this is the end of the road.

00:41:45Ladies and gentlemen, Chef Viet Pham!

00:41:47Thank you!

00:41:51I called it.

00:41:56You know, I...

00:41:59Defeated.

00:42:01I've gotten to the point now where I can talk to Shirley or about Shirley without getting teary-eyed.

00:42:07Wouldn't be able to stand here, be alive without your love.

00:42:12And food is my passion.

00:42:15Congratulations.

00:42:16Love you!

00:42:20Into the quarterfinals.

00:42:22Next facing either Brian Votaggio or Dan Jacobs.

00:42:25Yay!

00:42:28Ladies and gentlemen, Chef Shirley Chung!

00:42:31Congratulations!

00:42:32Yay!

00:42:43Ladies and gentlemen, are you ready to meet the next two contenders that are fighting for the belt?

00:42:52We have the number eight seed, Chef Kenny Gilbert, who followed up his qualifier with an even bigger first round

00:42:58victory against culinary icon, the one and only Aron Sanchez.

00:43:02This is just an amazing dream for me to be here. I want to take every challenge as it comes.

00:43:07You know, my confidence is very high. I'm super excited about this cook.

00:43:11Now, his opponent is the number four seed, Chef Kalina Bliss, the returning TOC competitor who once again knocked it

00:43:19out of the park in her first round battle.

00:43:21Last season, I made it to the great eight. This year, I came like super hungry and I really want

00:43:28that spot again.

00:43:29Kalina, um, Top Chef alumni, you know, so we're part of that group. I had to go in with the

00:43:34winning mindset.

00:43:35He took down an icon. He really impressed me. I mean, he's looking at flavors. He's looking at textures. He's

00:43:40really playing the game. He's gonna be a tough one.

00:43:43Ladies and gentlemen, are you ready for another fantastic food fight?

00:43:48Then let's light this up!

00:43:51He became the chef de cuisine of a five-diamond restaurant at the age of 23 and worked in prestigious

00:43:57kitchens in Japan, Spain, and the Caribbean.

00:44:03He spent time as Oprah's personal chef, whose favorite dishes included his jalapeno cheddar drop biscuits, fried chicken, and field

00:44:12peas.

00:44:13He was a semifinalist on Top Chef Season 7, and he defeated culinary icon Aron Sanchez in the first round

00:44:20with a fried clam dish that Judge Scott Connick called game-changer.

00:44:25Put your hands together for the beast of the kitchen. It's Chef Kenny Gilbert!

00:44:41Such a gentle, humble, realistic, down-to-earth guy. But when he is in the kitchen, he is absolutely the

00:44:51beast.

00:44:51Very well-suited name, Chef. Thank you.

00:44:56And I say good luck because your opponent is hungry.

00:45:01Growing up in the Pacific Northwest, she loves incorporating forage and coastal ingredients in her cooking.

00:45:07She has been the executive chef of award-winning restaurants in Washington State and Chicago.

00:45:15And was a 2022 Chopped Grand Champion.

00:45:21She's standing back there, and she's fired up. Welcome Chef Kalina Bly.

00:45:40Talk about another just happy person.

00:45:44Happy until that clock goes tick. And then she just turns into this tactician.

00:45:50I mean, like a culinary sniper.

00:45:53I mean, that's always that way. We gotta believe in ourselves.

00:45:55We're fired up.

00:45:56Time to go to the randomizer. Right this way.

00:46:05All right, the randomizer will determine the mandatory details of your dish.

00:46:09The protein, the produce, the equipment, the style, and the wild card.

00:46:12Lots of opportunities for things to go horribly wrong.

00:46:16Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

00:46:17Here we go.

00:46:25Round and round it goes, and it lands on pork chop, duck legs, lamb, pork chops.

00:46:31Pork chops in, hatch peppers, french fry press, comfort classic, and ketchup. Wow.

00:46:41Well, if you got questions, I don't got the answers, because your time starts now.

00:46:51Double cut pork chops. I'm a big pork chop fan. Great thing about that is when you have a double

00:46:55thick cut pork chop like that, it's going to stay nice and moist. Hatch peppers, they definitely got

00:47:00a good heat to it, but so much flavor, a little bit of sweetness to it. French fry press. What

00:47:05it

00:47:05does, it gives you nice uniform cuts. Comfort classic, you know, it invokes comfort and happiness,

00:47:10and I think that pork chop would be awesome. Ketchup. This can be used in the marinade,

00:47:15this can be used in sauces. There's a lot going on. This is going to be a really fun competition

00:47:19with

00:47:20these two. I came in as a qualifier, and to be able to get to the play-in and then

00:47:26to make it through

00:47:27the second round, it's going to mean everything. Double cut pork chops is a great cut of meat.

00:47:32The wild card ingredient is ketchup. We know this is a condiment, but essentially it's a tomato sauce.

