Top Chef (2006) s12e05 Episode Script
It's War!
- 'S getting real.
- '80s James is gone, man.
- I love James.
- I love James.
It's all about surviving the next day, you know? I think it's more about competing and doing your best dish every day.
And the winning team tonight was the purple team.
In the last challenge, it was all about, you know, who can sell the most menus.
I proved that I can work on a team.
Stacy, how are you? Tired.
When my team did not sell enough menus to keep us from being on the bottom, I really believed that it was me leaving.
Rebecca, James, please pack your knives and go.
Being on the bottom as much as I have been, it's demoralizing.
For James, for Rebecca, and for Dougie.
Oh, no, no-- Katsuji--it's totally like having a brother.
It's like, "man, I love you, but I want to, like, punch your face all the time.
" There are ten of us left now.
The criteria's gonna start getting tougher and tougher - Oh, yeah.
- And tougher.
One or two taco shells could ultimately be the difference.
Ten chefs remain to compete.
It's the ultimate test of culinary skill.
At stake for the winner, a feature in Food & Wine magazine An appearance at the Food & Wine classic in Aspen, $125,000, furnished by healthy choice, and the title of Top Chef.
Good morning.
Morning.
Chefs, please help me welcome James Beard award winner for best chef: Northeast, Jamie bissonnette.
- Good morning, chefs.
- Good morning, chef.
By now, I'm sure you've all had the chance to size up the competition, right? You've been thinking about who you can beat and who might be a serious threat.
For your next quickfire challenge, we're gonna put that knowledge to the test.
When I call your name, you get to choose any of your fellow chefs to take on in a head-to-head battle.
I think I can beat anybody in this room, so bring it.
Choose wisely, because the chef you call out will get to pick one of these cooking methods and dishes.
Reynolds products are versatile kitchen tools and will help make your meals better and faster.
They can be used in a variety of cooking methods, from steaming to smoked.
One of the things we do at the restaurant is we use foil to cold-smoke and hot-smoke things and use to diffuse heat.
The chef with the best overall dish will win $10,000 from Reynolds.
Okay, let's start with you, Katsuji.
Who do you choose to take on? - I'll take Aaron.
- Perfect.
I want to show this kid how real chefs behave and how real chefs-- we cook.
Give him a little slap around, you know.
- Smoked salmon.
- Okay.
Should have picked tamales.
Let's go to you, Doug.
I think I'm gonna go with my buddy Adam.
Okay.
Adam's just a real confident guy.
He loves to talk.
So I'd definitely like to knock him down a peg.
I'm thinking about steaming some mussels against this pacific northwest little punk.
Okay.
Keriann? I think I'm gonna go with Stacy.
Of the chefs left, I think tht Stacy is definitely the weakest.
I'm gonna go with trout en papillote.
So I really think I could take her out.
Okay, Melissa.
I'll take Katie.
Gregory and Mei have been doing really well.
They're very strong, so I'm gonna go for Katie.
I feel confident I can take her on.
I'll take the smoked barbecue.
Well, I guess, Mei, you're cooking against Gregory.
I think that the reason we're the last ones picked is because people see us as threats, - and they don't want to lose.
- Gregory? I would love to make some steamed dumplings.
I chose to make steamed dumplings against Mei, even though I know she's Ben making dumplings her whole life, because I know that my dumpling is gonna have a lot more flavor than Mei's.
I'm positive I can beat her with that.
You have 30 minutes, and that time starts now.
What do you got going? A little orange saffron butter, preserved lemon.
My inspiration for this dish is really the food that I know that Jamie cooks at his restaurant, toro.
I know he loves, like, Spanish flavors like saffron - and roasted red peppers.
- We'll see.
East coast versus west coast, huh? What I think I bring is a little bit more flare.
So I'm going with vadouvan steamed mussels with toasted pumpkin seeds.
Oh, someone's pot is on fire.
18 minutes.
How many times have you done trout en papillote before? - A million.
- How many times have you done it in a half hour with 10 grand at stake? Never.
En papillote means it's cooked in the bag.
So you have to get all the components together and then put it into the Reynolds parchment paper and just pray that it cooks in time.
Right behind you.
What are you up to? I think I'm gonna try to do a pine nut baked bean with grilled smoky chicken - on top.
- Nice.
I'm putting my spin on the smoked barbecue by making a baked bean out of pine nuts with a traditional barbecue sauce.
It might be too much of a risk, but I didn't come to Top Chef to play it simple and safe.
We've been both on the top.
We've also been on the bottom.
So we'll see.
I think my advantage over Katie is my technique's more refined than hers.
So I decide I'm gonna do a cold-smoked scallop.
Get a little cold smoke on these guys.
13 minutes.
Need eggs, Greg? I have eggs over here if you need some.
- Thank you.
- I've been making dumplings since I was seven years old.
Got to get this into a pan! I pretty much just learned by watching my grandma and my dad make dumplings.
So, if I don't win this challenge, my parents would be really, really disappointed.
Mei is definitely my biggest competition.
I feel the same way about Gregory.
What are you gonna do later on? I'm taking your wife out for dinner.
Oh, man, she's expensive, so I'll have plenty of pesos.
I'm from the northwest.
We smoke a lot of salmon.
My younger brother and I, growing up, we always liked to cook.
Every time him and I get together, it's like, "you bring the smoker, dude?" And he's like, "you know it.
" Look, I'm using liquid nitrogen.
I know.
I'm impressed with you.
I don't really know what Aaron's doing.
He clearly can't cook for , but I am going to develop as many layers of flavors as I can with the jalapeños, the smoked chipotles.
It's gonna be an amazing-tasting dish.
You have five minutes.
Five minutes left, everyone.
Guys, one minute.
Five, four, three, two, one.
Time's up.
Hands up.
Utensils down.
Hello, hello, Gregory, Mei.
So we had steamed dumplings.
So today we prepared a steamed shrimp dumpling with ginger and herbs.
Did you want a dipping sauce or no? I did not want a dipping sauce.
No.
I went kind of a different route.
I went traditional, and I made a pork dumpling.
I dip it into the black vinegar.
I'm a big fan of black vinegar.
The folding's great.
- Well, good job both of you.
- Thank you very much.
- Hello, ladies.
- Hello.
Melissa, Katie.
I did a grilled chicken breast, pine nut baked bean with apple, cucumber, pineapple slaw.
Have you cooked nuts in that kind of style before? No, never.
And, Melissa? I did a smoked and seared scallop with charred corn, smoked bacon, and grilled fennel.
And I just wanted to keep te flavors really bright and clean.
- Thank you both.
- That's great.
When I think smoke, I think fire, and I infused sake broth with smoked jalapeños, chipotle, and then I cold-smoked with the smoking gun the salmon sashimi.
I did a lightly smoked wild salmon.
I brined it very briefly in dark soy, brown-rice wine vinegar, brown sugar.
My brother and I smoke salmon quite a bit.
Normally we brine it for more than five minutes.
- Thank you both.
- Thank you.
- Hello, ladies.
- This is my dish.
I went really traditional.
I did a white-wine butter sauce with thinly shaved bell pepper, fennel, a little serrano chili, shallot.
Stacy, what about your dish? Sliced heirloom tomatoes, basil, masala, onions, and some spinach glass because it's pretty and crunchy.
Great.
Thank you.
I made a little orange and saffron butter.
I steamed my mussels in it.
I did a quick lemon preserve, and I roasted some sweet red peppers.
We're looking kind of similar in the plates, but I think you'll get a different little taste, with some French technique in mine.
Vadouvan-spiced steamed mussels, and I started the mussels in a pot with the vadouvan spice, kind of a dry toss.
Went with a really traditional shallot, garlic, and parsley.
- Steamed them open.
- You talk too much.
It's like you threw the gloves off right now.
You started talking about your food.
- Hey, it's a throwdown.
- Do you think you won? I'm a new yorker.
There's no way I'm letting this kid walk all over me.
- I "prolly" took it.
- "Prolly"? "Prolly.
" Thank you both.
Overall, how do you think they did, Jamie? I was blown away by the different styles of cooking and all the different flavos that everybody brought in today.
Why don't we start with Katsuji and Aaron, who did smoked salmon? Katsuji's dish, I thought the sauce and the salmon worked really well together with the smokiness.
Aaron's dish had not a lot of smoke.
And, ultimately, Katsuji is the winner.
Whoo! You've been smoked.
Doug and Adam.
The mussels were cooked a little more properly in Doug's dish, and I thought that there was a lot of flavor, and the pepitas really sung really well in Adam's dish.
All in all, this one went to Doug.
Thank you.
Stacy, Keriann.
I loved the texture of both the fishes, but, ultimately, the winner was Keriann.
There was more texture and flavor and a little bit more balance in the dish.
Okay, next up, Melissa and Katie.
I liked that you guys went totally two different directions, but, ultimately, I thought that the winner was Katie.
I really, really loved the pine nuts cooked down like a bean like that.
