Top Chef (2006) s12e11 Episode Script

Yeah, it's not gonna be the same without Doug.
That's, like, super sad.
For our last challenge, we created a dish inspired by Julia child, and Doug took the biggest risk by serving whole roasted foie gras to this very discerning table of judges.
I would have done it earlier and let it rest.
He's like my bro.
I know, right? It's like, this is not how I expected things to be.
We're so close to the finale.
We all know it's a very delicate line at this point between taking a risk and doing something that you know you can execute on that perfect level.
- Congrats, Mei.
- Good job.
- You too, bro.
- Thanks.
Me and you, not so much.
It comes down to the little details.
I was expecting the short ribs to be a little more unctuous, and I find mine a little dry.
I feel I haven't been able to show what I can do.
To go backwards and be on the bottom again, it's an emotional up-and-down roller coaster for me.
It just doesn't get easier.
To make it to final four, it feels so good, but at the same time, it's been such a long journey to get here.
I miss my family, and I miss my girlfriend.
It's difficult to be here and not have that support.
It's real now.
Now it's four.
- Yeah, it's us four.
- Yeah.
We got a little Asian, a lesbian Asian, a gay black dude, and a white straight guy.
That's the start of a joke.
It doesn't get more diverse than that.
Walk into the-- walk into the Top Chef kitchen.
Four chefs remain to compete in the ultimate test of culinary skill.
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, chefs.
Please welcome your guest judge for this round, 2014 James Beard award winner Ashley Christensen.
Welcome, Ashley.
Thank you.
It's nice to be here.
There's only four of you standing here, fighting for the grand prize of $125,000 furnished by Healthy Choice and, of course, the title of Top Chef.
Chefs, today there will be no quickfire challenge because you have a lot of work ahead of you.
Oh, man.
For your next challenge, you will be heading to island creek oyster farm in Duxbury.
You'll dredge for oysters, dig for clams-- you'll even forage for your own seaweed and sea beans.
Wow.
That's awesome.
Chefs, when we're working with locally-sourced ingredients, we're working with the freshest ingredients out there, and we're also telling a story that shares a sense of place.
Each of you will be responsible for two dishes: One appetizer and one entree.
Chefs, this is a huge job, so we're gonna give you a little help.
Oh, my God.
Oh, my God.
Oh, my.
Really? Hi.
Sweetheart, I love you so much.
Oh, my goodness.
Oh, wow.
I did not at all expect to see my mother walk through the Top Chef kitchen.
I'm a mama's girl, so it's comforting to have my mom here.
This is gonna be so fun.
Oh, my God.
We're all at a very emotional point in this competition, so to see my sister-- my best friend and someone I love so dearly-- it's the best thing ever right now.
- It's so crazy.
- Yeah.
What's up, dad? Me and my father are very close.
I'm just super happy to see him.
- I can't believe you're here.
- What's up? My little brother, he's four years younger than me.
We didn't exactly get along growing up.
He was just always a little brat.
This is gonna be crazy.
Surprise.
To really make a difference in cooking takes so much of your time.
We're often away from our families, and they truly are the ones making the greatest sacrifice.
Today they'll be on hand to support you again by being your sous chefs.
.
I knew it.
Mei, you look crazy.
I'll do all the work.
You know, I'm a little freaked out, 'cause I know harly can't cook.
Hopefully he listens to every single thing I say.
Otherwise, I'm gonna beat the out of him.
George, do you think your dad is able to take direction from you well? I don't know.
My dad's the boss.
Always is, always will be.
That's why I call him "Mr.
Tony.
" I worked at my father's diner since I was a little kid.
That's how I got into cooking.
That's how I got my work ethic.
And I always look up to him, but he's very intimidating.
Nothing's ever good enough with this man.
For the next 24 hours, you will be shopping and cooking together.
After you source your ingredients today, you'll stay overnight in the seaside town of gloucester.
Oh, and there's one more catch.
Oh, no.
You will not be able to touch your appetizers at all.
Those will be executed entirely by your loved ones.
And, chefs, we want to see what you can do without the fear of elimination.
That's right.
No one will go home.
But we expect to see creativity in both your dishes.
This is pretty intense.
You don't have to worry about going home, so you can really push yourself and take a chance and go for a winning dish.
And, chefs, you must prove your leadership skills in the kitchen by guiding your loved ones.
For one of you, it could be the most important service of your life.
The winner of this elimination challenge will go directly to the final rounds in San Miguel de allende, Mexico.
Oh, my God.
This is so major.
This is what we've all been fighting for-- a ticket to Mexico and the Top Chef finals-- and it's one step sooner.