00:47:39When I think about these ingredients, you know, I'm coming from the Midwest. I'm originally from

00:47:43Cleveland, Ohio, and you know, I just remember as a kid going to school that one of the lunch meals

00:47:50was going to be a sloppy joe. That's just a comfort food, but taking it to another level, sloppy joe

00:47:552.0,

00:47:57where I'm going to fry the chop, take that trim from the chop, and actually grind it up and make

00:48:01a sloppy

00:48:01joe, and I'm going to use the heck out of the Hatch chilies all throughout the cook. It's going to

00:48:06be epic.

00:48:11A comfort classic with a double cut pork chop, I mean, what's not to like? So I'm going to do

00:48:15a

00:48:16plate on a pork kotsudon, and I want to do a tomato curry sauce using the ketchup. I know I

00:48:23want to

00:48:23roast some Hatch pepper, and that I want to serve it with rice, because to me that's just like,

00:48:28that's a plate of comfort food. Uh, hi chef. Hi. Kenny has the years and experience on me. He's been

00:48:36exec chefing since he was 23, but you're only as good as your current cook, so he might make a

00:48:43great

00:48:44dish. I just need to make a better dish. Chefs, we've got 25 minutes left. I'm going to start by

00:48:50breaking down my pork chops, and I'm going to save that trim, which will be used for the sloppy joe.

00:48:56This is Tournament of Champions. I need to make use of this randomizer and taking this protein and doing

00:49:02two different preparations with it. So by grinding it up, now I'm going to create a layered experience.

00:49:10Sloppy joe? Comfort classic? It's going to be a sandwich with a bone coming out,

00:49:14and then the sloppy joe is smothering it. Okay, make six. That's fine. When you hear sloppy joe,

00:49:19you know, you think something very, very simple. I'm going to take it to a whole other level.

00:49:22Walk me through seasoning here. So we have the chicken seasoning, cajun seasoning,

00:49:27fried shallots, fried garlic. The wild card ingredient is ketchup. Ketchup is very,

00:49:33very user-friendly. It's a tomato product at the end of the day. Ketchup in for the sloppy joe.

00:49:37Yep. A little tomato product. I've gone through a lot of different things in my life. You know,

00:49:42I'm a cancer survivor. I was a widower at 21. I was raising my daughter by myself. At the end

00:49:47of the day,

00:49:48there's nothing that I haven't gone through already. You know, just saying out there, you fall down seven

00:49:52times, you get up eight. That's just kind of what I live by. I want this really bad because I

00:49:57want

00:49:57that belt. I want that banner. I want the ring, and then I want the money.

00:50:05I think what I'm going to kind of do is like a play on like a pork cauchy don. I

00:50:10want to do like a

00:50:10hatch pepper, like spicy relish. Okay. I'm going to start the base of my curry. I'm going to cut some

00:50:15vegetables that are going to go in my curry sauce with the fry press.

00:50:21You have to use your whole body. In restaurants, you attach them to the wall. The wall comes down.

00:50:26Oh yeah. Next, I'm going to add some spices to the pan. Curry powder, some onion powder,

00:50:30brown ginger, and turmeric. That's going to be the curry, Chef? Yeah.

00:50:36There we go. That's how we ketchup. Ketchup is so great for so many sauces. A little bit of sweetness.

00:50:42It adds some acidity. I'm an adopted Korean, so I was adopted at four months old. My parents were

00:50:47American, and they absolutely raised me on like very traditional American food. But my cooking,

00:50:55like in the last handful of years, has definitely started leaning towards, you know, Southeast Asian.

00:51:00I just soaked it all up. And so I feel like that's kind of given me a little bit of

00:51:04my own style.

00:51:06Last year, I was able to make it to the great eight. I really want to prove to myself that

00:51:11it

00:51:11wasn't a fluke, and it wasn't luck, and I deserve to be here. They're both working with purpose.

00:51:22Right now, Chef Kenny Gilbert has a ton of momentum behind him. He fought his way out of the

00:51:27qualifiers, got a win in round one. These are one of my favorite things in the whole world. Love them.

00:51:33Favorite, favorite, favorite. The purpose of the french fry press is to do french fries. And being

00:51:38that this is a comfort classic, it works out perfectly. I use the Idaho russet potatoes. I press it through,

00:51:45and I put it in one fryer. But then I take the hatch peppers and place it into the blender

00:51:49with a little

00:51:50bit of water and puree it up. The hatch peppers was the easiest thing for me to use multiple ways.

00:51:58The pulp of the hatch chilies, I added into my sloppy joe. Also my remoulin. What's this? A little

00:52:06hatch chili mayo. So I'm gonna use this for the buns, chop and bottom, before I sandwich. Got it.

00:52:1215 minutes, 15 to go.

00:52:17This is an umami bomb, Chef. Yeah, it's always the plan. Chef Kalina joined us at TOC last year,

00:52:22TOC 6, and no one saw her coming. When I tell you it was one chef after another just being

00:52:28weed

00:52:28whacked into the great eight, she's back this year and she is just as hungry. Next, I really need to

00:52:34start the pork chops. I get the dredge station together. I throw in a lot of the similar spices

00:52:38that went into the sauce to kind of complement it. Onion powder, I add some garam masala to it.

