Tonight, the finals begin.
Only four chefs remain to fight it out for a spot in the finale.
This definitely isn't Milwaukee anymore.
This is it. The finals of Top Chef.
Winning Top Chef changes everybody's life.
Beyond what it's gonna do for my business,
I think about what it could do for the state of Wisconsin
or the city of Milwaukee.
My food's got to be really good,
and I know that, and I just have to be me, do me,
and the rest will take care of itself.
I came with a mindset of winning.
Coming from Mexico, going to school, working at the best
restaurants in the world, that's what keeps me going.
So do I have what it takes to be a Top Chef?
Absolutely. Good morning.
I basically ran to Curaçao,
'‘cause I ran the New York City Marathon and came directly here.
26 miles of challenges and Quick fires.
The finish line is right there.
You work and you practice and you train for this moment.
Everything counts at this point.
Walking in on day one,
I felt like the underdog in the room.
But when I had a mind shift was the Indigenous challenge.
I made for you a squash and maple jelly cake.
- It's amazing. - I love it.
- That's it. - Nailed the brief.
Winning it gave me this feeling that
I could accomplish anything.
I did come out of Wisconsin with the most challenges won.
I wanna seal the deal. I wanna take this home.
- Not in Milwaukee anymore. - We are not.
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.
That'’s them right there.
Oh, right there.
Oh, I see them.
Here we go.
Bon bini, Chefs. Welcome to Curaçao.
- Hi. Good to see you. - Hello!
- Chefs.
We couldn't bring you all the way to Curaçao
without giving you a blue curaçao beverage,
so come on up and grab one.
Danny, you wanna take this one?
- There's no alcohol in it. - Thank you.
Oh, my gosh. Thank you.
Cheers to each and every one of you
for making it to the final four.
- Cheers. - Very proud of you.
- Cheers. - How's everyone been?
Anything new happening, exciting happening?
- I got engaged. Yeah. - You got engaged?
Congratulations! Thank you.
Did that happen right after you got home?
I got off the plane and it happened.
Yeah, it was very quick, yeah.
It was cute.
That's fantastic.
Okay, Chefs, are you ready to take
a stab at your final Quickfire Challenge?
Yes.
So you may have already noticed this
very interesting-looking fish.
Does anyone know what it is?
- Is it lionfish? - Lionfish?
- Have you cooked with it? - Never cooked with it.
I haven't cooked with it.
To tell us a little bit more about it
is a local chef and a lionfish hunter,
Helmi Smeulders.
- Hello. - Hello! Good morning.
- Hello, Chefs. - Hi.
Welcome on the beautiful island I call home.
Thank you.
Helmi, can you tell us
a little bit more about the lionfish?
It's a beautiful fish, but it's an invasive fish.
It doesn't belong here in the Caribbean.
They eat the baby fish off the reef,
and they reproduce very fast.
- Interesting. - Wow.
It's originally from the Pacific,
so local chefs are encouraged to hunt the fish
and use them in their restaurants.
Lionfish, they have 18 venomous spines.
If you get stung, it's extremely painful.
- Get the [bleep] out of here. - No.
Those spikes, there's, A, a lot of '‘em.
B, they're poisonous.
C, they hurt. I'm good.
Chefs, you may have already guessed it, but lionfish is what
you'll be working with today for your Quickfire.
But we are not gonna make you break them down.
Yes. Thank you for that.
We're not gonna take any chances with the spines and venom.
Well, I mean, that'd be a great way to eliminate one of us too.
Before we get started, though, we have one more
ingredient that we want you to work with.
Okay.
Cheese.
Oh!
Yeah, that's invasive to a fish dish.
Just '‘cause we left Wisconsin didn't mean
we're gonna leave all the cheese behind.
The Dutch brought Gouda to the island
in the 17th century, and the locals took the leftover rinds
and turned them into Curaçao's national dish.
- Keshi yena. - Keshi yena.
Savannah, you've done your research.
As you may have guessed, we want to see
what you can do with lionfish and Gouda.
You know, mixing cheese and fish has often been
frowned upon in the kitchen. We wanna see how you bring
these two ingredients together.
Now that you're in the finals,
the Quickfire will not come into play
if you are on the bottom of the Elimination Challenge.
You have only 30 minutes, and whoever makes our favorite dish
will take home the final $10,000 in Quickfire Quick Cash.
- Not bad. - Good luck, Chefs.
- Your time starts now. - Oh, my gosh.
Bloop!
I wanna win this last Quickfire.
So far this season, I've won $8,000 from Restaurant Wars.
I still have not won a Quickfire.
Adding $10,000 to that would be great.
I have some salt, Danny, don't worry.
Salt. Thanks, girl.
- How's that fish feel for you? - Oh, it's super tender.
This fish totally reminds me of a snapper, doesn't it?
Cheese and fish is just not my thing.
That's sacrilegious right there. That's crazy.
Gouda'’s this rich, big, bold flavor.
Lionfish, it's this delicate, mild fish.
And so to put the two together and not have
overpowering Gouda flavor on the fish is gonna be key.
- 25 minutes, guys. - God, what?
Five minutes, gone.
I'm gonna do a crudo style.
Oh, my gosh. I'm just shaking again.
I'm doing a raw preparation today
because we've had six weeks off.
30 minutes is gonna go by really fast,
and I don't wanna get caught with my pants down.
I'm doing a sauce inspired by what
I would traditionally put in a keshi yena.
It's like an agrodolce base.
I need to make sure that the sauce is really
flavorful and packs a punch, because the fish doesn't
necessarily do that on its own,
so I want to finish it with some chili crisp.
It's a little crazy.
I think I got a pretty good idea of what I'm doing here.
The lionfish really reminds me of the snapper, so I'm doing,
like, somewhere between a tartare and a ceviche.
- Dan, what's in the blender? - It's my sauce jammer.
I'm gonna make, like, a tartare aguachile.
I never heard of aguachile with cheese in it before.
Neither have I. But we're going aguachile with cheese in it,
you know what I'm saying?
