PADMA: Previously on Top Chef World All Stars.
We expect a family holiday feast.
[all cheering]
GABRI: Begoña's a really good friend of mine.
[indistinct]
I don't have the time.
It never became a dish.
I'm making this mole verde to my dad.
It's hard when it's not what you want it to be,
and it's for someone so important.
BUDDHA: Baked salmon for my tarator.
All the different textures and grapes.
You got caught between cheffing it and being a home cook.
Which show am I on?
Am I on Top Chef, or Top Home Cook?
Hot, coming through.
That is excellent.
PADMA: Who won this Elimination Challenge?
Amar.
Begoña, please pack your knives and go.
We'll see you in Last Chance Kitchen.
[sobbing]
PADMA: Ten chefs remain to compete
in the ultimate culinary showdown.
At stake for the winner,
a feature in Food & Wine magazine,
an appearance at the Food & Wine Classic in Aspen,
$250,000 furnished by Saratoga Spring Water,
and the title of Top Chef World All Star.
♪
[dramatic music plays]
TOM G: Ooh-la-la.
[Gabri sobs]
My best friend has gone
and also, I was on the bottom with her.
I am feeling pretty much devastated.
Don't let the feelings get in your head, okay?
I'm an old guy, you're a young kid,
and I----ing love you,
and I know you got more to show us, okay?
I love Gabri, he's like my little brother.
SARA: Look, you're here for another day,
and we're so happy to have you.
AMAR: I'm kind of like the old man here.
Kind of rustic.
After I turned 40,
I told my guys in the kitchen that I...
But then the chance to compete against
the best of the best from around the world,
it's one of those things that--
It actually made me feel young again.
I feel like I'm 25 again.
You look so beautiful with this one.
- I always look beautiful. - [chefs exclaim and laugh]
There you go. That's what we want.
There you go, yeah, exactly.
[Gabri chuckles]
It was a beautiful and long day.
We have to drive back,
so, let's-- let's get it done.
♪
[upbeat music plays]
Good, so far.
I never been in the bottom, so...
- SYLWIA: Yeah, it's good. - You too, right?
SYLWIA: No. Rice challenge.
CHARBEL: Rice challenge.
- That was what-- - Potato girl.
- CHARBEL: Potato girl, yeah. - [chuckles]
Who do you think will be back
from Last Chance Kitchen?
I don't want anyone.
- [knocking on door] - CHARBEL: Me too.
SYLWIA: Who's that?
- [gasps] - CHARBEL: Damn!
- Oh, my God. - Good afternoon, Sylwia.
[both chuckle]
- That's a surprise. - SYLWIA: Yes.
Please gather your fellow chefs
- and meet me downstairs. - Of course.
And you won't be needing any of your knives.
- Alrighty, thank you. - Bye.
- SYLWIA: Oh, my God. - [Charbel chuckles]
- SYLWIA: Quickly. - That's crazy.
Nicole!
[knocking on door]
CHARBEL: What's up, Nicole?
Padma is here. She was knocking into my room.
We have to go downstairs...
- CHARBEL: No knives. - What?
What's going on?
[knocking on door]
Sorry. [Gabri chuckles]
- AMAR: Yes? - Amar.
CHARBEL: Hey, we need to go downstairs.
- SARA: No knives? - SYLWIA: No knives. Let's go.
All right.
Buddha, pack your knifes and go.
[suspenseful music plays]
Hello, chefs.
Are you surprised to see us here?
Yeah.
For today's Quickfire Challenge,
we want to treat you
to one of Britain's greatest traditions:
the afternoon tea.
- Afternoon tea. - PADMA: Oh, and don't worry.
You won't be cooking for this Quickfire Challenge.
Okay. What's the twist?
That's because it's already started.
♪
The final two chefs from Last Chance Kitchen
are currently battling it out
for a spot back in the competition.
Oh, my God.
To earn their spot back, I've given them one hour
to create afternoon tea towers
that include finger sandwiches,
a scone and a pastry.
They can go sweet or savory with either one of the items,
but no matter what, it needs to be tasty.
And you, chefs, will be helping to decide
who gets back into the competition.
Yeah. Not bad.
This is totally up my alley.
I am able to judge anyone anytime.
Just let me know,
and I'll judge the sh-- out of you.
Along with Tom and I, you'll be blindly tasting
what these two chefs have prepared.
Tom and I will get a vote, and collectively,
all of your votes will equal one vote.
TOM C: This is blind for us, too.
I know the chefs that are cooking back there,
I have no idea who's making what, though.
PADMA: The winner of this Quickfire
will not only earn a spot back in the competition,
they'll also receive immunity
- in the Elimination Challenge. - [chuckles] Wow.
Now, how are you feeling about
- them coming back? - Whatever.
Just one more person to beat, huh?
- Plus one. - Just another round.
ALI: Personally, I don't want anyone to be back.
Why would I want anyone to be back to Top Chef?
I mean, we're happy that we're ten.
PADMA: All right, chefs.
Please join us. Please take a seat.
[suspenseful music plays]
DALE: Begoña, how you looking?
Yeah, it's a little bit crazy. And you?
DALE: It's obviously a lot to get done in an hour,
so just trying to push.
I don't know if I've ever wanted something more
than I want this right now.
I'm super competitive.
I started doing triathlon a couple of years ago,
and I qualified for world championships
for short course this year.
I just love big challenges.
Cinnamon, clove, nutmeg.
Uh, it's all for my cake.
We're only being given an hour.
I've gotta do seven tea towers.
There's three plates on each one.
I have to be smart
and make sure that I can get all this done,
so I'm really keeping it simple.
I do desserts a good amount, I guess.
Um, I don't know if I necessarily do pastries.
At the top, I'm starting with a ginger cake
with a mango compote.
Then, I'm doing bacon and gruyere and chive scone.
And then, I'm doing an egg salad and smoked salmon sandwich.
For this challenge, I don't wanna go safe.
I just-- I wanna go more complex. Tower...
In the middle part, I am making scone
with compote of beetroot and tomato.
...cause pastries need time, you know.
For pastry, I'm thinking eclair with chocolate,
because for me, it's also really sexy.
I want to be back.
