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Top Chef Season 23 Episode 7
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00:01Jen, if you do have to set out from any part of the competition,
00:04you will be asked to depart.
00:06OK.
00:06Previously on Top Chef, it's time to barbecue.
00:09Yes!
00:10We have Seeger, who's like, I've done it a million times.
00:13In two teams of five, you're going to have all night
00:15to smoke a whole hog.
00:17OK.
00:18This should just lift right out.
00:19It's whole hog for a reason.
00:21It's not whole hog separated into parts.
00:23She feels good.
00:24Look at that, bro.
00:26Well, Seeger obviously knows a lot about pork.
00:28Vote for your favorite.
00:31Where Lawrence won me over was all the different iterations
00:34of the pork loin.
00:35Seeger, I think of pork a little on the dry side.
00:37Hey!
00:38Three for three!
00:38Three for three, baby!
00:39Sweet, baby!
00:40One, baby!
00:42And the winner is?
00:43Lawrence.
00:44Nice.
00:47Seeger, please pack your knives and go.
00:52Nine chefs remain to compete in the ultimate culinary showdown.
00:56Woo!
00:57At stake for the winner, the grand prize of a quarter
01:00of a million dollars provided by Graza Olive Oil,
01:03a feature in Food & Wine magazine,
01:05plus an appearance at the Food & Wine Classic in Aspen,
01:08their own exclusive dinner at the historic James Beard House
01:11in New York, and the title of Top Chef.
01:27It feels like we've been here forever.
01:29For real.
01:30How are you feeling about it?
01:31I feel good, actually.
01:33Yeah.
01:34They like my food.
01:35I know I'm in the right direction.
01:36Yeah.
01:37But what am I doing where I'm not locking in enough
01:40to, like, actually win the challenge?
01:42Yeah, yeah, yeah.
01:42I still feel very confident in myself,
01:44and I think it's not just about me.
01:47It's just for the Vietnamese community.
01:48It's for all the female chefs.
01:50It's for my family.
01:51There's so many reasons as to why I want to win this
01:54that I want it really, really bad.
01:55All right.
01:56You ready to go?
01:57Ugh!
01:58Ugh!
02:08That's happening.
02:09Yeah.
02:10Something's happening.
02:11Oh, wow.
02:11Wow.
02:13Like what I've done with the place?
02:14Ooh.
02:15Nice.
02:16A cracker barrel.
02:17Oh, .
02:18Oh.
02:19Are you ready to bring a taste of the country
02:21to the Top Chef kitchen?
02:22Yeah.
02:23Absolutely.
02:30Absolutely.
02:30Since 1969, Cracker Barrel Old Country Store
02:33has been a beloved destination for a crave-worthy
02:36comfort food and a warm, nostalgic atmosphere.
02:39Here in the Carolinas, there are over 60 locations alone.
02:42That is a lot.
02:43Anyone been to a Cracker Barrel?
02:44Yeah, absolutely.
02:46I like their ham steak.
02:47The ham steak.
02:48Oh, the ham steak.
02:48Dude, the ham steak is great.
02:50And then the pancakes with, like, the crispy edges.
02:51So good.
02:52Ooh.
02:53Depending on what time you drop by, you can enjoy breakfast,
02:56lunch, or dinner, thanks to their all-day menu
02:59of homestyle country favorites.
03:01So today, that's exactly what you'll be doing.
03:05You're gonna be cooking up a complete day's worth of meals.
03:08But we want you to create something that isn't already
03:11on the menu.
03:11So a new country classic.
03:13Gotcha.
03:13And yes, I said, we.
03:15You know that.
03:16I can't eat alone.
03:21Come in.
03:23Turn it up!
03:24Hey!
03:25Oh!
03:26Hey, how's it going?
03:29Hey!
03:29How's it going?
03:30Hey!
03:31How's it going?
03:31I mean, when we talk about Southern hospitality,
03:33how do we not talk about Southern Char?
03:36We're honored to be here with y'all.
03:37And here in the Carolinas, we're all about Southern hospitality.
03:39So who would we be to not show up with a gift for?
03:42Very sweet of you.
03:43Is that a gift for you or for us?
03:45We're gonna find out.
03:46Yeah.
03:48So let's see what you brought.
03:52Oh, yeah!
03:53Dude!
03:54As you know, this is the peg game.
03:56It's a staple at Cracker Barrel.
03:58Yeah.
03:58Instead of the classic knife pull,
04:00it's only appropriate we do a peg pull.
04:02Makes sense.
04:03You'll be working in teams of three for this challenge.
04:05Lawrence, come on up.
04:06First peg pull.
04:08Ooh!
04:09Top Chef Orange.
04:11Yellow.
04:12Oscar.
04:13Here we go.
04:14Lawrence has been a quick-fire champ.
04:16I'm pumped.
04:17Here we go.
04:19Yellow.
04:20Green team.
04:22Green.
04:22Another green.
04:23Orange.
04:23Orange is complete.
04:24It's the international team.
04:28Yellow.
04:29Last member of the yellow team.
04:30Come on, brother.
04:31This is the first time I am on the same team as Brandon.
04:34We both know our cooking styles.
04:35We got that twin language, homie.
04:37All right.
04:37We're good.
04:38All right, Justin.
04:39Last member of the green team.
04:40Y'all happy with your teams?
04:41Oh, yeah.
04:42Yeah, for sure.
04:43Each of you will be responsible for a course.
04:45Breakfast, lunch, or dinner.
04:47And then you'll have 45 minutes to prepare the three dishes.
04:5045.
04:51Great.
04:51That's wonderful.
04:52That's like a lot of time for a quick-fire.
04:54Oh, really?
04:55Yeah.
04:55A lot.
04:56Well, we think this challenge might be fixin' for a twist.
05:00Uh-oh.
05:01She's seen that coming.
05:02Man.
05:02Oh.
05:03Life in the South is really all about slowing down.
05:06So only one chef from each team can cook at a time.
05:10Oh, yeah.
05:12Everyone's processing a little bit.
05:15Damn.
05:16So do you split the time evenly or do you give more time to one of the rounds?
05:20Okay.
05:21Each dish can be served as it's ready.
05:23You'll present your dish and we'll taste it right on the spot while your next teammate
05:26gets going on the next dish.
05:28Up for grabs is $12,000 thanks to Cracker Barrel.
05:31Oh.
05:31Damn.
05:32You'll have three minutes right now to discuss who's doing which dish and your strategy.
05:36Oh.
05:37Starting now, come grab your menus.
05:38I got breakfast.
05:39You guys, you wanna grab one?
05:40Yeah.
05:41I could do lunch or breakfast.
05:42I'll be down for breakfast.
05:43Yeah, okay.
05:44Can I do lunch?
05:45Yeah, yeah.
05:45I'll do breakfast.
05:46Can I get a lunch?
05:48I'm doing a fried, a green tomato BLT.
05:50Are you okay with dinner?
05:50Yeah.
05:51Yeah, I guess so.
05:51We have technically 15 minutes each, but 15-minute dinner is tough.
05:56They better keep to their minutes.
05:57I hope they do.
05:58I still don't know what I'm doing.
05:59You have one minute.
06:00Heard.
06:00When I cook, I just, like, at my own pace, you know?
06:03Yeah.
06:03No rush.
06:04I was thinking about lunch, doing, like, a fried green tomato BLT.
06:07Oh, yeah.
06:09I'm gonna do fried oysters.