I'm gonna mix with the lionfish
lime juice and mayo.
Ooh, yeah. Mayo is really the key.
That's gonna be where we bridge the gap between
aguachile and Gouda.
- I love it. - You know, it feels
a little bit intimidating because it's hard to work with.
So I'm gonna go with a ceviche.
- Let's go. - I'm going to cure the fish,
and I'm actually adding a little bit of Gouda into it.
I grew up with guava in Acapulco.
I grew up in Acapulco, so it's my jam, almost, you know?
I'm excited to showcase my Latina side.
Guava and cheese is such a classy combination.
Real Latina of you, girl, let me tell you.
Gouda in the oven.
I could simply make a crudo,
but I think that's kind of the easy way to go with this.
Danny, whatcha doing?
I'm gonna make a croquette.
Gonna take you out, kid!
Your boy's got cheese happening over here.
Oh, my God.
This is giving me, like, Cheese Fest vibes,
except Danny's making a croquette this time,
and we're all making ceviches or crudos.
I hope they hold together.
- Whoo-hoo! - Watch your feet.
I'm gonna use this frico as my, like, crunch factor.
Oh, I'm fric-ing it up too!
We'’re in a fric-off!
A frico's basically just a, you know, crispy cheese.
It elevates the fish instead of overpowering it.
Ten minutes, guys.
Dropping in some lionfish croquettes,
which-- I didn't think they were gonna hold together.
The croquettes are feeling a little soft.
They're gonna be cute.
I think I've added too much egg white.
I'm just hoping that when they hit
the oil that they get crispy.
Oh, let's go!
I thought the cheese would come off real easy,
but we are incorrect.
Chefs, you have five minutes left.
- She's lying. - Let's go.
Time to plate, huh?
Yeah, now we're cooking with gas.
I hope it's not too intense for them.
Oh, yours look really nice, bubba!
I'm gonna cover it all in frico to kind of
encapsulate it like it was a cheese casserole.
The wind just took all my garnish.
- Oh, God. - I'm shaking.
It's like your first time all over again.
Three, two, one.
Utensils down. Hands up.
Yeah!
Dan, you can come on up, please.
Dan, tell us about your dish.
You got lionfish tartare, lots of herbs,
an orange and fresno aguachile, and Gouda frico.
And then the fish is tossed in something white.
Fish is tossed in a little bit of Kewpie Mayo just
to add a little bit of fat.
Missed your herbs, Dan.
- Nice to see them again. - Thanks.
All right, Laura, what do you have?
This is a lionfish crudo with guava sauce
and some Gouda crunch on top.
What did you think about the lionfish?
I'm sure it's the first time you worked with it.
Yeah, it's actually very tender.
- Thank you, Laura. - Yeah.
- It's a croquette. - Yes!
- What do you know? - It felt right.
It's a lionfish croquette with a Gouda cheese sauce
and a little slaw on top.
So the cheese is not in the binding?
No, I didn't want it to just get weird.
Great. Thanks, Danny.
- Thanks, guys. - Thank you.
Savannah, tell us about your dish, please.
I made a lionfish crudo, and the sauce inspired
by inside of the keshi yena.
And then the frico on top is to represent how
the cheese would get crispy on the outside if you baked one.
What's the heat?
The heat is a little bit of chili oil.
- Great. Thanks, Savannah. - Thank you very much.
They might think it's spicy.
Oh, yeah. They're all cracking water.
It wasn't an easy challenge combining
the fish with the cheese, but all four of you
created tasty, original dishes.
Helmi, what'’d you think of Savannah's dish?
I really liked your take on the keshi yena.
It was very tasty dish.
Your sauce was so delicious.
I think for me, the olives were the thing that kind of really
- brought it alive. - Thank you.
Tom, what'd you think of Dan's dish?
I like the herbaceous notes, the bright acidity.
I enjoyed it a lot, yeah.
Just that tiny touch of mayo was a great bridge
between the fish and the cheese.
Thanks.
Tom, what'd you think of Danny's dish?
I liked the fact that your cheese
in your dish was different than everybody else.
The only thing, I didn't get a lot of lionfish in there.
It was a lot of the batter.
Overall, that texture?
I'm a big fan.
Helmi, what'’d you think of Laura's dish?
I'm very happy you used another local ingredient, the guava.
The sauce was really nice.
There was very little frico there.
It felt like you were intimidated by it.
Helmi, who had our favorite dish of the day?
The chef with the best lionfish and cheese dish
gave us something really balanced and flavorful.
And that chef is...
Chef Dan.
- Congratulations, Dan. - That'’s the first win!
Finally, I win a Quickfire.
That'’s a rebuttal from the last one.
I wanna start out strong, and I wanna show
everybody else I'm going for the big W.
I wanna be Top Chef.
Congratulations, you won
$10,000 in Quickfire Quick Cash.
Yes!
Helmi, thank you very much for having us.
- This was amazing. - Thank you.
The pleasure was all mine.
And good luck to all of you.
- Thank you. - Thank you so much.
- Thank you, Chef. - Bye.
All right, Chefs.
Are you ready to set sail into the finale?
- Yes. Let's do it. - Let'’s do it.
We're down to our final Elimination Challenge.
We're all gonna be setting sail on
Holland America Line's Eurodam that's right over there.
Holland America has recently launched a global
fresh fish program, which serves over 80 different
species of fish from 60 ports around the globe.
From port to plate in just 48 hours.
So for your final Elimination Challenge,
you are going to be tasked with creating an eight-course
fresh fish tasting menu collectively as a group.
- Wow! - That'’s kinda fun!
Oh, I like this. This is good.
You'll each be responsible for two courses.
Each course must feature a different fresh fish,
and they must be served in the following preparations:
raw, steamed, mousse, poached,
fried, roasted, smoked, and blackened.
How you divide them is up to you.
Savannah, as the winner of the last Elimination Challenge,
you'll get first picks at the two fish you wanna work with,
as well as the two preparations you wanna highlight.
Awesome.
