Previously on Top Chef...
Please welcome back...
-Ashley. -[applause]
I am back.
PADMA: You'll be making a dish in honor
of five trailblazing Texas women.
Seems like you know pretty much everything about Selena.
She had such a bold personality.
-This is amazing. -Wow.
I just want to do it justice,
and especially for Barbara Jordan.
It didn't wow me, and Barbara Jordan is wow.
-Yes. -She went to Europe
the same time that I kind of went to Europe.
It needed salt, it needed acidity,
it needed brightness.
The winning chef tonight is...
Evelyn.
[applause]
Monique, please pack your knives and go.
Nine chefs remain to compete
in the ultimate culinary showdown.
At stake for the winner:
a feature in Food and Wine magazine,
an appearance in the Food and Wine Classic in Aspen,
$250,000, furnished by San Pellegrino
and the coveted title of Top Chef.
♪♪♪
Look, everyone here, we've been in the bottom,
-you know what I mean? -Yeah.
I have a lot of confidence issues.
I was a sous chef at Noma before I left
and I haven't had a job since I left.
You know something is going to come up
and it's going to ----ing hit your strength
and then you're going to shine.
My idea was to take three months off
and then look into opening up my own restaurant.
But of course, the day after I woke up
not having a job anymore was the kick off to COVID.
I've got another chance to put myself on a plate.
-BUDDHA: Exactly. -When you work at a restaurant
like Noma everybody just expects
that you know how to do everything.
I got into this industry because I really liked learning.
-That's what I'm doing here. -Come on, Buddha.
-Don't worry. -[laughing]
♪♪♪
Hello, hello.
I see all these different ingredients,
spices and herbs.
It's some African vibes going on.
Please welcome your guest judges
for today's Quickfire Challenge.
Houston's very own Ope Amosu
and James Beard award winner
and top chef all-star, Kwame Onwuachi.
[applause]
Good to see you all.
Is that-- is that Evelyn over there?
I'm here. [laughing]
Houston is home to one of
the largest Nigerian populations in the country.
Both Ope and Kwame
are at the forefront of bringing
Nigerian cuisine to a wider American audience.
I couldn't let you guys come to my city
and not try some traditional Nigerian soups,
stews and swallows.
A swallow is a starch that's been cooked,
preferably boiled, until very, very tender.
And then we break a piece off
and you dip it in whatever soup or stew you have,
and you use that to help you swallow that.
But chefs, before you try anything,
let's draw knives.
♪♪♪
Your knives are labeled with three
very traditional swallows from Nigerian cuisine.
Jackson, what did you get?
-Iyan. -Iyan.
-Amala. -Eba.
For this Quickfire Challenge we want each of you
to take one of these three swallows
and make a dish that perfectly complements it.
The winner of this Quickfire Challenge
will receive immunity.
So come on up.
We're going to let you taste a few ingredients.
Grab your swallows.
I would try the stew,
-then the sauce first. -Like this?
KWAME: This is the egusi. Grounded melon seeds.
-This is really good. -Mm-mm.
Amala is like curry and rice dumplings.
It can be gummy and chewy at the same time.
That's your efo rero.
Braised spinach with palm oil, peppers, onions.
-So what's the heat from? -Scotch bonnet.
I've never cooked Nigerian food before.
The iyan swallow is made out of smashed yam
and it's giving, like, a texture of mashed potato.
And this one is Seafood Okra.
It's going to draw with this-- -Oh, because of the okra?
-Because of the okra. -KWAME: Yeah, watch that draw.
The technique is, like, you kind of wrap it around
-a little bit, you know. -Look at this.
-There you go. -[laughter]
I've never had eba.
It's almost like a starchy potato.
Learning more about my history and where I come from
is definitely interesting to me.
I feel inspired and I want to go for it.
I'm going to take you down to the spice aisle real quick
because you have everything from Yaji,
which is used to spice suya, which is like this roasted meat.
-Street meat. -Street meat.
We have alligator pepper which is grains of paradise.
Grains of paradise are so hard to find.
They're like little peppercorns.
So, there's a couple of things here
that will give you that draw.
Okra, ogbono.
Once water is added to this it'll start to slime.
I think you guys have had a nice little sample.
You have thirty minutes on the clock
and your time starts now.
-[indistinct chatter] -[bleep]
-All right. -All right.
-All the shrimp is gone. -Jesus, man.
When I taste my swallow I thought of gumbo
with a little bit of crispy okra right at the top.
So, when you get the eba you dip
and hopefully you can grab some bits of surprises.
Cooking with soul, baby.
♪♪♪
LUKE: Buddha, which ingredients did you grab?
I've got a guinea fowl,
I've got some dried shrimp and some curry powder.
I'm going to be doing a take on a sauté,
like a peanut sauce with guinea fowl and shrimp.
-So, which swallow did you get? -I got iyans, made out of yams.
