PADMA: Tonight is the finale of Top Chef.
You're officially in the finale.
Evelyn Garcia,
the hometown hero who packs a punch
with her unique blend of Southeast Asian
and Latin cuisines.
If I didn't have ten other things to eat,
I would ask for seconds.
Where have you been all my life?
In Houston, apparently.
I've been hustling.
It was always a goal of mine and a dream to open
a restaurant in my own city.
If you put this on a menu, this becomes a signature.
This is, like, destination food.
Having to close it due to COVID was definitely very rough.
Now, the opportunity to be on Top Chef is like--
Pfft. [laughs]
I won a Quickfire!
Took me a minute.
Oh, my God, Daddy.
Evelyn.
-Evelyn. -Yeah!
I could feel the love there.
And it flowed into her dish completely.
Just gotta kick some butt.
To the brisket gods.
PADMA: Sarah Welch, the eclectic chef from Detroit
who dominated Last Chance Kitchen.
Oh, sure. Just stick your fingers in the fryer there.
-Go ahead. -Oh, come on.
You're watching so closely.
-Sarah. -No [bleep] way.
This is just exceptional.
So the winner of Last Chance Kitchen, Sarah.
[clapping]
When I first walked into Top Chef,
I didn't think it was going to change my life.
And I didn't think it was going to change who I am.
I'm supposed to know what I'm doing right now?
But it did all those things.
I came back from so many failures in ways
that I never imagined.
Oh, God damn it.
And it did make me more confident.
-I hate lamb. -Oh, no.
But it was by far my favorite dish of the evening.
[screams]
Nobody's watching. Oh.
I'm gonna bust my ass to win this.
Sarah.
-Bravo. -Sarah's was on par
with any three-star Michelin dish that I've ever had.
Yes!
PADMA: Buddha Lo.
The super fan from down under.
Known for his over-the-top technique.
Let's do it.
When the plate was dropped in front of me I was
angry and jealous that I hadn't thought of that myself.
Very delicate. And the cuisson was perfect.
Since I was 15 years old cooking's something I love.
It's my passion.
It was the best bread I've ever had on Top Chef.
Oh, whoa. [laughs]
I wanted to go into the competition
so my dad can watch me on TV.
But he passed away and the goal's changed.
And the goal is that I want to win it now.
I want to win it for him.
That is so good. Buddha!
That might be the best dessert we've had.
WOMAN: This looks amazing.
There's a lot of little details to discover.
-Yes. -Yes.
PADMA: Wow.
The one thing I want to see is you moonwalk.
I got some techniques, but not that one yet.
[laughs]
PADMA: Three chefs will duke it out to take home the title.
At stake for the winner,
a feature in Food and Wine magazine,
an appearance at the Food & Wine Classic in Aspen.
$250,000, furnished by San Pellegrino.
And the coveted title of Top Chef.
♪♪♪
You've made it to the end,
but there is still a lot left to do.
So you'll each get the help of one sous chef.
All of your former competitors are on standby as we speak.
And ready to fly here if you choose them.
Tom and I will see you in the morning.
And congratulations again.
[overlapping celebration]
♪♪♪
EVELYN: Oh, it's gorgeous outside.
I know immediately the person that I need to call.
Hi.
I'm still here, man.
-Congratulations. -Oh, whatever.
Will you be my sous chef?
I would love to be your sous chef.
Oh, hell yeah.
Honestly, I'm so excited at the prospect of cooking
with somebody like you that I'm comfortable with.
-I'm ready. -Hell yeah.
[phone ringing]
Oh, my God.
You're coming to Arizona, girl.
-I'm so happy for you. -Oh, thank you.
I get Jo. We just clicked.
She understands food the same way I do.
We just have this energy.
We get to come harder and stronger.
I'm ready.
[phone ringing]
JACKSON: This is Jackson.
G'day, mate.
JACKSON: All right.
It would be an honor for you to be my sous chef.
JACKSON: If I can't do it myself,
there's no one else I'd rather do it with.
To have Jackson, I feel like I just won an advantage.
He's such a strong cook.
If I'm not beating him, I want him next to me.
JACKSON: All right, talk soon. Get some rest.
Thank you, man. Bye.
♪♪♪
[tense music]
Looks like we're going into the city.
Hi.
Welcome.
-How's it going? -Good.
This is it.
We are here at the historic Pima County Courthouse.
Many big decisions have been made here.
And we are about to make the biggest
decision of the season.
Because one of the three of you standing
here will become the next Top Chef.
You guys get it right? Court house, judges.
It tracks, it tracks.
[laughs]
♪♪♪
Each of you will be responsible for making
the best four course progressive meal of your lives.
No twists, no turns.
Your food, your point of view.
And you'll be serving a table full of amazing chefs.
Including Top Chef winner Stephanie Izard.
Oh!
And three-star Michelin chef Eric Ripert.
-Oh! -My God!
It's a pretty impressive table, right?
-Nothing to scoff at. -That's amazing.
For the first time ever, we asked you
who you wanted to be your sous chef.
And we promised to fly them in.
Hey.
Hey!
Hi.
I'm glad to be standing on this side of it.
How's your sense of taste now?
It's actually pretty good.
Like 70, 80%.
-He's back. -[laughing]
I'm not really surprised to see Buddha.
He came in with just so much confidence.
And Sarah is a survivor.
She's made that clear through Last Chance Kitchen.
But Evelyn's got a lot of momentum
coming off of being in Houston.
And I feel super honored to be here
and ready to fight for my girl.
First, you'll have $1500 to shop at a variety of local markets
where your contactless MasterCard
will allow you to simply tap and go.
Less time, more markets.
-Wow! -Wow-wow-wow.
After you're done shopping, you'll head to the gorgeous
Tanque Verde Ranch to prep and cook for five hours today.
Then, tomorrow, you'll have two and a half hours
to prep and cook before service begins.
One of you will be leaving here
with a cash prize of $250,000
furnished by San Pellegrino.
And the title of Top Chef.
Just let that sink in a little.
We will see you tomorrow.
-Good luck. -We can't wait.
-Thank you. -Thank you.
So crazy.
My whole thought is, like, using this area
to inspire, like, a hunter-gatherer menu
that feels kind of like Michigan in the desert.
I mean, I'm honestly hoping to find
some, like, native ingredients here.
I'm definitely pulling inspiration of just kind of how
my food has changed throughout the competition.