I'm excited to have the option to choose,
but, you know, I'm also a little hesitant
because the way my brain works,
if I have too many options, I have more issues.
Tomorrow, you'll have two and a half hours to prep and cook on
board at the Tamarind Restaurant before the first course is
served to us judges and your guest judge, chef Ed Lee.
- Yes. - Oh, cool.
And some of the ship's finest.
- Oh, so cool. - Cool.
The ship will be providing you with a pantry of
ingredients to work with.
But before we board, we're gonna give you ten minutes
and $100 to shop for some produce at the floating market
where Venezuelan merchants come to sell their fresh produce.
Amazing.
In case you didn't know, Venezuela is actually only
40 miles south of here, so not far at all.
The winner of this Elimination Challenge
will receive $10,000...
- Amazing. - Whoo!
...along with a ten-day cruise anywhere where
Holland America sails for you and a guest.
- Oh! That'’s great! - Not bad at all.
After you get settled into your staterooms,
we've set up a special meal for you
at Tamarind Restaurant.
- Awesome. That'’s great. - Aw, that'’s perfect.
We also have a little fun for you tomorrow morning.
Before heading into the kitchen,
we're gonna send you on a little excursion.
You'll enjoy some fun and sun on their own private island
at Half Moon Cay.
- No way! - Awesome, thank you.
- That'’s great. - Let'’s do it.
Enjoy your dinner tonight, and we'll see you tomorrow.
- Good luck, Chefs. - Thank you.
- Have fun. - Whoo!
- Ten minutes, y'all. - All right.
Going into this Venezuelan floating market,
we don't know what fish we're using yet, we're not sure what
techniques we're using yet, and we also don't know what
other ingredients are gonna be available on the ship.
But it's ten minutes, $100.
It's gonna be a quick one.
Good, I'm good, I'm good.
Look at the raw sugar. It'’s amazing.
I know, isn'’t that cool?
I see lots of citrus, avocados, plantains
calling our names just to play around with it.
Can I buy some of these banana leaves?
Coconuts? Coconuts. Coconuts.
My strategy here with this shop is to cast a wide net,
grab some ingredients that I know that I'm gonna
be able to use in my cook, and make the best of it.
- Perfect. - Yeah, finito.
- You got any peppers? - Yeah, yeah.
Oh, yeah. Beautiful.
I'm grabbing plantains,
I'm grabbing pumpkin, scotch bonnets.
It's definitely produce
right off the banana boat, which is pretty cool.
Oh! They have quenepas.
They used to call me "“quenepa head"” when I was a kid.
I'ma buy these.
I grew up eating quenepas.
My family used to say that I had a quenepa head.
They were just making fun of me '‘cause I had
a round head as a kid.
Si, necesita.
- ¿Y esto es todo, no? - Esto es todo.
- Thank you! - Okay.
- Oh, look-- - Stuff ready?
- Gracias! - Let's go.
Oh, wow! Look at this.
- Oh, my gosh! - This is cool, man.
- This is big. - This is so big.
- Hello, Chefs. - What'’s happening?
Welcome aboard Holland America Lines Eurodam.
For over 150 years, we've sailed with guests
to every corner of the world, and we're so excited
to sail with you for the finals of Top Chef.
Enjoy your dinner tonight, because we are really looking
forward to seeing what you're gonna cook up for us tomorrow.
Thank you. Thank you so much for having us.
Ooh! This is cute as hell.
Our rooms are sick.
We have these amazing, big balconies.
It's a sharp-looking ship.
Good evening, Chef. Right this way, please.
- Thank you. - Thank you.
- Welcome, Chef. - What's going on, Chef?
Yeah...
What's happening?
Wait a minute, I know you.
This is my sushi bar. Little bit temporary.
Chef Morimoto.
I cannot believe he's in front of me.
I don't-- I don'’t know what to say.
Like-- [stammers] Hello?
Is this really Morimoto?
I never thought this would be somebody I'd meet in person.
He's an icon.
I'm very excited to be able
to feed you all tonight.
Thank you.
...here at Holland America.
Please have a seat.
- Thank you so much. - Enjoy dinner.
Thank you.
I was like, "“Is that him?"”
That was pretty dope.
Are you kidding?
Oh, my God.
- How you guys feel? - I mean, crazy.
I just forgot what we were doing.
That's Morimoto. Like...
I mean, it doesn't happen every day.
It doesn't happen ever.
Chef Morimoto is just gonna cook for me
and these three goons.
Like, this is crazy.
- Hey, Chef. - Hello!
Oh, my goodness.
So this is my first course tonight.
Amazing. Thank you, Chef.
This is tuna pizza.
Because you said so, that'’s right.
This is one of those once-in-a-lifetime dinners.
- Please. - Thank you.
- Enjoy my first course. - Thank you so much.
There is no pretty way to eat this.
It'’s amazing. It'’s delicious.
- I am so happy. - It's crazy good.
I absolutely love his vision of making food approachable
and relatable to everybody.
Bringing a sense of culture to other people,
that's always my aspiration.
And what a better way to do it than something
that you can relate to?
Tuna pizza. I'm in awe.
- So good. - Thank you so much.
Nobody's gonna believe this. Get out of here.
This is second course. It'’s a sushi.
Yes!
It's just so crazy.
It's pretty incredible.
This is a highlight of my life right now.
- Enjoy. - Super tasty.
Mmm.
I have spent a lot of time loving
and cooking Japanese cuisine,
and I feel so honored to be here in this moment.
Little bit, maybe. Yeah.
Actually, I'm also nervous because, you know...
- Hey, judges. - Yeah, right?
Thank you, Chef.
All right, here's the breakdown of our fish.
Oh, my God.
What are you thinking, Savannah?
Having the advantage, I get to choose first.
We're gonna have to work together to figure out
who's gonna do what so that we all have
an hour in between our cooks.
I'm gonna do raw course with the Atlantic salmon
and the fried course with the striped bass.
You know, in my restaurant, we always did this, like,
play on a fried fish sandwich, and it was so good.
I'm gonna take that as the inspiration,
like, those flavors.
