Top Chef (2006) s12e12 Episode Script
The Final Battle of Bean Town
That was fun, guys.
I'm tired.
Cooking with my mom.
In the last challenge, we got to cook with our family members.
We're gonna need 'em kind of small, dad, 'cause they're gonna go on that oyster.
You can do whatever you want.
Swallow it.
To hang out with my father was the highlight of my Top Chef experience so far.
- Congratulations.
- Thank you.
- Congrats.
- Thanks, guys.
I'm completely surprised that I won the last challenge.
To see how proud my mom was of me to make it to the finals-- that love and support means so much to me.
I just feel stronger every day that I'm here.
Hey, we don't have to pour our beer out today, huh? I know, right? We're all safe.
For me.
don't have to pour the beer out for me.
In some cases, your family members actually made a better dish than you.
Sorry, Greg.
We actually had to throw that out there.
I honestly don't know what's going on with Gregory.
I mean, I think his nerves are taking over.
He got a lot of negative feedback today.
Nobody was eliminated.
Otherwise, I think he would have gone home, and that would have been fine with me-- just one less person that I have to beat.
I guess cheers to the final three, because Melissa's already in? I know, she's in the cool kids club already.
- Yeah.
- All right.
Good luck, guys.
- Thank you.
- To the three musketeers.
To the rest.
One more fight.
Only 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.
So are we doing a quickfire today, or you think we're just going to go here, like for our challenge? It's gonna be some weird, like, huge twist.
Plan for the worst.
You sleep well last night, Melissa? Like a rock.
I never in a million years thought I would make it as far as I have.
Even when I came back, I was feeling that maybe I would have made a dumb little mistake and got eliminated.
But I hung in there, and now it's like I made it down to the final four.
I proved myself that I can do it.
I can hang in there.
I'm so close, and, like, I'm very competitive.
I really want to win this thing.
One more round.
Let's do this.
Let's go.
Today's gonna be a hard one.
They'll probably give us a bunch of weapons and make us fight to the death.
I did not expect to see Wylie Dufresne in the kitchen.
He's one of the most innovative chefs around.
It's very intimidating to cook for him.
Please welcome acclaimed culinary innovator Wylie Dufresne.
- Welcome back.
- Hello, chefs.
Great to be back.
Thank you.
Chefs, it's time for your final quickfire here in Boston.
Boston is often called beantown because in colonial times, a favorite local food was molasses baked beans.
As the story goes, sailors knew that they were approaching the harbor as they began to smell the molasses baked beans.
But in recent times, both the name and the dish have fallen out of favor.
It's up to you to put Boston beans back on the map.
don't worry.
You don't have to make baked beans.
Make any dish you wish as long as it features the beans you see here on this table.
I think the key to a great bean dish is texture.
Undercooked, overcooked beans are not really that appealing.
Definitely a little bit nerve-racking to be serving Wylie and to be serving Wylie beans, of all things.
You know, this is something that tests your skills as a chef.
It can be really difficult to elevate something kind of basic and simple.
The winner of this quickfire will win a trip to napa courtesy of terlato wines.
I really want to win this.
My girlfriend deserves a vacation.
She works hard.
I would love to take her away to napa on a romantic getaway.
Chefs, even with this humble ingredient as the highlight of your dish, we still expect you to make something innovative.
You have one hour and full access to the Top Chef pantry and the anolon cookware.
And your time starts now.
There is that saying about beans.
Like, the more you eat the more you-- you got to make sure nobody's crop dusting around you.
And you're like-- What the hell is that? I hate peeling garlic.
That's what I have line cooks for.
The way that I feel like you can elevate the beans is just make the beans taste good.
I do, like, this nice dish called plaki.
It's baked tomatoes with kale, onions, and seafood.
Greek cuisine is very big into beans, so I do feel like I have a little bit of an edge.
You want to decide this quickfire, you know, like, you got to deal with the consequences, and part of it is gas, you know? It is what it is.
What are you gonna do? An hour is a very short amount of time to cook beans.
For me, beans are not a part of Asian cuisine, so I don't really cook with beans at all.
I'm going to cook some Navy beans with sake, pork, and avocado.
This is a bean dish with a lot of Asian flavors.
It's definitely unique.
I know I have a place in the finals, but in this game, you never want to let your guard down.
Gregory tends to cook very Asian, but you can't really win Top Chef just making curries.
Now is the time to push yourself a little more.
I love fried garbanzo beans, and butter beans make for a really great puree.
I want to take it to the next level and puree the bacon into the bean puree-- really infuse that flavor.
I got into Top Chef to challenge myself and see what different techniques I can come up with.
When I saw Wylie, I knew exactly what I was gonna make.
He loves eggs.
I'm definitely gonna put an egg in my dish.
Making Wylie Dufresne breakfast.
Cheese.
I'm gonna go towards a southwestern flavor profile.
I took some pinto beans, put it in an isi gun, and it's pretty much aerated beans.
I've never made a bean foam before.
We'll see what happens.
You love taking risks.
Got to be versatile, you know what I mean? Done.
Is there any seafood? Plaki and seafood-- they really go well together.
No seafood.
Damn it.
I'm gonna go with pork and, like, Greek style beans.
As a chef, you just learn how to improvise and you learn how to make it happen, so it might work out.
My bean foam--it's not really gonna look appealing, but this is one way where you can get every component on the spoon.
You have five minutes left-- five minutes.
I see Mei doing foam and beans.
It just looks like, you know-- that's not something I would want to eat.
Hands up, utensils down.
- Hi, George.
- Hello.
- Nice to meet you.
- George, nice to meet you.
Today, I made a tomato-based sauce called plaki-- chickpeas, tomato, kale, and leeks.
- Your protein? - Pork tenderloin.
So this is a traditional Greek dish? Usually, it's done with, like, gigandes beans, but I went with the chickpeas today considering the time and everything.
Nice texture.
- I like the spices.
- Thank you.
- Thank you.
- Thank you very much.
- Thank you.
- Hi, Mei.
What did you do for us? So I made some black bean and corn sauteed with some chipotle peppers, bacon, poached egg, and pinto bean foam.
Pinto bean foam? How did you make that? Canned pinto beans, some shallot, chicken stock-- blended it up.
Yeah, there's a little egg in there.
Nicely done.
Yeah, thank you.
- Hi, Melissa.
- Hi.
I made a seared pork tenderloin with a bacon-butter bean puree and roast carrots and some fried chickpeas.
Beans are not really sort of the focus of this dish.
- Thank you.
- Thank you, chef.
- Hi, Gregory.
- Hi, Padma.
Today, we have Navy beans with sake, ham, and avocado, a few carrot chips on top, ham hock, a mirepoix with ginger, shallots, serrano chilies, finished with a little olive oil.
- Are these Navy beans? - They are.
That's my favorite bean to cook.
Oh, cool.
There's some bitterness at the edge of it.
- Sake? - Yes, chef.
Interesting.
- Thank you, Gregory.
- Thank you.
- Thank you very much.
- Thank you.
They clearly did not like my dish.
This is not the taste I want to be leaving in the judges' mouths so close to the Top Chef finals.
I have no idea what I'm gonna do now.
I really got to get creative with this whack-ass flavor profile.
don't they always have pork belly here? Yeah, they always have pork belly.
They don't have it today.
.
So how did our chefs do overall, Wylie? I think they did a great job.
There was some really fun stuff out here.
George, I think you had some very nicely cooked beans, and I did like the spicing that you used.
I wasn't so sure that it needed the pork.
You chose a nice bean, and you dressed it up nicely.
Thank you.
Melissa, I think, in many ways, you made a great plate, but I don't know that you necessarily allowed the beans to shine.
I was hoping to see the bean be more of the star.
You know, Gregory, I talked about the texture of the bean being sort of critical, and I think that those beans were a little bit over.
- Okay.
- And I'm not so sure - that the avocado helped that.
- Okay.
It sort of felt like one soft texture.
Okay.
Mei, at first, I was a little concerned.
Your dish is not the most appealing of the four, but I really saw that there were some nice textures there and flavors that I thought worked really well, and I think using the bean in two ways was a nice touch.
Thank you.
Wylie, tell us who won this quickfire.
So I think the chef who really highlighted the ingredient the best was Mei.
It took 12 quickfires for me to finally win one, and it was with beans.
Napa, here I come.
I'm gonna get wasted.
I really liked the surprise.
I loved going through, poking into that yolk, and I think that the yolk mixed with those beans really nicely.
Thank you, chef.
And now for your last challenge in Boston.
Are you ready? The four of you have displayed your own unique style and technique throughout the competition here in Boston.
This city is known as a center of new ideas, and in that spirit, we want to see what's innovative to you.
We'd like you to make a dish that's innovative, pushing even your own boundaries.
Show us the next iteration of your cooking.
There's a lot of opportunity with innovation.
It doesn't necessarily mean technique.
Try some things that you wouldn't normally do-- maybe some flavor combinations, things like that that you're not familiar with.
You should really have some fun with this.
