- 16 hours ago
Flavortown Food Fight Season 1 Episode 14
Category
🎥
Short filmTranscript
00:00Chefs participating in today's food fight,
00:02and here they come right on time.
00:04Chef Dimitrio Zavala.
00:05All right.
00:06Hey, how you doing, guys?
00:07Happy to be here.
00:08I'm a very driven chef.
00:09I used to think I was invincible,
00:11working seven days a week for 20 years.
00:13And then I had this burning sensation.
00:16It felt like something just cut me with a sword.
00:18And then I woke up in the hospital.
00:20Basically, my intestine broke.
00:22They're telling me they saved my life.
00:23I do feel like I got a second chance at everything.
00:26So whatever they throw at me, I'm already ready.
00:28And Chef Leo DiBia.
00:30Wow.
00:32This is real.
00:33My cooking isn't traditional.
00:34I'm San Antonio, born and raised.
00:36Grew up half Chinese, half Mexican.
00:38Never been Chinese enough, never been Mexican enough.
00:40But I've been San Antonio and I've been Texas enough.
00:43All together, those flavor profiles
00:45will bring something that's unique.
00:47Chefs, great to have you.
00:48Great to be here.
00:49Chef, I know of you and your famous taco.
00:52This past January, semifinalists for James Beard,
00:55we hold the number one Texas monthly taco in San Antonio.
00:58Your taco with red soda in the masa.
01:00Little crazy.
01:01Little crazy?
01:02You have to be a lot crazy to be here in Flavortown to compete.
01:05To win today's food fight, you have to outcook a chef
01:08who's already proven that they can win.
01:10Get ready for Chef Quentin Garcia.
01:13Get out of my office.
01:14What's up, Flavortown?
01:16It's good to be back.
01:17I have an insatiable desire to be the best.
01:21I've worked in kitchens all over the world.
01:23I'm versed in almost everything.
01:25These chefs, they're not ready for what I'm gonna do.
01:29Chef, congratulations on your big win.
01:31How much money?
01:32$15,000.
01:33And you professed it when you won,
01:36that you're gonna take that winning money
01:37and buy 28 of your chefs' new chef knives.
01:41That's correct, yes.
01:43Huh?
01:43That's a man of the people.
01:44Absolutely, absolutely.
01:45This is a two-round food fight.
01:47The last chef standing will earn a paycheck up to $20,000
01:50and return to Flavortown as the title holder
01:54and to defend their title and a chance at winning even more money.
01:58Now, every day in Flavortown,
01:59we have a new special day that we celebrate.
02:02And luckily for you and not for me,
02:05it's gonna be all about eggs.
02:08Now, you must showcase eggs in every single dish.
02:13Are you an egg fan?
02:13Yes.
02:14I eat about 12 eggs a day.
02:16No, you don't.
02:17I eat the egg white.
02:18For breakfast, I have eight eggs every day.
02:20Luckily, we have some egg-cellent venues.
02:24We have our burger carts.
02:27We have our Asian noodle joint.
02:29The funky noodle.
02:31Then we have the flavor de España.
02:33And finally, the bounty of the county,
02:36our fine dining farm-to-table restaurant.
02:38I've done mostly fine dining in my career,
02:41so if I get in the fine dining kitchen, it's over.
02:43I'll just shut them both down.
02:45Question is, who gets to choose the first restaurant?
02:48And if you'd like to step over to my picnic bench office,
02:51we'll get after things.
02:55When I say go, you are gonna separate six eggs
02:59into whites and yolks.
03:00Then I want you to whip those egg whites into stiff peaks
03:05that hold their shape so well that you can turn it upside down
03:08and the egg whites don't fall out.
03:10So the first chef to complete this will earn the right to pick
03:13the first restaurant that all chefs are gonna cook in.
03:16And go.
03:17Good luck.
03:19The key here is to not get the yolk in the whites.
03:23Makes it a lot harder to get your peaks.
03:26I want the advantage of being able to pick out the restaurant.
03:29I can make sure that I can set the comfort level of the chefs.
03:34The champ right now is in the lead.
03:36And here he goes.
03:39I think I can win this one.
03:41It's definitely my bruteness.
03:43I should be able to get this, no problem.
03:44The power forearm over here, Dimitri, going up against the champ.
03:50My wheelhouse is gonna be the noodle shop.
03:52But it's a race.
03:54They're over here whisking at 100 miles an hour.
03:56I feel like I'm in a school zone right now going 20.
04:00Get everything out of that bowl.
04:04Okay.
04:05Stop.
04:07Chef Dimitri, you were first.
04:09Hold that upside down.
04:11Nothing falls out.
04:16Champ, you have a shot.
04:21We're done.
04:22Woo!
04:23Congratulations.
04:25Champ retakes control of Flavortown in the first round.
04:28Quinton, congratulations.
04:29Well done.
04:30Chef, where would you have wanted to go?
04:31Right off the bat, I would do fine dining.
04:33What are you thinking?
04:34What I learned last week was to pick the restaurant where they're gonna mess up.
04:38They're not in their comfort level.
04:40I'm gonna go burgers this time.
04:42Going to the food carts.
04:43Going to the food carts.
04:44Have you ever worked in a food cart before?
04:46No.
04:47Hold on.
04:48You either?
04:49I've developed a burger concept, but I've never worked it.
04:52I'm feeling confident it's the right decision.
04:54To keep those chefs away from those other kitchens.
04:57I wouldn't say that I feel nervous going into a food cart.
05:00It's just burgers.
05:01It can't be that bad.
05:02Hopefully you won't end up with egg on your face, my friend.
05:07Now our normal food cart manager is off doing some community service.
05:11Don't ask why.
05:12But the new food cart manager is my lovely wife, Lori Fieri.
05:15Welcome chefs.
05:17Hello.
05:17How are you?
05:18Good.