I don't want to be out of the competition.
Think I just-- I did one mistake.
I really want to be on it.
DALE: I have about 25 minutes.
[classical music plays]
CHARBEL: I love afternoon tea.
- SARA: I like tea a lot. - CHARBEL: I love it.
- May you serve me some tea? - Absolutely, mate.
[laughs]
Is there anyone that you're hoping
- to see come back? - No.
[Padma laughs]
My mom always says "If you have
nothing nice to say, don't say it at all," so.
...and then I start doing...
Twenty minutes to go.
♪
Suddenly, 20 minutes to go and I have to do the sandwich.
I cannot go out. I want to stay here 'til the end
and I am pushing my ass really big time.
Just mixing up my scone dough.
You don't want to overcook a scone 'cause it's gonna be dry.
You don't want to undercook it because it's gonna be doughy.
I wanna make sure I'm giving myself
the time to do a test run.
Let's do it. It's really, really crazy.
You're in for a really nice treat.
This is a tough one. They have to make, like,
- 36 individual pieces. - It's a lot,
but if you play it safe, it's very manageable.
But if you try to do something too out of the box,
then you're----ed.
[speaking Spanish]
We're gonna do it.
Scone's nice.
♪
I want back in more than anything.
Obviously, this is a tough challenge to get back in on,
especially because you can't really use
too much creativity.
I have to do all the toppings in the scones.
I have to put all the toppings in the eclair.
I'm gonna be running out of time.
---ing do it. You can do it. Come on.
I'm gonna do it.
Told you I'm gonna do it and I'm gonna do it.
♪
[plates shattering]
BEGOÑA: The plates are break.
I'm okay.
Ah, look.
♪
Cannot believe that. Jesus Christ.
[sighs]
BUDDHA: Oh, here we go.
There's something missing. Yeah, there's nothing there.
BUDDHA: Oh, gosh.
NICOLE: Did anybody get that one?
- TOM G: No. It's missing. - None of us did.
Those stands are so hard to get everything stacked, too.
You need, like, ten minutes just to get the plates on them.
- Shall we start eating? - Sure.
PADMA: Tower one.
BUDDHA: Egg salad sandwich.
TOM C: Not bad.
NICOLE: The fennel and the smoked salmon and egg,
composition-wise, is good.
- AMAR: The scone is flaky. - Yeah.
PADMA: It's very tasty.
It's almost too fluffy and light.
Tastes a little bit like a biscuit.
Yeah, I must say, it's not a traditional scone,
but I really like it.
NICOLE: The cake has good texture.
We didn't get the compote on top. I think it's mango.
TOM C: [indistinct] was actually quite nice.
- PADMA: It was moist. - NICOLE: I feel like
this might be Luciana.
AMAR: I think tower one is Dale.
He was really hungry to be in this competition,
and I thought he was gonna bring it.
- How about this one? - Maybe it's Begoña.
Because she doesn't like doing pastry.
Did you fill out everything or you missed something?
DALE: I filled them all, except I missed the topping
on the cake for one.
PADMA: And tower two?
Crab, I think? Or tuna?
TOM C: I think crab.
- PADMA: Crab? - I think so.
PADMA: I couldn't even tell it was crab.
- I thought it was tuna. - TOM C: That says a lot.
NICOLE: I think this was supposed to be an eclair.
AMAR: It looks like there was not enough butter
in the eclair, though.
TOM C: The pate a choux is not made properly,
so it didn't have the structure to pop up properly.
- It just collapsed. - NICOLE: Why would you try
and do choux?
This is a risky move.
The gingerbread was way better than the eclair.
Props to them for getting all of this in an hour.
All right, Chefs, it's time to vote.
Thank you.
[tense instrumental playing]
PADMA: Can I have your cards, please?
TOM C: I'm collecting cards.
Thank you.
BEGOÑA: There's not too much to say.
I feel already... [sighs].
Really disappointed, really frustrated,
but I know Dale played safe.
Maybe I can survive another day.
♪
PADMA: Previously on Top Chef World All Stars.
[suspenseful instrumental playing]
All right, let's get them out here,
and find out who made what.
- [Sylwia cheering] - I knew it.
[chefs applauding]
Dale and Begoña, we've all voted,
and only one of you will be returning
- to the competition. - [Dale exhales sharply]
PADMA: The vote was unanimous.
- Dale. - SYLWIA: Yeah!
- AMAR: Whoo! - [chefs applauding]
- [Dale sighs in relief] - TOM C: Begoña, listen,
I know it was really tough, but loved to see you here,
and unfortunately, your time is done.
- It was a pleasure. Thank you. - TOM C: Thanks.
Twenty-seven years' cooking,
and I feel really disappointed, because...
- Ciao. - PADMA: Ciao.
The tea tower I had in my mind,
I really thought I can do it, and then, didn't work, but...
PADMA: How does it feel, Dale?
Oh, I honestly-- Yeah.
I didn't think I'd ever get this emotional on TV--
- [laughs] Are you crying? - I know.
I haven't won anything, I'm just back in.
- Can I give you a hug? - Jesus Christ.
PADMA: Can't imagine what you've been through.
The chefs voted that I had the better tower,
and that's really important to me
that everybody feels like I deserve to be back.
So, I feel awesome.
Dale, not only do you get a hug from me--
Yes, that was the goal
of the whole season, to be honest.
TOM C: All right, go home now, you're done.
You just won yourself immunity
in the next Elimination Challenge.
- You've earned it. - Thank you, everybody.
♪
I'm happy to have Dale back,
but I'm also, kind of terrified, too,
because I know he loves to compete,
and he has immunity.
All right, now that you've had
a little taste of tea time,
it's time to enjoy another British pastime.
♪
As the saying goes, "Life is no picnic."
Unless, of course, you're at one.
For your Elimination Challenge, we want you to work in teams
to create a ready-to-serve picnic basket
for the judges and our guests at Highclere Castle.
It's the famous home of the Crawleys
in Downton Abbey.
- [Sylwia cheering] - NICOLE: Downton Abbey?
My mom loves that show.
PADMA: Everyone except Dale,
please come up and draw knives.
♪
I want all of the yellows to be on this side.
Third time again.
