PADMA: Previously on Top Chef World All Stars.
We are having the fastest elimination challenge
in Top Chefhistory.
What the [bleep]! What's happening?
- AMAR: Go, go, go, go, go! - PADMA: So fast.
- Come on, Sara. - ALI: That's the way I do it.
Oh, that's not the way I do it.
I told you.
PADMA: Three very nice plates.
The ingredient is really featured.
Thank you.
Okay, a trio of lamb. Ballsy.
PADMA: We're all a bit confounded.
It was a little boring.
We just ----ed up.
DAVID: The winning chef today is,
- Tom. - Thank you.
TOM G: After the last challenge,
I just wanna make one dish Tom really likes.
TOM C: If the mousse set and we were able to pick it up,
you would have won this thing.
It's like a rollercoaster.
Nice job.
Charbel, please, pack your knives and go.
PADMA: Eight chefs remain to compete
in the ultimate culinary showdown.
At stake for the winner,
a feature in Food and Wine Magazine,
an appearance at theFood and Wine Classic in Aspen,
$250,000, furnished by Saratoga Spring Water.
And the title of "Top Chef World All Star."
**
AMAR: Charbel is talented.
He won the first challenge with cooking onion.
SARA: Can I tell you a story that Charbel told me?
He said, "Don't tell anybody," I'm gonna tell you now.
He said he watched Ali on TV
and said, "That's what I wanna be.
I wanna go on Top Chef MENA." And he made it happen.
ALI: I mean, when I won, I was the youngest to win.
I won Top Chefhistory.
But when this guy came to Top Chef,
he was the youngest who won.
Normally, once you think of the Middle East,
you think of wars, you think of crisis.
That's the perception, but...
Because we are the change
that the world needs in this life.
I have been pushing myself
till I make it to the finale
because showcasing my culture in the best way possible
is really important for me.
BUDDHA: The middle's shrinking now,
no one's safe.
No one is safe.
I haven't been on the bottom yet.
I would love to be in the finale.
I feel like it's time to find my groove.
- To Charbel, guys. - To the onion boy.
ALL: To the onion boy.
VICTOIRE: The onion boy.
SARA: Potato girl, onion boy.
[upbeat music playing]
What do you guys think's gonna happen today?
- NICOLE: I don't know. - SARA: I mean,
I think it's gonna be Restaurant Wars.
NICOLE: I was front of the house last time.
- Oh, thanks. - VICTOIRE: Yes.
**
Oh, my dear.
- PADMA: Good morning, Chefs. - ALL: Good morning.
PADMA: Please, welcome your guest judge,
three Michelin-starred Chef, Clare Smyth.
[chefs applauding]
Oh, it's so good to be here. I'm so excited to see you all.
I do recognize one person.
Really good to see you, Buddha. It's been a while.
It's been a long while.
I worked with Clare for two years
at Restaurant Gordon Ramsey,
where she was the Chef Patron.
She really developed me into the person that I am
and how I cook.
Obviously, I know this gentleman,
but it's about the food that's on the plate.
We started this competition with 16 chefs
and there are only half of you remaining
to fight it out for the grand prize
of $250,000,
furnished by Saratoga Spring Water.
And the title of Top Chef World All Star.
With only eight chefs left in the competition,
I think you guys know what that means, right?
- It's time for... - ALL: Restaurant Wars.
All right.
**
You have just 24 hours to open your own restaurant.
But this year, we're setting the bar
even higher than ever before.
Of course.
You won't be building a restaurant from scratch.
This time, we are giving you a restaurant
with an existing infrastructure
and it's not just any restaurant that we are giving you.
- It's mine. - [all laugh]
Wow! Oh, my Lord.
Oh, no. [laughs]
This is huge.
A three Michelin star restaurant.
It's actually a dream to work in that kitchen.
PADMA: And for the first time ever,
you'll have a professional restaurant director
to help you run your service.
No front of the house?
We don't have to set up the restaurant.
That means they also are expecting
a much higher level of cooking.
This restaurant is my pride and joy.
It's an accumulation of my life's work.
- And now it's all yours. - Wow.
Cook from your heart, your soul. Show me who you are.
I think that's what makes a really successful restaurant.
PADMA: I'm just curious, in your countries,
- do they do Restaurant Wars? - Never.
- PADMA: Tom? - No. But I'm super excited.
Apparently it's a huge deal. It's the most challenging.
A lot of chefs are scared as [bleep] about it
and they cannot talk about anything else
so, it's time to get it done.
So, only Victoire and Tom.
All right, chefs, come on up.
Grab a knife gently.
[Buddha laughs]
So, please, hold your knives up.
All right. Victoire, first choice.
And Buddha, second choice.
Everyone else, please, step to the side.
Victoire, who would you like your first teammate to be?
- Tom. - PADMA: Tom. Okay.
Any specific reason why you chose Tom?
Because he love to cook with vegetables.
- Buddha, second choice. - Yeah, I'm gonna choose Ali.
Ali does a tasting menu restaurant over in Jordan.
Who’s your second choice, Victoire?
Nicole. Nicole has a lot of experience.
PADMA: Buddha, who is your second choice?
- Amar. - PADMA: Amar.
Other than his good time personality, what--
- [Padma chuckles] - Well, they come as a bundle.
[all laugh]
- It's Papi and Habibi. - Yeah.
Okay, who is your final teammate gonna be, Victoire?
My angel, Gabriel.
- Your angel, huh? - Yes.
[Victoire laughs]
PADMA: Sara, that means you are on Buddha's team.
Bring it on, bitches. You picked me last.
I think people don't know that I came up
in Michelin star kitchens,
working for [indistinct] and David Posey.
But the only thing you can do when you're the underdog,
is prove everybody wrong.
PADMA: Let's get down to business, shall we?
Tomorrow each team must create a tasting menu
consisting of at least four courses for 50 diners
and the judges who will be seated at a chef's table.
Today you'll have 30 minutes here
to conceptualize your restaurant and start to plan your menus.
Then each team will have £1000 to shop at specialty stores
where your contactless MasterCard will allow you
to simply tap and go for a faster checkout.