What's difficult is we have to make
something so flavorsome within thirty minutes,
so the swallow can pick up all that flavor.
I'm making something called Sukuma Wiki.
What's that?
Just like stewed greens, basically.
I had spent this gap year in East Africa.
I loved the food scene there.
I remember this dish that just reminded me of home.
I'm going to get some of that, you know,
the pull they talked about.
-20 minutes, chefs. -EVELYN: 20 minutes?
I'm definitely taking inspiration from the spices
and making a shrimp and scotch bonnet stew
garnished with pineapple and suya spice...
[blender whirring]
...which almost kind of tastes like
curry powder with more flavor.
There's a lot of similarities with, like, Southeast Asian.
I mean, there's ginger, there's garlic.
My mom always makes, like, chicken wing stew,
but like a Mexican version.
I'm trying to pull from her but just trying
to make it taste a bit more Nigerian.
What do you think about the stuff you tasted up there?
Uh, I thought it was really interesting
to be able to experience a new cuisine.
Quite honestly it's just really frustrating to get these, like,
once in a lifetime opportunities and I can't taste anything.
I got snapper, I got a bunch of veg
from up there, I got curry and suya.
My game plan is just to create a sauce
and perfectly cook the fish and hope that it works out.
Ten minutes.
Guys, there's backup of all the spices in pantry, FYI.
-Heard. -Why do I help people?
I don't know.
Luke, is this new to you?
Everything about this is new to me.
♪♪♪
-You have five minutes. -Five minutes!
That food was spicy, I ain't holding back.
I taste my stew, it is a little sweet
because I added in a little bit of tamarind paste,
so I'm adding in a lot more spice
just so I can balance that out.
This time flies the [bleep] out of here.
I don't feel this is the most cohesive dish.
I think that my dish is a little spicy
and I don't know whether that's going to
-bite me in the butt. -JO: One minute.
EVELYN: Fifteen.
Time's up, hands up everybody, utensils down.
Alright, every chef that drew the iyan,
please come up.
-Okay, Jackson. -I made snapper with tomato,
red bell pepper, red onion, with a light herb salad on top.
The fish is actually in the middle
that you can kind of break off with your fingers.
-It's like a curry, right? -So, curry powder, suya spice--
I like the fact that you went bold, though.
Because the swallow, you know,
kind of dampens down the heat,
so you have to always take that into consideration.
-Luke, what did you make for us? -LUKE: Chicken thighs coated in
I believe with [indistinct] leaf,
with bitter greens and dry crayfish broth.
I like the flavoring here.
I like that you went in with the leaves.
I did a shrimp and guinea fowl
with peanuts and fried plantains.
I used all the spices, all the dried shrimp
that was on board here to make an African inspired sauté.
It's got that all over it. That peanut, it speaks to us.
You're going to be Buddha Chuku after we eat this, man.
It's really speaking to the roots, man,
-I appreciate it. -BUUDHA: Thank you so much.
Everyone who drew eba, please come up.
Thank you, okay Nick, what did you make for us?
I made an okra stew.
I added in chicken thighs and crabs.
I also put crispy okra over the top.
It's sweet. What else is in here?
It was the tamarind paste, too. I added it.
-Okay. -I prepared Sukuma Wiki.
I used that leaf that has all that hole on it
and cooked it in a shrimp and crab stock
and then on top is grilled shrimp
that I marinated with shito.
The jute leaf, yeah, I'm tasting that.
The jute leaf, yeah, it's good.
Damarr, what did you do for us?
I did a scotch bonnet and shrimp stew
that I thickened with okra
and I topped that with some diced pineapple.
And what are the Nigerian spices you used?
I used the bright orange one.
-KWAME: Suya pepper. Oh yeah. -DAMARR: Suya?
You definitely used suya in here.
PADMA: Nice amount of heat in here, too.
-Yeah. -Thank you all.
The chefs who drew Amala, please come up.
Hi, thank you.
So, I made a tamarind and chicken wing stew.
It has a bit of crab fat, a crab stock,
tomatoes, charred okra and herb-lime salad on top
to kind of cut through the richness of the stew.
What did you [indistinct], did you use one of the leaves?
-So, that's cilantro and mint. -Okay.
-What did you make, Jo? -I made a chicken
and kale stew that's been seasoned
with suya and banga spice.
Chefs, I have a poached mackerel
and wilted arugula in beef stew.
-Thank you so much. -Thank you, chefs.
Overall I think y'all did great.
To see you transform these ingredients
and still put your spin on it was definitely inspiring.
There were a couple that weren't
as successful as the rest, however.
The first one, unfortunately, is Nick.
That stew was a little too sweet for us.
The addition of tamarind is fantastic,
but you do need to cook it out.
Evelyn, the flavors
that you used overpowered that dish
and it felt a little convoluted.