And last but not least, my little dumplings.
Dumplings can, you know, really shine with the ingredient inside of them.
Sometimes they shine with the sauces around them, but really, ultimately, it's all about the flavor.
I just thought that, for me, the winner was - Gregory.
- Thanks, chef.
There are five winners, but only one can win $10,000.
Who is that one chef? There was only one person that, to me, knocked it over the green monster and out of the park, and that was Gregory.
Congratulations.
You've won $10,000 from Reynolds.
Awesome.
If you had a New York City dumpling truck, there would be a line around the block.
Thank you, chef.
I definitely took a risk, and I feel so proud of myself that I was able to beat out the dumpling princess today.
And now it's time for war.
When you're at my level of cooking, then we can cook together.
Your level of cooking is a joke to me.
Those were some really great battles, very close.
And now it's time for war-- quickfire winners versus quickfire losers.
Listed behind me are the five most critical battles of the revolutionary war.
Each of you will battle head-to-head against a chef on the opposing team.
If your dish wins, your team gets a point.
The first team with three points wins.
The strategy is essential.
Think about who you put up for each battle.
The winning team will be safe from elimination, and one chef from the losing team will be going home.
Our first matchup is the battle of Lexington and Concord.
Since you lost the quickfire, your team will have to reveal your strategy first.
Who are you putting up? I'm gonna go first.
I want some redemption right now.
- Okay.
- I'm on it.
- Me.
- Okay, Adam.
Quickfire winners.
You go against him.
Okay, I'll go.
- Okay.
- Doug.
- Dougie.
- Doug for a rematch.
The strategy is to go with the best chefs at the beginning.
So we decided to put Dougie against Adam because Adam wanted revenge, but we know Dougie can win again.
The second major battle is the battle of bunker hill.
Winners, who goes up in that battle? Me.
Second course.
Okay.
You've got to let me redeem myself against Katsuji.
Let's just think about this for a minute, more than just a revenge thing.
There's no way that I'm letting Aaron go up against Katsuji.
We've got to get three wins out of five as quickly as possible.
We're gonna have to be smart about who we pair up with who in order to end up victorious.
You can wait for Greg, and I can take Katsuji.
Have you made your decision? - It'll be me.
- Okay, great.
The third battle was the battle of Trenton.
- Who are you gonna put up? - It will be me.
- Losing team? - Me.
Gregory's winning a lot, and obviously he's the one to beat right now, and I want to beat the best of the best.
Who's going up in the battle of saratoga? That'll be me.
Losing team? Okay, there's a lot of rematches here.
So that means that the final battle, the battle of yorktown, will be Aaron and Katie.
Ooh.
I've already beaten Katie in a sudden-death quickfire.
I know I can take it home if we get to that point.
Before the judges arrive, you will be serving your dishes to 100 guests at the watertown arsenal.
In times of war, food is often scarce.
So, as a team, you only have $1,000 to shop at whole foods.
That's $2 a head.
You're going to have to be very strategic with your dishes if you want to ration your budget to feed all of your guests.
You'll have two and a half hours to cook and prep your dishes here in the Top Chef kitchen.
And then tomorrow you'll have one hour at the arsenal before service begins.
After serving the diners, the head-to-head battles will begin.
Chefs, good luck to all of you.
I'm looking forward to some redemption.
You're gonna get some.
Rocking and rolling.
Taking a hold of the reins, I decide to divvy up our budget.
Each of us has $200 to feed 100 people.
We don't have to have any kind of cohesive menu.
It's simply a matter of get your food on a plate, make it better than the person you're up against.
Polenta.
I thought I grabbed the last three, but they were tucked away in another shelf, so that makes a happy chef.
The only issues I'm really having coming up with my dish is just cost.
So we're all having to kind of scale back our ideas, as far as budget goes.
I probably would have used the strip steak or a filet, but that's gonna be too expensive, so I think I'm gonna go with meatballs.
I'm going to kick Stacy's ass again.
The budget we have is nothing new to me, because growing up, we didn't have a lot.
So I started working when I was 14, just to buy myself school clothes and help my mom out.
You know, I've worked for every single little thing that I have, and this competition is really tough, but I think it's time to prove how much work I've put in and that I can do this.
I'm a little too short for these shelves, I think.
15 minutes.
$12.
99? - What? - I'm not rich, you know.
- We can't survive like this.
- Katsuji! A lot of stuff today.
We're gonna make a thai-style turmeric and ginger soup.
I know when Gregory cooks food, he cooks with super-bold flavors.
So my strategy is to beat Gregory at his own game.
I mean, I'm making New York strip with kimchee vegetables, you know, Korean-barbecue style.
I know my flavors are gonna kill it.
- I'm feeling pumped.
- Oh, that's a good one.
The idea for my dish has kind of taken a nod to spaghetti and meatballs in Asian fashion.
A five-pound ground pork back there for me? So I'm gonna make a scallop noodle with pork meatball, and I definitely feel like it'll beat Katie.
I'm going against Melissa, who's cooked in, like, michelin restaurants, James Beard award chefs.
She definitely has this fine-dining background which I kind of lack a little bit.
So I'm doing a tostada with goat cheese, green olives, dates, and charred cauliflower.
I think this dish actually will come to win the battle because a little bite, but it packs so much flavor that it's just gonna be like a party in your mouth.
Ah! These things are hot.
Mei, how many cucumbers do you need? I think I might be good with what I have.
For my battle, I'm making a white gazpacho with marcona almonds, green grapes.
And Katsuji, I notice, is doing vegetarian as well, but I'm confident because I have a lot of experience behind me.
I've worked for Dominique crenn, Ron Siegel, I've worked at campton place, luce, the ritz Carlton dining room, so I'm not concerned at all.
Katsuji, what about going up against Melissa? How do you think you're gonna do? It's not easy, you know.
I wanted to go against Aaron, but I guess he doesn't have enough balls to go against me.
I'm definitely determined to not let Katsuji get under my skin today and just make my scallop noodles a solid dish.
Aaron, are you doing the shrimp thing again? This is what the shrimp noodles should have been, Katie.
Nice.
It's nice to have a little redemption.
Losing to Aaron in that sudden-death quickfire, that definitely was the low point for me, but today I'm feeling pretty good in the kitchen, because I'm making an imperial-stout cake with pomegranate-molasses strawberries in a smoked sour cream that's gonna take Aaron out tomorrow.
One hour, 15 minutes.
Keriann, did we taste the meatball together? I already tasted one.
It was good, but if you want me to cook one for you, I can.
I'd love to taste one.
In a war setting, you know, you have to work together.
It's not every man for himself.
Everyone's dish has to be amazing, and everything has to be on point as a team.
More chili paste.
How's everybody looking? This garlic is a pain in my dick.
Even though I may be the one leading the charge, I'm not the executive chef of this team.
It is quite the meatball.
Do I have some concerns? Sure, but, ultimately, we are individually responsible for our own dishes so all I need to do is make sure that my dish is good enough to ensure my safety.
Whoa.
Easy, easy, easy.
One Mexican minute left.
That's, like, five American minutes.
I'm really concerned about the texture of the soup.
I think once you put the bread in Melissa, it will be fine.
- Yeah? - Yeah.
If my soup turns out smooth, I know I can win this, but right now I'm not feeling very confident.
Hey, Aaron's over there saying dessert's a cop-out.
He just loves to talk , this guy.
It's war, Gregory.
Damn it, Gregory.
And I'm tired.
- Let's do this.
- Ready, buddy? Yeah, you know it.
Today we're cooking at the Athena health campus, which is home of the historic watertown arsenal.
It looks like it's been stolen straight out of a history book.
You guys ready to lose or what? No! We're feeding 100 people today before we battle head-to-head in front of the judges.
The first team to win three victories, wins the war.
Whoo! Whoo! Chiquito, are you ready to do battle? Born ready.
Katsuji, how's it going back there? I'm good.
Doug, what do you got left to do? - Do you got to cut your beef? - Yeah.
- Better, yeah? - It looks thicker.
Do you want to try? So fresh.
It's really good.
Overnight, the gazpacho sucked up a lot of the bread, but the texture isn't at the consistency that I want it to be, but I'm feeling good about the flavors.
How's everybody doing on time? Good, good, good? I'm ready to beat Katie.
She's baking a cake, so you don't really take cake to war.
He just loves to talk , this guy.
It's war, Gregory.
I'm going to a basic cooking technique.
I think it's a lot stronger than just blending up seafood and xanthan gum.
- That looks nice.
- Guys, we're six to service.
Everybody, if you have a sec, taste your , please.
Aaron, Aaron, Aaron.
What, what, what? Oh! What did we just lose? That whole dashi, dude.
Towards the final moments of us getting ready to go into service, my broth with dashi is on the ground.
I don't know how that possibly happened.
Aaron-- that dashi broth was the only thing keeping his fish moist.
Fortunately, I have some instant dashi mix that I can lend him.
It won't nearly be as good, but it might just be good enough to keep his noodles and balls moist.
