Top Chef (2006) s12e14 Episode Script

I'm really disappointed in myself.
We had to create a dish representing the artist and their work.
Even though I put out a terrific dish, I was on the bottom.
I thought visually it was a little subdued.
I wish you would have let go a little bit more in the presentation.
I could have been the one going home because I didn't push myself enough.
Melissa, please pack your knives and go.
Melissa's like a sister to me.
We talked about going to the end together, and it sucks that we didn't get a chance to do that, and now I need to win.
I want to win for the both of us.
Just got real.
Dude, you're on fire.
I wanted it bad.
Who doesn't want it? Doug is on an amazing winning streak with three wins here in Mexico.
The winner of Last Chance Kitchen is Doug.
Welcome to the Top Chef finals.
To me, the winner is Doug.
Congratulations, Doug.
I wanted this one.
I think I do better when I feel like I'm an underdog.
Yeah.
There's only two challenges left until the finale, so I need to push harder than I've ever had to to make a comeback.
I wonder what else is in store.
I don't want to think about it until tomorrow.
Only three chefs remain to compete in the ultimate test of culinary skill.
At stake for the winner, a feature in Food & Wine magazine, an appearance at the Food & Wine classic in Aspen, $125,000 furnished by Healthy Choice, and the title of Top Chef.
I think we're gonna cook.
It's going to be really stressful.
I hope it's not a sudden death quickfire, 'cause in that case-- I do.
.
Just get it over with.
- Why? - Let's just go.
The atmosphere in the house is tense.
To get this close to the finale, you're not thinking about anything else.
Either way, I'm excited to see what's up today.
It's hard.
You wake up every morning, you look at these people that you really respect, and you know that someone's going home.
Final three.
Final three.
Where are we off to today? I don't know.
I don't really see anything yet.
Beautiful mountains.
Oh, my! That looks so amazing.
- Okay.
- All right, let's go.
We're here.
This is so sick.
So we end up at an organic farm in the city of jalpa.
Oh, my God.
- This is sick.
- Look at all the butterflies.
There's a greenhouse full of micro Greens and a mini farm full of fruits and vegetables.
It gives you inspiration.
Rosemary.
Nasturtium.
Nasturtium, some chard.
I feel like I'm walking through, like, a little wonderland.
Welcome to hacienda purisima de jalpa in San Miguel De Allende, Mexico.
This beautiful farm provides vegetables to the best restaurants in San Miguel.
And here with me is the farm's executive chef, Enrique farjeat.
Buenos dias, chefs.
Bienvenidos.
- Hello, chef.
- Hello, chef.
I'm so happy to have you here.
- It's amazing.
- Amazing.
Chefs, today's bittersweet because it's the last quickfire of the season.
It's bittersweet for me.
Chefs, for your quickfire challenge, you'll be cooking with a Mexican staple: Chocolate.
Awesome.
Cacao has been used in mesoamerica for centuries, but it was actually the aztecs and the Mayans who used the seed as something similar to what we know today as chocolate.
We want you to make two dishes: One sweet and one savory.
Both with chocolate.
You know, I don't do desserts at all, and I knew at some point in this competition I was gonna have to do this, and I've been, like, dreading it the entire time.
You all get to harvest your vegetables directly from this chef's paradise.
Nice.
Awesome.
We have to procure our own ingredients and then make two creations from chocolate.
We have a lot of work to do.
The winning chef of this quickfire will get first choice of sous chef in the next elimination challenge.
You have just 45 minutes, and your time starts now.
Good luck.
It's great that we're picking the actual vegetables out of the ground See that garlic? Cooking with produce that's right from the farm.
Everything's super-fresh and flavorful, but I really want to get this rolling because I don't know how much time I'm gonna have left to cook two dishes.
Grab some herbs, some parsley, spring onions.
Baby carrots.
I see these beautiful little baby carrots.
Carrots and spice and dark chocolate, it's a great combination for my dessert.
All right.
Duck.
30 minutes, guys.
Oh, my God.
Good thing I'm a runner 'cause that was really, really hard.
This is what happens when you're out of shape.
It got me out of breath.
Sweet, pure, 70%.
At the chocolate table there's pretty much every variation of chocolate.
There's white chocolate, cocoa butter, nibs, and every percentage of dark chocolate you can find.
I love ingredients that can easily translate from sweet to savory, so I'm really excited to just knock it out of the park today.