Anyone opposed to sea bream and trout?
No, I'm okay with those.
The rainbow trout I'm gonna smoke,
and the bream,
I'm going to make a mousse from it.
My first thought is I could kind of do a play
on these Cantonese fish balls.
I spent some time in Hong Kong living there with my wife,
and on our days off, we would typically eat these fish balls.
It's a fish-based mousse.
I feel like I've definitely done
a lot of mousses this season.
I'm surprised you jumped for it so fast.
I wanted to do it again.
You know, my strategy in this claiming game is
to definitely get one of the cooking methods I wanna
get and be able to kind of, like, flex out of the other one.
I would like-- and if you guys are okay with this-- poached,
- blackened, then. - Poached, blackened?
I'm hoping that by taking something like
blackened that nobody really wants that I'll be
able to grab fish that I want.
- I can do... - I would like...
...grouper and snapper.
Well, I would also like snapper too,
- so we're gonna-- Let's talk. - Okay.
I'm hoping to get snapper because that's the fish
that I grew up eating.
You wanna take the monkfish?
Monkfish roasted is the way.
It is the way of the truth and light.
If that fish is gonna get cooked tomorrow,
that's the way to do it.
It should be roasted.
That'’s a tough one.
I would actually like the grouper and the snapper,
but I know you want those too.
I just want one of those.
Okay, so I'll take the grouper.
You can take the snapper.
- Is that okay? - That's fine.
To me, it was more important to get the snapper
even though I got blackened.
Nobody blackens fish anymore,
and I think it went away for a good reason.
There was a lot of very poorly done blackened fish out there.
So I'll do the grouper for roast,
and then I'm gonna do the black bass for steam.
Okay. I'm going to do the poached course with the dorade.
And then I'm pulling up the caboose with
the blackened snapper.
Caboose!
That sounds great, you guys.
Thank you.
This idea from toasting the marshmallow.
- Oh, smart. - Yeah.
- So rich. - Amazing.
Good luck tomorrow.
- Chef? - Yes?
- Do you mind signing it for me? - Of course.
Oh, my gosh, yeah.
Oh, please. Please, please, please, please.
This meal is so special.
I mean, it really is.
Morimoto's exceeded whatever expectation I had of him.
Okay.
That's right. So cooking from bottom heart.
Every single time. Okay?
- Good luck! - Thank you.
- Oh, my God. - Thank you!
He wrote "“only one time."”
This is kind of, like, a perfect little message for me.
We only have this one opportunity to win Top Chef,
and for me, that is what this is about today.
Oh, my God. Look at this!
Half Moon Cay remind me of home.
My family and my friends spend every summer in Acapulco
racing horses with my cousins by the beach...
- Oh, my God. - Look at this!
...eating plantains and fried fish next to the ocean.
- Stingray adventure! - Oh, my God, that's amazing.
- Oh, boy. - Look how beautiful!
I'm so into this.
No, no, no me, no!
Oh my God!
! No!
I like nature...
I don't like it. I don't like it!
...from a distance.
Come on! Please, no!
This isn't for me.
Oh, my God!
It's so cool.
Oh, my God! It'’s on my leg.
You know, those stingrays, they come
and give you warm hugs, but also they can sting.
It's like the chefs in the competition, almost.
That was so cool.
- Whoo! - Got a little sun.
I'm relaxed.
It's like, have to turn it back on and operate
at 100 miles an hour again is gonna be a challenge in itself.
This is about as good as it gets.
Sh-- about to get real.
This is the last time the four of us are gonna
be together in this sort of a situation.
I'm really trying to enjoy this moment.
The reality is that this could be my last day.
It could be anyone's last day.
But I'm just-- I'm just ready to do it.
I mean, I don't want to, but let's do this.
- All right, let's go, guys. - Let'’s go, y'all.
Whoo! Oh, my goodness.
Whoo-hoo-hoo-hoo!
Oh, look at all these peppers!
We got herbs on herbs on herbs. I love it!
You know this is my world right here-- Oh, jeez.
Look out, guys.
Sea beam.
This kitchen is amazing.
The chefs styled us out here.
I feel like I'm on a pirate ship.
Arrgh!
That was good, Dan, that was good.
What, Savannah, you drinking all that sake or what?
I'm doing a sake cure on my salmon.
Awesome.
For the first course,
which is the raw preparation,
I am making a salmon futomaki roll.
Trying not to be gun shy in breaking down
this fish right now, y'all.
Last time I did this wasn't good.
For the fifth course, the fried preparation,
I am making a fried striped bass sandwich.
The striped bass will be delicious fried.
It's gonna retain a lot of moisture,
and it's gonna be buttery.
Savannah, how do you feel about going first?
I think I can do a good job and start us all out on a good note.
Just gotta stay focused and execute.
Stay focused, execute.
So we got some dorade here, so I'm gonna poach it.
I really wanted to cut into the whole fish
because I wanna be able to use the bone.
For the fourth course, I'm making poached dorade
with yucca and pumpkin.
When I go to poach my fish, I'm actually gonna poach it
in the bag with the sauce.
For the eighth course, I'm making blackened snapper.
What we got here is a little bit of blackening spice.
Coming down, coming down, coming down, coming down, coming down.
Coming off this Quickfire win, I feel really confident.
This is my time, man. It's my time.
Beautiful.
Laura, how you feel about working with sea bass?
I love the versatility of it.
So I'm doing steamed fish.
I'm gonna use banana leaves for it.
For my first course, I'm making a steamed
black bass with a recado negro.
You know, I have to burn a lot of things.
You know, char flavors have a lot of, like, richness.
For my second course, I'm making a roasted grouper
with a guajillo pepper glaze.
Whoo! Burn this mother------ down.
Let's go! I'm gonna turn this whole box into a smoker.
Today I'm making the mousse course,
which is a New Zealand sea bream with a green garlic sphere.
Next, the smoked course, which will be a smoked trout...
Just wanna do something that's local to the area.
...with a pumpkin and plantain puree.
Whoo!
This is my sauce.