So basically there's only three people in my family, right?
There's my brother, there's my mom and there's my dad
and there's four courses.
And the last one I want to do a tribute
to pretty much America.
I brought from home this miso from a local company
that turns spent product into really incredible misos.
So, like, I want to talk about, like, food waste.
I'm trying to get people to think
about where food comes from.
And the more we can use the entire product,
the healthier our food system becomes.
The second course, I was hoping that I could utilize
your pasta skill set to make tortellini.
Okay. I can do that.
The entrée course, I want to do a rabbit ballotine.
The whole dish is basically about
the rabbit and what the rabbit eats.
And then the final course is an acorn cake.
And smoked buttermilk ice cream.
The sour-sweet, I really love.
What you've told me, I loved.
Oh, great. Okay, yay! That makes me super excited.
So I'm thinking of starting with a tiradito ceviche.
Like, a lot of why my food is very sour,
is because I thoroughly enjoy Peruvian food.
-Right. -Through this journey
of Top Chef, I've definitely realized
my style of cooking is really
cooking from memory and things I enjoy and love.
And I can bring all those flavors and techniques
together to create something very harmonious.
For my main, I'm thinking a curry mole.
[laughs] Just going to say it together.
-What's four? Oh, Lord. -Dessert?
I kind of want to bring back the buñuelo--
Listen, it's you.
I'm not trying to be anything I'm not.
I try to really show them who I am.
And I think that that works really well.
Yes. [laughs]
My brother's favorite fish to eat is Hamachi.
And we're going to slice it until we can do
these delicate, thin petals of it.
The third dish is called Mongolian Lamb.
This dish is an ode to my dad.
He's taught me how to do this dish.
For this menu, I'm really digging deep
and finding an emotional connection.
It can't just be because you like it and tastes good.
It's not authentically Chinese, but it is Australian Chinese.
But that's what I am. And then the final dish
we're going to do is, I wanna do pumpkin pie.
I love it.
Thanksgiving is very important.
Just being able to say thank you to people here
for letting me into this country.
Going into this, I was a little worried that
Buddha's menu would be some classic French boring whatever.
But he's really telling a story through his food.
And I'm just jealous that I can't
be there doing it myself.
-Yeah, let's do it. -I'm excited for this.
[laughs]
I'm so proud of you.
SARAH: Let's go shop.
[upbeat music]
SARAH: Let's grab a decent amount
because we have a lot of money to spend.
EVELYN: Let's go find some [indistinct]
JO: Let's do it.
BUDDHA: All right, let's see what we've got.
-Let's go veg first. -SARAH: That looks fun.
-ROBERT: Medallions. -SARAH: Yeah.
That's what we want. I'd like to start
the meal with a venison tartare.
And venison is an ingredient
that has a place both in Michigan and in Tucson.
It's beef heart.
ROBERT: Are you going to pick that?
It wouldn't be me if I didn't cook organs.
BUDDHA: Lemongrass is going to be for the laksa paste.
And the galangal.
My second course is a dish that I learned from my mother.
She makes this Penang Laksa.
It's almost like a curry soup.
Coconut milk we need.
But I'm going to do my own variation of it
and turn it into a sauce.
Thank you very much.
EVELYN: Trying to get all the chilies for the curry mole.
I feel like this menu definitely shows my journey
learning about Southeast Asian food,
learning about my culture,
and really tying all that together.
Getting goosebumps. [laughs]
I never actually used it.
I want to just try it.
SARAH: Would Tom kill me for using canned hominy?
ROBERT: No, but they have fresh hominy.
SARAH: I'm really glad we came here.
Do we need cowboy hats?
I want my meal to feel like a couple of cowboys
went out into the Sonoran Desert,
happened upon a Michelin Star kitchen,
and then Eric Ripert was also lost in that desert
and he came to eat it.
That actually-- that suits you.
Very, very excited for this menu.
I think the menu is great.
I mean, overall, like, me and Buddha
have been consistent, you know?
Yeah, like, Sarah is such a wild card.
Yeah.
I do believe that I worked really hard to get here.
Yeah. You know, Sarah and I
got eliminated together, but I'm so proud of her.
I think she's still kind of in a bit of disbelief
that she's top three.
I lost and then I've just been winning constantly.
Yeah. You guys all have very different styles.
A hundred percent.
From the butcher, I wouldn't mind getting
live lobster.
EVELYN: Lee's Oriental Market, girl.
It's my store.
JO: We need sesame seeds,
we need cardamom, cumin and fennel.
CLERK: $202.41.
EVELYN: Yay.
Have you got lobster tails?
I'm taking a risk using frozen lobster tail.
Sometimes it can get a little bit mushy,
and we're just going to have to roll with it
and test it out.
-Thank you. -EVELYN: There we go.
Now, that we're buying all these ingredients,
it feels like there's a lot of sh-- to do.
There is a lot of sh-- to do.
[laughs]
[upbeat music]
♪♪♪
-Oh, Lord. -Lord, have mercy.
Oh, run, run, run.
Got a lot of sh-- to do, girl.
Bunnies!
All right, Sarah, let's go through our game plan.
SARAH: You hop into pasta trench,
and I'll hop into bunny trench.
♪♪♪
Buddha, tell me a little bit about what you're doing.
My menu is pretty much dedicated to my family.
My brother loves yellowtail.
My first dish is Hamachi with caviar.
We're going to brine this Hamachi
and we're going to do little petals
that are going to go around this dish of caviar.
The second course is going to be Lobster Laksa.
My third course is going to be Mongolian Lamb.
I've learned all of the marinations
and the sauce work from my father.
The fourth course is dedicated to my time in America.
My fourth course is going to be
be a pumpkin pie mille-feuille.
-Squash at 70 C? -Yeah.
SARAH: What are you doing, Evelyn?
I got all the chilies.
-[laughs] -Hell, yeah.
EVELYN: For my first course today,
I'm making Scallop Crudo.
My second course will be crystal dumplings
with an aromatic broth.
-There's the curry mole. -JO: Curry mole.
It has ginger, galangal, pumpkin seeds, almonds.
Some good-ass frickin' chocolate.
So, I'm, like, kind of taking technique
from, like, curry and mole and blending them together.
Next, I have a goat curry mole.
I love goat, dude.
EVELYN: It's something that I would go to the farm
with my dad and pick a goat.
And then, for dessert,
a buñuelo with Cajeta Panna Cotta,
cardamom whipped cream and basil.