Me.
Karma's a bitch.
30 seconds, guys.
That's a lot of people.
Oh, Boston's great, the little bits that we get to see when we're not in the kitchen.
Let me just crack this egg, and I'll get you guys my soldier's breakfast.
- I love the grape.
- And it's cool.
- Like, it's hot today.
- It's cool and refreshing.
Perfect.
Did you bring a musket? - No.
- No? I have my tri-corner hat, though.
I don't have a concealed-weapons permit.
It would be pretty hard to conceal a musket.
No, you can open-carry a musket in most Southern states.
- Really? - Yes.
Yeah.
As much as I love feeding these guests and hearing what they have to say about my food, this has absolutely nothing to do with them.
Ultimately, the four judges will decide the winner of these head-to-head matchups.
It's gonna be a bloodbath out there.
Okay, it's time for the first battle to begin, the battle of Lexington and Concord.
Oh, my God.
Chefs, you have five minutes to plate.
God, that scared the hell out of me.
Will you pass me five plates, buddy? Beef tartare--I think it's a great way to start the war.
Flavors are big.
It's spicy.
It's sweet.
It's steeped in history.
- I would love to kick Adam's ass.
- That's really good, dou.
I do not know who won the battle of Lexington and Concord, but I'm going to guess it was the U.
S.
of a.
Go, America.
Adam, three minutes.
I hear you, little man.
Doug flat out beat me in the quickfire, and I'm looking at this battle as my way of saying, "hey, bud, you didn't win by that much, and now I'm here to show you what I can do.
" My hands are shaking like crazy.
Go, Dougie! Please don't do that.
Good morning, everyone.
Let's start with you, Adam.
So being the first one out of the gate, I wanted to make sure my soldiers were well fed.
So you've got some salt-and-pepper grits, mounted with a little bit of cheddar cheese, a poached egg, a bacon-and-onion jam.
We've had some really crappy grits on this show.
- I've seen it.
I have seen it.
- Those are not crappy grits.
They're kicking.
They're really good.
Thank you, chef.
You ate all of the grits.
I made a little beef tartare with a little ginger aioli on the bottom of the plate and a raw radish tossed in a little bit of chili oil with cilantro.
I thought, like, a nice cold bite would be - kind of like a big bang.
- Mm-hmm.
Yeah, the sourness of the tartare-- it works really well.
I love the fish sauce.
It's nice that it's hand cut, beautifully put together.
I think the meat itself could be a little more seasoned.
- Got it.
- That's the only flaw.
These guys, they're going down.
They're done.
Jamie, who won this battle for you? I have to give it to Adam.
Tom, what do you think? I'm going to have to go with Adam as well.
Hugh? Come on, Dougie.
I think Adam took this one.
I'm going to give this one to Adam as well.
- Take your flag.
- Hey, guys! First flag! Whoo! That's my boy! Whoo! I think they were both great first courses, though.
Yeah, they were.
I just thought Adam's was a little more interesting.
Adam.
God damn it.
Vindication is so sweet.
Okay, chefs, it's time for the battle of bunker hill.
Okay, Katsuji! - All right, here we go.
- Five minutes.
Beautiful.
How's he doing over there? Got too many components on there? What's going on? I'm freaking the out.
I don't know why.
You're good.
You're good.
I think I'm having a panic attack.
My hands are shaking.
I'm sweating cold.
I'm having a panic attack that just came out of nowhere, and I don't know how to really control this.
I'm having a panic attack.
You're fine.
I'm really starting to have the pressure, you know? Oh, God, I really need help right now.
Go, Katsuji.
Let's go, red team! - Let's go, red team! - Go, Katsuji! I think I'm having a panic attack.
Don't fall back on the deep fryers.
I'm not gonna fall.
Let's start with you, Katsuji.
So, on the bottom, we have the tostada.
On top of it, it's goat cheese.
Then charred cauliflower, sliced olives, dates.
On top of it, tomato and chilled dipping chili sauce.
It's a little rich with how much oil was still on there with the goat cheese.
I agree, because it finished a little, you know, heavy.
Okay.
But it was good overall, and I like the crunch.
I like the texture.
I thought the cauliflower was cooked beautifully.
The old-school play-by-play here, kids.
Time to go in for the water.
Looks like the tacos might be a little bit salty.
I made a chilled white gazpacho with cucumber, green grapes, marcona almonds, and some mint.
Yeah, I thought the flavors on it were really good.
Just the textural thing-- it was a little thin for my liking.
I would have wanted it a little thicker.
I agree with you exactly on the consistency of it just being watery.
Jamie, who won this head-to-head battle? Katsuji.
Thank you so much.
Melissa won for me.
Hugh? Katsuji.
Melissa, come on, girl.
Tom? Katsuji.
And the blue team took the battle of bunker hill.
Yeah! Go, Katsuji! How the did that happen? The only thing wrong to me with Melissa's gazpacho is that it was watery.
It was watery and a little sweet.
See, I didn't find it that way.
Oh, I did.
- Ah! - Good job! I told you it was good.
Well, we'll get there.
We got Mei up next to bat.
Okay, chefs, get ready for the battle of Trenton.
.
All right.
Right now we're tied, and it's extremely crucial to get this win.
I've tasted my curry so many times today.
It's bright.
It's developed.
It's flavorful.
I'm feeling very confident.
Six, five You got this, girl.
- All right, Mei! - All right.
Go, Gregory! - Good afternoon, judges.
- Hello.
Thank you.
Let's start with you, Gregory.
For today's lunch, we have shiitake mushrooms in a coconut-milk broth flavored with turmeric, green curr, and some fresh dill.
This is something that, when I've been in Thailand, this is definitely refreshing, hot-weather food.
Yeah, I knew we would be outside and it would be warm, so I wanted to do something lighter.
This is seasoned so perfectly well.
One more grain of salt, this is too salty, and one less, and it destructs the dish.
- It's just right there.
- Thank you, chef.
- Hi, Mei.
- Hi.
I made some kimchee vegetables with New York strip loin and some scallion salad on top.
- The beef is perfectly cooked.
- Yeah.
For a quick kimchee, you didn't miss anything.
These are really good dishes.
Yeah, you nailed both of them.
They're great.
This is the clash of titans.
- Yeah.
- Yeah.
Hugh? - Gregory wins this one.
- Thank you, chef.
Tom? Gregory.
I have to give it to Gregory.
Gregory, you have won the battle of Trenton.
Yeah, Gregory! Whoo-hoo! This dish was solid.
- Losing twice sucks.
- Whatever.
You know what? Gregory-- he has a way of balancing a lot of different things.
All these aromatics that just go perfectly well together.
Oh.
It's time for the battle of saratoga.
Whoo! Go, girl.
I got this.
If I win, we all win the entire competition, so there's a lot of pressure on me right now.
I am gonna win this battle.
I'm super excited.
That's good.
Rep Boston, girl.
You got this.
Bring it home.
Keriann doesn't stand a chance.
She can't cook.
Stacy, tell us about what you made.
Marinated beets with a pecan-sage yogurt, horseradish brittle, and fresh horseradish.
So often people overthink how to cook beets, but these were really great.
- Thank you, chef.
- The horseradish, I think, could have been a little stronger.
The pecan yogurt is a little on the bland side.
What did you do, Keriann? Today I made an herbed meatball with a red-onion jam.
I made a ginger mustard, and then I finished it with a port reduction.
I liked your meatball.
It could have been slightly more moist, but I thought the star - of this plate was your jam.
- Thank you.
I think I had a different dish.
I thought the meatball was dry.
All I got was onion.
The compote was overly sweet.
Sorry.
I'm just not a fan of this at all.
This could be a defining moment and the end of the war.
There is so much pressure on me right now, not only from myself, but from my teammates.
If Keriann wins this, then we're up on the chopping block.
My eyeballs are twitching.
I'm getting such a headache.
I'm getting stressed.
I would have never allowed that to happen.
There's no one in this room that's gonna tell me what to make.
Dougie, you should be looking at it the other way.
There's plenty of cute girls out there looking for love.
Dougie, are your balls nicer than Keriann's balls? Shut the up for a minute.
Katsuji literally never stops talking.
He's just, like, this parakeet saying the dumbest stuff.
I wish my wife was as dirty as Aaron's pants.
Katsuji definitely marches to the beat of his own drum.
He's about 5% really annoying and 95% hilarious and awesome.
He is the most complex human being I have ever met.
The score is 2-1 in favor of the blue team.
If the blue team takes this, the war is won.
But, Stacy, you take it, then it's 2-2.
One more blue flag, and we're on the bottom.
Adam doesn't want to be on the bottom.
Jamie, who won this battle? Stacy.
Jamie picked Stacy.
- Stacy.
- Thank you, chef.
- I think Stacy.
- Thank you, chef.
Congratulations, Stacy.
You won the battle of saratoga.
- Whoo! - Yes! Nice job! Imagine that.