06:10I wonder if I make a batter, if I could just give you my batter then.
06:1415 seconds.
06:15I wanna make sure we leave you with enough time.
06:16I think I can get breakfast done in less than 15 minutes.
06:20You're good at doing this .
06:213, 2, 1.
06:23All right, done.
06:23You have 45 minutes on the clock.
06:25Your time starts now.
06:27Let's go, Oscar.
06:28Let's go, let's go.
06:29All right.
06:30Let's go, Justin.
06:31Let's go, Justin.
06:32Come on, Brandon.
06:33Let's get it.
06:33Take it home, baby.
06:34Let's go, Oscar.
06:37Sweet team.
06:37Oh, that's so sweet.
06:38You're very welcome.
06:42Vamos, vamos, vamos, vamos, vamos.
06:43What are you making, Oscar?
06:45Pan de elote.
06:46It's like a corn pancake almost.
06:49We got 15 minutes of pop, but I'm thinking breakfast should be quicker.
06:52And if I can give them five minutes extra, I think it gives our team a good shot to win.
06:5640 minutes, Oscar.
06:59That was good.
07:01I'm making a hash brown.
07:02I'm making eggs.
07:04Brandon, you keeping this one classic?
07:05Yes, chef.
07:06A little eggs benedict.
07:08This is really cool.
07:09So watch how fast everyone is.
07:10This is high level.
07:11Hollandaise is kind of a fancy, brunchy thing.
07:13A little hot sauce.
07:14But you can make hollandaise in less than five minutes with the friction and the heat from the blender.
07:19Eight minutes, push it.
07:20Yes, chef.
07:21Let's go, Oscar.
07:22You got this.
07:23I'm there, I'm there.
07:24I am making my favorite diner food, uh, corn beef hash.
07:28Ooh.
07:28That sounds good.
07:29Hash browns.
07:30I'm gonna try to give each of us 15.
07:33Five minutes on the clock.
07:34Justin, what are you cutting?
07:35Some cubed steak.
07:36Nice.
07:37I don't have enough time to sear the steak, so I tossed it in the fryer.
07:41Just had to get that beef cooking.
07:42Let's go, Justin.
07:44Come on, Brandon, let's go.
07:46Ooh.
07:47A flip.
07:48Ah!
07:49Look at that timing, baby.
07:53Nice.
07:53We're plating.
07:55A little maple.
07:56Here we go, Justin.
07:58Tell me when it's done, please.
08:00Sherry, let's go, let's go, let's go.
08:02Oh, okay.
08:04Chicken stock.
08:05Oscar, what did you make for breakfast?
08:07Pande elote.
08:08I haven't been to Cracker Barrel.
08:09I saw the picture, super inspired.
08:11It's a corn cake, throw some berries in it, a little bit of maple, and then shaved piloncillo.
08:15Like, nice little sweet bite.
08:16Really good, great job.
08:18I've never had this before.
08:19A little salty, a little salty.
08:20Sweet, a good little crunch.
08:22Oscar's corn cake is still eating, like, a good hearty pancake.
08:25Yeah, yeah.
08:26You're at 30 minutes, Sherry.
08:28We're doing good.
08:29Walking plates.
08:31Heard.
08:3130 minutes left on the clock.
08:34Oh.
08:36This looks fantastic.
08:37Beautiful.
08:38This is my kid's favorite meal.
08:40I call it rushed hash browns and shortcut hollandaise.
08:43Did you know immediately what you wanted to make?
08:45100%.
08:46I'm very impressed.
08:48You're welcome.
08:48Really well cooked.
08:52Come on, Justin.
08:54Oh, God.
08:55Spoiler alert.
08:56The beef is overcooked.
08:57Jesus .
08:58All right.
09:00Justin's going over his 15 minutes.
09:02DeWynn needs to get going, and being fast is, like, one of my weaknesses.
09:05So I'm worried about literally everything.
09:09Come on, Justin.
09:12Are you done?
09:13Yeah.
09:15Okay.
09:16Go.
09:16What's up, Justin?
09:18Just going to take a second for myself.
09:20Yeah, yeah.
09:23Let's see.
09:24What'd you make for breakfast?
09:25The one thing I saw that the cracker bowl didn't have was corned beef hash.
09:28So I made a mustard sabayon, hash browns, and New York strip for the corned beef.
09:33Hmm.
09:34Did you do, like, a pastrami seasoning on the outside or what'd you do?
09:36Yeah, I'd toss the beef in, like, brown butter with rye.
09:39Great.
09:39I think you need to sit.
09:40You need to...
09:43DeWynn, you plan on doing 15 for a team evenly?
09:45I'm gonna try and do 10.
09:47Cooking in the Top Chef's kitchen is, like, combat cooking.
09:50This is ridiculous.
09:51I want to make sure Jen gets 15 minutes to execute her dish.
09:55I just really want to keep this simple.
09:57Trying to make a batter to fry some green tomatoes.
10:01Really?
10:02Anthony, what are you doing?
10:03Uh, same thing as you, dear.
10:04Oh, all right.
10:05Oh, now DeWynn's nervous.
10:06I can see it.
10:07Because he's trying to copy me.
10:08Oh-ho-ho!
10:10I'm doing a cornmeal base.
10:11I think DeWynn's doing tempura.
10:12So maybe that'll help me, uh, pop up.
10:14Just a classic southern way of doing it.
10:16Shari, how you feeling?
10:18Good.
10:19Soup is a perfect lunch food.
10:21I know I'm not gonna be able to develop the flavor that I want in 15 minutes,
10:26but then I see shrimp paste.
10:27Let's go.
10:28It's a really concentrated shrimp flavor
10:31that's gonna be so good with my cornbread.
10:34Shari, save me that batter, yeah?
10:36Save you the batter, wait.
10:37Is there steak in the fridge, you know?
10:39I didn't even...
10:40Anthony, if you find some steaks in there, pull them for me.
10:42I got you.
10:4518 to go.
10:46Nice and golden.
10:48Hey, DeWynn, there's a bunch of country ham in that bus tub.
10:51Perfect.
10:52I'm looking for bacon for my BLT,
10:55but country ham is maybe even better,
10:58because I don't have to cook it.
10:59Come through, brother, let's go. Start plating.
11:01Already plating.
11:02All right, let's do it.
11:02That's what I'm talking about.
11:03Plating.
11:05Hit me.
11:06I'm done, go.
11:07Oh, boy.
11:08Last to start, first to serve.
11:10That's our girl.
11:13Come on, let's go.
11:14Come on up.
11:15Yes.
11:16Yes.
11:17Stop at me.
11:19Oh, everyone.
11:20Yeah, I love it.
11:24DeWynn, what'd you make for lunch?
11:25Fried green tomato sandwich.
11:28How'd you choose the meat?
11:29I was looking for some bacon,
11:30but I think the country ham actually works out much better.
11:33Mm-hmm.
11:34Come on, Jay, start cooking.
11:35Let's get it, let's get it.
11:36All right, chefs, in front of you have a fried green tomato
11:38and country ham, open-faced sandwich,
11:41a little bit of salmon roe, there's avocado.
11:43All right, Sherry, I made a crab and shrimp bisque
11:46with a whole cake.
11:47Crab and shrimp bisque?
11:49Did you have, like, shrimp cells?
11:50There's shrimp paste.
11:51Shrimp paste was a very smart play.
11:52Thank you so much.
11:53It's a lot of flavor to bring in in that short of time.