[laughs]
My menu is like inspired by the hunter-gatherer mentality.
So, I'm trying to just use products
that would be in Tucson.
For the first course I'm making Sonoran Focaccia
with smoked butter and a venison tartare.
We're going to save the cobs and just make corn broth
from what would have hit the trash.
My second course, I am making a squash tortellini
in corn broth with a three sisters salad.
That's enough.
My entrée will be a rabbit ballotine
over a salad of grains, nuts and greens.
And for my fourth course,
I am making smoked buttermilk ice cream
with an acorn cake.
He's a chubby little bunny.
He's like me if I were a bunny.
A little thick in the middle.
These ballotines are going to take a while.
So, that's my big project for today.
Sarah, what are you thinking about,
other than my face, when you smash the rabbit?
SARAH: You nailed it, Chef, you nailed it.
For the rabbit ballotines,
I want to roast off all of the bones
to create a jus. Bunny broth!
And then stuff it with a mousse made from its legs.
Rabbits are really lean and when people cook them,
they're like, "Oh my god, this is like really dry chicken."
But it's just because they're harder to cook.
Can you keep your lobster stink on your side?
JACKSON: Sorry.
Curry mole's tasting good.
It obviously just needs time.
It just needs to all mell and become one.
-BUDDHA: Does that look good? -Looks great.
I feel like that guy looks perfect.
BUDDHA: Good. Two hours.
EVELYN: Two already?
SARAH: Time flies when you're in like good company, right?
-Hey, chefs. -Hi, guys.
You all remember Stephanie Izard.
And I want to introduce Chef Eric Ripert.
Holy [bleep], that's Eric Ripert.
I just sh-- myself.
How you doing right now?
-Menu is all squared away? -Yeah, it is.
So, the first course is very funny,
I actually learned this from Chef Ripert.
-TOM: Uh-oh. -BUDDHA: Online.
I'm going to be doing a Hamachi
with a Sauce Vin Jaune, some pickled radish.
And I'm also going to be decorating
with some bees made out of potatoes.
There's so many things going on in all the dishes
so much that I couldn't--
I have to wait till tomorrow to see it all.
-Good luck. -It's a lot of technique.
He is using a lot.
-Hey, Sarah. -Hi, Chefs.
This menu is kind of like if my fiancé
and I were trapped in the outback
with a Michelin star kitchen.
We're going to celebrate
local Sonoran ingredients,
but I also brought with me from Detroit misos
made by my friends that take food going bad in the field
and turn it into misos.
And each course is inspired by a Miso.
TOM: Anything that you're cautious about right now?
-Anything-- -All of the things.
All of it. Sounds good.
Thank you. It was a pleasure to meet you both.
Evelyn, Jo, how's it going?
-Good. -What are you making?
For my first course,
I'm making these crystal dumplings.
You see them in, like, dim sum.
It's the really clear ones that you see,
like, the farce inside.
And then, for my third course,
I'm making, what I'm calling curry mole.
I'm just combining those two.
And served with goat neck,
which is one of my favorite proteins.
-Goat. -I do love them.
[laughs]
I thoroughly enjoy your restaurant.
When it's goat neck day,
we're like-- it's our favorite part.
Goat neck day? I like that.
How are you cooking the goat?
I'm braising it
and then I'll have the curry mole on top.
Looking forward to it. Thank you.
Thanks, guys.
There's about two hours left in the cook.
After it's done, say goodbye to your sous chefs.
Saddle up and meet me at Cottonwood Grove.
SARAH: Oh, my God, are we riding horses?
-You think we're riding horses? -EVELYN: No, I hope not.
I hope we're riding horses,
so, I can Evelyn ride a horse.
[tense music]
We start quail eggs, then we do fava beans
-then we do the greens. -Cool.
-You already done the pasta? -Yep.
Dough is done.
-Let's get on to-- -Tuiles.
-36 bees?
Yeah, 36 for the bees and 24 for the leaves.
JACKSON: 24 of just one color of the leaves?
BUDDHA: Yeah.
I have to make about 16,000 tuiles,
which I've never done before.
Keep going with it.
The leaves are changing color on the plate
just like Central Park in New York.
16, Robert!
Oh la la, hope I don't burn myself.
You [bleep] crushed it. Nah, dude.
So good. Thank you.
-Thank you so much. -JO: I love you so much.
-I'll see you tomorrow. -Thank you so much.
All right, guys, shall we do it?
Let's go get drunk with Eric Ripert. You know?
[mellow country guitar music]
♪♪♪
-Howdy. -MARDY: Howdy, folks.
I'm Mardy, I'm going to be your guide today.
-Hey, Mardy. -Welcome to Tanque Verde Ranch.
Holy sh--, I'm about to ride a horse.
[laughs]
-You guys ready to ride? -Yes, absolutely.
Evelyn, I'm going to put you up first
and I'm going to put you on this horse.
If I get you to stand up right there on that mounting block.
Yeah, I was just like, I've never done this.
-You got this, gal. -Oh, my god.
-BUDDHA: Wow. -SARAH: Yeah, girl.
Stop. Thank you.
Okay, ladies and gentlemen, are we ready to ride?
-SARAH: I think so. -EVELYN: Yes, I think.
BUDDHA: Oh, my Lord.
I love horseback riding.
So I'm jazzed.
It's just beautiful.
EVELYN: It's like a fricking postcard.
BUDDHA: Yee-haw!
SARAH: Evelyn, what would you do
for a sick cowboy hat in this moment?
EVELYN: I'm good.
BUDDHA: Look at this.
Oh, yeah.
EVELYN: Oh, Lord.
Stephanie?
Oh god. Chef Eric Ripert.
Are they all there?
Hey, Chef.
TOM: Look at this!
[upbeat music]
What we got cooking, Chefs?
TOM: Oh, we've got-- we've got some lamb,
we've got some potatoes, we have ratatouille.
Since you guys have been cooking for us all season long,
we thought we would cook something for you.
You deserve it.
Hey, what are you sticking your hands in there?
-Some figs. -Oh, those are my figs.
-They're delicious. -Those are my topping.
[laughing]
-Cheers. -Cheers.
[clanking]
Whoo!
[laughing]
TOM: Got your name all over it.
GAIL: Evelyn, red or white?
Padma, here's your piece right here that you requested.
Thank you.
The judges are, like, cooking us a feast.