Feeling good.
Idea is to make a duck dish with a strong chocolate duck sauce.
Chocolate, it has such a unique flavor that can overwhelm all the other elements on a dish, so I really need to make sure that everything is balanced.
I'm using 80% chocolate for my savory dish 'cause it's bitter, and 66% for my dessert.
Hey, Doug, doesn't this remind you of Thanksgiving? No.
I'm way less happy today than I was on Thanksgiving.
I don't know at this point what I'm gonna do about my sweet dish.
I keep, like, running to chocolate, totally in panic mode.
It's a bad scene.
20 minutes, guys.
Psh.
Me.
Focusing on my savory.
I'm making seared hen, tomato, and ancho chili stew with chocolate.
I think chocolate and ancho chilies are gonna work pretty well together.
Definitely think I can beat these guys.
I need to win this advantage 'cause I need Melissa at my side for the next challenge.
I definitely want some strong teammates to help me, you know, in the next challenge.
It's really crucial at this stage.
As I'm melting my white chocolate for my savory dish and it just doesn't look right .
Some cocoa butter.
I realized that I grabbed cocoa butter, and I have to start all over again.
I can't believe I made the mistake.
We don't have a lot of time.
14 minutes, Gregory.
Shut up.
Dougie, how you doing, buddy? I'm still figuring out the dessert.
- Mei, you made my dessert, right? - Oui, chef.
For my dessert dish I decided to make a chocolate yogurt with fresh mint and nasturtium leaves from the farm.
Do you still have that mescal, Mei? - Yeah.
- Can I use a little? Yeah.
Take it.
What's your dessert, Gregory? Carrots with dark chocolate.
Dougie, what are you making for dessert? Chocolate.
And what? White chocolate, whipped cream.
What? I look over at Doug's dessert, and it's pretty obvious that he's put melted chocolate in a bowl and called it a dessert.
You want to elaborate? No.
All right.
Chefs, you have five minutes.
Five minutes left.
.
This was the hardest quickfire for me, bar none, having to use something that I'm really just not comfortable with.
I'm just glad that this isn't an elimination challenge.
Time's up.
Manos ariba.
Cuchillos a bajo.
Hi, Mei.
- Hi, how are you? - I'm good.
Meet chef Enrique.
- Nice to meet you.
- Mucho gusto.
What did you make? So I made duck cooked with its fat and also some cocoa butter.
I made the sauce out of the chocolate mescal and a little bit of 80% chocolate.
And how do you feel about using the chocolate for the duck? I think it works perfectly.
- Mm-hmm.
- Tell us about your dessert.
So I made a chocolate yogurt with some cocoa nibs, also some nasturtium for some pepperiness.
Thank you so much, Mei.
Hi, Dougie.
- How's it going? - What did you make for us? I did a seared leg of hen, and I made a stew out of some onions from the farm, some tomatoes, a little bit of the bitter chocolate, and some ancho chili.
This was a tough one for me.
I'm not, like, huge on sweet flavors.
Yeah.
And what's in this bowl? Um, it's a little bit of chocolate with the chocolate mescal and some white chocolate cream.
It almost tastes like alcohol that's not burned off a little.
Thank you.
- Thank you.
- Thank you.
I just, like, hit the wall with this quickfire.
I come from a huge win in the last challenge, and then boom.
It's like, .
Really? Like, let's stop the momentum with this.
- Hi, Gregory.
- Padma.
- Hello.
- Chef.
What is your savory dish? Today we have a seared lamb with a white chocolate and ancho sauce and a green chorizo vinaigrette.
And what is your dessert? For dessert, beautiful little baby carrots with a little turmeric, blend of the dark chocolates, ginger, and a little bit of Rosemary.
The ginger adds a little bit of freshness.
The Rosemary's very, very nice.
- Thank you very much.
- Thank you.
Thanks, chef.
Enrique, how do you think our chefs did overall? It was very interesting.
The use of the chocolate with our products here in our gardens, I think they did very well.
Doug, the chicken was very well cooked, but I think your dessert was not well balanced.
Mei, I think the duck went very well with the chocolate, and the dessert was very well done.
I liked the crushed cocoa nibs.
- That gave it a lot of texture.
- Thank you.
Gregory, the lamb was very well cooked.
I really enjoyed the sauce.
And the dessert part, I think that the ginger and the Rosemary were the final best touch.
I really liked it.
