-Top of the morning, mate. -Morning.
So, what do you think? [laughs]
We're not going to the Top Chef kitchen.
[ominous instrumental]
I don't know.
I mean, I guess it's, never gotta be anything for Top Chef.
Yeah.
You know, after the Jurassic Park.
Can we really guess what we're going to do?
The last challenge was the most fun one.
[rumbling]
PADMA: Each team is responsible for making dishes inspired
by these jaw dropping dinosaurs.
It was a huge moment for me to see things differently.
TOM: The dish just didn't come together.
It seemed like a collection of ingredients
and things as opposed to a dish.
It's time to showcase what kind of chef I am.
It's so funny.
Like, me, you and Evelyn have always been at the top.
The team that ruled the world today
is the Brown Team.
Oh, my God.
But the last time I was on the bottom.
Maybe we'll wait till 15 minutes
That way we can keep your food hot.
I don't feel like my input or my opinions
are really mattering at this point.
-No. -Yeah, like that way.
Everything that Tom said on that table was absolutely correct.
We ended up with quail on the dry side.
I didn't plan my time well.
Jo. Please pack your knives and go.
Ah, that's where we did the night market.
♪♪♪
What's this look like, guys?
♪♪♪
-Hi, chefs. -Oh my--
Welcome to Restaurant Wars.
Ah, Restaurant Wars.
I'm ready. Let's do it.
Oh, God. I'm scared.
Eight chefs remain
to compete in the ultimate culinary showdown.
At stake for the winner:
A feature in Food & Wine magazine,
an appearance at the Food and Wine Classic in Aspen,
$250,000 furnished by San Pellegrino
and the coveted title of Top Chef.
♪♪♪
That's right. You've officially made it
to one of the most feared and anticipated challenges:
Restaurant Wars.
I was a little jealous of last season.
Having to serve only the judges?
That was a little too easy.
But that's why we're upping the ante this year.
Not only will you have to serve the judges
at a chef's counter, but you'll also
have to feed a restaurant full of diners.
[chuckles]
Oh, man.
Come on.
Come on up and grab a knife, everyone.
[luxurious hip hop instrumental]
-What's this? -There's nothing on mine.
Who got first choice and who got second choice?
We're doing an old fashioned schoolyard pick.
Here we go.
Everyone with a blank knife, please step to one side.
Okay, Nick. You get to pick first.
I'm connected with Damarr, Ashleigh,
because of their Southern roots.
Damarr.
Jae, who's going to be your first teammate?
Evelyn.
Ashleigh.
Jackson.
Buddha.
I guess that means you're going over to Jae, Luke.
I would rather work with Luke than Buddha.
[laughs] That sounds horrible.
After last challenge, he and I just don't really click.
[fast instrumental]
In 36 hours, both teams will open
their restaurants up for business.
You'll seat and serve 50 guests.
How do you decide to run your restaurant
is completely up to you.
Today, you'll start conceptualizing
your restaurants and planning your menus.
Each team will have time to meet with a designer
from Aztec Events and Tents.
First, you're going to head to Whole Foods.
Then you'll visit some specialty shops
where your contactless Mastercard
will allow you to simply tap and go.
So you'll need to create
a truly priceless experience for your guests.
Tomorrow, you'll have five hours
to set up your restaurants
and train your servers before service begins.
The team with the winning concept
will take home $40,000.
[exclaiming]
PADMA: A cool 10K in your pocket?
Yeah.
-That's a lot of bread. -Yes.
You've already won some money, right Nick?
Yeah, I'm the one with the bread.
Yeah, we call him The Baker.
Well, let's bake some more bread, guys.
Good luck, chefs. We'll see you tomorrow.
Have fun.
Oh, big moment here.
I'm excited to work with y'all.
Do we want to work concept down?
We got three real strong South cooks.
I want to work around you guys.
I can do front of house and do the first course.
I've studied Restaurant Wars quite a bit.
Dealing with the front of house has sent home
a lot of excellent chefs in the past.
High risk but I'm in it to win it.
We all have really strong mothers.
So I think with the Southern theme
it'd be cool if we named our restaurant Matriarch.
Okay.
-Matriarch without the H. -I like it.
Think it also as Matriarc will look good if
she's kind of in command of the kitchen.
-Know what I mean? -Yeah. Yeah, exactly.
-If you feel good about that. -Yeah, yeah.
I do have an idea if I can just start off.
-What is it? -Southeast Asian.
Oh, you wanna do South East Asian.
I do. And we could call it No Name but N-E-M,
like Nem sausage.
Oh, I like.
You're going to be a rock star if we do that.
I would love that.
Evelyn's a really strong personality.
-Yeah. -I'm totally happy to help out
with that front of house thing if you guys want.
She's just naturally going to be our leader in this
so I want to play to her strength.
You know, I'm not familiar with Southeast Asian.
But you're familiar with bold flavors, right?
Yeah.
I think if there's one dish that's not,
I think that's okay as well.
It has to be all or none, man.
Mm. Okay.
I never worked at an Asian restaurant,
never made specific Southeast Asian cuisine.
My specialty in cooking is fish.
I worked at Le Bernardin for two years.
I've been seriously missing cooking fish.
We're in Houston. We haven't done like a gulf thing,
so I think maybe highlight seafood.
-I really want to highlight-- -Seafood, right?
We'll be able to execute this.
100% we should do taster menu
just because we don't know
what the experience of the servers are like.
Maybe the first course is an array of snacks with bread.
-What do you guys think? -As long as it feels like you.
It's still gonna feel like me.
Well, I would like to do dessert.
Yeah. Yeah, you've got a solid carrot cake.
I was just gonna say I have a raw beef course in mind.
And then I was thinking green gumbo was pretty veg-heavy.
Yeah, so I have my mind set on a oxtail marmalade
but we need seafood in here too.
Maybe do some cured salmon. Or...
Some kind of smoked catfish pâté or something--
Yeah, yeah, exactly.
And also serve four to six courses.
-Family style. -Family Style?
Is so much easier to execute.
Watching the show I just know that that was one thing
that really messed them up was because they did that.
It was family style but not cohesive.
Some dishes didn't even make sense.