So, you guys are on a team again?
- Yep, third time. - Third time in a row.
[Amar and Ali laugh]
Okay, Dale, as the winner of Last Chance Kitchen,
you won immunity, and you get the choice
of which team you'd like to work with.
Is it going to be the blue or the yellow?
I'm sitting here, so blue team it is.
Dale has immunity, and we have an extra person
on our team.
You typically would wanna dodge people
that have immunity, because it can go either way.
They can sit at the back and do nothing,
and watch the team crumble,
or they could try, and really excel the team.
Chefs, picnics are usually casual, really informal.
But we're heading to Highclere Castle,
so this can't be just any old picnic.
Renowned chefs like Daniel Boulud
and Heston Blumenthal and Thomas Keller
have turned picnics into five star meals.
That's what we're looking for.
Each picnic basket must contain at least five dishes.
And the picnic is not complete without something sweet,
so it has to have one sweet.
PADMA: To make sure your meals are truly worthy
of this extravagant location,
you'll get to shop at Fortnum & Mason.
- Oh, my Lord. - PADMA: The official grocer
of the Queen herself.
You'll have £200 to shop for specialty items,
before heading to Whole Foods where you'll also have
an additional £250.
You'll load your supplies into your BMW X3s and X4s,
and head to the Top Chef kitchen,
where you'll have one and a half hours
to prep and cook and pack up your baskets.
So, what you choose to make
is really important for the challenge
because once you get to the picnic grounds,
there is no kitchen.
So, your dishes should hold well
served at room temperature and be easily eaten.
All right, good luck. We'll see you tomorrow.
I'm super excited for this challenge.
- Bye. - GABRI: Bye.
Stop thinking about picnic
and start thinking about high-end canapes
because it has to be elevated. Caviar, foie gras, truffles--
DALE: I wanna use caviar.
Where are you gonna get the truffles?
- Fortnum & Mason. - I know,
but one truffle, am I gonna blow the whole budget?
I've got immunity, so if I'll do a deviled egg,
- I won't need much. - SARA: I'm gonna make
chilled broccolini salad. It's gonna have--
So, you're doing-- you're doing a salad
It's not really a salad. It's like-- it's like a chilled side.
I think Buddha is a valuable team member,
but Buddha and I are very different
- in everything we do. - When they open it,
they should not really feel like it's a picnic.
But this is a conceptual challenge,
so we have to all compromise for the team.
I'm gonna do a Banoffee pie,
but I'm gonna do it different, I've got a banana mold,
so I'm gonna dip it inside that and make it look like a banana.
- Oh, my God, amazing. - How many molds do you have?
[all laughing]
It's a good idea to have vegetarian, seafood,
protein, soy meat.
You need like, a cohesive meal, a full meal.
I was thinking having...
TOM G: I would love to make a cioppino version of a salad.
That's a nice fresh dish on a picnic basket, I think.
AMAR: I mean, cioppino, cold picnic?
I don't know, but okay, bro. Do you, bro.
- We need a meat, right? - I can do borek.
- What is that, a dessert? - No, it's savory.
- AMAR: Then I do dessert. - Okay.
I'm thinking I'm making, kind of, like, a crudite
with three kind of dips.
DALE: Yeah, just really high end.
May I do a take on a tuna nicoise?
It's like a salad, but a meal, you know.
- If you want to use tuna. - Tuna.
SARA: I don't think we should do two fish.
NICOLE: I really want to do the nicoise.
I can use, a foie-- the foie.
The most expensive thing I'm buying here
is gonna be a bottle of rum,
and then, shopping at Whole Foods,
- so we have £250. - Fifty bucks each.
- I will need maybe, 20 bucks. - Yeah, that's perfect.
- CHARBEL: Go, start shopping. - BUDDHA: Okay.
DALE: Okay.
♪
- ...per shop - Each. Yes.
- Hey, guys. - DALE: Hey, I just need caviar,
but the rest of my dish is literally,
eggs, creme fraiche and chives.
My goal joining this team is really
to make sure that everyone's happy that I'm there,
and that I'm chipping in, which is a major part
that I've changed from Dale 13 years ago.
I was a very, very aggressive,
kind of tyrant, early in my career.
Supposed to be three souffles, one chocolate!
- You don't have to freak out. - Don't tell me
how to----ing act!
If I was to talk to 20-year-old Dale,
I'd tell him, "Just calm down, relax a little bit."
SARA: Hey, Victoire, just to make sure you know,
there's two people cooking with walnuts in this car.
No, no, don't worry about it.
- AMAR: What's up guys? - Habibi, what's up?
So are you planning to get anything from Fortnum & Mason?
I would love to get caviar and--
salmon caviar and prep, yeah.
- Okay. - All right.
- Yallah, see you, bye-bye. - Bye.
- SARA: We're here. - NICOLE: It's so pretty. Wow.
AMAR: If I knew I was gonna come shop here,
I would have dressed a little nicer.
I mean, look at the doorman.
[uplifting instrumental playing]
- AMAR: Oh, my God, darling. - Look at this.
NICOLE: Look at the wine section.
♪
Oh, my God. Amazing, amazing.
- Both! - [clerk laughing]
ALI: Have you seen the pickled walnuts?
Fortnum & Mason is a huge place.
Look at this mushroom.
Personally, I'm looking for pickled walnuts,
wild mushrooms, and garden greens.
Amar, what do you think of this lettuce...
- AMAR: Yeah. - ALI: So they put it inside
with everything, and they can eat it.
- That's a good idea. - TOM G: Can I get some caviar?
- So, it's $80 bucks, yeah? - CLERK: Yes.
You think I can get some tomatoes?
Just one each color.
You think we can buy some creme fraiche?
- BUDDHA: Berry's good. - DALE: You tell me.
Honestly, I haven't used caviar.
BUDDHA: Oh, well, you just need a standard berry.
It's a pretty straightforward thing,
a deviled egg, but I'm doing it with caviar
to kind of elevate it, 'cause that's what
- this picnic's about. - DALE: Thirty grams
- is gonna be perfect, man. - Yeah?
DALE: If we can push it to 50, that'd be great.
BUDDHA: I don't want to blow, we've only got £200 here.