00:52:43Similar flavors. Sometimes, you know, there's this little like voice in my head that gives me a little

00:52:47bit of self-doubt. I think it happens to a lot of us. I am my harshest critic, so I

00:52:52really

00:52:52want to win and move on to the next round. They're happy in there. They're happy. So next, I'm gonna

00:52:58add some of these like spicy hatch peppers to the rice. Ah. I feel pretty focused this round.

00:53:06Everything is tasting good. I feel like I'm adding flavor. I'm using a randomizer. Still needs longer,

00:53:12but we have plenty of time. Kalina's pork chops are in the fryer. They've been in there for a long

00:53:15time and the color of the outside of the pork chop is telling me that they're probably starting to flirt

00:53:19with overcooking. Seven minutes. He works so fast. Oh, he is a wide beast in the kitchen. Where did

00:53:27this batter come from, chef? Uh, bottom of egg batter, a cajun spice chicken seasoning,

00:53:33some hatch chilies. I get the pork chops battered, breaded, and I place them into the fryer.

00:53:39Five minutes, five to go.

00:53:44First thing I do is take the hatch chili rice. I do a nice big pile down on the bottom

00:53:48of the plate.

00:53:50Next, I grab the tomato curry sauce. I really want to make sure that the cuts from the french fry

00:53:56cutter are, you know, very present. And then I grab the pork chop. I know I'm one of the younger

00:54:02kids

00:54:03here, so to make it to the end would just be amazing. Two minutes, two to go. Workshop's looking good,

00:54:09chef. Yes, sir. I'm taking my hatch chili mayo and putting it on the bottom part of the bun and

00:54:16the

00:54:16top of the bun. I place my fried pork chop there. I top the pork chop with the sloppy joe.

00:54:24And then I, uh, my fries, season it up, place into my bowls. 30 seconds.

00:54:33I'm super excited. I left it all on in the arena. I did everything I possibly could,

00:54:39and then now it's in the judges' hands. Five, four, three, two, one.

00:54:46Done. Oh, that was a crazy battle.

00:54:53Back to your trailers. Let's bring in the judges.

00:54:57They're going to love this.

00:55:02Oh, crazy. Once I saw the randomizer, I was like,

00:55:06I feel like this is what I have to do. I mean, look, I cooked the dish that I'd want

00:55:10to eat,

00:55:10that I want to eat right now. The question is going to be use of the randomizer and taste.

00:55:19All right, ladies and gentlemen, let's welcome back the esteemed panel of judges,

00:55:23chef Susan Finneger. Oh, my God. I grew up watching Susan. She's actually a living legend.

00:55:32TOC champ Monique Chauhan. Oh, God. I made a curry sauce for Monique. Why?

00:55:38And legendary chef Hubert Keller. Oh, Hubert Keller. Nice. I applied to this restaurant when I was like

00:55:4519 years old and didn't get a call back. Tonight, the randomizer chefs kicked down for protein and

00:55:51double-cut pork chop. The produce was hatch peppers. Restaurant equipment was french fry press.

00:55:57Style was comfort classic. And that fantastic wild card ingredient was ketchup. And our TOC

00:56:03three champ herself, chef Tiffany Faison. For this randomizer, the chef has hatched a pork

00:56:09plan of comfort classics. This is bone-in pork katsudan with ketchup and hatch chili curry,

00:56:15kombu, and hatch pepper rice. Everything was processed through the french fry press for the curry.

00:56:20The pork was fabricated, leaving the center bone chop only. That was seasoned with curry powder,

00:56:25turmeric, garam masala, ginger and onion powders, mushroom soy gill stock,

00:56:28wortestershire sauce, and shiitakes. Say something. Say something good.

00:56:34Comfort classic to me is something which is a hug on a plate. And this is something which is

00:56:39definitely that. I want to hug you, Monique. Using the curry sauce as a base to put the ketchup in,

00:56:47the sweetness of the ketchup, I think that is absolutely genius. That is incredible.

00:56:53The one thing which I would have loved on this dish is a little bit more of that acid in

00:56:58it.

00:56:59I think that would have balanced off the spices. To use the french fry press for the vegetables,

00:57:05which we can see and we can taste, this chef has done an incredible job in developing flavors in a

00:57:11really short time. Yes! Conceptually, this was amazing. The perfect comfort dish, it really hit the mark.

00:57:21In terms of the use of the hatch chili, the concept I think was perfect and right on.

00:57:27To be a comfort and classic dish, I do agree that really works. The rice, the vegetable,

00:57:34tomato, when you're eating it together, it really brings the dish together. But I think I cut even to

00:57:41the center. My pork chop was a little bit overcooked. Great judges, thank you very much.

00:57:47Your scorecards, 50 points for taste, 40 points for the use of the randomizer, and 10 points in plating.

00:57:53I think she did a great cook. She put together a dish that the judges felt was comforting.

00:57:58We're just gonna have to see, you know, how Kenny's goes. If his is perfect, then I'm going home.

00:58:03All right, judges, thank you very much. And to present the second dish, Justin Warner.