It's gonna be a little intimidating to serve an innovative dish to Wylie, because he's one of the biggest innovators here in the culinary world, so it's definitely gonna be a hard one.
Tomorrow, you'll have 3 1/2 hours to cook on location at catalyst restaurant.
And the restaurant's gonna be packed.
There's gonna be nobel prize-winning scientists, James Beard award-winning chefs and restaurateurs-- it's gonna be a group that really knows how to push the boundaries, so you step it up, guys.
To cook something innovative, you have to keep trying over and over and over again, because you're not gonna nail it the first time, and we have a day.
It's not easy.
The winner of this challenge will join Melissa in the finals and receive $10,000.
Oh, man, I've been trying to get to Thailand for about three years now, so I know I will spend that 10 gs on an amazing trip, just eating my way across the country.
Melissa, you've already earned your ticket to Mexico, but for the rest of you, that means there's only two tickets remaining.
I really like this challenge.
To push your boundaries makes you push yourself as a chef, instead of just, like, relying on all the same tricks we have.
Now we have an opportunity to go for it, so I'm kind of excited about this one.
Make sure you make this dish count.
- We'll see you tomorrow.
- Good luck.
Thank you.
Oh! Innovation is creating something someone's never seen before, and working at ink-- that's a lot of what we do, so I feel like I've got this.
Do you see limes anywhere? - Basil.
- Where are the limes? - Limes are over there.
- Oh, way over there.
- Yeah.
- Thank you.
I really want to do something that hasn't been done before, opposed to just, like, the usual suspects of proteins.
I really want to go with octopus, and I'm thinking that I want to pair it with pork belly.
For a chef to be innovative, you really have to create flavor profiles that people aren't used to, but you have to make sure that they work.
You can't just kind of come up with this whack-ass flavor profile, and it doesn't taste very good.
How you doing, sir? Do you guys have pork belly? We have no pork belly.
No pork belly? That changes everything.
I have no idea what I'm gonna do now.
They have pork belly every freaking day there, and they happen to not have it the day that I really, really need it.
don't they always have pork belly here? Yeah, they always have pork belly.
- They don't have it today.
- Are you serious? I swear.
Now my whole plan's ruined.
15 minutes! .
So I'm gonna make something very straightforward, very clean.
Taking a big risk at this stage in the game can be very dangerous, so I'm using the amazing Asian flavors that I love to work with so much, but my innovative flourishes will be adding texture.
Let me get the breast instead.
Yeah, there's bigger skin-- more skin on that.
I want to make wild salmon with Tom kha broth, but introducing the chicken skin and the salmon skin is going to make it really unique.
- All right, thank you so much.
- I don't know what I want.
You guys don't have pork belly, right? - We do not.
- You guys have octopus? What am I gonna do without the pork belly? I still want to use octopus 'cause I feel like octopus is exotic, but I really got to get creative with my ingredients now.
That pork belly was gonna kind of help make it, - like, more unique, you know? - 10 gs.
Now it's just gonna be, "oh, wow, a mediterranean octopus, George.
I've never seen that one before.
" Oh.
It's still our house for one more day.
One more day.
How does everybody feel about their dishes? Oh, my God.
The dish of your life tomorrow.
Over the past five years since I've been sober, I've really come back around, and I've found my path.
I've always been a fighter, and I've really kind of changed my life around for the best.
To win Top Chef would really be a great sense of kind of closing doors on the ghosts that still haunt me about the mistakes that I've made in my past.
I can hang out with my brother for so long before I get annoyed.
What does he do for a living? Like, he's going into pharmacy school, so my parents love him more than they love me.
It's definitely been a long road to get to this point in my life.
Growing up, my parents always wanted me to go to school to be a nurse, so I decided to go to nursing school.
But food is something I'm really, really passionate about, and it's what I love working with every single day, so I dropped out of college to go to culinary school.
My parents--you know, they were pissed off, but it's just what I love to do, so I just had to go with it.
Well, $10,000 on the line.
And, uh, oh, yeah, going to the finals.
- A trip to Mexico.
- And Mexico.
Why do you want to win Top Chef, Melissa? You know, there's only been two girls that have ever won Top Chef - The chick from Chicago-- - of, like, 11 seasons.
I think, as a woman, it is tough working in a kitchen.
You have to sort of prove yourself more.
There's a lot of pressure to win this and to be maybe the third female to win Top Chef.
You know, I could be inspiring for other female chefs, so I need to win this.
It's like, to win it, it's just life changing, and-- I ain't trying to be no runner-up.
I smell coconut.
Gregory's playing it safe right now.
In what way are you using innovation today? Um, um-- good morning.
How's it going? - - What the hell's so funny? - Feeling ready? Feeling strong? Your face.
I know.
Look so nervous.
Basically, it's like, the most important day of our lives.
That's all.
Of course it's a rainy and gloomy day out.
I can't believe I'm so close to the end.
It's been a long road.
A lot of stress and anxiety and sleepless nights.
Oh, man, I just can't sit still.
- I'm just, like-- - mm-hmm.
- I didn't sleep at all.
- Okay.
I was, like, sweating, and it's, like, freezing in there.
Yeah, I was sweating.
I was sweating.
- Yeah, I was, like, panicking.
- You were sweating? - Coats.
- All right.
Suit up.
One final suit up.
Stepping outside of your comfort zone-- it's not easy to do, but great chefs are the ones who do take that chance and they go for it.
I need to stay focused.
I need to nail this challenge.
Whoo.
All right, let's get set up.
We have 3 1/2 hours at the catalyst restaurant to make an innovative dish.
Whoo-hoo.
Yeah.
It's our last challenge in Boston.
Knowing that I have immunity, I can have a little more fun with this one.
This challenge, get to be a little more adventurous, at least for me.
I'm gonna be making seared duck breast with a walnut miso puree, pickled cherries, and farro.
Kind of going to unknown territories.
I'm taking a chance using miso with such a classic flavor profile like duck and cherries, but I want the miso to give it that umami and that saltiness.
If you don't take the risk, you can't win.
10 gs on the line.
- How's it going, George? - Good, bro.
- How you doing? - Good.
Making a crispy chicken skin garnish-- kind of a fun way to introduce texture to a soup, which is basically what my dish is.
I'm making a really beautiful and clean Tom kha broth, which is gonna be snow white.
Tom kha is a thai soup.
It's very aromatic and bright with lime juice, fish sauce, tons of kaffir lime.
Pairing north American wild salmon with Tom kha is definitely a different twist on the classic preparation.
I'm definitely looking at this as the most important meal I've ever cooked.
I'm not holding back.
I started off the season really, really strong, but I have been kind of struggling in the past few challenges, so I'm really trying to get my act together and make it to the finale.
- Oh, come on.
- Weighing your sausage? No, I'm taking the octopus heads and I'm putting them through a meat grinder for my fritter.
I'm gonna do two different textures of octopus, because everybody usually throws the octopus head in the garbage.
I'm trying to do octopus differently.
Then, my green apple harissa, that'll kind of bring the whole dish together.
Traditionally, harissa is a chili-based puree-- really sharp and spicy, but I'm doing a harissa with apple and lighter, delicate flavors.
I just want to show that, like, I went for it.
- I smell coconut.
- Yeah, you know it.
Gregory's very familiar with coconut milk and all those flavor profiles.
He's done it in every challenge.
The point of the challenge is not to just fall back on food that you're comfortable making.
Gregory's playing it safe right now.
Some nice duck here.
- Looks good? - Yeah.
With this dish today, I think I'm really pushing boundaries, and it's actually really scary.
I'm making a duck curry with aerated yuzu yogurt.
And putting yuzu and a curry together might not make a lot of sense, but I have to show the judges a little something that they haven't seen before.
It's make it or break it.
You're a freaking badass chef, and you kept quiet the whole time, and I was like, "that girl's gonna be deadly.
" I think it'd be really fun if it was down to me and Mei.
We've become really good friends.
To be in the finale with her-- I would be really happy to go up against her.
- Hope you make it, girl.
- Yeah.
Let's go to Mexico.
I have extra duck if you need it.
- Do you have extra duck? - Yeah.
Melissa and Mei today-- they're working very close together.
Their dishes look very similar, which is kind of odd.
They both are using duck breast.
Still need me to save you some trim for duck? - Yeah.
- It's a duck party.
If Mei needs help from Melissa to do this challenge, I don't care.
Like, do what you got to do, but if I'm gonna win this challenge, I'm gonna win it.
I'm not gonna have someone else help me win it.
Mei, your sugar's burning a little on the edges.
- I just turned it off.
- All right.
Melissa and I have gotten really close, and, you know, I definitely see her as an older sister.
There's a lot of camaraderie in the kitchen, but I'm here to win.
I'm here to beat every single chef here.
I'm proud of us for getting this far.
Yeah, for sure, but I didn't come this far into this competition to not go to Mexico.
- Hi, chefs.
- Hi, chef.
- Hey, chef.
- Hey, chef.
- How are you? - Excellent.
- Good.
- Hey, George.