We wanna get caviar, foie gras, truffles,
but we do have an extra person.
That affects our budget,
so we have to make sure that we spend our money wisely.
SARA: How much of this stuff do you actually need
- and how much do you just want? - NICOLE: I would really like
the boquerones and then the green beans next.
- So we're at £199.55. - DALE: That's all we got.
- NICOLE: Amazing. Nailing it. - DALE: Thank you, sir.
SYLWIA: Twenty-three pounds I spent.
TOM G: I don't know what I spent.
- ALI: I have around 40. - AMAR: Okay.
I think we should go pay.
Damn. [laughing]
It's very challenging, because Tom spent
160 of the 200, which is crazy.
- This one is what? - My chicken breast.
Let's wait for it, no? Because we probably get it
- for half the price. - Okay. Of course.
So we have to make it work at Whole Foods market.
SYLWIA: That's all, yeah. Thank you.
♪
[chefs laughing]
- BUDDHA: Not running. Wow! - CHARBEL: Behind you.
TOM G: Can I have some cooked shrimp?
Like, 100 grams.
- NICOLE: I can't open this. - SARA: I don't bag anything.
Our team has decided everybody has 40 bucks to spend.
Forty pence. Forty pennies.
Forty pounds.
[chuckles]
I feel good about that amount of money.
The dishes don't have to be huge.
This is an elevated picnic.
I could just put this in the basket?
Just let this be one of the dishes?
- CHARBEL: No. - [Dale laughs] No.
GABRI: I'm gonna make a smoked fish salad
with pistachios and spicy pesto.
- NICOLE: Yum. - GABRI: Yes, right?
...picnic means tostadas with ceviche on top,
salsa picante, and just enjoy the beach, enjoy the sea.
I want to recreate that feeling.
Do you know how we call a picnic in Mexico?
- SARA: How? - Picnic.
SARA: Picnic!
SYLWIA: In Poland, we've got a lot of forests,
a lot of nice places to go for a picnic.
So, I'm doing the chicken roulade.
That will be the middle of my borek.
This is something between borek and sausage roll
which gonna look like a muffin.
If you use this one, I can use as well.
Sometimes, when we eating a sausage roll on a picnic,
we think it will be nice to have some sauce that we can dip in.
So, that's why I'm making...
It's sweet and savory.
Something different.
VICTOIRE: Seventeen minutes! [humming]
♪
[Ali chuckles]
NICOLE: Icelandic salmon, hey?
I love to eat a nicoise salad.
Usually, it's with tuna, but I chose to use salmon
because it travels really well.
Olives and caperberries, anchovy.
Okay, honey, chilies, vinegar, tomato,
gelatin, olive oil, mustard and mayo.
ALI: Oh, my God, buddy. [laughs]
AMAR: Ali, this guy's shopping like he has no budget, huh?
ALI: It's cool. [indistinct]
AMAR: His car is full, man. Is this a team challenge?
Or is this, you know, £450 just for Tom?
GABRI: I think you have
- a lot of stuff, you know? - TOM G: Yes. £24.
GABRI: Oh, my.
Ali made a vegetarian dish, so obviously,
- he doesn't need £50. - You need that much avocado?
- TOM G: Yeah. [indistinct]. - SYLWIA: Really?
At the end of the day, it should be okay.
- TOM G: What is this? - GABRI: Sesame seeds.
- TOM G: Do you need it? - GABRI: Yes.
- TOM G: So much. - GABRI: Okay, then, no.
- AMAR: All right, that's it. - SARA: That's it.
AMAR: We need some ice. Let's make the best picnic ever.
SYLWIA: Oh, yeah.
♪
- Jesus. - Sorry.
SARA: So, where are all the small pots?
NICOLE: They're all the way over there.
We have to have a cohesive, elevated picnic menu
inside that basket, all complete today.
- It's a lot of work. - SARA: You ready for this sh--?
♪
I'm making...
...served with three kind of different dips.
Beetroot, hummus, baba ghanoush and truffle dips.
Cutting veggies with some dips, that's very simple,
but it's also show confidence.
I don't think any other chef would dare to do it.
Oh, sh--.
GABRI: Ali, how are you gonna execute your dish?
I'm gonna start with my base which is muhammara,
walnuts, pomegranate, molasses, lemon juice.
I'm gonna make a paste out of it.
And after that, I'm gonna be...
GABRI: Nice, I'm gonna smoke my sea bass,
and then make my tostadas.
I feel stressed, because the smokiness
can be gone in twelve hours,
so I'm going to pour some cucumber
and red onion ash over the fish to contain that smoky flavor.
Sylwia, what are you doing, girl?
Of course, Potato girl.
Come on, I'm doing potatoes. [laughs]
♪
TOM G: So, instead of having fresh oil on top,
which kind of look oily and old, I make olive oil dust.
Then the salad stays fresh and doesn't oil up.
- What's up, Dale? - Guess what I'm cooking.
[together] Eggs.
DALE: A deviled egg with caviar, it's very, very simple,
and so I'm helping my teammates.
Just show me what you want.
- Like this? - CHARBEL: Yes. Thank you, man.
'Cause if you win as a team, nobody goes home.
SARA: Dale, it's so nice to hear your voice back in here.
DALE: It's lovely to be back.
Amar, tell me, what about your experience
with the picnic?
AMAR: I have never served a picnic.
I have never made a picnic. I have never been in a picnic.
- SYLWIA: You are picnic virgin. - [Amar laughing]
I'm making a pretty simple flan recipe
that I got from my mom.
I'm making some caramel for my flan,
cooking some raisins and rum.
My mom, she's amazing.
She's been the rock of the family.
When my dad got sick with a brain tumor,
I saw my mom for five years, you know,
day in, day out, 24/7, taking care of my dad.
And now, I mean, I'm so happy that she lives with me.
So, I get to see her every day now.
I'm just praying for the flan to come out fine.
GABRI: I pray with you, my friend.
♪
Victoire, I know you have foie gras.
I'm making my mousse of foie gras...
The leaves of the cabbage...
I'm gonna kill it.
Are you a big fan of picnic, Sara?
I love a picnic.
This is a really kind of a classic dish.