-Okay. -Ope,
who had one of our favorite dishes?
Buddha's dish was actually put together very well.
-Thank you. -And it also tied in
to our Nigerian roots, so it had some of that peanut.
Thank you. Thank you so much.
The other dish that we really enjoyed was Damarr's.
It was bold in all the best ways.
You let those ingredients sing.
Jackson, I think the orange sauce stew that
you put together, I really just thoroughly enjoyed it.
And the winning chef is...
♪♪♪
And the winning chef is...
Chuku, you understood the assignment, Buddha.
Thank you.
It was great that he loved it so much
that he was willing to give me a nickname.
-I feel honored. -Congratulations Buddha,
you have immunity in the next elimination challenge.
Alright, gentlemen, I would like to thank you both
for joining us today and giving us all an education.
Thank y'all.
Okay chefs, we're almost halfway through the competition.
If you want to win
you're going to have to dominate.
[banging sound]
[animal noises]
-[dinosaur roaring] -[loud clattering]
Woah.
Jurassic Park?
["Jurassic Park" theme by John Williams]
-Hi. -Oh, my God.
PADMA: Please help me welcome
Top Chef Colorado winner Joe Flamm.
I know who chef Joe Flamm is
but he is unrecognizable to me in his getup.
This is definitely going to be a fun one
if you can't tell by the way I'm dressed.
♪♪♪
Who here remembers when the first
Jurassic Park movie came out?
I am a massive fan of the Jurassic Park
and Jurassic World movies.
I'm very excited, but how exactly is this supposed
to tie in to an elimination challenge?
In the upcoming new film,
Jurassic World Dominion, worlds will collide.
The dinosaurs are now living everywhere amongst the humans.
[dinosaur growling]
They're ruling the Earth by air, sea and land,
and for this challenge that's how you'll be teaming up
to rule the kitchen.
To give you a little inspiration on how to dominate,
we have a special message for you.
Hello chefs.
Congratulations on surviving the competition so far.
We're thrilled you'll be using our new movie,
Jurassic World Dominion,
as your inspiration for the next elimination challenge.
It's like no Jurassic film you've ever seen before.
For this challenge you will each be assigned a dinosaur
whose unique lifestyle and diet should be
-showcased in your dishes. -And here's a tip,
make something the judges will devour.
The judges will be joined at the dinner table
by our brilliant co-star DeWanda Wise.
Ugh, I'm so jealous, DeWanda is more than happy
to eat all of your fancy food while we're stuck
eating stale chips in a greenroom.
Be safe out there, chefs.
Welcome to Jurassic World.
In each one of these folders
is information on where these dinosaurs live,
what they eat, and how big they are.
If there's one thing Top Chef keeps doing
is stretching your imagination.
-Thank you. -Here you go. Here you go.
[dinosaur growling]
Match the color on your dossier.
All the reds go together, all the greens go together,
and then all the browns go together.
I'm liking this.
Those will be your teams for this challenge.
Jo I haven't worked with since the first team challenge
and Jae I haven't worked with before.
Nick, Damarr and Buddha, you have Mosasaurus.
That is a sea dinosaur that lives in the Atlantic.
It can swallow a Great White Shark whole.
Evelyn, Ashley and Jo,
you have Quetzalcoatlus, an air dinosaur.
They were first discovered actually right here in Texas,
and it's actually one of the largest
flying animals of all time.
Jackson, Luke and Jae, you have the Velociraptor.
Velociraptors originate from China
and their bite is as ferocious as a spotted hyena.
Each team is responsible
for making a three-course progressive meal
featuring dishes inspired by these jaw-dropping dinosaurs.
Today, each team will have fifteen minutes to menu plan.
Tomorrow, you'll have two hours to cook
and serve at Houston's Museum of Natural Science.
To sweeten the pot, the winning team will get
a VIP trip to attend the world premiere of the film.
-Wow. -[indistinct].
I can't wait to see how you bring these dinosaurs to life.
See you tomorrow, chefs.
We should try to focus on one subset of cuisine
so that we don't confuse the [indistinct].
-You're spot on. -I mean, I'm staying in
the Southern area, you know what I mean?
I'm happy to go Southern.
Nick is extraordinarily
well versed in Southern cuisine
and Evelyn lives here in Houston so she understands it.
EVELYN: Homage to Texas.
So, I got the Velociraptor so I'm going last.
I think a lot of people are going to go meat
for the third course, so we'll stand out
just by going desert, the one thing I want to do
is make some sort of sauce that's red and bloody because
Velociraptor specifically is very vicious, right?
-I like that. -NICK: Yeah.
EVELYN: I was thinking a pork loin.
JACKSON: Probably do a bird, though,
right, because it's air-based?
I know, well, the air I wanted to do a sweet potato
on the acai and, like, make it--
-JACKSON: So it's airy. -Yeah.