I'd rather do it one plate at a time so you can
really showcase our individual skills.
But I'm the only one that has concerns.
Everybody seems very confident with it,
so that makes me confident.
I would like to do a pani puri, like a--
-Sure-- -First bite.
I'm totally into that.
I was actually thinking of some spring rolls
but it's like, a kind of like, crudité.
It's called No Nem.
Like we could end the last savory with pork meatballs,
like, literally made from Nem.
A-ha, so funny. [laughs]
Okay, I like it.
I was going to make, like, a smoked fish bone sauce.
But what if we do it with the curry?
I mean, yeah--
-You're the curry master. -I can make a curry.
-I can do this. -Yeah.
I feel like it will really free up your time
depending on what you go with.
Then we'll go into a fish course,
And then this carrot cake situation.
We'll be done. -Mm-hm.
This concept represents what Southern food
could be: It should feel like one voice and not,
you know, four chefs who decided to play restaurant.
Team, let's go pick out some tables and chairs.
[upbeat music]
That is my favorite I will say.
In quantities, are we looking around 56?
-NICK: What do you think? -AHSLEIGH: I'm cool with it.
This is not only a woman led kitchen
but the name is Matriarc,
so there needs to be some feminine touches.
On the napkin. What you think?
ASHLEIGH: Off-white.
All I know is restaurants, but in Asheville, North Carolina
people don't typically come to my city to eat.
Even though I've been on the James Beard list
I was getting comments in my dining room
that it was too spicy and I started to feel
like my food was unapproachable.
I'm for that.
ASHLEIGH: I don't think that's a matriarchy.
Being deemed the executive chef
and playing such a big role
in the creation of our restaurant,
I feel like I can be me.
So I'm gonna show up and do it.
All right, we got all we need here.
Let's go check out everything else.
All right, let's get to it.
Hey, guys! So I'm Hailey.
I'm going to make your logos.
Tell me about what you want
your people to feel when they walk in the restaurant.
I mean, we're definitely going for, like, tropical florals.
Our food is going to be very bright, very bold.
Not fine dining, more like fun atmosphere.
Good, okay.
-But also not, like, neon. -Right.
I was thinking white flowers with lots of greenery.
I think it'll break up the room.
-Bye! -Bye.
Yup, yup, yup. Here we go.
My destination, Whole Foods Market.
[line dialing]
Hello?
I was thinking we should send out
course one and two at the same time.
And then courses three and four at the same time.
Okay, I like that.
Are we all kind of on the same page
that Evelyn's basically our executive chef?
I think she should be.
EVELYN: I'm very comfortable expediting, too.
Evelyn, I don't want to feel
like I'm not doing anything, you know?
Oh, you'll have sh-- to do. Don't worry.
[line dialing]
DAMARR: 'Sup, Buddha.
Hey, Damarr. Hold on. It's a little bit too loud.
Let me turn it down. -NICK: Hey, hey, hey.
Hey. So we're thinking that maybe
we just do a bitter lettuce salad.
What, instead-- instead of the gumbo?
No. Instead of the tartare.
I have this idea. I'm going to do just like a salad
of bitter lettuces, buttermilk pearls,
a simple citrus vinaigrette.
Is that it?
I thought you were gonna be way more excited about that.
Whatever I've learned from this competition
is that they don't like that sh--.
It's Restaurant Wars.
We need to make an impact.
If we incorporate salmon tartare, cool.
It doesn't need to happen.
Yeah, you can, like, put the salad on top of the salmon.
Buddha's smart. He has studied every single chef
that has been through this franchise.
He can tell you what they did wrong
and how he would definitely not make that mistake.
But this is our restaurant, so if it's my course,
I'm going to make it to where I believe in it.
Yeah. Let's go for it. Cool.
♪♪♪
EVELYN: Go, Luke!
We need garlic, shallots.
-Is this your black cod? -This is black cod?
I'll take this one, these two and then one more as well.
And then after that,
I'm also going to get some shrimp from you.
Holy crap. Are you ordering the whole market?
-Or...? -Yeah.
♪♪♪
We have Restaurant Wars. There is $40,000 on the line.
And we're doing a salad with citrus dressing,
-you know what I mean? -Okay. We can get the salmon.
Buddha thinks that salads aren't that exciting.
And I know that Nick wants to do a beef dish.
Can I get New York strip whole?
So I've decided that I definitely want to do
this salmon tartare with
some lettuce components,
like, kind of make it a tartare with a salad.
♪♪♪
You guys need a cutting board for all that mincing about?
DAMARR: There go all the smack talk, again.
[laughter]
Oh, sh--.
Yo, this is enough for, like, 200 people.
I know.
I still have to get all my seasoning meat
'cause there's none of that here.
You feeling good, Nick?
-Is that everything? -That's everything.
Thank you.
I guess the plan now is that we go to Viet Hoa, right?
Yeah.
All right, guys. We're going to 99 Ranch.
-Let's go. -We'll see you guys back there.
♪♪♪
-Oh. Sorry. -Ow. Be gentle!
A lot of different types of meats here.
Yeah. I'm happy to have found smoked turkey legs.
Love this store. [chuckles]
Do you see green papaya?
Over here, Jae.
Oh, yes.
Taking on a lead role and also being able
to teach my team about the cuisine
is more pressure on myself.
-Mm-hm. -It's really strong.
Winning. Okay? Like, that's the mentality.
Evelyn!
Where did she go?
Oxtail. Let's see here.
Kind of looks like it.
Without oxtails, my dish will not exist.
Hey.
Hello?
No oxtails, man.
We have oxtail here. Not a ton.
Get all the oxtails.
We're uh, hitting our limit.
Ooh.
On to the sent.
-How much is it? -173.32.
Okay. All right, easy. Great.
-Let's go guys. -Thank you so much.
♪♪♪
[fast beat]
[excited chatter]
Let's set it up.
-Evelyn. -Yes?
Jackson. [indistinct].
Okay.
One-two-three. Matriarc!
Aye! Jesus.
[laughs] Let's kick some ass.
♪♪♪
Oh, yeah. Just a little smoked turkey leg
for the green gumbo.
I've got two dishes and I'm exec.