So surreal to just be here in this moment.
Like, pinch me. [laughs]
I feel like it doesn't set in.
Like, Padma sitting right next to me, y'all.
Everything I had to live through
to be here is totally worth it.
And I'm just really happy for this experience.
Buddha, did your dad name you
or your mom, do you know?
My real name is actually Kawai.
-Oh. -Yeah.
I got Buddha because I was eating too much
of my dad's food.
PADMA: You look like a Buddha.
Yeah, the funny story,
because when my dad was growing up,
he had a nickname, but his name was Spare Rib,
and that was because he was so skinny.
So, he didn't want me to end up like that
so he fed me so much and so much
that I got the nickname Buddha.
Is your dad still working?
My dad was working seven days
until about August this year,
he actually passed away.
Oh, I'm sorry to hear that.
Two days after he passed,
I actually got the call to come on the show
and I was telling him every day I'm gonna be on Top Chef.
And I feel like him passing away
was his like departure gift.
-Right. -Wow, what a story.
Yeah, it was a lot of turn of events
that happened that was very spiritual.
Did Top Chef make you understand your gifts more
by doing the competition?
EVELYN: I think so.
Yeah. I mean...
I think what you learn here is
like how to distill who you are
to the purest form of you and the best form of you.
But the bones have to be there.
I knew, being from Houston,
I was going to be able to see Houston
in a different way.
And I think Top Chef definitely did that.
Like, I learned so much about my own city.
For me, it's been almost 15 years
and I can still remember, like, the feelings I had
at every moment.
Go back to the moment you won, how did it feel?
You saw my face, I went, "What?"
I mean, because my dessert wasn't that great.
Oh, yeah, there's dessert.
Oh, yeah. You guys are ready for dessert?
-Is everyone done? -Flip it.
Whoo! Yes!
-Wow. -[cheering]
[clapping]
TOM: Beauty.
[clanging]
SARAH: That is a healthy slice of cake.
-TOM: Cowboy slice. -PADMA: Seriously.
No matter what happens tomorrow,
we're all incredibly supportive of your careers
and what you do and who you are as cooks,
and we respect how far you've been able to come
and what you guys have accomplished,
it's pretty remarkable.
Cook your hearts out tomorrow
and cheers to a wonderful season.
Thank you for all the wonderful food.
[glasses clinking]
SARAH: Thank you guys for feeding us.
[suspenseful music]
Let's get it.
Whoo!
Go, two and a half hours.
Let's do it.
-Hi. -Hi.
Baked bread is the big project for right now,
and then I just want to be really comfortable
on tartare set-up.
Where are you, girl?
Hi. I am not only cooking for myself,
I'm cooking for my family.
I wanted to be a chef since I was very, very young.
And I know that wouldn't have been possible
if it wasn't for them.
My win is their win.
I'm just one cook away and I am just so excited.
[giggles]
I want to make the best food I can today.
This is the rabbit. I'm going to throw it in.
I dropped the rabbits in the circulator
to give me time to do all of my other work
while my protein cooks.
What are you working on, Sarah?
A yolk curd to go on top of my tartare.
EVELYN: This is fresh scallop and then pickled radish.
It's like a little trail of that.
And then we can put the mole back on.
I've come this far to cook this food
and this is my chance.
You know, it's the finale. This is it.
All right, let's do it.
[tense music]
I think I want to teach you how to roll these dumplings,
because I have a bunch of little things I have to finish.
Man, we still have a lot to do.
So I just hope we get through all of it.
Trimming down a bit of fat from our lamb,
I don't want too much fat cap on them.
ROBERT: What is your next project?
I would like to smoke this cream.
I will make the butter from the first course
by smoking cream and churning it.
And what's left is buttermilk.
And that is going to turn into ice cream
for my final course.
So, bookend the meal by smoke.
My first course is basically
like a cowboy breakfast tartare,
even though a cowboy would never eat that.
In my head, they do.
I'm starting to roll out dumplings.
I'm waiting for this to heat up.
-Wanna show me how you do it? -Yeah.
These crystal dumplings are really gonna
just show being able to work with delicate flavors.
-Beautiful. -Listen, tiny hands.
I've never made crystal dumplings before.
It's the final cook.
At this point, everything feels like an emergency.
EVELYN: We need that quinoa.
I'll check that as soon as I finish this.
JACKSON: How much pasta do you need, boss?
You only need enough for like four cannellonis.
I've got a massive arsenal
that still hasn't been touched yet.
All these different, exciting things.
Lobster, king crab, carrot,
two different forms of cannelloni.
One is a vegetable cannelloni, one's a pasta cannelloni.
-JACKSON: And then wrap it up? -BUDDHA: Yeah.
It's gorgeous.
I envisioned this dish to be
a little bit busy on the plate,
but that's what it is. [laughs]
JACKSON: That looks amazing.
BUDDHA: 30 minutes, to first course.
JACKSON: Behind, behind.
-Oh, I'm so sorry. -EVELYN: Hug!
SARAH: I just want to see what the inside of this looks like.
When I slice into the first ballotine,
they still feel raw. I would have liked for them
to be circulated more.
We'll have two either pan roast or oven roast.
But we don't have enough time.
15, guys. 15.
SARAH: I'm going to throw them in the oven.
Hot. Corner.
[birds chirping]
[melodic guitar music]
PADMA: This is gorgeous.
Look how beautiful it is.
You all look very handsome.
Aw.
Welcome, everybody,
to this glorious finale dinner.
I'm really looking forward to sharing this meal
with all of you and also seeing what the chefs
are going to give us. Happy finale.
And welcome all of you to Tucson.
-PADMA: Yes. -Thank you.
Thank you for joining us here.
[all cheering]
I'm glad you got the view.
My view is amazing. It's a dream.
My view is of Eric so I have the best view.
[laughing]
Two minutes, 15 seconds.
ROBERT: How does that look, Sarah?
Perfect. Is this a good vessel for tartare?
BUDDHA: Oh, my God, that's a hefty amount.
It's the only way to eat caviar, you know?
This one's missing Chiltepin oil.
SARAH: Bread is-- Is it cut in half?
ROBERT: I'm about to cut it.
No, no, no. We're not finishing these.
One more. Ew, I don't want that one.
EVELYN: That sh-- is spicy.
Make sure everything's got pine nuts.
[suspenseful music]
[clock beeping]
-Good luck, man. -Thank you.