Thank you very much, chef.
Only one chef can win this quickfire challenge.
Enrique, who is the winning chef today? I'll do guava and poblanos.
Oh, so I'm gonna get these two things.
No, it doesn't work like that.
I feel like George in that first challenge when Gregory didn't want the clams.
Yeah.
Only one chef can win this quickfire challenge and get to choose their sous chef first.
The chef that really did a very well balance between the chocolate and the other products Is Gregory.
- Thanks, chef.
- The lamb was perfect, and the chorizo gave a very, very nice touch.
And then came the dessert.
I work with carrots here all day long.
I would like to ask you if I can use that recipe here in jalpa, because it's a very, very nice dessert.
I'm very honored.
This is my first win in a very, very long time.
I finally feel like I'm back in my groove, and I'm just so stoked to be back on top.
Gregory, congratulations on winning the final quickfire challenge of the season.
Chefs, for your last elimination challenge before the finale, the dinner service is up to all of you.
You three will work together to create a six-course progressive meal highlighting six of Mexico's most beloved ingredients.
Each of you will be responsible for two Mexican ingredients.
You must showcase one Mexican ingredient in each course and really make it shine.
And you'll find out what those ingredients are later.
To make a successful progressive meal, this is gonna be really challenging because it's a competition.
So we are working together, but really it's every man for themselves.
Today you'll head to San Luis potosi to shop, and tomorrow you'll have two hours to prep and cook before service begins.
Joining us at the table will be four esteemed Mexican chefs, including Enrique, as well as our head judge, Tom Colicchio, returning champ Richard Blais, and guest judge Eduardo Palazuelos from Mar Del Sur.
And your sous chefs will get to go shopping with you and work with you tomorrow in the kitchen.
Hi, gang.
Hello.
We only have two hours to prepare both our dishes, so a sous chef is very, very important.
Each of you get one sous chef.
So, Gregory, because you won this quickfire, you get to pick first.
We have a very long history together.
I'd like to pick George.
Wow, really? George? You guys look good together actually.
- Oh, thank you.
- Mei? I'm gonna go with Melissa.
Okay, Doug, that leaves you.
Vamos.
Well, he did well for you last time.
Loud, but well.
Chefs, you have a lot to figure out, so take some time and menu plan.
You'll find your six mystery ingredients up at the villa.
Choose wisely.
Good luck, chefs.
We'll see you tomorrow.
Thank you.
Bye, guys.
- Oh, yeah, avocado.
- Huitlacoche.
- This stuff.
- What's that taste like? - Oh, those are ant eggs.
- Interesting.
- Who wants that? - Oh, poblano.
And guava.
This is amazing.
There's guava, one of my favorite flavors in the world.
There's avocado and mexican queso, poblano peppers, and huitlacoche, which is this fungus that grows within ears of corn.
The final ingredient is escamole.
Escamole is actually ant eggs.
- I thought it was barley.
- They're, like, kind of salty.
Yum, yum.
To be very honest, I'm a little weirded out by the escamole.
It's just a little bit weird to think that you're actually eating ant eggs.
So weird.
Yeah, they're weird.
Yeah, I'm with the avocado.
I'll do guava and poblanos.
- I'll pick these.
- Huitlacoche and avocado.
So I'm gonna get these two things? The cheese and the eggs.
- I got guava and poblanos.
- What else-- no, it doesn't work like that.
You know, Doug froze and didn't speak his voice.
You know, this is a competition, then you got to jump in there as quickly as possible.
If you don't open your mouth, we're not gonna end up with anything.
Fine.
We'll take the ant eggs.
What the hell you do with ant eggs? Oh, my God, you don't know.
I don't know.
I've never used or seen escamole, which is ant eggs, so it's definitely gonna be hard.
I don't want cheese, God damn it.
You're a great cheese chef.
You're a cheese chef.
I want poblano.
I feel like George in that first challenge when Gregory didn't want the clams.
Yeah.
All right, let's do it.
Fine.
I got totally screwed on this one.
Stalin lives again.
- Want to go shopping? - Absolutely.
So we wanna, like, showcase the ingredient.
Roasted poblanos.
Peel 'em, make a puree out of that.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
A traditional guacamole, I know, like, that's totally not my style, but I'm gonna make it super rustic, super chunky.
- So what are you guys making? - Um, like, a Spanish tortilla.
Like, blend the eggs with the eggs.