05:21Welcome to our burger cart.
05:22Today, your special menu item is a stacked burger.
05:26I like the way you're thinking.
05:28And your featured ingredient you must use is canned black beans.
05:33What'd you come up with?
05:34Canned black beans.
05:35I love their flavors.
05:37But I'm obviously not just going to slap a little bowl of beans on my burger.
05:40Your dishes will receive a ranking.
05:43Five stars is the best dish, which is $5,000.
05:46And you'll get to pick the next restaurant that we'll be cooking at in the second round.
05:49Four star dish, $4,000.
05:51But you only receive your paycheck when you win the competition.
05:55The three star dish, your shift will be over permanently.
05:5930 minutes to make your stacked burger.
06:01And again, it's egg day in Flavortown.
06:03Let's go.
06:0430 minutes.
06:05Good luck.
06:08I'm looking around and I'm like, I'm just so out of place.
06:11Just like a little trailer with a little kitchen in it.
06:14It's definitely not fine dining.
06:15I like to be extremely organized, so I know what I'm doing.
06:18Right now, I'm just searching, searching for everything.
06:20We have to use black beans and we have to use an egg.
06:24I'm thinking, you know what?
06:26I'm going to do something Mexican.
06:27I'm going to do a Chili Kili smash burger.
06:30Chili Kili's is a basic crispy tortilla dish that normally comes with a fried egg on top.
06:35And it's stacked.
06:37But is it going to be too messy or too big?
06:40That's my only concern right now.
06:42Gloves.
06:43It's a really cramped up space.
06:45So while this is a challenge for me, I think it's actually equally as much of a challenge for the
06:49rest of the chefs.
06:50You don't want to overcomplicate a burger, but you also don't want to go too simple.
06:54It's a little bison.
06:55It's something I always want when I go into a burger shop.
06:58This one's a little tricky for me, considering I've never really been in a food cart.
07:03However, it doesn't mean I don't know how to make a good burger.
07:07Canned black beans.
07:08Growing up, we would kind of have beans at everything.
07:10My mom would always just throw like a thin layer of beans on it just to kind of bulk it
07:14up.
07:14But to know that me and the chefs are going to get the same ingredients, I knew I had to
07:18use an egg.
07:19I just need to make sure that mine is unique.
07:21So I'm going to go super South Texas on this.
07:24The Flavortown bus has dropped off Chef Nancy Silverton and the one and only Jonathan Sawyer.
07:29Hey.
07:29Chefs, welcome.
07:30Hey.
07:30What do you think of Flavortown?
07:32Any vacancies?
07:32Yeah, it's quite the place.
07:35I am excited.
07:36It is egg day in Flavortown, much to my dismay.
07:40But tonight's menu is they've got to make something stacked.
07:44They've got to incorporate the use of black beans.
07:47And of course, they've got to incorporate eggs.
07:49Should be egg-ceptional today.
07:5226 minutes to go.
07:54Chef, talk to me.
07:56Champ, you picked burgers, dude.
07:58Sure did.
07:59But what I do want to make sure of is that they don't get the advantage of being comfortable in
08:04one of those restaurants, which are way harder.
08:06So if I end up taking this round, which I plan to, and they're in that for the first time,
08:11I think they're going to struggle a little bit.
08:13All right, tell me what's on the menu.
08:14What's on the menu is a beautiful little bison burger.
08:16Ground bison, beefier flavor.
08:18I'm thinking I'm going to make a sort of black bean aioli.
08:22And of course, I want that egg when they bite into it, I want it running down.
08:25I want them to feel like they're having a real indulgent experience.
08:28Like a six napkin kind of burger.
08:30Oh, yeah.
08:31Okay.
08:32Keep it up, buddy.
08:32Bison cooks real fast.
08:34So first, I want to make my favorite part of any burger, which is always the sauce.
08:40I'm going to make an aioli out of these beautiful egg yolks.
08:42I think an egg aioli is a layup to get a secondary use of that egg.
08:47We're going to use a little bit of black bean.
08:50Some chili juice.
08:51Oh, yeah, this is going to be real dirty.
08:52You know that feeling when you're eating something and you say, oh, my God.
08:56And the juices are sort of like on your beard, on your mouth, on your hands.
09:00Like, that's, that's, ugh, that's dirty.
09:03There's a lot at stake here.
09:04And even though I won last time, I'm super hungry for more.
09:10Oh, yeah, that is good for me.
09:12Talk to me, buddy.
09:13How are things looking?
09:14I'm going to make a Mexican burger with a salsa verde mayo, sunny egg.
09:18Kind of play on like a black bean chila-kili burger.
09:21I'm a chila-kili fan.
09:22I mean, I love it.
09:23And I'm going to put black beans into the beef.
09:25Into the meat.
09:26Into the meat.
09:28Well done.
09:28Thank you, chef.
09:29I'm going to use a fatty burger so that the black beans don't dry out first.
09:32I need to get the liquid off.
09:35I'm adding my black beans because I want to crisp up the black beans in the pan.
09:39So it'll give that extra crunch inside when you're eating the burger.
09:41A little bit of a dried Mexican oregano.
09:44A little bit of cayenne.
09:45Everything that you would get with chila-kili's.
09:46My wife, she loves chila-kili's.
09:49This first thing came to my mind because whenever I'm doing things, she's always on my mind.
09:54My wife's changed me in a lot of different facets.
09:57Before my health issue, I was not the best at, like, prioritizing my personal life.
10:02But she's helped me out with that a lot.
10:05So I love her for that.
10:06So this burger's a love letter to my wife.
10:11I just need to make sure the black beans that I'm putting in the burger are not going to add
10:15additional liquid,
10:16so then it's going to be too wet and all the meat's going to separate.
10:19It's so hot, it's sticking discombobulated right now.
10:22You know, I'm not organized.
10:23Now, I do think he was cooking his burger early, though.