We all want this really, really bad.
We'll see you tomorrow.
- Good luck to all of you.
- Good luck, chefs.
Thank you.
At least no one gets eliminated.
I did not expect that our family-- - me neither.
- Our parents to be here.
I have no words to describe how I feel now.
She's my baby.
- I still call her "baby.
" - She does.
And I keep telling her, "no matter how old you are, I will still call you 'baby.
'" I'm, like, 30 years old, mom.
The winner goes to the finals.
The people who don't win, we have to battle.
We have to go another I'm just not, like, lovey-dovey with my family.
I've always been the black sheep of my family.
I picked a career that they were against.
My parents are in the restaurant business.
They work seven days a week, 14 hours a day, and no parent really wants that for their kid.
- Next year? - Yeah.
Jesus Christ, what are you on? - Like, the ten-year plan? - Oh, yeah.
My brother does listen to my parents a lot more than I do.
He's, like, the perfect child, and, like, my parents give him whatever he wants.
We've been waiting to go to the beach.
This is so amazing.
- Hello, guys.
Welcome to Island Creek Oysters.
Island creek is an oyster farm that started 20 years ago.
We sell our oysters all over the United States.
Skip and I own two oyster bars in Boston, and really, the hard work that happens in all the kitchens starts here on the farm.
We're gonna go out on the water, get some oysters, and see what skip gathered up for us today.
- You guys ready? - Yeah.
All right, let's go.
I love being close to the water, and I love seafood, but all I'm thinking is, I'm so close to the end.
I got to lock myself a place in the finals.
I need to nail this challenge.
- This is sick.
- I know.
All right, guys, so this is where we planted the oysters last year.
Hopefully they're still here.
So you use a small dredge to drag it along the ocean floor, and we catch the oysters that are down there.
Ooh.
You know, you'll see all kinds of critters here.
It's so cool.
One of you guys want to operate the hauler? Hard.
Like you hate it.
Oh.
My brother broke their crank, so we had to do it by hand.
Start pulling.
All the way.
Oh, yeah, this-- this definitely keeps getting better and better.
I wonder why we're not getting any out.
It's jammed up there.
The handle broke off, so This is not good.
Go.
Go.
Go, go, go, go, go, go, go.
- Where's that at? - Go grab shallots.
And where is that? Harly's working really slow.
What the ? We're at island creek oyster farm, and we get to forage for our own ingredients.
Oh, yeah.
There we go.
Oh, this is so cool.
- All right, should we try one? - Yeah.
- Let's try one.
- Right out of the water? One for my dad.
Just try it.
Come on.
My dad does know his way around the kitchen, so I definitely feel I have a little bit of an advantage.
But I'm just kind of nervous to tell Mr.
Tony what to do.
Like, he's always been Mr.
Tony, the boss.
- Go on.
- Hey.
No, no, no, no, no.
Swallow it.
Ooh.
What can you do with these things? Can't eat 'em.
Now we're gonna head back to the oysterplex.
We got you a bunch of other products for you guys to kind of shop through, so - Awesome.
- All right.
Not a bad way to spend the day, right? Right.
The oysterplex.
Thank you.
We also have other shellfish that island creek offers.
There's a really amazing array of things.
Grab a bag.
Some littlenecks off the farm.
Chondrus, oysters, lobsters.
Yeah, so these are surf clam.
This is the tongue.
This is the best.
Like, this muscle here.
Try it raw, yeah.
- It's incredible.
- It's so sweet.
There's a lot of beautiful seafood here.
I'm thinking about using the lobster and the surf clam as well as the sea bean.
I want to keep the surf clam raw.
Definitely think I'm taking a risk, because I don't normally serve it this way, but the flavors of my sauce are gonna stand out.
This could be my ticket to Mexico.
I can't wait to cook.
I picked up lobsters, seaweed, and the sea beans.
What are you planning on getting your mother to do? Have you heard of chawanmushi? It's a Japanese, like, egg custard with clams.
When I was a kid, I was very restless, and I couldn't sleep, and my mom would heat up a glass of milk in the microwave with an egg and sugar.
It was almost like a custard, and it would put me to sleep immediately.
So I'm thinking about having my mom make an egg custard.
I'll keep a easy list for you, and then I'll also keep an eye on you.
Grab a shopping cart, mom.
These are the chilies I was telling you about.
The chilies for the puree? My sister and I, we've always had an amazing relationship.
One of our earliest experiences cooking together was this one time I tried to bake a cake, and it was such an epic fail.