Yes.
PADMA: You'll also have £2000
to shop at Whole Foods Market.
As soon as you're done shopping,
you'll come back here and start a five hour cook.
And then tomorrow, my kitchen is all yours.
The team with the first choice knife, Victoire,
will open their restaurant first.
We're looking for you to create a truly priceless experience,
because the team with the winning concept
will take home $40,000.
Courtesy of our friends at MasterCard.
- We gotta do this. - Good luck to all of you.
- Thank you. - Thank you, Chef.
ALI: What our concept would be?
I was thinking we can all take a British classic
and then put your own spin on it.
I don't know that my knowledge of British food
is as extensive as yours, so--
BUDDHA: We can relate it somehow.
I was gonna call it "The UK" for the "United Kitchen"
'cause it's, like, a play on words.
What do you guys feel?
BUDDHA: Restaurant Wars must have a concept.
If it doesn't have a concept, we've already lost.
I have just an idea. We have four continents here.
- Yes. - We need to use that advantage.
So, I had in my mind immediately "Roots" as a name.
We have all different roots.
Which would be interesting to showcase them
in an international way.
I'm feeling a little bit too restricted by that.
Can we use the root more in the root
of our cooking and our experience?
I'm Chinese, but the roots of
what my cooking career have been, have been Italians.
Do you have a suggestion for a name or a theme?
- I love "Roots." - Yeah, let's do it.
Anyone else gotten, like, an idea for a concept?
Now that there's no front of the house, concept is huge,
because that's what they're gonna look at.
AMAR: Buddha, he's not wrong.
This Restaurant Wars is about the food.
Let's just go with it.
I was wanting to do a deconstructed English breakfast.
You wanna do the egg dish?
Yeah. Yeah. The full English as a starter.
Who wants to take on cold fish?
I prefer hot fish.
Cullen skink, which is a smoked fish potato soup.
I can take that. I can work with that.
So, why don't I do, like, a cold Crustacean dish?
I could add some sort of British ingredient
to, like, bring the curry.
I can do vegetarian to start.
Well, I have an amazing tortellini,
which is seafood.
TOM G: Pasta's kinda famous in Top Chef,
you kind of stay away, but if someone
can pull out a pasta, then it's definitely Nicole.
- You feel good about this? - I feel amazing about this.
- It's a main course or... - No, it's a preemie.
- Preemie. Okay. - TOM G: Mine is all about leek.
My roots are in Germany.
And the leek season is very long. [chuckles]
I'm thinking in a huatape,
which is a very traditional fish soup.
VICTOIRE: I could make the dessert,
like, a tiramisu, but the ingredient from Africa.
ALI: I thought of doing lamb.
Maybe on the side we do a little Cornish pasty,
but put spices that you are really good with.
Does anyone wanna do a dessert?
I don't really want to, but...
To be honest, I feel like I can almost take on both.
It's not really gonna be that much of a deal.
We can do strawberries and cream,
that's a classic British dessert.
- Are we all on board? - SARA: I think so.
We also have to decide if we wanna pump
all 50 plates out at once.
BUDDHA: My last restaurant, I did two seatings.
I'm feeling like two seatings might be better.
We have table reservation to figure out.
We have 60 guests, so, if we do staggers of 15,
that would be the most sense.
I would recommend for the first stagger we do less because--
- We have to find our groove. - Exactly.
One table of four and one table of two.
NICOLE: I think we can handle more than six to start.
- I think eight. - TOM G: Okay.
We're gonna start with eight covers
and then progressively add more to our service
so that we can ease into the service.
- VICTOIRE: Amazing. - I'm already feeling this.
I'm more front of house than back of house.
**
BU
Her being here is more pressure than winning the show.
TOM G: Darlings, should we make a list
of all vegetables we need, please?
Cauliflower, I'm gonna need it for my puree
and also for my garnish.
I need the very dark eggs.
Gabri and I decide to go for the meat and fish shop.
GABRI:
And Tom and Victoire
go for a specialty vegetable shop
and Whole Foods Market.
TOM G: Victoire?
NICOLE: I need lobster.
Oh, it's all frozen whole. Oh, man.
This dish is so simple.
All the ingredients have to be of the highest quality.
That's what Italian food is.
I need to find fresh lobster and time is ticking.
Okay. Next market.
You guys need to text us what vegetables you need.
Okay. We kinda divide and conquer.
Buddha and Sara are gonna buy all the produce for everybody.
- BUDDHA: How's it going? - And Ali and I are gonna go buy
all the proteins for the team.
AMAR: Everything looks amazing here.
I'll take them all.
TOM G: Cauliflower.
Can I have five beautiful big ones?
It's a massive challenge to find
all these ingredients for my team,
but I work on to ship with a lot of restaurants.
It is super important that you're being organized.
VICTOIRE: Tom, I have this one, too.
Yeah, give it to her.
Thank you.
- VICTOIRE: We're ready. - [terminal chimes]
- SARA: Is this yours, Buddha? - BUDDHA: No, no.
- It must be the other team. - I hope they don't need it.
We really good because we bought almost every single vegetable.
**
TOM G: How much leek you need?
SARA: I'd like to have all of it.
TOM G: Okay, take it.
NICOLE: We're looking for squid ink and live lobster.
Look at those things. I can't believe it.
GABRI: It's perfect. Yeah, perfect.
I'm going to create a black and white dish
with this colored flour and the black squid ink.
This is going to be very dramatic.
AMAR: You get me any vegetable for pickle?
- BUDDHA: I got you carrot. - Okay.
I found you eggs, babe. I found you eggs.
God, I love you.
VICTOIRE: Be fast. We don't have a lot of time.
NICOLE: Pedal to the medal. Let's go.
AMAR: Restaurant Wars, baby.
Woo-hoo!
SARA: Buddha, are you all the sugar?
Yeah.
I'm making my tomato tea
that's gonna go with my full English.
For the first course, I'm making a full English.
There will be a coddled egg, truffle toast and a tomato tea.
