Previously on Top Chef...
Welcome back to the competition, Sarah.
- Thank you. - This is it. There's no more
Last Chance Kitchen to fall to fall back on.
You'll each have to make a family style dish
catered to a different family member's tastes.
I've all had that in my menu.
Do we know who this person is?
Hello? Hello!
I knew it was my dad.
You're making me cry, sweetheart.
I apologize in advance for my sister and what she may say.
She will literally murder somebody if they make me cry.
Look out, Tom.
It doesn't eat well.
Buddha's dish is executed so well.
The tomatoes are roasted so beautifully.
- Cheers! - Oh.
Ugh. I just had a bite of Ashleigh's squid.
I couldn't swallow it.
The dish that won spoke to the challenge itself.
Buddha.
Ashleigh, please pack your knives and go.
Five 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 & Wine Classic in Aspen,
$250,000
furnished by Sanpellegrino
and the coveted title of Top Chef.
Chefs, this next challenge will be your final
challenge in Houston.
Rest up tonight. Tomorrow morning,
bright and early, you're going to meet me down at the docks.
You may need this.
Motion sickness.
- We're going fishing. - We're going boating, baby!
We will see you at the next one.
- Good luck. - Thank you, Chef.
Thank you so much. I love fishing.
That's it, guys. Final five.
I feel like I'm clawing my way through this thing.
It's just hard in Last Chance Kitchen,'cause you're like--
you don't have time to overthink your dish.
It's just, I got to learn to,
like, trust my initial instinct.
When you graduate middle school,
you think you're the sh--,
and then you go to high school
and you're a loser again. That's where I'm at.
So, now I have to reestablish progress upwards
- if I'm gonna stick around. - We all have ups and downs.
My culinary career,
it's been a lot of hiding in other people's shadow.
But I'm in the final five.
I hope you can see it in my eyes,
'cause I've never been this more confident in my life.
Final five, guys. For real. Final five.
Not looking back from now.
Feeling spicy today.
Feelin' it!
BMW, take me to the Galveston Yard Basin.
Let's go.
This is that fish water right here.
I love it. - Good morning, chefs.
Hello, chefs.
You fish? - I do fish.
Top five. - It's been a long road
to get here, so congratulations.
Thanks.
Anyone here's gone fishing before?
- Damarr. - I've never had the pleasure.
All right, good. Your maiden voyage.
I grew up south of Chicago.
There wasn't a lot of, like, water activities
unless you count, like, you know,
cracking open a fire hydrant.
- We hurt ourselves a lot. - If you haven't guessed already,
there's no Quickfire Challenge today.
You'll need to have a good fishing day today,
because whatever you catch will be on the menu
in the Elimination Challenge.
That's right. You'll be cooking with
the fish you catch, in not just one, but two dishes.
Damn.
With two different preparations.
I know what you're thinking right now:
"What if I don't catch any fish?"
After we're done fishing,
you'll gut and prep the fish
that you caught, and then you'll have an
additional $200 to split between Katie's Seafood
and Whole Foods.
Two hundred dollars, it's not a lot of money.
You could buy one fish
and you could just almost blow your budget.
It's gonna be really helpful to catch fish today.
So, tomorrow, you'll have two and a half hours to prep
and cook at Bludorn restaurant.
- Ooh. - There, you'll serve your two
dishes side by side for Dawn, the judges, James Beard Award
winner, Top Chef Chicago winner, Stephanie Izard--
-along with the chef and owner
of Bludorn, Aaron Bludorn.
And to make it even more fun,
our other guest judge-- Oh, boy.
my good friend, the one and only, Daniel Boulud.
Damn. Oh, wow.
Is that a joke?
Daniel Boulud is a culinary icon.
Now it's time to pull out all the stops
and really push myself.
There's one or two fish
standing between you and the finals.
Ready to cast a line? Yeah.
Let's go fishing.
- How's it going? - Welcome aboard, y'all.
Thank you. - We're gonna be going for some
bull reds and gafftop catfish.
Y'all have any questions?
Not yet.
We're going after real big fish today.
Real big.
Hey!
Rule one: stay inside the boat.
Welcome to fishing, Damarr!
I love fishing.
I grew up in Port Douglas, right by the Great Barrier Reef.
We have an abundance of beautiful fish.
I'm so happy that I've made it this far,
but at the same time, we're going fishing now,
so gonna have some trouble
just reminding myself that I'm in a competition.
No throwing up yet. No sickness yet.
All good.
So, what are y'all thinking about making?
One raw dish. One raw dish, uh-huh.