Slight angle. Watch the broth when you're moving.
[pleasant electronic music]
♪♪♪
Here is our first course.
♪♪♪
PADMA: Wow. Beautiful.
This is incredible.
-PADMA: Hello. -BUDDHA: Hello.
All right, Evelyn, tell us about your menu
and your first course.
A bit about my menu.
I definitely cook from memory.
You know, growing up in a Mexican-Salvadoran household
to going to culinary school and going to Thailand.
For my first course, I did a scallop crudo
with pickled radish, a prickly pear in citrus broth,
sweet potato and crispy quinoa
And there's a Chiltepin chili oil as well.
What did you make here, Buddha?
So main menu is basically inspired by my family.
This one is dedicated to my brother.
He loves Hamachi or kingfish that we have in Australia.
It's Hamachi with sauce Vin Jaune, caviar, apple,
radish and pine nuts, then bees.
The bees are made out of sweet potato.
PADMA: Sarah?
I think a big part of the problem with food
these days is we throw so much of it in the trash.
So my meal will kind of focus on utilizing
every single aspect I put my hands on.
So I prepared a venison and beef heart tartare,
a little bit of miso made from sourdough bread butts.
And the butter I churned after smoking
and a little bit of toast.
Really beautiful.
You have three more courses to go.
Only.
-We'll see you in a bit. -Thank you.
SARAH: Thank you, Chefs.
Buddha, don't run, come on.
I'm really being attacked by bees.
It's funny that Buddha put the bees in there.
What do you think of this first course by our chefs?
I thought Evelyn's dish was light,
everything you want when you start a meal.
I thought it was a beautiful starter,
very classic in the presentation.
That prickly pear and the Chiltepin oil,
really impressed with how quickly
she understood and integrated local ingredients.
But I think that Evelyn's scallops
-are under-seasoned. -I agree with you, Tom.
But the overall feeling
that I was left with was just delicious.
-How was it? -Good. It went good.
Buddha's dish is pretty perfect.
This is a three-star Michelin first course.
This is flawless,
TOM: Wow, what a way to start.
Caviar is very delicate
and it's very easy to overwhelm.
But everything elevates the caviar.
I'm really loving Buddha's dish.
But the other ones are delicious as well,
So, it's going to be an interesting debate.
-PADMA: Yeah. -How'd it go?
I think Eric Ripert liked it.
Sarah fit the environment perfectly
The colors and the flavors of the desert.
I'm blown away by Sarah's philosophy.
The idea of no waste is so impressive.
I love Sarah's dish, I just felt
the tartare was under-seasoned for me.
And that miso was so powerful and so flavorful,
her misstep was that she only put
one tiny dot of that miso.
TOM: It's kind of a quirky dish
that you wouldn't find except for right here,
because she was so inspired by the landscape.
I have your first batch of tortellini.
I'm ready. They look beautiful.
Just do a perfect spoon right in the middle.
Like twice that amount. And then quinoa.
-BUDDHA: Three minutes. -JACKSON: That looks amazing.
You have a lot of sh--.
Just put four on each one.
JO: Yeah, yeah, yeah. I got you.
-BUDDHA: Yeah, tuiles. -JACKSON: Where?
-BUDDHA: Put it on the crab. -JACKSON: Just one?
BUDDHA: Yep.
SARAH: Will you help me just a little
-directly on top? -JO: Just like that, yeah?
I'll finish with oil. Really fast, really fast.
[timer beeping]
-GREGORY: Mm, oh wow. -Now we get the butterfly.
Hello. Welcome back.
Evelyn, tell us about your second course.
What I've prepared for you all
is shrimp and corn crystal dumplings
with an aromatic corn broth, hoja santa herb oil
charred corn and crispy garlic.
-Buddha? -I always like to spoil Mom
with the best seafood I can get.
So, it's a penang laksa with cannelloni wrapped in nori
and pasta, lobster, king crab,
and lots of broth.
Is there a butterfly in my dish?
That was from a carrot.
Every single tuile that I'll be doing today
is made from a different vegetable.
-PADMA: Sarah? -The corn that you saw
in your first course, I saved the husks
and made a broth out of that.
Inside the dumpling is a squash stuffing
made with miso from squash.
At the very bottom of the bowl is a huitlacoche puree
and it's topped with a three sisters salad.
-Two courses to go! -ALL: Thank you.
SARAH: My pants are coming off!
PADMA: Bricia, what did you think?
For Sarah, I thought,
"Oh, this is a very smart corn dish,"
because she's using every element that you could use.
But as the dish progressed, I was confused.
She's very passionate,
but flavors were just fighting with each other.
Her dish would benefit from some editing.
I think there's some components on there
that are truly delicious.
But they don't all need to be there.
-How'd it go? -Eh, I don't know.
I never know, if that's any consolation.
PADMA: What do you think of Evelyn's dumplings?
She's masterful at restraint.
It was very simple and unique.
I loved the dish.
I love that she edits the dish down to the essence.
And I loved her dumplings.
Teeny tiny dumplings, there's a lot of work that goes into it.
Making them so delicate.
I thought there was quite a bit
of flavor in the broth. I love the Hoja Santa.
That dish really made me smile.
EVELYN: Jo, taste it again.
It's spicy now. But it's like there.
-JO: Yeah. -Buddha,
his seafood cookery,
and all those different preparations
was pretty perfect.
If you are not seduced by the visuals,
some things worked better than others.
Caviar did not work.
Buddha's dish reminded me the '80s and the '90s.
A lot of technique. It's very elaborate.
I will tell you, the '80s and '90s are back.
That's good news. [laughs]
The laksa broth was rich and sweet and spicy.
The flavor was great, I thought the lobster was nicely cooked.
Maybe a little show off.
I like that he's showing off. It's the finale!
I think they're all telling beautiful stories
and they all have a lot to say.
The energy from the chefs
seems like something's been unleashed,
and they're just giving it all
-13 minutes. -EVELYN: Aye-aye-aye.
BUDDHA: Got some eggplant puree.
Eggplant rolled in squash.
JACKSON: Do you have eyes on your lamb?
As much as it's inspiration from my father,
it's still my dish, but I know that he'd be super proud.
-Four minutes. -ROBERT: Hot bunnies.
Pull the goat.
Chef Stephanie Izard,
all her restaurants have goat in the name.
Like she is the goat chef.
I really want to showcase the best version
that I can make.
It's delicious, but a little messy.