Yes! I won! I took that pageant chef down.
I'm not going to sit here and say that beet dish was very good.
I just thought this was really bad.
It's up to you now.
You got to kick Aaron's .
It was up to all of us.
All right, chefs, coming up, the battle of yorktown.
This is our final battle.
I guess the war always comes down - to the last battle, doesn't it? - It does.
- Aaron, no pressure.
- Come on, Aaron.
I live every day under pressure, sir.
Thank God for the dashi, Mei.
I got confidence in my boy and you got to play up your technique here, homey.
I've got a couple mixed thoughts about my dish, but I'm still feeling good.
The ambition shows a lot of heart and a lot of character in the dish.
You know, if the judges see that, I still might win this thing.
If chocolate cake kills me today, I will shoot myself in the face.
Redemption.
Redemption.
Pure and utter redemption.
All right, Katie.
- Bring it home.
- All right, guys.
I can feel all of their eyes resting on me, pressuring me, saying, "don't screw up.
" Come on, Aaron.
Talk a bunch of .
Back it up.
- What'd you make? - I kind of did, like, an Asian-inspired pork meatball with scallop noodles.
So the inspiration was kid of like spaghetti and meatballs, but done in an Asian fashion.
Are you happy with the noodle? It doesn't have as much texture as I was hoping for.
The scallops--you're right.
There's no texture.
They don't do anything for it.
They just kind of fall apart.
I like the idea of this dish.
Dashi's okay.
A good amount of smokiness, but lacking a little balance.
My broth fell on the ground today.
So Mei had dashi in a box.
That's the only way you got dashi today.
Definitely explaining the story - of what happened right now.
- Katie.
I made an imperial-stout chocolate cake, smoked sour cream, a pomegranate-molasses macerated strawberry, a little bit of a basil, pink peppercorn oil.
And I think the cake is actually nicely made.
- It's nice and moist.
- Thank you.
It's good.
It's classic.
It's just not that exciting.
So this is not the first tie you guys have gone head-to-head.
What is the feeling between you two? You know, I'm fine with it.
I think it's interesting when we start getting riled up, and across the way, you hear someone say, "oh, doing a dessert's a cop-out.
" And then you start feeling a little bit different about somebody.
Why would someone say dessert's a cop-out? You know, that's a really good question--let's ask Aaron.
Because dessert is usually where people screw up on this show, and if you're strong doing desserts-- oh, I totally agree, but I thought this was a war challenge, and I don't see anyone bringing chocolate cake to war.
Have you ever seen them bring a scallop noodle to a war? Because I don't know about that either, but-- There's not way we're losing against these .
- There's no way.
- Oh, Aaron, do us proud, bud.
Tom, who won this head-to-head battle? - Katie.
- Thank you.
Hugh? I think dessert.
Katie wins.
Thank you.
Katie.
Did she win? - Katie.
- Yes! Oh, .
Yeah! Congratulations, blue team.
God damn it.
Thank you.
Thank you.
I got to say, I just did not like that meatball.
Sorry, guys.
They just straight up didn't like my dish, like, every component was murdered, so Pound for pound, the dishes that we had today were really good.
Probably the best food we've had all season, but the red team lost, and so someone from their team is going home.
Adam's egg dish with grits was the best grits I've ever had at Top Chef.
I think Adam is safe from elimination.
I think Adam, and I think Mei is as well.
- Yes, Mei did amazingly well.
- Mei did great.
Yep.
So that leaves us Stacy, Aaron, and Melissa.
We have to decide which one of those are going home.
I think Stacy's beets were great.
Would you put Stacy's dish on a menu in your restaurant? No.
See, I put that dish pretty close to Melissa's dish.
I didn't think the gazpacho was much better.
Stacy's dish isn't gonna get her into Harvard, but that gazpacho, I would flunk them out of home ec.
I also really didn't like Aaron's dish.
Oh, Aaron.
It's too bad that Aaron dropped the dashi.
I mean, he was really ambitious, and if he pulled it off, it would have been great.
I think that Aaron came with a lot of weapons to this battle-- he just didn't load them.
Someone should have talked him out of this.
Someone on his team should have said, "scallop noodle is not the way to go.
" I really think Adam figured, "you know what? Do it.
Because if we lose, I know I'm beating you.
" He's playing chess.
- He's playing chess, yeah.
- Yep.
- Heads held high, yeah? - Yeah.
Good job, team.
Good job.
Well, I think we know who's going home, guys.
Mm-hmm.
Let's go back to judges' table.
Tom, how do you think they did? Overall, I think the chefs did really, really well.
You know, whatever you guys are doing, just keep doing it.
You're on the right track, and you're definitely giving us better food.
Well, blue team, congratulations on winning the war.
- Thank you.
- Thank you, guys.
Thank you very much.
You can step over here, please.
Red team, the five of you lost the war.
And one of you will be eliminated.
Adam, let me ask you a question.
All you had to do was beat one other person on your team.
- Did you think of that? - Chef, 100%.
Anybody else think of that? Everybody was thinking of tha.
That's okay.
It's a competition.
You should, you know.
It's part of the game.
You know, Mei, you got glowing reviews from us in winning your head-to-head, but you had to feel pretty good and look around at your teammates and go, "well, I'm pretty sure I'm safe.
" I just tried to put out the best food that I can, and I feel like I did that today.
Adam and Mei, we loved both your dishes.
The two of you are safe.
That means Aaron, Melissa, and Stacy, you three are up for elimination.
Did you guys feel really strong about your dishes? Do you feel like if you had to go back, you would make those dishes again? I like that I took a vegetarian dish to keep the food cost low, but looking back, I was concerned with the texture.
But a classic dish has to be-- if it's simple, it has to be perfect.
Take a step back and look at your food and let your food talk to you.
Like, taste it.
Think about it.
Eat all the different pieces as you're making it, and as you're chewing, say "what are the textures here that I'm missing? How can I fix this?" If you make something that simple, you need to nail it.
Just the texture just fell apart-- kind of just watery at the finish.
Aaron, you, on the other hand, bit off more than you could chew.
You didn't nail the noodles.
So what would you have done differently to your dish? You know, in retrospect, I should have built texture within those noodles to kind of let up from that mushiness.
Did you just say you knew that the noodle would be mushy in texture? I wanted a little texture contrast between the two.
- So did I.
- I understand.
- Yeah.
- Did anybody think to say, "really? You're doing scallop noodles and a broth and a meatball?" Nobody thought to say, "is this a wise decision?" I, personally, as one of the louder voices on this team, had confidence, insomuch as that he was presenting it like, "I got this.
"And there's no one in this room that's gonna tell me what to make.
" Gregory, you're raising your hand? I would have never allowed that to happen.
If you want to win as a team, you have to collectively work together as a team, and we've seen each other cook enough that we know what we're strong at and what we're weak at.
I'm not gonna sit here and say that I potentially didn't se a disaster that was on the horizon, but that was the decision that he made.
As a teammate, I felt he could probably beat Katie with that dish.
So, Stacy, you're probably standing here saying, "I won my battle.
- What's going on with me?" - Maybe a little.
Do you think you would have won that battle if you went up against your other teammates or anybody else on the other team? Yeah.
I felt strongly about it.
In your case of your win, you went up against a weak dish.
You know, chefs, it was really great to see you battle head-to-head.
Unfortunately, for one of you, you lost the war, and you'll be going home.
You know, chefs, it was really great to see you battle head-to-head.
Clearly it brought out the competition in you.
You gave us some great food.
Fortunately for the blue team, the cavalry arrived just at the right time, and, unfortunately, for one of you, you lost the war, and you'll be going home.
Aaron, please pack your knives and go.
Thank you.
Yeah, Aaron, I just think you tried to do way too much with this dish.
I think you let your team down and you let yourself down.
It's been a complete honor and a pleasure just to stand in the grace of all of you.
And these co-chefs here, you know, I'm the youngest here.
I didn't go to culinary school.
And I've had an amazing time, and I just thank you for that.
The rest of you chefs can say your good-byes.
Good luck to you, Aaron.
The experience on Top Chef has been an awesome one, you know.
I caused a lot of and didn't make many friends, but I proved a lot for someone who hasn't been trained.
It was an honor to rub elbows with these chefs that have a lot more experience than me.
I'll see you in L.
A.
I want people who think that they don't have a chance in life, I want them to take a look at my situation and realize that you can come from nothing with no help and no support, and if you put your all into it, you can achieve what you're looking for.
Next on Top Chef You guys are gonna go harvest these Cranberries.
Cold, cold, cold, cold, cold! I think I threw up in my pants.
Your dishes will take a huge step back in time.
Let's check out the house we're cooking in.
It's really hard to make all this fire.
- Whoo.
- Oh, my God.
You look like you're having a hard time.
- How's the bird? - My goose is still really, really chewy, so I totally start panicking.
It was just, like, dry and a little rough.
My dish was great.
It was one of my least favorite bites of the meal.
This is gonna be a game changer for everybody.