Yeah, and then a cooked dish.
You know, if I'm catching a fish,
I don't want to go too crazy.
I wanna make the fish the center of the plate.
Yeah, time, because you just literally pulled it up.
Yeah.
Here we go, guys.
All right, y'all.
Yes!
So, we're gonna get some live bait out here as well.
Ah! They're alive. They're 100% alive.
Okay. Uh...
So, we're gonna cast a few of them out,
we're going to drop a few of them down.
I'm hoping to catch some redfish.
It's a very meaty fish that I've used before,
and I don't really like catfish, so...
All you gotta do is just watch.
You can feel the bottom. You'll all of a sudden feel
- a stop when it hits the bottom. - Okay.
My fishing strategy is to do exactly what Tom says.
You're also looking for feeding fish
on the surface, or birds diving down.
I have no inkling about how this works.
I'm just really hoping something bites.
Keep your thumb on there,
that way it doesn't backlash. You just let it out.
This moment right here, it's gonna last forever, man.
Both of y'all, I couldn't have
did this whole stretch without you.
This is the best part. You just crack open a beer.
Yeah, there you go.
When they start hitting,
they're gonna hit all at once. So, just--
let's just be ready. It's coming. It's gonna happen.
Nothing yet.
Come on, baby. Give me a fish, baby.
There you go, you're out there.
Someone's got to get something.
If we're not catching fish, might as well eat goldfish.
Ha ha ha, Dad!
Actually, I would eat one of those.
I can feel it, it's gonna happen, like, any moment.
If you don't catch anything,
what are you gonna do with that $200?
Yeah. I'm gonna have to be very creative.
This is not looking good for anyone.
Nothing's biting, huh? Nah.
All right, let's reel 'em up, y'all.
We're going to make a move. The next spot.
The next spot is gonna be the golden spot.
Let's get fish, Nick!
Let's get fish.
We got a good spot right over here.
All right, y'all. We can let 'em on down.
We need fish. We got meals to cook. We need fish.
We got folks to feed. - Yeah.
Come on, baby. Snap it.
Come on, come on. Snap it, come on.
Come on.
Check that one.
Do we got a fish on? I think it's moving.
Oh, yeah? Maybe. I haven't, like-- Oh, sh--.
Fish, girl.
Sh--. Ah! I got a fish!
Oh, sh--.
It's a catfish!
I'm the first one to catch a fish,
and it's the smallest little catfish.
Need a lot more for tomorrow, for sure.
I mean, it's seven diners. It's just not enough.
More options would be nice, too.
Swear to God, if I go home with a catfish.
Hey, what's that? What's that? That might be a fish on.
Oh, that one. Grab that spinning rod.
Get it. Get it, Damarr!
Pull it in. Lean it.
Pull back, yeah. Pull back.
Now reel down, reel down, reel down.
Now when you drop the rod, reel.
Yeah, Damarr! Damn!
All right, good job! Awesome.
Yanking your ingredient out of the ocean like that,
just, like... I've never felt anything like that.
So, these are the red drum, the bull reds that we're after.
It's this huge, huge bull redfish.
There you go! Yay.
Oh, man, that is awesome.
Fish on? Oh, you're fishing now.
This is the big one, man.
He's pulling, he's pulling back, too.
Big one. Snapper. Damn. Wow.
That's what I'm talking about!
Yes!
Yes.
I caught a fish. It's a lot of fish, too.
Nick, that's a huge fish!
A bull red gets a little gamey,
and maybe a little chewy, but I'll take it. I need it.
Got another one on? Yeah.
We got another one on. They're coming through, y'all.
There goes another one. Come on, baby. Oh!
Oh, yeah!
All right, Buddha!
We got another one on.
Doubled up right now, y'all.
Tom! Oh, yeah.
Triples.
All of a sudden,
it's like the floodgates have opened up for redfish.
Good job, Evelyn. Jesus.
Yes! I feel very accomplished.
This redfish is gonna be more than enough.
For the record, that puts me on the board.
I'd like to be recognized, that counts. Thank you.
You know what they say, the smaller the fish,
the better the flavor.
You are perfectly correct.
It's very Oprah, right?
It's like, you get a fish, you get a fish.
And, you know, I'm like, wait a ----ing second here.
Hey, Tom, can I buy your fish?
It would kind of suck if I didn't get to actually cook
a fish that I caught.
That's the whole point.
Better start saying some prayers.
Sarah got one?
What bait were you guys using?
As it's getting closer to dusk,
it's getting to be a little bleak.