For the second course, Amar is making
scallops with vadouvan.
Sara will be making Cullen skink.
Ali will be making lamb with freekeh
and a Cornish lamb pasty.
And for dessert, strawberries dazzled in cream.
Ali, what are you burning over there bro?
[laughs]
NICOLE: Oh, amazing.
- Look at these. - Wow.
Our restaurant is called Root.
Today our menu is chestnut and leek from Tom.
I'm making a shellfish tortellini.
Gabriel's making sea bream with black huatape.
And Victoire is making a version of tiramisu.
And on top of that we have a sorbet palate cleanser.
- Pimping. - AMAR: You're a gangster.
- Thank you. - You're a gangster.
I would never do tortellini on Top Chef.
NICOLE: Oh, it's ----ing crazy.
I got my leeks blanched. I got the fish portioned.
To elevate this dish,
I'm going to wrap these leeks around the fish loins
and sous vide them.
I have to get the fish cook done on the first day,
because I need to chill them,
so that I can slice them into perfect portions.
AMAR: London is all about curries.
...which is a French curry, curry oil,
and a beautiful scallop tartar.
Sounds like we're gonna win, or what?
-Yeah. -[Amar laughs]
What do you think? It's tiramisu.
Tiramisu was the first dessert I learned in Italy.
It's nice, it got lemongrass and ginger, right?
I just want to make this tiramisu in my way
with the ingredient from Africa,
but the technique from Italy.
If you add a little bit of salt,
all the flavor is gonna pop up.
Did you buy some cauliflower, buddy, for us?
TOM G: Yes, I bought five beautiful boxes.
- GABRI: Well, I cannot find it. - TOM G: I definitely bought it.
One million percent.
Right now I need to make the cauliflower purée
and I cannot find the cauliflower.
- We bought it, right? - Yes.
- TOM G: You find it? - No.
VICTOIRE: We buy the cauliflower.
You don't-- you don't see it?
- It's nowhere. - No, we buy it.
GABRI: I mean, you can buy it, but there's not.
When you guys left the grocery store,
there was a crate that didn't--
it had, like, cauliflower and--
- And thyme. - And thyme.
Oh, [bleep].
TOM G: This breaks my heart a little bit.
Sorry, Gabri, if you hear that.
Isn't going to be the same. I'm really upset.
One of the most important ingredients
of my dish is missing.
- TOM G: Gabri, what's plan B? - GABRI: I don't know.
TOM G: If I can help you in any way let me know, yeah?
What I'm going to do now?
Should just got one poaching. See how you like it.
You know what I mean? I'm definitely stressed out.
I feel like I am the team leader for this one.
- Good? More? - I would spice it up more.
But there's so many strong personalities.
A little bit of cream into it.
You have to find a balance between speaking up,
but not speaking up too loud.
I'm starting to work desserts now.
- I'll do the jell, okay? - Yep.
ALI: Buddha has so many things to do.
He's doing the first course
and the last course, which is a dessert.
So I decided to help him with the dessert.
TOM G: Just packing everything I can.
ALI: Your fish needed seasoning. Okay?
SARA: Yeah, I agree.
How'd it go, you guys?
NICOLE: That was a push.
**
NICOLE: I heard a little bit about
what the other team are cooking.
Their concept is based on UK cuisine,
but their own choice on it.
- All right. - Which I think is risky.
You're serving it to a UK chef, right?
GABRI: Yeah.
Oh, wow.
Look how beautiful.
VICTOIRE: Beautiful kitchen. My God.
GABRI: Today is a big day.
We're cooking in Core by Clare Smyth,
which is huge.
She's one of the greatest chef in the world,
so everything needs to be on point.
And the communication is key to create a great restaurant.
Behind you, girl.
Hi there. How's it going?
- Hey, how are you? - I'm Rob.
TOM G: Are you leading our service tonight?
I am, yes. Yeah.
TOM G: When you open a restaurant,
there's a lot of things coming together.
You need to train the staff front of house, back of house.
Fantastic. I haven't seen your menu yet, I'm sorry.
We do appetizer, pasta, main course, sorbet, dessert.
Do you want the sorbet and the dessert
on a separate tray for the pastry or...
- Yeah, why not? Yeah. - ROB: Thank you.
...so that's pretty cool.
So where are we at? Tom, how's your menu going?
Everything is good so far. I didn't do sh-- yet.
- I'm actually start cooking. - NICOLE: Amazing.
I'm preparing my roasted onion purée right now.
They forgot my cauliflower,
so, I'm going to make a roasted onion purée
with tonka beans instead.
This onion purée is going to change
texture and flavor of my dish.
Hopefully, everything's going to be all right.
This dish definitely represent me as a modern Mexican cook.
My tortellini had quite a travel.
I might have to roll an extra 40.
Looking at them, they're like, "This is not good."
The moisture of the filling seeped through
and I'm thinking to myself,
"Why did I not sheet out all the pasta the night before
and just fill 60 single fat ravioli,
with tons of lobster filling?"
Like, are you new here? But I have no choice.
I'm gonna remake as many tortellinis
as I can right now.
Not the best situation to have
when you're fussing.
Victoire, how much more prep do you have to do?
- 'Cause I have ravioli. - I'll just dry my sponge cake.
I have a lot of to do.
I have to drop a sponge cake in the coffee.
Just beautiful.
Now I'm making my praline.
This is a lot of job to make a tiramisu,
but I want to show to them I know I can bake.
TOM G: I'm taking my pickled leek.
I clean them up
and then I gonna try one to taste.
GABRI: One hour until the restaurant is open.
NICOLE: Yes, Chef.
- GABRI: Can I use this for-- - Nope.
I'm in it for the next 30 minutes, man.
- Sorry. - GABRI: For the 30 minutes.
I need to make this sorbet.
Hey, are you yelling at me?
[Gabri mumbles]
Gabri, maybe you can do nitrogen ice cream,
while I'm doing my thing.
You wanna do it here?
Please. All right, cool.
**
ROB: Hey, Tom.
How do you want these written on the checks?
- Appetizer, pasta, main? - TOM G: Yeah.