It's either that they're tired of looking at me
or they really believe in me.
Game plan. Turkey stock. Buttermilk cheese.
I take on a green gumbo representing the matriarchs
of the food world.
I think of Leah Chase.
Still to this day, rave about her green gumbo.
It's a little scary.
Like, I don't want to mess this up.
Is this you? Oh, no, no, no. This is me.
Hm. Sorry.
I'm currently working on our curry.
I'm going to try to bang out this entire dessert,
except for the coconut.
JAE: I'm cleaning and butchering the snapper now.
I'm going to go straight into breaking down all the cabbage.
First course, I'm making pani puri
with poached shrimp and passion fruit vinaigrette.
For our second dish, Jae's making snapper summer roll.
You got another curry you're helping Luke with, right?
-I know. [chuckles] -The curry queen.
EVELYN: Luke is making choo chee curry
with black cod and charred Napa cabbage.
Our team dish is barbecued nem in fried Brussel sprouts.
Jackson is making a dessert,
which is citrus curd, shortbread cookies
and whipped coconut cream.
I'm hungry. I want it. [laughs]
[upbeat tempo]
Buddha. What you doing?
Looking at the floor plan, you know what I mean?
For the first course, I'm going to be making
quite an array of Southern-inspired appetizers.
For the second course, Ashleigh is going to be
making salmon with buttermilk and peaches.
And for the third course, Ashleigh's making
gumbo Z'Herbes.
So this is my seasoning to encrust my steak on tomorrow.
Who wants to eat a boring steak?
I'm doing the fourth course. I am bringing oxtail marmalade
and pairing that up with strip loin potatoes.
This is the symbol of Matriarc.
I want to put love on a plate.
All right, guys. I'm really going to focus
on getting this carrot cake in the oven.
ASHLEIGH: All right, all right.
And we're going to finish it up with a carrot cake
which is a Southern staple.
Carrot cake is my thing, man.
It was the first dish I put on the menu at Roister.
It was actually the first dessert I put on any menu.
So I'm pretty excited about it.
-50 minutes, guys. -JACKSON: Five-zero.
Hey, Jackson, you excited to do front of the house?
For better or worse, it's been mostly what I've been doing
for the last year and a half.
My restaurant is a little over a year old
and I've run front of house for about 95% of its life.
I really enjoy it.
Evelyn, can you just explain this curry to me?
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
I don't have too much of a point of reference
so Evelyn and myself are going to make
the curry for my dish together.
So I fried the paste and then I added four pucks of palm sugar,
-half a jar of tamarind on each. -Mm-hm.
I really want to make sure that I learn how to do it
so I can take full ownership of it.
It's very strong on the lemongrass.
Can you just taste this butter?
I think it's good.
For each element of this dish,
I've taken a lot of advice.
We have Nick's Comeback sauce,
Ashleigh's country ham.
And Damarr's chow chow
that I'm hoping influence some of the flavors on my dish.
-Chow chow. -Cut it all up.
You're going to make the pickling liquid,
bring it to a boil and let it sit overnight.
Damarr, how ya cake lookin'?
Oh sh--. This mother[bleep] is at 150. What the [bleep]?
The thermometer inside the oven says 150.
I just lost like 40 ----ing minutes.
There's no way that I'm going to get these cakes
in another oven and get them cooled in time
to put the semifreddo base on.
NICK: What'chyou need, man?
Nothing, really. I'mma have to change the dish.
-EVELYN: 15 minutes! -JACKSON: Yes, chef.
I need to wrap my fish.
All right, here's the pickle.
-Start packing down. -JACKSON: Five minutes.
If you need anything, man, just say it and I'll do it.
I'm feeling like a weak link.
I still haven't resolved in my head
what I'm going to change this dish to,
even though I know I'm going to have to change it.
[spirited pop plays]
♪♪♪
[gentle guitar instrumental]
We're back.
[line dialing]
-How's it going? -Hey! How are you two?
Yeah.
Yeah. How are you, mom, are you good?
Yeah. Good.
It's a very emotional time right now
with the recent passing of my dad.
My mother is always on my mind.
-How's the restaurant going? -We're doing all right.
Mom's made her famous matzah.
Oh, wow. Looks fantastic.
To be in Restaurant Wars and having something dedicated
to the matriarch in your life is very important to me.
I wish I was there to cook it.
There's a saying as you send food out,
"Would you send that out to your mother?"
And everything that we put out,
we're going to have that question.
[smooch] Happy birthday.
-All right. Bye. -See ya.
♪♪♪
[dramatic instrumental]
You walk into the restaurant, you should be feeling
like you're going to someone's family's home.
You're eating with family, we're treating you like family.
The whole deal is that, like, how do you feel
when you go back to mama's house,
when you go back to grandma's house?
-That should be the focus. -Mm-hm.
We've got all the things in place?
Yeah. This is the Server To Do list.
We'll just have to tape that together.
We do have the [indistinct] set.
Are you guys feeling okay with the flow? The timing?
Yeah, yeah, I think-- Yeah. We have a lot to discuss.
How can we make the fish with integrity
exactly the way you want it?
Probably batch 'em, like 10 at a time.
Batching to me, it just makes it sound bad quality.
Since I'm going to be cooking the two main courses in a way,
I'm going to be grilling the fish
and I'm going to be cooking the nem sausage.
In the back of my mind, still, I'm like,
"Don't bog me down with too many people at once
so I don't go down," and that's all I care about.
We have a lot of stuff to do, so let's get going.
Yeah. Let's do it.
[fast instrumental]
♪♪♪
Matriarc!
Nothin' but love, nothin' but love.
So you're going to make a dessert right away?
I'm gonna do that right now. Literally, right now.
♪♪♪
Evelyn, how's it going over there with the prep?
My play on the pani puri.
Like, 30 minutes before service we can just fry them all off.
I'm gonna start rolling the pork.
Okay.
Great. Because I don't know if I'm going to have time.
Yeah, I know.
The barbecue nem is not only our namesake
but it's a dish that we all have hands on.
And it's very important that we nail it.
Yo. Taste, taste, taste, taste, taste the barbecue sauce.
As of right now, the salt, I can taste.