10:25Yeah.
10:26A little bit early.
10:26You're also walking into a kitchen you've never been in before.
10:30Right.
10:30You don't know the pantry.
10:31You don't know the equipment.
10:32So time management is really your worst enemy inside of here.
10:36You've got to be able to adapt to it.
10:37If you can't adapt to it, you're not going to make it.
10:4020 minutes left.
10:4418 minutes to cook.
10:45All right, so today is egg day.
10:47And we're working on a stacked black bean burger.
10:50Yeah, I mean, it seems like a simple challenge.
10:52A burger, right?
10:53But some of the simplest are really the hardest.
10:57Chef Leo, talk to me, buddy.
10:58What's going to be on this menu?
10:59You know, one of the San Antonio staples is a black bean burger.
11:02This is a play on like a bean cheese and bacon burger.
11:05What's going on with our eggs?
11:06I'm just going to finish it with a beautiful cooked egg.
11:08A black bean puree.
11:10Good luck.
11:11For me, every burger needs bacon.
11:14That's actually going to get chopped down.
11:16We're going to mix that with our patties.
11:18Let me use the 80-20 ground beef.
11:20You get that nice little pop of bacon as you're eating the burger.
11:23Cracked an egg, used it as some of my binders.
11:25Funny about this is actually when I was in culinary school, right when I started,
11:29we found a Guy Fieri recipe where he puts chorizo in the burger.
11:32So it's kind of like a play on that.
11:34Guy Fieri was like a huge inspiration growing up.
11:37My mom bought me his cookbook.
11:39Watching Guy Fieri's growth has always just been inspiring and part of the path I want to be on.
11:43This past January, semi-finalists for James Beard was pretty amazing.
11:47You don't work for the awards, but it's always nice when other people who love and appreciate food just as
11:52much as you recognize your hard work.
11:55Throwing a little sweetness in there as well from these pickles.
11:58All of the components of what make a burger that you would traditionally see for the most part are on
12:03it.
12:03I just decided to do something a little different and throw it into the meat mixture to see how they
12:07cook out.
12:08Fingers crossed.
12:11You can smell it all throughout Flavortown right now.
12:14Happy Egg Day, Chef, and returning champion.
12:17Nancy Silverton is nothing short of an icon in our industry.
12:22Knowing she's going to eat my food and judge it is slightly terrifying.
12:26How you feeling?
12:27You know, I've never worked in a burger spot, but these chefs got a little bit nervous when I wanted
12:31to put them in a burger shack.
12:32They wanted to go find dining.
12:33I'm not going to let them do that.
12:36Wow, so you picked the burger cart having never worked in a burger cart before.
12:40Correct.
12:41Okay.
12:42What are you working on?
12:43I'm choosing a bison burger.
12:45How's that egg coming into play?
12:47I'm going to do a little bit of a fried egg on here.
12:50I have egg on a couple components.
12:52Going the route of a fried green tomato.
12:54Love.
12:55Using some very well-seasoned egg yolks and I'm dredging these.
13:00There's so many applications that you can do with eggs.
13:03Get that fry on them.
13:05Snapped is part of the challenge.
13:06It's going to be real nasty, real dirty.
13:08Yeah, we have a lady here, so we're going to refrain from the nasty and the dirty.
13:12Yes, Chef.
13:14I'm sorry, Chef.
13:15My apologies.
13:16My apologies.
13:17Please forgive me.
13:18You do only have 15 minutes left.
13:20You're aware of the time.
13:21I'm aware of the time.
13:21I feel good.
13:22All right, it sounds ambitious, Chef.
13:23We'll leave you to it.
13:25Bye-bye.
13:26Bison goes good with some warm spices.
13:28Do a little bit of turmeric, some paprika.
13:30I love a good smash burger.
13:31The last thing I want to do is make it very apparent that there is definitely egg in this burger.
13:42Oh, my gosh.
13:43I was looking at my bison burger.
13:46I couldn't fully get it to the smash that I wanted.
13:49I was trying to get so much caramelization on it.
13:51I'm a little worried that it might have been overcooked.
13:56Right now, I need to take a breath, calm down.
13:58I've won this before.
13:59I don't plan on going home.
14:02Chef Demetrio, how we doing?
14:04I'm seeing a smash burger happening.
14:06I see it.
14:07And so where are the beans, did you say?
14:09The beans are in the burger?
14:09Right now.
14:10Yeah.
14:10Okay.
14:11Wait, one last question.
14:12Pepper Jack.
14:13Pepper Jack.
14:13Yes, ma'am.
14:14I love Pepper Jack.
14:16I do, too.
14:16I really do.
14:17Underrated American cheese.
14:18I was just gonna say.
14:19I'm really hoping that this burger's gonna be a winning dish because before my sickness, I never took vacation.
14:26Never.
14:27And with this money that I could win, I could take my wife on a trip.
14:30So I'm really hoping that I could win this first round.
14:33Right now, I'm gonna make salsa, verdict, mayo.
14:35With a little cilantro, jalapeno, lime juice.
14:38The acidity's there.
14:39The spice is there.
14:40The richness is there.
14:41With a lot of sharpness that should cut through the fat in the burger meat.
14:44And then I'm also gonna do Pepper Jack cheese.
14:46It was a little bit messy, but that's the way it's designed to have a smash burger is to be
14:50messy.
14:51Next.
14:51I'm gonna top my burger with a sunny-side-up egg.
14:53I want the yolk to be runny so that when you eat it, it's like, it's a hot mess.
14:58You can't just come in here and think, oh, it's easy. It's not easy.
15:01But you know, at the end of the day, if you really wanna do it, you can do it.
15:04You just gotta push yourself.
15:05Hello.
15:06Hello, Chef Leo.
15:07How we doing?
15:08Good, good. How are y'all?
15:09Oh, we're great.