- That's okay? - Okay. Cool. Yeah, definitely.
- Oh, my God, Gabri. - I'm sorry. Sorry.
No, no, it's awesome. It's like a ----ing show now.
What are you talking about here? I can't even see my ravioli.
Good afternoon, so we start with the leek and chestnut
and I want you to pour the sauce just next to it.
Any questions to that? Good.
My expeditor? Great.
The first tables needs to go as fast as we can.
The beginning is the worst. Good?
NICOLE: Have fun.
VICTOIRE: Forty minutes, Chefs.
Nicole, are you okay?
I'm a little bit kafuffled right now.
I'm able to remake half my raviolis.
Five minutes.
One minute till we open, guys.
GABRI: We are open now.
Let's kick some ass.
SERVER: Hi, how are you today? Welcome. Come on through.
ROB: All right. First check.
LYNN: All right. Check on two covers.
TOM G: Okay, guys. We have our first check, okay?
- First order, two, please. - CHEFS: Two.
GABRI: Yes, Chef.
Are these balls?
Just one and two.
Thank you.
LYNN: Ready to take food?
[indistinct]
I just sent a table of four and a table of two.
So, you need all in all, eight.
- Hi, there. - Hello.
- How are you today? - Good, thank you.
I believe you're just here.
Judges are here.
TOM G: All right. Soufflé in the oven.
TOM C: How does it feel seeing a different staff in your kitchen?
CLARE: Yeah, it is nerve-wracking.
It's kinda cool as well.
LYNN: New order. This added judges.
Chef, four covers, please.
Where's the oil?
I'm going on four next.
It's pretty hectic and we have to work clean.
- The judges are watching. - I think it's the first time
that we've had all four chef in the kitchen the whole time.
Yeah. Someone's usually out here.
While they will be judged on the service and how it's going,
most of the focus will be on the food.
Yeah.
It's also exciting for us,
because what the chefs don't know
is that we have a secret critic in the dining room.
It looks cool. Exciting.
Dastardly.
I'm excited to speak to him
and see if his experiences were the same as ours,
because so often they cannot be,
especially 'cause they're trying to cook to us.
Thank you.
TOM G: Guys, I'm going on the chef's table now, okay?
Of what? What are you doing?
- Of what? - My dish to the judges.
NICOLE: I'm going out with app.
TOM G: My God.
GAIL: Thank you.
PADMA: Thank you.
TOM G: Okay. Welcome to The Root.
We decided to showcase
the roots of our culinary backgrounds.
Leek and chestnut is basically the one
which grows the most around my area.
What you have as a confit leek, pastry purée,
you have a leek veloute with leek oil,
some nut rolled, which is the dust
and a chestnut black garlic purée.
Tom, what was the strategy for service today?
Did you pick an executive chef of your team?
Well, it's a team spirit.
We kinda do everything together, of course.
- Enjoy. - PADMA: Thank you.
Did he answer your question?
- Not really. - Yeah. [chuckles]
Mm. Okay.
Whoa. Wow.
The chestnut is really delicious
and I think that the black garlic
brings more of that sort of dark charred flavors.
And it's a very tasty plate.
TOM C: I think it's a really good start.
The leeks are beautifully cooked.
It's a vegetable dish that makes you very happy.
Yeah.
The veloute, beautifully intense.
Really, really nice.
LYNN: You have two more pasta wait, please.
NICOLE: Oui.
We have four more pasta, please.
You also have three [indistinct].
NICOLE: Things are coming in fast and furious.
LYNN: In total, we have 18 pasta going out,
including the chef's table.
Like, what the [bleep]?
LYNN: In total we have 18 pasta going out,
including the chef's table.
NICOLE: The service order that Tom wrote,
we started off too slow.
It should have been a rush at the beginning
to clear out some of the guests.
We're just kind of waiting for the tortellini?
Yeah, I'm sorry. I'll find out where it is,
but it is on the way to you. Thank you. Sorry.
- You ready? - NICOLE: No.
- Put it back in. - The last two going out-- nope.
NICOLE: I need someone to clean the plates properly, but yeah.
They're taking a little long for our next course.
I feel like they just forgot about us.
Yeah, yeah. I know. Yeah.
We're gonna plate four right after the judge's right here.
- Okay? Yeah. - Four tortellinis.
TOM G: It's very tricky to have a pasta dish
in such a fast challenge.
But Nicole didn't want to make more than six pasta at the time.
It is what it is, we just try to recover as fast as we can.
Taste that.
And then when I put this out,
you put four plates and plate it like this.
You can go on these two.
- PADMA: Hi, Nicole. - Hi. How are you?
Can you tell us about this course?
You have a shellfish tortellini
with fresh Scottish lobster,
fresh king prawns and a scallop mousse to bind.
The butter is a little bit of preserved lemon in vermouth.
My dish represents my French training,
but majority of my career has been Italian cooking,
so I kinda melded the two.
- Thank you. - PADMA: Thank you, Nicole.
- LYNN: Oh there, tortellini. - Oh, nice.
CLARE: Not the most properly refined tortellinis
I've ever seen.
But look, the flavor was really good.
The pasta dough, I think,
was definitely a little bit thick,
a little bit uneven.
Pretty good. Worth the wat, we thinking?
I would say so.
No.
You don't like it? I really like it.
TOM G: Nicole, make, like, 15 or so.
You put it on the pass, I have you plating.
Can you help me with this sauce please, Chef?
TOM G: 100%.
TOM C: There's a lot of time
between the first and second course.
I think now they've started
to pick up the pace a little bit.
- GABRI: They're ready. - TOM G: Go.
PADMA: And here's our third course.
Hello. Hello, Chefs.
PADMA: Hi, Gabri.
I made a poached sea bream
with a black hautape,
which is an original salsa from Mexico.
I put on top, trout caviar.
The puree that you got in the plate
is a caramelized onion with tonka bean.
- PADMA: Thank you, Gabri. - Thank you.
WOMAN: So good. So, so good.
The sea bream is cooked perfectly, too.