But that's it. It's very odd,
very mind bending.
I've never experienced anything like this in my life.
I didn't make it too spicy, though.
I just got to get these desserts fully ready for y'all.
Something that you guys can execute
without me being around, you know?
Yeah, that's key.
I'm feeling pretty confident
about the other teammates dishes.
I'm going to bang out the last of my dessert
so that I can start setting up the dining room.
Jackson, the shortbread done?
Yeah. Here. This one's a little over
so if you want to try-- -Oh. [laughs] Yeah.
-Is it all right? -Yeah.
Guys, 30 minutes down.
So, Damarr, are you changing up your carrot cake any?
It baked a little bit unevenly, so I'm going to cut around that.
Yep.
You know, originally it was going to be set
with a coconut kind of semifreddo situation
but now that's going to be a coconut ice cream.
You never want to be the weak link on the team,
especially in Restaurant Wars.
So I'm a little bit terrified.
What about you, Buddha?
Yeah, I'm going to get more butter made.
Also going to get these Parker House rolls done.
If I can get this proving, I got myself a good day.
Ashleigh, how you doing?
Good. I'm still on gumbo.
I'm going to try and fly through that tartare prep.
In honor of my lovely grandmother, Pearl,
my buttermilk cheese, it's just going to kind
of add this creamy tartness to the tartare.
They do look like pearls.
Hey, how are y'all peaches looking? Peachy?
Yes, Jack-son.
[laughter]
♪♪♪
You want to talk about bringing some fire.
Are you going to add more seasoning or just the curry?
Well, depends on what the curry's like.
EVELYN: The curry is also strong, you know.
So I'll go a touch less salt.
You know, this isn't the first time I've been told
that my seasoning needs a little bit more of this or less of it.
Really bland.
The whole dish was too salty.
Honestly, it's getting annoying.
Is my palate off or is their palate off?
I don't want to sound like an arrogant chef
and just say, "No. You guys don't know
what you're talking about."
What else you need to do, Luke?
I need to finish seasoning the curry.
-EVELYN: We can try it together. -JACKSON: Heard.
♪♪♪
Oh.
Servers. My friends. How are we?
All right, guys. My bread is done.
I'm going to start getting the waiters
to start setting up the restaurant.
I'm hoping they're ready for the ride of their life.
Let's have someone grab a couple of chairs.
Chef's table. That's going to be five judges,
the most important table of the day.
Chair here. Right? And a chair here.
Normally, I'm very anxious.
Today, I'm extraordinarily anxious.
Another one of these, we're going to put back here.
Just because there's so many moving parts.
These are actually beer glasses.
Honey, I'm home.
Don't come to the back. That's just too creepy. Okay?
Come to the front.
The challenging part of is going to be the Chef's table.
The judges are going to be having a bird's eye view
of every single detail.
Every single chair I want facing the kitchen.
-Is there any questions? -No, sir.
You guys are fantastic. I really, really appreciate it.
Thank you.
How you feel, Buddha?
I feel fired up. I love front of house.
That's what I'm talking about man.
♪♪♪
-ASHLEIGH: Ah, look at that guy. -What up, what up?
Can you unwrap those plates for me please, Nick?
-Ooh. [bleep] -Oh, my God.
Damarr, how you doing?
For the most part, I'm set.
Ice cream seems pretty, pretty firm.
-Okay, cool. -Hopefully it stays that way.
You have good writing, right?
Something like this.
Is that cheesy? No? It's okay.
That's perfect. I love it. I think it's a great idea.
Let's have a good service.
All right, we're ready. We ready, we ready, we ready?
Ready, ready, ready?
Woo! We're open.
All right, servers. Let's get into place, please.
Guests are coming.
Oh, there come the guests!
♪♪♪
Welcome. Excited to have you.
♪♪♪
C1's drinks go down.
-Course one, heard. -Yes.
That is the beauty of an open kitchen.
[cracking]
C'mon, you got this.
For two. Okay. Thank you.
So we like to do things family style around here.
-Keep it casual. Please, enjoy. -Thank you.
♪♪♪
Houston is hot, man.
♪♪♪
How are you? Welcome to our restaurant, Matriarc.
Honor of our mothers tonight.
The guys are going to put on a show for you.
Welcome.
-Chef. -Yes.
-Order in. -Heard.
All right, let's fire two starters for 22.
-Yes. -Yes, chef.
Wow. This is very cool.
Here we go, guys.
ASHLEIGH: All right, all right.
-Very dramatic entrance. -Very dramatic.
-Good evening. -Good evening, Buddha.
How are you doing?
It's looking great.
Welcome to Matriarc.
I'm going to take you to your table.
Great. Thank you.
Judges are sitting.
-Thank you. -You're welcome.
Thank you.
Welcome to our restaurant, Matriarc.
It's going to be Southern inspired.
Obviously, I'm not from the South
but I am resonated from the Southern Hemisphere, tonight.
Everything will be a five course tasting menu.
Can we start you off with any wine at all?
I'll have Terlato Pinot Grigio, thank you.
-Pinot Grigio, all round? -Let's do it.
Excellent. Thank you so much.
We have a nice, full restaurant.
We haven't seen too many white tablecloths lately.
But it doesn't feel stuffy.
What do you think of this open kitchen?
The way the dining room chairs are all facing.
TOM: So we can see the kitchen.
Yes, I like it.
I think for the diner, it's exciting
when you're watching the chefs prepare your food.
It's dinner and a show.
-Five for the judges. -Five judges.
Just a little bit more crab on there.
Cheers.
Thanks for joining us, Hunter.
Give me one bread.
Yes, that's the [indistinct] bread.
We need to start bombing, you know?
Yep, yep, yep. You're good to go.
Okay. A couple of things to start off.
Look at that flower.
So elegant. Very nice.
Thank you.
-I'm pulling that one off. -[laughs]
-Here. -Thank you.
BUDDHA: We have Parker House Roll
with a country ham butter in the shape of a rose,
smoked fish and crab tarts.
And we have a oyster with a comeback sauce.
-Thank you. -You're welcome.
Tom, as somebody who has made
a lot of Parker House rolls--
I have.
-These are fantastic. -Yeah.