15:10We're working on a stacked black bean situation.
15:14Yeah, so you know, we're gonna have like a bacon, bean, cheese, egg burger.
15:18My mom used to just love bean burgers growing up.
15:20I think that was like an easy way to get us protein.
15:23So I'm gonna do my play on like a black bean puree.
15:26All right, Chef Leo. We'll see you in a little bit.
15:29All right. Sounds good, guys.
15:30A little banana pepper.
15:32Growing up in that Asian and Mexican background,
15:34having people tell me that my food didn't make sense,
15:38I was always trying to find like what defined me.
15:40Was it like an enchilada? Was it a taco? Was it a stir fry?
15:43Was it a steamed rice or fried rice?
15:45But not knowing who I was actually has helped me shape who I am as a chef.
15:48I feel like it needs a little bit of funkiness in it right now.
15:51Just a touch of kimchi right in here.
15:53So I just want to be able to put my spin on that.
15:55Let's hope that decision pays off.
15:56I grabbed the cheddar cheese.
15:58Last thing you want to do is serve somebody some rubber cheese.
16:01You know, there's a lot of the line.
16:02My mom, my grandma had been some of my biggest supporters.
16:04So winning this competition, I want to take my family on this vacation
16:08and show that all those days, nights of frustration
16:12or not wondering what I was gonna do or how I was gonna make it.
16:14It all pays out and it's worth it in the end.
16:19Go to flip the buns.
16:20Hey, chef, I'm gonna tell you a little burn marks on those buns.
16:24Watch it. Judges are gonna be aggressive.
16:26They're both competitors. They've both judged a lot.
16:28Heard, heard. The induction burners, they're a little tricky.
16:31Everything got hot really fast.
16:33Five minutes, chefs.
16:35Time is not on my side to get these eggs going.
16:37There's a lot on the line. There's a lot of pressure.
16:39101 things are racing through your mind.
16:41He seems like he's having a little time issue.
16:43When it comes to burger, it's the sum of all the small things.
16:52I got the eggs going.
16:53I'm gonna do a fried egg.
16:55I know the egg that I wanted to cook
16:57was gonna come out in four minutes.
16:59Chef Leo burned his first batch of buns,
17:02and he's on to the second batch, which is smart.
17:04If you have enough time and the bun is burnt
17:06or over-toasted or not toasted enough, go back and redo it.
17:09Three minutes, guys.
17:11It goes quickly.
17:12I'm thinking stack to me is gonna be layered,
17:14so I'm gonna do the smash burger one.
17:17It's two, usually traditionally two patties.
17:18My double patty with black beans looks amazing.
17:21I take the top on it, put it on my salsa verde aioli.
17:25It looks great.
17:26Since it's an egg challenge, I'm gonna definitely make sure
17:28that I make sure when they bite into my burger
17:30that they taste egg and they feel egg,
17:33which came out really great.
17:34And then I top the bun and I use a pick to hold it.
17:37You good, Bubba?
17:38I'm doing great.
17:39I feel like I'm about to be up.
17:40How are you?
17:41I'm done.
17:42You're done.
17:43You're done?
17:45Chefs, two minutes, two to go.
17:47Chef Quentin is over there finalizing his burgers.
17:50He's got a...
17:51Looks like a sunny side egg on his.
17:53You've got a great set of eyes on you.
17:56Oh, I got LASIK, yeah.
17:58I take my toasted bun at the very bottom.
18:00I put the black bean aioli on both sides.
18:02I'm happy with sauce.
18:03Make it real nasty.
18:05Put two patties of the bison burger down
18:06with a little bit of the cheese melted on top.
18:08I'm just hoping that it's not overcooked.
18:10Top of the patty, I put the fried heirloom tomato.
18:14Oh, yeah.
18:15The tomato has a beautiful crispy crust on it.
18:18Next, a beautiful fried egg on top.
18:20We want recognizable layers on the stacked burger.
18:23This black bean sauce with the egg,
18:25the flavor is actually really delicious.
18:27For me, I like to bite into a burger
18:30and then I like to look down and be angry
18:32that the juices are all over the front of my clothes.
18:35Right?
18:38One minute.
18:39Leo, how you looking, brother?
18:40You good?
18:41Coming together.
18:42I get the bun down on the bottom,
18:44start throwing the black bean puree right on top.
18:46It's my knee right there.
18:47Burgers are looking great.
18:49The patties are looking amazing.
18:50We don't have very melted cheese
18:51on Leo's burger right now.
18:53If I could get another 30 seconds,
18:55it would be perfect, but I don't have 30 seconds.
18:57So I'm just going to leave it where it's at.
18:59Pray for the best.
19:00Next, just throw a little bit of that aioli right on top.
19:03Time is running down.
19:04Go to flip the egg.
19:05The eggs stick together.
19:06Rookie mistake.
19:07Didn't section them out in the pan.
19:08Flip them.
19:09They come together.
19:13Five, four, three, two, one.
19:18You're done.
19:20Ooh, that was quick.
19:21Good job, Chef.
19:23Wow.
19:25Whoo.
19:26Smells great in Flavortown.
19:30Chef D, you're up first.
19:32Thank you, sir.
19:32Yes, sir.
19:35Here, Nancy.
19:36You're very welcome.
19:37Oh, here you go, brother.
19:38Thank you, Chef.
19:39Yes, sir.
19:40So I did a play on Chili Killis.
19:42The cilantro, the lime, the seasoning is all in the mayo.
19:45And I did the smash burger with pepper jack cheese
19:47and the black beans are actually in the burger.
19:49And a sunny egg right on top.
19:52Yeah.
19:52Oh, my gosh.
19:55Yeah, serving Nancy Silverton a burger in a park in Flavortown.
19:59That's a first.
20:00Oh, pardon me, Chef Dimitri.
20:01I'm just cleaning some delicious egg yolk and cheese
20:04out of my beard.
