[chimes]
Previously on "Top Chef"...
Ashville is in the heart
of the Appalachian Mountains.
It's a region with its own unique and important culinary
traditions that define the community.
We're not in Brooklyn anymore.
It's hard to imagine that less than a year ago
they went through such a tragic hurricane.
For your elimination challenge,
we want you to create a dish
featuring Appalachian ingredients.
Oh, boy!
They saw Brazilian food,
then they came running.
I thought the Chow Chow was wonderful.
It's delicious.
Kind of my take of a Filipino egg roll.
To cook Filipino food
is the most vulnerable thing for me to do.
- The buckwheat crisp is great. - I love the buckwheat crisp.
Hello, hello.
I made a mountain trout and crab cake.
The trout cake is all acid.
Rhoda!
Is there any way you can drain your pickles more?
- Yeah. - Yeah.
It's just not a good chicken liver mousse.
- No. Exactly-- - It's wet.
Our favorite dish is Chef Rhoda.
[applause] Good job, Rhoda.
Sieger, please pack your knives and go.
What was the challenge? Appalachian ingredients, right?
- Yeah. - Cool, just making sure.
- It's fine. - Just give it up, bro.
[tense music]
Four chefs remain
to compete in the ultimate culinary showdown.
Whoo!
At stake for the winner,
the grand prize of a quarter of a million dollars
provided by Graza olive oil.
A feature in Food & Wine magazine,
plus an appearance
at the Food & Wine Classic in Aspen.
Their own exclusive dinner
at the historic James Beard House in New York
and the title of Top Chef.
[theme music]
[upbeat music]
Good morning.
- How's everybody feeling? - I'm alright.
Where's the rest of us?
[laughter] Back home.
Dang, this is one more cook before finale.
I was on the top for two in a row,
then I'm on the bottom for two in a row.
At the end of the day, it doesn't matter.
My goal is just to win Top Chef. I want that title.
It feels calm.
[tense music]
Did you hire a private chef for us?
- I did. - He looks expensive.
[laughing] I'm worth it, though.
Remember when we all first came in here
and it was like a party in this room?
- Oh my gosh. - And there's like a group here,
a group here.
Earlier in the competition, there's always this feeling of,
if I lose and I get to go see my family, at least,
you know, I gave it a shot.
- We've gone too far for that. - Are we gonna bring it in?
There's almost this overwhelming sense
that I have to make it to the finale.
Top four!
This is actually the most pressure I've ever felt.
Oof.
Seatbelts, everybody.
What are you making?
It's kind of like if you take Billi Bi
and wander over to Spain.
We're going, like, classic Tom.
Final days in Charlotte, guys.
Final days on Top Chef. [laughter]
We're going out with a bang on quick fires, Tom.
This is the last one of the season.
I think it's a perfect one to end on.
It is.
You can't let Rhoda or Laurence win.
Wow, wait, you said Rhoda.
I didn't know that you had so much money, bro.
No, I don't know what you're talking about.
[tense music]
- Alright. - Dig in.
Happily. Makes me wanna cook something.
- I know. - Mmm.
Mmm!
Tom, this is delicious.
I think that once you get a couple of these ingredients,
these are all very classic pairings.
Yes, together. Okay.
Cloche it.
Oh, no. Oh, no.
[laughter]
- Oh, oh. - They're already here.
Tom's in an apron.
- Morning! - Morning!
Good morning!
Well, the four of you have officially made it
to the semifinals.
- Congratulations. - Thank you.
That means this is the last quick fire.
Oof.
[nervous laughter]
Could be your most challenging to date.
Oh, no.
Underneath this cloche is a dish
that will really challenge you.
[dramatic beat]
Empty?
We are going to play...
Tom's 20 questions. [ding]
[groaning] [exclaiming]
Oh!
Earlier, I made this dish
that both Kristen and Gail got a chance to taste.
I wouldn't say we tasted it.
I think we gobbled it up completely.
I want you to make that same dish,
but first, you're going to have to get inside my head.
[groaning] Okay.
Great.
I've known you over 20 years,
Tom and I can't get inside your head still.
Usually, I have no idea what's happening, that's why.
[laughing]
So, here's how it works.
Collectively, you have 20 questions you can ask me
to figure out what my dish is.
You'll each get five questions.
You can ask anything you want,
but I'll only give a yes or no answer.
- Oh, God. - Oh, God.
We're going to judge your dishes
based on how well you can recreate Tom's dish,
both in presentation and flavor.
Presentation too?
But there's one more thing.
You only have 30 minutes to both figure out the dish
and cook it.
- Got it. - Oh, man.
Tom can cook a lot of things, I'm sure.
It could be anything.
There's no signifiers of cuisine.
I think it's just a hard challenge
'cause there's so many unknowns.
Each of you can ask one question before the clock starts.
Alright.
Laurence, let's start with you.
Was there a main protein element to the dish?
Yes.
Is it a side dish?
Jonathan.
'Cause it's on a small plate. It looks like a side plate.
No.
Side dish? Why would you ask that question?
Rhoda was not happy with your question, Jonathan.
Why would it be a side dish?
What the helly? [laughter]
- Was it fish? - Yes.
- There you go. - Alright.
Does it lean more towards a classic preparation?
Um, yes.
When time starts, you each can ask
four more questions whenever you want.
It's really important to listen to the answers
- that other chefs are asking. - Okay.
Because the person that gets closest to Tom's dish
is going to walk away with...
$20,000 in Quickfire Quickcash.
[exclaiming] [laughter]
Nice.
That's a nice chunk of change.
Twenty grand? Oh, my gosh, I need this.
I'm going to be in double digits.
I just want this one in the bag.
You have 30 minutes on the clock.
And your time starts now.
[tense music]
The only thing we know is that it's fish
and it had a classic preparation.
But that could mean anything.
I want to inspect the plate before I even grab anything.
There's some sort of pepper or...
I see chives.
- Smells like a shellfish. - It's giving shrimp vibes.
I can smell fresh mussels. I see leeks on the plate.
I see chervil and I see chives.
Definitely fish.
- Monkfish. - Bluefin.