Evelyn's got one!
Beautiful fish. Bastards.
Uh, fish on.
Sarah has one. Can I get a net?
Sarah! There it is.
Hold on. Don't lift it out of the water.
God. Ha! Everybody's getting a fish, I'm getting a fish.
Okay? Shorty knows how to fish.
Good job, y'all.
Reel 'em all up. Time to go home.
It feels like a Top Chef miracle.
Everyone caught enough fish to cook for the judges.
Rock out with your fish out!
Take care. Great fishing with you.
Great job today. - See you, Tom.
We arrive at Katie's Seafood Market.
Well, hello, everyone.
To shop and also fillet our fish.
I know we have the option of purchasing other fish,
but I personally have a lot of fresh fish.
I really want to show the judges that
I can not only catch, but cook my fish as well.
Hey, Buddy, I've never butchered a fish this big.
I don't have a lot of experience with these larger fish.
When you're focused on local food like I am,
that's just the cross I bear.
Do you take it through the backbone, all the way down?
I go around the rib cage.
Daniel Boulud's gonna know if you screwed this up.
So, I cozy up to Buddy.
- But I could smoke this? - If you can get it lit,
you can smoke anything.
Redfish, you could tell, that's the reason why, like,
it's king of the waters. You know what I'm saying?
It's a tough fish, even to cook, too.
The 39-inch fish that I caught
could definitely be enough for my cook for tomorrow.
But the bull red, this fish is tough.
So, what I'm thinking is, I want to get a prime redfish.
I want a smaller farmer's redfish.
It's sweeter, it's gonna be a lot more tender.
Hopefully it works for me.
$70.55.
I think I want four of these guys.
How much do they weigh?
Four of 'em are going to be 3.3.
Can I get one of these? Scaled and dressed?
I see some beautiful snapper,
I want to do a crudo. Making two dishes,
that's going to be hard to execute
in the time constraints.
Doing a cold dish that hopefully
I can pre-plate will help me.
What's that, 30 bucks?
Yeah, just about. - Okay.
For the second dish,
I'm going to make a blackened red fish.
These are $5 each?
$5 a pound. - Oh, great.
I'm also thinking about using some Asian flavors
that I wouldn't normally use.
In my mind it makes sense.
Everybody ready? Yeah, I'm ready.
Let's get out of here. We are so dirty.
We're heading back to Houston.
I've got so many ideas for fish.
I just want to try and put my best ideas out forward.
Ay-ay-ay. - Anybody else pooped?
'Cause I'm pooped.
Damarr, I'm so proud of you.
You caught a fish, you didn't die.
It was a great first day.
Dad took us out.
Dad took us out today.
What's everybody thinking for their two dishes?
- Taco? - I'm also doing a taco.
Guess it's the taco, uh--
Taco-off? - Taco-off.
And then I'm thinking, like, a Mexican style soup.
Since it's the last challenge in Houston,
it's really, I feel like, my duty to invoke my love
for my family in these two dishes.
Yeah, and I haven't made tortillas.
I would love to make tortillas.
Every challenge just keeps getting harder and harder.
Big day tomorrow.
There's less people
to hide behind.
Winning $250,000 would
definitely change my life in unimaginable ways.
This whole dream of winning is becoming
a real possibility, and the closer it gets,
I think the more painful it is not to actually achieve it.
What you workin' on?
Getting all my produce. I'm making my tacos
with a smoked tomato crema.
Yes. I stepped on my chili. R.I.P.
Where's Nick's 26? Nick's 26.
$3.99. I'm balling now.
Oh, I gotta get my chicken stock.
I like to have contingencies for everything that I make,
but not today.
I think that a huge part of my problem
in the past was not doing a good job shopping.
So, I'm really trying to be as abbreviated
as I can with my shop.
Last challenge in Houston.
I can't think about it or I'll puke.
Twelve and a half minutes.
Huh. For my breakfast dish,
I'd like to pair it with green papaya salad,
because it's so gamey.
Unfortunately, there's no green papaya,
so I grab jicama, and turnips, and carrots,
vegetables that I think will liken to that texture.
Oh, see if you can get this on there,
and this on there.
All right, that's pennies left, right? Three pennies?
Nice. Thank you, ma'am.
Push it to the limit.
Sarah, how you feeling about the challenge?
Uh, I feel dead inside.
Not only did we catch the fish,
but now we have to cook with it in two ways,
in the same time we've normally been given
for less dishes.
Every time I touch something,
I'm like, Daniel ----ing Bouloud.
Oh, sh--!