11:56Where's the tequila?
11:56I know, right?
11:58Whoo!
11:59Uh-uh.
12:00You got 12 minutes left.
12:01Those batters working out for you?
12:02It looks beautiful. Thank you, chef.
12:04Perfect, dude.
12:05They both did a batter-based thing,
12:07so we're gonna do some chicken tendies.
12:08I'm trying to be smart about this cook,
12:10so I'm gonna reuse the batters
12:11from both Oscar and Sherry's dishes.
12:14Tendies in 10 minutes, absolutely.
12:16Lawrence, let's take these twins now.
12:18Start cooking.
12:19Come on, let's go.
12:20Next, next.
12:21I'm gonna use the tri-tips.
12:22They're super small.
12:23They're gonna cook really fast,
12:24so I'm gonna make a smothered steak.
12:26I'm using De Wynn's batter to fry my oysters.
12:29Everything I do has to be quick,
12:30so I get my oysters in her batter.
12:33I fry a few just to see .
12:36De Wynn's batter was really great
12:38for her fried green tomato,
12:40but for these oysters,
12:41it kind of made everything too wet.
12:43Adding some cornmeal to get some texture.
12:4710 minutes.
12:48Jesus Christ.
12:49You got this.
12:51Whoo!
12:52What other way to make a gravy?
12:53This is exciting.
12:54Don't burn your hair.
13:00We're good.
13:01I wanna make sure I don't overcook the chicken,
13:03because once it's overcooked,
13:04it gets dry.
13:06This looks perfect to me.
13:07Sweet tea!
13:08I'm gonna use the sweet tea
13:09to incorporate a little southern charm.
13:11We're gonna make a little five-spice sweet tea,
13:13syrup with it.
13:14Let's go!
13:16I'm sweating over here.
13:17Plenty of time, Jake.
13:18Two minutes on the dot.
13:19You got it.
13:20Let's go, it's game time!
13:22Pick up, pick up!
13:23This is critical,
13:24how flavorful this is.
13:26Whoo!
13:27Let's go!
13:30The rocking's getting a little heavy in the middle.
13:3320 seconds!
13:35Jonathan, start walking it, bro!
13:36Three, two, one!
13:40Time's up, you can't be done!
13:47All right, Lauren,
13:48tell us about your dinner dish.
13:49So we have fried chicken tendies
13:51with five-spice butter
13:53and five-spice syrup.
13:55Mm-hmm!
13:56You checked the internal temperature?
13:58Uh, I did not check.
13:59Oh, you know what that means?
14:00You know what that means?
14:01Uh-oh!
14:01Uh-oh!
14:02Is it under?
14:05Oh.
14:06All right, thank you.
14:07Yeah.
14:07Aw, my bad, guys.
14:08It's all good, boo.
14:09All right, y'all,
14:10you have a smothered steak in front of you
14:11with a bourbon pan gravy.
14:13This is like dinner after a long day,
14:15something quick,
14:16all made in the same pan.
14:17Would you ever do like a mashed potato
14:19under something like this?
14:21100%.
14:21If we had 20 minutes each,
14:23there would have been mashed potatoes
14:24on the plate.
14:26Good job, bro.
14:27I did a cornmeal battered oyster
14:30with lemon pepper and creamed corn.
14:33What's in the batter?
14:34DeLynn's batter and added cornmeal
14:35and flour to it.
14:37Okay, great, thank you.
14:40With these team challenges, obviously,
14:42there are definitely highs and lows
14:43on every single team.
14:45Madison and Craig,
14:45which team cracked under pressure?
14:51Our least favorite team today
14:52was the green team.
14:53Hmm.
14:54Justin, I thought it was cute,
14:56but the meat was a little tough.
14:58Yeah.
14:59I will say that my favorite lunch
15:01was on the green team, though.
15:02The sandwich was incredible.
15:03We thought you did an excellent job.
15:05I think, Jen,
15:06had you made your own cornmeal batter,
15:08it would have gotten more crispy,
15:09but it just kind of all felt a little bit wet.
15:10Gotcha.
15:11The win is gonna come down
15:12between the orange and the yellow team.
15:14The breakfast over on orange team was Oscar.
15:17That was my favorite dish of the competition.
15:19Cracker Barrel prides itself
15:20on its crispy pancakes, too.
15:21You just nailed it.
15:22It was really, really great.
15:23And then on the yellow team,
15:24we had Brandon.
15:25I did appreciate not overly greasy,
15:27crispy hash browns.
15:28I absolutely loved that.
15:30I think my son would just devour it.
15:33That brings us to lunch.
15:35Sherry.
15:35In that amount of time
15:36to have that much flavor,
15:37it was really shocking.
15:38I really enjoyed eating your dish.
15:40Thanks so much.
15:41Anthony, there's a lot going on.
15:43I love the idea of fried green tomatoes,
15:45especially when you add a little kick to it.
15:47You kind of won me over with that.
15:50And that brings us to dinner.
15:52Lawrence.
15:53That's him.
15:55I like the sauce.
15:56I like the butter.
15:57There are so many opportunities
15:58to make sure the chicken was cooked.
16:00No, I love it.
16:01Jonathan.
16:01I thought the flavor was great.
16:03I personally loved it,
16:04but I think if you would've cooked
16:06the beef a little bit less,
16:08it would've been a perfect dish.
16:09And I chose the thinnest pieces
16:10because I wanted to make sure
16:11they were cooked.
16:11Well, you accomplished that.
16:14The winning team gave us
16:15a crave-worthy menu
16:17and some brand new classics.
16:19And the winning team is...
16:25The yellow team.
16:26Yes.
16:27Congratulations, yellow team.
16:30You just won $12,000,
16:32thanks to the generous folks at Cracker Barrel.
16:35So that means $4,000 each.
16:37Congratulations.
16:41Lawrence, if the chicken was cooked,
16:42you would've won.
16:43I know.
16:43I know.
16:44I haven't won a quick fire yet.
16:45This was my chance.
16:47Oh, yeah, my God.
16:49Lawrence, you had time.
16:50Why didn't you cook the chicken?
16:52Madison and Craig, thank you for being here.
16:53It was an honor to be included
16:55in your guys' challenge.
16:55We know how important this is to y'all.
16:57Thank you so much.
16:57Thank you, guys.
17:03Chefs,
17:05you are cordially invited
17:07to the celebration of the season.
17:14Please help me welcome your next guest judge,
17:17actress, singer, and Top Chef superfan,
17:22Melissa Benoist.
17:23Welcome.
17:23Hi.
17:27Holy .
17:27This is amazing.
17:29I'm a huge Supergirl fan.
17:30I'm so pumped, you guys.
17:32I've watched the show since season one.
17:34I even wrote a letter to get on the show
17:36and said how much I loved it.
17:38I'm such a super fan.
17:39I need you guys to know.
17:42So you may have seen her work on Glee,
17:44Supergirl, and most recently, Waterfront.
17:46Yeah, and now I'm really happy to be here
17:48in the Queen City with you all.
17:49Did you guys know that the city of Charlotte
17:51was actually named after a queen?
17:53Sophia Charlotte Mecklenburg Strelitz.
17:55That's a mouthful.
17:57You've already made breakfast, lunch, and dinner.
18:00And do you know what Queen Charlotte loved the most?
18:04Brunch.
18:04Brunch didn't exist back then.
18:06It was dessert.
18:08Oh.
18:09She loved decadent desserts.
18:12Oh, wow.