Juice from papaya, carrot, ginger, mandarin.
A little bit of the pulp here to help thicken it.
Hour and 25 minutes.
Just checking out my potatoes.
They'’re kind of calmly sitting in this little butter mix.
This is my fish mousse.
I added some spinach for some color and a little bit
of texture to it, and I'm gonna steam it.
Laura, where are you at in your process right now?
I think I'm gonna start wrapping my fish
to have it ready for the steamer.
I'm gonna use the banana leaves.
Banana leaves are perfect for steaming the fish,
because the banana leaves retains the moisture,
it retains all the flavor.
Super tight, organized.
At the end of the day, it's, like, part of a plant.
Making sure it's clean the proper way is,
like, very important.
Laura, what are you doing with those banana leaves?
Gonna be little cute gifts of joy.
So right now, I'm getting these spheres done
so they have time to set.
The goal here is to replicate the Cantonese fish balls.
I'm playing an odd game here where I'm using all one texture,
but the complexity comes elsewhere in heat from
the sphere, and you'll have the fish-forward flavor from
the mousse is where you bring in those different levels.
There's always an added layer of technique that I bring.
Pray that that works.
There's a lot of things that can go wrong with a mousse.
It is a beautiful view.
Thank you.
This is our final Elimination Challenge.
I wanna thank Marisa, Gus, Mark, and Sinu for having us aboard.
Thank you for taking care of the chefs and us.
It's wonderful to be on board with you all,
so thank you very much.
I'm curious, Sinu, how many chefs and cooks you have?
A team of 141.
I think we each have to pick up a shift tonight.
Right?
I'm taking notes, guys. Who wants to go first?
All right, guys, 18.
My game plan is to do some cured salmon
inside the roll and also a salmon tartare.
It's gonna be the creamy element inside the roll.
I've spent the last few years focusing on
certain Japanese techniques.
I worked at M Tempura, which was a tempura tasting menu
restaurant that I helped chef Mike Lee open.
He really is the one that opened my eyes to that cuisine
and taught me so much, and while I feel very comfortable in
that wheelhouse, I want to show a little creativity here.
Savannah, what's going on?
You're coming up soon.
I'm just gonna put a little bit more of
the tartare on top
so it's definitely salmony.
I want to give different textures all in one bite while
not taking away from the fact that this is a salmon dish.
Hopefully they can put this all in their mouth.
Thank you so much.
Wonderful.
Can you tell us about what you've made for us?
I wanted to do salmon in two ways.
There is sake-cured salmon inside, and then there's also
a little bit of salmon tartare on top, some plantain
that I fried twice, and then, lastly, creamy ginger dressing.
- Thanks, Savannah. - Thank you very much.
Thank you, Savannah.
I thought Savannah's dish had a lot of flavors
packed into one roll.
I liked the flavor. That was a nice little bite.
I don't know how big a mouth you guys have,
but it was too big for me.
I mean, the bite was big, but I also think that's just
by nature what the futomaki is.
I thought it was a good start,
but the sauce is a little grainy.
You wanna make this creamy sauce,
and yet you have these little pieces in there.
That's-- that'’s a mistake.
Whoo! Oh, they cute as hell!
Kind of find that extra gear a little bit.
I'm trying to fry my yucca fritters.
That's not turning out the way I want it to.
It's kind of mushy, and I really don't know why.
I need to kinda get my sh-- together.
My brain is, like, fried out right now.
So what I'm gonna try and do is double fry it.
This should give it a little bit more, like, crispiness to it.
It is a bit greasy, but without it,
I'm not sure the dish is as successful.
Have one minute.
Oh, my goodness.
Can you please explain your dish, Laura?
So the dish is a steamed black bass with a recado negro.
Inside you have escabeche patty pan squash
with kabocha squash and a little bit of fried plantain.
I think it lends very well into cooking in Curaçao.
You got one more course in there, right?
I got my one more course, absolutely.
- Yes. - Yeah, exactly.
- Get back to it. - Thank you, Laura.
Sinu, what did you think of the flavors?
For me, I think she hasn't cleaned
the banana leaves properly.
It's giving bitterness.
I'm getting a lot of--
It's like, it's-- it'’s dir-- dirt.
I do think the fresh fish was well-cooked and delicious.
Actually, if you take a little bit of
the negro sauce and then the green sauce together
and have it in one bite, it was fabulous.
Yeah.
Just stay cool, calm and cool and calm.
This baguette, I'm gonna toast it.
It'll hold everything else on top.
I don't know. If it doesn't taste good, I'm not using it.
- No stress, no stress. - Whoo!
Well... this didn't steam the way I wanted it to.
That's unfortunate.
The mousse doesn't souffle properly.
I don't have time to cook it longer.
I mean, at this point, there's not really much that I can do.
Well, that's disappointing.
You know, it's a mousse. You get one shot with it.
God almighty.
Thank you.
All right, Danny, can you tell us about your mousse dish?
So, sea bream fish mousse.
Little fines herbes salad over top.
And then is a little sphere of scotch bonnet and green garlic.
Is this mousse cooked?
The mousse is cooked, yeah.
- How did you cook it? - Uh, I steamed it.
Got it.
- Thanks, Danny. - Thanks.
The interesting was the sphere.
I actually loved the spheres.
I thought they were beautiful and interesting
and had a little punch. And I liked the sauce.
Oh, God. My mousse was totally under.
Tom was like, "“Did you cook this?"”
I was like, "“Oh, God."”
Danny's dish is clearly complex,
but I may not be a fan of mousse.
Well, you might just not be a fan of this mousse.
Oh, okay!
I feel like there was too much egg white and not enough fat.
Not enough fat. I think you'’re right.
Or the no yolks or something.
- Something went wrong. - Mm-hmm.
I'm making such a mess.
I'm just like, I need to [bleep] focus.
What are you doing, Savannah?
Running my fish.
I have 40 minutes left, and I'm not where I need to be.
It's just my plan's not coming together how I wanted.
Oh, my God.
I'm not visualizing the way
this is going to be on the plate.