I'm getting a fish head broth going.
My first dish is a pseudo crudo I'm making
from Gulf snapper that I got at the fish market.
I'm calling it pickled mustard fish
with a fermented fish head broth.
It's not really a raw preparation as much
as it is, like, a cook at the table preparation.
And I'm hoping the tableside pour over
will create a pseudo raw dish.
I know intimately from Last Chance Kitchen
how hard it is to execute two dishes simultaneously.
For this challenge, you'll each be creating
two dishes for us to judge.
Pre-plating was my key to completing that challenge.
So, that's my game plan.
One of my favorite things about this is
the texture difference between the fish and the tofu.
What are you makin', Evelyn?
I'm working on my stock right now.
I'm making a Mexican fish soup.
I'm just trying to make sure my seafood's coming through
and a little bit more chipotle. But it's tasting good.
And then I'm making a taco for my second dish.
I have two red fish,
which I'll be using and highlighting in my dishes,
and then I'm using catfish to really fortify that broth.
What kind of taco? - The al pastor,
it's all about the marinade.
I want to make dishes that are familiar to me,
so I have enough time to zhuzh it up.
What's your inspiration for your dish, man?
I'm doing two of my favorite preparations of fish.
Yep.
I love eating it with ginger and scallion,
and I also love eating some fish and chips.
I'm going a bit all out in this challenge.
Everything's very difficult at the moment.
First time I've cooked bull redfish.
I do hear that if you overcook it, I can get quite dry.
For my first dish, I'm gonna be making
a 10% kosher salt brine.
Brining the fish retains the moisture.
I've got some seaweed, I'm going to wrap
the redfish inside of it with a farce
that I've made out of shrimp.
Nick, what are you making?
I'm making a taco and a fish cake.
I got my first job in Jackson, Mississippi.
I really was wanting to try to get into this restaurant.
I had to do a breadless fish cake.
Half of this fish is going to have to be grind,
so it holds as the binder and it should eat like a pâté.
I'm going to do that preparation,
' cause I just want the fish to completely shine.
Damarr, what sort of fish are you cooking?
For my first dish, I'm not actually cooking the fish,
I'm doing a red snapper crudo with apple and radish on top.
I've never done this preparation,
but I think it shows some technique.
I'm trying to be really restrained
and have really nice, clean flavors.
A little more finesse.
Then the second dish, I'm gonna do a black
and red fish but it'll go with marinated vegetables.
I marinate my vegetables in a Thai salad peanut vinaigrette.
Just want to try something new with the flavors.
I don't cook a lot of Asian food. I'm definitely trying
to show a little range as well.
My second dish, I'm hoping that I can smoke this fish.
My other dish, I'm gonna use the drum fish that I caught
and lightly smoke it as a pastrami fish.
And I'm frying little dumplings with some caraway to be
like the bread component
to what I hope will end up tasting
like a smoked pastrami sandwich.
Buddha, how's it going?
I'm doing fish and chips,
so it's gonna be fish inside the chip.
My inspiration behind the dish is Daniel Boulud.
He has very similar dishes to wrapping it up in the pastry
and potato. Hopefully I do Daniel justice.
Not much difficulty. We have to just cook the potatoes
and then get all the balance of flavors right.
I am making corn tortillas again.
I won $10,000 on it from Chipotle,
so why wouldn't I bring it to the party?
I only got 45 minutes, so it's almost that time.
I have knocked out my lemon beurre blanc,
I have the first stage of the mushroom ragu done,
the pickled peppers are done, but the tortillas
and the fish cakes haven't been done yet.
It just seems like today it's a lot more
going on than normal.
Oh, my God. Sarah!
Yeah? Oh, sh--.
Go on, girl.
That's so ----ing annoying.
Sarah, what was that?
It was just my fish stock.
Do you have more?
I do. It's just now I have half.
Whoo! Guys, come on. Ugh. Swear to God.
Everybody's pressed for time.
Hot, hot, hot, hot. Hot on your back.
- Everybody's running today. - Now I'm behind.
This pan is about to light on fire, y'all.
Thirty-five minutes left.
Working my fish and chips right now.
I want to cook this fish inside the chips.
me.
Unfortunately, it's not working.
And I don't have enough potatoes to fix this problem.
It's just gonna be served as a crispy garnish on top.
It sucks. Chef Daniel knows this dish,
so everything needs to be perfect.
It's a nice table.
Very beautiful.
Very handsome restaurant you have here.
Thank you, Chef.
I always say we stand on the shoulders
of giants, and I certainly do.