Oh, wow. It's really good, isn't it?
It's kind of like psychedelic.
GAIL: I think there's a lot of
really beautiful notes in Gabri's dish.
The fish was delicate, seasoned well.
I just think there was a lot of sauces
that sort of got blanketed.
It needed another element.
Was, like, not a lot of texture on the dish.
Going from a pasta dish to this course,
it's too similar, it doesn't work.
- VICTOIRE: Service. - TOM G: Service, please.
- TOM C: This is not tiramisu. - PADMA: Tom, what is this?
It's a little gift from the kitchen.
We decided to make a sorbet course.
We have trisect dehydrated grapefruits,
white and red, and then blowtorched...
How's everything so far? You enjoy?
- GAIL: Good. - Well, we enjoyed,
- that's for sure. - PADMA: That's great.
I really like this palate cleanser.
It's done its job as a pallet's cleanser.
- Ready for the dessert. - I love it.
Nice little bitter edge to it as well.
- It's not, like, fully sweet. - MAN: Yeah.
Can we go on the dessert for the judges?
- MAN: Yeah, yeah. - Okay.
NICOLE: How are you doing, Victoire?
I'm okay, okay. Sorry, my love.
Let's go. Let's go.
We have dessert, which seems right on time.
Ooh, pretty.
- Hi, Victoire. - VICTOIRE: Hi.
This is tiramisu in my way.
I take just the inspiration from the classic tiramisu
with different kind of products from Africa
or from Italy.
- Thank you. - Thank you, Victoire.
Flavor-wise, I thought using banana in the tiramisu
is actually interesting.
It left a beautiful taste in my mouth.
CLARE: I love the spice in there.
I love the plantain.
I thought that was really nicely integrated into the dish.
It lacked a punch. I'm missing a hit.
- MAN: This is really good. - For something that looks
a little bit casual,
it's like, amazingly well-constructed, isn't it?
- MAN: Yeah. - It's just beautiful.
TOM G: Come on, come on, come on, let's go.
You're only as strong as your last plate, people.
LYNN: I need one more right now, yeah?
Well, I'm loving this version of Restaurant Wars.
I can't wait to see what the next group does.
- Then just two more, Chef? - Yeah.
Pleasure dining with you. Let's do it again.
- Soon. [laughs] - CLARE: Yeah.
LYNN: Four more. Your last check, 103.
NICOLE: Oh, my God. You guys, we're done.
Cheers. Uh-huh.
Beautiful dessert.
I think they were really watching us.
Yes, totally. All the time.
Yeah, I wiped the table every 30 seconds.
NICOLE: Let's get out of here.
[tense instrumental playing]
Here we go.
You guys look good back there.
- Shut up. [laughs] - BUDDHA: Yeah.
BUDDHA: The key to today is this just being ----ing ready.
- SARA: There it is. - ALI: Let's do it.
- How's everyone going? - Hey, guys? How are you?
Thanks for coming in today.
- Oh, wow. - SARA: This is amazing.
ALI: I'm proud to be cooking here today.
AMAR: Let's bring it in.
One, two, three.
ALL: We like it!
AMAR: Let's go, go, go.
Look at you with this beautiful station
- back here, bro. - Oh, my God,
I'm living in a dream right now.
The kitchen's stunning. We divide up the space.
I'm gonna be working at the pastry section,
baking and steaming.
Ali and Sara take over the cooking station
and Amar will be at the front.
That way, he can help run the pass.
Ali, what are you working on, Papi?
My inspired Cornish pasty.
It's even better today, because the flavor developed.
Presenting a British-inspired food to Chef Clare Smyth.
That's the biggest risk. You guys like it?
- Buddha, that's good? - BUDDHA: It’s great, man.
ALI: But I have decided to push even more,
and make a Middle Eastern style Cornish pasty
- using za'atar ras el hanout. - Got 20 minutes down.
- Twenty minutes down? - AMAR: Already?
SARA: Yeah. Guys, I'm feeling good about this north sea cod.
I slice into the first one.
It's perfect.
Gonna serve it with a smoked chowder.
AMAR: Look at this [indistinct].
- SARA: Beautiful. - AMAR: I'm hot, baby.
This is my vadouvan butter sauce for the sweet scallop.
I'm working with two temperatures.
Cold scallop tartar with a warm buttery sauce.
- Bangin', man. - AMAR: That's a technique
that make you a winner or it's gonna be a total fail.
BUDDHA: The butter sauce, you probably have to keep
a little bit more hotter, it's already solidified.
- You know what I mean? - AMAR: Yeah.
You wanna try that?
The tomato tea.
Delicious.
How you doing, Ali?
I can't work my filo properly.
The dough is becoming like, dry
just because it's so hot inside.
Buddha, I just need a cold place for my dough.
Just one minute.
Don't know why I decided to do this.
I'm in the sh--.
AMAR: English Breakfast for dinner, baby, I love it.
BUDDHA: You know, they say English breakfast is so good
that you can have it three times a day.
I love a full English breakfast,
but I've got a lot of touches on this dish.
I've gotta bake off my bread.
I've gotta cook the coddled eggs,
finish the hollandaise.
And then, for dessert, churned ice cream.
- It's a lot to chew. - ALI: Buddha,
- how are you doing? - Not even there yet.
**
- getting ready for service. - Hi, guys. How are you?
Sara, you need to meet with the front of house.
SARA: I've got notes right here.
This is just a little bit
about what kind of our concept is.
This is a breakdown of each course.
- ROB: Okay, cool. - The tomato tea
is poured table side into a glass.
BUDDHA: Ideally, one jug should do two.
- LYNN: That's perfect. - Even if you wanna give this
to the service, so they know.
- Wanna show it, yeah? - BUDDHA: Yeah.
ROB: Because we've been given this great information
about the dishes, we all learn it,
and we all explain it when we're dropping the dishes.
- Ali, you gonna be all right? - How much time left?
About ten minutes until the first guest.
ALI: I'm in the sh--, by the way.
BUDDHA: Amar, Ali's a little bit behind.
- Probably gonna need a hand. - AMAR: Got it.