00:58:09Judges, our chef calls this sloppy joe 2.0. The double cut pork chop was Frenched and trimmed.

00:58:15The trim was ground. It was used to start the process of the sloppy joe, which you will see crowning

00:58:20the bone-in chop, which has been fried. So that sloppy joe mixture was done with ketchup,

00:58:24the solids from blended hatch chili, and plenty of seasoning. The French fry press was used to

00:58:29make French fries. In terms of the use of the ketchup, it was in the sloppy joe and also in

00:58:34the remoulade at the center of the plate. This is my comfort food. I grew up in Toledo, Ohio. We

00:58:41had

00:58:41sloppy joes all the time, and ketchup was in the mix. Cleveland, that's what's up. I really love having

00:58:49the bone in there. That's a really interesting thing because probably what I would do is eat

00:58:55half of it, and then I would take this other half and eat it like that. Just put it in

00:59:00your purse and

00:59:01have it foil, and then when you're on the road... And the pork chop is actually quite moist. The aioli's

00:59:09got that really nice spice to it from the hatch chili, so the use of that is really good. Yes!

00:59:16Shoot. Come on, chef. Give me some love. I think, personally, the chef had the finger right on the pulse

00:59:23for that challenge. I think he succeeded really using all the elements that needed to be done. Yes!

00:59:30Let's go! The pork chop was perfectly cooked. That's actually impressive. I mean, like,

00:59:34Kenny did a really good job with that dish. This chef has done an amazing job in creating layers and

00:59:41layers of flavors. But the piece de resistance of this entire burger is the sloppy joe part about it.

00:59:49It's flavorful. It's got that ketchup in it. I do like the french fries. I do think that maybe if

00:59:57there

00:59:57was a little bit of cornstarch, it might have made it crispier. Thank you very much, judges.

01:00:02Scorecards are in front of you. Okay. You're only as good as, like, your current cook,

01:00:07and every single thing has to be perfect, you know? And not everything was perfect on mine.

01:00:11I've been dying to be here. I've been grinding, and I am one with food. I knew that pork chop

01:00:20was going to

01:00:20be juicy. I knew I used the ingredients right. There's nothing else I can do.

01:00:25The scores are in. They're ready for you. Okay. Whew. All right, let's do this.

01:00:32The judges have spoken. I've got the scores. Let's call them back in. Chef Kalina Bliss.

01:00:39Chef Jenny Gilbert.

01:00:45This really came down to mainly about flavor. One chef scored a 81. Good score.

01:00:55The other chef, 91.

01:01:00Ladies and gentlemen, the winner of the second round battle between Chef Kalina Bliss and Chef Kenny

01:01:17Gilbert is Chef Kenny Gilbert. Let's go. Let's go.

01:01:24Congratulations, Chef. Thank you.

01:01:33Chef Kalina, you were doing so many things that I thought were right, and an 81's a great score,

01:01:37but unfortunately, it's the end of the road, and we'll look forward to seeing you in TOC in the future.

01:01:42Thank you, Chef. Chef Kalina Bliss.

01:01:47He whooped me. He had a great score. I'm gonna learn from this. We're gonna keep our, you know,

01:01:53head held high, and we're gonna keep cooking, and you guys see me next year.

01:01:57That was one of the most remarkable dishes we've seen so far in the competition. Congratulations.

01:02:02You're in the quarterfinals, my friend. Let's take a look. Here you are going up against Stephanie

01:02:09Izard. The GOAT. Let's GOAT. GOAT. But I'll tell you right now, everybody should take notice. The new

01:02:15guys in town, the beast in the kitchen. Kenny Gilbert. That was a huge win.

01:02:2210-point win. Now you're in the grade eight. That's got to feel pretty amazing.

01:02:27I'm so excited. I've been locked in. And the chefs all see it, watching how cool,

01:02:32calm, and collective you were. Brother, we'll see you in the grade eight. Congratulations.

01:02:35Yes, sir. Thank you. Thank you. Well done, Chef. Appreciate you.

01:02:37All right, folks. Are you ready to hear about the contenders for the final spot in the upcoming quarterfinals?

01:02:48First, we have the number eight seed, Chef Dan Jacobs, the qualifier winner, fresh off a major

01:02:53upset victory, who has proven that nothing, nothing in life can slow this guy down.

01:03:00I have Kennedy's disease, which is a rare neuromuscular disease similar to ALS. Being the

01:03:05lower seed, being in the further kitchen, that's just more walking around for me. So I have to be real

01:03:10conscious of grabbing all my stuff. I think it's so cool going up against Brian, somebody I looked

01:03:15up to for a long time. Brian did just win TOC Christmas, and he's got this momentum going with

01:03:20him. To me, I think I have just as much momentum. I beat Top Chef champion in Joe Flom. I

01:03:25beat the

01:03:25runner-up last year on TOC and Sarah Bradley. I'm feeling just as confident as I did going in against

01:03:30either one of them. Now his opponent is the number three seed, Chef Brian Voltaggio, the TOC

01:03:35all-star Christmas champion, who won his first solo TOC victory in the first round. I've never won

01:03:42an individual contest or a competition in my career. So for me, this would be a big win. I am

01:03:48going up against Dan Jacobs. I only know him from actually judging him in Top Chef in the season he

01:03:54was in. Great cook, great guy. For him to take out Sarah Bradley in the last round means that, you

01:03:58know, he's a force to be reckoned with. Are you ready to see these two powerhouses cooking up tonight?