Tom, how was fishing yesterday?
It was slow, until all of a sudden
all the rods went off. And we had a great time.
And there was some catfish?
There were some catfish, no dogfish.
I'm really behind now.
Gonna try to pull myself out.
Where you at? What do you have left to do?
Yeah. Um--
Usually in the kitchen I'm quite calm,
but I really need to push myself,
otherwise I'm not gonna to be able to get
a dish onto the plate.
I'm just at the final stages,
getting everything finished off now.
Okay. Wow.
Gorgeous.
- Buddha's food is beautiful. - Absolutely, yes.
Buddha, tell us what you made.
So, I made a fish and chips,
fish wrapped up in pastry,
together with a potato gribiche on top and vadouvan.
Mm-hmm.
And the other fish is a steamed redfish
with a shrimp farce, stuffed with ginger, scallion,
radish that's been poached in a master stock, and some pickles.
Thank you. - You're welcome.
Buddha's bull redfish, I think, is really stunning.
The seaweed that he poached it in adds this beautiful,
smoky, brininess. Very thoughtful technique.
The fish was cooked beautifully, it was so moist,
but the sauce had a silky texture.
Almost reminded me of thickened broths in Chinese cuisine.
That makes it just perfectly velvety.
I liked the ginger and the scallion.
It was a good complement. It was really not overpowering
the fish. Very delicate, and the cuisson was perfect.
The moisture in the fish was there.
The farce was really a smart choice.
I thought it was great.
I really liked the fish and chips personally,
because one chef here, his most famous
dishes was the striped bass and paupiette.
We had a whole challenge about it, actually.
I think it's very satisfying
and I'm very impressed that he used
the potatoes in many different ways.
Fish is a teeny bit dry.
The fish does eat slightly dry,
but I can get over it because
I love this vadouvan sauce that he made.
It has that great punch of pickle, and dill,
and spices, and mustard.
That is a beautiful flavor combination
that I will not forget.
Great, you know, tongue in cheek play on fish and chips.
Just elevated in a way that's playful and fun.
I think Buddha knocked this out of the park.
That's my broth for my first course.
I need to finish my garnishes. Checking my fish.
Beautiful.
Thank you.
Evelyn, what did you make?
For your first dish,
I made a redfish caldo de pescado.
It has chipotle, cilantro oil,
and then it has some roasted vegetables.
In most Hispanic cultures, for a nice hangover,
they have this bring-you-back- to-life seafood soup.
It does. I am alert.
And then for your second dish, I have a taco al pastor.
I've done it with roasted red fish.
On top, we have salsa avocate, which is chili salsa
that is emulsified with avocado, in a tortilla, obviously.
- Thank you, Evelyn. - Thank you so much.
Good.
I really love the flavor
of Evelyn's caldo de pescado.
It's a humble dish that I feel like she elevated,
which I think is perfect.
Evelyn promised that the soup
would wake us up, and it did.
- Still feel it. - Yeah, it lingers.
And it is bright and fresh.
The broth is beautiful. I think having the chipotle
gave it a little smokiness, but I would've preferred
a little more fish in here. I mean, it's a fish challenge.
I want a little more than a little flake of fish.
Yeah, definitely. What do you think
of Evelyn's taco?
That's a tasty taco.
Yeah. - It looks so minimalist,
but even those three pieces of pineapple that I had,
each one is packed with so much flavor.
You get these bitter notes along with the tang
and the sweetness of the fruit.
It's what I love about al pastor.
I thought the tortilla was very thick,
which sucked all of the moisture
and the life out of the taco for me.
I like my tacos full of garnish.
And here it was, like, dotted.
I felt too precious for a taco.
Both of Evelyn's dishes were incredibly safe.
What was it like to be at this point in the competition,
so close to going to the finale?
Not only are you tired,
but you're feeling like each competition
has a little bit more weight.
Reality kind of sets in.
You can't just not get kicked off anymore,
you're going to win.
Time? 2:50.
Yeah, corner, coming in.
I'm struggling a little bit more than I'd like to be.
I wish that I had allocated more time to get my fish
cooked, and I would just really like to have Padma not think
I'm a complete nincompoop.
Aw, damn it!
Oh.
Sarah yelling.
Sarah did something wrong.
Teach a man to fish,
he fishes for a lifetime.
Hi, Sarah. - Hi.
How would you like this poured over?
Just directly on top. Yeah.
The goal is to get some heat on the fish.
We'll start with the pseudo cruto.
On top is the Gulf snapper and silken tofu.
And then the bottom of the bowl
is some fermented greens in kraut liquid.