20:06All the components are seasoned great.
20:08I think, overall, I really get the concept of this burger.
20:11Cumin came out and the black bean really came out.
20:14The aioli's great.
20:15There is a nice texture of the black bean in there.
20:18You're tasting the bean in there.
20:20Yeah.
20:20But this is like a pound and a half burger.
20:23And I think how big those patties are,
20:25it's really making the entire burger construction suffer.
20:29Not the easiest one to eat, right?
20:31No.
20:32The idea of an egg is great.
20:33And we all like sunny side up eggs.
20:35But then when you think about how you eat it in a burger,
20:37I think this is what happens,
20:39which is not necessarily what you want.
20:42But it's a delicious bite.
20:43I think it was a good bite, too.
20:44Yeah.
20:45Okay.
20:45Thank you so much, Chefs.
20:46Thank you, Chefs.
20:46Maybe the egg being too runny and too messy,
20:48I could agree with that.
20:50I could be going home after this.
20:51Chef Quentin, you're up, buddy.
20:54Hello, Chefs.
20:55Oh.
20:56Hello, Chefs.
20:57Oh, we got a toasted bun.
20:59So we have a bison burger with some pepper jack cheese,
21:02fresh aioli with black beans, fried heirloom tomato,
21:05and topped it off with a beautiful fried egg.
21:10Well, thank you for the clearly stacked burger.
21:13Check.
21:14Yeah, check that.
21:15I love the idea of that fried green tomato in there.
21:18The texture of the tomato being crispy on the outside still
21:22and moist on the inside is a very difficult thing to pull off.
21:25The care you put into making the black bean aioli,
21:28which that and the tomato were the two superstars of the dish.
21:31Yeah, the sunny side up egg was clear
21:33and bison was cooked appropriately in all of its egg-cellents.
21:37But in terms of the bison choice,
21:40I found it to be a little hard cooked and dry
21:43as opposed to crispy and sort of delicious all the way through
21:48or the opposite, like a medium rare where you get
21:50the beautiful flavor of the bison.
21:51Thank you, Chef.
21:53I think it was the genius use of egg, right?
21:56Okay.
21:57Chef Leo, go get it, bud.
22:00Chef, how are y'all today?
22:01Hello.
22:01Chef Leo, how are you?
22:02Good, good.
22:03Wow.
22:03So this is like a little tribute.
22:05My mom would do kind of this play on this burger
22:07where she always added beans.
22:08So I put a little pickles in there, put that bacon
22:10to reinforce the fat.
22:11Yeah.
22:11So it has a black bean and banana pepper puree
22:14on the bottom of it.
22:15I threw some kimchi in there to kind of reinforce it
22:17with a nice cheddar cheese right on top.
22:19And for egg, you did a fried egg.
22:20Yeah, we did a fried egg.
22:21Okay, good.
22:26The bacon in there is the star of it.
22:28Yeah.
22:29I think the cook on this burger itself is really good.
22:32I think the fried egg was cooked perfectly.
22:35It wasn't so runny that it spilled all over the plate
22:37but it was runny enough that you really tasted it.
22:40The kimchi, it really helps to season that patty throughout.
22:45But I think the quantity of cheese took away from all
22:48of the other handmade things you put inside of here.
22:51But the meat is the best done, seasoned,
22:54and the most interesting of the three to me.
22:56Thank you, Chef.
22:57Yeah, for sure.
23:02Did everybody get stacked?
23:04Yeah, I think everybody got stacked.
23:05Did everybody get black beans?
23:06Yep.
23:07And everybody had egg?
23:08All of them did, but Chef Quentin most certainly
23:10triple touched the eggs.
23:12Okay, but how about the burger in general?
23:13Leo's burger patties were the best.
23:16They were.
23:17Yeah.
23:17This is tough, you guys.
23:18Yes, it is tough.
23:19This is really difficult.
23:25Chefs, you did a lot of things really right,
23:28and a couple of you did a few things
23:30that needed an adjustment.
23:32Five-star dish gets $5,000 going towards their paycheck
23:35and gets to pick the next location.
23:37Five-star dish goes to...
23:41Congratulations.
23:43Chef Leo.
23:46Now I can breathe.
23:48Now, you two.
23:50Unfortunately, one of you will receive the three-star
23:53and your shift will be over.
23:54You're standing up there waiting for them to give them your faith,
23:57like gut-wrenching, because you're pulling for yourself.
23:59I'm realizing I could go home in a burger challenge.
24:03It's not like I don't know how to make a good burger.
24:06And as the champ, that makes your heart stop.
24:08The chef whose shift is over is...
24:14Chef Demetrio.
24:15Did a lot of things great.
24:17Had a few missteps.
24:18The eggs, a little too runny, and the volume of the meat took you out.
24:22But, Chef, awesome to have you.
24:23You have been through it all.
24:24Thank you, fellas.
24:25Nice.
24:25Good, good.
24:26Wow.
24:27My burger didn't really do so good.
24:29I held my head high and owned what I did, and that was it.
24:32So I'm disappointed, but you win some, you lose some.
24:36So, Chef Quentin, that gives you the four-star.
24:39$4,000 going towards your paycheck.
24:40Chef Leo, $5,000 going towards your paycheck,
24:44but you only receive your paycheck when you win the competition.
24:47Now, Chef Leo, what's it going to be?
24:50Flavor de España?
24:51The Funky Noodle?
24:52Or Bounty of the County?
24:54You know what it's like to win here.
24:55Where would you want to go?
24:56A little bit of fine dining.
24:58Chef Leo, what are you thinking about?
25:00Chef Quentin, he's for real.
25:02And I'm hoping to put him at a little bit of a disadvantage.
25:04To be the champ, you got to beat the champ.
25:07Um...
25:11Chef Leo, what are you thinking about?
25:15Let's do some Funky Noodles.