01:04:04Let's light it up. He has two celebrated restaurants, including a modern Asian spot

01:04:12that the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel praised for its completely delicious courses and perfect meals.

01:04:18He is a six-time James Beard semi-finalist. Now in the first round, he scored an upset victory

01:04:26over TOC 6 runner-up, Chef Sarah Bradley. Chef Dan Jacobs!

01:04:46What have you done to ground yourself and stay focused on what's coming up? There's not a lot of

01:04:50expectation coming out of like a seven seed. I think that I surprise some people. And I am

01:04:56confident in myself. That's all I need. Dan, great to have you. Thank you. And your opponent.

01:05:04He's a two-time James Beard nominee with claimed restaurants on both coasts. He's a three-time Top Chef

01:05:11finalist and recently won the TOC all-star Christmas tournament along with his brother,

01:05:17Michael, with a record-breaking score of 98. Ladies and gentlemen, the Bolts of the East, Chef Brian

01:05:28Voltaggio. You haven't had a lot of success inside of TOC. No. Then you have enormous success with the

01:05:44Tournament of Champions holiday. And now you're back and we're seeing a different side of Brian

01:05:50Voltaggio. This one is a bucket list one for me. This is one I want to take. And I'm very

01:05:56focused on

01:05:56this competition. Chefs, time to do it. Let's take it to the randomizer. Good luck.

01:06:05So for the big finale of the night, you guys are the title fight guys. I mean, that's a big

01:06:11deal.

01:06:11Going for protein.

01:06:22Lamb, halibut, duck. Lamb, halibut.

01:06:26Halibut, okay. And watermelon radish. Metal skewers.

01:06:35Sunday supper. And who doesn't like a finale with a little nacho cheese?

01:06:41I might be late for dinner. Your 35 starts now. Good luck guys.

01:06:48This is not a fun randomizer. Okay. Halibut. The thing about halibut is it overcooks really easy and it

01:06:55gets dry. Watermelon radish. Part of the daikon radish family. It's not as pungent or bitter as most radishes are.

01:07:01Metal skewers. We always know what this is.

01:07:03Sunday supper. Bringing the family together. This is usually that low, slow and slow meal. Nacho cheese.

01:07:09So this is more of a processed cheese. That and halibut. Good luck.

01:07:14I've been a runner up in countless seasons of Top Chef. I've been a runner up on 24 and 24.

01:07:19I've never tasted victory on my own and I'm looking forward to do it this season.

01:07:23It's you and me, kid. Be right with you. I'm thinking like a crispy, bold salad with like lots

01:07:27of acid and crunch. It's gonna be paired alongside this halibut that's gonna be skewered with like

01:07:32umami rich mushrooms that you would find like grilling over coals in the backyard. You know,

01:07:36I'm out there. I'm working a lot. I'm out here competing. I'm spending a lot of time away from home.

01:07:40We always have a family dinner as much as we can. Food and family is what's so important.

01:07:44Gathering around food, spending time together, and sharing those meals.

01:07:50I got kind of a little bit of a plan here. We're gonna batter and fry the fish for sure.

01:07:54Nice. We're gonna make amole. Okay. We're gonna incorporate the skewers and radishes both in

01:07:59grilled and in an escoguche. So we're gonna go from there with it. All right. I believe in you,

01:08:03chef. I believe in me too. Thanks. I came into this battle knowing that I need to shop efficiently.

01:08:08Ugh. I hate having to run back and forth. I forgot one thing and I am not doing that.

01:08:15It takes me a long time to move around and I'm wasting time. In 2016, I was diagnosed with Kennedy's

01:08:21disease. It's degenerative in the fact that I am slowly losing my ability to walk, talk,

01:08:26use my hands, pretty much everything. Nacho cheese. I think being diagnosed was able to kind of reshape

01:08:33how I live. It made me really kind of want to push myself to do as many things as I

01:08:37could before I

01:08:38couldn't do those things anymore. So we're gonna do a mole verde. Yeah. A little bit different. Just

01:08:43I think it's gonna work really well with the fish. It's a little bit fresher. I'm gonna get my onion,

01:08:47serrano, garlic, and tomatillos charring. I think there's seven styles of mole in Oaxaca. I'm a mole monster.

01:08:54I'm not typically a mole guy, but I've been cooking for 27 years. I've cooked a little bit of

01:09:00everything. It's gonna have a ton of flavor. It speaks to Sunday supper. What's the plan there,

01:09:04chef? Mexican oregano, a little Chinese five spice, fish sauce. And then here comes everybody's

01:09:11favorite, nacho cheese. You know, the biggest thing with the nacho cheese is how do I incorporate this

01:09:16into my dish without completely ruining that dish. I think using it as the emulsifier in

01:09:22my mole is the smartest way I can do that.