Instead of leaving any evidence that we tried to bake a cake, we wrapped it up in plastic bags, rode our bikes down the block, and, like, dumped this plastic bag of burned cake under a bush.
Hopefully we'll have a better cooking experience on this challenge.
I'll just take whatever you have left.
Just take that one piece or something.
20 minutes, guys.
Where the hell did my dad go? Anybody seen my dad? Mr.
Tony? Oh, there you are.
I've never really shopped with my father before.
All right, let's go.
We're done.
This definitely goes up there as one of the most memorable shopping experiences.
Let's go that way.
Got my assistant over here.
Time for coffee, George.
You want a cup of coffee? There's a lot riding on this right now.
I want to make a really nice, flavorful dish, but I don't want to overcomplicate it because while I'm working on my dish, I need to keep track of Mr.
Tony.
So for my entree, I'm doing butter-poached lobster with some roasted sunchokes.
Mr.
Tony, he's gonna be making grilled oyster with razor clams on top.
Just hang out for a minute, dad.
Let me just kind of walk up and down.
All right.
Seven minutes.
Harly, coconut water.
- Coconut water? - Yeah.
- Go, go, go, go, go, go, go.
- Where's that at? I had a list of four things for harly to grab, and he's working really slow.
And I'm just like, what the ? - Go grab shallots.
- And where is that? Over there.
Go get lemons.
Go.
Go.
Okay? Yeah, yeah, yeah.
I got everything.
- So we're good.
- Hold on.
Hold on, harly.
- Thank you.
- No problem.
I don't think I've ever gone through any market that fast ever.
Holy crap.
I know.
- Oh, my God.
- I know.
It is just so amazing to be out of the city, hanging out with my sister.
You guys want to make some dinner? My sister and I have always been very close.
She supported me throughout a lot of my ups and downs.
You know, I had my kind of crazy party days abusing drugs and alcohol, and, you know, when I finally decided to get clean and sober, my sister's love was still there.
And I'm very happy that she's here again for me today on Top Chef.
Can we do something? We're just sitting around.
You know, you could start putting us to work.
You guys just hang out, relax.
You guys have a lot of cooking to do tomorrow, so So Melissa started cooking when she was very young? - Oh, yeah.
- That's awesome.
Senior year of high school, and I said, "what college do you want to go to?" "No, I want to go to CIA.
" I said, "oh, my God.
You want to be James Bond?" "Oh, no, mom.
CIA.
Culinary institute of America.
" I was like, "well, how come you don't want to be a doctor? How come you don't want to be a lawyer?" You know, even today, Melissa's dad would not-- probably not accept this.
He's never come into any of my restaurants.
He just doesn't, like-- I don't know.
We just sort of avoid-- avoid the subject, you know? My parents are divorced, but to this day, my mom still gets really upset that my dad doesn't really want to involve himself in my life.
Whether that's me being gay or me cooking, it's like, out of sight, out of mind.
It's hard to not have that support.
You know, I want him to just feel proud.
I told her.
I said, "college comes first.
"After four years college, you can do what you want.
I'll support you.
" My mom was the backbone.
She encouraged me that I could do anything I wanted, and she's supported me through everything in my life, and I just appreciate that so much about her.
My dad made me go to college too, first, and then afterwards, I was like, "I want to get in the restaurant business.
" Like, "all right, well, you got to go to school.
" And then I went to CIA.
After culinary school, the idea was for me to kind of get back into the diner business, but when I graduated college, I really wanted to get into fine dining.
And my father's always so intimidated about the food that I cook now.
But it was a big place.
It was super busy.
There was, like, a million things on the menu too.
After, like, 27 years in business, my father sold his diner, and then the money that he made from that, he invested into my restaurant.
It just goes to show you that Greek parents will do anything for their children.
My dad always did that look.
He'd, like, come in, his glasses down.
I'm like, "oh, man.
" I'm like, "I'm gonna get yelled at.
" - Mei's always been bossy.
- She's always been bossy? Yeah.
I mean, she did a lot for me when we were growing up, so I, like, deal with it.
But, like, yeah.
She's, like, tough, you know? Mei, your parents didn't want you to become a chef? No.
They just don't want a hard life for you.
You know, Melissa and I had the same upbringing.
Melissa's really tight with her mom, and I think that's great, but both of my parents are like her dad.
And, you know, I'm fine with it.
I'm doing this for myself.
To get their approval would be nice, but I don't need it.
One of the reasons why I came on is to push myself to the next level.
To be here with all you guys-- I mean, we all deserve to be here for sure.
- Yeah.
- Hey, final four, guys.
- Final four.
- Cheers.