I'm in the sh--, there's nothing
I can do to help him, so me and Ali
are going down like, "Help us."
Guys, two minutes! [bleep], it's gonna go down.
SARA: Buddha, I'm coming to you. What can I help you with?
You can start putting these mushrooms in.
I'll follow right behind you.
Time is ticking, so, now, I have to roll
my pasties one by one
and then remove to do it in service.
[tense instrumental playing]
United Kitchen is open for business.
- Oy! - Restaurant Wars. Whoo!
WOMAN: Okay. Okay.
We get slightly different table.
WOMAN: Yes, definitely.
LYNN: And we got the first check for tonight.
- Here we have four covers. - Oui,four coming in.
- Oui. - Oui!
- We have four more covers. - Eight all day.
ALI: Back to back, four up to the pass.
LYNN: Great. Service, please.
[intense instrumental playing]
That's our first 20. Let's push these out.
Make sure you let me know about VIPs, please.
- AMAR: Got it. - PADMA: Hello.
LYNN: Hi, welcome to the United Kitchen.
Thank you. We have a table for four.
ROB: Good evening. How are you?
- Hi, again. - Welcome, please.
Thank you very much.
Thank you.
AMAR: Guys, judges are seated.
- BUDDHA: Judges are seated. - Well, it looks
like they're working hard in there.
Coming through, coming through back to back to back.
- Judges ready to walk out. - LYNN: Oui.
This one here, this is chef's table.
WOMAN: This smells good.
PADMA: Lemongrass and tomato. Mm.
Welcome to the UK, United Kitchen.
We have your first course this evening.
We have a full English breakfast.
A coddled egg, black pudding,
and truffle toast
with cured ham and tomato tea.
We're all from different parts of the world,
so we're gonna try and put our own spin on the food.
- Thank you. - Thank you.
This egg was really beautifully done.
And the black pudding here, I mean, to me,
that was just a little bit too crispy,
'cause I like it a little bit softer.
TOM C: The tomato tea is very good.
- Powerful. - I like that.
That punch is something that's-- it's interesting
that we were looking for in the last meal.
It's like, here, I'm here, and it works really well
with the fat and the egg.
LYNN: We have four more covers on please.
Four more, oui!
WOMAN: These are actually very difficult to do.
That is utterly delicious, I must say.
Whoa.
-WOMAN: That is really amazing. -[whoops]
Like a wine, isn't it? Incredible.
We won.
- LYNN: We have four scallops. - Four scallop, oui.
So I can see Amar there, he's good in the kitchen.
You can see that he's really confident putting food out.
- Four scallops are up. - LYNN: Oui.
Hey, guys. This is chef's table, yeah?
Yeah?
Thank you.
PADMA: Thank you.
What have you made for us?
We have a scallop tartar with a vadouvan beurre blanc,
crispy potato and pickled vegetables.
- You're having a good time? - Oh, yeah.
I have a chef counter in my restaurant too,
- so, it's always fun. - Thank you, Amar.
[Clare moans] Delicious. Delicious.
It is odd to put a warm sauce...
- Very. - ...on a cold scallop.
But we all enjoyed it.
JIMI: Looks really beautiful.
The vadouvan butter is very delicious.
WOMAN: That's 4.5 out of five.
Feels very British Isle.
Why is it called Core?
Core translates into heart in lots of languages.
This fine dining, people find it pretentious,
or they feel like they can't identify with it.
I wanted to get rid of all that nonsense.
I wanted it to feel like home.
- Lynn, judges. - LYNN: Woo-hoo. Yes.
BUDDHA: I have Clare in front of me,
so it's a lot more pressure than usual.
I'm sweating, I know that I've 20 orders
still back in the kitchen, because the second wave
has sat down.
I'm starting to panic a little bit.
I've just gotta keep my composure.
[tense instrumental swells]
Pretty.
TOM C: Here is the sauce.
Hello, you guys.
This is my interpretation of Cullen skink.
I've done North sea cod that's been wrapped
in a little bit of mousse and British leeks
and I have a slow cooked potato.
How has it been working in there?
It is so nice in there. [laughs]
Thank you.
Thanks, you guys.
I love the dish. It's a beautifully cooked fish.
Really fresh.
I like how delicate the smoke is on Sara's dish.
The only way to improve this dish is
shaving a lot of truffle
- over the top of it. - Yes.
WOMAN: That fish is buttery.
I really like that they've put
the crispy bacon in theirs.
There's a lot of seafood flavor to it.
It's absolutely beautiful.
SARA: What do their faces look like?
AMAR: Oh, beautiful.
They're loving it. Look at Tom.
Ali, get ready. You're coming next.
ALI: Okay, papi.
I'm rolling my pasties à la minute.
Surprisingly, everything is going fine.
Sara, can you taste the jus, please?
My biggest concern is, I don't have time
to focus on the rest of the dish.
SARA: It could use a touch of acid.
ALI: Okay. It is what it is.
But I do believe that my dish tastes amazing.
Lamb for the judges.
Sauce a little on the meat.
Take two. You take two. That's for the judges.
PADMA: Oh. There's two.
- Hi, Ali. - Hi.
I have prepared for today a lamb loin,
smoked freekeh, green wheat, gel of apricots.
And on the side, I have something inspired
from the Cornish pasty.
It's braised lamb
rolled with filo dough.
- PADMA: Thank you, Ali. - Thank you.
It's quite far away from a Cornish pasty.
This is much more meat.
Oh, wow. I love the spice.
- Is it a little bit dry? - WOMAN: Little bit dry.
TOM C: Lamb was nicely cooked. It's nicely seasoned.
It still needs a sauce. It needs a jus.
- I want some sauce. - TOM C: See? Wait.
He's putting au jus on the plate right now.
Am I crazy? Excuse me one second.
- I just wanna-- - Where are you going?
I just want to see something.
Uh-oh.
See? No, now wait now. He's using a jus.
I want some sauce.
Excuse me one second. I just wanna--
- PADMA: Where are you going? - I just wanna see something.
Uh-oh.