01:09:27I'm gonna add cilantro and kale, and this is gonna give that bright green to the dish.

01:09:34Mole verde, baby. And we're gonna blend her up. I just let it go because the longer it's gonna blend,

01:09:39the greener it's gonna get. What's the plan with those pickles? So we're gonna do a little escobiche with a

01:09:46so with the radishes, we're gonna do a little quick pickle because it's gonna cut through that

01:09:50richness of the mole and the fried fish. So skewering, we're gonna do some daily onions, watermelon

01:09:57radish, and then we're gonna do some eggplant on there. Got it. We do vegetable skewers at the house,

01:10:02olive oil, Aleppo peppers, salt and pepper. Get it onto the grill. This is taking way too much time.

01:10:08Welcome to TOC. This is an interesting one. It sure is. To say the least.

01:10:15Skewers on the grill is a Sunday supper that sometimes happens at my house.

01:10:19You know, kebab style, right? Okay. It's nacho cheese that's really to throw off here.

01:10:24It does become a good sauce, that's for sure. I am quite worried about this has to be Sunday

01:10:29supper. I need to convince the judges this is something you would have if you came over to

01:10:33Voltaggio's household and you sat down for Sunday supper. I think this is one of the harder randomizers.

01:10:38Ah, the yeah. Like combo platter of everything together.

01:10:41If there's any two minds that are creative enough to pull this off.

01:10:45These guys.

01:10:5520 minutes. 20 minutes left.

01:10:59So the first thing I do is I start building a marinade for the halibut.

01:11:02Definitely a skewer of the halibut on my marinade. I got some miso, shirudashi. I'm gonna put some

01:11:06mustard in this. I marinate the outside of the fish. Somewhere in America, this is their Sunday

01:11:12supper. I think my biggest crush in my competitions is, is that I don't pay attention to the challenge.

01:11:17I put up a really delicious, great dish, but sometimes I don't check all the criteria that's

01:11:22needed. It's going in. It's definitely an interesting flavor profile for sure. I want to show that I'm not

01:11:27afraid to use the nacho cheese. Look at that. That's nacho cheese for sure. It tastes good.

01:11:34That emulsifier that's in that cheese is going to actually help coat around the halibut. It's going

01:11:38to make it nice and tacky. So I'm being very careful to cook the mushrooms separate from the

01:11:46halibut initially. Maitake mushrooms, they have like a really great meaty cork, but I want to make sure that

01:11:52it doesn't take a long time for that to cook on a skewer while I overcook the fish.

01:11:58I've never glazed mushrooms in nacho cheese. This is a first.

01:12:03They're saying. The skewer actually helped sell Sunday supper. This is kebabs on the grill.

01:12:09Kebabs on the grill. Right?

01:12:12Everybody knows I've competed a lot. I have a really fortunate career. I'm really comfortable with who I am

01:12:17and how I am and what I've done, but I have a couple of accolades I've been striving for.

01:12:22Competition like TOC, which is the hardest culinary competition that's out there, and to be a winner

01:12:26is something I need on my mantle.

01:12:2818 minutes, Chef.

01:12:3018. Good, because you're time to figure out the rest.

01:12:35Chef, am I invited to the fish fry?

01:12:37Dude, have you ever been to a fish fry? Has anybody ever been to a Wisconsin fish fry?

01:12:40Hell yeah, let's go. I get the fish into the dredge. Fish fries in Wisconsin are a rite of passage.

01:12:47It speaks to Sunday supper, but I've never fried halibut before.

01:12:53Halibut's incredibly delicate. You have like this tiny little window to make it perfect. Nice color.

01:13:01Got some nice char on these, which is great.

01:13:03What's the plan here?

01:13:04Uh, just because it's Sunday supper, we're going to do a little bit of cilantro rice in here.

01:13:08I'm nervous for them. I'm nervous for them too.

01:13:11What do you think of the randomizer? A little bit interesting.

01:13:13I think it's a great randomizer.

01:13:15You're with the nacho cheese?

01:13:16Yeah.

01:13:17Yeah. Chefs, 10 minutes, 10 to go. Final 10.

01:13:21I need to have, you know, a great sauce that's going to add some acid,

01:13:25some creaminess to the skewer. This is going to be super weird, but hey.

01:13:28I'm here for it.

01:13:29In this case, I have nacho cheese.

01:13:32Yogurt, nacho cheese, crema.

01:13:34I'm here.

01:13:35I mean, are you hearing me? Like what I'm saying out loud?

01:13:38I want to kind of like lean towards ranch flavors.

01:13:40So I grab onion powder, garlic powder.

01:13:42I'm seasoning with nori.

01:13:44So seafood ranch?

01:13:46Seafood nacho ranch.

01:13:47Yeah.

01:13:48Obviously.

01:13:53Sea ranch for the halibut.

01:13:55I'm going to put them onto the grill on a griddle plate and sear each side.

01:13:59I mean, this fish can be dry if you're not careful with it.

01:14:01So it's going to be really, really technical to cook.