To learn more about the chefs, go to bravotv.
Com.
- '80s James is gone, man.
- I love James.
- I love James.
It's all about surviving the next day, you know? I think it's more about competing and doing your best dish every day.
And the winning team tonight was the purple team.
In the last challenge, it was all about, you know, who can sell the most menus.
I proved that I can work on a team.
Stacy, how are you? Tired.
When my team did not sell enough menus to keep us from being on the bottom, I really believed that it was me leaving.
Rebecca, James, please pack your knives and go.
Being on the bottom as much as I have been, it's demoralizing.
For James, for Rebecca, and for Dougie.
Oh, no, no-- Katsuji--it's totally like having a brother.
It's like, "man, I love you, but I want to, like, punch your face all the time.
" There are ten of us left now.
The criteria's gonna start getting tougher and tougher - Oh, yeah.
- And tougher.
One or two taco shells could ultimately be the difference.
Ten chefs remain to compete.
It's the ultimate test of culinary skill.
At stake for the winner, a feature in Food & Wine magazine An appearance at the Food & Wine classic in Aspen, $125,000, furnished by healthy choice, and the title of Top Chef.
Good morning.
Morning.
Chefs, please help me welcome James Beard award winner for best chef: Northeast, Jamie bissonnette.
- Good morning, chefs.
- Good morning, chef.
By now, I'm sure you've all had the chance to size up the competition, right? You've been thinking about who you can beat and who might be a serious threat.
For your next quickfire challenge, we're gonna put that knowledge to the test.
When I call your name, you get to choose any of your fellow chefs to take on in a head-to-head battle.
I think I can beat anybody in this room, so bring it.
Choose wisely, because the chef you call out will get to pick one of these cooking methods and dishes.
Reynolds products are versatile kitchen tools and will help make your meals better and faster.
They can be used in a variety of cooking methods, from steaming to smoked.
One of the things we do at the restaurant is we use foil to cold-smoke and hot-smoke things and use to diffuse heat.
The chef with the best overall dish will win $10,000 from Reynolds.
Okay, let's start with you, Katsuji.
Who do you choose to take on? - I'll take Aaron.
- Perfect.
I want to show this kid how real chefs behave and how real chefs-- we cook.
Give him a little slap around, you know.
- Smoked salmon.
- Okay.
Should have picked tamales.
Let's go to you, Doug.
I think I'm gonna go with my buddy Adam.
Okay.
Adam's just a real confident guy.
He loves to talk.
So I'd definitely like to knock him down a peg.
I'm thinking about steaming some mussels against this pacific northwest little punk.
Okay.
Keriann? I think I'm gonna go with Stacy.
Of the chefs left, I think tht Stacy is definitely the weakest.
I'm gonna go with trout en papillote.
So I really think I could take her out.
Okay, Melissa.
I'll take Katie.
Gregory and Mei have been doing really well.
They're very strong, so I'm gonna go for Katie.
I feel confident I can take her on.
I'll take the smoked barbecue.
Well, I guess, Mei, you're cooking against Gregory.
I think that the reason we're the last ones picked is because people see us as threats, - and they don't want to lose.
- Gregory? I would love to make some steamed dumplings.
I chose to make steamed dumplings against Mei, even though I know she's Ben making dumplings her whole life, because I know that my dumpling is gonna have a lot more flavor than Mei's.
I'm positive I can beat her with that.
You have 30 minutes, and that time starts now.
What do you got going? A little orange saffron butter, preserved lemon.
My inspiration for this dish is really the food that I know that Jamie cooks at his restaurant, toro.
I know he loves, like, Spanish flavors like saffron - and roasted red peppers.
- We'll see.
East coast versus west coast, huh? What I think I bring is a little bit more flare.
So I'm going with vadouvan steamed mussels with toasted pumpkin seeds.
Oh, someone's pot is on fire.
18 minutes.
How many times have you done trout en papillote before? - A million.
- How many times have you done it in a half hour with 10 grand at stake? Never.
En papillote means it's cooked in the bag.
So you have to get all the components together and then put it into the Reynolds parchment paper and just pray that it cooks in time.
Right behind you.
What are you up to? I think I'm gonna try to do a pine nut baked bean with grilled smoky chicken - on top.
- Nice.
I'm putting my spin on the smoked barbecue by making a baked bean out of pine nuts with a traditional barbecue sauce.
It might be too much of a risk, but I didn't come to Top Chef to play it simple and safe.
We've been both on the top.
We've also been on the bottom.
So we'll see.
I think my advantage over Katie is my technique's more refined than hers.
So I decide I'm gonna do a cold-smoked scallop.
Get a little cold smoke on these guys.
13 minutes.
Need eggs, Greg? I have eggs over here if you need some.
- Thank you.
- I've been making dumplings since I was seven years old.
Got to get this into a pan! I pretty much just learned by watching my grandma and my dad make dumplings.
So, if I don't win this challenge, my parents would be really, really disappointed.
Mei is definitely my biggest competition.
I feel the same way about Gregory.
What are you gonna do later on? I'm taking your wife out for dinner.
Oh, man, she's expensive, so I'll have plenty of pesos.
I'm from the northwest.
We smoke a lot of salmon.
My younger brother and I, growing up, we always liked to cook.
Every time him and I get together, it's like, "you bring the smoker, dude?" And he's like, "you know it.
" Look, I'm using liquid nitrogen.
I know.
I'm impressed with you.
I don't really know what Aaron's doing.
He clearly can't cook for , but I am going to develop as many layers of flavors as I can with the jalapeños, the smoked chipotles.
It's gonna be an amazing-tasting dish.
You have five minutes.
Five minutes left, everyone.
Guys, one minute.
Five, four, three, two, one.
Time's up.
Hands up.
Utensils down.
Hello, hello, Gregory, Mei.
So we had steamed dumplings.
So today we prepared a steamed shrimp dumpling with ginger and herbs.
Did you want a dipping sauce or no? I did not want a dipping sauce.
No.
I went kind of a different route.
I went traditional, and I made a pork dumpling.
I dip it into the black vinegar.
I'm a big fan of black vinegar.
The folding's great.
- Well, good job both of you.
- Thank you very much.
- Hello, ladies.
- Hello.
Melissa, Katie.
I did a grilled chicken breast, pine nut baked bean with apple, cucumber, pineapple slaw.
Have you cooked nuts in that kind of style before? No, never.
And, Melissa? I did a smoked and seared scallop with charred corn, smoked bacon, and grilled fennel.
And I just wanted to keep te flavors really bright and clean.
- Thank you both.
- That's great.
When I think smoke, I think fire, and I infused sake broth with smoked jalapeños, chipotle, and then I cold-smoked with the smoking gun the salmon sashimi.
I did a lightly smoked wild salmon.
I brined it very briefly in dark soy, brown-rice wine vinegar, brown sugar.
My brother and I smoke salmon quite a bit.
Normally we brine it for more than five minutes.
- Thank you both.
- Thank you.
- Hello, ladies.
- This is my dish.
I went really traditional.
I did a white-wine butter sauce with thinly shaved bell pepper, fennel, a little serrano chili, shallot.
Stacy, what about your dish? Sliced heirloom tomatoes, basil, masala, onions, and some spinach glass because it's pretty and crunchy.
Great.
Thank you.
I made a little orange and saffron butter.
I steamed my mussels in it.
I did a quick lemon preserve, and I roasted some sweet red peppers.
We're looking kind of similar in the plates, but I think you'll get a different little taste, with some French technique in mine.
Vadouvan-spiced steamed mussels, and I started the mussels in a pot with the vadouvan spice, kind of a dry toss.
Went with a really traditional shallot, garlic, and parsley.
- Steamed them open.
- You talk too much.
It's like you threw the gloves off right now.
You started talking about your food.
- Hey, it's a throwdown.
- Do you think you won? I'm a new yorker.
There's no way I'm letting this kid walk all over me.
- I "prolly" took it.
- "Prolly"? "Prolly.
" Thank you both.
Overall, how do you think they did, Jamie? I was blown away by the different styles of cooking and all the different flavos that everybody brought in today.
Why don't we start with Katsuji and Aaron, who did smoked salmon? Katsuji's dish, I thought the sauce and the salmon worked really well together with the smokiness.
Aaron's dish had not a lot of smoke.
And, ultimately, Katsuji is the winner.
Whoo! You've been smoked.
Doug and Adam.
The mussels were cooked a little more properly in Doug's dish, and I thought that there was a lot of flavor, and the pepitas really sung really well in Adam's dish.
All in all, this one went to Doug.
Thank you.
Stacy, Keriann.
I loved the texture of both the fishes, but, ultimately, the winner was Keriann.
There was more texture and flavor and a little bit more balance in the dish.
Okay, next up, Melissa and Katie.
I liked that you guys went totally two different directions, but, ultimately, I thought that the winner was Katie.
I really, really loved the pine nuts cooked down like a bean like that.
And last but not least, my little dumplings.
