♪ You feel your heartbeat pumping ♪
[man] You don't get many chances in life.
If the opportunity is there you have to jump and take it
[Ted Allen] 16 elite candidates.
[woman] I have dreamed of an opportunity like this
[man] This is gonna change my life.
[Ted] Only one dream job.
-[Maneet] I am desperately.. - [Scott] Desperately..
[Chris] Desperately seeking a sous chef.
I am born for this.
♪ Tonight there will be fire ♪
Want to work for me? You have to earn it.
I started seven years ago with one restaurant,
and now we have grown to four restaurants.
[man] I need this job and I don't take no for an answer
Coming down, coming down.
It's not gonna be easy.
Everything fast, but everything right.
We're basically the biggest global hospitality
company in the world.
Focus, pay attention, because if you get behind,
you're gonna stay behind.
Whoo! Feeling the pressure.
I'm desperate for a sous chef with impeccable technique.
Refined, honest, soulful cooking.
This is sexy.
That's the type of food that I wanna serve.
I'll make it happen, baby. Ha!
[man] Am I in over my head?
[Ted] You are really throwin them in at the deep end.
[woman] Everything I've done so far
has been for this moment.
Who wants that job?
[breathing deeply]
[Maneet] Did you think bein a sous chef would be easy?
All right, so, let's see what this next batch of chefs
has for us.
They all bring different skillsets.
[Scott] The challenge is,
do they have enough restaurant experienc
to understand the ebbs and flows
of a restaurant?
[Maneet] I am looking for a sous chef
who is adventurous enough
to try new techniques, but also show restraint
when required.
[Aubrey] I'm ready for whatever they throw my way.
[Paco] I can cook circles around all these other chefs
[Alex] It's a once in a lifetime opportunity,
and I'm just super-excited to have it.
[DeAndre] This is definitel the craziest job interview
I've ever been on.
All right, you're here, and we locked the door.
-[laughter] -No getting out.
You are here for an unprecedented Chopped even.
Judges, Chris, Maneet, and Scott
are desperately seeking a sous chef
to join their team.
If you win here, you'll move on to the finale.
All right, let's get to work.
All right. Every basket in this battle
has been carefully curated by one of your would-be bosses.
I hope you like what Neet's decided to put in these.
[Alex] I am freaking out.
I feel like I'm about to have my first kiss again.
Open it up.
What kinda eggs do we got?
[Ted] All right, you're looking at Araucana eggs.
Thinking I'm screwed here.
[Ted] Green Romano beans.
These are always fun.
-[Ted] Pink snack cakes. -Okay.
[Ted] And goat brains.
Oh, wow. All right.
Oh, this is gonna be fun.
Goat is one of my favorite proteins.
And the pink snack cakes, there is that sweet,
which I would love to see how you balance off
in the appetizer round.
[Ted] Well, chefs, 20 minutes
to turn those ingredients into something special.
-Clock starts now. -[Scott] All right.
Hey! Go chefs!
[Scott] Let's find us a sous chef.
[Ted] Judges, the winner of this tournament will get
a chance to work for one of you.
Do they know what they're in for?
[laughs] I'm not quite sure.
You know, it's so much about cooking,
but it's also about personality traits.
Good cooking is the bare minimum.
What's really important for us is to be able to figure out
how they're gonna interact with our teams, potentially.
[Alex] Seeing the judges for the first time
is just, I am in awe.
When I see Maneet, I'm a fan-girl.
I feel just like a little fan-girl whenever I see her.
I'm a sous chef in St. Louis, Missouri.
I think that the judges should offer me a job
because I will be the most willing to learn.
Spent my whole career in St. Louis, and at this poin
I'm really looking for the opportunity
to expand my horizons.
If I were to win,
I would be like a little ki at a Justin Bieber concert.
I don't know, I'd just... I'd freak out.
[Alex laughs]
I'm making cake-battered goat brains
on top of stir-fried green Romano beans.
I used to work as a butcher
and I wanna show the judges that I know how to work with
all different parts of an animal.
[Aubrey] Show me what you look like. Okay.
Wow.
The goat brains, it has a very creamy texture.
Sheesh.
[Maneet] It also can be very easily deep-fried.
We didn't add this to the basket
just to be mean.
We've added it because we want to see
their skill in working with offals.
[DeAndre] I have never worke with goat brains before.
But just like any other great southern chefs,
[laughing] I'm gonna fry them.
I'm making southern-fried goat brains
over a green Romano bean puree.
Down the line.
I'm the sous chef the judges should hire
because I don't quit.