01:14:03The watermelon radish is probably going to spiralize and do like a nice salad with that.

01:14:08Going up against somebody who I've never competed against.

01:14:11Don't really know too much about them.

01:14:13Dan's an unknown for me.

01:14:14He knocked out somebody who was in a finale of last season.

01:14:17So I know that he's got a lot of gas behind him.

01:14:20So I'm just going to do like a quick pickle with citrus on the radish.

01:14:25I'm doing two different applications of the radish.

01:14:27I'm using one to work as a sauce and the other one to work as texture of like a crispy

01:14:31salad

01:14:32that'll be served alongside of the kebabs.

01:14:34I'm going to try to make it scream with the ingredients and technique.

01:14:37Getting nice sear on each side of the fish.

01:14:38The mushrooms are starting to caramelize a little bit more.

01:14:40But I'm also going to be very careful.

01:14:42I don't want to fully cook them on a griddle.

01:14:44I'm using this to kind of get the glaze nice and tacky on the outside.

01:14:47I mean, I was working on the grill, but see that haliband's fragile.

01:14:51So I'm going to let it glaze under the salamander.

01:14:53You know, Sunday afternoons, you might be watching sports or something and hanging out,

01:14:58grilling a little bit.

01:14:59There's always going to be some sort of a chip and dip element.

01:15:02It's always on the table.

01:15:03I'm going to help scrape up that ranch dressing.

01:15:06Okay.

01:15:08So a little rice paper chip.

01:15:09The last thing I'm going to do is I'm going to throw it to the fryer to make it puff

01:15:12up and get nice and crispy.

01:15:16Five minutes, chefs.

01:15:18Five minutes.

01:15:20I'm plating this like I would plate this at a restaurant.

01:15:22We get points for a presentation.

01:15:24I want it to look beautiful.

01:15:25I'm going to do some mole down in the middle,

01:15:27and then I'm going to do a little smoosham mole kind of around the plate.

01:15:29I get some of that cilantro rice onto the plate.

01:15:33We're going to put that skewer on the side because, you know, got to use a skewer.

01:15:36I'm going to put some fried fish on top.

01:15:38We're going to put my pickled onion and watermelon radish right on top of that.

01:15:44I am not the person who's supposed to beat Brian Pataggio,

01:15:47but I'm literally playing with house money.

01:15:49I have nothing to lose.

01:15:52Looking good.

01:15:53Two minutes.

01:15:54So what I'm going to do is I'm going to put a nice pool of the nacho cheese ranch dressing

01:15:57down underneath.

01:15:59I want the kebab to rest right in the center of that.

01:16:02Then just to the left of it, I'm going to put this sort of crispy radish salad.

01:16:06I'm going to drape over the top a piece of puff fried rice paper.

01:16:10I need to crush it and just get all the way through.

01:16:14Five, four, three, two, one.

01:16:18Done.

01:16:22Thank you very much.

01:16:23You're done.

01:16:26Oh, is that randomizer?

01:16:28Oh, my God.

01:16:34That was a tough one.

01:16:35I had to work through that one, like, as I was cooking.

01:16:37I don't think I used the randomizer super great, but, uh, you know, we'll go from there.

01:16:44See how it goes.

01:16:45Nervous sweat.

01:16:52One day, that randomizer was a nightmare.

01:16:54Everybody's got a different interpretation of Sunday supper.

01:16:57I just hope this translates.

01:16:58My dish is tasty.

01:16:59Got a whole can pray.

01:17:00That's enough to bring home a W.

01:17:03Please welcome back Chef Susan Finneger.

01:17:06Oh, wow.

01:17:06Susan Finneger?

01:17:08TOC championing Shohan.

01:17:10Wow.

01:17:11And the legend himself, Chef Hubert Keller.

01:17:13No way.

01:17:15I got his cookbook when I was, like, 19 years old.

01:17:18I still have it.

01:17:18If I would have known he was going to be here, I would have brought it so I could get

01:17:20him to sign it.

01:17:21Look at that guy.

01:17:22Still rocking that ponytail.

01:17:23Chefs, we just round out this entire competition with a little Sunday supper.

01:17:27The randomizer offered up tonight, halibut, watermelon radish, metal skewer,

01:17:33and who doesn't love Sunday supper with little nacho cheese?

01:17:38Here to present is our TOC champ, Tiffany Faison.

01:17:42Chef, you pulled out the skewers on a Sunday and had a little backyard roast with halibut skewers,

01:17:48watermelon radish salad, and nacho ocean ranch.

01:17:52Let's start with the halibut.

01:17:53Marinated with a marinade of nacho cheese, Dijon, miso, shirodashi, and soy.

01:17:58We have a ranch that was constructed on the bottom of your plate.

01:18:01It's not your average ranch.

01:18:02It's nacho ocean ranch that was crafted by spiralizing the watermelon radish.

01:18:07Different watermelon radish vinaigrette was also constructed.

01:18:10That's the plate around with a little bit of olive oil.

01:18:14It's always interesting for me to see how a creative mind works under pressure.