Dumplings can, you know, really shine with the ingredient inside of them.
Sometimes they shine with the sauces around them, but really, ultimately, it's all about the flavor.
I just thought that, for me, the winner was - Gregory.
- Thanks, chef.
There are five winners, but only one can win $10,000.
Who is that one chef? There was only one person that, to me, knocked it over the green monster and out of the park, and that was Gregory.
Congratulations.
You've won $10,000 from Reynolds.
Awesome.
If you had a New York City dumpling truck, there would be a line around the block.
Thank you, chef.
I definitely took a risk, and I feel so proud of myself that I was able to beat out the dumpling princess today.
And now it's time for war.
When you're at my level of cooking, then we can cook together.
Your level of cooking is a joke to me.
Those were some really great battles, very close.
And now it's time for war-- quickfire winners versus quickfire losers.
Listed behind me are the five most critical battles of the revolutionary war.
Each of you will battle head-to-head against a chef on the opposing team.
If your dish wins, your team gets a point.
The first team with three points wins.
The strategy is essential.
Think about who you put up for each battle.
The winning team will be safe from elimination, and one chef from the losing team will be going home.
Our first matchup is the battle of Lexington and Concord.
Since you lost the quickfire, your team will have to reveal your strategy first.
Who are you putting up? I'm gonna go first.
I want some redemption right now.
- Okay.
- I'm on it.
- Me.
- Okay, Adam.
Quickfire winners.
You go against him.
Okay, I'll go.
- Okay.
- Doug.
- Dougie.
- Doug for a rematch.
The strategy is to go with the best chefs at the beginning.
So we decided to put Dougie against Adam because Adam wanted revenge, but we know Dougie can win again.
The second major battle is the battle of bunker hill.
Winners, who goes up in that battle? Me.
Second course.
Okay.
You've got to let me redeem myself against Katsuji.
Let's just think about this for a minute, more than just a revenge thing.
There's no way that I'm letting Aaron go up against Katsuji.
We've got to get three wins out of five as quickly as possible.
We're gonna have to be smart about who we pair up with who in order to end up victorious.
You can wait for Greg, and I can take Katsuji.
Have you made your decision? - It'll be me.
- Okay, great.
The third battle was the battle of Trenton.
- Who are you gonna put up? - It will be me.
- Losing team? - Me.
Gregory's winning a lot, and obviously he's the one to beat right now, and I want to beat the best of the best.
Who's going up in the battle of saratoga? That'll be me.
Losing team? Okay, there's a lot of rematches here.
So that means that the final battle, the battle of yorktown, will be Aaron and Katie.
Ooh.
I've already beaten Katie in a sudden-death quickfire.
I know I can take it home if we get to that point.
Before the judges arrive, you will be serving your dishes to 100 guests at the watertown arsenal.
In times of war, food is often scarce.
So, as a team, you only have $1,000 to shop at whole foods.
That's $2 a head.
You're going to have to be very strategic with your dishes if you want to ration your budget to feed all of your guests.
You'll have two and a half hours to cook and prep your dishes here in the Top Chef kitchen.
And then tomorrow you'll have one hour at the arsenal before service begins.
After serving the diners, the head-to-head battles will begin.
Chefs, good luck to all of you.
I'm looking forward to some redemption.
You're gonna get some.
Rocking and rolling.
Taking a hold of the reins, I decide to divvy up our budget.
Each of us has $200 to feed 100 people.
We don't have to have any kind of cohesive menu.
It's simply a matter of get your food on a plate, make it better than the person you're up against.
Polenta.
I thought I grabbed the last three, but they were tucked away in another shelf, so that makes a happy chef.
The only issues I'm really having coming up with my dish is just cost.
So we're all having to kind of scale back our ideas, as far as budget goes.
I probably would have used the strip steak or a filet, but that's gonna be too expensive, so I think I'm gonna go with meatballs.
I'm going to kick Stacy's ass again.
The budget we have is nothing new to me, because growing up, we didn't have a lot.
So I started working when I was 14, just to buy myself school clothes and help my mom out.
You know, I've worked for every single little thing that I have, and this competition is really tough, but I think it's time to prove how much work I've put in and that I can do this.
I'm a little too short for these shelves, I think.
15 minutes.
$12.
99? - What? - I'm not rich, you know.
- We can't survive like this.
- Katsuji! A lot of stuff today.
We're gonna make a thai-style turmeric and ginger soup.
I know when Gregory cooks food, he cooks with super-bold flavors.
So my strategy is to beat Gregory at his own game.
I mean, I'm making New York strip with kimchee vegetables, you know, Korean-barbecue style.
I know my flavors are gonna kill it.
- I'm feeling pumped.
- Oh, that's a good one.
The idea for my dish has kind of taken a nod to spaghetti and meatballs in Asian fashion.
A five-pound ground pork back there for me? So I'm gonna make a scallop noodle with pork meatball, and I definitely feel like it'll beat Katie.
I'm going against Melissa, who's cooked in, like, michelin restaurants, James Beard award chefs.
She definitely has this fine-dining background which I kind of lack a little bit.
So I'm doing a tostada with goat cheese, green olives, dates, and charred cauliflower.
I think this dish actually will come to win the battle because a little bite, but it packs so much flavor that it's just gonna be like a party in your mouth.
Ah! These things are hot.
Mei, how many cucumbers do you need? I think I might be good with what I have.
For my battle, I'm making a white gazpacho with marcona almonds, green grapes.
And Katsuji, I notice, is doing vegetarian as well, but I'm confident because I have a lot of experience behind me.
I've worked for Dominique crenn, Ron Siegel, I've worked at campton place, luce, the ritz Carlton dining room, so I'm not concerned at all.
Katsuji, what about going up against Melissa? How do you think you're gonna do? It's not easy, you know.
I wanted to go against Aaron, but I guess he doesn't have enough balls to go against me.
I'm definitely determined to not let Katsuji get under my skin today and just make my scallop noodles a solid dish.
Aaron, are you doing the shrimp thing again? This is what the shrimp noodles should have been, Katie.
Nice.
It's nice to have a little redemption.
Losing to Aaron in that sudden-death quickfire, that definitely was the low point for me, but today I'm feeling pretty good in the kitchen, because I'm making an imperial-stout cake with pomegranate-molasses strawberries in a smoked sour cream that's gonna take Aaron out tomorrow.
One hour, 15 minutes.
Keriann, did we taste the meatball together? I already tasted one.
It was good, but if you want me to cook one for you, I can.
I'd love to taste one.
In a war setting, you know, you have to work together.
It's not every man for himself.
Everyone's dish has to be amazing, and everything has to be on point as a team.
More chili paste.
How's everybody looking? This garlic is a pain in my dick.
Even though I may be the one leading the charge, I'm not the executive chef of this team.
It is quite the meatball.
Do I have some concerns? Sure, but, ultimately, we are individually responsible for our own dishes so all I need to do is make sure that my dish is good enough to ensure my safety.
Whoa.
Easy, easy, easy.
One Mexican minute left.
That's, like, five American minutes.
I'm really concerned about the texture of the soup.
I think once you put the bread in Melissa, it will be fine.
- Yeah? - Yeah.
If my soup turns out smooth, I know I can win this, but right now I'm not feeling very confident.
Hey, Aaron's over there saying dessert's a cop-out.
He just loves to talk , this guy.
It's war, Gregory.
Damn it, Gregory.
And I'm tired.
- Let's do this.
- Ready, buddy? Yeah, you know it.
Today we're cooking at the Athena health campus, which is home of the historic watertown arsenal.
It looks like it's been stolen straight out of a history book.
You guys ready to lose or what? No! We're feeding 100 people today before we battle head-to-head in front of the judges.
The first team to win three victories, wins the war.
Whoo! Whoo! Chiquito, are you ready to do battle? Born ready.
Katsuji, how's it going back there? I'm good.
Doug, what do you got left to do? - Do you got to cut your beef? - Yeah.
- Better, yeah? - It looks thicker.
Do you want to try? So fresh.
It's really good.
Overnight, the gazpacho sucked up a lot of the bread, but the texture isn't at the consistency that I want it to be, but I'm feeling good about the flavors.
How's everybody doing on time? Good, good, good? I'm ready to beat Katie.
She's baking a cake, so you don't really take cake to war.
He just loves to talk , this guy.
It's war, Gregory.
I'm going to a basic cooking technique.
I think it's a lot stronger than just blending up seafood and xanthan gum.
- That looks nice.
- Guys, we're six to service.
Everybody, if you have a sec, taste your , please.
Aaron, Aaron, Aaron.
What, what, what? Oh! What did we just lose? That whole dashi, dude.
Towards the final moments of us getting ready to go into service, my broth with dashi is on the ground.
I don't know how that possibly happened.
Aaron-- that dashi broth was the only thing keeping his fish moist.
Fortunately, I have some instant dashi mix that I can lend him.
It won't nearly be as good, but it might just be good enough to keep his noodles and balls moist.