And my favorite part about the dish was the texture
of the fish next to the silken tofu.
The other dish is my ode to the pastrami sandwich.
It's my favorite sandwich. I pastrami-rubbed the fish,
got a little bit of smoke on it.
On the bottom is a carrot butter,
some Parisian gnocchi and then kraut.
I love that inspiration.
It comes in weird places.
Thank you. Thank you so much!
I get exactly what Sara means about the texture
of the crudo with the silken tofu.
It is so smooth and silky, and there's enough texture
in the rest of the dish to make it all work.
The broth is absolutely delicious.
I love that she actually had this idea to take
sauerkraut juice and add it,
so I think it really makes the dish.
It was so spartan, but so much flavor.
The combination of warm and cold,
every little element is perfectly executed.
Wow. I love this pastrami fish.
There's so much going on and it's such a beautiful plate.
Fish is perfectly cooked. Spot on.
I could have just eaten that piece of fish,
honestly, and been very happy.
Then you add in all the creativity with the flavors
that make you feel you're eating a pastrami on rye,
- and my mind is blown. - I like the imagination
that went into building that dish as a whole.
It was very impressive.
She just created something here that will become
a signature no matter where she goes.
Very much.
I just cooked for, like, two of the most impressive
chefs in the world. Another day in the life
of Top Chef. Damn.
The time has just passed by,
and I'm starting to sear these fish cakes,
but they don't have a whole lot of body.
I realized that I never made my fish binder.
Ugh. six minutes,
I don't have enough time to go back
and start remixing at this point.
If I don't tighten up, I'm going home.
I do not want to go home yet.
Six minutes,
Put this cake straight down
in the skillet. Didn't want to ----ing do that,
but I had to.
I realize that I never added my fish binder
to the fish cakes.
They just don't have any structure.
It's definitely not going to look the way I want it to.
I have to start plating.
I'm throwing tortillas on the plancha--
Hot, hot, hot!
Redfish in the fryer.
My mind is, like, going crazy.
Not looking good at all, dammit!
Oh, man. I can't believe I did this.
Hmm.
Hi, Nick. Hello, everyone.
Please tell us about your dishes.
The taco is a handmade corn tortilla.
We have some crispy redfish,
pickled peppers and a smoked tomato crema.
The other dish is a redfish cake,
a lemon beurre blanc and some mushroom ragu.
How was today for you, Nick?
This has actually been the first time
that I have ran out of time.
I didn't get all my herbs on the taco
and I was trying to finesse the cake to getting it
on the plate, reshape it.
But I hope you enjoy the flavors.
Thank you, Nick. Thanks, Nick.
Thank you.
The crunch on the fish in the taco is fantastic
and seasoned really well and I love
the texture of the cornmeal.
But I think the fish is a little overcooked.
The protein was just so dry and almost tough for fish,
and the tortilla is also dry. So, there's no relief.
It definitely needs extra seasoning, extra sauce.
Missing the herbs or something fresh was
a bigger deal than he might have realized
because that could have saved that dish.
And what about Nick's fishcake?
The pile that he gave us, it wasn't a cake.
A cake holds together, right?
When you bite into it, I think there are a lot of great
textures and the chunks of red fish are delicious.
There's actually really great seasoning, I think,
on both the Nick's dishes,
but this redfish cake just feels rushed.
Yeah, he's grasping at ideas and not pulling them together.
Right.
Okay. Four minutes.
Oh, God.
Whoo, that's hot! --it.
Nice job.
Oh, that's pretty. - Hello.
Hi, Damarr. What did you make?
The first course, I made a snapper crudo.
Just has some marinated green apple and radish.
And then I did a coconut vinaigrette.
The other course is a blackened bull redfish,
with marinated vegetables, an herb salad, and a little bit
of the vinaigrette that I marinated the vegetables in,
which has lots of peanut in there as well.
- Thank you, Damarr. - Thank you.
What do you think of the crudo?
It presents beautifully, but for me, the fish is bland.
Yeah, I think he needed to salt the fish.
And the thing is, when you have something this delicate,
it doesn't matter how much sauce you put on it,
the fish is bland and it's gonna stay bland.
Oh, boy.
I think Damarr's blackened redfish is delicious.
It's really juicy inside.
Blackening seasoning he did was fantastic.
But the thought of using the peanuts in his vinaigrette
and grinding them in there was his misstep on this dish.
I think had the peanuts been left out, you'd get
a better texture with the sauce, a little bit less grainy.