18:13I just hope we don't have to make a cake.
18:15I don't like making cakes.
18:16I know how to do it.
18:16I just hate making them.
18:17I went to culinary school for the international baking
18:20and pastry degree.
18:21So in my mind, we have to make a dessert.
18:23It's really important that I show that skill level.
18:25My palms are sweaty.
18:27That is some table.
18:28Wow.
18:29I'm pumped.
18:30Love dessert.
18:31Do you?
18:32No, I hate dessert.
18:33Growing up, my family wasn't big on sugar.
18:36Very health conscious.
18:37So I just never developed a taste for it.
18:39Not a cavity at 43 years old.
18:42Thanks, Mom and Dad.
18:42Queen Charlotte really loved celebrating and throwing a ball, especially if it was her birthday.
18:50Oh, good God.
18:51Back in 2018, the city of Charlotte celebrated their 250th anniversary with a large party.
18:57Pastry chefs at Johnson and Wales University made enough sheet cakes to feed 3,000 people.
19:04And also, it just so happens that this year is the 20th anniversary of Top Chef, so we're kind of
19:09celebrating a birthday too.
19:10Wow.
19:11And as you can see here, this incredible taller than me cake is full of delicious, beautiful Southern desserts, all
19:20known throughout North and South Carolina.
19:23For this elimination challenge, we want you to create a dessert fit for a queen.
19:29Oh.
19:30Oh, me.
19:32You'll each select one dessert from this display to inspire your dish.
19:37But you are a very talented group of people, so I think that would be a little bit too easy.
19:42There we go.
19:43There we go.
19:43Come on, here we go.
19:44Give it to me.
19:45This party starts in a little over three hours.
19:49Oh.
19:50Oh.
19:53Damn.
19:54I know.
19:54After those three hours are up, 60 superfans will enter the kitchen to celebrate and try each of your desserts.
20:02Did you say 60?
20:0360.
20:036-0.
20:04Hurt.
20:05My head is spinning, but that's not all.
20:10Oh, come on.
20:12Oh, boy.
20:13You said you were a fan.
20:14Yeah, you're doing this to us.
20:16The superfans are going to hold the power in determining who the winner of this challenge will be.
20:22What?
20:25Desserts for 60 Top Chef fans.
20:28So you know they're going to be picky as hell.
20:29We have bene wafers, apple stack cake, coconut cake, caramel cake.
20:33My personal favorite banana pudding.
20:35Facts.
20:36100%.
20:36Yeah.
20:37Just let the two of them go first.
20:38There's no other point.
20:39I love all y'all, but I also play football.
20:41My top favorite dessert in the world is banana pudding.
20:45All right, ready?
20:46Three, two, one.
20:48You might want to move.
20:49Oh, .
20:51Nobody got in my way.
20:53Got it, boy.
20:54That banana pudding was coming to daddy.
20:56Hey.
20:57That was civilized.
20:58Yeah.
20:58Yeah, sure.
20:59Justin, do you like ambrosia?
21:01I'm going to learn to love it today.
21:03Baking cakes in that short amount of time, there's so many things that can go wrong.
21:07So, chilled fruit salad, lots of ways you can shake that tree.
21:10Chefs, just remember, this is a party.
21:12Show off and give them something impressive.
21:14Make all of us superfans proud.
21:27Let's go, baby!
21:29Let's do this. You ready?
21:30Yeah.
21:30Does anybody need pineapple?
21:31No.
21:32Cool.
21:32I'm looking for bananas.
21:33Anybody seen the bananas?
21:34They're over here, buddy.
21:35Is there stuff in those fridges?
21:36We are hosting a party of superfans in three hours, which is insane.
21:42Also, uh, like, dessert.
21:47What am I doing?
21:48We don't get to go to the market and buy stuff.
21:50I'm not even going to have time to, like, conceptualize my dish.
21:53No.
21:53We're in the storm.
21:54Time starts.
21:55Get at it.
21:56Oscar, how are you feeling?
21:58Emotionally?
21:59Spiritually?
22:00All the above.
22:00Which way?
22:00All the above?
22:01All right.
22:01Pull out a couch.
22:06The Atlantic beach pie is a salty cracker crumb, whipped cream, and lemon and lime custard.
22:13I have Atlantic beach pie every Thanksgiving.
22:16I'm going to do a layered dessert of salty crackers, the lemon curd, and yuzu jelly.
22:23I reluctantly do desserts, you know, and I really feel like I'm going to have to channel my grandmothers, try
22:29to remember the things I grew up eating.
22:30So a little traditional, a little weird.
22:33I'm actually from a very small town called Statham, Georgia.
22:36Only one grocery store in town.
22:37My dad owned it, and that was the name of it, the grocery store.
22:41I'm excited for the different layers.
22:43Oh, .
22:47A lot of eggs.
22:49I'm no pastry chef, but I've done my share of pastries.
22:52The sunker is between a cobbler and a fruit tart.
22:55I have a really good pie dough recipe.
22:58When you grate the butter, you have these perfect little nuggets that create pockets of air on the dough.
23:03It's going to be super flaky and delicious.
23:05Oh, snap.
23:07Ah, shells.
23:09Lawrence, what you making?
23:10I'm going to make a tres leches.
23:11It's the last thing that I had with my wife before I left.
23:13I think I'm going to turn this coconut cake into a tres leches, make a coconut cream and condensed milk
23:18soak.
23:19I want to make it a bit of my own.
23:21So I hope it's good.
23:22Sorry, babe, if it's not, you know?
23:23Wait, don't you have immunity as well?
23:25I do.
23:25Are you happy you're getting it for this challenge?
23:27I'll take it for any challenge.
23:32Apple desserts are normally my favorite to eat.
23:34The apple stack cake reminds me of my great grandmother.
23:37She would just have like a tower of pancakes, paper thin as if they were crepes almost.
23:43I want to cook with this memory of her.
23:44That's going to make her proud.
23:45You got to get these apples diced.
23:47I want the semi-fredo to have a good amount of apple flavor and also texture.
23:50I want to try and represent the apple as many ways as I possibly can.
23:53There'll be a spiced apple butter and then a apple gel.
24:00Hey, y'all, I feel nervous.
24:02I know, right?
24:03I got the little ugly duckling cake.
24:04The Moravian is a sad little dense cake.
24:09You know, like it needs a little makeover.
24:11I got all the breads.
24:12There's a lot of cinnamon notes.
24:13There's raisins.
24:14So I'm thinking right off the bat, capirotada.
24:16It's like a Jalisco style bread pudding.
24:18With the s'mores cook off, Tom loved a little spice in it.
24:21So I'm going to make a little pasilla powder.
24:22Why not?
24:23I like a little spice, a little sweet.
24:25Kind of like me.
24:25Hey, love that.
24:27I've got chocolate chest pie.
24:29There's not really enough time to make a pie crust.
24:32So this is going to get baked like this and I'm going to crumble it later.
24:34So I call this the top chef pie dough.
24:42Are you good at baking, Dwayne?
24:43I like desserts that I'm like cooking.
24:45Chef desserts.
24:46Yeah.
24:47Chefy desserts.
24:47Exactly.
24:48There was a restaurant I worked at in France.
24:50I had a dolce leche sabayon and it was like the best thing ever.
24:54So having the caramel cake, I could really use that as kind of like the star.
24:58The caramel cake is what a caramel cake sounds like.
25:01Just layers and layers of caramel with vanilla cake inside.