25:17Funky Noodles.
25:18You know, who doesn't love a good noodle?
25:20Okay.
25:21I'm a little bit nervous because being in, like, an Asian spot,
25:25I might not be able to do these authentic dishes
25:28to their true authentic nature.
25:30Chefs, Funky Noodle.
25:33And here's the Noodle Night Manager,
25:36my beautiful wife, Lori Fieri.
25:37Welcome back, Chefs.
25:38Hello.
25:39In honor of Egg Day,
25:41the special on today's menu is a bountiful noodle bowl,
25:44which should include egg.
25:46Typically, we give, what, 30 minutes?
25:4830 minutes.
25:48I think we give them a little more today.
25:50A little.
25:50See?
25:51That's why, when mama's in the house,
25:5335 minutes to make a bountiful noodle bowl.
25:56Noodles can be challenging because you have to really develop
25:59the sauce that you want them with.
26:00And in noodle houses, this isn't something that you do
26:03in just 20, 30 minutes.
26:05You need days to impart this flavor.
26:07But listen, in Flavortown, the diners are going to expect
26:10that you go the extra mile.
26:12So to satisfy your guests and earn some bonus money,
26:15you can incorporate some upsell ingredients into your dish.
26:19And those fantastic, delicious items that you've chosen?
26:21We have the delicious umeboshi, which will get you an extra $2,000.
26:25Umeboshi is pickled plums.
26:27They are an incredible, nice umami bite.
26:31Bitter melon, that will add an extra $3,000.
26:34Bitter melon, it's like a cucumber that just never gets delicious.
26:37And we have the most delicate preserved duck egg,
26:41that will get you an extra $5,000.
26:42They've got this creamy, funky flavor, umami bomb.
26:47But it's not everybody's ball of wax.
26:50You have a chance to get a $10,000 bonus.
26:52And remember, the winner will get $5,000 added to their paycheck.
26:56But here's the one caveat.
26:58You only take home the money if you win the competition.
27:0135 minutes starts now.
27:03Go get them.
27:07So this pantry for noodles,
27:09while I like a lot of the Asian ingredients,
27:12they are very difficult to actually impart correctly.
27:16I love peanut sauce,
27:18and I even love peanut sauce on noodles.
27:21So immediately I'm thinking an Asian peanut-style sauce.
27:25Put an egg in there to incorporate it
27:26to make it match the style of like a carbonara.
27:29I'm grabbing pork because getting that beautiful Asian flavor
27:32inside of it,
27:33I think it's one of the most addicting things that I could eat.
27:36Even if I know it's gonna be delicious,
27:38this isn't the type of food that I'm used to doing.
27:40He's got the whole pantry over there.
27:41He's got everything.
27:43So first thing I gotta get started on is this quick broth.
27:46I add in some beef stock, dried shrimp, my bonito, my shiitakes,
27:50and it's gonna serve as a nice little base for my noodle bowl.
27:53But I truly think that it's gonna be right down to the wire.
27:56Bounciful noodle bowl means a lot of noodles,
27:58and that it's really just good for your soul.
28:00Eggs and noodles pair really, really well together.
28:03I love ramen.
28:04Everything about it kind of speaks to my soul.
28:06So going with stuff that I know, ground pork, dried mushrooms.
28:10The funky noodle pantry, I mean,
28:12it looks a lot like my personal pantry at home.
28:14From dark soy sauce to light soy sauce to different sesame oils.
28:17But knowing that a lot of these broths take, you know, 48 hours,
28:22and knowing we have to do it in such a condensed time,
28:24I'm not looking forward to that.
28:2630 minutes.
28:27Quinn, what are you working on?
28:28So I wanna make sort of a riff on garlic noodles
28:32with a little bit of ground pork,
28:33and then some of that beautiful peanut sauce.
28:36Okay, chef.
28:37A little bit of shoyu, sesame, ginger,
28:41chilies in here to add that heat.
28:42Even though Asian food isn't in my primary wheelhouse,
28:46I know how to develop flavor.
28:49And so, because we are on egg day here in Flavortown,
28:52are either you guys using any other eggs in your dish,
28:55or the preserved duck egg is the only?
28:57I do plan on using one other egg in my dish.
28:59I'm gonna do a classic poached egg.
29:01Okay.
29:01What are we going after?
29:03The upsells?
29:05Umaboshi, the preserved duck egg.
29:07I got some money to make up.
29:08I didn't get my five-star dish in the first round.
29:10I got four.
29:11I got some catching up to do.
29:12I wanna use that preserved egg,
29:14because I kind of have an idea for that,
29:16but I'm gonna work around it for the time being.
29:18Umaboshi is exciting me.
29:19Same thing with the bitter melon.
29:26It looks scary.
29:27Tastes great.
29:29It's not too bitter,
29:30but it's got some beautiful sort of, like,
29:32aggressive tannins in there.
29:33So I wanna take that,
29:35mellow it out with a little bit of the umaboshi
29:36and a sort of a salad.
29:38There's a lot of steak here.
29:39Last week, I was playing for my staff.
29:41This week, I'm playing now a little bit more for myself
29:44if I can win again.
29:45I can maybe go on some more research trips
29:47across the world to some of these restaurants
29:50I've wanted to go to for years.
29:51When you go to this source,
29:52it opens up your mind,
29:54and it's what made me who I am today.
29:55I wanna take this again.
29:57I'm getting even more competitive.
30:00Chef Leo, talk to me.
30:02What's on the menu?
30:03Yeah, so I'm gonna do a kind of a play on, like, a ramen.
30:06This is a very rustic version
30:09of what I used to eat growing up.
30:11We're going to fortify a little bit of a stock
30:14for the ramen.
30:16Celery, carrots, some dried mushrooms, bonito flakes.
30:19Just wanted to go classic.
30:20My great aunt owned about five,
30:22six American-style Chinese restaurants.