It's beautifully cooked,
soft and pillowy on the inside, the crumb is nice.
The crunchiness of that ham butter is perfect.
I love the chow chow, like, pickle on the crab tart.
Nice, big chunks of crab.
PADMA: That fried oyster was crispy,
it was hot. It was juicy.
This course got me super excited for what's to come.
That was really good. I could just sit here and eat the bread.
It was like, smokey, sweet.
Let me see that butter again. [laughs]
Good evening. Welcome to Matriarc.
20 tartares all day. Five of those are going to be VIP's.
Okay.
So we get this here.
I'm plating the salmon tartare slower
than I would have liked,
but it's kind of a lot of touches on the dish.
-I need a lot of tartares. -All right.
First few tickets in a service, it's hard to get a rhythm.
It's not seamless.
Something's going on because the food is very,
very slow coming out.
Would y'all like to begin with a salmon tartare?
I think we're ready whenever.
This is my worst nightmare.
I feel like I'm going nuts inside.
-You're working four tartare. -Heard.
All right. I'm going to eat more bread.
I know. [laughter]
This is not good.
♪♪♪
I really need those tartares really badly.
Damarr's kind of overloaded with salmon tartare.
And the guests are looking right at you.
Damarr is just starting to plate our next course, right now.
Buddha, I don't have a ticket for that, just so you know.
-I'll just write one out. -Just write one down.
Tickets are coming in.
And Tom, especially,
I feel like, does not take his eyes off of me.
I know that he can probably
see everything that's happening.
I'm even wondering if he can read my lips.
Four tartares coming.
I just maintain this quiet storm.
-On your left. -Thank you.
GAIL: They seem quiet and calm.
Whether they're losing it back there is hard to say yet.
I'm impressed by their composure.
Okay. We're going to the Chef's table.
Here we go.
So here we have the sockeye salmon
in the form of a tartare
served with buttermilk pearls and peaches.
This is a dedication to Ashleigh's grandmother
whose name is Pearl.
Thank you.
I have two little baby pearls.
[laughs]
-TOM: They don't do much. -No, but they're pretty.
Mine is all bitter and spice. There's a lot of heat.
So weird when people are talking about you
and you can hear it.
It's really good. It's like peaches and cream.
The best bite is when you get
a little bit of everything together.
I did not think I would have an empty plate on salmon tartare.
♪♪♪
Course two for two, another two.
-Two by two. -Uh-huh.
Evelyn is making sure everything is on point.
EVELYN: I would do ten.
Do we have ten guests now?
We have them on their first course.
That's delicious.
I see happy face.
So, this is going really well.
-So good, wow. -Amazing. Glad you're enjoying.
They're all just so good.
They're literally saying amazing things, guys.
You guys should be proud. Seriously.
♪♪♪
Order in. Five gumbos for the judges.
I don't want it to be, like, covering the rice.
Just that.
Bring it up. Bring it up. Let's go.
♪♪♪
So here we have gumbo Z'Herbes.
It is a green gumbo with red rice and seasoning meats.
-Thank you. -Thank you.
Very smokey.
It smells great.
Mm.
It's so rich. It's so deep. I love it.
It's delicious.
It is smokey. The greens are cooked enough
to where they're starting to kind of break apart.
TOM: The red rice is really, really good.
Yeah and I appreciate how beautiful she's made it.
How arduously she cut those carrots.
Any time that you tilt your bowl and you go in,
you got a good dish. That's all I'mma say.
Oh, oh. You hear that? You hear that?
I think it's got the perfect combination
of everything you'd want in a gumbo.
Your five beefs fire for judges.
Heard.
♪♪♪
Pick up, Ashleigh.
Let's go. Chef's table, please.
This is coming at a really good pace right now.
♪♪♪
TOM: Lovely.
We have a Texas strip loin. It's been roasted
in Nick's famous 26 spices that he has bottled up.
Not in retail stores yet.
[laughter] -Yet.
It's been lightly barbecued,
served with Southern styled pomme puree,
herb sauce and also an oxtail marmalade.
-Thank you. -You're welcome.
GAIL: Really nicely cooked.
Sour cream and chive and the potato. Yes, please.
The potatoes were like super luxurious
but I think the best part is that oxtail marmalade.
He balanced that sweetness with the [indistinct].
It's really well done.
-The meats not bad. -Oxtail's good.
The only thing that can make this dish better
is a big chunk of bone marrow. -GAIL: Yeah.
You don't need it.
It's not about need-- It's about want.
It's about desire.
[laughter]
♪♪♪
You folks enjoying everything?
-That's good. -Wonderful.
There we go.
It's not cutting.
Try and cut that.
[laughter] Exactly.
You can't do it.
Woah. I did it too.
Okay. My things real hard.
The short cookie. One, like, flew off.
I don't want desserts flying all over the place.
So we have to pivot pretty quickly.
We're going to ask the guests to eat
the dessert with their hands.
-Your dessert. -Thank you.
So it's kind of like a cookie,
pick it up and eat it with your hands.
-Okay? -Okay, great.
-This is the way to go. -Very good, though.
That was an adventure.
[sighs]
Two more tartare.
Then we can-- That'll solve 42.
-Enjoy. -Thank you so much.
Damarr is just like a workhorse back there.
TOM: He's in the groove.
PADMA: Thank you.
Something to finish off.
We have Damarr's mother's carrot cake
served with a carrot caramel, coconut and candied ginger.
GAIL: Thank you. BUDDHA: You're welcome.
Mm.
I love this carrot caramel.
It's so carroty, right?
Yeah. I love the coconut-lime-ginger combination.
This feels distinctly different and it's very special.
TOM: It's really great. I love it.
This is the way to end the meal.
It really makes me want to come back for more.
The coconut ice cream was... Divine.
Don't lick your plate.
They ----ing love it. All right?
They love it. Especially your dish.
Everyone agrees. -Oh. Awesome.
This actually feels more like a restaurant
than any other experience. -Yeah.
Like, a real restaurant that's actually been open.
If this is 36 hours in, I can't wait to see
what they do within a week.
Dessert this evening, we have a carrot cake.
No, Buddha, he's, a... a lovely host.