01:18:19I think that here the dish was perfectly executed in sense of with the pressure and the time.

01:18:27I love the way the halibut was cooked because it can be dry very fast.

01:18:31Very careful with the helmet.

01:18:32A good execution, really.

01:18:35So as soon as I saw the nacho cheese, I'm like, this is the whammy.

01:18:39This is what is going to take the dish down.

01:18:41That's how I felt, Chef.

01:18:44But this chef has so expertly used it while not highlighting it.

01:18:51To me, the most impressive thing is with the skewers.

01:18:54Both the halibut and the mushrooms are cooked beautifully and perfectly.

01:18:58This looks pretty good for Brian.

01:19:00I do think that the one thing which I'm missing is just a touch of sweetness to round out the

01:19:06savoriness.

01:19:07I think the use of the radish is incredible.

01:19:13I love the radish vinaigrette is amazing.

01:19:16There's like plenty of acidity in there.

01:19:19My halibut was overcooked, but I could overlook that because the seasoning on it was just perfect.

01:19:25And the dish is really delicious, and I would have it as a Sunday supper.

01:19:29Sure.

01:19:31Thank you very much.

01:19:34Judges, 50 points in taste, 40 points in the use of the randomizer, 10 points in plating.

01:19:40I feel like they connected to the dish in a way that I wanted to execute it.

01:19:44And for that, I'm grateful.

01:19:46All right.

01:19:47Judges, here to present the second dish, Justin Warner.

01:19:49Chef.

01:19:50Here we go.

01:19:51Judges, this is fried halibut with mole verde, skewered watermelon radish, and watermelon radish

01:19:57escabeche.

01:19:58The halibut fillets were done with tapioca, cornstarch, seasoned with Aleppo pepper, and fried.

01:20:05The radish, you have thick batons that were skewered with onion and eggplant and then grilled.

01:20:10Another utilization of the radish, as you'll see on top, is as an escabeche.

01:20:14Now let's get into that sauce because that's where the nacho cheese comes into play.

01:20:19Pepita's grilled onion serrano, this was all blended together with the nacho cheese functioning

01:20:24for body flavor and as an emulsifier.

01:20:26I mean, I think they like it. I keep eating it.

01:20:29I think nacho cheese now should be a requirement in a pepita mole.

01:20:36Even the batter on the halibut is incredible. Best of when you think of deep fried fish.

01:20:43Sunday supper, yes, really well done.

01:20:46The randomizer was really represented the way the radishes were put on top of the little crunchiness,

01:20:53which is great. Unfortunately, the radishes got a little charred.

01:20:59They're supposed to be charred. It's charred radishes.

01:21:02I just had that burnt flavor in my mouth.

01:21:05Chef vinegar.

01:21:06The flavor of that mole is really nice. Really nice. Incorporating the nacho cheese,

01:21:12that sort of blows me away. My halibut is a little bit overcooked and a little bit under seasoned.

01:21:19Oh, thank you very much, judges. 50 points in taste, 40 in the randomizer tendon plating.

01:21:26This would feel amazing to go into the next round and knowing I have the chance to go all the

01:21:31way,

01:21:31I'm not going to turn back. It's going to be a tight one though. I competed against one of the,

01:21:35you know, great competitors of all time. Um, and I held my own. So, I feel okay.

01:21:40Ladies and gentlemen, I told you I'd give you a great finale. Did the chefs deliver or what?

01:21:45I agree. That was a tough randomizer. Let's bring him back out. Chef Dan, Chef Brian, come on out.

01:21:58Good job.

01:22:01Very close. 80 to 77. Ladies and gentlemen, the winner of tonight's final second round battle

01:22:11between Chef Brian Voltaggio and Chef Dan Jacobs is...

01:22:22Brian Voltaggio! Congratulations!

01:22:30Well done, Chef. Chef Dan, I'm sad to see this be the end of your TOC run. We will see

01:22:36you again.

01:22:36Thank you so much. Dan Jacob!

01:22:39Ladies and gentlemen!

01:22:48You know, I did my best. I lost by three points. I'm ready to attack this again next time.

01:22:55Brian is going to the quarterfinals of TOC 7!

01:23:01Let's take a look.

01:23:04You take Dan down. Now it's you and Shirley Chung.

01:23:08Shirley's on fire. I know she is. I know that it's going to be a tough one.

01:23:11Congratulations, my friend. Thank you.

01:23:13So happy for you.

01:23:16Brian Voltaggio!

01:23:18Thank you. Thank you.

01:23:26That was wild. Keep that cheering, you guys. I can't breathe.

01:23:29Join us next time when the triumphant great eight step back into the arena.

01:23:33Let's get to this final four for an epic quarterfinals as the chefs move within striking distance of the title.

01:23:40Mustache is coming in hot.

01:23:42Not today, Joe.

01:23:43The championship belt.

01:23:45I don't know one-third of these things.

01:23:48At $150,000.

01:23:50There is no bigger prize, no better trophy.

01:23:55Can you believe what's happening?

01:23:58See you next week on TOC 7. Adios.

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