No.
That was weird.
False alarm.
The dish felt glaringly naked.
Yeah, it would've brought it together.
Even if it doesn't have it, he should've had it.
- It doesn't feel complete. - Tom came in,
and checked my station, I don't know why.
- Did he? - Yeah.
When he comes over to see the kitchen,
that means something is wrong.
Why are they making me nervous?
Mine, I got slightly over.
MAN: The sauce on top.
The lamb, it needs a little bit more.
AMAR: Come on, Buddha, let's bring the happy ending
to the meal, baby.
BUDDHA: That's a Clare Smyth quenelle.
Four desserts up.
LYNN: Service, please.
PADMA: Thank you.
- Wow. - BUDDHA: A British classic
strawberries and cream.
A little spin on it.
We made a basil ice cream,
strawberry jam, milk gel,
and on top, I have an inverted meringue.
Thank you.
I mean, play on strawberries and cream?
Try to add some drama.
There was some fun to it, you know.
The strawberries were so intoxicating.
Marinated ever so slightly.
He gave us another texture, which is that beautiful,
- inverted meringue. - Yes.
It's a strong dish.
BUDDHA: We can start going out to the tables.
SARA: I got enough meringue. I'll follow you and I'll spoon.
It's a little frozen meringue.
This is strawberries and cream.
Really good theater.
Really, really clever. I'm still scraping.
There's nothing left. What a way to finish.
- BUDDHA: How's it going? - WOMAN: Couldn't be happier.
Couldn't be more excited.
- What are your thoughts? - Really good. Solid menu.
They executed what they set out to do with a bit of fun.
Their concept delivered.
I'm excited to speak to the food critic
and see if he had the same experience as us.
Let's get back to judge's table and talk to him.
Bada-bing, bada-boom, bada-bing. Look, I think we did good.
I think we can walk out proud of ourselves, right?
Yeah, people seem really happy out there.
I have no idea how I made ----ing 60 pasties.
- I have no idea. - BUDDHA: Yeah. [laughs]
NICOLE: It was a big push at the end.
It was very tough. But I would do it anytime again.
- NICOLE: Oh. Hey, guys. - TOM G: Hey.
ALI: You look so relaxed.
Well, I gotta say, I'm tired, though.
- Like, I am sore. - I'm too old for this.
- [Amar laughs] - I know.
Before we get the chefs out here today,
I think it's important that we hear from our fifth judge,
the secret critic.
- Hi, Jimi. - Hello.
We can't wait to hear what you think.
- I can't wait to tell you. - [laughs] Oh, great.
Let's start with Root.
Root was a little bit mixed, I would say.
There was some really exciting things that they were doing,
but there were some issues with the service, with pacing.
They had an overarching concept.
Were you able to follow a trend without knowing that?
No, I did not get that at all.
In this challenge, the food have the first place.
When the people say... [Victoire moaning]
That's a different show, girl.
[laughter]
United Kitchen, in the opposite way to Root,
was quite clearly defined.
Well, between the two hours,
we did 300 dishes with four people.
- That's a lot to ask for. - It was quite wild.
All right, let's get them out here.
[tense music plays]
Chefs, before we get into feedback,
I'd like you to meet your fifth judge.
He was in the main dining room with the rest of the diners.
Jimi Famurewa, the chief restaurant critic
at the Evening Standard.
- Welcome, Jimi. - Hello.
[applause]
Top Chef,sneak attack.
Score one.
[laughs]
United Kitchen, please stay here.
Root, please step to the side. Thank you.
United Kitchen...
your team is the winner of Restaurant Wars.
- [laughter] - SARA: Good job, you guys.
AMAR: We did it, guys.
As the winner, you'll be receiving
$40,000 from MasterCard
to follow your passion and start something priceless.
I thought you looked great in my kitchen.
Thank you.
And I loved how you really thought
about the restaurant top to bottom.
- Thank you. - Was there a leader
on this team, would you guys say?
Buddha definitely led with the idea.
I think Amar was at the pass leading.
I think Ali was helping everyone.
I think I took the front of the house stuff.
So, I think that it really all came together.
And we wrote up, like, a service manual.
So, we had a page listed, like, our ethos,
our inspiration, like, why we chose this concept.
I have to say, that shone through,
which is really important.
I just loved seeing you all work in the kitchen in this way.
TOM C: Buddha, the English breakfast I thought was playful.
The tea was just amazing.
Even before I had a sip just, like,
the scent of it was incredible.
It was fantastic.
- I love an English breakfast. - Me too.
Amar, you took a very cold,
very fresh Scottish scallop
and you poured a hot butter sauce on it.
- I have to say, it worked. - You pulled it off.
And the scallops were absolutely pristine and beautiful.
Awesome. Thank you.
I think the cod was a real standout for me.
I thought it was a really elegant dish.
Thank you.
You had those nooks and crannies
of British food culture
that were kind of represented across what you did.
Cullen skink, using that as the basis
for something that was leaning towards a chowder.
It was a beautiful dish. It was fantastic.
Your team did a great job for the most part
of executing those dishes, you know, Ali, remember
- when I walked to the kitchen? - Yeah, I was nervous.
- You freaked him out. - Sorry I freaked you out.
The reason being is that we didn't get jus on our plate.
I had jus on your plate, it was in the middle
between the lamb and the freekeh.
- GAIL: It was so little. - ALI: Yeah.
The flavors of your lamb really shone through.
- Thank you. - Just wanted more of that jus.
And, of course, the strawberries and cream at the end,
it's just such a winner.
The basil ice cream was really, really delicious.
- Really punchy. - Thank you.
PADMA: Clare and Jimi, do you have the honor
of announcing the winner of Restaurant Wars?
I'd just like to say thank you for an amazing meal today.
It was an amazing team effort,
but we obviously have an individual winner,
who really sort of tipped everything
in the team's favor.
And that winner is...
- Buddha. - [applause]
AMAR: Buddha for president.
[laughs]
I am screaming in the inside.
I just won Restaurant Wars
with my mentor right in front of me,
and after cooking at her three Michelin star restaurant,
I couldn't even come up with this sh--
in my wildest dreams.