It sort of harks at that Viet-Cajun tradition
that is very robust here in Houston.
But we just didn't get all the way there.
Thank you, Aaron, for lending us
your beautiful restaurant and kitchens.
It's an honor to have you all here.
It's a really tough point in the competition
because only four chefs can go to the finals.
But we do have to make this very difficult decision.
All right, let's go to Judges' Table one last time in Houston!
It was really interesting to see what each one of you did
with the fish you caught.
It's a tough one.
Lot of nerves right now,
but we got some really tasty dishes as well.
Sarah and Buddha...
you had our favorite dishes of the day.
Oh, my Lord.
And that means you're both moving on to the final four.
Congratulations. Sarah, how does it feel?
You've had quite a roller coaster.
Yeah, I've never been in the top, alone.
Both your dishes were really, really delicious today.
Padma, it-- that-- Coming from your mouth,
that means the whole world. So, thank you.
Your dishes were powerhouses.
They were packed with flavor.
That gingery broth was rich, fresh and bright.
Your pastrami dish was so fun and had so many things
going on, but it all worked together.
Seasonings were precise.
- Beautiful. - Thank you.
It's like, where have you been all competition?
I'm glad we got to taste it.
She was hanging out with Tom all competition.
Yes!
Buddha.
These were very complicated dishes.
The vadouvan mustard sauce was outrageously good.
Yes. Your fish and chips, together with the sauce
and the pickles, the caper berry,
that worked out very, very well.
- Thank you so much, Chef. - I think that the shrimp mousse
with the fish, it was beautifully cooked.
I could have eaten a whole plate of just the radishes
with the sauce. I thought it was fantastic.
- Thank you, Chef. - Stephanie and Daniel,
please tell us who won
this final challenge here in Houston.
The chef that we chose today presented
creativity and was the chef who was able to showcase
the fish in the best way possible.
And the winner tonight is...
Sarah.
Bravo!
Being in the top four, instead of being eliminated
fourth, feels very surreal.
I just appreciate all the feedback
and the opportunity to cook alongside people like this.
It feels so good to win!
If I had known it felt this good,
I would have done it a lot sooner.
Sarah and Buddha, you can step to the side.
Evelyn, I think you gave us two good dishes,
but I think you played it really safe today.
I know you can make a taco in your sleep.
My fish was cooked fine.
It was just too much tortilla and not enough fish
and not enough taco.
I-- I could have done more, and that's true.
With the soup, great layers of flavor.
I definitely had my first bite with some serrano punch
and it woke me up and I wish I had been hungover to enjoy
the full purpose of it.
The broth was great, but it was a little too simple
for a top dish made by a Top Chef.
Okay.
Evelyn...
you will also be going to the finals.
Oh, God! - Congratulations.
Thank you so much. I'm coming back with a punch.
Chef Daniel Boulud,
it's mind blowing that you ate my taco.
I'll definitely look forward to having your cooking again.
I'm gonna put that in my resume.
Evelyn, you can join Sarah and Buddha.
Congratulations, my dear.
So, Nick and Damarr, that means that the two of you
had our least favorite dishes of the night,
and one of you will not be continuing on
to the finals.
the two of you had our least favorite dishes,
and one of you will be going home.
How did the day go for you, Damarr?
I tried to do something, um, different.
You know, I saw the snapper, I thought it was beautiful.
I knew I wanted to do something raw.
It was beautifully cut, and the fish you chose
was absolutely perfect. It just needed
a little more flavor.
Did you season the fish at all
before it was on the plate,
or were you just relying on that sauce
for most of the seasoning?
I guess I was trying to take
the unseasoned fish and you put it into the sauce,
and I was thinking that that would eat delicately
and would focus on the fish.
It was fine.
But I think you can do a lot more.
Originally I wanted to do a green papaya salad
with a redfish dish, but I tried
to find a veg that would kind of work
in a similar fashion because I couldn't find green papaya.
Were you trying to do, like, a pesto kind of thing?
Like when you put the pine nuts and the basil, and--
I've made green papaya salads in the past where I would blend
the peanuts into the marinade for it,
and those vegetables didn't soak in that flavor
as much as papaya would have.
Even if all the components had been great,
these both felt a little timid coming especially from you.
This was obviously a fail.
Yeah.
Nick, how did today go for you?
My time management got the best of me today.
It was clear that there was an issue with time management.
The fish was overcooked and the taco wasn't complete.
The tortilla, it was fine.
But the whole thing ate really dry.
We got basically a teaspoon of sauce.
You should have been generous with it.