- Hey, chefs.
- How's it going? Oh, look at this.
It's all here.
- It's plated.
- It's all there, Wylie.
- Love it.
- It's all there.
- I love it.
- There it is.
I didn't exactly get my art degree, but-- - that's great.
- It looks like a face.
You've got a nose, you've got two eyes--that's nice.
So what are you making? - I am doing octopus.
- Okay.
But today, I'm trying to do it a little bit differently.
I'm trying to do multiple textures of octopus.
So that's the innovative approach? Yes.
The heads, I put through a meat grinder.
I made little croquettes out of 'em.
- I'm gonna fry those.
- Nice.
I was gonna pair it with some apples, jalapeños, pickled mustard seeds.
This seems like a complicated plate.
- Yeah.
- You good with that? - I'll be fine.
- Well, good luck.
- Yeah.
- See you out there.
- Nice seeing you.
- Take care, chef.
- Hey, Melissa.
- Hi, chef.
So today, I'm making a seared duck breast.
I'm doing a walnut miso sauce Walnut miso-- tell me about that.
Which I've actually never done.
But I boiled the walnuts down, and then I added red miso, trying to test out flavors that I think can go together well.
So your intent to innovate today is based on flavors, - in a way? - Exactly.
You're already in, so you have really no pressure - on you at all right now.
- Yeah.
I'm more looking forward to just helping out my colleagues.
Mei and I were making the farro together, and we're gonna sear a bunch of duck.
It sounds like you are trying to get Mei in with you.
It'd be nice.
She's my buddy, you know? - Okay.
All right.
- Good luck.
- Thank you, chefs.
- Good luck.
- Hey, Gregory.
- Hey, chef.
- What do we have? - We have cooked salmon.
I'll be taking the skin off, actually, and I'm kind of making a very crispy crisp out of it and then a Tom kha broth and then adding some crispy chicken skin as well.
In what way are you using innovation today? Um, um, texture is an important part of the things that we eat, so I'm just kind of playing with ways to add texture.
- Mm-hmm.
- So, you know.
- Thanks, Gregory.
- Thank you very much, chef.
- Good luck.
- Thank you.
I'm really concerned that they don't see my dish as innovative at all.
You know, this dish is definitely a combination of what I do best and some new things, and when they taste my dish, I really hope the judges understand what I'm trying to do today.
- Hey, Mei.
- Hi, chefs.
These are the innovative carrots? I'm making a duck curry today, and usually curries are pretty heavy, so I'm utilizing yogurt to lighten it up, - and flavor profiles - Mm-hmm.
That probably wouldn't think that would work.
An unusual curry? That's what we're gonna have? - Yes.
- Good.
So what it would mean to be in the finale? I mean, Michael probably gave you a little insight, but-- no, he actually didn't give me any.
Wow, no help.
Well, he's a pretty innovative guy.
Are you channeling some of his innovation? You know, I've definitely learned a lot from him, and I wouldn't be here if it wasn't for him.
- Good luck.
- All right.
Thank you, chef.
Good luck.
Okay, chefs, this is it.
This is to get to the finale, - so cook well.
- Thank you, chef.
- Thank you, chefs.
- Good luck.
All right.
Duck, duck, goose.
30 minutes, guys! This is the most important meal of my life.
I can't say it enough times.
George, by far, is taking the biggest risk working with flavors and techniques he's never worked with before.
- This might bite him in the ass.
- Coming down hot.
Coming down hot.
Hot, hot, hot.
Melissa, you ready for service? Hell yeah.
Let's do this.
Hello.
Welcome, everybody, back for our last meal together here in Boston, and welcome back to Michael brenner, who we're very, very lucky to have.
So, Wylie, you and Michael work together, right? I've been fortunate enough to be involved with his program at Harvard for the last four years.
Tell us about your program.
We try to use cooking as a way to inspire people to learn science, so we have chefs like Wylie come and make these remarkable dishes.
- Then we ask how they did that.
- Mm-hmm.
And pretty quickly, we get into a discussion of science.
- It's pretty cool, actually.
- It is.
- It's really cool.
- I use it.
We're cutting it pretty close.
All four of us need to be working on the line, and it's a small line.
Back--back, back, back.
Ooh, this is gonna be interesting.
- Behind--hot, hot, hot.
- Behind.
Sorry.
I don't know how the we're gonna plate like this.
- Yeah.
- Behind.
Behind.
Behind.
Sorry.
Back, behind, back.
- Behind.
- Below, behind.
We're all kind of bumping into each other.
It's really hectic.
Jesus Christ.
I see Gregory having a little bit of trouble getting his food in the window.
How much time? One minute left.
I'm first up to serve the judges, I am a little bit behind, and I'm just scrambling and getting things done as quickly as possible.
God damn it! - Good job, brother.
- Thank you.
Walking my dishes out to the table, I feel more nervous than I've ever been on this whole competition.
Everything I've ever wanted on Top Chef lies upon these plates.
- Hi, Gregory.
- Hi, everyone.
- Tell us about your plate.
- Okay.
So we have some pan-roasted salmon with Tom kha broth, roasted tomatoes, and some crispy chicken skin and crispy salmon skin as well.
When I moved out west, I kind of went through many life changes.
New York City to Portland, Oregon, where life slowed down and my career really blossomed.
I became more focused, and these are some of the ingredients that I fell in love with.
And what is the innovation here? Innovation--I definitely think playing with ways to incorporate texture and fat with crispy salmon skin and the crispy chicken skin.
Gregory, I think your dish is delicious.
Thank you, Padma.
I really enjoyed the dish.
I thought it was excellent.
The salmon was nicely cooked.
The skin on the salmon is really, really good.
Just having a hard time finding the innovation.
All right.
- Thank you, Gregory.
- Thank you all.
Thank you.
I'm really concerned about the comments I received at the judges' table.
At the end of the day, though, if my dish was delicious and executed well, I have secured my spot in the Top Chef finale.
- How'd it go, buddy? - Um, okay.
They didn't think it was-- they didn't think it was innovative.
- It was a circus.
- Yes.
So well-executed--does that trump creative and disjointed? Mei is not an emotional person when she wins.
- Mei, you're the winner.
- Thank you.
"Thank you," and she's back, you know, whew.
Mei winning the quickfire challenge-- Mei.
Mei losing a challenge-- people do not know what I'm thinking.
Might be-- I have this chronic bitch face.
It's like this blank stare, like-- Mei when her pet's run over by a car-- - who's next? - Me.
- Good luck.
- Thanks.
Even though I have a spot in the finale, there's 10 grand on the line, and I still want to win.
I still want to show the judges how much I've pushed myself.
- Hi, Melissa.
- Hi.
Tell us what you made.
I made a seared duck breast with farro, walnut, miso, and pickled cherries.
I went for flavors that were different than what I'm used to.
I'm not into molecular cooking, so I didn't really want to go that direction with innovation.
But for myself, this was out of my comfort zone.
The miso and walnut go so beautifully together and really well with the duck.
I just love that savoriness.
- It's absolutely delicious.
- Thank you.
The only thing missing off the dishes is you.
- That said, I love the dish.
- Yeah.
I mean, the duck was perfectly cooked.
There was a nice balance.
I loved your pickled cherries too.
I thought they were tart and pickled just the right amount.
Thank you.
- Thank you guys.
- Thank you.
I knew these flavors would work, I just had never tried it before, and they seemed to understand my dish.
I think I'm gonna win this 10 grand.
- I love this dish.
- Yeah.
The way the duck was cooked-- this was a great dish, but I don't feel like she stepped outside her comfort zone at all.
Well, I think this is a risk for her, and she is stepping out a little bit.
I like this miso walnut.
That taste is very new for me.
I never had that taste before.
All of the components to my dish are coming out right.
I'm just stressed out about it being the last competition.
There's only two slots left to go to Mexico, so what's gonna cost you is just a minor mistake.
- George.
- How's everybody doing? Today I made charred octopus.
I kind of did two different textures.
I grinded the head, and I made a little fritter on the side with a little bit of yellow split pea puree on the bottom.
I have the charred tentacles on top.
There's a little apple green harissa on the bottom.
They have that bacon chip on there, and a little bit of pickled mustard seeds that are on the plate as well.
The green harissa-- is that something you've done before, - or-- - no.
I just kind of came up with it.
- Is that apple and yuzu? - Correct.
Very nicely done.
Thank you.
Yeah, the harissa and apple, I think, is just really successful.
There's a lot going on, and I'm not sure if it's because there's a lot of sweetness in the dish, but the octopus is really bitter.
- Char-- - only getting that at the char at the very end, which I made the mistake of eating.
But it's really-- - I'm noticing it a lot.
- Thank you, George.
- You can go back to the kitchen.
- Thank you.
There was definitely a lot of good things about the dish, but at the same time, there's flaws.
I just hope the flaws aren't catastrophic.
The challenge with this dish was balance.
He just needed to turn the dials down a little bit.
He could've taken the lentils away, could've taken the rhubarb away, and he would have made life easier for himself, I think.