I hope I didn't give my mom too much stuff to do.
Jessica does need a little bit of help with her knife cuts.
What are you doing? Tablespoon or a teaspoon? Good catch.
Good morning.
Yes.
Ready to go to work today? Today we have two hours to cook with our family member.
Us, the chefs, are responsible for the entrees, and our family member are responsible for the appetizers.
My dad said if he knew what we were gonna do, then he never would've came.
I'm confident my father knows how to cook, but at the same time, I just hope he's able to take orders from me, especially since we have to cook "high tech.
" I got to find that happy medium where I know my father can handle it.
Your focal point is just make sure everything's, like, clean and perfect.
Got it.
Are you feeling okay for today? Wonderful.
It looks like a lot, just 'cause I wrote down every detail.
And I'll be there, you know, watching you.
My mom, I think she's nervous.
She just doesn't want to let me down.
This is a big day for us.
I have the chance to get into the finals.
I would never get mad at her if she messed up, but she would feel really upset.
I don't want her to carry that burden.
24 steps? don't worry.
Relax.
The first thing I need to get done when I get into the kitchen at the lobster pool is, get all the ingredients out so I can teach my brother how to make the sauce.
You know what you need to do.
You have the recipe.
Go ahead and start doing all of that.
I'm very scared that Mei's gonna kick my ass if I mess up, because this is her thing.
I'm totally gonna follow her direction.
I'll punch you if anything happens.
Start juicing lemons, okay? Just cut it.
Juicing lemons.
- A knife? - Get a cutting board.
Get a cutting board.
Get a cutting board.
Cutting board.
Get a cutting board.
I can be a total control freak in the kitchen.
Work clean.
Work organized.
Work straight.
If something's not organized, that actually kind of makes me a little crazy.
Should I start juicing limes now? No, zest the lemons now.
All right.
Dude, just-- don't do it like that.
Sh-sh-sh-sh.
I'm getting really pissed off at my brother because he's working really slow, not with a sense of urgency.
I can't let my brother mess up my chances to get into the finals.
I need him to move faster.
What are you doing? Tablespoon or a teaspoon? Good catch.
We have an hour and 30 minutes left.
- All right.
- Ready? - Ready.
- Let's do this.
- Good luck, brother.
- Thanks.
Jess, let's work over here.
Okay, so we're gonna start with the tomatoes.
You're gonna rinse them off.
That's perfect.
We'll cut them in half, and then we'll take out the seeds, and then we're gonna chop them up.
You know, it's definitely a little bit challenging to not be able to touch something that you're trying to create, but as an executive chef, I'm used to having to explain myself and having someone execute my vision.
So you squeeze the tomatoes out into this.
Not having an elimination for this challenge, you want to put everything you have on the table because the winner of this challenge get a straight ticket to the Top Chef finals.
So for my entree today, I'm cooking some Halibut with some oysters and mussels.
Enough ginger or more? Yeah, that's definitely enough ginger.
This dish is different from what the judges are used to getting from me.
It's more focused on umami today than bright acids and tons of herbs.
I'm not playing it safe.
I think that you're under control, so just, like, really have me taste everything as we keep going.
How's it going, Mei? He's annoying the out of me.
Trying to teach this kid how to work.
- Almost one hour left, harly.
- All right.
All right, dad.
I think we're ready to go.
- Yeah.
- Let's do it.
My biggest concern right now for my dish is Mr.
Tony.
He retired a few years ago.
I'm hoping he's not too rusty.
Just take-- just put 'em all.
He keeps reassuring me things are gonna be okay.
Dad, just leave them there and put cold water.
Yeah.
- Jesus.
- Careful.
Jessica does need a little bit of help with her knife cuts, so I'm getting slowed down because I have to stop and help her a little bit.
But it's to be understood, as she's never really worked in a kitchen situation like this before.
You want almost the same amount of tomato as watermelon.
That's so hard to gauge, but okay.
We're gonna need them kind of small, dad, 'cause they're gonna go on that oyster.
You can do whatever you want.
Okay, let's go get set up.
My mom's not always the best listener, but I'm hoping today she can stay focused and really pay attention to her prep list.
She's made Chinese custards before.
I just hope I didn't give my mom too much stuff to do.
This is your knife right here, mom.
I decided to do lobster today because I know it's my mom's favorite dish.
I'm gonna put it alongside beautiful spring vegetables.
I want her to focus on her dish and not to worry about anything else.
All the stressful stuff, I'll handle.
We're at a hour, 26 minutes, mom.
- Hey, chefs.
- Hey, chef.
Hey, family.
- Hey, Mei.