Can I go second then? 'Cause my--I want to do a cold guava portion.
Yeah, guava could be dessert.
I don't want to make dessert.
I think you should do dessert.
When you're doing a progressive meal, you want everything to be cohesive and to flow into each other.
So when you have different chefs with different styles, it can be jarring to go from one course to another if it's not a smooth flow.
I'm actually doing guacamole.
I think you should go first or last with that.
Because I think that if I go first, I don't think that they'll go in nicely with, like-- okay, so I'll go first.
- Pork.
- Pork.
- Pork and poblanos too.
- Nice.
- And then cheese.
- That works.
We have a clear plan of exactly what we're gonna be doing, going from lightest to heaviest, and then finishing off light makes sense.
It's gonna be, like, money.
Where you guys going? - Avocados! - All right, my friend.
We show up at the Hidalgo Market at San Luis Potosi, and it's insane.
First thing I really want to get those ant eggs, and I have no idea where to find them.
Go straight, straight, straight.
- Straight.
- Huitlacoche? I know there's one vendor there, but we want to see if there's other options.
- Chilies.
- Where are the crazy eggs? Guavas, guavas.
Yo, we got tomatillos over here.
Escamoles? I knew I brought you for something, Katsuji.
I picked Katsuji to be my sous chef because we're both, um-- sarcastic ass.
We both, uh-- filthy human beings.
We'd like to-- parsley, oregano.
- It's really just because he speaks Spanish.
It's really hard to get fresh guavas in America, so I'm really stoked to be able to do this.
After Boston I spent all my weekends and all my nights researching Mexican ingredients and trying to learn from other Mexican chefs in town, so I'm using all this knowledge and applying it all to these dishes.
All right, we need poblanos still.
I see these beautiful, firm, dark green poblanos, and I'm really wanting to make an amazing poblano and pork stew.
- This is nice.
- Yeah, I think that one's g gd.
Growing up, my mom made lots of stews, and it was kind of the one-pot meal that, you know, we had on Sunday mornings that kind of brought the family together.
My mom has always been a great cook, and being exposed to those kind of flavors really inspires the way I cook today.
Some tomatillos, and then we'll be all set with most of our product.
I'm really excited to work with the huitlacoche.
Huitlacoche is a fungus that grows on corn.
It's black.
It's fuzzy, and it can be bitter, but it kind of has a smoky flavor profile to it, and I think it's a really delicious product.
I'm so stoked to have Melissa back on my side.
Dude, I'm ready for this.
We're gonna bang it out.
I was like, "I'm gonna come back, and we're gonna win this.
" You know, if I'm not gonna win this, girl, you better win this.
Like, I--I'm serious.
You got to carry the torch, girl.
Katsuji, only two beers tonight.
Are you gonna pay me for this, by the way? Two beers only tonight, my friend.
I-I got to pay rent and family, bro.
- I hope I don't go home.
- You won't.
I'm feeling the pressure.
The reviews were so mixed.
Weird.
This is the finals of Top Chef.
Oh, hey, what's up? - Odelay.
- Good morning, buddy.
What a ride.
This is the biggest challenge, in my opinion, for the whole season because the winner gets to compete in the finale, and that's really what we came here to do.
Winning Top Chef will open up so many doors.
Eventually, you know, I want to have my own spot up in Montana where I could operate a lodge, fly fishing guide, and put out really, really awesome food.
It's something that's very close to my heart and I really, really love.
- This is it, dude.
- I know.
You can't up today.
Are your parents supportive of you being here? Yeah.
I mean, they're just like, "you got to win.
" They're like, "don't make yourself look bad.
" I'm like My parents are pretty traditional, so to get their approval is pretty tough.
I've never heard out of their mouths that, you know, they've been really proud of what I've been doing.
I think, you know, once I win this competition, you u ow, I think that I'll finally hear those words.
What about your family? Nah, they're super stoked.
You know, I gave them a rough little run for, like, a good seven years, so they're just happy to see me doing well and happy.
Me too.
Let's do it.
No more waiting.
.
Where do you want to work? Do you want this? I'll work here.
Where are you set up, over there? - Yeah.
- Talk to me.
What do you need? Okay, so I have red peppers in the fryer that we're just - gonna roast and peel.
- Yeah? I'll turn this into the pasta station.
- All right.
- I'll move if you need to.
No, you're good.
George, throw the poblanos on first.
Got it.