Clams or something.
My strategy is really to get food going.
I'm grabbing every fish I can find.
I think we could all smell shellfish.
Mussels and poached fish.
I got a question.
Did the fish have a white wine based sauce?
- Yes. - Yes!
Was the fish seared?
- No. - It's grilled?
Johnny, can I have a little bit of that white wine?
Yeah.
I think it's going to be like a beurre blanc
or something like that,
so I'm going vinegar and a white wine.
We're going to reduce that.
We're gonna finish it with butter.
I'm thinking a poached cod with a meunièr.
It smelled like there was shrimp in there, but I'm not sure.
I want to hold off on asking that question.
- Does the dish have tomato? - No.
So, you've asked seven total questions.
Thirteen left.
Spinach. I think it had spinach.
[object clattering]
- Does the dish have spinach? - No.
[buzzer]
Did the fish have shellfish in it?
Yes. [ding]
Is it finished in butter?
Yes.
There was like a little stem. What was that stem?
I think it's a chili pepper.
Was there pepper in the dish? Like fresh pepper?
- Yes. - Fresh pepper.
Was the fish poached?
- Yes. - Poached.
I'm feeling really good. I know there is shellfish,
white wine, butter and the fish was poached.
And I'm pretty sure that the stem left on that plate
was an ají dulce. I think I got this one.
43 minutes, y'all.
- Was the fish a monkfish? - No.
Must be cod.
Is the fish cod?
- Yes. - Let's go, let's go, baby!
Ah, [bleep]
Now we know.
Jonathan, I forgive you for asking that dumb side question.
Is there Tuscan kale in this dish?
- No. - Jonathan.
- Damn. - Never mind.
Where's he seeing kale?
Where's he seeing spinach?
- Is the fish poached in liquid? - Yes.
Were the vegetables also poached in the same liquid?
No.
Sherry, that was your final question.
I'll take everybody else's questions.
There's three questions left.
I'm gonna open up some shellfish,
make a sauce and I'm gonna poach my fish in it.
Sherry's got mussels.
18 minutes and 56 seconds!
I'm gonna poach my cod in fish stock
and then finish it with butter.
Are there shishitos in the dish?
- No. - [bleep]
Are there shrimp in the dish?
- No. - [bleep]
That was your last question, Jonathan.
I can't tell if my questions helped or made it worse.
All questions give you more info, yes or no?
- Uh... - Yes.
Rhoda, you have one question left.
One question.
I want to be smart about my questions.
There's a lot at stake, 20K. That's a lot of money.
Chef, is there lemon to finish in the dish?
No.
Okay, that's your 20 questions.
Does the dish have leeks? [laughter]
Nice try.
- 14 minutes, y'all. - 14.
I'm just shooting in the dark here.
Mussels are cooked, they look good, smell good.
This is going to be some clams in a butter sauce.
I feel like I'm the underdog
in understanding classic cuisine.
I'm going to let this fish stock cook out my clams a bit.
I see a lot of chefs going for mussels.
What I'm going to do is hope that maybe it's not mussels
and I will get an advantage if I get clams right.
Ten minutes!
There's got to be a green vegetable in there,
so I'm going to do a little spinach.
Feeling good.
She asked is there spinach in the dish?
We said no. She put spinach in the dish.
I'm just super focused.
This is my last chance to make some money,
so eye on the prize.
Oh, white asparagus!
Jonathan's grabbing asparagus.
White asparagus.
Is there white asparagus in the dish?
Probably no.
Am I doing white asparagus? Yes.
I'm choosing the white asparagus
because it's a great base for this dish.
It works with mussels, it works with cod.
I'm just going to make a dish that's going to taste good.
Hey, Tom. I know we're bald headed, man,
but it is really hard to get in your head.
I have no idea what I'm doing right now.
I'm not bald, I cut it this way.
[laughing]
- Five minutes! - Five!
I'm just finishing up my mussels right now.
Cod is poached.
I feel good about what I'm making,
but the red tinge on the bottom of that empty bowl
is bothering me, so I grab smoked paprika.
- I'm getting too old for this. - It's not natural, man.
One minute, chefs, one minute.
Rhoda, do you have anything on your plate yet?
Go, Rhoda. Go, Rhoda.
You guys worried about me? That's cute.
Get plated.
You got to take this, Sherry.
You gotta take it, okay? Okay.
- It's either you or me. - Sounds good.
What's this alliance about, huh?
Five, four, three, two, one.
Time's up. Utensils down.
Hope it's cooked through.
[groaning]
Good job, buddy.
It's time to reveal Tom's dish.
- Oh, boy. - There it is.
Started out as a Billi Bi with potato and leek.
I'm kicking myself.
Why did I not ask if there was starch in the dish?
But then I wanted to make it more of a main dish,
so it got some cod.
But then the Billi Bi went to Spain,
- got a little saffron. - Saffron.
- Okay.
Chorizo in it, the mussels steamed in white wine.
That's the base for the sauce.
Finish it with a little bit of butter, some chive,
and a little bit of chervil.
And then those beautiful ají dulces over there.
That's what that little stem was.
And that was just kind of lightly roasted.
That's the dish.
- Wow. - That's exactly what I made.
[laughter]
Alright, Sherry, let's start with you.
- Thank you. - Oh.
- Alright. - I made poached cod
in a shellfish broth with sautéed spinach,
ají dulce peppers and lemon zest.
There was a question, is there spinach in the dish?
There was also a lemon in the dish.
- No way. - Yeah.
- The answer was no. - I missed it.
- You gotta be listening. - I was too in my head.
Other than that, you came really close. Yeah.
- I love these peppers. - Nice.
- Thanks, Sherry. - Thank you.
Rhoda.
I made poached cod
with steamed mussels in white wine.
I was trying to figure out the tinge of red,
so I grabbed paprika.
Good.
Why'd you think asparagus?
I was thinking so many things. [laughter]
My dish evolved throughout the cook.
I made poached cod.
I smelled mussels, so I did a meunière-style sauce
with butter, leeks, and some pepper.
Cream, chervil and chives.