It would have been wonderful to have
a contrast inside of freshness.
The fish cake, I don't know exactly
what you were trying to do there.
I only used the chunky portions of the redfish
and not the blended, because I was mixing them both
so they can have the actual fish cake,
versus what you guys had today.
Yeah. Make sense. Okay.
I loved the lemon beurre blanc,
but everything else on the plate was just really hard
to understand in terms of what you were going for.
We have a really difficult decision to make.
Do you have anything more to add?
I just want to thank you very much for this opportunity,
regardless of whatever the decision is.
I'm a big fan of everybody sitting at this table.
And I just love this moment.
We're a big fan of you.
Thank you. Thank you.
Um, I feel similarly.
I think I've grown tremendously not only as a--
as a chef, but a person,
not only because of the Judges' Table,
because of every single chef I've competing against.
You know, whether I stay or go,
it's been a pleasure being here
and just having the experience.
Really appreciate all that you've shared with us.
We'll call you all back to the kitchen in a bit.
Thank you.
You my big brother.
Whichever way, man. It's cool.
All right. Yeah, brother.
Neither of you are allowed to go home,
I don't care what the rules say.
Yeah, no.
This is really difficult because
the dishes just didn't come together.
Both Damarr and Nick just really messed up today.
And it's so sad that at this point in the competition,
you could possibly go to the finale and do really well,
but if you made a bad dish today,
that's gonna get you sent home.
That's all it takes.
Damarr's first dish was actually--
just needed some salt and maybe a few more radishes
and apples, and it would've be fine.
It was just slightly underseasoned. And--
Not slightly, it was severely underseasoned.
Yeah.
There was definitely something about Damarr's second dish
that didn't sit with me. It was murky.
I really didn't understand what Damarr was going for,
and I don't think it was successful.
The challenge was to highlight the fish,
and in that second dish,
I do think Damarr did better--
- Yeah. - with his fish cookery.
Like, all I really want to do is go back out there,
catch another big-ass fish, and be like, "All right,
"let's-- let's cook you at this stage,
let's cook you this way, let's taste you this way."
Nick's taco was just completely overcooked
and no juice, and it was just dry and just wasn't very good.
And if you look at the second course,
he just forgot to bind it.
I wouldn't have ever known that was a cake.
- Yeah. - I mean, that buerre blanc
was delicious, and the texture of it, beautiful.
Without looking at the presentation,
it was a pleasant combination,
I think we needed each other, you know,
to have somebody that you can connect with that looks just
like you, that you could really--
You know what I'm saying?
- That you can really dig with-- - Yeah.
on a cooking level is great, you know?
So, you just keep on shining, man.
- But I appreciate everything. - I appreciate you, brother.
You know, we say what's already
understood don't need to be said.
Okay. Let's get them out here.
Fifteen chefs showed up here in Houston,
all walking into a kitchen with the idea that you can win.
You'll always be part of the Top Chef family,
but only one actually will have the title of Top Chef.
Nick, please pack your knives and go.
No problem.
A lot of times people look at certain things as failure.
This is not failure.
The Baker Man,
The Baker.
Right now, I'm more grateful
and appreciative than anything.
Thank y'all. Thank you, Nick.
This has been a journey that I needed.
All right.
And I'm coming home with this 'ole big smile,
and I am so proud to be from Mississippi,
but we're about to do bigger things.
I know it's been very emotional, very challenging,
hopefully also rewarding.
It was wonderful to see how much you
and Nick have bonded, also.
My big brother just left. Yeah. Yeah.
I just want to say congratulations to all four
of you, because you have done an incredible thing.
You've made it to the finals.
And you should know we're taking you to one of only
two cities in the U.S. that is designated
a UNESCO city of gastronomy.
Pack your bags, because we are going to Tucson.
Tucson?!
We're going to Tucson!
I've actually always wanted to go to Arizona.
Check it off.
Get some rest, do your research.
We will see you in Arizona.
Congratulations to all of you!
Yay, we made it.
Look out, Tucson!
Next time on Top Chef...
Congratulations on being in the top four,
and making it here to the finals in Tucson.
Welcome to Mission Gardens!
We'd like you to make two dishes,
cactus in one dish and chiltepin in the other.
I like it.
Lost an elimination challenge,
gotta bring all that I got.
Oh, Goddamn it!
This is, like, the silence of really good food.
'Cause no one's talking, everybody's eating.
To me, this is a perfect cake.
You guys knocked it out of the park.
Every single dish is just a stand out.
This is the last Judges' Table before the finale,
and one of you will not be continuing on.