25:04But I want to take a Vietnamese spin on it.
25:07I went to Vietnam and I saw this woman grill bananas and made this like tapioca pudding and it was
25:13so fire.
25:15So I'm making this vanilla pandan rice and I think that would be a nice base of my dessert.
25:20Ooh, pandan?
25:22You want to try it?
25:23It's super hot.
25:24Careful.
25:25That's pretty good.
25:26It's not too sweet, you know?
25:28No.
25:28Which is the biggest Asian compliment you can give.
25:30But I need this to be sweet.
25:32Ambrosia salad is really big in Michigan.
25:35I'm going to do it pretty close to the original.
25:38Jello, whipped cream, fruit.
25:40So it's really just a sweet, cold fruit salad.
25:44Something our parents probably used to eat.
25:46Yeah.
25:49Base for the semi-fredo.
25:51That blast show don't play around, does it?
25:53Sheesh.
25:55Doing a play on banana pudding.
25:57I want to get some roasted bananas.
25:58I got my brown butter working.
26:00The dessert I'm going to focus on is a banana misuse.
26:03Let's go.
26:04Back, back, back, back, back.
26:06Two hours and eight minutes left.
26:09That oven's not as hot from opening and closing it.
26:11It's not going to stay hot.
26:13Justin, I'm about to go in there, okay?
26:14It's at 400.
26:15You're good.
26:16I have five trays to go in.
26:18Every two minutes somebody's opening and slamming the doors closed.
26:21Which kind of sucks for me.
26:23The worst thing that could happen is putting these galettes in the oven.
26:27And the temperature being too low.
26:29And all the beautiful butter just oozing out of the pastry.
26:33So I crank up my oven, praying for the worst, hoping for the best.
26:39What is it? How you say it?
26:41Preparing for the worst.
26:42Uh, preparing for the worst and hoping for the best.
26:48One hour and 43 minutes till the super fans arrive.
26:52Ugh!
26:53I want to maximize the flavor and texture.
26:55Oh shoot, who's black bananas?
26:57Roasting the bananas with the skin on, you get this banana liqueur.
27:00And it's really, really flavorful.
27:02Yeah, these are nice.
27:05Anybody have a can opener?
27:06Yeah.
27:07Oi!
27:07Thanks.
27:08Anybody have a dessert I could use?
27:10Got you, Justin. I got some whipped cream for you.
27:11Oh, you're the best.
27:13Ambrosia salad has a lot of different elements.
27:15You know, I still have a lot to get done.
27:17I'm not panicked just yet, but it's slowly creeping up.
27:19What do we do now?
27:22What are you working on?
27:24A salted dulce de leche sabayon.
27:28I'm really hoping that my sabayon is going to just encompass this entire dessert.
27:34Needs to be sweeter.
27:36I might just throw this whole thing in there.
27:37The best way for me to kind of utilize that is to put it in an ISI container.
27:42So it has just like airy, foamy mouth feel.
27:45That makes me sound really f***ing bougie.
27:48Done.
27:50I'm doing good.
27:52This is agar agar.
27:53It's a gelling agent.
27:54I'm going to try and gel this apple cider, see if it works.
28:00One hour.
28:02I notice Oscar still doesn't have his bread pudding in the oven.
28:05He has a deep pan.
28:06It's difficult to get that amount cooked in the proper amount of time.
28:10Got faith.
28:11Don't cheat yourself in the foot.
28:12Bake it off for 40 minutes.
28:1930 minutes.
28:21Sherry, how are they looking?
28:22You tell me.
28:22Look at this.
28:23That's beautiful.
28:24Oscar, what you doing with them pineapple tops, bud?
28:26I was going to make myself a little hat.
28:28Oh, you're so cute.
28:30Okay, so pie crust is done.
28:32I'm making my chocolate sabayon.
28:34Now I need to whip some whipped cream.
28:36Hey, Brandon, how do you make whipped cream, bro?
28:38Equal parts sugar and water bring to a boil and cool down.
28:41No hesitation.
28:42My goal is to get more votes than my brother, but he's literally a high caliber pastry chef.
28:48Jonathan, you're boiling over.
28:50Am I really?
28:51Yeah, I turned it off.
28:52Oh, thank you.
28:54Oscar, is your bread pudding going to be done in time?
28:56It's close.
28:57Boom.
28:58Pour.
28:58Pour.
28:59This way?
28:59Yeah, so just like that.
29:01Yep.
29:01And then you're just going to keep on pouring slowly.
29:03Okay.
29:04I want to manipulate the ingredients of ambrosia, so I decided to use liquid nitrogen, but I've never done it
29:10before.
29:11Dang!
29:11Am I doing it right?
29:12Yeah, you are!
29:13Liquid nitrogen will give me a new twist and make it a little bit lighter.
29:18Sherry, you making cotton candy?
29:20Yes.
29:21I think it's kind of skewed.
29:25Oh, my God.
29:27Hey, y'all, six minutes till we serve.
29:29Time to start plating.
29:34I'm real sweaty.
29:36Texture's on point.
29:38Flavor's there.
29:45Hello, everyone.
29:46How y'all doing?
29:47Hi, guys.
29:48Hey, everybody.
29:49It's got a lot of soul, you know?
29:51The bread pudding is a little bit loose at this point.
29:54My whipped cream's been sitting out and it's warm.
29:56It's not a California tent.
29:58It's a Midwest tent.
29:59Not what I want, but, you know, I've got to sell this ugly little dish.
30:04Minute 36, Chef.
30:05Minute 36.
30:06I just wanted to say that.
30:08Thank you, Chef.
30:08I appreciate you.
30:13There you go.
30:16Let's go!
30:18We are open.
30:21Put a little whipped cream on top of that and then it's ready to go.
30:24The party has started.
30:26Welcome to Top Chef.
30:28How are you?
30:29I do.
30:30Judges, I have for you.
30:32Coconut Tress Leches.
30:33I am a real Superman.
30:35Been watching this since day one.
30:36I'm going to be dreaming about this for the rest of my life.
30:39Oh, my God.
30:40I wasn't going to miss this.
30:41Yeah, it's awesome.
30:42Glad you could join us.
30:43They're Superfans in the Top Chef kitchen.
30:45It really is like you're in the arena with them.
30:46Having the Superfans vote, it's a lot of different palettes.
30:49I hope I survive radon.
30:52It's so surreal being in here.
30:53Dream come true.
30:55Wow.
30:56Look at this party.
30:57Beautiful.
30:58Ooh, cotton candy.
30:59It does feel like a party in here.
31:01Yeah, it does.
31:01They was like, Mommy, it's a cooking show.
31:03I was like, don't you ever say that.
31:04This is more than a cooking show.
31:06So, shall we start trying?
31:07Yeah.
31:08How's it going, judges?
31:09Hello, Anthony.
31:10Which dessert did you have?
31:12Apple stack cake.
31:13So, uh, apple semifredo.
31:15Dried apples on the inside.
31:16Apple coulis on the bottom.
31:17Spiced cake with a little bit of molasses.
31:19And then two types of apple butter.
31:21Why did you choose the apple stack cake?
31:22They reminded me a little bit of family.
31:24Very good.
31:24Wow.
31:26Several different types of apples in here.
31:28A nice crunchy crust.
31:30Highly recommend.
31:31Mmm.
31:33Okay.
31:33Are you grilling him with all the judging questions?
31:35All the questions.
31:36So, this is my version of chocolate chess pie.