- Hmm. Spicy. - Did you put lemon in here too?
- I did. Mmhm. - Yeah.
Great. Okay, Laurence.
I made a butter-poached cod in a butter sauce
with some clams, Fresno chilies, parsley, and scallions.
Were there no mussels left?
No, I grabbed the clams first.
Alright, thanks, Laurence.
- That was fun. - That was fun.
Overall, actually, you came pretty close.
You got a good amount of the ingredients in there.
And all the dishes tasted good.
But there were, of course, a couple that did fall
just a little bit short. [tense music]
Laurence, it was close,
but you had clams instead of mussels.
Didn't have a lot of the aromatics.
I think it just got missed.
Gail, who else?
Jonathan.
There were just a few key components that were missing
and the overall flavors of the dish were just not captured.
- Sure. - So, of course,
that means either Sherry or Rhoda
is going to win the $20,000.
Sherry, you got a lot of ingredients.
You added lemon, and you added spinach,
and we said no to.
But other than that, I thought it was really close
and I thought it was really delicious.
And everything was cooked beautifully in yours.
Rhoda, also, a really excellent job.
You added the paprika,
which wasn't an actual ingredient in the dish,
but because chorizo has so much of it,
it did give the dish a lot more aromatics.
Tom, whose dish came closest to yours?
Factoring in taste, presentation,
amount of ingredients, how well it was cooked.
- Rhoda. - Rhoda!
- Congratulations, Rhoda. - Three in a row, Rhoda.
I feel like I have a momentum right now.
It feels invigorating.
Congratulations, Rhoda. You just won $20,000
thanks to the active cash credit card from Wells Fargo.
- So that's $40,000? - Yeah.
I'm going to run with it,
and I'm just going to keep going.
That's awesome.
We had a little bit of fun in this Quickfire.
You guys got to ask a lot of questions,
but this is it.
Because what you make in this challenge
is going to determine if you make it to the finale.
Oh, the goosebumps have started.
Nice.
[dramatic music]
My turn for a question.
What do pieces of wood, a bisected wine bottle
and a flower pot have in common?
You make the wine bottle into a flower pot?
No, all of them have been used as plates
in some of the best restaurants around the world.
Plating is truly an art form.
Many renowned chefs are starting to really push
the boundaries of how to plate food
and how to present a dish.
So for your final elimination challenge before the finale,
you all are going to have to think outside of the box,
or perhaps, outside of the plate.
- Oh, boy. - No, no. Don't.
Wow.
You're gonna have to come up with a dish
that pushes your creativity.
And is served on something completely unexpected.
[laughter]
My restaurant, our plates are on 1/8 sheet trays,
so I don't have experience doing this.
How do you make the vessel meaningful?
Some of these things might seem a little silly.
But truthfully pushing the boundaries of
what plating means often pushes you to do incredible things.
Really tell a story and make delicious food.
Right. You've got to show us why you deserve
- to make it to the finale. - This is crazy.
You each will get to choose a vessel from this display.
And after you choose your vessel,
you're going to head to Whole Foods Market
where you're going to have 30 minutes and $200 to shop.
And then after that, you're going to head back here
to the Top Chef kitchen
where you are going to have two hours to prep.
Tomorrow, you're going to have two hours to prep and cook
before service begins at Henrietta's.
There, you're going to serve
the three of us and your three very special guests.
Editor in chief of Food & Wine magazine, Hunter Lewis.
One star Michelin chef of Kato, Jon Yao.
And someone who really knows how to have fun
and get creative, actress and comedian,
- Liza Koshy. - Oh, wow.
And she loves food.
So Rhoda, as the winner of the last elimination challenge,
you get to choose first. Just a heads up,
if you do choose this one here, there's only three of those.
So, if you don't choose that,
it will have to be done family style.
Everything else that wasn't chosen is going to be
left on display so you can swap.
[sighing] This is so much pressure.
I don't like this.
I gravitate towards this piece of wood.
It looks more like a blank canvas than anything.
All right, so Sherry, Jonathan, and Laurence,
first come, first serve. Come grab one.
Sherry got the trapeze.
You know I love home goods.
The restaurant group that I work for,
we have a concept where it's a culinary journey
through the psychedelic mind.
And we use different types of vessels to highlight
the food item that you're eating.
We do fun stuff in planters.
I'm going to use this market basket.
My goal is to fill it with dirt and plate food inside the dirt.
That's cute. Hold it like a purse.
- There you go. - Cute.
I'm excited. The wheels are turning.
You can already start to see it.
There's so many little slots on this plate to be filled.
So, I'm committing to many different elements.
This is the time, if ever, to be ambitious.
I don't know what I'm going to make,
but I think the idea of
this family style is kind of cool.
All I'm thinking about
is getting to top three now.
All right, good luck. I'll see you tomorrow.
[tense music]
[upbeat music]
What do you feel like the most challenging part
about this cook?
To meaningfully integrate the vessel.
Yeah, you don't want it to be gimmicky, you know.
- Right. - And on top of that,
it's got to taste good.
[tense music]
[Laurence groaning]
Something's talking to me here.
Pumpkin? Fall?
I'm thinking my dish is going to be served in a pumpkin.
I'm in my pumpkin feels right now.
I haven't got anything on my list.
A pumpkin soup brioche inside the pumpkin.
Pumpkins and flowers, not even on my list.
You're going to open it up, expose the bread.
That's something different and that shows technique.
This is the dish that could take me into the finals.
Obviously, there's always that reserved feeling of, like,
this might not be good enough. I might not be good enough.
Jonathan, you are enough.
Thank you, I appreciate that, man.
Laurence, what are you doing?
I'm doing steamed rice rolls.
The decorative silver centerpiece reminds me
of family style eating.
I'll take the short ribs.
Can I take the big pieces in the front
and maybe like a nice fatty one as well?
And so I want to make a dim sum platter
with steamed rice rolls paired with different sauces.
The main things I need is the protein,
so I need the short ribs. And then I need the lobster.
This is definitely risky.
I think committing to a lot of different elements
is going to make it a lot more difficult to execute.
- Eight minutes, y'all! - Eight minutes.