I love pressure. Pressure makes diamonds.
Ding! [laughs]
My name is DeAndre Smith,
and I live in Denver, Colorado.
I am the chef and owner of Chef Cool Dre's Catering.
I would love to work with Chef Chris,
because I believe his mentorship
is one of a kind.
I've worked my way up the ranks.
Now let me show you what I can do.
I'm seasoning my goat brain with salt, pepper,
onion powder, garlic powder paprika, oregano.
I dredge them in flour and I toss them right in the fryer.
[sizzling]
Seeing the judges in person is wild.
I mean, Maneet looks so beautiful,
Scott Conant's hair is, like coiffed to perfection.
I would say that Mediterranean food
is definitely my wheelhouse
So working for Scott Conant would be amazing.
It's totally surreal that I get to cook
for the Chopped judges.
I'm a sous chef at Daisies restaurant in Chicago, Illinois.
I think a great sous chef is really flexible.
Every single day in the kitchen you're, like
literally and figuratively putting out fires.
When a door like this gets opened for you,
you would be foolish to say no,
so I'm ready to just kick it, kick it all the way open.
-Hi. -Yup, yup.
How much chocolate on the inside? Oh, my God.
So, I'm gonna do a goat brain lettuce cup
with a Romano bean slaw.
[Maneet] These pink snack cakes
are covered with coconut,
so Aubrey went and got some coconut flakes
to go ahead and mix that, which is interesting.
[Aubrey] With the goat brain
I just lightly dredge and pan-fry.
-Paco! -Yes?
What are you going to do to impress us?
Uh, I'm gonna fry the brains,
uh, quick like a... like a schnitzel.
-Goat brain schnitzel. -Love that.
[Scott] Paco is from El Salvador.
And I will say this.
The absolute best cooks I have ever worked with
in my career have been from El Salvador.
[Paco] I'm not gonna get frazzled by goat brains,
or pink snack cakes.
I'm feeling confident of anything
they're throwing my way.
I've done everything from catering to fine dining
I'm the best sous chef for hire because, you know,
I've done it all. [chuckles]
I'm chef de cuisine at LA Cha Cha Cha.
I went to Le Cordon Bleu.
Following that I worked for Patina Group for 13 years.
The judges are gonna have a hard time finding somebod
as loyal and committed as I am.
There's work that needs to get done,
they should just hire me right now.
I'm making a goat brain fritter
with a green Romano bean salad.
[Ted] Araucana eggs are famous
for the beautiful color of their eggshells.
But bottom line, it's really just an ordinary chicken egg.
[Paco] I'm dropping the egg in the boiling water,
hoping that I can get a nice hard-boiled egg.
Pink snack cakes, I just wan
throw one of these at my competition.
Putting them in a pan with a little bit of heavy cream
And hope for the snack cake to dissolve,
to make agrodolce vinaigrett
Basically sweet and sour.
Halfway in, chefs. 10 minutes to go.
[laughing] More than enough time!
[Alex] Any time I see green beans,
I know I wanna sear 'em apart in a pan.
And I think that brings out their natural sugars.
Chef Alex has this beautiful saute.
It looks like onions and the Romano beans
cooking together.
It just looks beautiful.
These green Romano beans, they have a great crispiness.
I love that you can do something
in a raw preparation or in a cooked one with these.
[Maneet] You can, like, literally,
slice it into really thin pieces
and make a wonderful slaw out of it.
[DeAndre] I'm making a green bean puree.
What I am worried about DeAndre is the fact that
he took the green Romano beans
and then put it in the blender
along with the pink snack cakes.
[DeAndre] Oh, man. I taste my puree for the first time
and I hate it. It is too sweet.
He tasted it and basically did not like it.
[DeAndre] Adding some apple cider vinegar
to kinda help balance that out.
Chefs, five minutes to get this done.
[bleep]
[Aubrey] I remember my snack cake crumble is in the oven.
It's completely burnt. I knew that was gonna happen.
-I'm getting worried about Aubrey. -Something's burning.
[Chris] I think these chefs are definitely
feeling the pressure of the situation.
I'm right in front of the judges,
and I know that they know, and I'm like,
"Oh, my God, please get it together."
Why? Oh, my God.
[clock ticking]
Get out of here!
Something's burning.
[bleep]
I just heard an expletive come from Chef Aubrey
because she was toasting
the pink snack cakes in the oven
and they went a little too far.
Okay, start over.
Now I need to start fresh.
Chefs, you got about three-and-a-half minutes left.