30:24She taught me how to make noodles,
30:25so it was just really special to be doing a dish
30:28that's very familiar to my family.
30:30Full-circle moment, my family is everything to me.
30:33I'm gonna let that stock just go until the last minute.
30:37Chef Leo, what protein are you sauteing over there?
30:40Uh, so that's gonna be ground pork.
30:41I think ground pork and noodles
30:43is just one of the most perfect combinations,
30:46and that's, like, my comfort.
30:47Chef, you gonna use the umeboshi?
30:49I think so.
30:50Umeboshi reminds me of tamarind.
30:51It reminds me of a Chinese candy,
30:53so I think I'm gonna do a hot oil
30:54with some Szechuan peppercorns.
30:56We're gonna use umeboshi sweetness
30:58to balance out the spice.
30:59You know, I'm very impressed.
31:03That's the duck egg.
31:04It could get me $5,000, potentially,
31:07but I don't wanna risk
31:08not being the five-star first dish.
31:11Oh, my God.
31:13It looks foul, like it looks rotten.
31:16God, I don't love preserved duck eggs.
31:19I'm so nervous about this.
31:22Chef over there is eating some of it.
31:24How's the preserved duck egg?
31:25Looks scarier than it tastes.
31:27It's actually delicious.
31:29This is beautiful, actually.
31:31Add in a little bit of the paste from the yolk
31:33into the pickled bitter melon salad.
31:36This actually adds some beautiful texture.
31:38Let's pray.
31:39Let's pray it works.
31:40This is gonna be very deep, rich sauce
31:43that we're gonna have in here.
31:44Beautiful sesame in here.
31:46I'm thinking I need some Asian influence in here.
31:48What else is in that peanut butter mix?
31:49A little bit of fish sauce, some shoyu.
31:51Yeah.
31:51Just to coat all the noodles
31:52and not be, like, saucy and dredging in it.
31:54I'm gonna make that a little thicker
31:55with some eggs.
31:56You know, with peanut butter,
31:57it's such a strong flavor.
31:59He's gotta have a really judicious hand
32:01when it comes to putting that sauce
32:02in the noodles too much,
32:03and it's gonna overpower all the delicacy
32:05of everything else that he's doing.
32:07I'm about to get my poached egg started right now.
32:11So acidulated water.
32:13Acidulated water.
32:14I put some vinegar in there.
32:15Yep.
32:16My eggs are set.
32:16So you're doing a poach?
32:17Yep.
32:19I always love, like, a really nice silky egg
32:22with some noodles.
32:23It's my favorite things.
32:25Being able to get that beautiful silky,
32:27slightly fudgy fat falling all over the noodles
32:30is a real big flex when you hand it to the judges.
32:32Beautiful poached eggs.
32:35You're welcome.
32:36Those are egg-straordinary.
32:37If I may say so myself.
32:39Wow.
32:39And what noodle are you using?
32:41Egg noodle.
32:41I love those.
32:42They're nice.
32:43They kind of have a really good little body to them.
32:46Time's ticking,
32:47and I haven't done anything with these eggs.
32:49I'm looking for a seven- to nine-minute egg.
32:54Next, gotta get going on these up-sell ingredients.
32:56You want that extra little bit of money.
32:58I grab this bitter melon.
33:04Bitter.
33:04Anything that's bitter tends to play well with pickle.
33:08Chef Leo, you have a plan for your bitter melon yet?
33:10So I'm gonna incorporate it into this slaw.
33:16So I'm gonna pickle with a little bit of apple cider vinegar,
33:20a little bit of mirin.
33:21And are you using the preserved duck egg?
33:24I think I'm gonna forego the preserved duck egg on this one.
33:27Yeah.
33:27How come you're not using it?
33:30I'm not familiar with it.
33:31Good reason.
33:32And I just don't wanna-
33:33Kind of wanna go through with the time constraint
33:35and understand what I know.
33:36And how much is that duck egg worth?
33:38Duck egg is worth five, but the win is even sweeter.
33:40Yeah.
33:41So I just wanna make sure that that works out.
33:43The opportunity to continue to win and compete.
33:46I know I needed to make sure that I do what I need to do
33:48to win this competition.
33:49You got five minutes left, chef.
33:52Leo, did you pick a noodle yet?
33:54Or are you gonna get closer?
33:55I'm gonna use the, uh, just a good standard egg noodle.
33:58Yeah.
33:59As long as I got them in with two minutes to spare,
34:02I'd at least have a noodle that was edible.
34:06Freaking noodles threw me off.
34:07You got it, man.
34:08I'm working and finishing all of these things.
34:10The problem is that I made these ingredients
34:12all to come up at the exact same time.
34:16That also puts a little bit of pressure on you
34:18because you picked a restaurant, so you better deliver.
34:21I'm not gonna lie, I start regretting my choice.
34:23Four minutes!
34:29Three minutes!
34:32My noodles, I can put them into my pan
34:34with my ground pork, my peanut sauce,
34:36toss them gently, and they're evenly coated.
34:39Where everything's flying and, you know...
34:41This tastes delicious.
34:43I wanna get my base in, and that's tasting amazing.
34:46It has to be bountiful, so on top of that,
34:48I wanna make sure that I'm getting a good mix
34:50of my noodles, peanut sauce, the ground pork in there.
34:53I need to put my poached egg right in the center,
34:55and when that's in, I garnish it with a little bit more
34:58of the bitter melon, umeboshi, and preserved duck egg salad.
35:03$19,000 on the line, and my championship title.
35:08Chefs, we've got 90 seconds to be plated.
35:11I have five ingredients in front of me.
35:13I don't know if I'm gonna make it.
35:15If I just get a little sip of the broth,
35:17I would've definitely loved a little bit more depth of flavor,
35:20but it was there.
35:21Get the noodles into the broth.