I'm starting to be a little concerned.
Holy sh--.
Come on, guys. Let's [bleep] do this.
Dan, how's your poach?
Very nice. Just, uh, plating up.
Hell yeah.
Poach.
- Hi. - Hi.
So I had the dorade.
Fairly familiar with this fish, but I really haven't
cooked this, honestly, since, like, 2005.
I poached it in a coconut turmeric sauce
made from the stock.
We have a little yucca fritter,
some grilled pumpkin,
and then jerk chili garlic crisp.
- Thank you, Dan. - Thanks, guys. Thanks.
What up, what up, what up?
So much excitement coming back.
Tom ate all of my dish.
He cleaned the [bleep] plate.
Tom, what do you think of Dan'’s dish?
So Dan said he hasn't cooked dorade since 2005.
He still hasn't cooked it.
I totally agree, '‘cause I had to leave my fish there.
- It's raw. - I liked it.
It wasn't poached correctly, but I think it soaked up
the heavy flavors of the Caribbean sauce.
The spice was nice.
I did enjoy the flavors,
and having sailed around the islands for a long time,
it really did give me a Caribbean feel.
There was complexity there with the herbs and the turmeric,
but the yucca felt like this kinda clunky,
greasy thing in the middle of the plate.
But it's hard, right?
They didn't make this easy on us.
You ain't lying, bro.
I was hoping for a different situation
with the bread, but I'm gonna do what I can do.
Yeah.
Whenever I think about Caribbean flavors,
I think about Yucatán Peninsula.
In Acapulco, you have this really
famous dish, pescado a la talla.
I'm trying to do that, but more elegant.
So I have a broth, I have an emulsion,
and I have pineapple.
I glaze the fish with guajillo peppers,
a little bit of gochujang as well.
I wanna add the richness by making an emulsion,
like a mayonnaise with some kabocha squash.
Oh, my God.
I have all these components,
but I don't feel like I have a dish.
This is bullsh--.
It did not turn out.
I'm hoping there's enough texture and balance of flavor
to save me, because this isn't my best showing.
Ugh. Sucks.
- You'’re okay. - This [bleep] blows.
Fried striped bass.
Thank you so much.
Can you tell us about your dish?
I have a fried striped bass on a toasted baguette
with pepper kosho and an aji amarillo aioli.
- Thanks, Savannah. - Thank you.
I'm starting to deconstruct the meals now when I eat them,
which I'm really starting to enjoy.
So I thought Savannah's fish was cooked well,
and, yeah, definitely enjoyable.
I think it was the best execution of the fish.
I thought it was really, really good.
Her fish was fried nicely.
I liked the kosho. I liked the mint.
I just didn't get sort of juiciness that I hoped for.
I think the bread was too big.
Maybe the fish was cut too small?
Cut too small, yeah.
And at this stage of the competition,
to do something that simple, Savannah's playing it safe here.
In both courses.
I'm not having an easy go at it today.
I just need to knock it out with this next course,
make it flawless.
This dish is really, really rich.
I want some acid to cut through this richness.
So I'm gonna do a hazelnut and lemon relish.
I'm just looking for a crunchy burst of flavor.
I put the emulsion at the bottom of the plate,
set my fish on top.
It looks like a piece of art.
Just gonna do lime zest.
Thank you, ladies.
- Thank you so much. - Welcome back.
Can you tell us about your dish, please?
This is a grouper roasted
with guajillo pepper glaze.
It has an emulsion of guajillo, a little bit of XO,
a pineapple broth.
The inspiration of this dish comes from pescado a la talla,
mixing it with beautiful pineapple from the Caribbean.
How did you cook the fish? Did you sear it first?
- Put it in the oven. - Straight in the oven?
- Just straight in the oven. - Great. Thank you, Laura.
All right.
Anyone's fish not cooked right?
- Mine's undercooked. - Mine'’s a little under.
- Mine's okay. - Is yours raw, though?
It's not raw-raw, but it's-- it's not cuttable.
It does not flake.
The bigger problem I have is what she explained was baking,
not roasting.
Yeah.
You want some caramelization.
- Yeah, yeah. - I like the pineapple broth.
I liked the flavor of it, but the mayonnaise,
texturally, it felt strange.
It feels like your sauce is split.
Yeah.
They've all cooked so much-- so much better.
Like, really exceptional things from all of them, several times.
They feel tense.
They feel like they're just afraid.
It looks like they're cooking scared.
And they come so far in the competition now,
I feel that that's kind of holding them back,
- really scared to-- - They know they're that close.
- That close. - Yeah.
And now there'’s stress.
I'm gonna go real light with the flavors,
let that blackening spice kind of come through.
I'm adding terlato wine to my butter sauce
on my blackened snapper to give it that acidic brightness.
I smoked the fish perfectly.
I'll never give up. I'll go down swinging all day.
I'm really hoping it's enough to guarantee my spot in the finale.
Zero.
Oh, right, smoked. Okay.
Yeah, we'’re on smoked.
- Welcome back. - Thank you.
Can you tell us what you made?
Smoked rainbow trout.
I smoked rainbow trout foam,
plantain pumpkin puree,
and then nestled in there is also a hazelnut lemon relish.
So what did you use for smoke?
I used hickory chips.
- Thank you, Danny. - Thank you.
It ain't over till it's over, Dan!
Heard, Chef.
I liked it. Smoked fish is dry.
I mean, there's just no way around it.
But to put that foam on top of there,
which was so wet,
I thought it was texturally just really nice.
And then there was something lemony in there?
- Yeah, lemon and hazelnut. - Lemon and hazelnut.
Yeah, you just get a kick of that.
It was brilliant.
I love the texture of the nuts and the lemon together
'‘cause it was so unexpected.
There is such an amazing through line
between the hazelnut and the smoke for me.
All of it was very Danny and really, really delicious.
So I've never blackened a fish before.
Just cook the fish well, Dan.
That's all you gotta do.
I'm bringing up the caboose here.
Two minutes. Two minutes. Two minutes.
Just kinda make this sh-- look nice.