Prime dry aged?
- Wonderful. Sold. - Alright.
Where can I find gochujang, the Korean spicy paste?
When I was a young cook in New York City,
every Sunday night after service,
we would go out and we'd have Korean barbecue.
And served all the banchan.
I think because I'm using that one plate,
it's going to be the perfect vessel for it.
I always enjoyed that type of eating because you can choose
how you're going to garnish it and the textures that you want.
- Thank you. - So adorable.
That made my day. Thank you.
[tense music]
[scanner beeps]
Thank you, bye!
[tense music]
Go, go, go.
- This kitchen is so empty. I know.
[sighs]
Earlier, I chose the basket.
There's really nowhere to put a food
without putting filler,
so I am going a different direction.
Dude.
- Yeah, look at that. - I like it. I like it.
The pedestal, I really like that as a serving vessel
to elevate the pumpkin.
So I want to make my brioche dough.
Bread is risky
because you're at the mercy of the yeast.
Proofing requires a controlled environment.
It requires time.
There's two things that you don't have a top shelf for.
1:39, y'all.
The beets are getting juiced to make my beet soil.
And that's the optical illusion that I'm trying to create.
What is fun about this challenge is thinking of that perfect dish
that would go with the vessel.
But you don't want your overall dish
to have too much surface area and not enough substance.
It'll look like soil, hopefully.
But this is for me. It's not for the short rib.
So I'm a little more loose during the cook.
- What flavor profile? - Galbi.
It's a braised Korean-style short rib.
I'm going to pressure cook short ribs like you!
I had no idea Laurence was making short rib.
Let's see who has the best short rib.
I have gochujang in here, brown sugar.
This is the base for my galbi.
I am not making galbi.
I'm making four different rice rolls
and each one is going to be filled with different things.
In Chinese it's cheung fun.
The first one is braised short rib.
They're going to have the umptious beef inside
and then they're also going to have the sauce all around it.
There's going to be a lobster.
I need to get prepping on the lobsters.
I'm going to make a paste out of some of it.
And then I'm going to leave some of it whole
so I can fold it in that paste.
We're going to do one that has Chinese sauces
and shiitake mushrooms.
I need to rehydrate my mushrooms.
I need to take the skin off the Chinese sausage.
I need to blitz all that up.
There's going to be a dessert one,
which is going to be a poached sweet potato.
I've never made a dessert rice roll before,
but I want to highlight the Carolinas.
And I feel like a sweet potato
is actually a perfect base for this.
We're going to poach in some vanilla,
some sorghum, some star anise.
Damn, bro, you're doing a five-course meal in one.
- Four. - Damn!
Yeah, I think it's gonna be pretty cool. I'm pretty excited.
- One hour, everybody! - One!
- Here they come! - How's it going?
- What's going on, chefs? - Say hello to Liza.
- Hi! - Hi!
- How y'all doing? - Jonathan.
- What's up, Chef? - What dish are you doing
that's going to get you to the finale?
These little baby pumpkins fit like perfectly.
- Perfectly in there. - So I'm like alright,
I'm going to do a pumpkin seed brioche put into the pumpkin.
That's the dish?
This is what you're hanging your hat on
to get you to the finale?
I landed on bread, and I landed on butter.
It's basically like orange zest, pumpkin puree, whipped.
Who told you I was coming?
Who told you to cater to the palate?
- See, I knew it. - You knew.
- It's your thing? - Of course it is my thing.
- Yes. - How would I know?
This enthusiastic of a woman loves a pumpkin spiced latte.
Alright. [laughter]
Laurence, what's your vessel again?
- This fun little thing. - Oh, that's vessels.
- Yeah, many vessels. - Sounds like a lot of work.
But when does that ever stop us, right?
Exactly. This is it for the finale.
For the most part, you've been doing well.
I've been doing well.
I'm sure there's probably a few chefs here looking at you.
- Who are you looking at? - Rhoda.
Coming back from Last Chance Kitchen,
winning the last three Quickfires.
Winning the last elimination. She's on fire right now.
It's a good time to catch fire.
- Thank you all. - You got this.
Such a pleasure to meet you, thank you.
- Hi, how are you? - This is Liza. Liza, Rhoda.
- Nice to meet you. Welcome. - Nice to meet you.
Tell me why it smells so good over here.
Oh, well, you know.
You chose the piece of wood, right?
Yes. I'm thinking of creating a real tree bark in here.
- Okay. - So I'm going to grill ribeye.
And I'll have some tiny little vegetables sort of
- like growing out of here. - Oh, okay.
Like a mini little garden kind of thing.
- Like a forest? - Oh, I love that.
- You got this. - Thank you.
Hey, Sherry.
You have the trapeze thing over here happening, huh?
What is this? A clothesline for ants?
I wanted to take you to K Town.
- K Town. - Hmm.
Yeah, so I'm going to have short rib
and then I want to do a banchan on top.
So then I can clip little things here and then have them hanging.
Have you ever worked
with something of this nature before?
No, first time.
Ah, I'll bring my soju, you bring the food.
[laughter] I'll see you there.
- That's a date. - Yeah.
- Good luck, Chef. - It's so nice meeting you.
- These are the rejects. - Ah, the vessels.
Look at that, we got a shoe.
- Yeah. - You know what a shoey is?
I can only imagine a shoey.
It's native to Australia. You drink out of a shoe.
Okay.
- We got any beer over here? - We have beer over there.
Pop that, yeah.
You're gonna do your first shoey.
[laughter]
- Good technique. - Like that? Lift it up?
Absolutely, there you go.
That's a shoey, babes.
[laughter] Tom is such a wild card.
You never really know what's gonna happen.
Perfect. Alright, let's get out of here.
- Let's do it, let's do it. - Okay, chefs,
you got a little over half an hour left to cook.
We'll see you tomorrow, good luck.
- See you tomorrow. - Bye, Chef.
- Bye! - Good luck, sleep tight!
See ya!
I got to measure out the base for my cheung fun.
To get these rice rolls, you need to get enough starch.
To get enough starch,
you need to use dried rice with water
and then you fold that into your base.