This dish tastes like a picnic in Spain.
It's like, you eat this salad
and then you lay down on a blanket and make love.
I like it funky. Or a quilt,
if you're from Paducah, Quilt city capital of the world.
What are you gonna do when you guys lose tomorrow?
Cry a little bit.
- Hey! - Hello, Chef.
- TOM C: Hey, Chefs. Hello. - Hi, how are you doing?
What do we have, a little trout there?
- NICOLE: Salmon. - Is it salmon? It's small.
- What are you doing with this? - I'm doing a nicoise.
- Oh, salmon nicoise? - Yeah.
Okay. You're gonna be able to cut this?
NICOLE: Gonna chill it hard right now.
- Okay. - Yeah.
Tom's expression is like, "Hm."
Nothing wrong with a nicoise salad.
So, that's worrying.
- Good luck. - Thank you.
♪
TOM C: What are you doing here?
It's gonna be a take on a Banoffee pie.
So, it's got all the flavors, got the chocolate,
it's got the banana, the cream and the digestive biscuits.
- Got it. - BUDDHA: I'm gonna make them
- look like a golden banana. - TOM C: Okay.
It's going to be easy to transport, easy to eat.
- All right. - Thank you.
- Sylwia, how you doing? - SYLWIA: Hello, Chef.
- How are you doing? - I'm good.
- Yeah? - What's that?
SYLWIA: That is lemon posset infused with chilies.
- Lemon... - Posset.
Posset's a traditional English dessert, actually.
And chicken roulade in the middle with 'nduja.
- Okay. - Thank you, Chef.
Thank you. Hey, Tom.
- How's it going, Tom? - It's going okay, Tom.
- Making tomato salad? - An idea of a cioppino salad.
So, how are you doing a cioppino salad?
I'm gonna make slightly dehydrated tomatoes,
tomato caviar, tomato vinaigrette,
crab, shrimps, a little bit of caviar
and I'm gonna make a tomato gel
to cover the caviar, so it doesn't dehydrate.
- You have time for all this? - We will see.
- Good luck. - Thank you, sir.
TOM C: I think both teams, I think the menus are fine.
it's gonna come down to execution.
Nicole is doing nicoise salad, but she's doing it with salmon.
Typically, nicoise salad's done with tuna
poached in oil, this is baked.
- Look at this, gotta cool down. - [Amar laughs]
TOM C: Sylwia, I still don't know.
She's making a chicken roulade and serving it with
almost like a lemon icing and I just don't--
I don't-- I don't know.
Tom is kind of reinventing a cioppino.
My concern is that it's a pretty ambitious dish.
A lot to do and very little time to do it.
All right, Chefs, see you tomorrow at the picnic grounds.
Hopefully, the weather will cooperate and it won't rain.
- Thanks you, Chef. - Bye.
NICOLE: Thanks, Chef.
TOM G: Guys, don't wait too long for plating, yeah?
Thirty one minutes!
I want to do something very complicated.
I did not came here to play safe.
♪
My first straining breaks,
so I need to restrain the tomato liquid.
GABRI: What's going on with Tom?
- I'm already behind. - Tom.
TOM G: Don't worry. Just do your sh--.
[grunts] Pain.
♪
[suspenseful instrumental playing]
SARA: Thirty minutes, y'all. [indistinct]!
[tense instrumental playing]
I face a lot of challenges, but that doesn't mean
you should give up.
If the whole kitchen burns down,
you still need to cook something.
Do you have time, Amar? Can you pick me some basil?
- Do you have time? - ALI: Guys, we need to start
with the baskets, we have 20 minutes.
The tricky part in this challenge is,
your food needs to sit overnight
and it needs to travel very well.
So, that's why my bouquet of garden greens
are covered with wet paper towels,
so I keep it fresh as possible.
SYLWIA: Amar, how is flan?
Still not standing yet, but I'll get there.
DALE: Buddha is over here
killing it with his little mini bananas.
♪ Baby banana
BUDDHA: Yeah, that looks really good.
Good thing about it that it has to defrost overnight.
NICOLE: I'm going bananas.
He's doubting my salmon.
DALE: Oh, yeah?
NICOLE: Why do we get these challenges?
DALE: Apparently, it's to see who's the Top Chef.
[Nicole chuckles]
Oh, yeah. Feel like I'm back.
The tomato gel was too late made,
so it couldn't cool down enough.
So, if they hit the fridge,
the condensation will release more liquid,
but nothing else I can change anymore.
SARA: Guys, let's push. Let's push.
I'm gonna get all our baskets organized,
and then I'm gonna come and help everyone.
DALE: What else, Nicole? I can help.
The fish. God, I love you.
- SYLWIA: Do you need the help? - AMAR: I got it.
We are gonna go down to the wire.
You need to put yours on top next to mine,
because it's on the bottom, so it's tight.
DALE: Buddha, do you need a hand plating or you good?
- I'm done, man. - DALE: What a team.
Ninety seconds. Let's go, let's go. Let's go!
GABRI: I'm a little behind.
Can you help me, please?
ALI: Plating is very stressful.
Gabri is doing everything last minute.
Gabri, how many for each? Two?
- Two each. - Two each.
For me, that's scary.
SYLWIA: I need one more tostada.
One more tostada!
DALE: Have to push it down a little.
BUDDHA: Yeah, that's finished.
SYLWIA: Cut. Cut and help, cut and help. One, quickly.
- No, no, no, no. - Let me count.
This is the only one I haven't counted. One, two,
- Four, five, six, seven-- - ALI: Ten seconds, guys.
- SYLWIA: Put it here. - Put it here and then close it.
ALI: Close, close, close, close, close!
[bleep]. Made it, guys.
I can't believe I pulled that flan off, bro.
ALL: Good job. Great job.
CHARBEL: What's up, Yellow Team?
ALI: Gentle, gentle.
♪
Yesterday was kind of weird because the challenge is done.
Like, all we can do now is just serve the food
- but it's been sitting there. - That's crazy.
SARA: Their team, it's all very different,
so hopefully, our food will be memorable.
That's really all we need it to do, is just--
- I think it will. - SARA: Yeah.