Thanks.
Today each chef is responsible for creating two dishes highlighting iconic Mexican ingredients.
I'm feeling super confident about this challenge.
I get to work with two ingredients I love.
What are yououorking on? I'm getting the guava base started.
I want to create a really bright, fruity and fun first course with the guava, so I'll be making a guava soup with scallops and chili.
Pureeing the soft ones.
We're gonna pickle the firm ones.
Most people associate guava, something so sweet, with a dessert, but my intention is to serve a really tart and tangy and spicy first course to awaken the palette.
Taste that guacamole? Today I'm highlighting avocado in the second course and huitlacoche in the fourth course.
For the avocado, I wanted to make a guacamole with a twist.
You know, it tastes traditional, but looks completely new.
I'm using some xoconostle, which is a prickly pear.
- It's going in the guacamole - Okay.
For a little bit of texture.
- How much escamole do we have? - Tons.
- Okay.
- A whole deep six.
So you can't use these raw at all? No, you have to fry them.
I'll be doing escamoles for the third course and the Mexican cheese for the last course.
Through Katsuji, I've learned that they basically treat escamole like caviar, and they have a real nutty, kind of umami taste.
It's a real, real subtle flavor.
Katsuji, they're just, like, melting.
Uh-huh.
I'm gonna make a Spanish tortilla with potatoes, but with tons of the ant eggs on the inside.
That'll be fine to blend with the eggs, right? Yeah, don't worry.
Just let them there.
Okay.
I'm gonna crisp up some crispy eggs on top and make an egg aioli.
It's a whole lot of escamole for one plate, but I feel like the more I use them, the more the flavor's gonna come out.
When do you ever thought you were gonna cook with ants - in your life? - I hope never again.
Seriously? You racist piece of .
Got to go clean our huitlacoche.
Working on making a huitlacoche filling for the fourth dish which is the huitlacoche agnolotti with the roasted corn broth.
Melissa's sole responsibility today is to make the pasta for the huitlacoche.
Just having her on my team is great.
Let me know when you need help over there.
All right, thank you.
I want it so bad for Melissa and I to be in the finale together because that would ensure a woman winner, so, you know, it's just kind of like a reminder.
I need to win this for all the women out there.
Win this.
Women.
We have 50 minutes.
Should I get the pork in the pressure cooker? Uh, yeah, but we need to put it all together, so we need to make the onion poblano puree.
Got it.
For the fifth course, I'll be making a pork and poblano chili stew incorporating the poblano chili in as many ways as possible.
A really important crowd out there today.
It's a very simple ingredient, but we're serving to a table of esteemed Mexican chefs who really know these ingredients, so I want to represent the poblano as best as I can.
It really smells like Mexico with those chilies burning, you know? Katsuji, look at my cheese.
For the last course I'm really confident in my cheese dish.
Cheese is just such a straightforward product.
You know, normally you don't see people do a lot to it, but since this is Top Chef, I really have to elevate it.
I'm doing a lot of different components.
It'll be crunchy, sweet, savory, salty.
I'm really looking to blow them away.
Do we have enough cheese for us to fry one more right now? - Want to try it? - Yeah.
Right.
10 minutes.
Welcome, everyone.
I know that the three chefs cooking for us are very excited to have all of you here, so here's a toast to Mexico and to cooking.
Cheers.
Do you want to get the plates out of the fridge? Yep.
It being the final three, with so much at stake, it's really important to start the menu with something that is memorable, even five courses later.
I'm feeling good about the flavors of my guava soup.
You know, it's cold, refreshing, acidic, spicy.
It has all the things you want in a first course.
It's really good.
Here's our first course.
And so it begins.
- Hello, Gregory.
- Good evening, Padma.
My ingredient for the first course was guava, so we have a chilled guava soup seasoned with a little bit of habanero, some marinated bay scallops, a little bit of roasted guava, a little bit of shaved fresh guava, and just some fresh mint.
I feel the fresh taste.
Mm-hmm.
Yeah.
The perfect thing to start with.
I think the balance with the habanero and the sweetness of the guava, it's beautiful.
The texture's great.
The scallop is nicely marinated, and the heat's nice.
The heat comes down to the end and just keeps building, so the heat's pretty nice.
- Thank you, chef.
- Thank you, Gregory.
Thank you, Padma.
Thank you, all.
How'd it go? Said they liked it.
Fruit soup sounds easy.