We're using Carolina gold rice,
which I've never done before with this.
But I think the starch content
of it is going to be actually really nice.
I've only ever done this with jasmine rice,
but I'm trusting my instincts.
[tense music]
Eating foods like this that are silly and goofy
reminds you of being a kid and playing with your food.
When people first meet me,
they always think that I'm very tough,
because I've been in New York for so long
and I have this front.
But deep down inside,
I'm just like this little kid from Brazil who loves cooking.
- You think this is cute? - That is really cute.
And then it's like build your own.
Yeah.
Seven minutes!
"This is what you wanna hang your hat on?"
Yes, Tom.
It's really good, you want a taste?
Right?
Yeah.
Sherry's dish is really smart.
It's interactive, her short ribs taste delicious.
You go, girl.
It reminds me of being broke.
Drunk in K-Town.
- 50 seconds, y'all. - 50 seconds!
[timer beeps]
- Time! - Time!
[upbeat music]
[phone ringing]
Baby!
Hi, oh, my God.
Oh my Lord.
I really miss you. I'm thinking about you every day.
I'm thinking about our baby every day.
I'm sleeping with a teddy bear of his.
To be away from the family, it's a big toll.
As we progress in this competition,
all the that things are happening,
I'm processing without the
one person in this world that I process with
more than anyone else, and that's my wife, Rary.
I'm in the top four.
[gasping]
It's crazy!
[laughter]
That's incredible. You're exactly where
you're supposed to be. You're so talented.
I'm so proud of you.
Time away from the things that give me pure joy,
like seeing my son. Feeling that kind of void, is very difficult.
And so I want to make this all worth it.
[kissing]
I love you, take care.
Bye-bye.
How are we feeling this morning?
Ready.
Where I'm cooking in the most recent challenges
has been from a very honest place as opposed to being like,
oh, I'm trying to force this.
The past few challenges, I've been crushing it.
It feels good. I wanna keep this momentum going.
I feel confident that I can pull from memory.
The fact that I can pull from things like growing up.
And I also think that's part of being Top Chef, right?
I'm feeling good because ultimately
there's no question whether or not I'm a
talented chef. I know that.
- Let's go. - Should we get this going?
Before Jonathan turns into a pumpkin.
Hey! [laughing]
Before Johnny turns into a pumpkin!
[tense music]
Let's go!
Laurence, where you at?
[laughter]
Chefs, this is it.
This is the dish that's gonna get us in the finale.
- Finale! - Let's do it!
Bald head pumpkin energy today.
Dude, I got a whole menu going on.
I don't know why I'm doing it.
I know why.
You wanna secure your spot in the finale, bro.
Oh, that's right. That's right.
I checked my Carolina gold rice
and it is perfect.
I just want to make sure there's no huge grains,
because then it's going to cook unevenly.
I'm going to be doing four different sauces
for four different rice rolls.
This will be a sweet soy sauce.
I just want it to be a little salty,
underlining with this black bean garlic.
I want the playfulness to come secondary
and that's the thing that ties together
the vessel with the food.
Delicious.
Hour 42.
Dough looks beautiful.
[sighs]
The yeast, I know, it's working.
I'm going to bake them in here so they'll have a nice shape.
Rhoda's doing a ribeye.
Laurence has lobster.
I got flour, butter, water and a pumpkin.
And I want to be gentle.
I'm willing to risk it for the biscuit.
So I got some thyme leaves to add herbaceousness.
I'm going to have a compound butter using a pumpkin puree
and put that butter back in
the flesh of the pumpkin.
If Brandon were here, I wonder what he would say.
Brandon's not here.
You're here, Johnny!
[laughter]
Jonathan deciding to make bread and butter,
it's a very bold move at this point in the competition.
It better be the best ----ing bread you've ever baked.
- You baking, Johnny? - Yeah.
When you're good with the oven, you let me know, all right?
Yeah, I will. I'm going to, I'll put it on steam for you.
Thanks, mate.
The kale, I'm going to fry it, dust it with
a little bit of nutritional yeast
so it'll look kind of like part of the forest.
And I have pickled seaweed.
It adds like a nice little texture.
It's more about the vessel than anything.
Mm-hmm.
There's a lot of playful elements,
but also making sure that they all taste good.
All the fat separated from the
stock, so I'm left with a nice,
clear broth. Short ribs are looking phenomenal.
When you take the sauce and you reduce it down,
it becomes like a nice, shiny glaze.
It's going to be like super juicy and moist.
Is it good?
Yep, we're cooked.
Beauty.
These are great. I'm gonna go ahead and let these rest.
212. 100% steam.
You're the best.
It's gonna cool down now and you have two minutes and 43 seconds
until it's ready.
Amazing.
47 minutes.
Damn.
Lead the way.
Oh!
- Pretty, right? - Oh, stunning. Yes.
I can find my caterer now.
Thank you so much. Service here is great.
- Wow! - Thank you.
Liza and Jon, first time at Top Chef, yes?
- First time. - First time.
- Welcome, great to have you both.
Hunter, always a pleasure.
So good to be back.
This meal is going to determine the three chefs that get to
serve their final meal.
So there's a lot of pressure on this meal alone.
30 minutes!
This is the lobster one. My rice roll batter.
I want to make them nice and thin so they can roll over
many times to build some more texture in the rice roll.
Doesn't feel very steamy.
I opened the oven and it's not steaming.
So we gotta figure that out, don't we?
I'm not that familiar with this piece of equipment.
To be one cook away from the finale and not make it,
that would be pretty heartbreaking for me.
Brother!
Laurence, how are you doing?
I don't know if it's steaming or not. It should be in theory.
I don't know what happened.
A moment like this calls for panic, but honestly,
in this semifinal cook, I don't want to waste too much time
trying to get this to work.
We're going to have to steam in a different way.
That's going to take a bit longer.
I need to pivot.
I have a pot on the stove, a little steam rack
and I'm going to be using much, much smaller trays.
Too bad for me.
And I'm going to have to do three at a time
if I'm going to make it in time for service.
That's just not how I would normally cook.
20 minutes!