I mean, so I have a sea dinosaur,
so I'm thinking oysters and caviar.
I have land, Velociraptor, very aggressive
in its nature, also from Mongolia.
I wrote a play off of broccoli and beef,
so I'll have the short rib and then on the side
I'll have the onions that I'll kind of fan up
so it'll look like scales and then claws.
I'm just, like, thinking of, like, a list right now,
because I'm still a little unsure of what I'm making.
I'm going to use a whole alligator.
The Mosasaurus is a reptile, so I decide to get alligator.
I was sort of thinking of doing, like, a quail.
The thing is-- is that it eats literally everything.
It's so open-ended.
My idea for this dish is to take a quail,
which is obviously an air animal,
and stuff it with a conglomeration
of a lot of different ingredients.
Greens, nuts, some vegetables.
-What are you thinking? -To be honest,
I'm just a little lost.
It says that it's eating habits...
It says small mammals.
I'm having a very hard time
to get a concept or any ideas.
I'm freaking out more as time goes by
because I have to have a grocery list,
I'm about to go to the Whole Foods
and I do not know what I'm making.
I think it's sort of like an inspiration challenge.
I don't think you have to be, like, super, super literal.
Uh-huh. Agreed.
Because I've got immunity, that means if Jo and Jae
want to avoid being in a fifty-fifty elimination,
they'd want to try and put out their best dishes.
It makes you cook under pressure.
♪♪♪
I'm starting to get a sense of inspiration
based on ingredients that I'm seeing.
Hey, chicken wings.
I'll just get three pounds of wings, then.
Reading about the Quetzalcoatlus,
it's got these massive wings that it uses
to soar through the air at high speeds,
so I'm going to do a chicken wing.
Because I'm so creative.
Okay, I need twelve oysters.
Looking over the seasonings, I just got the panko.
I plan on making a crab croquette
with a red pepper puree.
Once the Mosasaurus opens its mouth,
there's nothing but that red flesh
with those back-sided teeth.
I'm going to try to do everything
in bite-size form so you could just,
pretty much don't need a knife or fork to eat it.
Five minutes!
I would like to get the lamb.
So, I'm doing lamb two ways.
This is a very aggressive dinosaur
and I wanted to go heavy with the meat.
Oh, my God. I am really nervous.
Buddha has an immunity.
If we are at the bottom
either me or Jo are going home.
♪♪♪
I mean, I just don't want to be in the bottom.
I mean, like, there's no margins.
There's no margins, there's a team on the bottom
there's a team on the-- yeah, and one in the middle.
That's it. And I have a guy with immunity.
[groans]
♪♪♪
-Whoa. -Aw, man.
Oh, my gosh.
JACKSON: That looks like me when I wake up.
[laughing]
♪♪♪
It's about that time.
Sugar, eggs, some more sweet potatoes over here.
-Coconut water. -Alligator.
So, Buddha, have you ever worked with alligator?
I've worked with an alligator
but I haven't broken one down to be honest.
The way we're going to make it progressive
is that we're going to have a starter,
intermediate course and then an entrée course at the end.
For the first course I'm making smoked alligator,
Jo is making barbecued quail,
for the third course Jae is making
a lamb duo.
Wow, these quail
look like little dinosaurs.
[laughing]
I'm gonna smoke her in some hickory wood.
I do have immunity but I'm definitely
going to try my hardest and take risks.
I was like, what is happening?
It's just Buddha.
Jo, what do you like about the movie though?
I mean, I grew up watching these movies
and it's really exciting.
It's bringing out sort of my inner nerd.
The concept of my dish is to celebrate
an air animal that eats everything.
So, I've made a stuffing that has gone inside of the quail.
Oh, I forgot to lop your neck off.
And then I'm making these glazed carrots
that are sort of reminiscent to me of the meal
that they had during the first movie.
Right after they fed the Velociraptor they went
and they ate this very 80s plate with these carrots.
That's why I decided to do carrots.
What have you got working on, Nick?
So, I have the peppers in the oven, roasting.
I am at the first course,
so I'm going to start it off with an appetizer.
I'm making crab coquette with pepper puree.
The second course is Evelyn with pork tenderloin,
and then Jackson is going to be dessert,
which is going to have a gory feel to it.
How are you looking, Evelyn, what are you starting on?
Just trying to get that pork on as soon as possible.
Right on, I've got a cacao cake going in,
I'm toasting pecans for everyone.
Are these toasted? Can you smell for me?
So, I'm making a fudgy cacao cake
and it's very dense and gooey
and it's really, really, really rich.
Velociraptors are kind of the bad guys
who kind of create terror and mayhem,
so I want to add some sort of spice.
More? No?
I don't even really know what five spice tastes like.
I've never used it in my life.
Jackson definitely gives you that mad scientist vibe.
He's a little out there.
ASHLEIGH: How are those oysters looking?