There's a lot going on, but I've got to give him credit.
The octopus is great, and the sauce is great.
That's the thing-- everything tastes good, right? It's just--all together, it's distracting.
This is the most important dish of my entire career.
The flavors are really innovative, and I'm confident this is the dish to get me into the finals.
- Hi, Mei.
- Hi.
I made for you a duck curry with vadouvan and lemongrass ginger.
The duck has a fish sauce caramel brushed on the skin, some vegetables, and yogurt.
A curry--you would normally think of it as being really heavy.
I made it lighter today, also added citrus to the yogurt-- not something you would normally see in a thai curry as well.
This is--it's a tough one.
Um I like it, but I don't know how to describe this.
I think that's a good thing that you don't know what to say.
No, it is.
It is.
It absolutely is, yeah.
I think that's a good thing that you're not - sure what to make of it.
- Yeah.
I like the fact that there's not a lot of broth, but the broth that's there is really strong.
It's quite tasty.
The skin was so tasty.
Yeah, the skin was really tasty.
What I found really interesting about the dish-- as you eat it, it changes in a good way.
It just keeps changing, and you keep finding different things, and you find different flavor points.
It's really complex.
Thanks, Mei.
- Thank you.
- Thank you.
It's really flavorful.
I actually think the dish itself felt like a breath of fresh air from Mei and from this whole meal.
It felt innovative.
I was trying to think what about this dish is innovative.
The broth and then also - the, like, whipped yogurt-- - yeah.
It's also, like, very light and airy.
I think this is gonna be a very difficult decision, because obviously, one person will not go on to the finals in Mexico.
This is where it's gonna get a little hot.
This is-- - yes, yes.
- Who was your favorite dish? I'm gonna argue that Melissa had the tastiest dish, the most composed, and the most innovative - How so? - Based off of the walnut miso.
I mean, I think that when you can combine a little bit of innovation with the fact that the dish was cooked so well-- it ate very clean.
It highlights the innovation a little bit more.
The thing about Melissa's dish is, for me, it didn't excite me the way other dishes did today.
I liked eating Mei's dish the best.
I thought it was the most interesting to eat.
I thought it was beautiful.
I thought it was creative.
It showed a stretch of her imagination.
Wylie, who would you want to give $10,000 to? I would take Melissa's duck on Mei's curry.
Well, that's not a dish.
So you think the two worst dishes were George's and Gregory's? I do, but I have no problem picking one over the other.
- Was George's the worst dish? - I don't think so.
At the very least, whether he failed or not, he swung for the fences.
My biggest flaw with George's dish is the cooking of the octopus.
He over-charred octopus, and that is not stepping out of his comfort zone.
He's cooked that a million times.
But in terms of using innovative flavors, George did that, - but it was a circus.
- Yeah.
- But it was a circus.
- A bit of a circus.
- Yes.
- George wanted to win.
He's like, "if I go home, I'm gonna go home fighting.
" I agree with that, but-- Gregory sort of just kind of slumped to the finish line.
Called it in.
I mean, Gregory-- he knows that that's a good dish that most people like most of the time, and he's hoping that it gets him through to the next round.
And I would rather eat that.
- But that's valuable, you see? - Yeah, I know.
You see, that's very important, because we're encouraging you to take risks, but we're also going to fault you if your risks don't pay off.
So well-executed--does that trump creative and disjointed? How do you feel? I have no idea.
It's been a long one.
Well, I think we have our decision.
Richard and Michael, thank you so much for joining us.
Thank you for having me.
Let's go back to judges' table.
I can't believe this is the last time we're gonna be - in the stew room, huh? - Yep.
This is just, like, so intense.
All the dishes are good.
You screw something up, like, that's it.
- That's all it takes.
- Yeah.
Boom.
Like, you made your grave.
Good evening.
We'd like to see all of you.
Thank you.
All right, guys.
- Come on, guys.
- Good luck.
Good luck.
Now, chefs, with innovation sometimes comes failure.
It's a lot of working through problems to try to create something new and something really authentic and something really different.
Well, I'm not sure how far some of you pushed out of their boundaries today, so it was a tough challenge.
But one thing I know we did get is some really tasty food.
Melissa's already secured her spot, so that means only two of you will move on.
Mei, Melissa, you served our favorite dishes of the night.
Melissa, how are you feeling? I feel anxious still.
I didn't have much to lose, but I'm always trying to push myself to do better, and that's why I feel anxious.
It's a really nice dish.
Beautifully cooked duck, great flavors, savory, sweet-- the dish all came together nicely.
This was really well done.
That walnut miso was really excellent.
Sometimes, innovation comes from an idea that you look at and think, "I can't believe I haven't tasted that already, but I know I haven't," and that's what makes it so great.
Thank you.
Mei, what's going through your mind right now? I feel like throughout this entire competition, I've pushed myself to the limit.
I mean, I normally would never put those things together.
I thought it was just maybe kind of confusing to you guys, maybe? - Why? - From chef Tom's face.
No, no, no.
You just looked really confused, so-- it took a while to figure it out.
It was very complex.
I liked the dish.
The broth was the thing that everybody was swept up in.
It had a lot of punch.
It was very rich.
- I thought it was delicious.
- Thank you.
Wylie, as our guest judge, please tell us who will be walking away with the $10,000 prize today.
I think the chef whose dish was the best example not only of innovation but also happened to be very well executed today was Melissa.
Oh, wow.
- Congratulations.
- Thank you.
Wow.
You're already going to the finals, but now you get to go a little richer.
Thank you so much.
You know, it's everything you want in a dish.
Technically very sound, very well executed.
Thank you.
Yes.
It looks like the other chefs should watch out for me, because I've been just killing it, and when I get to Mexico, I'm gonna win it all.
Mei, congratulations.
You will be going on to Mexico.
Holy .
I'm going to Mexico.
Top Chef is right around the corner.
Good job.
George, Gregory, for one of you, your journey ends here.
It's a struggle-- a struggle on this end to try to figure out what to do here.
George, we're sure you've cooked octopus, you know, a thousand times.
I think that grill was way too hot.
It was just really charred and not charred in a good way.
I did taste some bitterness, and I do think that, in your effort to really push yourself, there were pieces of that plate that could have come together more cleanly or maybe could have been eliminated altogether.
But I do think you really succeeded with that green harissa.
It was delicious.
It tied the whole dish together.
Thank you.
Gregory, I think that your dish was restaurant-worthy without a doubt.
But to be honest, I think you played it a little safe.
Oh.
I pushed my-- I sweated all day, so-- I'm not saying you didn't work hard.
I just think that you may want to think about sticking your neck out a little bit more.
Understood, chef.
But still, I think your dish tonight was perfectly cooked.
The salmon skin was unbelievable.
Gregory and George, only one of you will be joining Mei and Melissa in the finals.
this was tough.
We deliberated for quite some time.
You know, at this stage of the game, it's hard to see anybody go, but that's where we are.
Padma? George, please pack your knives and go.
It's cool, bro.
Gregory, that means you'll be moving on to Mexico.
- Congratulations.
- Thank you very much.
George, you gave us a really great dish.
Clearly you pushed yourself way out of your comfort zone.
It was the octopus that kind of did you in, something that you've done a lot.
But really nice dish.
George, you did a great job coming back.
You earned every minute that you were here.
You know, you may have an opportunity to come back again with Last Chance Kitchen.
Thank you.
I appreciate that.
The rest of you--we'll see you in Mexico at the finals.
Thank you.
All right, guys.
It's the end of the road for me.
It was fun while it lasted.
I'm heartbroken right now.
Words can't even describe the feeling that's going on right now.
You knocked me out twice.
It's cool, man.
Y'all do your thing.
Brush up on your Mexican food, all right? I'm very thankful that I had a second chance.
I came back, and I made it to the final four, and I'm proud of myself.
One thing I definitely take from this competition is that, to do something great, somewhere inside you, you dig deep and you find a way to make it happen.
There's a small difference between good and great, and when I come home, I know I want to be great.
.
Oh! I am so grateful to have made it.
I have worked myself to the itty-bitty bone, and it was a very, very close call, but it all paid off, and that's all that matters.
We're going to Mexico! From here on out, it's go time.
You know, the best of the best get to go to the finale.
- To Mexico.
- To Mexico.
Right now on the last chance kitchen finale This is the last battle.
Only one chef will remain standing.
Doug and George cook off in Mexico.
Can George take out the reigning champion? I got, like, nine lives.
Or will Doug take out George for good? I have a surprise for you upstairs.
Uh-oh.
To find out, go to bravotv.
Com.
Next on Top Chef Welcome to San Miguel de allende, Mexico.
Only the best make it this far.
Chefs, come on over here.
- I'm spying.
- What the hell's going on? This is gonna be nuts.
I think there's a major twist.
It's, like, all Mexican ingredients, and Katsuji comes back, of course.
No, filet.
Like, the skin.
I should've practiced my Spanish.
- No skin? - I want all skin.
.
For me not to win is just not an option.
I'm ready to fight.