[upbeat music]
I can smell the ribeye.
Since the vessel is unconventional,
they can't necessarily put their knife through it.
I want them to have the perfect little bites with everything.
Let's get one try in here.
Oh, my God.
[upbeat music] Damn! Yo!
Everything has to taste good, but also
it has to be fun for the guests.
Oh, my God, yo!
Let's see, let's see, let's see!
You made it like the perfect height.
I know, I never thought I would be doing a dish like this.
One minute!
[tense music]
Pumpkin energy! Pumpkin energy!
[laughter]
Two, one!
[timer beeps]
- Great job. - Let's do it!
[upbeat music]
It's on.
- Oh, here we go. - Wow!
Oh!
What a dramatic presentation.
- Wow, thank you. - Alright. Beauty.
Jonathan, tell us about the vessel you chose
and the dish you made.
The inspiration from this dish is I wanted to use the vessel
to have pumpkin on a pedestal.
You can take the stem very gently off,
and you will see...
[exclaiming]
Okay!
So inside the pumpkin is a pumpkin seed dinner roll
and then pumpkin puree made of compound butter.
On top is a pumpkin seed and jalapeno powder
and then there's pumpkin seeds inside.
Did you make your own butter?
- Not from... - Compounds, got it.
- No, yeah. - You just added the flavour.
- Exactly. - Thank you, Jonathan.
- Yeah, pleasure. - Thank you.
Woo!
- How was it? - Oh, man, I don't know.
They ate all the bread, but hey, who knows?
Going up against y'all talented chefs around here.
[chuckling]
Oh, look at you being humble.
There's something about this whole bit.
I smiled, like I was like, oh that was clever.
It was a perfect fit. I think it was gorgeous.
And none of this works if the bread's not good.
- Right. - And the bread is tasty.
It's moist, it's fragrant.
The spice is really nice too.
I thought a little vessel to put your butter in
was the best part. But it would've been good to actually
get a pumpkin marmalade with the butter.
It could've just sat on the bottom, then roll in here.
So, you could've taken the concept a little further.
Is it enough? I don't know, it's gonna be
stacked up against three other dishes.
It's a very fascinating and confident flex.
Yeah, yeah.
[intense music]
This is the Chinese sausage.
It's in a pretty good place.
Make it up.
- Make it happen. - Make it happen.
[sizzling]
Kimchi takes months to make.
Even if I made it yesterday, it would not taste close to
proper fermented kimchi. So I got some
store-bought kimchi as a base.
I'm gonna re-season it and fold in fresh diced pears.
So much flavor.
Three minutes!
This is my burnt leek puree.
I'm trying to great a forest floor.
I got some bronze fennel,
these beautiful carrot tops.
I'm pulling a lot of earthy notes.
This is the soil.
I'm just gonna layer it in.
To make it to the finale will make all of the hard work
extremely affirming.
I'm just trying to finagle
where I'm going to place
my meats.
[sighing]
Like I really, really, really, really, really want this.
I'm just loving how this is all coming together.
Damn!
You know how I like to use every single second I have.
[timer beeping]
Look at that beauty.
Be very, very careful.
Oh, look at that.
- Oh, wow. - Stunning.
Hi, I chose tree bark.
So it's a grilled ribeye,
beets, beet soil, baby turnips, baby carrots,
and burnt leek puree.
So how did the vessel inspire this dish?
I like when I'm plating like the hills and the valleys,
having a flat surface and then just kind of like crescendos.
And this, I didn't have to do much to it.
It's like three-dimensional.
- Exactly. - I think it works.
Thank you.
Yeah.
I think it's fantastic.
I love the fact that they're all different, so she had to
plate them all differently and it didn't throw her.
The earthy flavors match your expectation
when you see the vessel.
I love the flavors.
The pickled seaweed was the thing for me that just like
brought this whole thing to life.
It was an edible arrangement.
- Right. - Yeah.
- In the best sense of the term. - I didn't want to eat it.
Gorgeously done.
Did it go well?
I think so.
Good.
Gail, I beat you with the number of crumbs.
I don't know, we're gonna blame it on the vessels.
Mm-hmm.
- How did you do that, Tom? - What?
You have nothing in front of you.
[laughing]
This napa cabbage.
This is part of my banchan.
I'm searing it and then I'm putting it on a
soy and raw honey sauce.
Laurence, are you ready, baby?
This one is a bit thick.
It's not the traditional rice noodle that I'm used to making,
but it tastes really good, so I'm hoping that's going to
carry me over. Then we're going to start plating.
Sweet soy, creamy peanut sauce.
My white soy.
Different rolls.
[tense music]
Ah! Desert.
Sweet potato.
Oh, look at that.
Some of these are a little bit off, but
I'm ready.
[timer beeping]
Oh, we got some family-style stuff.
We're going to have some fun today.
- Oh, wow! - Oh, I love it.
- This is called cheung fun. Fun time.
These are steamed rice rolls, classic Cantonese street food.
For the savory ones, we have steamed rice roll with
Chinese sausage shiitake on top of a creamy peanut sauce.
We have a lobster one with a black bean garlic relish
and then we have a braised short rib.
So after you work through those, in the middle, we have dessert.
It is a braised sweet potato
with a coconut crema on the bottom.
Thank you so much. Appreciate it.
- Thank you. - Thank you.
All right.
This is fun. This is like actual dim sum.
Laurence did so many things.
The insides, obviously, were so different. The filling,
the sauce, the garnishes.
We had a four-course meal.
Really delicious.
His rice rolls are slightly thicker than what
I think I'm used to having.
I personally thought it was too thick.
Yeah.
But I also love the chewy texture.
- Yeah. - It was good.
He saw the vision and executed it beautifully.
- Oh, Sherry! - How did it go?
All I'm hoping for is a chance to cook in the final cook.
I'm happy, they're cooking really well today.
It's Sherry's to lose at this point.
Yeah.
Let's go!
[dramatic music]
We're gonna keep doing the cold veggies
because the cold veggies are gonna hold better.
And then we're gonna finish with everything hot.
Oh my God.
Too hard plating between these wires.
This is about six to seven different types of banchan.