They're large but they're pretty.
For our team's menu we're really trying to play
on the progressions of flavors
and the progression of size.
So, I'll be making the dukkah fried oyster
with fresno chow chow and caviar cream.
Mine will be smaller, maybe two or three bites,
then Ashleigh's shito wing with watermelon relish,
her plate's going to be a little larger
and then you'll come into something
that's even larger as an entrée with rich,
braised beef and broccoli.
I want this sauce nice and sticky.
Have you ever made this dish before, Ashleigh?
Well, I made a version of it for the last challenge.
-LUKE: Yeah? -I put candied pork
and they were expecting something super sticky,
and it didn't go over so well,
so, I'm out to prove something.
♪♪♪
What the [bleep] is going on here?
You know, my biggest concern is getting the short rib done.
I'm going to have to use the pressure cooker,
which, I haven't used one in four years.
Come on, pressure cookers.
All right.
♪♪♪
-It's a lot of fat. -On the alligator?
-Yeah. -JO: Really? Oh, my God.
♪♪♪
JAE: It needs more salt
but I really like the spice in there.
I am super confused about Jae's dish.
I'm breaking up noodles,
so it's going to be the starch for the dish.
I think she's doing a lot.
She's stir-frying noodles,
she's breadcrumbing lamb chops, meatballs.
It seems like a lot.
And then I think that with the pickled napa cabbage
it's really good.
BUDDHA: It almost sounds like a buffet platter.
♪♪♪
15 minutes till first course.
["Jurassic Park" theme by John Williams]
♪♪♪
-This is beyond. -It really is.
-Thank you. -You're welcome.
I'm very excited to have you, DeWanda, with us.
-Welcome. -Thank you.
The setting is amazing.
It's great. We're in the vibe.
What is your character on the movie?
She's like a black-market dinosaur dealer.
-Oh. -Sweet.
Selling dinosaur bones on the side, huh?
She likes selling dinosaurs.
Nice. I like it.
Cheers, everybody.
To Jurassic World.
I'm just going to build up the crust
and we'll be good to go.
We've got the color, we're good with that.
I'm hoping there's enough sauce.
-Oh. -Oh, crap, come on dude.
I'm just topping it off with some salmon roe,
give it a little pop of saltiness.
For my bead dumplings filled with smoked alligator,
doing them into little bite-sized pieces
because the Mesosaurus likes to eat
in bite-sized pieces, and so, we have alligator soup.
LUKE: How're you doing, Demarr? You need a hand?
No, I should be good, I'm going to put the caviar in first
and I'm going to fry the oysters last.
Do I think I'm being the most theatrical like Buddha?
No, but I think that what I'm doing makes sense.
I think it's going to be delicious.
-Oh, man. -NIKC: One minute, chefs.
The first course is on its way.
♪♪♪
[booming sound]
The first course is on its way.
[dinosaur roars]
♪♪♪
KWAME: Look at this food, this is beautiful.
PADMA: It looks lovely, actually, yeah.
-Hello. -Hello.
Buddha, tell us what you made.
And you're supposed to put this
-just right in the middle? -Yeah, just right in the middle.
It's kind of like a soup because the Mesosaurus
lives in the water.
There's smoked alligator with potato,
beets and salmon roe.
On the outside is a pickled beet sheet
to cut through the richness.
PADMA: Have you cooked alligator before?
-Crocodile. Not alligator. -Mm.
-Wow. -Thank you, Buddha.
Damarr, what did you make?
As soon as I read that it throws it's jaw back
and it slides down it's throat I thought oysters,
so I made a dukkah fried oysters
sitting on top of a fresno chow chow,
and there is an oyster cream to the side of it.
Mm. Very nice.
-Nick? -I made a crab croquette.
The flesh of the Mesosaurus's mouth
is so bright red, and I have a surprise
of pepper puree on the inside of the fondant potato,
and the pecans is one of the things
we're going to see in our flow of our menu.
This is a beautiful start to this dinner.
-Thank you. -Thank you.
-Thank you so much. -Stunning.
-They all can cook. -This is all top tier cooking.
Let's start with Buddha's dish.
His plate was beautiful to look at.
Smoking alligator, I don't think anybody would think to do that
and then puree that into almost like a chowder.
It was sweet, it was acidic, it was, like, earthy.
There's something about that last taste of smoke
in combination with the cream that's really lovely.
It seems like it's a pretty even playing field at the moment.
Nick's dish, it was a nice little hors d'oeuvre,
but it wasn't like a dish.
GAIL: I think there should have been
-way more red pepper. -TOM: Yes, way more sauce.
Like, I understand he wanted that surprise,
you open the mouth, it's bright red.
-A surprise in a sauce. -Right, exactly.
But I thoroughly enjoyed Nick's croquette.
I liked it. I think it was fun.
I think it went well.
-Hope for the best now. -I love Demarr's dish, too.