Hi, I'm so sorry to interrupt.
I just want to say thank you for coming to Matriarc
And I hope you all enjoyed everything.
[overlapping conversation]
-Our fearless leader here. -Oh, I try, I try.
Thank you so much.
Let's go do it all over again.
-Yeah, let's do it. -Come on.
About 15 minutes of turnover. All right?
-Thank you. -Thank you.
We got another set of VIPs coming.
We ready for 'em.
♪♪♪
And you're doing a great job staying at front of the house.
Ah, thank you. I just don't want to interrupt people too much.
You know, just kind of check in and see how they're doing.
But it's very hands off.
When the judges walk in, fire the five.
Like, go grill it.
I mean, I do want close to [indistinct] as possible.
I absolutely refuse to have a fish sit here for 20 minutes.
But right when you see them walk in, okay?
This is what I need fired, just fire it.
I'm trying to run a line and not lose my sh--.
They are-- Oh, here they come.
EVELYN: Oh, there they are.
Right now, this is like life or death.
It is showtime.
♪♪♪
Here we go.
Hi, do you have a reservation for Lakshmi?
SERVER: Yes, ma'am. Follow me this way.
Evelyn, you want me to fire now?
Yeah.
All right, I'll be back.
We have a table right here.
Great. Thank you so much.
♪♪♪
All right. All right, all right.
That's cheesy.
How about a little human interaction?
PADMA: Hello.
GAIL: Great. Thank you.
That's a lot of pressure to put on your wait staff.
Evelyn, I would say three minutes to my dish.
Okay. Once you're plating, I'll go.
I see some nice pani puri.
They seem very neat and focused.
♪♪♪
-Jackson. -Yes.
I got a question. You got this--
These beautiful flowers, by the way.
-Yes. -GAIL: Yeah. Beautiful.
What's up with this?
Uh, it was supposed to be fun and clever for everyone.
Whose idea was it? Tell me the truth.
-It was mine. -It was yours? Okay.
If you're here to welcome us, you don't need that.
Yeah, you're right. Thank you for coming.
-There you go. -Thank you.
-Yeah.
Let's go.
Oh, so we're getting the first two courses at the same time.
GAIL: It's very pretty.
TOM: The pani puri is just beautiful.
Is someone going to talk to us or can we just eat it?
Listen, if they're not here to talk to me, I'm eating.
♪♪♪
[laughter]
I think we're eating.
I really like the crunch.
I think it played really well with the seafood.
But the crispiness of a pani puri is judged
by how much liquid in it.
And there was no liquid in this.
-Oh-- -That's true.
-I'm happy with what we put out. -Okay.
It's just the judges it just sucks hearing it.
PADMA: I love this summer roll.
I love that it's wrapped in fish.
It's pretty clever.
It sort of was a cross between a roll and a ceviche.
And then when you put that beautiful,
sour, bright, spicy sauce on top,
like, the whole thing just came to life.
The snapper is really good.
You know, I'm really missing Jackson, a little bit.
-Good evening. -Hi.
-Dessert all right? -Yes.
My goal is to touch every table and not hover.
Enjoy.
I'm showing servers that I'm willing
to work hard to support them.
Jackson did not really come and welcome us.
But he did leave you a note, though.
-Yeah. -Yes! [laughter]
-I hear them. -Yeah?
The judges are right in front of us, so I'm hearing tidbits.
Could I get Jackson?
He's interacting with everybody really, really well.
But it's almost as if he's trying to avoid us
for some reason.
What's up, chefs?
Maybe schmooze with the judges table
-a little bit more. -More?
Yes. You need to talk to them.
Okay. Heard.
They're saying hospitality is not great.
I'm like, "Can you just get it together quick?"
I'm trying to win Restaurant Wars, bro.
Fry Brussels.
Frying Brussels.
Folks enjoy the last few bites?
Hopefully it's not too much.
-We're professional-- -GAIL: Professionals.
[laughs] Right.
Are you kidding me? Bring it on.
♪♪♪
Four of you.
All right, excellent.
♪♪♪
11 menus down.
Yes, chef.
Red wine. Cheers.
Woo!
Fabulous indeed.
Guys. We're having, like, a back up with the customers
who are not leaving at the moment.
So if we can just make sure that we're super ready.
We are so ready.
♪♪♪
Any more wine for you folks?
-Coming over. -Okay.
-Hot. -Here you go.
All right. Sausage is ready.
We have more pickles, huh?
Yeah, yeah.
♪♪♪
I'm plating this up.
♪♪♪
So how do we eat?
TOM: I don't get it.
But maybe just to put the curry on top of it, right?
I'm just mixing everything on top of it,
like taco style.
Would you like a new plate, Gail ?
I'm good. But I would love for you
to just tell us what we're supposed to do here.
Yeah. We have curried black cod with coconut rice.
The barbecue name is from all of us.
And a Choose Your Own Adventure for the lettuce wrap
so I suggest a little bit of everything.
So this is a wrap. Right. That's in a set--
Correct, this is all one set.
And can you just rewind for a moment?
Who is responsible for all the dishes we've had so far?
Sure. So part one, of course. One is Evelyn.
Part two is Jae.
Part three is Luke, with Evelyn's help as well.
So kind of combination then I'm on the dessert.
-Thank you. -Of course.
The curry could be a little bit more flavor.
You guys did good.
I have nothing negative to say.
Thank you so much. I actually lost my sense of taste
and it hasn't come back.
They don't know because I don't want to go home.
I don't find the curry to be sweet, like really sweet.
I thought the fish needed a little bit more salt
but it was perfectly cooked. It just sort of flaked apart.
It was butter, baby.
Unsalted butter.
-[laughter] -Oh!
The cod could maybe use a little bit more seasoning.
I also want some spice.
It was a Thai curry that spent a lot of time in Copenhagen.
TOM: Ah, that's a mom joke.
I do love a lettuce wrap. I'm not going to lie.
The sausage perfectly cooked and the sauce
packed with flavor, just sang.
Do you think it lived up to the namesake restaurant?
I do. I would come to have that one dish again and again.
Yeah.
It was colorful. It was fresh. It was bright.
I wish that energy of that dish
carried through with some of the other things.