They're gonna build it themselves.
So it's pretty much like choose your own adventure.
I just hope they don't choose to send me home.
I am moving as fast as I can.
This is my ticket to top three.
So all the details matter.
It's top three. Like, I'm not playing games anymore.
[timer beeping]
Oh, wow.
Oh, here we go.
Wow!
Insanity. Just insanity.
- Thank you. - That's wild.
Wow.
They all just, just crush it.
Really good. Hey, sherry.
- Hi! - Hello!
When I was a broke line cook,
it was tradition to go to Korean barbecue
after service every Sunday night.
And it was the perfect vessel to plate banchan.
Something that you can deconstruct and you can
choose your own adventure. So you have a gochujang braised
piece of short rib, pear kimchi, steamed rice and then banchan.
The kimchi does not taste like it was made yesterday.
Did you buy some jarred kimchi and use the juice?
I did. I blitzed it up and then I folded in a ton of pears.
Good way to go, because you'd never get that fermentation
unless you did that.
- Thank you, Sherry. - Thank you. Thank you, Chef.
Thank you.
Really, really freaking good and so playful.
The short ribs probably the best protein we had all day.
It has a little bit of everything. There's some
acidity. There's some sweetness. There's funk.
It all made complete sense.
- She went all in. - Yeah, she went for it.
- She went all in. - But food has to taste good.
And she nailed this.
Wow. This is... it's good. It's good.
Happy Tom!
Yeah, it's good. It's good food.
If I go home because of this one, I'll go home happy.
- This is a tough job. - Yeah.
Our final four really did an outstanding job.
Not only in execution of their dishes,
but playing to the challenge. A lot to discuss.
Liza, thank you for being here. - Thank you for having me.
Shall the rest of us head to the judges' table?
Sure.
[upbeat music]
Remember when we used to be all snug in this couch?
- Yeah. - There was no room.
It's four of us.
There's about to be three.
But it's been an incredible journey.
Oh, my God. What a blessing. You know?
It's been so much fun.
Yeah, it's been so worth it. I mean, there's highs and lows,
but like to be on the top and then to be on the bottom
and then to get $20,000 sweep right under your feet from
I don't know who...
I mean, I wasn't in that.
- Yeah, it was so close. - I was on a different carpet.
[laughing] - Oh, my God, yeah.
[tense music]
You guys crushed this.
- Aw, that's great. - Fantastic job.
You listened to one thing we said. We want to see vision,
we want to see creativity, but you have to cook. And you
did that too. So across the board, great day.
All right, good. Thank you very much. Let's...
[laughing]
We're all going to the finals! - Let's go!
That would be nice if we could do that. It really would.
Damn, that's good.
That's fantastic.
Sherry, let's start with you.
Why were you drawn to that particular vessel?
It made individual items stand out.
There's like an argument to be made, Sherry, that
of all the vessels you all used today, yours was the least
conventional. And I think it brought all of us back to
the fun and the joy of Korean barbecue,
but with this adventure.
You had the most successful beef preparation of the day.
And I think ultimately that
bite with every single thing in it was like really tasty.
Thanks, Chef.
It was so good that you just found yourself enjoying it.
And then you sit there and say,
"Well, why would I eat it any other way?
This is the way it should be."
Rhoda, obviously, you got to choose your vessel first.
Just picturing that trunk, it just felt more earthy to me.
Your vessel begged for the dish that you made.
To find everything, you were sort of like
digging in the woods. You really like took us all the way there.
Your command of umami and the way that you build flavor,
that was exceptional. I really want to eat more of your food.
And it was a little art piece. You put it in the corner,
I'm going to not even realize that there's food on it
until I stick my face in it.
Jonathan, you originally grabbed something completely different.
The candle holder just spoke to me. So I wanted a
really, really cool presentation of an item that
you interact with.
This idea of just doing bread and butter.
At first, it was like, "this guy is out of his frigging mind?
He's going to just give you a piece of brioche?"
I definitely thought it was risky, but it felt right.
There was just something magical when you popped it open and
the butter service was there and the brioche was really, really
just beautifully done.
Coming from you, that's a lot.
Do you ever think about maybe incorporating the vessel
in a different way as well?
I felt like the pumpkin was the move, because it just,
wow, on a pedestal.
Laurence, you went right for that giant platter.
Did you already have something in mind?
I didn't know what I wanted to make.
It felt like something that's a bit more fun and playful
and like interactive.
I thought it was just a really nice dish for the moment.
I loved the variety and the different sauces and the
different fillings.
Were the thickness of the wrappers to your liking?
It was a bit more uneven than I wanted.
A ton of work that went into it and all really delicious.
And that vessel was the perfect vessel for you
and for what you were trying to do.
Thank you.
Obviously, as you know, we're
making a very, very big decision.
Is there anything anyone wants to say?
I think for me, it's important to represent the community of
Latino female chefs.
Being an executive chef in New York City, I prioritize hiring
single moms and people who have left their families
and have made a lot of sacrifices.
I am the child of one of those women
and I'm so proud of my humble beginnings,
but where I stand now.
I just want to beat Laurence.
[laughing]
For me, like only having lived in Hawaii for a year
after having spent many, many years in California,
learning how to cook, I have an entire island rooting for me.
There's a lot of Filipinos in Hawaii.
And so like, there's a lot of it that feels like a
full-circle moment.
This is incredibly cool and I'm just so thankful, so.
This is like a dream come true, you know? I still don't believe
that I'm here. Like Brandon and I, he made me apply like
in 2015, didn't go through.
To do it this time around, it's just an amazing opportunity.
And to be honest, I just want to brag to my brother
for the rest of our lives.
You already won. You already won, you beat your brother.
That was it.
Thank you so much. Laurence, it's on you.
Being away from home is the motivation, I think.
For me, it was like, how do I make it worth it?
I wanted that moment where I'm like, I can tell her...
[chuckles]
you know, that...
Deep breath, deep breath. You got this.
I can tell her that what I did here
will give us like everything that our son deserves.
And more. You did good, brother.
[exhales]
That's it.