I'm ready to cook.
I'm gonna win this.
I'm tired.
Cooking with my mom.
In the last challenge, we got to cook with our family members.
We're gonna need 'em kind of small, dad, 'cause they're gonna go on that oyster.
You can do whatever you want.
Swallow it.
To hang out with my father was the highlight of my Top Chef experience so far.
- Congratulations.
- Thank you.
- Congrats.
- Thanks, guys.
I'm completely surprised that I won the last challenge.
To see how proud my mom was of me to make it to the finals-- that love and support means so much to me.
I just feel stronger every day that I'm here.
Hey, we don't have to pour our beer out today, huh? I know, right? We're all safe.
For me.
don't have to pour the beer out for me.
In some cases, your family members actually made a better dish than you.
Sorry, Greg.
We actually had to throw that out there.
I honestly don't know what's going on with Gregory.
I mean, I think his nerves are taking over.
He got a lot of negative feedback today.
Nobody was eliminated.
Otherwise, I think he would have gone home, and that would have been fine with me-- just one less person that I have to beat.
I guess cheers to the final three, because Melissa's already in? I know, she's in the cool kids club already.
- Yeah.
- All right.
Good luck, guys.
- Thank you.
- To the three musketeers.
To the rest.
One more fight.
Only 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.
So are we doing a quickfire today, or you think we're just going to go here, like for our challenge? It's gonna be some weird, like, huge twist.
Plan for the worst.
You sleep well last night, Melissa? Like a rock.
I never in a million years thought I would make it as far as I have.
Even when I came back, I was feeling that maybe I would have made a dumb little mistake and got eliminated.
But I hung in there, and now it's like I made it down to the final four.
I proved myself that I can do it.
I can hang in there.
I'm so close, and, like, I'm very competitive.
I really want to win this thing.
One more round.
Let's do this.
Let's go.
Today's gonna be a hard one.
They'll probably give us a bunch of weapons and make us fight to the death.
I did not expect to see Wylie Dufresne in the kitchen.
He's one of the most innovative chefs around.
It's very intimidating to cook for him.
Please welcome acclaimed culinary innovator Wylie Dufresne.
- Welcome back.
- Hello, chefs.
Great to be back.
Thank you.
Chefs, it's time for your final quickfire here in Boston.
Boston is often called beantown because in colonial times, a favorite local food was molasses baked beans.
As the story goes, sailors knew that they were approaching the harbor as they began to smell the molasses baked beans.
But in recent times, both the name and the dish have fallen out of favor.
It's up to you to put Boston beans back on the map.
don't worry.
You don't have to make baked beans.
Make any dish you wish as long as it features the beans you see here on this table.
I think the key to a great bean dish is texture.
Undercooked, overcooked beans are not really that appealing.
Definitely a little bit nerve-racking to be serving Wylie and to be serving Wylie beans, of all things.
You know, this is something that tests your skills as a chef.
It can be really difficult to elevate something kind of basic and simple.
The winner of this quickfire will win a trip to napa courtesy of terlato wines.
I really want to win this.
My girlfriend deserves a vacation.
She works hard.
I would love to take her away to napa on a romantic getaway.
Chefs, even with this humble ingredient as the highlight of your dish, we still expect you to make something innovative.
You have one hour and full access to the Top Chef pantry and the anolon cookware.
And your time starts now.
There is that saying about beans.
Like, the more you eat the more you-- you got to make sure nobody's crop dusting around you.
And you're like-- What the hell is that? I hate peeling garlic.
That's what I have line cooks for.
The way that I feel like you can elevate the beans is just make the beans taste good.
I do, like, this nice dish called plaki.
It's baked tomatoes with kale, onions, and seafood.
Greek cuisine is very big into beans, so I do feel like I have a little bit of an edge.
You want to decide this quickfire, you know, like, you got to deal with the consequences, and part of it is gas, you know? It is what it is.
What are you gonna do? An hour is a very short amount of time to cook beans.
For me, beans are not a part of Asian cuisine, so I don't really cook with beans at all.
I'm going to cook some Navy beans with sake, pork, and avocado.
This is a bean dish with a lot of Asian flavors.
It's definitely unique.
I know I have a place in the finals, but in this game, you never want to let your guard down.
Gregory tends to cook very Asian, but you can't really win Top Chef just making curries.
Now is the time to push yourself a little more.
I love fried garbanzo beans, and butter beans make for a really great puree.
I want to take it to the next level and puree the bacon into the bean puree-- really infuse that flavor.
I got into Top Chef to challenge myself and see what different techniques I can come up with.
When I saw Wylie, I knew exactly what I was gonna make.
He loves eggs.
I'm definitely gonna put an egg in my dish.
Making Wylie Dufresne breakfast.
Cheese.
I'm gonna go towards a southwestern flavor profile.
I took some pinto beans, put it in an isi gun, and it's pretty much aerated beans.
I've never made a bean foam before.
We'll see what happens.
You love taking risks.
Got to be versatile, you know what I mean? Done.
Is there any seafood? Plaki and seafood-- they really go well together.
No seafood.
Damn it.
I'm gonna go with pork and, like, Greek style beans.
As a chef, you just learn how to improvise and you learn how to make it happen, so it might work out.
My bean foam--it's not really gonna look appealing, but this is one way where you can get every component on the spoon.
You have five minutes left-- five minutes.
I see Mei doing foam and beans.
It just looks like, you know-- that's not something I would want to eat.
Hands up, utensils down.
- Hi, George.
- Hello.
- Nice to meet you.
- George, nice to meet you.
Today, I made a tomato-based sauce called plaki-- chickpeas, tomato, kale, and leeks.
- Your protein? - Pork tenderloin.
So this is a traditional Greek dish? Usually, it's done with, like, gigandes beans, but I went with the chickpeas today considering the time and everything.
Nice texture.
- I like the spices.
- Thank you.
- Thank you.
- Thank you very much.
- Thank you.
- Hi, Mei.
What did you do for us? So I made some black bean and corn sauteed with some chipotle peppers, bacon, poached egg, and pinto bean foam.
Pinto bean foam? How did you make that? Canned pinto beans, some shallot, chicken stock-- blended it up.
Yeah, there's a little egg in there.
Nicely done.
Yeah, thank you.
- Hi, Melissa.
- Hi.
I made a seared pork tenderloin with a bacon-butter bean puree and roast carrots and some fried chickpeas.
Beans are not really sort of the focus of this dish.
- Thank you.
- Thank you, chef.
- Hi, Gregory.
- Hi, Padma.
Today, we have Navy beans with sake, ham, and avocado, a few carrot chips on top, ham hock, a mirepoix with ginger, shallots, serrano chilies, finished with a little olive oil.
- Are these Navy beans? - They are.
That's my favorite bean to cook.
Oh, cool.
There's some bitterness at the edge of it.
- Sake? - Yes, chef.
Interesting.
- Thank you, Gregory.
- Thank you.
- Thank you very much.
- Thank you.
They clearly did not like my dish.
This is not the taste I want to be leaving in the judges' mouths so close to the Top Chef finals.
I have no idea what I'm gonna do now.
I really got to get creative with this whack-ass flavor profile.
don't they always have pork belly here? Yeah, they always have pork belly.
They don't have it today.
.
So how did our chefs do overall, Wylie? I think they did a great job.
There was some really fun stuff out here.
George, I think you had some very nicely cooked beans, and I did like the spicing that you used.
I wasn't so sure that it needed the pork.
You chose a nice bean, and you dressed it up nicely.
Thank you.
Melissa, I think, in many ways, you made a great plate, but I don't know that you necessarily allowed the beans to shine.
I was hoping to see the bean be more of the star.
You know, Gregory, I talked about the texture of the bean being sort of critical, and I think that those beans were a little bit over.
- Okay.
- And I'm not so sure - that the avocado helped that.
- Okay.
It sort of felt like one soft texture.
Okay.
Mei, at first, I was a little concerned.
Your dish is not the most appealing of the four, but I really saw that there were some nice textures there and flavors that I thought worked really well, and I think using the bean in two ways was a nice touch.
Thank you.
Wylie, tell us who won this quickfire.
So I think the chef who really highlighted the ingredient the best was Mei.
It took 12 quickfires for me to finally win one, and it was with beans.
Napa, here I come.
I'm gonna get wasted.
I really liked the surprise.
I loved going through, poking into that yolk, and I think that the yolk mixed with those beans really nicely.
Thank you, chef.
And now for your last challenge in Boston.
Are you ready? The four of you have displayed your own unique style and technique throughout the competition here in Boston.
This city is known as a center of new ideas, and in that spirit, we want to see what's innovative to you.
We'd like you to make a dish that's innovative, pushing even your own boundaries.
Show us the next iteration of your cooking.
There's a lot of opportunity with innovation.
It doesn't necessarily mean technique.
Try some things that you wouldn't normally do-- maybe some flavor combinations, things like that that you're not familiar with.
You should really have some fun with this.