You just have to wipe the sh-- out of them, okay?
SARAH: I just want to check it.
The rabbit, some of them are more cooked
and some of them are less cooked
and there's no time to fix it.
Grab the apricots and dice some.
Little bit of butter, a little bit of orange juice.
-What's our time? -BUDDHA: One minute.
Girl, is it possible to make mole and be clean?
EVELYN: No, just keep wiping.
We look organic, but not a mess.
-JO: Too organic. -[alarm beeping]
Nice and steady, guys.
[mellow instrumental music]
PADMA: Wow.
Evelyn, tell us about your third course.
My curry mole.
Curry and mole are two sauces
that are very important to me.
So I essentially combined both techniques.
It's braised goat, but the sauce itself
has Mexican chocolate, a mixture of chilies,
sweetened with raisins on top, nopales,
and spiced squash seeds.
-Buddha. -So, I made Mongolian lamb.
It's an Australian-Chinese dish.
My dad is the king of it.
I'm serving it with eggplant purée,
with some brown butter and asparagus
and an eggplant that's been roasted in miso
in a squash blossom.
The leaves are actually made from eggplant.
-PADMA: Sarah. -I roasted you some bunny.
So this dish utilizes every single piece of the rabbit.
The ballotine has been deboned
and stuffed with a farce made from the legs.
And then the broth is the livers and the hearts.
It's served on top of a salad of what the bunny eats.
Okay. One course left.
Okay. Thank you.
One more. [laughing]
Wow.
They keep bringing these layered flavors and textures.
I'm finding it very satisfying.
Buddha's lamb was perfectly cooked.
I mean, it was unbelievable.
I love lamb, yet my favorite piece
of this was that little eggplant.
The eggplant was the star.
I mean, give me an eggplant dish and call it a day.
Let's go! Last one.
Evelyn's dish, I cook a lot of goat.
A lot of fat's on goat.
But I was excited she did goat.
I just think it needed more flavor throughout.
But cooked well, it was very nice and tender.
But the presentation was almost too simple.
But the mole I thought was great.
I love the way that she was able
to marry both cultures together so beautifully.
But the sauce read a little bit top note.
It wasn't a curry where the goat
is actually cooking in the sauce.
-Right. -You've been pumping them out?
-Yeah. -Okay.
PADMA: What do you think of Sarah's rabbit?
There's a lot going on here. [laughs]
I like everything that was in the herb salad,
but there was more garnish than the rabbit.
My rabbit was almost raw in some parts
and then overcooked in some parts.
I've never had liver and spinach together,
and I thought it was wild.
And I know the rabbit was overcooked
or undercooked or whatever.
[laughing]
At the same time.
But, damn, it has got personality.
How close do we think this finale is?
All three courses, they gave us
the most personal dishes that we've ever seen
-on a finale. -Open your mouth more.
Yeah, there you go.
Make me a maple-like butterscotch.
-Maple butterscotch? -Yeah.
Put it in the center of the pumpkin.
-EVELYN: Come on, kid. -JO: Go ahead, do it again?
Oh, yeah, we need more milk.
The buñuelos, a little bit off.
Oh, my heart is pounding.
We keep cranking them out till we get the perfect ones.
Grandma, you know you're out there.
This buñuelo better turn out, Grandma.
All bets on that buñuelo right now.
Hot coming out. Hot, hot, hot.
Ah, they feel perfect.
Acorn flour tastes like gingerbread.
I love it. It's nice to end on something
that I'm really proud and confident in.
Oh, this maple caramel is exceptional.
I'll be putting a little bit of maple caramel,
a little surprise in the middle like a lava cake.
Then my leaves on top.
This sounds like [bleep] leaves.
One minute. This is the last dish
that I'll be serving in Top Chef.
JACKSON: That looks really, really good.
-It feels incredible. -18 seconds.
We've got to get two more that look sexy.
I'll take that one.
JO: Ten seconds, ten seconds.
JACKSON: That's it.
[alarm beeping]
-That's all she wrote. -SARAH: I love you so much.
EVELYN: Oh, thank you so much.
[suspenseful orchestral music]
♪♪♪
-TOM: It's insane. -PADMA: Wow.
PADMA: All the desserts are really beautiful.
MAN: They're stunning.
Whoo!
PADMA: Evelyn, what did you make for us?
For my dessert, I made something
inspired by my childhood.
A buñuelo with cajeta panna cotta,
cardamom whipped cream, fresh fruit,
pitaya and persimmon.
-[crunching] -PADMA: Buddha.
This one is dedicated to America.
So I made a pumpkin pie mille-feuille.
We have a pumpkin custard, a crème Chantilly
and maple caramel, pumpkin spice cake
and leaves made out of pumpkin.
It's capturing a specific time, which is fall and Thanksgiving.
I want to give thanks for the opportunities
that this country gave me.
Thank you, Buddha. Sarah.
The buttermilk on your first course
is turned into ice cream for this last course,
atop acorn cake, pickled some pears
and made a caramel from calypso bean miso.
That's it. You're done. You're finished.
You could not cook anything more.
Let's not let go for a while.
[clapping]
I'm not going to run this time.
No, please don't, can we walk?
-ERIC: It's emotional. -PADMA: It's very emotional.
SARAH: Guys, I'm so proud of you.
BUDDHA: Yeah, you guys did great.
I love the palette in front of us from all the chefs.
Clearly were prepared with their best dessert.
Evelyn's, I tasted buñuelos through my childhood as well,
but that was probably the best I've ever had.
It's so delicious.
It's so savory and sweet.
And that caramel just drizzled over it.
I mean, come on, it's so good.
I wanted a little less gelatin in the panna cotta,
but I think I'm splitting hairs on that dessert.
I'm taking my buñuelo home for later.
[laughing]
God, I hope they really like everything. [laughing]
Aye-aye-aye, no!
Oh, God!
Buddha's dessert was beautiful.
This is a wild dessert.
These leaves, this is incredible.
And also, mille-feuille, and it's a play
on the word leaves, I thought was just brilliant.
The leaves actually rustled on my plate.
Buddha's dessert was thoughtful and heartfelt
and almost brought a tear to my eye.
A little subtle in flavor.
The maple caramel on the bottom, there needs to be more
because that actually, when you got a bite of that,
and that was really good.
Thank you so much, thank you a million.
-Of course, man. Any time. -Thank you.