You made a really good decision with your wife
- to come and compete. - Thank you.
Thank you for sharing more about who you are with us.
Now y'all just made our job much harder.
I know, oh, my God.
We feel you all. We know how hard this road is.
It's long and it is very rigorous.
No matter what happens, today was a really great day
to send us into the finale.
So we will call you back in a little bit.
Everyone get a tissue.
[sighing]
- Thanks. - Thank you.
- Is everybody crying? - Laurence, you--
Dude, a little bit, yeah.
It's surprising. I thought we were gonna know who
- was on top or who's-- - Honestly, I thought so too.
- Before we left. - Maybe there's no winner.
Maybe we all go to the finale.
I mean, all the dishes were great.
Oh, they're gonna be splitting hairs.
This is tough. All the food was excellent today.
Whoever leaves the competition this evening
can go out feeling really great about their dish.
All right, well, let's start with who should win.
In my mind, it's between Rhoda and Sherry.
- Mm-hmm. - Yeah.
Tom today is happy and I'm happy when happy Tom's happy.
[laughter] You know what I mean?
I think Rhoda did an exquisite job. Every tiny turnip
was cooked perfectly. Every mushroom
was treated with so much care, and she did beautifully.
Very intentional. It was delicious.
I love the seaweed on Rhoda's plate.
The suspense is killing me.
There was a lot of thought that went into Sherry's dish.
That bite with every single thing in it was like
really, really, really tasty.
I mean, it felt outlandish, but it didn't feel forced.
I think that happens because the cooking was so good.
- Yeah. - Let's invest in a Korean
barbecue for the Brazilian girl.
Yeah.
So that leaves Jonathan and Laurence.
Tom said my brioche was perfect.
- They loved the bread. - Yeah, he did. Yeah.
So risky.
Jonathan, making an excellent brioche like that takes skill.
It was absolutely delicious.
The bread was well seasoned and the texture was great.
But a big part of this challenge was
the utilization of the vessel.
He didn't integrate it into it, right?
It's hard because it was really good.
Yeah, it was delicious and memorable.
Yeah.
There is something about being away from my family,
this journey and coming this far that, like,
gets you in your feels.
Laurence did mention the difficulty he had with
all the unevenness of the rice.
The rice wrapper was a little thick.
Yeah.
I thought the dish was so fun and so varied and so
well executed.
You got this full experience
- It was a four-course meal. - It was.
Everyone's proud.
Yeah.
That's just the only way we can go out.
- Yeah. - Yeah, exactly.
I don't think I've ever been at this table where
the difference between the fourth place here
and the first place are very close.
- Very close. - That's right.
It's what you want, but it doesn't make the job easy.
[tense music]
You all delivered fantastic plates of food,
but there can only be one winner.
The winning chef delivered a delicious dish,
but more than that, they met the moment
matching that dish to the vessel.
The winning chef tonight is...
Sherry.
- Wow! - Congratulations!
- Sherry! [clapping]
- Good job. - Thank you.
Congratulations, Sherry. That means you are the first chef
into the finale.
I feel amazing. Thank you so much.
That means you also earned yourself
an advantage going into the finale.
Oh, I'm so happy. Like...
I'm so excited. Being really raw and real, it all pays off just,
you know, to hear that I'm going to the finale.
This entire competition has been so humbling
and I'm so grateful for it.
Well, congratulations.
So you can just step over to the side there.
[tense music]
There's two spots left.
The next chef moving on to the finale...
Rhoda. Congratulations!
[upbeat music)
You can breathe!
Well deserved.
- I don't bow, but...
[laughing]
I don't ever bow, why did I bow? Why did I bow?
[laughter]
Very... curtsy, whatever.
Oh, my gosh, this is so cool.
There are a lot of times when you do second-guess yourself.
Maybe I'm not good enough. What am I even doing here?
But I'm right where I'm supposed to be.
- Thank you. - You're welcome.
Yay, two girls!
- Yay! [laughing]
Alright, let's get it, brother.
Jonathan and Lawrence,
one of you will be joining Rhoda and Sherry in the finale
and one of you will be going home.
[tense music]
Jonathan, please pack your knives and go.
Jonathan gave us a delicious brioche, but the connection
in the vessel was a little less successful than the others.
That was it.
I'm with it, yeah.
It's been a true pleasure. Thank you so much.
I loved every part of it, so it's excellent.
I see the finale...
Yeah, brother.
But I just didn't make the cut.
I'm going out on a dish that I 1,000% stand behind.
It's been fun.
Making it this far like really, really, unlocked some potential,
you know, that I knew I had.
It just needed to be brought out of me. And I feel
more confident than ever.
See ya!
CHEFS: Chef walking!
Brandon, if you're watching this,
I kicked your ass on Top Chef.
Boom.
Well, Laurence, that means that you have made it into the
finale of Top Chef. Congratulations.
I don't bow either, but I will bow. Thank you.
I feel a sense of relief and it feels good to be here.
How does it feel knowing that you guys are gonna serve
your finale meal?
[laughter]
[sighing] - Unimaginable.
- Yeah. - Yeah.
Remember what got you here. Go from your heart
and you'll do well.
It's your time to shine.
Congratulations.
Get out of here now.
[laughter]
Team what up!
Let's go! Final!
Next time, on the Top Chef finale.
Wow!
For your final challenge, we want you to create
the best four-course progressive meal of your lives.
[dramatic music]
Let's go, let's go, let's go.
You think they're gonna be scared that everything
has a little bit of heat? I need to keep it simple.
It's all about highlighting the ingredients.
[sizzling]
How are we looking over there?
Looking great. Pushing myself to be as ambitious
as I possibly can. That's the best congee
I've ever made in my life.
This dish is a toast to my dad.
I want to be well represented.
I can't believe I'm making this on Top Chef.
The task is quite simple. To find the next
Top Chef of season 23.
Here we go!
I feel nervous.
She ate with that look.
Exactly.
[laughing]
It was something new, it was something different.
When do you see something new these days?
This is the most difficult one I've seen in years.
I don't know.
Rhoda, Sherry and Laurence.
One of you will be Top Chef.
[tense music]