31:39Truly, my grandmother did make this for us.
31:41But she made the old-school version.
31:43This is my version.
31:44We have a chocolate sabayon, and we have a chocolate custard.
31:46There's a little bit of pate sucre that I've crumbled up.
31:48And then some candy kumquats.
31:49How would your grandmother feel about kumquats?
31:51She would go crazy.
31:52Thank you, Jonathan.
31:53You're welcome.
31:53Pleasure.
31:54After 20 years of watching this show consistently, to be like,
31:57Okay, I'm in the kitchen now.
31:59And everything just goes, I thought it was gonna help.
32:00Yes.
32:01Hi, Lawrence.
32:02Hi, judges.
32:02Dessert inspo was coconut cake.
32:04My wife loves coconut.
32:05Tres leches was the last meal we had before I came here.
32:09I wanted to make this for her.
32:10The coconut tres leches.
32:11And this little sugar drill.
32:13It's regular sugar, but it's toasted coconut inside.
32:16That's what you see.
32:17Nice.
32:17Thank you so much.
32:19So far, my favorite has to be Lawrence's.
32:22His ability to blend those flavors effortlessly was fantastic.
32:28Okay.
32:28Good start.
32:29Yeah, I think it's a great start.
32:30Melissa, is this living up to all your, like, top chef wishes?
32:34I do keep feeling like I want to look in the camera and be like,
32:37It's really cool to actually taste the food.
32:41So let's start with Anthony, the apple stack cake.
32:44The flavors were actually really nice.
32:45I liked that Anthony's dessert wasn't too sweet.
32:48Yeah.
32:48The apple really came out for me.
32:50Each bite just had a lot of different textures and layers to it.
32:54Did you also make the ice cream from scratch?
32:56Yeah.
32:57Great ice cream.
32:57I feel like it doesn't always turn into ice cream.
32:59There we go.
33:01Jonathan had this great story.
33:02But what he made to me was chocolate pudding with whipped cream.
33:05Right.
33:05I think I was looking forward to having something with more substance.
33:09Yeah.
33:09I did like the kumquat, though.
33:11I love orange and chocolate combination.
33:13Of course, we have more chocolate.
33:15Lawrence with the coconut cake.
33:17He actually made a nice cake.
33:18I want more coconut.
33:19Oh, I get it.
33:20It had that, like, young, sweet coconut flavor.
33:24Yeah.
33:24But I loved the texture.
33:25And it was a nice crumb.
33:26Yeah, nice to make a cake.
33:27It worked.
33:28You got the moisture of the coconut cake.
33:29You really did.
33:29Thank you so much.
33:32The Moravian cake kind of looks sad up there all lonely.
33:34And so I wanted to do, like, that 80s movie where they give someone a remake.
33:37And all of a sudden, they're, like, the talk of the town.
33:39The super fans have a vote.
33:41And I'm a schmoozer.
33:42So, I mean, they're eating it up.
33:44You made a lot, too.
33:45You know, I'm going to take some of this back to the loft later.
33:47And we're going to have a good time.
33:48Hopefully, they fall in love with my spiel.
33:51I hope you all enjoy.
33:54You know, it's where my mind is right now.
33:56I should be on a beach drinking a rum drink, not here.
34:00Working my face off.
34:05Round two?
34:06Onward.
34:07Love the flavors.
34:09Thank you so much.
34:10Hi, Dwayne.
34:10Hello.
34:11Your reference was caramel cake.
34:14Yes.
34:14So, it's rice I cooked with pandan and coconut.
34:18And then we have roasted bananas.
34:20How did we get from caramel cake to pandan rice pudding with roasted bananas?
34:24I knew I wanted to make a salted dulce de leche foam.
34:27And then I went backwards.
34:28I'm like, okay, what goes well with that?
34:32This is so good.
34:33But you can secretly stash our dishes for later.
34:35Hi, Jen.
34:36Hello.
34:37My inspiration was Atlantic Beach pie.
34:40Layers of citrus in there.
34:42So, a Meyer lemon curd and a yuzu jelly.
34:44And then my two crunches were saltines and graham cracker with pretzels.
34:49Citrus-y.
34:50Yeah, yuzu.
34:51Thank you, Jen.
34:51Thank you so much.
34:53Jen's is like a flavor bomb.
34:55This foam, it's delicious.
34:59Hi, Justin.
35:00Hi, guys.
35:01How y'all doing?
35:02I got ambrosia salad.
35:04I have cherry granita at the bottom.
35:06Roasted pineapple.
35:07Brown butter walnuts.
35:09Toasted coconut.
35:10And then a raspberry whipped cream.
35:12Wow.
35:12Brown butter marshmallows as well.
35:14Thanks, y'all.
35:15There's just something missing, bringing it all together.
35:18What do you think of Gwen's dish?
35:19The pandan.
35:20Gotta be honest, I was a little confused.
35:21You're not the only one.
35:23I did not find it visually appealing.
35:26It had no caramel.
35:28It almost felt like Gwen wanted to do the pandan rice pudding, and then she was like, we're
35:32gonna just, like, shoehorn it into this.
35:35We're gonna finish it off with some dolce de leche foam.
35:38So this is where the caramel is coming from.
35:41And then Jen with the Atlantic beach pie.
35:44I loved it.
35:45I liked it, too.
35:45I liked it, too.
35:46The yuzu was a little assertive, but I liked that.
35:49I also really appreciated the yuzu, citrus, how powerful it was.
35:54How much does the anxiety of this affect your ability to focus?
35:57It's insane.
35:58It's been wild.
35:59Well, the ambrosia, the ratios were off.
36:02It wasn't enough cream to all the different things.
36:04That was a hot mess.
36:05Actually, a cold mess.
36:07Texturally, there was really nothing there.
36:09It was all crunch.
36:09Justin put everything in liquid nitrogen, and when you freeze things to that temperature,
36:13you dampen the flavor.
36:15It's too damn cold.
36:17Ooh.
36:19Let's start round three, shall we?
36:21I don't know how I'm gonna vote, though.
36:23I really am.
36:23I know.
36:24I'm waiting for that to happen.
36:25You got three in mind.
36:26You got three in mind.
36:27Hi, Sherry.
36:28Hi.
36:28So my dessert was a stunker, and I decided to make a cherry, blueberry, and strawberry compote
36:36inside the almond pate brisé, and then a passion fruit mousse.
36:39That was my way of making it a little Brazilian, and cotton candy to finish.
36:43I saved the best-looking galettes for the judges, but I did notice the crust was a little bit
36:50thicker than the other ones.
36:52Mmm.
36:52Maybe that wasn't the right move.
36:55Thank you, guys.
36:58The passion fruit on the bottom, that's the best.
37:01Wow.
37:01What'd you make for us?
37:02The Moravian was the inspiration for today.
37:05The one redeeming thing it had was, like, cinnamon and sugar on top.
37:08So right away, I thought about capirotada.
37:10This is a dish from Jalisco, where my parents are from.
37:12So it's kind of like a bread pudding.
37:13It has raisins, a lot of cinnamon.
37:15Thank you, Oscar.
37:16Thank y'all very much.
37:17Enjoy.
37:18It's so good.
37:19I wish we could have seconds.
37:21Do I have deja vu?
37:23My twin brother is over there.
37:24We are going head-to-head today.
37:26Chef, how goes it?
37:27Hello, Brian.
37:28Welcome.
37:29Last but not least.