The oyster was crunchy and juicy.
JOE: I love the texture of the chow chow.
I thought it was super bright.
That's what kept me going back for more.
There's something about fried oysters to me
that just, like, it feels like home.
I'm a Maryland girl,
with the caviar cream at the bottom,
I just thought that was really inventive.
It's a good composition.
The combination worked really well.
I just want something more graphic.
I want to see evidence of a kill.
-Evidence of a kill. -[laughter]
ASHLEIGH: I'm going to have you grab a wing to try.
LUKE: Yeah, it could use some finishing salt.
-Juicy A.F. Juicy A.F. -Five and a half.
Aw, really?
My carrots didn't take the glaze
the way that I wanted them to,
but I ran out of glaze,
so at this junction they've just got to go on.
Can you just give me a wipe please?
I actually am a little concerned.
When you cook simply, when you miss, you miss big.
-15 seconds. -Heard.
Oh yeah, baby.
[timer dinging]
Lord Jesus.
-Good luck, Jo. -Thank you.
♪♪♪
-That smells amazing. -Yes.
-Thank you. -Thank you.
-PADMA: This all looks lovely. -JOE: Yeah, it looks beautiful.
-Hello, everybody. -Hi.
Evelyn, tell us about your dish.
This dinosaur, it flies,
and it also is an omnivore,
so it essentially ate everything.
So, I decided to go with a pork tenderloin
with Swiss chard, black garlic sauce
with pecan crumb, fried garlic,
and for air an aerated sweet potato puree.
Ashleigh, what did you do for us?
Quetzalcoatlus soars through the air
with it's massive wings,
so I wanted to put a whole wing on the plate.
It is a shito wing with watermelon relish,
and there's also a little finger bowl
because it is meant to be eaten with your hands.
Yes, they are. [chuckles]
-Hi Jo. -Hi.
How were you inspired by Quetzalcoatlus.
This animal ate everything, I sort of decided
to stuff it with kind of everything.
It's a barbecue-stuffed quail
with the sauce romesco
that's been aerated on the plate
-with some roasted carrots. -Thank you all.
-Thank you. -Thank you so much.
KWAME: Evelyn's was really, really nice.
Pork tenderloin was cooked beautifully
and that aerated sweet potato sauce
had a lot of flavor.
When you ate everything together it worked.
Yeah, there's like ginger and garlic.
Like, I found it to be really, really strong.
JOE: I thought Evelyn did a really nice job.
Yeah, and this black garlic sauce is fantastic.
I mean, it's just so nerve-wracking being there.
The watermelon salad Ashleigh gave us is delicious.
It's so bright.
I live in LA and it just reminds me
of being able to buy fruit on the side of the road.
Some mango, some watermelon, cayenne and lime.
It's one of my favorite tastes.
What did you think of Ashleigh's chicken wing?
It's a little flabby, it's not crispy enough
and I think the spice on it that we were promised
-is a little mild. -It just needed
a little bit more of everything, little bit more salt for me,
just a little bit more flavor on that.
Shito has a very distinct flavor profile
that should sing through.
What do you think of the quail that Jo gave us?
I would love to have seen this more graphic where, uh,
maybe taken off the bone
and had the bones crushed off to the side.
My quail was a little dry.
I just think she let it cook too long.
Yeah, it was overcooked for sure.
The carrots, I don't really know what happened.
They don't look or taste glazed.
And the carrots felt like they were an afterthought.
You know what, a big quail,
it's actually called a Jurassic Quail.
-Is that what it is? -Yeah.
Well, I didn't say that, so, too late now.
So, maybe we'll wait till 15 minutes?
That way we can keep your food hot.
I'm just getting, you know--
there's a lot of components, so I want to start plating.
Right here, panko.
There's only six plates to plate up,
components sitting on a plate for 15 minutes,
it's already gone cold in my mind,
but I don't feel like my input or my opinions
are really mattering at this point.
-No. -Yeah, I like the other way.
-Like this, yeah. -With the plate.
JACKSON: Blood, baby.
To finish the plating of this
I'm making a bloody Velociraptor footprint
out of raspberry, so it looks like
kind of Velociraptor is all bloody
and stomping through the plates
which I think is silly, honestly.
I don't know if the judges are going
to find that amusing or not.
EVELYN: I love it. Very theatrical.
NICK: Bring it home for us, all right?
Anything else you want to check?
-No, I've got everything. -Two, one.
-Looks good, chef. -How'd I do?
Good job.
♪♪♪
Oh, yay.
All right, here we go. Someone's doing something.
-Wow. -There we go.
TOM: That's kind of graphic looking too.
This was the prayer that you asked for.
Thank you. Hi, Jae. Tell us what you did.
I made lamb two ways.
One is rack of lamb that is spiced
and on your right side is a spicy lamb meatball
with pickled napa cabbage.