35:23Come on, Chef Leo, you gotta peel those boiled eggs.
35:25Gotta get those eggs in, bud.
35:26Trying to roll them gently so that they don't just break
35:29and shatter everywhere.
35:33By the grace and luck of the Flavortown gods,
35:36I'm able to get peels off of all of them
35:38and put them on the plate.
35:4030 seconds.
35:42Oh, those are good.
35:43I feel like I have a really, really, really, really good slaw.
35:4615 seconds.
35:47We need to have those in the window
35:49right here at the hot lamb, Chefs.
35:51We got the hot oil in.
35:52We got the pork in.
35:53I know how delicious this is gonna taste.
35:55Come on, Chef.
35:56You gotta get this in the window.
35:57You don't wanna beat someone
35:58because you didn't help them.
36:00Four, three, two, one.
36:04Whoa!
36:05There we go.
36:06Wow.
36:07Wow.
36:08Talk about culinary camaraderie.
36:10All right, Chef Quentin.
36:13Take it away.
36:14Hello, Chefs.
36:15Hello, Chef Quentin.
36:18Here we have some beautiful egg noodles
36:20with some peanut sauce
36:21and beautiful ground pork.
36:22And on top, there's a slight bitter melon salad
36:24with a paste of umeboshi's to go
36:26with some of that preserved duck egg.
36:28And on top, a classic poached egg.
36:33Mmm.
36:35Egg is cooked well, right?
36:36Yeah.
36:37Very successful.
36:38Chef, for egg day,
36:39I love how perfectly the egg is poached.
36:41I think the pickled bitter melon,
36:43which is not something I typically go for,
36:45I really enjoy.
36:46Mm-hmm.
36:46The umeboshi's salty, umami
36:48sort of backbone with that bitter melon
36:50and the tannin.
36:51And it works.
36:52But I don't taste the preserved egg.
36:54And I like the pork.
36:55I just want a little bit more of it.
36:57For me personally,
36:58I could have even had a little teeny bit more
37:00of a peanut flavor.
37:01Yeah, but the egg noodles are good.
37:03And it's most certainly in a bountiful bowl.
37:05Uh, thank you, Chef.
37:06Yes, thank you.
37:07I feel anxious.
37:08I'm unknown of what's going to happen.
37:10I'm unconfident and confident at the same time.
37:12All right, Chef Leo.
37:13You're up, buddy.
37:14Go get them.
37:15Chef. Hello.
37:16How are you?
37:16Chef, how are you?
37:17Good, good.
37:18Wow, thank you.
37:19Absolutely.
37:20Today, kind of created a ramen, ground pork.
37:24The umeboshi that I put into the hot oil.
37:27I did a slaw with Napa cabbage and red cabbage,
37:29and then I took that bitter melon and pickled it.
37:31And we just have a nice little hard-boiled egg on the side.
37:40This dish really looked beautiful.
37:43A very comforting, cozy dish.
37:45Yep.
37:45Full of flavor.
37:46I like this slaw.
37:48And bitter melon is really present.
37:50Umeboshi in there for some of that saltiness.
37:52And the noodles are clear.
37:53The pork are chunky.
37:55Yeah.
37:55Textural complement.
37:57Yeah.
37:57This presents as a restaurant-quality dish.
38:00But as you start to eat the components, you're seeing flaws.
38:04The pork, there's not enough.
38:06Or the noodles, there's not enough.
38:08Where the dish suffers from sort of the time you had to plate it.
38:13And I expected when I cut it, the egg to run.
38:15It's like, oh.
38:16Yeah.
38:17It's not.
38:17You satiated the day here in Flavortown of Egg Day.
38:21I just didn't need the hard cook on it.
38:23No.
38:24Thank you, Chef.
38:27Wow, we had a lot going on there.
38:28Yeah.
38:29What did we think of Chef Quentin's?
38:32The bitter melon yuma boche salad on top was awesome use of those ingredients.
38:36And it was the first thing gone from our plate.
38:38Yeah.
38:38But I think we wanted a little more peanut.
38:40Right.
38:41Over to Chef Leo.
38:42I liked this slaw.
38:43And I really understood what he was going for.
38:47It didn't make any sense to have a hard cooked egg just floating in there.
38:50Right.
38:50That didn't meld together.
38:52Time was definitely their villain.
38:54Yep.
38:55One of these chefs will either become our champ or move on as champ.
38:58And the other will be packing.
39:03Well, chefs, you should be very proud of yourselves.
39:06Unfortunately, only one of you will receive your paycheck and your championship title.
39:11Leo, you could be walking out with 15,000.
39:15Returning champ, Chef Quentin, if you were to win, that would be 19 grand.
39:20The chef who prepared the winning five-star dish at Egg Day in Flavortown is...
39:28The heart's racing.
39:30You know, I feel like everything gets quiet.
39:32A lot of pressure on me right now.
39:34All of Flavortown is watching.
39:37Still the reigning champ, Chef Quentin.
39:43Congratulations, Chef Leo.
39:46A little bit more time, a little bit more cohesiveness.
39:48This was all coming together.
39:50Chef, you're great to watch cook.
39:52You have so much love and passion and enthusiasm about food.
39:55Hope this isn't the last time we'll see you compete.
39:57I appreciate it. Thank you.
39:58Chef Leo, thank you very much.
40:00It's a pleasure, man.
40:03It sucks.
40:04My noodle bowl didn't really mesh together.
40:06I'm just gonna kick myself over and over and over about the egg.
40:12Chef, you won 15,000 the first time you came and competed with us.
40:16And now you just won another $19,000.
40:20Oh, shit.
40:21For a total of $34,000 of competition.
40:26Congratulations.
40:27I'm finally two for two.
40:29I'm in disbelief.
40:30I'm almost in shock.
40:32Sorry.
40:32Where are you going, bud?
40:39Chef, I noticed.
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