One that knocked me out the most
that my spoon kept on going over to
was the acorn cake.
Sarah's cake is beautiful and warm and comforting.
I never thought I would like acorns in my life.
I liked it.
The dish was personal and I felt like
I was going on a journey with her and I enjoyed that.
Best on the table.
SARAH: I couldn't have done it without you.
They were all very exuberant, happy desserts.
[screaming and laughing]
I feel like all three chefs really brought themselves
and really just kind of tied up
their finale meal in a really beautiful way.
Thank you all for being here and I'm incredibly proud
of all our chefs have achieved,
and now we need to make this very big decision.
Thank you all.
[upbeat pop music]
Thank you, sir.
[suspenseful music]
We got three entirely,
completely different meals from three different chefs.
You told your story.
And across the board, just fantastic work.
Thank you for doing what you do.
Sarah, your food was a real conversation starter.
So, let's start with you.
Tell me why you decided to start
with a tartare as your first course.
I wanted to show protein in its kind of raw form
where not a 100% of the tartare was meat.
The tartare had the funkiness that I loved.
And I think it's another level
of thinking not only where our food comes from,
-but where it needs to go. -Thank you.
I love that you made your own butter, you made bread.
It was a really thoughtful, very good first course.
It was a very bold decision
to give us a tartare of heart.
I just wanted more seasoning on the tartare.
Okay.
Buddha, let's talk about your first course.
One of my favorite dishes is oysters and pearls
from The French Laundry.
And it was heavily influenced, especially the sauce
by chef Eric Ripert.
The Vin Jaune completely makes the dish.
This is a very mature dish.
There are dishes that I've carried around,
like a security blanket for 30 years.
I have a feeling this dish will be with you for 30 years.
It was a very luxurious, very decadent dish,
prepared with subtle techniques.
-It was a great dish. -Thank you.
You put beautiful caviar in the middle of the plate,
but it was all the little details around it
where each bite was a little bit different.
My favorite bite was when I got a little bit of
the apple where you get that nice brightness and acidity.
Thank you.
You know, you are really reaching
for some very lofty touchstones
when you're talking about Eric or Thomas Keller.
And I think you stood on par with these great titans today.
It was flawless and immaculately executed.
It was one of my favorite dishes of the whole meal.
Thank you, Padma.
Evelyn.
I really wanted to take inspiration
from our surrounding and also embracing
that I am Mexican.
I make a lot of tiradito and I think one of the tricky bits
is getting the balance in the broth.
But the way that you worked the prickly pear
with the key limes and just that little bit
of fattiness that you get from adding the chili oil
on top just had the perfect balance.
A little bit more salt on the scallop
would have been welcome.
I think it would bring more of the sweetness
of the scallops, but I loved
the apparent simplicity of your dish.
This dish, it just woke us up.
It made us smile.
Let's talk about all of your second courses.
Sarah, were you happy with your tortellini?
I thought that the firmness of the pasta
itself was delightful, in contrast
to all the other soft things.
The pasta was definitely a little on the thick side.
And a pasta dish definitely should be a little more simple.
I think the three sisters brought along some cousins.
-[laughing] -Dad jokes.
It got a little crowded.
That broth was so beautiful.
It had such depth of flavor that I didn't want
the huitlacoche to muddle it up.
The ideas of your dish were too big for the bowl.
And that's not because they weren't good,
it's because you had, like, too much to say.
Story of my life.
Buddha, you had this luxurious, soulful, yummy laksa
that was a beautiful harmony
of your background and your skill.
-Thank you. -Everything else was
the icing on the cake.
The only thing that I didn't love
was the salmon roe with a pickled carrot.
It seemed to not fit in the exact same way
that the other components did.
Okay.
Evelyn, your food has just
over the season, it has just started to become
much lighter, much more bright.
It was a very joyful dish.
Big fan of the dumplings.
Just beautiful, beautifully executed.
They were like little jewels.
Sarah, talk to us about your third course.
I wanted to prepare rabbit
because I think it's really underutilized.
I thought the dish was very beautiful.
And when I saw the rabbit,
I thought about all the work that it requires
and mastering the technique.
-Yeah, it's hard. -To cook on it maybe it was
a little too fast, so parts were a little bit over
and parts were a little bit under.
But I mean, the work that went into
the rabbit was truly amazing.
I loved that you really carried
the narrative that you were trying to tell us
-through your whole meal. -Thanks.
Buddha. I thought the eggplant
was the star of the show.
It was out of this world.
It's all technically flawless,
but maybe the dish was cleaned up
-a little too much. -Okay.
You'll take that?
Yeah, I'll take that, yeah.
I liked the dish a lot.
The lamb was perfectly cooked and I ate it very quickly.
I enjoyed it very much.
Thank you.
Evelyn.
This was a punch-you-in-the-face,
full-of-flavor sauce and dish and I love that.
Of course, I work with a lot of goat,
and I think the texture was amazing.
Thank you.
I'm not sure why you didn't cook
the goat in the sauce.
For the sauce itself,
it was literally on longer than the goat.
Also the texture of the goat,
I really wanted to make sure it could
still stick together and you could still see the neck
and it wouldn't just fall off.
-Right. -But you missed
an opportunity in bringing the mole and curry flavors
in the meat of the goat.
And now we have dessert.
Sarah, I loved your dessert.
The cake was so moist.
It was so comforting
and it made me feel like a child again.
It's the first time I eat acorn in my life.
I love it very, very much.
Putting miso into caramel, I love that.
And when you put it over that cake,
it made it taste like a sticky cake.
The best cake, yeah, I know.
Especially in autumn, like, it's the perfect dessert.
The cake was really delicious.
I loved the use of acorn flour.
You're staying true to yourself.
Buddha, the leaves.
I've never seen anything like it and the maple caramel
was the golden egg at the center
and I wish there had been more of it.
But you made me appreciate pumpkin pie.
You really changed how I'll ever
-look at it again. -Thank you.
The only issue I had with the dessert,
the maple was kind of like the sauce
that held everything together.
And so I just thought it was too much cake, not enough maple.
The balance between the ingredients was a little off.
-Evelyn. -I made a buñuelo
which is something I grew up eating.
It was just crazy good.
The crunch, the caramel,
the sesame, all those flavors
just were so delicious together.
Everybody wanted to shove it in their purse.
Ed Lee did,
which I don't know what state it's in now, but--
Yes, I loved the dessert very, very much.