High level of difficulty to make it as good as Gregory did.
I hate you, Mei.
- What? - I hate you.
- Why? - 'Cause you're good.
- Thank you? - Yeah.
My guacamole's pretty much inspired from a Sushi roll.
My biggest concern is that I went too simple, but this is definitely the best guacamole I've ever had.
It's gonna be one of those things that I don't think the judges have seen before.
Today I made for you guacamole.
The inside has xoconostle.
On top is radish, some serrano, and also fresh tortilla chips, and just meant to be eaten together.
What I liked about your dish is that you didn't hide the flavor of the avocado because that's the main element.
You took care to slice this avocado so beautifully, but it is just a very refined guacamole.
He would have like to have tasted a little more of the xoconostle.
Thank you, Mei.
Hey, how'd it go? I think they wanted more xoconostle.
Like, stuffed inside? Yeah, I'm a little worried that the judges don't get why I did what I did.
Ugh.
Why did I decide to do a guacamole? On one hand, she's really, really courageous to come out here and just do guacamole.
On the other hand, God, there's a lot more things she could do with avocado.
This is the finals of Top Chef.
You know, I think Mei left the door wide open for someone to come in and knock her out of this competition.
Let's see what Doug does.
Oh, that tortilla looks pretty good.
I think that I had the hardest challenge out of all the ingredients th the escamoles, trying to make them shine with never working with them before.
We just need to puree it a little faster so that that texture goes away.
The Mexican chefs at the judge's table are definitely gonna know exactly what they're looking for with escamoles.
You know, it would be like cooking foie gras for a French chef.
It's good.
It's weird.
I'm not really sure that the flavor of the eggs are coming tough as much as I'd like them, but I really don't know how to get any more escamoles on that plate.
Well, here we go.
Um, I was cooking ant eggs.
Escamoles.
I'm to understand that they're served with eggs normally in Mexico, so the tortilla kind of jumped out at me to kind of set them in, to stew them real slow with garlic and chilies, and then I toasted 'em with some garlic and made an aioli out of them.
I think you have to have a certain amount of huevos - to do this dish.
- Yeah.
The aioli is brilliant because it's an egg, and you made a sauce out of it because you're a smart cook.
- That was really clever.
- Thank you.
When you have such an amazing ingredient like escamoles, I would really like to taste more of the flavor of the escamole on the dish.
I think the texture of the escamole is actually very similar to the texture of the potato, and I think it gets lost in there.
You can't tell where the potato ends and escamole starts.
- Thank you very much.
- Thank you, Doug.
Thanks.
Okay.
We got to nail this next one.
It's been a long journey.
Unfortunately for one of you the journey ends here tonight.
Just getting this far means so much, you can't look at this as failure.
One day we were doing this food festival in California with insects, so we're giving people things to try, and then we would ask them, "you know what you're eating? You're eating ants," and like, "ahh," but obviously they don't know what they're eating.
They think, "oh, it tastes great.
" I did this party when I first got to New York, - and I did a worm sauce.
- Uh-huh.
And I kept telling everybody, "they should try the worm sauce.
" Everybody tried it and loved it.
When somebody was leaving, I says, "how did you like the worms?" He says, "what worms?" I said, "in the worm sauce.
" He said, "I thought you were saying 'warm,' the temperature.
" Maybe we can go a little bit more on the puree, but-- it's like a double fold.
Oh, I hope I don't go home.
You won't.
Right now, I'm kind of feeling the pressure.
I mean, for my first course, the reviews were so mixed.
That's good.
All right, let's get it.
Fortunately, I'm really happy with my second course.
It's super, super delicious, and I think I really highlighted the huitlacoche.
Hopefully it's good enough to keep me in this competition.
So the next dish you have in front of you is a huitlacoche agnolotti with a roasted corn broth and some purslane.
You can really taste the roasted corn.
I think this is really, really great.
I like the broth, too, because it tastes of corn, and it's not super sweet.
I think the pasta's well made.
As a savory ravioli dish, it's very good.
I like it, too, very much.
Thank you.
The huitlacoche, for me, very bitter.
Very bitter.
I felt like the broth, the sweet broth, would actually round it out.
He loves the broth.
- He would order it again.
- Thank you, chef.
You can head back to the kitchen, Mei.
Thank you, Mei.
I like this dish a lot.
Yeah.
It's really good.
I thought it was an interesting dish.