Me.
Karma's a bitch.
30 seconds, guys.
That's a lot of people.
Oh, Boston's great, the little bits that we get to see when we're not in the kitchen.
Let me just crack this egg, and I'll get you guys my soldier's breakfast.
- I love the grape.
- And it's cool.
- Like, it's hot today.
- It's cool and refreshing.
Perfect.
Did you bring a musket? - No.
- No? I have my tri-corner hat, though.
I don't have a concealed-weapons permit.
It would be pretty hard to conceal a musket.
No, you can open-carry a musket in most Southern states.
- Really? - Yes.
Yeah.
As much as I love feeding these guests and hearing what they have to say about my food, this has absolutely nothing to do with them.
Ultimately, the four judges will decide the winner of these head-to-head matchups.
It's gonna be a bloodbath out there.
Okay, it's time for the first battle to begin, the battle of Lexington and Concord.
Oh, my God.
Chefs, you have five minutes to plate.
God, that scared the hell out of me.
Will you pass me five plates, buddy? Beef tartare--I think it's a great way to start the war.
Flavors are big.
It's spicy.
It's sweet.
It's steeped in history.
- I would love to kick Adam's ass.
- That's really good, dou.
I do not know who won the battle of Lexington and Concord, but I'm going to guess it was the U.
S.
of a.
Go, America.
Adam, three minutes.
I hear you, little man.
Doug flat out beat me in the quickfire, and I'm looking at this battle as my way of saying, "hey, bud, you didn't win by that much, and now I'm here to show you what I can do.
" My hands are shaking like crazy.
Go, Dougie! Please don't do that.
Good morning, everyone.
Let's start with you, Adam.
So being the first one out of the gate, I wanted to make sure my soldiers were well fed.
So you've got some salt-and-pepper grits, mounted with a little bit of cheddar cheese, a poached egg, a bacon-and-onion jam.
We've had some really crappy grits on this show.
- I've seen it.
I have seen it.
- Those are not crappy grits.
They're kicking.
They're really good.
Thank you, chef.
You ate all of the grits.
I made a little beef tartare with a little ginger aioli on the bottom of the plate and a raw radish tossed in a little bit of chili oil with cilantro.
I thought, like, a nice cold bite would be - kind of like a big bang.
- Mm-hmm.
Yeah, the sourness of the tartare-- it works really well.
I love the fish sauce.
It's nice that it's hand cut, beautifully put together.
I think the meat itself could be a little more seasoned.
- Got it.
- That's the only flaw.
These guys, they're going down.
They're done.
Jamie, who won this battle for you? I have to give it to Adam.
Tom, what do you think? I'm going to have to go with Adam as well.
Hugh? Come on, Dougie.
I think Adam took this one.
I'm going to give this one to Adam as well.
- Take your flag.
- Hey, guys! First flag! Whoo! That's my boy! Whoo! I think they were both great first courses, though.
Yeah, they were.
I just thought Adam's was a little more interesting.
Adam.
God damn it.
Vindication is so sweet.
Okay, chefs, it's time for the battle of bunker hill.
Okay, Katsuji! - All right, here we go.
- Five minutes.
Beautiful.
How's he doing over there? Got too many components on there? What's going on? I'm freaking the out.
I don't know why.
You're good.
You're good.
I think I'm having a panic attack.
My hands are shaking.
I'm sweating cold.
I'm having a panic attack that just came out of nowhere, and I don't know how to really control this.
I'm having a panic attack.
You're fine.
I'm really starting to have the pressure, you know? Oh, God, I really need help right now.
Go, Katsuji.
Let's go, red team! - Let's go, red team! - Go, Katsuji! I think I'm having a panic attack.
Don't fall back on the deep fryers.
I'm not gonna fall.
Let's start with you, Katsuji.
So, on the bottom, we have the tostada.
On top of it, it's goat cheese.
Then charred cauliflower, sliced olives, dates.
On top of it, tomato and chilled dipping chili sauce.
It's a little rich with how much oil was still on there with the goat cheese.
I agree, because it finished a little, you know, heavy.
Okay.
But it was good overall, and I like the crunch.
I like the texture.
I thought the cauliflower was cooked beautifully.
The old-school play-by-play here, kids.
Time to go in for the water.
Looks like the tacos might be a little bit salty.
I made a chilled white gazpacho with cucumber, green grapes, marcona almonds, and some mint.
Yeah, I thought the flavors on it were really good.
Just the textural thing-- it was a little thin for my liking.
I would have wanted it a little thicker.
I agree with you exactly on the consistency of it just being watery.
Jamie, who won this head-to-head battle? Katsuji.
Thank you so much.
Melissa won for me.
Hugh? Katsuji.
Melissa, come on, girl.
Tom? Katsuji.
And the blue team took the battle of bunker hill.
Yeah! Go, Katsuji! How the did that happen? The only thing wrong to me with Melissa's gazpacho is that it was watery.
It was watery and a little sweet.
See, I didn't find it that way.
Oh, I did.
- Ah! - Good job! I told you it was good.
Well, we'll get there.
We got Mei up next to bat.
Okay, chefs, get ready for the battle of Trenton.
.
All right.
Right now we're tied, and it's extremely crucial to get this win.
I've tasted my curry so many times today.
It's bright.
It's developed.
It's flavorful.
I'm feeling very confident.
Six, five You got this, girl.
- All right, Mei! - All right.
Go, Gregory! - Good afternoon, judges.
- Hello.
Thank you.
Let's start with you, Gregory.
For today's lunch, we have shiitake mushrooms in a coconut-milk broth flavored with turmeric, green curr, and some fresh dill.
This is something that, when I've been in Thailand, this is definitely refreshing, hot-weather food.
Yeah, I knew we would be outside and it would be warm, so I wanted to do something lighter.
This is seasoned so perfectly well.
One more grain of salt, this is too salty, and one less, and it destructs the dish.
- It's just right there.
- Thank you, chef.
- Hi, Mei.
- Hi.
I made some kimchee vegetables with New York strip loin and some scallion salad on top.
- The beef is perfectly cooked.
- Yeah.
For a quick kimchee, you didn't miss anything.
These are really good dishes.
Yeah, you nailed both of them.
They're great.
This is the clash of titans.
- Yeah.
- Yeah.
Hugh? - Gregory wins this one.
- Thank you, chef.
Tom? Gregory.
I have to give it to Gregory.
Gregory, you have won the battle of Trenton.
Yeah, Gregory! Whoo-hoo! This dish was solid.
- Losing twice sucks.
- Whatever.
You know what? Gregory-- he has a way of balancing a lot of different things.
All these aromatics that just go perfectly well together.
Oh.
It's time for the battle of saratoga.
Whoo! Go, girl.
I got this.
If I win, we all win the entire competition, so there's a lot of pressure on me right now.
I am gonna win this battle.
I'm super excited.
That's good.
Rep Boston, girl.
You got this.
Bring it home.
Keriann doesn't stand a chance.
She can't cook.
Stacy, tell us about what you made.
Marinated beets with a pecan-sage yogurt, horseradish brittle, and fresh horseradish.
So often people overthink how to cook beets, but these were really great.
- Thank you, chef.
- The horseradish, I think, could have been a little stronger.
The pecan yogurt is a little on the bland side.
What did you do, Keriann? Today I made an herbed meatball with a red-onion jam.
I made a ginger mustard, and then I finished it with a port reduction.
I liked your meatball.
It could have been slightly more moist, but I thought the star - of this plate was your jam.
- Thank you.
I think I had a different dish.
I thought the meatball was dry.
All I got was onion.
The compote was overly sweet.
Sorry.
I'm just not a fan of this at all.
This could be a defining moment and the end of the war.
There is so much pressure on me right now, not only from myself, but from my teammates.
If Keriann wins this, then we're up on the chopping block.
My eyeballs are twitching.
I'm getting such a headache.
I'm getting stressed.
I would have never allowed that to happen.
There's no one in this room that's gonna tell me what to make.
Dougie, you should be looking at it the other way.
There's plenty of cute girls out there looking for love.
Dougie, are your balls nicer than Keriann's balls? Shut the up for a minute.
Katsuji literally never stops talking.
He's just, like, this parakeet saying the dumbest stuff.
I wish my wife was as dirty as Aaron's pants.
Katsuji definitely marches to the beat of his own drum.
He's about 5% really annoying and 95% hilarious and awesome.
He is the most complex human being I have ever met.
The score is 2-1 in favor of the blue team.
If the blue team takes this, the war is won.
But, Stacy, you take it, then it's 2-2.
One more blue flag, and we're on the bottom.
Adam doesn't want to be on the bottom.
Jamie, who won this battle? Stacy.
Jamie picked Stacy.
- Stacy.
- Thank you, chef.
- I think Stacy.
- Thank you, chef.
Congratulations, Stacy.
You won the battle of saratoga.
- Whoo! - Yes! Nice job! Imagine that.
Yes! I won! I took that pageant chef down.