The sausage is amazing.
I definitely think the sauce is the game changer for that one.
Everybody is raving about the sauce.
Yeah?
-I hear them. -Yeah?
I think the entire experience
would have felt better if it were coursed out.
The fish curry had nothing to do with No Nem
so why serve them at the same time?
We don't do spoons for dessert or nothing?
No, no, no, no.
-I'll go behind you. -Heard.
And you can schpiel.
I'm going.
♪♪♪
-I'll go behind you. -Heard.
And you can schpiel.
I'm going.
♪♪♪
This is meant to be eaten with your hands.
We want to have fun. It's a family style restaurant.
We don't want to take ourselves too seriously.
-Okay, so like this? -Yeah! Enjoy.
-I need some more for 13. -Can you schpiel them?
-Yes. Yeah, yeah, yeah. -All of us.
Shortbread has lime in it,
as well as vanilla, mandarin orange curd
and then whipped coconut.
Something light to finish the meal.
Enjoy.
TOM: The curd was really nice.
It's tasty but it doesn't feel restaurant-y.
It doesn't feel buttoned up.
Jackson's dessert was fine.
It was no carrot cake.
[laughs] It was no carrot cake.
31. Thank you.
The flavors here were exciting, here at No Nem.
There was spice and there was sour
but I feel like it didn't have the connection
that I wanted it to have throughout the whole menu.
These restaurants are aspiring to two very different things
and it's very hard to compare them side by side.
Typically, when you have all this beautiful food
and the dessert is an after thought.
But, you know, this one was super exciting.
Last dessert.
♪♪♪
To finish off we have carrot cake.
Restaurant Wars. We made it.
-You wowed us. -It was a real treat.
Good. It feels good.
I feel like I can breathe a little bit.
-It was great. -Oh, thank y'all so much.
Glad you enjoyed everything.
I think it's time to head to Judges table.
-Let's do it. -And talk to these chefs!
Have a good night. Thank you very much.
-Thank you. -Thank you so much.
Bye guys, thank you.
I don't know. This was absolutely
the hardest challenge we've done so far.
Absolutely. Hands down.
♪♪♪
I think both these restaurants did a great job
putting out some really, really delicious food.
All in all, yeah, it was very successful.
Matriarc. Please stay here.
No Nem, you can step to the side.
Congratulations.
You are the winners of Restaurant Wars, Matriarc!
[clapping]
[heartfelt chatter]
As the winners, you will be receiving
$40,000 from MasterCard--
Wow--
To help you start something priceless.
So congratulations to all of you.
Thank you. Thank you. [chuckles]
Good job, guys.
How did you decide on your rolls?
How did Buddha get front of the house?
I put my hand up to it.
I feel very comfortable with it.
I really enjoy front of house.
Beautiful job in front of house.
He really represented the three of you so well.
And the other thing I have to say,
this didn't seem like Restaurant Wars.
It seemed like this was in the planning
for the last, you know, eight months.
And you all should feel really proud of the work you did.
Everything happened so organically. I felt really good.
You were the team leader in kitchen.
Is that correct?
Buddha, did anybody question the bread?
Buddha was like, "I got this."
And usually when Buddha says he's got something,
he's got it.
And we were like, "Great, let's go."
It was the best bread I've ever had on Top Chef.
Oh, whoa. [laughs] Wow.
Your Parker House rolls were,
one day in was as good as anything I've ever served
in 40 years of working in the business.
It was that good.
Then we had the butter with those
crunchy pieces of ham.
From that moment I was sold. It was fantastic.
Nick, you had the steak.
-Yes. -Steak and potatoes.
I mean, it can be a very, very basic thing.
But I think you took it to another level
with all of the components-- The way they were layered,
the way the sauces came together
and melded on the plate.
I think you're on with something with your spices.
You better get that bottled, soon.
You're leaving out the best part.
The oxtail marmalade.
Oh, yes! I loved your oxtail marmalade.
So yummy. That made your dish.
Thank you.
Damarr, I'm actually not a big carrot cake fan.
It's in my mind from childhood.
But you, like, redeemed carrot cake for me tonight.
That carrot caramel was fantastic.
I celebrate my birthday with carrot cake.
This is the best carrot cake I've ever had. Hands down.
I mean, it was absolutely delicious.
Thank you.
Ashleigh, you expedited so it was a woman-led kitchen.
And you made the salmon and you made the gumbo.
Why did you choose to do salmon?
We needed a raw dish and salmon tartare is
what got me back in the game.
So that was part of why I chose
to make salmon tartare.
Salmon tartare isn't something necessarily
that I associate with the South, but you took it there
with the peaches and the buttermilk.
I kind of just wish it was a little punchier.
Great idea. Maybe a little re-work.
PADMA; Now we're going to talk about that gumbo.
I'll keep this really simple. It was delicious.
And I know that that Leah Chase
was one of the matriarchs sitting over your shoulder
and she's smiling at you right now.
Thank you.
I want more right now.
When the gumbo came to the table,
the color was so enticing and the depth of flavor,
it was so bold. And I thought that,
I mean, this was the anchor of the menu.
It left me wanting more.
I mean, it was incredible.
The greens were cooked perfect
and it was a perfect blend of everything.
-I just wanted more. -Thank you.
You all are truly amazing chefs.
But there was one chef who was instrumental.
And the winning chef today is...
Ashleigh.
That feels good. Good, good, good.
This is the first time that I haven't,
like, watered down my food.
-Congratulations, Ashleigh. -Thank you so much.
It feels like I'm, like,
proving a little something here.
I love it.
Hopefully it helps me with these
other challenges going forward.
Matriarc, baby.
Thank you guys so much.
You can step to the side.
No Nem, please step forward.
Team No Nem,
your restaurant was our least favorite of the day.
And one of you will be going home.
♪♪♪
Team No Nem.
There was a lot of good food and elements of your restaurant.
But let's talk about concept.
Jae, you picked this team.
I picked the members but Jackson kind of give an idea.
Which was?
Southeast Asian inspired, family style.
Was there an executive chef?
I was lead in the kitchen.
How did you decide to serve two courses at once?