I mean, it was original.
The broth was very interesting.
It's one of the strongest dishes we've had so far.
I think so.
We killed it.
You know, stews take a really long time to develop these flavors and to tenderize these meats.
Should we puree more poblanos? - You want me to? - Yeah, just puree the scraps.
Can I just do the one that I had the tomatillos in? - That same one there? - Yeah, yeah, yeah.
I'm worried that the stew doesn't have enough flavor, so I'm adding more spices, more layers, but I don't want it to be too spicy.
Now it's spicy.
It's probably good.
Let's do this.
I'm feeling good about getting good remarks on my first course, so it's really important that I nail the second course and just kill this thing.
You keep checking now.
Thank you.
My ingredient was chili poblano, so I was inspired by a pork stew, and I made a roasted poblano puree with a little bit of tomatillo, a little bit of grilled onion puree.
On top we have an escabeche-style pickle of carrots, poblanos, and shallots as well.
Mm.
Gregory, estos Mexico.
This is Mexico.
He's very, very emotional because he loves your dish.
Okay, thank you very much.
Gregory, the flavor of char, which is something that's so important, I think, in Mexican cuisine, you just took this to that level that opens up - so many more flavors.
I mean-- - it has texture.
It has earthiness.
There's sweetness to it.
This is really, really good.
Well done.
- Thank you very much, chef.
- Thank you, Gregory.
Thank you.
- Good? - Yeah.
Really good, or like, kind of good? No, they like it.
Okay, cheese is smoky enough.
Everything's breaded.
We're up next, buddy.
It's a good dish, man.
This cheese plate could be my Last Chance to get into the finale.
Based on the feedback that I got about the escamoles, they really wanted more escamole flavor in the dish, so for my cheese dish I did my best to make the cheese the star.
I think this is a winning dish.
I think I'm gonna take this one.
My final course, I found this goat cheese in the market, so I smoked it for a few minutes with mesquite.
I did a little spiced honey, crispy squash chips, some charred pickles, and a little chimichurri.
This is probably the most difficult course, and you approached it really nicely.
The cheese is just sweet enough.
Boring definitely could have been a way to describe a cheese course, but I think this is far from boring.
I do believe that the quality of the cheese is very important, and this has that strong flavor.
And the combination with the tomatillo, I love it.
- Thank you, Doug.
- Thank you guys so much.
Whew.
Loved it.
They loved it.
They loved it.
- What did they say? - They loved it.
Sophisticated, fun.
It's the first compliment Richard Blais has ever given me.
- All right, bro.
- All right, man.
- Good luck with the judges.
- Thanks for all your help.
I want to really thank all of you for being here.
I love getting to know all of you, so thank you.
- .
- I know.
You know, I put a lot of hard work into what I did today.
I mean, it was good, but was it good enough? I feel like I'm gonna throw up right now.
I know there have been a lot of women finalists, but out of 12 seasons, only two women winners, and, you know, for me to be here at the end, it's a lot of pressure.
This is it.
The last night of the three amigos.
I think the chefs did a great job of just embracing the environment, embracing the ingredients.
They didn't shy away from anything, and you know, it was good to see.
I think both Gregory's dishes actually were the best things I ate today.
I thought his guava soup was very good.
The scallop was nicely marinated, and I thought his stew was the star of the show.
I think that it was a feast of flavors.
He makes vibrant and spicy stews.
I mean, he knows how to do that.
You think Gregory belongs in the finale? - Yes.
- Agreed.
- Agreed.
- Yeah.
I think the major question-- is it Doug that goes to the finale or is it Mei? Yeah.
Mei's guacamole.
I like the avocado.
I just think that there's so much missed opportunity here.
It was so beautiful, and incredibly uninspired flavor-wise.
I thought the dish was very good because all her self had feminism, and everything was presented in that dish.
My least favorite dish was Doug's escamole.
Really? I thought it was a little greasy.
It just didn't seem super fresh.
What I lost completely was the ingredient in the escamole dish.
Taste-wise, I don't-- I still don't know what exactly what it tastes like.
I know the texture of it now.
Let's talk about what we thought of Mei's agnolotti.
It had rich corn flavor, but it was still a light soup.
I think that broth was delicious, but if I'm comparing the agnolotti to the cheese, I prefer the cheese.
It's not always easy to work with queso fresco.
His creativity was outstanding.
I think that touch of acidity and then the sweetness of the honey that he put there Mm-hmm.