It's a very aggressive dinosaur.
I wanted to give a bold flavor to it.
-Luke, what did you make? -The Velociraptor,
they were from Mongolia,
so I have beef and broccoli braised short rib,
some onions to represent the claws
and then the broth has been cooked down with seaweed.
Thank you. Jackson, what did you make?
Firstly, I'd like to apologize: Velociraptor came through
and took one of our own, so all that blood is
from one of our chefs you see on the plate here.
Oh, so we don't have to send anybody home?
-Somebody's already sent away? -Maybe a double elimination.
So, I made a fudgy chocolate cake
with sweet potato, pecan and raspberry blood.
Obviously, the footprint is inspired
by the Velociraptor itself.
The chili in the cake,
that's to mimic the aggression from the Velociraptor as well.
-Thank you all. -Thank you.
-Thank you, guys.
What did you think about Jae's lamb duo?
I could tell that Jae was really trying to push herself,
but the lamb felt soft and soggy.
There was a lot going on on that plate.
That meatball was really spicy but kind of good.
I really like the cabbage.
All of these things, I found things
that I liked in them, but as a dish together
it just did not work for me.
There was too much to focus on.
What about the beef and broccoli that Luke gave us?
GAIL: I think it worked. He's in the swamp,
the sort of dark and foreboding.
I do think that my piece of short rib
was a little bit tough.
You could tell he struggled with the pressure cookers.
The beef is a little on the tough side,
but I don't mind it, I don't like my short ribs
-falling off the bone. -But it didn't have those sharp,
jagged notes that you love for Mongolian beef.
Exactly.
What did you think about Jackson's dessert?
I think it's a dish that we've all been waiting for.
Graphically, it was great.
At least someone decided to go for it.
This is a fun movie.
You go with your whole family and get scared,
you know, it's an adventure.
And I think Jackson's dish was an adventure today.
I like the chocolaty darkness
with the bright blood orange and the pecans.
I love that crumbly corner of the brownie
that everyone fights for.
It's really too hard to tell, man, you know?
DeWanda, thank you so much for coming
and having this beautiful meal with us.
-It was great to have you. -Thank you.
Thanks for having me.
-See you on the red carpet. -Yes. [laughs]
♪♪♪
[dinosaur roaring]
For your challenge we asked you to create
a Jurassic progressive meal.
I think it was a mixed bag tonight.
There were some really good things
and there were some things that were just okay.
We'll get to that, but, hey, this is fun.
Also, look where we are, this is pretty awesome.
The team that ruled the world today...
♪♪♪
is the Brown Team.
Congratulations.
Everyone else can step to the side.
♪♪♪
Let's talk about these dishes.
How did you decide to do crab croquette?
I knew I wanted to do seafood,
I just wanted it to be super refined.
Well, I loved your croquette.
I think it was a great announcement
to your team's courses to come.
So, Evelyn, your dish was spectacular.
You know, I thought the pork loin
was cooked beautifully,
the sweet potato was so airy and fluffy
and light and I think that's where the air
came into play in my mind.
For what I was trying to go for,
it was just like I should kind of tame it,
but still be bold with my flavors.
The garlic sauce was powerful and strong.
Not tamed at all.
-That was amped up. -Thanks.
Jackson, out of all of the dishes
we had today,
yours was the most graphic.
It was beautiful.
Yeah, I loved your dish.
Saying I'm going to go over-the-top playful
I think it was completely the right move,
and I like a chewy, fudgy cake, it was nice.
The whole meal felt very complete.
Thought through from beginning to end.
It felt progressive in the truest way.
Well, as the winning team, the three of you
get to attend the world premiere
of Jurassic World Dominion.
Yeah!
We get to go to LA!
Congratulations you guys,
and have fun at the premiere.
Yay!
Awesome that we get to go to the red carpet,
but it just feels good to get another win.
The three of you can step to the side.
Green Team and Red Team, please come forward.
Thank you.
♪♪♪
Some of you had our least favorite dishes of the day
and one of you will be going home.
Buddha.
You're not going anywhere because you have immunity,
but even if you didn't have immunity
you wouldn't be going anywhere.
It was fabulous.
Every bite of that soup
contrasted with the beet, the smokiness.
It truly was a beautiful plate of food.
-Thank you so much. -Jae,
were you happy with the way
that your lamb came out?
It tastes good to me.
The lamb rack, you cut it
and then you put it on the non-sear side.
-The crust. -I seared and I cut,
then I put the glaze and I put the crust on top.
KWAME: It was a little mushy.
I don't really think it worked,
-unfortunately. -Okay.
There was a lot on your plate
and I was actually really impressed
with how much work you did.
I sort of wish it had been a little more focused.
The dish just didn't come together.
It seemed like a collection of ingredients
and things as opposed to a dish.