The panna cotta was the tiniest bit too firm,
but the flavor of it was fantastic.
Thank you.
I will say it's been a pleasure to get
to know you through your food. It really has.
Thank you for your heart.
Thank you for your effort.
We have a big decision to make, the biggest.
We'll call you back in a bit.
-Thank you so much. -ALL: Thank you.
SARAH: Do you know the number of times
I almost fainted just now?
Seven.
The answer is seven.
[suspenseful music]
All right. This is it.
This is the moment we've all been waiting for.
Let's go course by course.
Sarah's first course.
I love the fact that it had venison
and beef heart in a tartare.
This is something new, something different.
An ambitious course.
Now, you compare that to the other two,
it just falls a little short.
And Evelyn's, it was really good.
But we've seen it, we've seen it.
To me there was nothing wrong with Evelyn's dish.
It was bright, it was beautiful.
It just was sitting next to Buddha's first course.
Yeah, it was just wasn't as good as Buddha's.
And Buddha's, dare I say,
it was as good as Oyster and Pearls.
Knowing how to construct those ingredients
and put them together was mature
-way beyond his years. -Absolutely.
-I agree. -Regardless of the result,
I'm really happy to be cooking the food that I served today
with chefs that we don't normally cook for.
You don't cook for Eric Ripert every day?
Nope.
So then let's talk about the second course.
Sarah's dish.
There was a lot of confusion
because too many elements.
It's a shame, too, because that cornbread
was so flavorful.
And that's what's great about food.
You can have four people that like it
and then one person that doesn't like it.
Or four people that don't like it.
[laughing]
Those little dumplings
that Evelyn gave us, I did love how glassy,
translucent and miniature they were.
And the hoja santa.
The hoja santa oil on top of the broth was beautiful,
but just the dumplings themselves,
they were like jewels. They were perfect.
So, Eric, the laksa, you liked it,
but you thought it was a little dated, right?
In the '80s, we were prisoners
of those techniques.
This dish was beautiful.
But I want him to, like,
be expressing himself with the techniques.
He loves mastering those techniques.
To him, that is play.
And now comes the third course.
Evelyn's curry mole.
There was beautiful goat with a sauce draped on top,
but they weren't really harmonious.
But it was really interesting.
The meat was succulent and cooked deliciously.
Sarah's main course was nice to use the whole animal.
It just didn't need to be on that dish.
There was already a lot going on.
All those things could have worked.
I just think the portions of them were off.
There was way too many greens, way too much green sauce.
How were both of them
in comparison to Buddha's lamb?
That demi-glace, it was delicious and shiny
and so deep in flavor, I loved it.
He got really far from the inspiration,
but you cannot find flaw in his dish.
Curry mole sounds so interesting.
I don't know, I'm sure
if I would have named it something else.
-A Murray? -Yeah, a Murray.
So that brings us to dessert.
The dessert course across the board
was the strongest course for everyone.
If I think of the dessert that I want
to eat again and again, it's Evelyn's.
Yeah, I was seduced by buñuelo too,
but the panna cotta was a big part of the dessert.
It had too much gelatin in it.
Yeah, the panna cotta was a bit harder.
It was not, like, a deal breaker in a sense.
I absolutely loved Evelyn's dessert.
I'm just happy that
we got to the point where we could cook
whatever the [bleep] we wanted.
Buddha's dessert impressed me a lot with the aesthetic.
It was like, "Wow!"
But maybe less leaves,
maybe changing the proportions.
-PADMA: I think just less cake. -Less cake.
I was really impressed with Sarah's work.
I thought it was really delicious.
That acorn cake that Sarah made
was truly innovative and wonderful.
Her caramel sauce, I love a miso caramel,
I would like literally want to just drink
a whole another cup of it.
Sarah, I couldn't be more happier
that you're in the final.
Thanks, man.
All three of our chefs
really accomplished what they set out to do.
For Sarah, the ideas were there,
it was just a matter of execution.
Evelyn and Buddha were much more technically successful.
Buddha showed us a dazzling fireworks display
of technical skill and really took us on a journey.
And Evelyn truly showed us
how she blends beautifully
Asian and Latin flavors.
If I wasn't feeling nerves before,
I'm feeling nerves now.
I think we have our next Top Chef.
-Agreed. -Agreed.
-PADMA: Yes? -Yes.
Let's get them out here.
[suspenseful music]
Chefs, what you gave us tonight was absolutely extraordinary.
But, more importantly, is you're realizing
what's really important about what we do.
It's about the connection to family,
but also the community of people you work with
and the community of people who you serve.
And so if you are the future of our industry,
we're in really good hands.
♪♪♪
Buddha.
You are Top Chef!
[clapping]
Oh, my God.
[clapping]
Congratulations.
[inspirational music]
Congratulations, nice work.
I just-- I just can't believe it.
-Well done. -Thank you so much.
Today a 15-year-old boy in regional Australia
has lived his dream.
-Congratulations. -Thank you so much.
Oh, well deserved.
I didn't dream to be an astronaut.
I didn't dream to be anything else.
Oh, Padma.
Oh, my gosh, I'm so happy for you.
I dreamt to be right here.
-Wish my dad was here, you know? -I know.
-I feel he is here. -I know, I know.
This was-- this was for him.
I think his story is a beautiful story.
He loved cooking.
Trained one of his sons
and lived his gift and lived his legacy.
And I want people to know it.
Truly, it was a beautiful tribute to him.
He would be so proud of you today.
TOM: Bring it in. Come over here.
Thank you for whipping me into shape.
People had kind of counted me out.
And to think, like, that I got this far.
Thanks for having me.
I'm proud of myself.
I think I handled it with grace.
It was such a pleasure to feed you.
Not a ton of class, but with a lot of grace.
You impressed us so much.
Thank you so much. Thank you.
Coming this far and seeing myself
evolve and change, I can walk away saying,
I gave it my all every single time, that I'm proud of.
I had so much pleasure watching you cook
with this smile on your face.
[laughing] It's been amazing.
Just work hard and love what you do
because it shows.
Buddha, congratulations.
I'm still dreaming. I'm actually--
Here, let me pinch you.
Yeah. I know.
[phone ringing]
I just won Top Chef.
BROTHER: Oh, my God.
Yeah. I can hear it.
To Buddha, our new Top Chef, and $250,000.
Congratulations.
BUDDHA: Thank you so much.
EVELYN: To Buddha!