It's gonna be a little intimidating to serve an innovative dish to Wylie, because he's one of the biggest innovators here in the culinary world, so it's definitely gonna be a hard one.
Tomorrow, you'll have 3 1/2 hours to cook on location at catalyst restaurant.
And the restaurant's gonna be packed.
There's gonna be nobel prize-winning scientists, James Beard award-winning chefs and restaurateurs-- it's gonna be a group that really knows how to push the boundaries, so you step it up, guys.
To cook something innovative, you have to keep trying over and over and over again, because you're not gonna nail it the first time, and we have a day.
It's not easy.
The winner of this challenge will join Melissa in the finals and receive $10,000.
Oh, man, I've been trying to get to Thailand for about three years now, so I know I will spend that 10 gs on an amazing trip, just eating my way across the country.
Melissa, you've already earned your ticket to Mexico, but for the rest of you, that means there's only two tickets remaining.
I really like this challenge.
To push your boundaries makes you push yourself as a chef, instead of just, like, relying on all the same tricks we have.
Now we have an opportunity to go for it, so I'm kind of excited about this one.
Make sure you make this dish count.
- We'll see you tomorrow.
- Good luck.
Thank you.
Oh! Innovation is creating something someone's never seen before, and working at ink-- that's a lot of what we do, so I feel like I've got this.
Do you see limes anywhere? - Basil.
- Where are the limes? - Limes are over there.
- Oh, way over there.
- Yeah.
- Thank you.
I really want to do something that hasn't been done before, opposed to just, like, the usual suspects of proteins.
I really want to go with octopus, and I'm thinking that I want to pair it with pork belly.
For a chef to be innovative, you really have to create flavor profiles that people aren't used to, but you have to make sure that they work.
You can't just kind of come up with this whack-ass flavor profile, and it doesn't taste very good.
How you doing, sir? Do you guys have pork belly? We have no pork belly.
No pork belly? That changes everything.
I have no idea what I'm gonna do now.
They have pork belly every freaking day there, and they happen to not have it the day that I really, really need it.
don't they always have pork belly here? Yeah, they always have pork belly.
- They don't have it today.
- Are you serious? I swear.
Now my whole plan's ruined.
15 minutes! .
So I'm gonna make something very straightforward, very clean.
Taking a big risk at this stage in the game can be very dangerous, so I'm using the amazing Asian flavors that I love to work with so much, but my innovative flourishes will be adding texture.
Let me get the breast instead.
Yeah, there's bigger skin-- more skin on that.
I want to make wild salmon with Tom kha broth, but introducing the chicken skin and the salmon skin is going to make it really unique.
- All right, thank you so much.
- I don't know what I want.
You guys don't have pork belly, right? - We do not.
- You guys have octopus? What am I gonna do without the pork belly? I still want to use octopus 'cause I feel like octopus is exotic, but I really got to get creative with my ingredients now.
That pork belly was gonna kind of help make it, - like, more unique, you know? - 10 gs.
Now it's just gonna be, "oh, wow, a mediterranean octopus, George.
I've never seen that one before.
" Oh.
It's still our house for one more day.
One more day.
How does everybody feel about their dishes? Oh, my God.
The dish of your life tomorrow.
Over the past five years since I've been sober, I've really come back around, and I've found my path.
I've always been a fighter, and I've really kind of changed my life around for the best.
To win Top Chef would really be a great sense of kind of closing doors on the ghosts that still haunt me about the mistakes that I've made in my past.
I can hang out with my brother for so long before I get annoyed.
What does he do for a living? Like, he's going into pharmacy school, so my parents love him more than they love me.
It's definitely been a long road to get to this point in my life.
Growing up, my parents always wanted me to go to school to be a nurse, so I decided to go to nursing school.
But food is something I'm really, really passionate about, and it's what I love working with every single day, so I dropped out of college to go to culinary school.
My parents--you know, they were pissed off, but it's just what I love to do, so I just had to go with it.
Well, $10,000 on the line.
And, uh, oh, yeah, going to the finals.
- A trip to Mexico.
- And Mexico.
Why do you want to win Top Chef, Melissa? You know, there's only been two girls that have ever won Top Chef - The chick from Chicago-- - of, like, 11 seasons.
I think, as a woman, it is tough working in a kitchen.
You have to sort of prove yourself more.
There's a lot of pressure to win this and to be maybe the third female to win Top Chef.
You know, I could be inspiring for other female chefs, so I need to win this.
It's like, to win it, it's just life changing, and-- I ain't trying to be no runner-up.
I smell coconut.
Gregory's playing it safe right now.
In what way are you using innovation today? Um, um-- good morning.
How's it going? - - What the hell's so funny? - Feeling ready? Feeling strong? Your face.
I know.
Look so nervous.
Basically, it's like, the most important day of our lives.
That's all.
Of course it's a rainy and gloomy day out.
I can't believe I'm so close to the end.
It's been a long road.
A lot of stress and anxiety and sleepless nights.
Oh, man, I just can't sit still.
- I'm just, like-- - mm-hmm.
- I didn't sleep at all.
- Okay.
I was, like, sweating, and it's, like, freezing in there.
Yeah, I was sweating.
I was sweating.
- Yeah, I was, like, panicking.
- You were sweating? - Coats.
- All right.
Suit up.
One final suit up.
Stepping outside of your comfort zone-- it's not easy to do, but great chefs are the ones who do take that chance and they go for it.
I need to stay focused.
I need to nail this challenge.
Whoo.
All right, let's get set up.
We have 3 1/2 hours at the catalyst restaurant to make an innovative dish.
Whoo-hoo.
Yeah.
It's our last challenge in Boston.
Knowing that I have immunity, I can have a little more fun with this one.
This challenge, get to be a little more adventurous, at least for me.
I'm gonna be making seared duck breast with a walnut miso puree, pickled cherries, and farro.
Kind of going to unknown territories.
I'm taking a chance using miso with such a classic flavor profile like duck and cherries, but I want the miso to give it that umami and that saltiness.
If you don't take the risk, you can't win.
10 gs on the line.
- How's it going, George? - Good, bro.
- How you doing? - Good.
Making a crispy chicken skin garnish-- kind of a fun way to introduce texture to a soup, which is basically what my dish is.
I'm making a really beautiful and clean Tom kha broth, which is gonna be snow white.
Tom kha is a thai soup.
It's very aromatic and bright with lime juice, fish sauce, tons of kaffir lime.
Pairing north American wild salmon with Tom kha is definitely a different twist on the classic preparation.
I'm definitely looking at this as the most important meal I've ever cooked.
I'm not holding back.
I started off the season really, really strong, but I have been kind of struggling in the past few challenges, so I'm really trying to get my act together and make it to the finale.
- Oh, come on.
- Weighing your sausage? No, I'm taking the octopus heads and I'm putting them through a meat grinder for my fritter.
I'm gonna do two different textures of octopus, because everybody usually throws the octopus head in the garbage.
I'm trying to do octopus differently.
Then, my green apple harissa, that'll kind of bring the whole dish together.
Traditionally, harissa is a chili-based puree-- really sharp and spicy, but I'm doing a harissa with apple and lighter, delicate flavors.
I just want to show that, like, I went for it.
- I smell coconut.
- Yeah, you know it.
Gregory's very familiar with coconut milk and all those flavor profiles.
He's done it in every challenge.
The point of the challenge is not to just fall back on food that you're comfortable making.
Gregory's playing it safe right now.
Some nice duck here.
- Looks good? - Yeah.
With this dish today, I think I'm really pushing boundaries, and it's actually really scary.
I'm making a duck curry with aerated yuzu yogurt.
And putting yuzu and a curry together might not make a lot of sense, but I have to show the judges a little something that they haven't seen before.
It's make it or break it.
You're a freaking badass chef, and you kept quiet the whole time, and I was like, "that girl's gonna be deadly.
" I think it'd be really fun if it was down to me and Mei.
We've become really good friends.
To be in the finale with her-- I would be really happy to go up against her.
- Hope you make it, girl.
- Yeah.
Let's go to Mexico.
I have extra duck if you need it.
- Do you have extra duck? - Yeah.
Melissa and Mei today-- they're working very close together.
Their dishes look very similar, which is kind of odd.
They both are using duck breast.
Still need me to save you some trim for duck? - Yeah.
- It's a duck party.
If Mei needs help from Melissa to do this challenge, I don't care.
Like, do what you got to do, but if I'm gonna win this challenge, I'm gonna win it.
I'm not gonna have someone else help me win it.
Mei, your sugar's burning a little on the edges.
- I just turned it off.
- All right.
Melissa and I have gotten really close, and, you know, I definitely see her as an older sister.
There's a lot of camaraderie in the kitchen, but I'm here to win.
I'm here to beat every single chef here.
I'm proud of us for getting this far.
Yeah, for sure, but I didn't come this far into this competition to not go to Mexico.
- Hi, chefs.
- Hi, chef.
- Hey, chef.
- Hey, chef.
- How are you? - Excellent.
- Good.
- Hey, George.
- Hey, chefs.
- How's it going? Oh, look at this.