How's it going? - Good.
How are you? - This is my brother, harly.
- Harly, hey.
- How you doing? How's it going? - Pretty good.
Do you realize your brother's burning his mushrooms? What's wrong with you, harly? You trying to blow it for your sister? So, Mei, you cook with your brother all the time, don't you? No, he doesn't actually know how to cook, so - I figured that out already.
- Yeah.
What exactly are you teaching him to do then? He's gonna be doing the oysters raw with a yuzu-soy vinaigrette and some radish.
So what's the strategy here? Do you make your brother do the grunt work? No, I'm trying to have him do the least amount of work as possible.
So I don't mess anything up.
That's the strategy here.
All right, good luck.
I'll see you later.
- All right.
- Thank you, chef.
- Hey, Gregory.
- Hey, chef.
- How's it going? - Good.
How are you? This is my sister, Jessica, chef.
- Hi.
- Hey, Jessica.
How you doing? - Nice to meet you.
- How's it going? - Good, good.
- Having fun? Yes.
So what are you messing up for your brother? I'm making a tomato-watermelon soup.
Okay, how psyched would you be if you make the appetizer that gets your brother into the finale? Oh, my God, what? - He would owe me forever.
- Exactly.
He'll owe you forever.
- I'll let you guys get to work.
- Thank you.
- Good luck.
- Thank you so much, chef.
Be careful.
- Hey, George.
- Hey, chef.
That's my father, Tony.
- Hey, Tony.
How you doing? - How are you? So you've done this before, right? - Cooked with your father, right? - Yes, absolutely.
We used to work at my father's diner when I was a kid, and now he's helping me instead of me helping him.
I have a funny feeling he'd still say you're helping him.
It's funny, 'cause you rose up in a diner, and now you got to be all fancy, right? Yeah, like, when I used to work at le cirque, he used to come in and eat, and he's just like "Eh.
" So what are you making? He's doing a grilled oyster, and we'll do, like, a little garlic butter on top.
Just, you know, something kind of simple that he can execute.
And then I'm doing a lobster with sunchokes with vadouvan.
- Good luck.
- All right, thank you.
Take care, Tony.
Nice meeting you.
Okay, chefs and family members, everything looks great.
Mei, you're up in about 40 minutes.
- Good luck.
- Thank you.
Thank you, chef.
- See this muscle right here? - Yeah.
And that's it.
That's an oyster.
So just shuck eight.
We want to make sure this tastes great.
Make sure there's, like, not any grit.
I double-checked already.
You're doing a really good job.
I definitely got pretty pissed in the beginning with my brother, but after yelling at him, he's doing really well.
He started working a little bit faster.
I'm glad I'm getting through it.
- This is lovely.
- Yeah.
It is beautiful.
Thank you for being here.
- It's amazing.
- Yeah.
Cheers.
So the chefs, they have to do an appetizer and an entree.
The appetizer is being actually cooked by the family member, and they cannot touch any bit of the dish at all.
They can demo it, they can show them how to do it, but they cannot touch it.
I've been there.
That's hard.
- It is hard.
- And with family members-- they'll drive you crazy.
It looks pretty good To me.
Tastes pretty good too.
Go big or go home, right? Harly's appetizer looks great, I'm feeling really good about my dish, and I'm thinking we can win this challenge today.
And one of these.
So you want to hold this in your right hand, 'cause you're gonna pour it with your right hand.
You're gonna hold this in your left hand, okay? Ooh, I love that you used surf clams.
- That's great.
- Yes.
- Hi, Mei.
- Hi.
How are you? - Hi, harly.
- Hi.
- Did you shuck the oysters? - Yeah.
- Good job.
- Yeah, beautiful.
I'm impressed.
It was actually my first time.
- No way.
- Yeah.
What did you make? I made a oyster with a soy-yuzu vinaigrette, and it's garnished with sea bean and radish.
Harly, can you take us through what you did with the oyster? I had to grate a lot of stuff, like-- Including your sister's nerves? Harly, your oyster's terrible.
No, I'm joking.
Your oyster's really good, harly.
I'm joking.
I'm joking.
It's great.
- It's fantastic.
- Yeah.
Mei? So I made for you a surf clam and lobster in a tomato-coconut broth.
I just tasted the surf clam, and it's amazing--delicate.
- Is it raw? - Yes.
Mei, you know what's really great about this? It's the balance.
There's a little sweetness from the coconut.
The acid from the seaweed's really nice.
The seafood is perfectly cooked.
This is a really good dish.
The broth is incredible.
I'm super happy with how it's seasoned.
Thank you so much.