Ever since I left the Restaurant Gordon Ramsey
with Clare,
I have her in the background
to make me a better chef every day.
There's not a lot of things that I can do in my life
that could show my appreciation
for the training that I got with Clare.
This was, like, one of the most
meaningful challenges that I've done.
Obviously, I'm incredibly proud of you
and it was a privilege, having you in my kitchen.
Thank you.
United Kitchen, you can step to the side.
AMAR: We won together, Ali.
Root, you can step forward, please.
[tense music plays]
Your team had our least favorite restaurant today
and one of you will be going home.
Root, your team had our least favorite restaurant today.
How did you come together with the concept?
Tom had the first idea.
Our concept was roots,
- to represent our background. - TOM G: Yeah.
Culinary roots influence a concept,
where you sit on a table
and you feel there's a connection.
So many different continents and culinary influences,
but it's very playful.
You are describing all this, and it sounds great,
but I didn't really get that.
I felt a little bit adrift.
It didn't feel like it was a restaurant.
It felt like it was a collection of dishes.
So, that's why you were least successful at Restaurant Wars.
And also, there were some issues with pacing.
There was a huge gap. What happened there?
At one point, it was like, "Pick up 18 pastas."
Well, who set up your reservation book?
Tom.
I think the problem was that we had
a little waiting time with the first pastas.
You know, some of the dishes I thought were very good.
Tom, I thought your dish was fantastic.
The leeks were nicely cooked.
Chestnut was beautifully done,
and there was a certain earthiness to it.
It was delicious, I love vegetable cookery as well.
Nicole, I thought the tortellini
felt a little bit tough in places.
It didn't seem to be perfectly rolled,
but I thought it was very tasty.
It was a dish that felt,
of all the dishes, not in place.
Rest of the menu seemed a bit more modern.
Gabri, I thought your fish was cooked really nicely.
For me, there was too much of each sauce,
so that it all ran together.
It did feel like it was missing some texture.
Now the vegetable on there definitely would've improved it.
I agree. I agree with that.
Victoire, you know, you talked about doing tiramisu your way
and I don't think it went far enough.
I think if the dining room had known
that there was cassava and plantain,
they would've appreciated it even more.
Those are the ingredients
that speak to my own African heritage
and I'd have loved more of those, I think.
I'm sorry. I apologize for that.
I tried to give my best in the kitchen.
PADMA: Okay, chefs. We have a lot to discuss.
We'll call you back in a bit. Thank you. That'll be all.
Thank you.
**
NICOLE: Don't sit next to me. You're gonna make me cry.
TOM G: Team challenges always sucks.
It doesn't matter who goes home.
You still lose a little bit of yourself,
because it's a team responsibility.
The lack of concept, the lack of communication,
all of the service, all played into the success
or failure of the food we ate.
But I think that's where we have to go.
I mean, for me, Tom's dish, the leek dish, was my favorite.
It felt like a complete dish. It felt modern.
CLARE: Most forward thinking.
I think it was a most successful dish.
I don't have a regret, if I have to make it
I'd make it again, in the same way.
The one that I loved the most, the tiramisu,
I thought was just the most fun I had at that table.
- It was really delicious. - But it had no delivery.
And that, to me, was a flaw.
I thought if it's pasta, just keep it simple.
But then I can see where they're saying,
like, it wasn't playful enough with the rest of the dishes.
Least favorite would have to be
- the cod tortellini. - There was flaws in it.
I didn't get the same creative spark that I got
- with the other dishes. - Yeah. Yeah.
Yes, there were technical problems with Nicole's pasta,
but I think we are letting Gabri off the hook
a little bit here.
Honestly, I could not differentiate
the squid ink from the seafood.
I agree, there was too much sauce on the dish.
There's a bunch of flavors that he wants to work with.
They want them all to be the same sauce and the same texture?
Probably not.
[sighs]
Okay, I think we have our answer.
- Yeah. - Let's get them out here.
[tense music plays]
Chefs, it's always really exciting when you finally
get a chance to open your restaurant.
It's really magical when it all comes together.
And I think that's where you fell short.
Your concept was never really realized,
but ultimately the chef who made the worst dish
will be going home tonight.
Nicole...
please pack your knives and go.
- I'm so sorry, Nicole. - That's okay.
TOM C: Nicole, we'll see you in Last Chance Kitchen.
You got a shot.
PADMA: Thank you. That'll be all.
TOM C: Thank you.
- TOM: I'm sorry. - NICOLE: It's okay. It's okay.
This competition has taught me so much.
Yeah.
Okay, don't hug me too hard.
AMAR: Okay. I love you, girl.
That I am still a good cook.
Thank you. That I still wanna cook.
Oh, come on now.
Don't do that.
I'm very proud of what I've done so far
and I've met some amazing people.
[chefs applauding]
I'm sad to say goodbye to everybody,
but to be on World All-Stars,
that's, like, pretty incredible in itself.
PADMA: Tonight.
MAN: Nicole's tough tortellini sends her
toLast Chance Kitchen.
Can she put this in the past?
- TOM C: What are you making? - I'm making not tortellini.
PADMA: Find out now on demand,
or wherever you streamTop Chef.
Next time, onTop Chef World All-Stars.
I hope you brought your appetite.
- Hello. - Oh, my God.
Welcome to London.
PADMA: [indistinct] prepared this beautiful thali.
For your elimination challenge, you'll have to create
your own thali.
GABRI: Oh, please help us.
Forty-two dishes in three hours. I mean, this is crazy.
It's been a while since I cooked Indian food.
I can't remember any single ingredient.
AMAR: Pressure cooker burning something.
Every bite changes, and I think that's what
- successful thali does, right? - Victory.
It's the most Indian chutney I've had.
You were waiting for this challenge
- all season. - BUDDHA: By no means.
Last time I cooked Indian food for Padma,
I was on the bottom.
WOMAN: Here you have chefs at the very top of their game,
not being able to deliver rice and chutney.
It's been a pleasure, guys.