I am asking myself every day why I'm doing this again
'cause this is my third Top Chef and I do love it,
but more importantly, actually, it's about the money.
I applied for adoption
and I just got approved this year
and actually there's a child
waiting for me in Hanoi, Vietnam.
[exhales]
I've always wanted to be a mom, even when I was married.
It was not doable at the time.
I physically can't have them naturally,
so that's been quite a journey.
So she's breastfeeding or-- or milking.
She's pumping now, sorry. Milking.
It's crazy to think
that I'm going to do that now on my own,
but I'm crying right now because I'm so grateful.
I'm lucky.
♪
CHEF: Oh, damn. Look at this castle.
AMAR: Wow. I never been to a castle before.
Wow.
PADMA: It's beautiful.
- Oh, it's lovely. - NICOLE: Oh, my God.
I feel like I'm in an episode of Downton Abbey already.
My mother is like a super fan of Downton Abbey.
Look at this.
As I'm leaving Paduca, she's like screaming,
"Go to Downton Abbey!"
She is gonna love this.
- Thank you, sir. - TOM C: You're welcome.
Honey, I'm home.
[all laughing]
Look at this beautiful castle.
I've had many wonderful picnics in my life
but never with a backdrop like this.
- Let's have a look. - MAX: Rum raisin flan.
- That sounds good. - That does.
Is this if Downton Abbey had Tupperware?
Yeah. [chuckles]
- Quite the selection, I'd say. - Yeah, looks interesting.
All right, the first team is coming out.
- Hello, Chefs. - Hi.
PADMA: Please place your baskets here on the bench.
- GABRI: Hello. How are you? - PADMA: Thank you.
Well, let's unpack these baskets and see what you've done.
MAX: All of that. Yeah.
Oh, [indistinct] there.
PADMA: Why don't we hear what everybody made.
- Let's start with you, Ali. - ALI: Yes.
For today's picnic, I have prepared muhammara
and a bouquet of garden greens with pickled walnuts.
For this dish, I would recommend to have the paste
just on top of the lettuce and the bouquet,
and drizzle the vinaigrette on top.
- Delicious. - Yeah. Yeah.
- ROGER: Wowzer. - PADMA: It's delicious.
- TOM C: It's a bit big. - Yeah, that's okay.
I have a big mouth.
[chuckles]
Tom, why don't you tell us what you made?
When I do barbecues, we usually do cioppino.
So transforming this to a cold dish,
I made roasted tomato salad, seafood marmalade.
On top of that, you have avocado and caviar chips.
They are covered with white tomato glaze
so the caviar doesn't oxidize.
Chef Gabri, which is your course?
GABRI: So the next one is a smoked fish tostada
with cucumber, red onion, and compressed watermelon
with a spicy pesto.
So, this is the tostada?
- No, this is just the fish. - Oh, okay.
- The tostada is in here. - Oh, I see.
- Okay. - Yes.
We need to mix this spicy pesto with the mayonnaise
and put a nice layer on the tostada.
And then the fish, cucumber, red onion,
and on top, the compressed watermelon.
- GAIL: Great. - HARRIET: Okay, now...
[chuckles] We have it.
[grunts]
SYLWIA: So I made su borek.
Su, it mean water in Turkish language.
So borek's supposed to be very wet.
Inside of that, we've got a mousse of chicken
and 'nduja sausage with pistachio nuts.
And then on the top, we've got lemon posset
and then cucumber salsa.
Wait, that tastes like lemon curd.
GAIL: Confounding.
Amar, tell us about your dish.
I made a rum raisin flan
with a pineapple and sage marmalade.
TOM C: Mm, no bubbles.
GAIL: None. Super smooth.
- Mama taught you well. - Thank you, Chef. [chuckles]
PADMA: Quite an interesting picnic menu.
- Thank you, Chefs. - Thank you.
I'm really, really nervous. When I serve a dish.
I always feel like it's not good enough
and Tom did the usual reaction, which is this one.
SYLWIA: Good job, guys.
[sighs]
[grunting, laughing]
SARA: Thirty minutes, y'all. [indistinct]!
- ALI: How do you feel, guys? - I think they liked it, no?
Regardless of what the other team did,
I'm not really worried about it.
There are two things out of all the dishes
that work really well in the context of a picnic.
- Yep. - The first and the last.
I completely agree with you.
- MAX: Yeah. - HARRIETT: I agree.
The muhammara was just seasoned to perfection.
You just wanted to mop it up.
But for me, the flan keeps really well overnight
and is brilliant at a picnic.
The others were just quite difficult
in a picnic situation.
Some of them just didn't work.
Considering the nightmare from yesterday,
was okay, I think.
There's usually a very pronounced orange
and fennel flavor to cioppino.
It's not only tomato, and that's all we got.
It was difficult to eat and I didn't get the caviar.
And it all was so weighted down
that I actually lost the seafood completely.
It was too wet.
Picnic like that is difficult
because we get used to make our dishes
and serve straight away.
Sylwia's, whatever it was, borek.
Didn't know whether it was a savory dish or a sweet dish.
It was quite the amalgamation of sweet and savory.
The posset was sharp, and it had that 'nduja on there,
which was spicy sausage and that confused me a little.
I saw Tom taking a bite of his dish first.
He was kind of, like, confused.
And then when Gabri told him, "No, this is [indistinct]
"and spicy pesto," his face just changed completely
'cause it was a completely different bite.
STU: The tostada with the smoked fish.
The smoke didn't come through.
HARRIET: The tostada didn't do so well
because of those wet ingredients together.
There was no way to pick it up and eat it
without it crumbling apart.
Yellow Team overcomplicated things
and making it overcomplicated didn't make it any better.
- On the contrary. - It just-- Right.
AMAR: I'm happy with what we did.
I mean, as a team.
- [champagne bottle pops] - Oh, thank God. [chuckles]
- MAX: Thank you. - You're welcome.
My name is Tom and I'll be your waiter tonight.
On your way out just make sure you give me
- a nice, big, fat tip. - Oh, don't you worry.
Hello, Blue Team. How are you guys doing?
CHARBEL: We're good. How are you?
- Thanks.
- Thank you. - You're very welcome.
Let's start trying the food.
[overlapping chatter]
Were you guys nervous about your food traveling?