Tell us what it was like working with harly.
I just tried to get him to work with a sense of urgency, 'cause he was just kind of going really slow at the beginning.
I'm really proud of him, so Do you have a newfound respect fro what your sister does? Oh, yeah.
Definitely.
You know, like-- top four, you know? Yeah, good job.
- Thank you both.
- Thank you.
I'm definitely grateful for this experience.
Knowing that my brother supports me being a chef-- we've bonded a lot over this.
Mei's surf clam was an absolute revelation.
- It was.
- This broth was great though.
It not being too tomato, too coconut-- it was like--to me, just a really neat pairing.
Put all the small bowls on one side, all the big ones on the other side.
As time is running out, I'm more focused on helping my sister plate her dish, and I wasn't really paying too much attention to my Halibut.
You're gonna put three pieces of watermelon in each bowl.
The small bowls are the soup bowls.
- They're for you.
- Okay.
I check my oven.
It's actually hotter than I want it to be, so I pull my Halibut out right away.
The last thing I want to do is serve overcooked Halibut to the judges.
Should I pour it on top of the shrimp, or-- no, no, right on the side.
Keep the shrimp nice and clean and beautiful.
- I messed up that one.
- That's fine.
This is the most important dish I've ever had to cook, but right now, I'm not sure if this dish is good enough to secure my spot in the Top Chef finale.
We have one minute, Jess.
I'm freaking out.
Everything you've given us has been really clean and bright, and this isn't.
I find it a little bit lacking.
I'm definitely on the bottom today.
- At least I'm not going home.
- Damn it.
Adam, I heard that you worked for Tom at one point.
I did--five years in New York and two in Atlanta.
What was he like as a boss? Uh You know.
Come on.
Remember, you don't work for him anymore.
Very informative, very Direct, and He knew what he wanted.
Enough about me.
Let's talk about the food.
We have one minute, Jess.
As I'm plating my dish, I'm not feeling 100% confident because I personally would like it a little bit less cooked.
But it's too late.
It's on the plate.
- That's it.
- You did it? Did it.
Thank you.
Looks beautiful.
This is my sister, Jessica, by the way.
Nice to see you again.
What was this experience like for the two of you? We've never had such a crazy experience together before.
You cooked for us at home, and, you know, everyone's just kind of hanging back, letting Greg do his thing, so it was the first time being in the fire.
What did you make? So for your appetizer, you have a tomato-watermelon soup with pickled cucumber and lightly sauteed shrimp.
Jessica, I really love the flavor of the shrimp.
And the soup-- I mean, watermelon soup could go in a really bad way.
It could just become a smoothie.
And it had enough savoriness to it that it really worked.
Jessica, I have a feeling you're not gonna be a bystander anymore when your brother's cooking.
I think those days are over.
Nice work.
You did a great job in instructing your sister on how to make that soup, 'cause you really hit every note, you know.
And simplicity sometimes speaks volumes.
What do we have for the entree? For the entree, you have gently cooked Halibut with Island Creek Oysters, mussels, and a creamy dashi.
Gregory, were you happy with the way the fish came out? Personally, for me, I think I would've had my oven at a little bit of a lower temp.
Hmm.
Gregory, so far, I mean, everything you've given us has been really clean and bright, and this isn't.
Okay.
Okay.
Thank you both.
You can head back to the kitchen.
Thank you.
It really sucks to do so badly when I had a chance to get to the finale.
Maybe I was just too worried about my sister's dish and not focused enough on my own.
The first dish was so sort of memorable and bright, and you kind of went into this, and you're like, "hmm.
" A letdown of complexity gone wrong.
We have 50 minutes.
- 5-0? - 5-0.
5-0, yeah.
You're good on time.
The way I cook lobster is, I slowly poach it in a beurre monte with a lot of seasoning so that it infuses into the lobster.
Hey, mom, cook these mushrooms over here.
Time is definitely against you when you cook lobster this way, but I'm showcasing my technique and the proper cooking of the fish itself.
Am I being patient with you? 18 minutes, dad.
All right, dad, take these plates and put them over there.
I was most worried about my father taking orders from me, but he's actually taking direction really well.
50 seconds.
You're gonna help me pour this sauce on these plates.
I'm very, very impressed and happy with my father's performance.
He hung in there, he put up with it for the day, and he was an awesome sous chef.
Oh, Mr.
Tony made two oysters.
Tony, very ambitious.
Beautiful.
- How's everybody doing today? - Super.
Not a bad place to sit and have lunch, right? Not at all.
This is my father, Tony, and he prepared for you the oysters today.