I'm happy to do it.
I really feel like this dish is
even better than my first dish.
Jesus [bleep]! Finale, here I come.
Thank you so much.
All right, Dan. What'd you do?
Blackened snapper with Chinese five spice.
My dad was a big fan of blackened fish,
so we did some butter-poached potatoes with some Mandarin
butter sauce, dill oil, and then some pickled red onion.
So you've blackened a lot of fish before?
- Never. - Okay. Your dad just liked it.
Never ever. Never, ever, ever.
Why so stingy with the mandarin oranges?
Man, you ever tried to supreme mandarin oranges?
I mean--
Not necessarily the easiest task.
- Fine. Point taken. - All right, thank you, Dan.
- Thanks so much. - Thank you.
This is my favorite dish of the whole meal.
But it's comforting. It just made me feel good.
The potato, it was salty and it was creamy,
and I thought it was delicious.
Overall, the juiciest piece of fish
- that I've had today. - Yes.
I thought it was good.
I actually like that he didn'’t use
the traditional sort of blackening.
I liked the Chinese five spice.
Well, I think it's certainly a lot to discuss.
We will head off to Judges'’ Table.
Thank you for providing the fresh fish
and wonderful dining company.
- Thank you so much. - Thank you.
It's been a fun ride, I ain't giving up,
but, you know, it's like, I didn't make a mousse.
I made a-- I made a broken, undercooked thing.
Tom was like, "“How'd you cook this mousse?"” I was like,
"“Yo, it's steamed."” And he was like, "“Hmm."”
I made, like, an emulsion at the bottom.
When you pour the broth,
everything kind of, like, dissolved.
I wanted it to kind of stay within the plate.
My second dish, to be successful,
because it was so simple,
I had to execute it well, and I didn't.
I feel like anytime I have an advantage, I tank.
But you feel pretty good!
- I kinda do feel pretty good. - Yeah.
That first course, you know, Tom sopped it up, so...
I mean, I don't know.
You go out and you're like, "“Man, I killed it."”
And then, like, give yourself half an hour,
and you'll find things wrong with it.
Nah, dude. There's nothing wrong to feel good.
If it's me, I've had a great time. So.
Yeah, me too.
- I feel good, you know? - Yeah.
Chefs, for your Elimination Challenge,
we asked you to create an eight-course fresh fish menu,
with each of you choosing two different fish to highlight.
Laura, let's start with you.
The ratio of that really rich sauce and such
a delicate steamed fish.
Were you worried at all about that?
I was, like, actually overthinking it.
Like, "“Maybe if I do two pieces, it will look like
I'm cutting it, and it just doesn't make too much sense.
Let me just keep it simple, and it's going to be
about the sauce with the fish."”
A lot of us got an aroma of an uncleaned banana leaf.
It didn't feel as if it were cleaned properly
and then charred before wrapping it,
and so it comes with this murky, muddy scent,
and so then when you open it up, that's what hits you.
I'm-- I'’m sorry for that.
Moving on to your grouper dish.
What temperature was the oven?
It was actually at 400.
In your glaze, what fat was in it?
There was not fat, actually.
Mm-hmm.
It was only gochujang and the peppers.
I had a hard time with this dish.
If you had used the mayonnaise on top of
it and put it in the oven, it might'’ve helped,
'‘cause that would'’ve given that fat roasted a bit,
but you just chose to put it underneath it.
There was a lot of discrepancies on the cook.
My fish was severely undercooked.
Okay.
Your pineapple broth that you poured over top.
Because you had an emulsion sauce on the bottom...
- Yeah. - ...it gave the whole thing
a kind of a curdled look when it all mixed together.
Ed, what'd you think of Savannah's futomaki?
It tasted great, but it was--
construction-wise, it was clunky.
I liked that you got the plantain in there
so it was a little different than the typical futomaki.
I just don't know if that's the best way
to showcase raw salmon.
I mean, you're kind of almost hiding it.
I thought the sauce was good.
I would rather you strained it a little bit.
I think little pieces of ginger were floating around in there.
I strained it, and then I put some back in '‘cause I was like,
- "“We need some--"” - Awesome.
I don't need to tell you that. It's okay.
And what about Savannah's fried fish?
You fried it well.
It was golden, and it was consistently fried.
It just-- The combination of the size and the bread
made the fish feel like an afterthought.
I just don't know why you used that piece of bread.
I almost-- Yeah.
I almost completely nixed the idea.
It was dry. It was just dry.
I just felt like your creativity wasn't there today.
- Dan. - You know, your poached fish.
I got a raw piece of fish.
I could see you wanted to undercook it slightly,
but mine was raw.
- Um... Mine too. - Mine was raw.
It flaked, so...
I don't know if it flaked or it pulled apart.
I really did like the flavors of your sauce.
For me, it was that heavy fritter
that I don't think was incredibly successful.
However, the blackened grouper was
so juicy and so moist and had such great flavor.
Blackened usually is just too much cayenne pepper.
I like that you used the five spice.
It brought it a very different direction.
If everyone made blackened fish the way you did,
that dish would not have died in the nineties.
Danny.
I didn't like the mousse but you pushed the envelope, right?
It almost was like cooked egg whites.
It never-- it never souffled.
When it went into the tray, it was fine.
Put in the blast chiller to set it.
Steam came out, hit the plastic,
- condensation dripped back in. - Exactly.
Everything else of the dish was interesting.
Sauce was bright.
Those spheres were really interesting.
It took me a minute to realize
that they weren't the mousse.
But the mousse was-- was a mistake, yeah.
Listen, on the other hand,
I thought the smoked dish was really brilliant.
It hit a lot of flavors.
- It was unexpected. - Thank you.
The brightness of the lemon and the sauce,
I liked kind of digging through it.
I liked being surprised by the lemon and the hazelnuts.
That dish, for me, was nearly perfect.
Thank you, Chef.
Today's winning chef gave us a dish that was outstanding.
And that dish was the edge needed to be
the clear winner of this challenge.
And that chef is...
- Danny. - What?