It's all here.
- It's plated.
- It's all there, Wylie.
- Love it.
- It's all there.
- I love it.
- There it is.
I didn't exactly get my art degree, but-- - that's great.
- It looks like a face.
You've got a nose, you've got two eyes--that's nice.
So what are you making? - I am doing octopus.
- Okay.
But today, I'm trying to do it a little bit differently.
I'm trying to do multiple textures of octopus.
So that's the innovative approach? Yes.
The heads, I put through a meat grinder.
I made little croquettes out of 'em.
- I'm gonna fry those.
- Nice.
I was gonna pair it with some apples, jalapeños, pickled mustard seeds.
This seems like a complicated plate.
- Yeah.
- You good with that? - I'll be fine.
- Well, good luck.
- Yeah.
- See you out there.
- Nice seeing you.
- Take care, chef.
- Hey, Melissa.
- Hi, chef.
So today, I'm making a seared duck breast.
I'm doing a walnut miso sauce Walnut miso-- tell me about that.
Which I've actually never done.
But I boiled the walnuts down, and then I added red miso, trying to test out flavors that I think can go together well.
So your intent to innovate today is based on flavors, - in a way? - Exactly.
You're already in, so you have really no pressure - on you at all right now.
- Yeah.
I'm more looking forward to just helping out my colleagues.
Mei and I were making the farro together, and we're gonna sear a bunch of duck.
It sounds like you are trying to get Mei in with you.
It'd be nice.
She's my buddy, you know? - Okay.
All right.
- Good luck.
- Thank you, chefs.
- Good luck.
- Hey, Gregory.
- Hey, chef.
- What do we have? - We have cooked salmon.
I'll be taking the skin off, actually, and I'm kind of making a very crispy crisp out of it and then a Tom kha broth and then adding some crispy chicken skin as well.
In what way are you using innovation today? Um, um, texture is an important part of the things that we eat, so I'm just kind of playing with ways to add texture.
- Mm-hmm.
- So, you know.
- Thanks, Gregory.
- Thank you very much, chef.
- Good luck.
- Thank you.
I'm really concerned that they don't see my dish as innovative at all.
You know, this dish is definitely a combination of what I do best and some new things, and when they taste my dish, I really hope the judges understand what I'm trying to do today.
- Hey, Mei.
- Hi, chefs.
These are the innovative carrots? I'm making a duck curry today, and usually curries are pretty heavy, so I'm utilizing yogurt to lighten it up, - and flavor profiles - Mm-hmm.
That probably wouldn't think that would work.
An unusual curry? That's what we're gonna have? - Yes.
- Good.
So what it would mean to be in the finale? I mean, Michael probably gave you a little insight, but-- no, he actually didn't give me any.
Wow, no help.
Well, he's a pretty innovative guy.
Are you channeling some of his innovation? You know, I've definitely learned a lot from him, and I wouldn't be here if it wasn't for him.
- Good luck.
- All right.
Thank you, chef.
Good luck.
Okay, chefs, this is it.
This is to get to the finale, - so cook well.
- Thank you, chef.
- Thank you, chefs.
- Good luck.
All right.
Duck, duck, goose.
30 minutes, guys! This is the most important meal of my life.
I can't say it enough times.
George, by far, is taking the biggest risk working with flavors and techniques he's never worked with before.
- This might bite him in the ass.
- Coming down hot.
Coming down hot.
Hot, hot, hot.
Melissa, you ready for service? Hell yeah.
Let's do this.
Hello.
Welcome, everybody, back for our last meal together here in Boston, and welcome back to Michael brenner, who we're very, very lucky to have.
So, Wylie, you and Michael work together, right? I've been fortunate enough to be involved with his program at Harvard for the last four years.
Tell us about your program.
We try to use cooking as a way to inspire people to learn science, so we have chefs like Wylie come and make these remarkable dishes.
- Then we ask how they did that.
- Mm-hmm.
And pretty quickly, we get into a discussion of science.
- It's pretty cool, actually.
- It is.
- It's really cool.
- I use it.
We're cutting it pretty close.
All four of us need to be working on the line, and it's a small line.
Back--back, back, back.
Ooh, this is gonna be interesting.
- Behind--hot, hot, hot.
- Behind.
Sorry.
I don't know how the we're gonna plate like this.
- Yeah.
- Behind.
Behind.
Behind.
Sorry.
Back, behind, back.
- Behind.
- Below, behind.
We're all kind of bumping into each other.
It's really hectic.
Jesus Christ.
I see Gregory having a little bit of trouble getting his food in the window.
How much time? One minute left.
I'm first up to serve the judges, I am a little bit behind, and I'm just scrambling and getting things done as quickly as possible.
God damn it! - Good job, brother.
- Thank you.
Walking my dishes out to the table, I feel more nervous than I've ever been on this whole competition.
Everything I've ever wanted on Top Chef lies upon these plates.
- Hi, Gregory.
- Hi, everyone.
- Tell us about your plate.
- Okay.
So we have some pan-roasted salmon with Tom kha broth, roasted tomatoes, and some crispy chicken skin and crispy salmon skin as well.
When I moved out west, I kind of went through many life changes.
New York City to Portland, Oregon, where life slowed down and my career really blossomed.
I became more focused, and these are some of the ingredients that I fell in love with.
And what is the innovation here? Innovation--I definitely think playing with ways to incorporate texture and fat with crispy salmon skin and the crispy chicken skin.
Gregory, I think your dish is delicious.
Thank you, Padma.
I really enjoyed the dish.
I thought it was excellent.
The salmon was nicely cooked.
The skin on the salmon is really, really good.
Just having a hard time finding the innovation.
All right.
- Thank you, Gregory.
- Thank you all.
Thank you.
I'm really concerned about the comments I received at the judges' table.
At the end of the day, though, if my dish was delicious and executed well, I have secured my spot in the Top Chef finale.
- How'd it go, buddy? - Um, okay.
They didn't think it was-- they didn't think it was innovative.
- It was a circus.
- Yes.
So well-executed--does that trump creative and disjointed? Mei is not an emotional person when she wins.
- Mei, you're the winner.
- Thank you.
"Thank you," and she's back, you know, whew.
Mei winning the quickfire challenge-- Mei.
Mei losing a challenge-- people do not know what I'm thinking.
Might be-- I have this chronic bitch face.
It's like this blank stare, like-- Mei when her pet's run over by a car-- - who's next? - Me.
- Good luck.
- Thanks.
Even though I have a spot in the finale, there's 10 grand on the line, and I still want to win.
I still want to show the judges how much I've pushed myself.
- Hi, Melissa.
- Hi.
Tell us what you made.
I made a seared duck breast with farro, walnut, miso, and pickled cherries.
I went for flavors that were different than what I'm used to.
I'm not into molecular cooking, so I didn't really want to go that direction with innovation.
But for myself, this was out of my comfort zone.
The miso and walnut go so beautifully together and really well with the duck.
I just love that savoriness.
- It's absolutely delicious.
- Thank you.
The only thing missing off the dishes is you.
- That said, I love the dish.
- Yeah.
I mean, the duck was perfectly cooked.
There was a nice balance.
I loved your pickled cherries too.
I thought they were tart and pickled just the right amount.
Thank you.
- Thank you guys.
- Thank you.
I knew these flavors would work, I just had never tried it before, and they seemed to understand my dish.
I think I'm gonna win this 10 grand.
- I love this dish.
- Yeah.
The way the duck was cooked-- this was a great dish, but I don't feel like she stepped outside her comfort zone at all.
Well, I think this is a risk for her, and she is stepping out a little bit.
I like this miso walnut.
That taste is very new for me.
I never had that taste before.
All of the components to my dish are coming out right.
I'm just stressed out about it being the last competition.
There's only two slots left to go to Mexico, so what's gonna cost you is just a minor mistake.
- George.
- How's everybody doing? Today I made charred octopus.
I kind of did two different textures.
I grinded the head, and I made a little fritter on the side with a little bit of yellow split pea puree on the bottom.
I have the charred tentacles on top.
There's a little apple green harissa on the bottom.
They have that bacon chip on there, and a little bit of pickled mustard seeds that are on the plate as well.
The green harissa-- is that something you've done before, - or-- - no.
I just kind of came up with it.
- Is that apple and yuzu? - Correct.
Very nicely done.
Thank you.
Yeah, the harissa and apple, I think, is just really successful.
There's a lot going on, and I'm not sure if it's because there's a lot of sweetness in the dish, but the octopus is really bitter.
- Char-- - only getting that at the char at the very end, which I made the mistake of eating.
But it's really-- - I'm noticing it a lot.
- Thank you, George.
- You can go back to the kitchen.
- Thank you.
There was definitely a lot of good things about the dish, but at the same time, there's flaws.
I just hope the flaws aren't catastrophic.
The challenge with this dish was balance.
He just needed to turn the dials down a little bit.
He could've taken the lentils away, could've taken the rhubarb away, and he would have made life easier for himself, I think.
There's a lot going on, but I've got to give him credit.