We put a little bit of cucumber, and we started with the garlic and the shallots in the beginning with the butter.
And then we grilled the razor clams until they opened, then we sliced them thin, and we put a couple pieces on top.
These oysters-- absolutely delicious.
Perfect texture.
I would've wanted a little more saltiness maybe, if anything.
I wanted some brine.
That's the only thing that I think it lacked.
Tell me about your dish, George.
I did butter-poached lobster with some vadouvan spice.
I did some roasted sunchokes in brown butter and then a little bit of crispy sunchokes on the side and a little bit of microgreens.
I'm really loving the lobster dish, but when you have the beautiful cooked lobster and you have this great puree of sunchokes with the vadouvan, you do not need this stuff.
Yeah.
Can I have some more of that vadouvan coulis of the sunchoke, 'cause it's spectacular.
- It's delicious, right? - Silky, delicate.
- Well done.
- Thank you very much.
You guys can go back to the kitchen.
- Thank you so much.
- Thank you, guys.
Thank you.
I worked really hard today.
My father worked hard today.
I'm very happy.
Thank you, dad.
I felt like my father believed in me, and he followed.
He saw firsthand the type of food that I can do.
So I think he is proud of me.
I really appreciated the flavors in the oyster.
I felt like I got oyster.
They showed a great deal of respect for the ingredients, and I think that says a lot.
You're at 13 minutes, mom.
- This is good? - Yeah, beautiful.
I'm more confident now.
I'm doing good.
My mom is kicking butt right now.
She's doing so well.
She's hitting her timeline.
30 seconds.
She's even ahead of schedule.
She's asking me if she can help me.
All right, the servers can come.
Oh.
- Custard.
- Hello.
- Hello, ladies.
- Hi.
This is my mom, Alice, everyone.
Hi, Alice.
Nice to meet you.
Tell us what you made for an appetizer.
I made a custard with shiitake mushroom and clams, and then I garnished it with a little bit of lobster and salmon roe.
How was it working with your daughter, Alice? It was pretty stressful just now.
- Mother-daughter day for me.
- Yeah.
Something I'll never forget.
Your mom's custard is really delicious.
Very silky and delicate.
Congratulations.
- Oh, thank you.
- Good job.
I like the smokiness from the custard.
What'd you add? Bonito flakes? - Yes.
- Yeah, it's delicious.
Oh, good.
Thank you.
Thank you.
And what about your dish? My dish today is a butter-poached lobster with the onion soubise, pea puree, fava beans, asparagus, and fiddlehead ferns, and a little caramelized sunchoke.
The lobster is maybe the most perfectly cooked lobster I've ever experienced.
- It's really wonderful.
- Wow.
Yeah, the lobster's perfectly cooked, the onion soubise is as good as I've seen it, but the vegetables are the absolute star.
- As usual.
- Yeah, as usual.
- Thank you.
- Really, really good.
Thank you, ladies.
You can go back to the kitchen.
- Great job.
Thank you.
- Thank you so much.
I'm feeling really great that they're saying such nice things about the food that we just worked so hard to put out.
Good job.
I want to get to Mexico.
And to win this with my mom, that would just be such a sweet victory for me.
Melissa nailed the cooking of the lobster.
- This entree is spectacular.
- I loved the custard.
It was silky.
It was unctuous.
It was exactly what I would expect that-- it's her mom.
Come on.
I tell you, I really give you guys thumbs up, so-- it was just-- don't know how you guys can do this.
Heading to the judges was pretty hard though, man.
- It's stressful, right? - Yeah.
I'm just, like, looking at these people.
I'm like, "are you serious?" What's at stake here is, the winner goes right into the finale.
I think, for the most part, the food was very, very good today.
There were some mistakes here and there.
You know, what was really surprising about Gregory's is, Gregory's sister did a better job than he did.
It speaks a lot about a chef when he can teach somebody how to cook something when he's not there and can't put his hands on it, but for him to not put that focus on his own dish-- I'm gonna assume that that Halibut dish pretty much negates the fact that he's winning this thing.
And we understand working with a family member and all of that, but nonetheless-- - but everybody-- - everybody was.
Everybody is.
It's an even playing field.
I think Mei did a great job.
I really loved her lobster entree.
The clams blew everybody's mind.
- Yeah.
- True.
And I thought that element of surprise lifted it above.
That broth-- like, I would crave just that.
- I thought it was so pretty.
- Yes.
- Did she yell at you at all? - Uh, yeah.
- Couples times.
- Cracking the whip.
Got through it though.
I thought George nailed, you know, that vadouvan and that American relationship.