37:30Here we have banana masseux.
37:32My favorite dessert on the planet is banana pudding.
37:34My second favorite is tiram masseux.
37:35What I wanted to do today was combine them both.
37:37So at the bottom, you'll find roasted banana and fresh banana compote layered with your traditional
37:40sauvignon.
37:41Use vanilla wafers to dip in the espresso syrup.
37:43Touch of whipped cream on top.
37:44Did you try Jonathan's dessert?
37:46No, not yet, but I can't wait.
37:47Okay.
37:47Everybody's been super confused.
37:49Thank you, Brandon.
37:50Wonderful.
37:51I'm a southerner.
37:52Banana pudding is a big thing.
37:54Yeah.
37:54It's really good.
37:56Sherry's galette was undercooked.
37:59That's right.
37:59I think the rest of it actually was quite good.
38:01The thing that I did appreciate about Sherry's dish are the little pops of the passion fruit
38:06and then the curd and the berries.
38:07Everything had a little point of tartness to it.
38:10The dish was flavorful.
38:11I feel like, who doesn't look a cotton candy and doesn't smile?
38:15Moving on to Oscar.
38:16Broken whipped cream.
38:17It was over whipped.
38:18That was the thing that made you mad?
38:20It was over whipped.
38:20Do you see how thick he baked that?
38:22I know.
38:22Yeah.
38:23I think the problem with Oscar is that he needed more custard.
38:25It wasn't pudding-like.
38:25It was bread-like.
38:26Yeah.
38:26And then I put a little rum in the lucha, the leche, because also I want to be like,
38:29we like to party too, you know what I mean?
38:31What about Brandon's?
38:32Brandon's is very good.
38:32There's the right amount of cake to banana to cream.
38:35Even though it was the last, and I don't know if I could have put another bite in my mouth,
38:39I wanted to eat more.
38:40It was really tasty.
38:42This is really good.
38:43I'm so glad you like it.
38:44So if you haven't voted yet, I would highly encourage you to go place your votes,
38:49because we are nearing the end.
38:52We all voted for that.
38:55Did you all discuss?
38:56No.
38:57It just felt like home.
38:58It tasted like home.
39:01How about the coconut?
39:02Awesome.
39:03Loved it.
39:04Loved it.
39:04It's that banana pudding.
39:06Really, really, really good.
39:07Really good.
39:10So what was your least favorite?
39:11The ambrosia salad.
39:13Too much things is going on in that one.
39:14Anybody a fan of the bread pudding?
39:16I like that.
39:17I like that.
39:17Yeah.
39:18Even the broken whipped cream on top.
39:19Yeah.
39:19Yeah.
39:21He's like, that's the wrong answer.
39:23Well thank you for your opinion.
39:27If you all want to move to the side so you have a good view of when we announce our
39:31winner,
39:31that would be fantastic.
39:33All right, chefs, you can come join us in the center, please.
39:35You cut the anticipation with a knife.
39:38So, chefs, the votes are in.
39:44The top three vote getters are...
40:01Lawrence.
40:07Anthony.
40:12And...
40:12Sherry.
40:14Thank you, guys.
40:15I'm so excited.
40:17Thank you, guys.
40:19by one vote.
40:21Wow.
40:22The winner is...
40:25Anthony. Congratulations.
40:30One single vote.
40:31Seriously, thank you.
40:34Congratulations, Anthony.
40:35It's nice to have immunity, but at the end of the day,
40:37I'm just trying to cook good food no matter what.
40:39Everything after that is icing on the cake.
40:41No pun intended.
40:44All right, so we all got to go so we can get set for judges' table.
40:47Thank you for being here.
40:49Thank you, thank you.
41:02You know, great night.
41:04For the most part, the desserts were really good.
41:07As one of the super fans,
41:09it was a treat for me to be here.
41:11You really pulled it out.
41:13Anthony, I will say you were definitely on the top for us, too.
41:15It was beautiful.
41:17As much as you cooked the apples,
41:19it didn't turn into applesauce,
41:20so you could still see the pieces of apple,
41:22and you had the texture in there as well.
41:23If you were craving an apple dessert, you hit the spot.
41:25Mm-hmm.
41:26Thank you very much.
41:28Justin, Oscar, and Dwen, please stay here.
41:30The rest of you can move to the side.
41:34So the three of you had our least favorite desserts of the evening, and one of you will be eliminated.
41:40Were you all happy with what you were putting up?
41:42I mean, there was definitely some decision fatigue.
41:45Sixties just sounded so big.
41:47Before even tasting it, I saw the pockets of unsoaked bread plus undercooked soaked bread.
41:52Had you just made a smaller amount, it would have cooked more consistently.
41:55Absolutely.
41:56My big problem was your whipped cream was broken.
41:58Yeah, so I was trying to, like, make sure that the dessert itself was good.
42:02To you, it was wrong.
42:03Why'd you serve it?
42:04I just saw Sherry's so colorful dish, and I was like, I need to put something on top of it.
42:07Never compare yourself to that.
42:09Why did I get the beef?
42:10Ever.
42:12Okay, Dwen, remind me how you got from caramel cake to your dessert.
42:16I wanted to really kind of focus on the dulce de leche foam.
42:21I wanted a lot of caramel, but without it just being, like, sugar bomb.
42:25I was missing the caramel stickiness and that flavor.
42:28My issue was that the rice pudding had very little flavor.
42:31I struggled to find any reference to caramel cake.
42:35I got pandan, rice, banana.
42:37Texturally, it was kind of soft on soft on soft.
42:39You're right.
42:40I think I probably took my interpretation maybe a little too far.
42:44Justin, you put all the toppings in the bottom, and then you just piped some cream on top.
42:49And so you didn't really have this bowl of fluffy, creamy goodness that is ambrosia salad.
42:54Yeah.
42:55Liquid nitrogen is tricky.
42:56The dessert was so cold, you couldn't taste it.
42:58I had the same issues.
42:59It was just hard to taste.
43:00Yeah, there should have been a gap between plating and serving.
43:06We'll call you back in a bit.
43:07Thank you very much.
43:11I know.
43:12I don't like this.
43:14I think all three chefs had technical and conceptual issues here, and some of them a little bit of both.
43:20When you're in the bottom, you're kind of aware of why, and there's no hiding behind any of it.
43:24Nope.
43:24Serving broken whipped cream, it's just like, I don't get that.
43:27It's such a major fail.
43:28If I had to choose a dish that I would eat again, it would actually be Oscars.
43:33Okay.
43:33I don't have the eye to look for broken whipped cream.
43:36I really liked the flavors.
43:37For all the dishes I've done before, like, whatever the challenge is, I've layered that in so many different components
43:43of my dish, and I just didn't do that this time.
43:46Part of me just doesn't believe that Wentz was the dessert inspired by the caramel cake.
43:49The dish was so poorly executed.
43:51The banana was just, like, gray and completely soft.
43:55And then the pandan had no flavor.
43:58I've made myself home at the bottom.
44:01I got a pull-out couch, getting a cable next week.
44:05The flavor wasn't there for me in justice.
44:08All the components just were completely separate and also tamped down by the temperature.
44:13He was doing an interpretation that wasn't good.
44:15Right.
44:16For that reason, it didn't even give me ambrosia.
44:18The dish that you gave me at the very end was so good.
44:20What do you do with this Gary Busey thing over here?
44:22My jaw's doing something weird.
44:24I don't know.
44:25Don't bring attention to it, okay?