I'm not going to sit here and say that beet dish was very good.
I just thought this was really bad.
It's up to you now.
You got to kick Aaron's .
It was up to all of us.
All right, chefs, coming up, the battle of yorktown.
This is our final battle.
I guess the war always comes down - to the last battle, doesn't it? - It does.
- Aaron, no pressure.
- Come on, Aaron.
I live every day under pressure, sir.
Thank God for the dashi, Mei.
I got confidence in my boy and you got to play up your technique here, homey.
I've got a couple mixed thoughts about my dish, but I'm still feeling good.
The ambition shows a lot of heart and a lot of character in the dish.
You know, if the judges see that, I still might win this thing.
If chocolate cake kills me today, I will shoot myself in the face.
Redemption.
Redemption.
Pure and utter redemption.
All right, Katie.
- Bring it home.
- All right, guys.
I can feel all of their eyes resting on me, pressuring me, saying, "don't screw up.
" Come on, Aaron.
Talk a bunch of .
Back it up.
- What'd you make? - I kind of did, like, an Asian-inspired pork meatball with scallop noodles.
So the inspiration was kid of like spaghetti and meatballs, but done in an Asian fashion.
Are you happy with the noodle? It doesn't have as much texture as I was hoping for.
The scallops--you're right.
There's no texture.
They don't do anything for it.
They just kind of fall apart.
I like the idea of this dish.
Dashi's okay.
A good amount of smokiness, but lacking a little balance.
My broth fell on the ground today.
So Mei had dashi in a box.
That's the only way you got dashi today.
Definitely explaining the story - of what happened right now.
- Katie.
I made an imperial-stout chocolate cake, smoked sour cream, a pomegranate-molasses macerated strawberry, a little bit of a basil, pink peppercorn oil.
And I think the cake is actually nicely made.
- It's nice and moist.
- Thank you.
It's good.
It's classic.
It's just not that exciting.
So this is not the first tie you guys have gone head-to-head.
What is the feeling between you two? You know, I'm fine with it.
I think it's interesting when we start getting riled up, and across the way, you hear someone say, "oh, doing a dessert's a cop-out.
" And then you start feeling a little bit different about somebody.
Why would someone say dessert's a cop-out? You know, that's a really good question--let's ask Aaron.
Because dessert is usually where people screw up on this show, and if you're strong doing desserts-- oh, I totally agree, but I thought this was a war challenge, and I don't see anyone bringing chocolate cake to war.
Have you ever seen them bring a scallop noodle to a war? Because I don't know about that either, but-- There's not way we're losing against these .
- There's no way.
- Oh, Aaron, do us proud, bud.
Tom, who won this head-to-head battle? - Katie.
- Thank you.
Hugh? I think dessert.
Katie wins.
Thank you.
Katie.
Did she win? - Katie.
- Yes! Oh, .
Yeah! Congratulations, blue team.
God damn it.
Thank you.
Thank you.
I got to say, I just did not like that meatball.
Sorry, guys.
They just straight up didn't like my dish, like, every component was murdered, so Pound for pound, the dishes that we had today were really good.
Probably the best food we've had all season, but the red team lost, and so someone from their team is going home.
Adam's egg dish with grits was the best grits I've ever had at Top Chef.
I think Adam is safe from elimination.
I think Adam, and I think Mei is as well.
- Yes, Mei did amazingly well.
- Mei did great.
Yep.
So that leaves us Stacy, Aaron, and Melissa.
We have to decide which one of those are going home.
I think Stacy's beets were great.
Would you put Stacy's dish on a menu in your restaurant? No.
See, I put that dish pretty close to Melissa's dish.
I didn't think the gazpacho was much better.
Stacy's dish isn't gonna get her into Harvard, but that gazpacho, I would flunk them out of home ec.
I also really didn't like Aaron's dish.
Oh, Aaron.
It's too bad that Aaron dropped the dashi.
I mean, he was really ambitious, and if he pulled it off, it would have been great.
I think that Aaron came with a lot of weapons to this battle-- he just didn't load them.
Someone should have talked him out of this.
Someone on his team should have said, "scallop noodle is not the way to go.
" I really think Adam figured, "you know what? Do it.
Because if we lose, I know I'm beating you.
" He's playing chess.
- He's playing chess, yeah.
- Yep.
- Heads held high, yeah? - Yeah.
Good job, team.
Good job.
Well, I think we know who's going home, guys.
Mm-hmm.
Let's go back to judges' table.
Tom, how do you think they did? Overall, I think the chefs did really, really well.
You know, whatever you guys are doing, just keep doing it.
You're on the right track, and you're definitely giving us better food.
Well, blue team, congratulations on winning the war.
- Thank you.
- Thank you, guys.
Thank you very much.
You can step over here, please.
Red team, the five of you lost the war.
And one of you will be eliminated.
Adam, let me ask you a question.
All you had to do was beat one other person on your team.
- Did you think of that? - Chef, 100%.
Anybody else think of that? Everybody was thinking of tha.
That's okay.
It's a competition.
You should, you know.
It's part of the game.
You know, Mei, you got glowing reviews from us in winning your head-to-head, but you had to feel pretty good and look around at your teammates and go, "well, I'm pretty sure I'm safe.
" I just tried to put out the best food that I can, and I feel like I did that today.
Adam and Mei, we loved both your dishes.
The two of you are safe.
That means Aaron, Melissa, and Stacy, you three are up for elimination.
Did you guys feel really strong about your dishes? Do you feel like if you had to go back, you would make those dishes again? I like that I took a vegetarian dish to keep the food cost low, but looking back, I was concerned with the texture.
But a classic dish has to be-- if it's simple, it has to be perfect.
Take a step back and look at your food and let your food talk to you.
Like, taste it.
Think about it.
Eat all the different pieces as you're making it, and as you're chewing, say "what are the textures here that I'm missing? How can I fix this?" If you make something that simple, you need to nail it.
Just the texture just fell apart-- kind of just watery at the finish.
Aaron, you, on the other hand, bit off more than you could chew.
You didn't nail the noodles.
So what would you have done differently to your dish? You know, in retrospect, I should have built texture within those noodles to kind of let up from that mushiness.
Did you just say you knew that the noodle would be mushy in texture? I wanted a little texture contrast between the two.
- So did I.
- I understand.
- Yeah.
- Did anybody think to say, "really? You're doing scallop noodles and a broth and a meatball?" Nobody thought to say, "is this a wise decision?" I, personally, as one of the louder voices on this team, had confidence, insomuch as that he was presenting it like, "I got this.
"And there's no one in this room that's gonna tell me what to make.
" Gregory, you're raising your hand? I would have never allowed that to happen.
If you want to win as a team, you have to collectively work together as a team, and we've seen each other cook enough that we know what we're strong at and what we're weak at.
I'm not gonna sit here and say that I potentially didn't se a disaster that was on the horizon, but that was the decision that he made.
As a teammate, I felt he could probably beat Katie with that dish.
So, Stacy, you're probably standing here saying, "I won my battle.
- What's going on with me?" - Maybe a little.
Do you think you would have won that battle if you went up against your other teammates or anybody else on the other team? Yeah.
I felt strongly about it.
In your case of your win, you went up against a weak dish.
You know, chefs, it was really great to see you battle head-to-head.
Unfortunately, for one of you, you lost the war, and you'll be going home.
You know, chefs, it was really great to see you battle head-to-head.
Clearly it brought out the competition in you.
You gave us some great food.
Fortunately for the blue team, the cavalry arrived just at the right time, and, unfortunately, for one of you, you lost the war, and you'll be going home.
Aaron, please pack your knives and go.
Thank you.
Yeah, Aaron, I just think you tried to do way too much with this dish.
I think you let your team down and you let yourself down.
It's been a complete honor and a pleasure just to stand in the grace of all of you.
And these co-chefs here, you know, I'm the youngest here.
I didn't go to culinary school.
And I've had an amazing time, and I just thank you for that.
The rest of you chefs can say your good-byes.
Good luck to you, Aaron.
The experience on Top Chef has been an awesome one, you know.
I caused a lot of and didn't make many friends, but I proved a lot for someone who hasn't been trained.
It was an honor to rub elbows with these chefs that have a lot more experience than me.
I'll see you in L.
A.
I want people who think that they don't have a chance in life, I want them to take a look at my situation and realize that you can come from nothing with no help and no support, and if you put your all into it, you can achieve what you're looking for.
Next on Top Chef You guys are gonna go harvest these Cranberries.
Cold, cold, cold, cold, cold! I think I threw up in my pants.
Your dishes will take a huge step back in time.
Let's check out the house we're cooking in.
It's really hard to make all this fire.
- Whoo.
- Oh, my God.
You look like you're having a hard time.
- How's the bird? - My goose is still really, really chewy, so I totally start panicking.
It was just, like, dry and a little rough.
My dish was great.
It was one of my least favorite bites of the meal.
This is gonna be a game changer for everybody.
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