BUDDHA: Yeah, absolutely.
It's a long journey,
especially with delicate items.
And Dale, you have the first dish, correct?
I do, yeah.
I did a somewhat classic deviled egg
using duck eggs
and then some sturgeon caviar on top.
PADMA: Victoire?
I made foie gras rolled in the cabbage
and sauce in agrodolce.
Do we pick this up, Victoire? The cabbage roll?
- Or do we cut it? - Use the finger, yes.
- TOM C: Kind of rich. - Yeah.
- PADMA: Okay, Charbel. - I made the vegetable crudite
and I serve it with three different kind of dip.
You have beetroot hummus, baba ganoush, and truffle dip.
Also on the side, there is two sourdough toast.
PADMA: I like your little crudite bed.
- CHARBEL: Thank you. - It's quite sweet. [chuckles]
Nicole, what did you make for us?
I made a salmon nicoise,
and there's a little dressing in a ramekin.
MAX: Is the vinaigrette for the nicoise?
Yeah, it's an olive vinaigrette with anchovy,
and you just give it a little shake.
- Oh! - A little drizzle, as you like.
- STU: Salmon looks great. - MAX: Salmon looks fantastic.
Lovely.
I made charred broccolini with Manchego,
lardo, black walnuts, and truffle vinaigrette.
I was waiting for some cheese.
It's like the cheese, meat, picnic thing.
PADMA: Charcuterie dish.
I think you need those things at a picnic.
And Buddha? What did you make for dessert?
My picnics always include fruit,
so I did a golden banana
based on the flavors of a Banoffee pie.
So, it's actually stuffed with a creme diplomate,
honey roasted bananas and dipped in white chocolate.
And on the outside, a little bit of biscuit crumble.
That's badass. It looks great.
What was your biggest challenges?
- The budget. - Budget.
[laughing]
With budget being your issue, you still managed to give us
foie gras, duck eggs, two kinds of truffle, caviar.
- Thank you. - [chefs laughing]
Yes, you aimed high.
You had to stretch your budget
with one extra person as well.
SARA: I think that Dale was very conscientious.
Yeah, he got caviar, but eggs,
so we were able to split it up pretty evenly.
Nicely done, guys. Thank you so much.
- CHEFS: Thank you. - We'll see you later.
SARA: I think they liked it.
♪
CHARBEL: What's up, guys?
TOM G: From the Yellow Team, guys. Didn't bring anything?
Come on, we're having a picnic in my casa.
- How you doing? - AMAR: How are you guys doing?
- AMAR: How was it? - DALE: I think it went well.
The feedback seemed to be positive.
Good.
In this picnic, for the Blue Team,
it's all just really good.
Easier to eat.
Maybe they played it a little more safe.
It was a challenge to get that all done
in like, an hour and a bit,
and then pack and have it wait overnight.
I thought the salmon nicoise was delicious.
The salmon was perfectly cooked, and it hit the brief massively.
I didn't wanna like it because I don't like the idea
of salmon in nicoise, but I liked it anyway.
- I get that. - [all laughing]
You got any reactions, feedback, anything?
Yeah, we got a lot of good things.
- [grunts] Okay. - [Ali chuckles]
GRAHAM: Chef Sara's charred broccoli was really tasty,
maybe slightly too big.
I really love the texture in Sara's dish, though.
The grapes and the walnuts, dried fruit,
cheese, lovely texture.
We had golden bananas.
[chuckles] It was kind of good.
They picked it up with their hands and ate it like a fruit.
GAIL: It was rich and sweet,
but I thought it was a beautiful, thoughtful dessert.
Very well made.
For me, Chef Buddha's banana,
great to look at, not great to eat.
Little too sweet?
- Too sweet. - Yeah, too sweet.
But that's just my opinion on that.
PADMA: Well, I want to thank all of you
for being with us for this beautiful picnic.
It seems like we have a clear winning team,
as well as a clear idea
who our two least favorite chefs are
- from the losing team. - Yeah.
BUDDHA: Today was the hardest cook, you know.
We had so many things to get on the go
before we presented the judges.
It's gonna be, definitely, a hard decision.
♪
NICOLE: We were able to stretch our budget quite a bit.
So, that was good. They're like impressed
that we were able to do that.
Did you have a struggle with your budget?
- ALI: Tom did. - [laughing]
A little bit. It seemed all right in the end.
♪
PADMA: Some dishes stood up better than others,
but we did have an overall favorite team.
Our favorite picnic meal belonged to...
- the Blue Team. - BLUE TEAM: Yes!
[chuckling]
PADMA: Congratulations. Blue Team, please stay here.
Yellow Team, you can step to the side.
Thank you.
BUDDHA: [chuckles] That's great.
Blue Team, I thought with your budget,
you did very well.
You had caviar, you had foie gras, prosciutto.
The first shop, we wanted to focus on luxury ingredients
because the thing was to elevate.
You did a really solid job straight across the board.
It wasn't over-cheffed, if you know what I mean.
You've chosen relatively simple dishes,
but all of you have executed them really well.
You've let the ingredients sing
and that's what it was all about, so well done.
Dale, you're back in the game with immunity,
but you still gave us something
that felt perfect for the occasion.
Eggs and caviar. Easy to eat, easy to assemble.
You had time to help your teammates.
Victoire, I really loved
that you could pick it up with your hands,
but it had foie gras in it, and that felt really surprising.
Who doesn't love foie gras, but just a little bit touches
- on the leaf for me. - Thank you.
TOM C: It definitely ate well.
I would've blanched the cabbage a little bit more.
It was a little on the tough side.
Charbel, your dips, I thought they were absolutely gorgeous.
The dips made it, but even the selection
of crudite that you chose,
they were all really tasty, cut beautifully.
PADMA: Nicole, I really loved your nicoise salad.
I loved how crispy the beans were.
I loved the vinaigrette.
TOM C: The salmon was beautifully cooked,
and I was like, "Salmon nicoise? I don't get it.
"That fish doesn't swim in that water down there.
"It doesn't know Mediterranean flavors."
You proved me wrong. It worked really, really well.
Thank you.