44:26I have this whole face thing going on that I'm not sure what's happening.
44:31I can feel, like, my left side pulling in a way that is super uncomfortable.
44:44Pastry is the Achilles heel of so many savory chefs.
44:47It kind of hurts when you've got to go home for doing something that you really don't do day to
44:50day,
44:50but that's how it is here in Top Chef's Kitchen.
45:00Justin, please pack your knives and go.
45:04Justin, overall, just way too cold, couldn't taste the dish,
45:07but we'll see you in Last Chance Kitchen.
45:09You got a shot of getting back in.
45:10Thanks, guys.
45:10It's been a pleasure.
45:11Thanks.
45:11Appreciate it.
45:13It's not the best feeling in the world.
45:14You're kind of numb for a second.
45:16Damn, bro.
45:17That does not feel good.
45:19No.
45:19Oh, my gosh.
45:20That was awful.
45:23No.
45:23No way.
45:24Man.
45:25It sucks leaving Jen, but she's been killing it.
45:28Hopefully, this will be a little bit extra motivation to keep cooking strong.
45:33Not that she needs it, but watch out for her.
45:35Oh.
45:35All right, guys.
45:36Bye.
45:37Take care, Jen.
45:38Take care.
45:38See y'all.
45:40There's Last Chance Kitchen, and there's a path to work my way back up in the competition,
45:44and I'm going to do just that.
45:46Should we wrap this up, guys?
45:47Let's wrap it up.
45:48Hello.
45:49Hello.
45:50How's it going?
45:51Hello.
45:51Good.
45:53Can you all come back to Judge's table for me, please?
45:56Yeah.
45:57Yeah, sure.
45:59Oh.
46:01Oh.
46:08Before you leave for tonight, we would all like to congratulate you for making it halfway
46:12through this competition.
46:13That is no easy feat.
46:15Jen, how are you feeling?
46:16Too many emotions going.
46:18You okay?
46:19Physically?
46:19I don't even know.
46:21Okay.
46:22I'm like, something's going on with my face.
46:25Yeah.
46:26It has been a tough few days, but it's only to get more challenging from here.
46:31This is right about the time everybody starts talking about, this is the hardest thing I've
46:35ever done.
46:35There are only eight of you left, which really could only mean one thing.
46:40It's time for Restaurant Wars.
46:45This time around, we decided to get straight down to business.
46:48I am so ready for Restaurant Wars.
46:52And now for the nitty gritty.
46:55In two teams of four, you will be responsible for creating your own restaurant concept in
47:00just over 36 hours.
47:02That's like trying to build a house in 36 hours.
47:04You just don't do things that way.
47:05You'll need to assign an executive chef, a floor manager, and two line cooks.
47:10And then together, you're going to have to come up with a three-course menu featuring at
47:14least two options for each course.
47:16We're going to allow you all to decide how you want to divvy up into your two teams.
47:19So, go ahead.
47:21You can get into two teams.
47:22Oh, man.
47:23Oh, look at that.
47:25You guys want to be on the same team.
47:26Oh, wow.
47:28Lawrence has been winning.
47:29Anthony has been winning.
47:30Sherry hasn't won yet, but everyone's scared of Sherry.
47:32She is such a beast in the kitchen.
47:34And so, I know I'm just in a team with winners.
47:36Who's coming to this side?
47:37We are.
47:38Who's coming to the dark side?
47:39Interesting.
47:40That was easy.
47:41We kind of just split the line right in half.
47:43We did a lot of nothing there.
47:45Yeah.
47:48Tonight, you're going to have an hour to create your concept and plan your menus.
47:51That's not all.
47:53Of course.
47:55We're going to add one more element this year.
47:59You're also going to be fielding takeout orders.
48:03We all know.
48:04We've all done it.
48:04We all do it, right?
48:05In the real world, I wouldn't do takeout orders on week one, let alone day one.
48:10How do you all feel about being on a team with one person that has immunity?
48:14Math-wise?
48:15Math-wise, it doesn't work.
48:17Yeah.
48:17Focus on winning.
48:18And the prize for the winning team this year will be Epic.
48:22Ooh.
48:22Ooh.
48:23Do tell.
48:24You know I can't tell you yes.
48:25Epic.
48:25Yeah.
48:26Okay, chefs.
48:26Time to start planning.
48:27See ya.
48:28Can't wait to see what you need.
48:29Get out of here.
48:30Good luck.
48:34Guys, I don't know what's going on with my face, so the medic is going to take me to
48:39the ER to get it checked out and just make sure nothing crazy is happening.
48:43Sorry, guys.
48:44Yeah, I'll see you in a bit.
48:45See you in a bit.
48:46Take care.
48:46All right.
48:46Good luck.
48:47Love y'all.
48:48Yeah, it's a good luck.
48:48See you later, then.
48:49Yeah, we'll see you.
48:50Yeah, we got you.
48:50Yeah, don't worry.
48:51We got you, Jen.
48:51Maybe you're playing the hell out of it.
48:52Oh, yeah.
48:54I got an idea already, so.
48:55Cool.
48:56Great.
49:00I think you should be the GM.
49:02I was thinking she's the exec chef that expedites, and me and Jonathan are cooks, because I don't
49:05foresee Jen line cooking.
49:07Let's just hope that she's okay.
49:13Hey, Justin, we just want to give you an update on Jen.
49:17Oh, goddammit.
49:18I think because of everything that's been going on, we have to ask her to leave the competition.
49:22Like, it's just for her own well-being.
49:25She is 100% invited back on another season, but for right now, I don't think it's the best
49:31thing for her.
49:36She just, she deserves to be here, and she's doing so well.
49:40Yeah.
49:41Oh, god, if you cry, I'm crying.
49:45It's pretty shocking.
49:50Because you are the last person that was eliminated, we're offering you that spot back.
49:57Completely up to you.
49:59Yeah, I'd like to talk to her.
50:00Of course.
50:01For sure.
50:01Okay.
50:02This is a super big decision, and I just really need to touch base with Jen.
50:06Hey.
50:07Well, I'm not having a stroke.
50:10Got all kinds of things attached to my fingers and my chest.
50:14I don't know what's wrong when they end up to have an MRI.
50:16So, we should just go home and get you better.
50:20I mean, you do whatever you think is best for you.
50:26I just, my cards were on you, and now, you know.
50:30Jen's health comes first.
50:32You know, she's the most important person in my life.
50:34There's no way I'm staying in the competition with Jen in a hospital room.
50:39You know, we'll just figure things out together.
50:41Okay.
50:47Tonight, another shocking twist rocks Last Chance Kitchen.
50:50It's a surprise return as two chefs clash for a comeback, and things get weird.
50:54I'm glad I'm not cooking.
50:55Watch now on Peacock or BravoTV.com.
51:00Next time on Top Chef.
51:02Hey, chef.
51:02It smells like restaurant wars in here.
51:04Before you made all these, did you test one?
51:06Shut up, Tom.
51:07Let me do my thing.
51:09Hey, Brandon, I just need your help with a little bit of knife work, please.
51:11I'm blown away.
51:12We're about to start service.
51:13Stop talking and start working, bro.
51:14I'm working, dude.
51:15This is my worst nightmare.
51:16Oh, my God.
51:20We have a reservation for five?
51:21It's been 40 minutes since we sat down.
51:23This is ridiculous.
51:24Yeah.
51:25It's a very fine line between the winner and the loser.
51:28It could go any which way.
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