Jo, I thought you were one of the few chefs today
who actually tried to give us something anatomical,
but then you lost focus in the dish.
Those carrots just seemed so sad.
I didn't plan my time well for the final
part of that component. I was worried about the quail.
TOM: What were you worried about with the quail?
I just wanted to make sure that it was cooked.
It was cooked, we ended up with a quail
that was a little on the dry side.
Okay, Green Team.
Joe, what did you think of Demarr's dish?
I liked the oyster.
I thought, you know, it was crispy, it was delicious.
I thought the chow chow was refreshing.
That was probably the best chow chow I've ever tasted
and I've had a lot of chow chow.
Solid cooking. Absolutely.
Luke, your short rib dish. I love the presentation of it.
I thought the scales on top playing the claw like that
was really, really clever, but it just seemed like
that beef could have been a little bit more tender for me.
I did love your broth.
I think you took it
in a different direction from Mongolia.
I didn't see the connection there in the flavor.
Kwame, what did you think of Ashleigh's dish?
There was a bitter note in that sauce
that tastes like the sauce had been over-reduced.
I didn't think it over-reduced,
I felt like it coated the spoon nicely,
but I guess I was wrong.
I don't think that flavor got into the meat.
I want it to have some punch
and I just don't think you achieved it today.
Thank you all. We'll call you back in a bit.
Thanks.
Yeah, great job, Brown Team.
Great job, Brown Team.
Great job.
-Luke, how are you doing? -I'm all right.
-Quiet. Yeah. -Yeah.
First we need to establish
who the worst team was,
and then from there see who should go home.
It almost feels like more of the negative comments
were aimed at both Jo and Jae.
There were more mistakes with Jo and Jae
than there were with Ashleigh and Luke combined.
-Okay. -Yeah, exactly.
I made a cooking error
and, you know, it just wasn't there.
You know, I did, too.
I think Jo should go home.
I think Jo should go home as well.
I didn't really enjoy any component on that dish.
Jo's dish lacked with the carrots,
the romesco sauce was completely wiped of it's identity,
and then the quail was overcooked.
I wouldn't be surprised if this was it.
Kwame, you just mentioned you didn't like anything
about Jo's dish, I didn't like a lot about it either.
I don't like anything about Jae's dish.
The lamb was bland and dry, they put this crust on it.
No, sorry. That's not a crust.
Meatballs were like rubber balls.
For me there's a lot of issues with Jae's dish,
but I felt like there was at least a base of flavor there.
I just didn't like Jae's dish at all.
Not every day is a great day,
but every day we are making progress.
That's how I push forward.
Yeah.
Okay, let's get them out here.
[tense music]
♪♪♪
Red Team, you had our
least favorite dishes of the day.
And one of you will be going home.
Green Team, please step to the side.
Thank you.
You know, chefs, this is one of those challenges
that makes you think-- still, at the end of the day
even though you can be imaginative and playful
and do great things, you still have to cook great food.
♪♪♪
Jo,
please pack your knives and go.
It's been my absolute pleasure. Thank you.
We'll see you in Last Chance Kitchen.
Thank you, everybody. Good night.
I dropped the ball in execution
over the past few challenges.
It just kept feeling like I wasn't able
to really swim out of the middle.
I couldn't kick it into another gear.
Have mercy. [grunts]
I am your lovely eighth alternate.
I'm really proud of the fact that I hung on to this point.
It's been tough for me to get it going creatively
in the last year.
This was sort of my effort to try
to get back in the game and, you know,
given the caliber of everyone around me
I'm proud of what I did today.
PADMA: Tonight, Jo enters Last Chance Kitchen.
Her stuffed quail left us with a dry taste in our mouths.
Had to go back to something stuffed, huh chef?
-Something stuffed. -PADMA: Can she infuse
enough flavor to get back into the competition?
Do you have enough time
-to get that done? -We're going to see.
Redemption is massive. I want to get back in.
PADMA: Find out now on demand
or wherever you stream Top Chef.
Next time on Top Chef...
Welcome to Restaurant Wars.
-Oh my-- -Not only will you have to serve
the judges at a chef's counter,
but you will also have to feed a restaurant full of diners.
[bleep]
This might be, I want to say sh--show.
Oh, sorry.
-You okay? -Be gentle!
Get all the oxtail.
-Good luck. -Good luck.
I'm winning, okay? That's the mentality.
That has lost, like, 40 ----ing minutes.
I still haven't resolved in my head
what I'm going to change this dish to.
Taste the barbecue sauce.
[laughter]
Chef table, that's going to be five judges.
The most important table of the day.
Today I'm extraordinarily anxious
just because there's so many moving parts.
-Showtime. -This is like life and death.
I'm hoping they're ready for the ride of their life.
This is my worst nightmare.
The guests are looking right at you.
Something's going on because the food is very,
very slow coming out of this kitchen.
Yes. This is not good.