Sara, your broccolini salad had all of those things
that a great charcuterie board would have,
and the textures were spot on.
And, of course, Buddha, I loved your dessert.
Really creative, a lot of work. Really elevated.
To create that in 90 minutes,
I'm gonna ask you how you did that another day.
Some of us thought maybe a little on the sweet side,
but all in all, nice job all the way around.
- Graham? - GRAHAM: Today's winner gave us
a really well-balanced dish.
It was bright, flavorful, seasoned well.
And the winning chef is...
Nicole.
[chefs applauding]
Thank you very, very much.
Well, not only did you have our favorite dish on this team,
but you just won yourself
$10,000 from our friends at BMW.
Oh, my God.
$10,000. Like what?
That is my last and final installment of my adoption now.
I'm fully paid up.
- On a salad. - [chefs laughing]
Thank you, Blue Team, you can step to the side.
Yellow Team, please step forward.
What a nice prize.
- GABRI: [indistinct] - Thank you.
You're welcome.
♪
Yellow Team, you had our least favorite dishes of the day,
and one of you will be going home.
How was yesterday and today for you?
Let's start with you, Sylwia.
We organized all together the budget,
and some people took more money, but we help each other,
and I try to use the cheapest ingredients
to leave much more for my friends.
Can you tell us who spent the most money?
- I did. - You did?
- Tom, you did. - Yeah.
Were there any ingredients that any of you wanted
that you couldn't get because of the budget?
No, I think everybody got everything they wanted.
[Sylwia mumbles]
PADMA: Sylwia? Yeah? Is that true?
♪
- ALI: How do you feel, guys? - I think they liked it, no?
♪
Were there any ingredients that any of you wanted
that you couldn't get because of the budget?
No, I think everybody got everything they wanted.
[Sylwia mumbles]
PADMA: Sylwia? Yeah? Is that true?
♪
Tom said he need a lot of ingredients,
so we let him buy the caviar first and then the seafood
because we know with that budget is needed for his dish.
[hums] So what seafood did you have?
- You had caviar, you had-- - Crab and shrimps.
Yes, shrimp, crab, and caviar.
PADMA: Okay.
I thought that overall,
there were some really beautiful highs
in your picnic basket.
Ali, I thought your muhammara was stunning.
It was perfectly seasoned.
I love the freshness of having sort of this lettuce wrap of it.
I thought that was beautiful.
- Absolutely delicious. - Thank you.
Amar, your flan, brilliant exit to the meal.
Beautifully cooked. Lovely little bits of pineapple.
For me, I needed a little bit more sage and rum.
- But that's just me. - I always need more rum, too.
Yeah, just a touch more, but wonderfully executed.
It was a great version of flan.
It was cooked at the right temperature.
Some chefs would have turned up the heat,
but then you get bubbles around the outside of it,
and that's a fatal flaw in a flan.
- You did a great job. - Thank you, chef.
Gabri, with your tostada,
how did you make that smoked fish piece?
What did you do to it exactly?
I roll it in plastic and then I put it to smoke.
GAIL: I got a little smoke at points.
I just think the construction didn't work.
And when you're in a picnic setting,
that becomes the issue.
Your tostada was delicious.
It was so crispy and thin,
but when you put a very thick piece of fish on top,
it wasn't easy to eat.
TOM C: It wasn't one of your most successful dishes,
and it just didn't pack the kind of flavor and punch
that I thought the dish could have packed.
Sylwia, I didn't really understand your whole dish.
Once I put the lemon sauce on it,
I almost thought I was having a dessert.
It was so sweet
and it didn't remind me of a borek at all.
Su borek, it means "watery," because "su" is water,
so that's why that one's supposed to be much more softer.
I understand your idea for it.
That makes a lot of sense
and I appreciate your clarifying,
but it was bland and it felt spongy.
TOM C: It was like sugar sweet lemon
over the top of a muffin that was really dry.
It was not a good dish, sorry to say.
Sorry, Chef.
Tom, I love this idea of cioppino salad,
but I actually think your dish needed a ton of editing.
There's so many flavors in here.
Then the olive oil powder and everything else,
and all these bits and bobs that go on the top.
It's just completely too many flavors.
The money that you spent on the caviar,
you might as well just throw it in the garbage
because you couldn't taste it.
I'm kind of hearing a little bit here
that your teammates thought maybe you spent too much money,
and if you spent it on caviar,
you wasted not only your money, but you wasted their money too.
Simplicity and fewer flavors
would have probably done you all better.
Sylwia and Tom...
you had our least favorite dishes of the day
and one of you will be going home.
Just not yet.
[Nicole grunts]
Come with me.
♪
SYLWIA: It's scary to follow Padma.
Like, yesterday morning, she knocked on my door.
Now, she told me to follow her.
I don't know what's going on. Oh, my God.
We had the two least favorite dishes of the day.
To be honest, the two sh--tiest dishes of the day
and I'm happy it's me
because I felt very disappointed with my dish.
AMAR: Oh, they're cooking.
Oh, yeah. I'm gonna fight.
NICOLE: Crazy.
- PADMA: Right now... - I was waiting for the twist.
PADMA: ...Tom and Sylwia served our least favorite dishes
and have to fight to survive.
Don't forget the caviar, huh?
PADMA: Who will remain
and who will join Last Chance Kitchen?
Find out now On Demand
or wherever you stream Top Chef.
PADMA: Next time on Top Chef World All Stars.
Oh, wow.
We want you to create a dish
that can be eaten without utensils.
DALE: I don't really think you have to be from somewhere
to cook something really well.
It's hot. It's hot.
I don't care, it's good. It's delicious.
I don't have any kind of inspiration this moment.
ALI: I'm honestly very nervous.
I'm gonna dream about dots tonight.
This is not me. I don't like this sh--.
Time in Top Chef kitchen does not go normally
I'm a bit stressed.
- PADMA: Wow. - GAIL: Wow.
TOM C: Very tasty. Really creative.
- Where do you go from here? - I hope we go up.
PADMA: The thing that I like more than eating with my hands
- is licking my fingers. - Can't stop, won't stop.
You could make a fast food chain out of it.
[chuckles]
- We ate really well today. - Yeah!
The competition just got really, really serious.
♪