- The sunchoke puree was-- - it was outstanding.
It was.
It was.
I was impressed.
My dad, he rocked it out.
Yeah.
You did well.
Mei's lobster and George's lobster.
Mei's lobster.
George's entree is glorious, but when you start to pick it apart, like you have to when there's only three other chefs If you had to put them side by side, Mei did a better job of cooking her lobster.
You guys said Mei and George-- about their lobsters.
What about Melissa's perfectly cooked lobster? Yeah, hands down.
I think she handled that crustacean perfectly.
I think the menu had a lot of harmony.
You could really see the story between her and her mom, Alice.
- Mm-hmm.
- She took great risk.
She said, "my mom is gonna cook an egg custard for me getting in the finale.
" That's--that's ballsy.
Couldn't have asked for a better sous chef.
Well, the chefs certainly made this decision hard for us, but I think we have a winner.
- I'll go get them.
- All right.
Great.
I'm definitely on the bottom today.
At least you're not going home.
Yeah, at least I'm not going home.
Damn it.
Hello, everyone.
Hi.
We'd like to see all of you.
Dad, go.
Chefs, today your challenge was to make an appetizer and an entree with the help of one of your family members.
I think this challenge really encapsulates what food has the ability of doing-- you know, bringing people together around a table, whether it's family, whether it's friends.
I think, overall, the food was really, really good today.
In some cases, your family members actually made a better dish-- Sorry, Gregory.
I just had to throw that out there.
I--I-- no, it's all good.
Ultimately, there were two that really stood out, but only one of you will go directly to the final three.
Mei and Melissa, the two of you served our favorite dishes of the day.
Nice.
Good job.
Mei, that broth? There was this sort of romantic restraint in the way those flavors met-- the tomato and then the coconut, neither overpowering.
I think it was just tremendously successful.
The surf clams were, I think, really special.
In fact, I don't think this dish even needed the lobster.
And the broth, Mei, that you put together, is something I think we'll all think about for a long time.
Melissa, we've all had butter-poached lobster many, many, many times.
This was perfectly done.
But ultimately, only one person can move on to the final three immediately.
Mei, Melissa, it's hard to pick a winner because these dishes are so close.
You know, I wish right now that we can put you both in the finale, but it's just not how this works.
- That's be great though.
- I know, right.
So I will let Padma deliver the good news.
Ultimately for us, one chef not only cooked a flawless, creative dish but also displayed a lot of leadership in guiding their family member's own successful dish.
And that chef is Melissa.
Wow.
Oh, my God.
Congratulations.
Thank you.
You can give your daughter a hug.
She's gonna make me cry.
And it's coming.
I can't believe I'm going to Mexico.
This is the first elimination challenge that I've won all season.
The timing of this could not be any better.
And my mom helped be a part of that.
I really hope that when my dad sees what I've accomplished, he'll really be proud of me, but regardless, I will never forget this win.
I couldn't have done it without you.
You know, Melissa, I think it was a combination of both the appetizer and the entree.
You know, we talked a lot about the entree being flawless.
The egg custard--you know, just having the confidence to say, "you know what, ma? I know you can pull this off.
" Melissa, congratulations.
You have secured yourself a place in Mexico.
Chefs, have some fun with your family members.
We'll see you at the next elimination.
- Thank you so much.
- Bye now.
Bye-bye.
Congratulations.
All the adjustments that I've made along the way have really paid off.
I'm top three, and I'm so hungry for more.
I'm going to Mexico, baby.
It was so wonderful to meet you.
I just had such a good time.
This is a good time.
I made her cry.
Everyone's really happy with today, and to be able to share this experience with our family members-- it just doesn't get any better than that.
It's something that I'll never forget.
It's a good day.
Tonight on Last Chance Kitchen, Doug and Adam face off in a head-to-head food fight.
It's gonna be a complete disaster.
I'm Toast, man.
At stake is a spot in the Last Chance Kitchen finale in Mexico.
If they throw another twist into this, I'm going to cry.
Watch Last Chance Kitchen now on And next, on Top Chef There's only two tickets to Mexico remaining.
There's only been two girls that have ever won Top Chef.
I didn't come this far into this competition to not go to Mexico.
I have extra duck if you need it.
You have extra duck? If I'm gonna win this challenge, I'm gonna win it.
I'm not gonna have someone else help me win it.
This is the most important meal of my life.
I like it, but I don't know how to describe this.
I am nauseous.
I mean, that was like takeout Chinese spareribs.
To be honest, I think you played it a little safe.
It's a struggle to try to figure out what to do here.
I feel more nervous than I've ever been on this whole competition.