Comparing Mei's agnolotti to Doug's cheese course-- that one I would give to Mei, so I'm--I'm-- - one and one? - Splitting.
I'm split there.
- I know what I think.
- Think so.
- I have a decision.
- Okay.
All right, let's go to judges' table.
I got to say, I was really impressed by the way each of you embraced the ingredients.
You didn't shy away from them.
You tried to illustrate why they're so special.
Nice job tonight.
How did you divvy up the ingredients? Once we saw them, I think each of us had an idea of what we wanted to pick.
Doug was like, "I want the ants.
" - Doug? - Is it my turn? We walked in, we saw it, and it was just kind of grab and go.
Gregory, fruit soup can go bad in a lot of different ways.
I mean, it could be horrible.
To make one that was as tasty as yours, I mean, hats off.
It had a lot of bright flavors, high acidity, good spice.
I thought it was a good way to start that you got a sense that you were eating something that's exotic, and I think it showed a lot of finesse.
Thank you very much, chef.
The stew that you did for the second course, it took me back to my childhood years.
Really the amount of intensity and flavors was just outstanding, something that I will never forget.
Thank you very much, chef.
Congratulations, Gregory.
You are going to the finale.
- Oh, my God.
I'm so pumped to be in the finale.
I'm running on all cylinders.
I'm feeling really strong, really confident, and I'm ready to take this all the way.
Doug and Mei, while you both made delicious food, only one of you will be advancing to the finale and the other one will be going home.
Mei, first course was the avocado guacamole.
This dish to me was really like a still-life painting.
It was avocado in all of its glory.
It was simple.
It was naked.
But it was, at the end of the day, avocado, radish, and a little bit of serrano.
I'm conflicted with this dish.
It was a guacamole.
Was it good? Yes.
It wasn't the best I've ever had, however, I got to say you did have a lot of fans the way you presented it with the other chefs that were at the table tonight.
For the second course I know working with huitlacoche's kind of difficult.
It's an ingredient that is not very common, but I think that the combination of the broth with the smoky flavor of the corn, I thought it was very well done.
Thank you, chef.
Doug, I think you had a big challenge cooking with escamoles, and I kind of lost the flavor of the escamoles.
I think you had a little too much going on in that plate.
When you have a product that is that special, you don't want to lose it.
That saying, it was a very good dish.
I thought you did a great job with something you knew very little about, and I thought you did an even better job with your cheese course.
I like the high acid.
I liked the contrast in flavors.
I liked the honey.
You really made that an exciting dish.
It's been a long journey to get here, and unfortunately for one of you, the journey ends here tonight.
You know, chefs, just getting this far means so much, and I know that someone's gonna be really disappointed, but erase that disappointment very quickly because you can't look at this as failure.
Doug and Mei, before I announce anything, I want you both to just take ownership of where you are right now because it's been a real pleasure to eat your food.
You both cooked amazing dishes all season long.
I think I can say this for everybody.
We were just thrilled, so thank you.
Yeah.
Thank you for the opportunity.
It's been awesome.
Padma? Doug, please pack your knives and go.
Mei, you will be moving on to the finale.
Congratulations.
- Thank you.
- You know, Doug, at the end it was just small little details that made the difference between your dishes and Mei's dishes, but you should be really proud of the work that you did, and I'm gonna come up to Portland, and we're gonna fish, and we're gonna play some music together, so I'll see you there.
- Thank you.
- Nice job.
Thank you, Doug.
It feels horrible.
I can't put into words how badly I wanted this.
I mean, I was just right there, you know? Just the one dish.
Bring this home, huh? Throughout this competition I've just learned that I can cook my own food and be successful at it, and that experience, it's huge.
I'm extremely glad I did it.
It's time for Gregory to bring it back to Portland.
Next on Top Chef Up, up and away.
All season long you guys have just been surprising.
This is the most important meal of my life.
I need to put out the best food of my life.
What really gets me jazzed is watching this young talent just emerging.
Smoking.
This thing is naturally playing out to be quite a contest.
Let's go in 30 seconds.
Come on, Gregory.
You got it, buddy.
Win this .
I guess I can only equate it to seeing Springsteen at the stone pony.
This raw talent--seriously, raw talent.
You guys are the future.
Mei and Gregory, one of you will win the title of Top Chef.
To learn more about the chefs, go to bravotv.
Com.