Congratulations, Danny.
You just won yourself $10,000 and a ten-day cruise
anywhere in the world where Holland America sails.
I'm hyped. That'’s gonna be dope.
I'm going to the finale, I got $53,000,
and we're going on a cruise?
This feels really good.
Thank you. Thank you, Chefs.
So we have another chef that
will be moving on to the finale.
And that chef is...
Dan. Congratulations, you're in the finale.
- Double D. - Double D.
I feel incredibly happy. I feel proud of myself.
I feel like I've really accomplished something
just getting to this point.
I'm in the finale, and it feels really, really good.
I wanted to be in this position forever,
and I'm just happy you guys have given me this opportunity.
That does mean Savannah and Laura, unfortunately,
only one of you will be moving on to the finale.
Chefs, we'’ll call you back in a little bit.
Thank you.
That wasn't pretty for anybody.
Oh, no. It was tough.
We all had issues, right?
Like, the fish was an issue for everybody.
But conceptually, they didn't like mine.
But, like, they understand you.
Literally some of the worst mistakes that I've made
are the best learning experiences that I've had.
It sucks to cook two dishes, and maybe one of them's okay.
I would've killed for that.
Savannah, you know, she was crushing it,
and to see her regress like this was kind of surprising.
Yeah. I mean, a maki and a fish sandwich
that wasn't really a fish sandwich at all.
She gave us the least interesting food.
She played it the most safe.
But I did like all the flavors in the fish.
And she also perhaps had the least amount of flaws.
Mm-hmm.
They liked some components,
but no, I mean, I still give some undercooked,
and, like, the banana leaf.
Then we have Laura, who undercooked
many pieces of fish at the table.
And then the banana leaves.
I was just really overwhelmed by the lack
of cleaning of the banana leaf.
I still think, for me, the worst dish of the day
was Laura's grouper.
- The roasted dish. - Well, it wasn't roasted.
- Right. - That's, like, the brief.
Like, you have to roast this piece of fish.
"“I'm gonna bake it."”
But her pineapple broth was good.
- Yeah. - And her sauces were good.
We're bounded for life.
- No way around it. - Yeah.
Either way, guys, this has been a pleasure.
All right, so I think we have our decision.
We should get the chefs back out here.
- Yeah. - Mm-hmm.
Savannah and Laura, unfortunately,
only one of you will be moving on to the finale.
Tom?
Savannah, your dishes today were just
really weren't that inspired.
Yeah.
You seem to be pulling back the creativity
that got you here.
We didn't see that today.
Laura, you know, you've had your ups and downs,
and when you're on, you're on.
Your dishes are creative, focused.
They're delicious.
Overall today, there was a lot of flaws.
Kristen?
Laura, please pack your knives and go.
Thank you. Thank you so much.
Thank you for having me.
You know, I wish this were was not the way
I was leaving the competition,
but I feel good to be part of this, to have an opportunity
to work with amazing chefs, to learn from other people.
Thank you so much for having me.
- Thank you, Laura. - It's such a pleasure.
To get feedback from Kristen and from Tom
and from Gail and see the evolution of me as a chef.
- Thank you so much, Laura. - It was a pleasure.
- Thank you. - Thank you, Chefs.
Being a chef, it's not only about one person.
It's about my staff, my husband, and it's about
all the hard work that I put in so many restaurants.
I want to make sure we're cooking food that's delicious,
that brings people together, and is not separating people.
That's what I wanna do.
If it's not obvious now, Savannah, congratulations.
- Thank you, thank you! - You are also in the finale.
I thought you might just send me...
- No, no, no! - You get the congratulations.
Today was very rough, and, um,
all I wanted was one more chance.
Well, certainly all got it.
- And you earned it. - Yes.
You deserve it.
Guys, you should feel good about this.
- I know, I know, I know. - And I know why you don't.
You didn't do your best work today. I get it.
But you have an opportunity to make it up.
- Yeah. - Tomorrow'’s a new day.
It's all over now. This is it.
Have fun with it. Like, this is going to be
the one time in your life that you get to do it.
It's [bleep] awesome. It's amazing!
It is.
It's a fantastic moment that you are going
to remember forever, so have fun with it, truly.
'‘Cause it's really amazing.
That makes me emotional.
You know that makes me emotional!
So, yes. Learn how to pivot also.
Like, take your menus and just enjoy it.
Truly. Congratulations.
Now get out of here, you crazy kids.
Go celebrate yourselves. Truly.
- Yes. - Congratulations.
- Thank you. - Thanks, guys.
Oh, sh--.
- Whoo! - There ya go.
- Big smiles. - Let'’s go!
Whoo! Let's get it!
We're going to the finale. We're about to win Top Chef.
Life's good.
To cooking one last meal together.
I think today scared me enough that if I didn't have them
before, I would show up with my sea legs.
Like, I will make it happen.
It was really close, and I know that,
but, you know, I still made it.
I'm literally in the middle of the ocean,
and I'm-- I'm on the cusp of being the next Top Chef.
I'm happy to represent my city of Milwaukee.
I'm happy to represent the state of Wisconsin.
Let's go.
Whoo!
Next on the season finale of Top Chef...
Knowing that this is the biggest cook of your lives,
we're not gonna let you do it alone.
What up, y'all?
Hello, everybody. How are you?
Man, this is great.
You're here for a reason.
Just cook your hearts out.
- It'’s the final cook. - Whoo!
This is all about cooking with soul.
I wanna know that I gave it my all to become the next Top Chef.
This is, like, my dream come true.
I'm a totally different girl than I was in Wisconsin.
My wife is Indian-Pakistani, and I love the culture,
I love the food, and I'm not afraid to cook it.
I wanna take the judges on a journey through my life.
This is trash.
What does it mean to you to win?
Being here in the first place was me taking
a chance on myself.
Ooh, beautiful.
Perfect umami song to seafood.
Throughout your career, you're gonna be asked,
"“Why do you cook? Why do you do what you do?"”
But I think each of you told that story
today through your menus.
You are Top Chef.