That was my idea. It just kind of dawned on me
that these two bites were very small.
But this is the perfect time to get in there.
You show up with a tray of pani puri
and walk down the table and say,
"Pani Puri, this is what we're serving tonight,
welcome to the restaurant."
You seemed to be a little uneasy
about when to actually engage with our table.
My goal was to treat you exactly like a normal table.
Understandably so but a good front house person
knows when to actually get in there or not.
Sure.
Now I want to talk about the Pani puri.
Evelyn, I think you nailed the Puri part of it.
Pani is the Hindi word for water
and that is a crucial element.
I should have just put more of the vinaigrette.
Yeah. Yeah.
Then we have the summer roll that you made, Jae.
The fish was, it was really fresh.
It was nicely cut.
And the sauce just tied it all together.
Thank you.
You have quite a way with sauces.
And that leads us to the cabbage and fish curry.
Luke.
I wanted to, of course, marry the flavors
that I did not know, that Evelyn taught me
with the fish that I knew how to cook.
I felt like there was no salt on that fish at all.
I think you're caught between a couple of cuisines here.
If you're gonna want that fish to stand up to the curry
it needs to have a punch.
Did anybody else on the team try the dish together?
Yes, we all tried.
And you thought it was seasoned?
I actually thought it was over-seasoned.
Who made the sausage?
Oh, it's between me and Evelyn.
It was his recipe and then I added my taste,
flavor into it.
-And who made the sauce? -I did.
This was a very successful course.
Both the sausage, the seasoning
and that beautiful sauce.
You really know your way around a condiment, Jae.
Your nem was the star of the show,
as it should have been.
I would come back to your restaurant
several nights of the month just for that dish.
Thank you.
Who did the dessert?
I thought your shortbread was well-made.
I got the lime and I liked the break of it.
I guess I just found it uninspired.
And I wish there had just been a bit more of a point of view.
I'll go out on a limb here and say that you probably
put together the best restaurant to lose Restaurant Wars.
It wasn't that you guys failed.
Most of what we had was very good.
You just happened to run into a team
that just did something completely out of left field.
Never happened before.
We have a very hard decision to make, obviously.
You guys can all head back.
We'll see you all in a bit. Thank you.
♪♪♪
Okay. All right, guys.
So there is something I wanted to share with you all,
which I've kind of been hiding from you guys.
What?
I got COVID about three and a half weeks
before we started filming.
My taste and smell went away and it hasn't really come back.
So I've kind of been doing this all blind.
-What? -Yeah.
Wow.
I didn't want to tell y'all
because I feel like it's, like, a weakness.
You know what I mean?
I mean, all day yesterday,
we were all like, tasting, tasting, tasting.
It's shocking to hear.
I seasoned the fish a little bit less
since Jackson decided it was a little bit too salty.
I'm less anxious in real life, I promise.
Plot twist.
That's a twist but that's just a twist
you're going to have to live with
'cause you're not going home today.
-Yes, I am. -100% me.
It's such a shame because this team gave us
some delicious food for Restaurant Wars.
They did.
I think the mistake they made was to go family style.
The flavors of each dish were diluted
by what was served next to it.
They were too deferential.
There wasn't, to me, a clear leader.
I think that somebody needed to step up.
I think there was a leader in the kitchen.
That was Evelyn.
Evelyn was the executive chef.
She did make that curry,
in fact, teaching this curry to Luke.
And I don't think she did a good job of teaching it.
But Evelyn had some flavor in that sausage.
It looked to me, at least, like all of those
wishy-washy decisions that don't seem to be
thought through came from Jackson.
Yeah.
Jackson was also responsible
for the nonexistent front of house.
And a pretty mediocre dessert.
It was my idea to do the whole two course thing.
I guess I just wasn't thinking it through.
I'll tell you, one person who's not going anywhere is Jae.
Because both her sauces were delicious.
Quite frankly, I think Luke-- Luke should go home.
He gave us one thing.
You could fault someone like Jackson
for having the idea to do family style and for putting
himself out there and saying, "I'll run the front of house."
But I have a hard time not sending someone home
who didn't really, do very little.
I came in thinking Jackson because of all.
But, I mean, Luke did minimum effort
So there's not a whole lot of, [chuckles],
to blame him for.
Don't worry, Jackson. You're safe.
Dude...
I think we have our decision.
Let's get them out here.
-Good luck, bro. -All right.
I'll try to come back.
Chefs. Obviously, opening a restaurant
takes a huge amount of energy and focus and planning.
And so obviously,
Restaurant Wars is compressed down.
And unfortunately, in this restaurant,
mistakes can get you sent home.
♪♪♪
Jackson. Please pack your knives and go.
-Thank you very much. -Thank you.
Jackson, you clearly took on a lot.
But things didn't work out.
We'll see you in Last Chance Kitchen.
You'll have a shot to get back in.
-Sure -Thank you. That'll be all.
I've learned that like everyone,
sometimes I make the wrong decision.
And sometimes it bites you in the ass.
-I'm out, guys. -Man.
-That's a big blow. -It's been real.
I was basically on top every round and then
was on the bottom on the eighth and got eliminated.
All right. Thanks, guys. Cheers.
It's a tough pill to swallow but I'm just going to lean in,
cook the best food that I can
going to Last Chance Kitchen because I came here to win.
And I think I actually have a shot at this.
PADMA: Tonight, Jackson enters Last Chance Kitchen.
Restaurant Wars, man. Of all the ones to lose.
As front of house he took on too much.
Who the [bleep] does this.
Will this challenge finally break him?
Jesus Christ.
Find out now, On Demand,
or wherever you stream Top Chef.
Next time on Top Chef.
For your elimination challenge,
we're putting on a fundraising block party.
Anyone who asks, "Where should I go?
I want to be free." People would tell you,
"Go to Freedman's Town."
I love this sense of Black people finally free,
coming together to build this very special thing.
It makes you almost want to shed a tear.
I scrapped my whole entire idea.
Are you going to be okay?
I burned the whole case.
The love in your eyes is emanating.
I can't see sending anybody home.
We're going to have a hard time at Judges' Table.
I don't know why I'm getting emotional right now.
This one really hit home.
♪♪♪