The octopus is great, and the sauce is great.
That's the thing-- everything tastes good, right? It's just--all together, it's distracting.
This is the most important dish of my entire career.
The flavors are really innovative, and I'm confident this is the dish to get me into the finals.
- Hi, Mei.
- Hi.
I made for you a duck curry with vadouvan and lemongrass ginger.
The duck has a fish sauce caramel brushed on the skin, some vegetables, and yogurt.
A curry--you would normally think of it as being really heavy.
I made it lighter today, also added citrus to the yogurt-- not something you would normally see in a thai curry as well.
This is--it's a tough one.
Um I like it, but I don't know how to describe this.
I think that's a good thing that you don't know what to say.
No, it is.
It is.
It absolutely is, yeah.
I think that's a good thing that you're not - sure what to make of it.
- Yeah.
I like the fact that there's not a lot of broth, but the broth that's there is really strong.
It's quite tasty.
The skin was so tasty.
Yeah, the skin was really tasty.
What I found really interesting about the dish-- as you eat it, it changes in a good way.
It just keeps changing, and you keep finding different things, and you find different flavor points.
It's really complex.
Thanks, Mei.
- Thank you.
- Thank you.
It's really flavorful.
I actually think the dish itself felt like a breath of fresh air from Mei and from this whole meal.
It felt innovative.
I was trying to think what about this dish is innovative.
The broth and then also - the, like, whipped yogurt-- - yeah.
It's also, like, very light and airy.
I think this is gonna be a very difficult decision, because obviously, one person will not go on to the finals in Mexico.
This is where it's gonna get a little hot.
This is-- - yes, yes.
- Who was your favorite dish? I'm gonna argue that Melissa had the tastiest dish, the most composed, and the most innovative - How so? - Based off of the walnut miso.
I mean, I think that when you can combine a little bit of innovation with the fact that the dish was cooked so well-- it ate very clean.
It highlights the innovation a little bit more.
The thing about Melissa's dish is, for me, it didn't excite me the way other dishes did today.
I liked eating Mei's dish the best.
I thought it was the most interesting to eat.
I thought it was beautiful.
I thought it was creative.
It showed a stretch of her imagination.
Wylie, who would you want to give $10,000 to? I would take Melissa's duck on Mei's curry.
Well, that's not a dish.
So you think the two worst dishes were George's and Gregory's? I do, but I have no problem picking one over the other.
- Was George's the worst dish? - I don't think so.
At the very least, whether he failed or not, he swung for the fences.
My biggest flaw with George's dish is the cooking of the octopus.
He over-charred octopus, and that is not stepping out of his comfort zone.
He's cooked that a million times.
But in terms of using innovative flavors, George did that, - but it was a circus.
- Yeah.
- But it was a circus.
- A bit of a circus.
- Yes.
- George wanted to win.
He's like, "if I go home, I'm gonna go home fighting.
" I agree with that, but-- Gregory sort of just kind of slumped to the finish line.
Called it in.
I mean, Gregory-- he knows that that's a good dish that most people like most of the time, and he's hoping that it gets him through to the next round.
And I would rather eat that.
- But that's valuable, you see? - Yeah, I know.
You see, that's very important, because we're encouraging you to take risks, but we're also going to fault you if your risks don't pay off.
So well-executed--does that trump creative and disjointed? How do you feel? I have no idea.
It's been a long one.
Well, I think we have our decision.
Richard and Michael, thank you so much for joining us.
Thank you for having me.
Let's go back to judges' table.
I can't believe this is the last time we're gonna be - in the stew room, huh? - Yep.
This is just, like, so intense.
All the dishes are good.
You screw something up, like, that's it.
- That's all it takes.
- Yeah.
Boom.
Like, you made your grave.
Good evening.
We'd like to see all of you.
Thank you.
All right, guys.
- Come on, guys.
- Good luck.
Good luck.
Now, chefs, with innovation sometimes comes failure.
It's a lot of working through problems to try to create something new and something really authentic and something really different.
Well, I'm not sure how far some of you pushed out of their boundaries today, so it was a tough challenge.
But one thing I know we did get is some really tasty food.
Melissa's already secured her spot, so that means only two of you will move on.
Mei, Melissa, you served our favorite dishes of the night.
Melissa, how are you feeling? I feel anxious still.
I didn't have much to lose, but I'm always trying to push myself to do better, and that's why I feel anxious.
It's a really nice dish.
Beautifully cooked duck, great flavors, savory, sweet-- the dish all came together nicely.
This was really well done.
That walnut miso was really excellent.
Sometimes, innovation comes from an idea that you look at and think, "I can't believe I haven't tasted that already, but I know I haven't," and that's what makes it so great.
Thank you.
Mei, what's going through your mind right now? I feel like throughout this entire competition, I've pushed myself to the limit.
I mean, I normally would never put those things together.
I thought it was just maybe kind of confusing to you guys, maybe? - Why? - From chef Tom's face.
No, no, no.
You just looked really confused, so-- it took a while to figure it out.
It was very complex.
I liked the dish.
The broth was the thing that everybody was swept up in.
It had a lot of punch.
It was very rich.
- I thought it was delicious.
- Thank you.
Wylie, as our guest judge, please tell us who will be walking away with the $10,000 prize today.
I think the chef whose dish was the best example not only of innovation but also happened to be very well executed today was Melissa.
Oh, wow.
- Congratulations.
- Thank you.
Wow.
You're already going to the finals, but now you get to go a little richer.
Thank you so much.
You know, it's everything you want in a dish.
Technically very sound, very well executed.
Thank you.
Yes.
It looks like the other chefs should watch out for me, because I've been just killing it, and when I get to Mexico, I'm gonna win it all.
Mei, congratulations.
You will be going on to Mexico.
Holy .
I'm going to Mexico.
Top Chef is right around the corner.
Good job.
George, Gregory, for one of you, your journey ends here.
It's a struggle-- a struggle on this end to try to figure out what to do here.
George, we're sure you've cooked octopus, you know, a thousand times.
I think that grill was way too hot.
It was just really charred and not charred in a good way.
I did taste some bitterness, and I do think that, in your effort to really push yourself, there were pieces of that plate that could have come together more cleanly or maybe could have been eliminated altogether.
But I do think you really succeeded with that green harissa.
It was delicious.
It tied the whole dish together.
Thank you.
Gregory, I think that your dish was restaurant-worthy without a doubt.
But to be honest, I think you played it a little safe.
Oh.
I pushed my-- I sweated all day, so-- I'm not saying you didn't work hard.
I just think that you may want to think about sticking your neck out a little bit more.
Understood, chef.
But still, I think your dish tonight was perfectly cooked.
The salmon skin was unbelievable.
Gregory and George, only one of you will be joining Mei and Melissa in the finals.
this was tough.
We deliberated for quite some time.
You know, at this stage of the game, it's hard to see anybody go, but that's where we are.
Padma? George, please pack your knives and go.
It's cool, bro.
Gregory, that means you'll be moving on to Mexico.
- Congratulations.
- Thank you very much.
George, you gave us a really great dish.
Clearly you pushed yourself way out of your comfort zone.
It was the octopus that kind of did you in, something that you've done a lot.
But really nice dish.
George, you did a great job coming back.
You earned every minute that you were here.
You know, you may have an opportunity to come back again with Last Chance Kitchen.
Thank you.
I appreciate that.
The rest of you--we'll see you in Mexico at the finals.
Thank you.
All right, guys.
It's the end of the road for me.
It was fun while it lasted.
I'm heartbroken right now.
Words can't even describe the feeling that's going on right now.
You knocked me out twice.
It's cool, man.
Y'all do your thing.
Brush up on your Mexican food, all right? I'm very thankful that I had a second chance.
I came back, and I made it to the final four, and I'm proud of myself.
One thing I definitely take from this competition is that, to do something great, somewhere inside you, you dig deep and you find a way to make it happen.
There's a small difference between good and great, and when I come home, I know I want to be great.
.
Oh! I am so grateful to have made it.
I have worked myself to the itty-bitty bone, and it was a very, very close call, but it all paid off, and that's all that matters.
We're going to Mexico! From here on out, it's go time.
You know, the best of the best get to go to the finale.
- To Mexico.
- To Mexico.
Right now on the last chance kitchen finale This is the last battle.
Only one chef will remain standing.
Doug and George cook off in Mexico.
Can George take out the reigning champion? I got, like, nine lives.
Or will Doug take out George for good? I have a surprise for you upstairs.
Uh-oh.
To find out, go to bravotv.
Com.
Next on Top Chef Welcome to San Miguel de allende, Mexico.
Only the best make it this far.
Chefs, come on over here.
- I'm spying.
- What the hell's going on? This is gonna be nuts.
I think there's a major twist.
It's, like, all Mexican ingredients, and Katsuji comes back, of course.
No, filet.
Like, the skin.
I should've practiced my Spanish.
- No skin? - I want all skin.
.
For me not to win is just not an option.
I'm ready to fight.
I'm ready to cook.
I'm gonna win this.