[Aubrey] The Araucana eggs, when I crack it open,
I realize how dense and ric this yolk is.
I wanna make an aioli so I grab a little bit of samba
and mirin and soy sauce,
just to really ground my flavors
in that Asian profile.
Come on, chefs. It's not a lot of time.
[Alex] I'm adding a soft-boiled egg to my stir fry
to add some richness from that silky yolk.
But it's very difficult to peel eggs
whenever you're under a lot of pressure.
Oh, son of a [bleep].
[rattling]
[softly] Oh, they're perfect!
[Chris] I love that DeAndre fried his goat brains,
and they look beautiful and golden brown.
[DeAndre] They look amazing
[Maneet groans]
Chefs, you're at less than two minutes.
You gotta get going.
You don't wanna run out of time, chefs.
[Ted] Think you just earned a grimace from Alex.
[Maneet] There is a beautiful salad
at Paco's station, which looks amazing.
You know, I'm also loving what Aubrey is doing.
She's making those lettuce cups.
30 seconds left. It's gonna go very fast, chefs. Let's go.
[Aubrey] As I'm tasting the aioli,
it's not as emulsified as I was hoping to get it.
But I'm running out of time
and I just need to get this on the plate.
Come on! Who wants to be our sous chef?
Almost done.
10, nine, eight, seven,
six, five, four,
three, two, one.
Time's up.
-Great job. -Whoo-hoo!
Great job, guys. Good job.
Whew.
[Aubrey] I've done a ton of stages working interviews before,
but this is definitely the highest
and most difficult one I've ever had to do.
[DeAndre] I think the judge are definitely pushing me
with this basket to show
actually what I'm capable of doing.
The competition is definitely stiff.
So, we'll just have to see.
Chefs. First part of this grueling interview process
was that appetizer round.
Goat brains, Araucana eggs, green Romano beans,
and pink snack cakes.
Chef Paco, what have you made for us?
What we have here is
goat brain fritter
with a radicchio and green bean salad.
What qualities would you say you would bring
to a job with one of our judges?
Uh, knowledge. I've been working now for
roughly 15 years.
I'm not only competing for myself.
I had children at a very young age.
I was 18 years old when I had kids.
And I didn't make the best of choices when I was younge
And now I just wanna set a good example.
Paco, I'm looking for someone
who sees a challenge and tackles it.
And it was really nice to see you do that.
The fact that you deep-frie the goat brains, great idea
-And done beautifully. -Thank you.
It's really textbook well-done.
However, it's really lacking in seasoning.
If this had been seasoned properly,
I mean, it's a home run.
It's a little detail that just becomes a big deal.
Just be consistent.
Um, really think your decisions through today.
Next up, Chef Alex.
Uh, so we have a cake-battered goat brain
on top of a stir-fry green Romano bean.
How'd you make that batter, if I may ask?
Um, I took a couple of the eggs
and threw 'em in with just the cake.
Did you put flour on the brain or anything
like that to have it adhere?
-No. -You didn't? Yeah.
Don't look so disappointed.
-It's just a question. -[laughs]
My brain is cooked beautifully.
Although the exterior, it needed that flour, right?
In order to have it adhere.
Otherwise, really good cooking.
[Maneet] I love the soft-boiled egg.
Because it adds that richness that you get from the yolk,
and you mix it along with the rest of the dish.
-That works beautifully. -Thank you, Chef.
I keep going back to these beans.
I love the char on the outside.
Had you nailed the brains as well,
I mean, wow, what a dish this would be.
Next up, Chef Aubrey.
Today I made for you a goat brain lettuce cup
with a Romano bean slaw,
and an aioli that I made from the eggs.
[Maneet] Aubrey, I've got to tell you,
I think your creativity is wild.
To think of goat brains, and to give a lettuce cup,
I mean, that shows a range.
My goat brain, it's been cooked beautifully.
Thank you.
The texture that you created from the salad is delicious.
The texture that you created with the cashew,
and the little chunks of the sweet cake,
um, it's not adding a lot to the dish.
And unfortunately, your aioli is just not working for me.
-Okay. -[Maneet] Yes.
When it's not emulsified properly,
then it also loses the potency of the flavor
that you're trying to get.
[Chris] But conceptually, this is the strongest concep
of the four dishes.
Finally, Chef DeAndre.
So, chefs, what I have in front of you
is going to be a southern-fried goat brain
with a green Romano bean puree.
[Chris] Let me start with the goat brains.
-They are delicious. -Thank you.
Great, great, crunchy exterior.
And also wonderfully seasoned. Nailed it.
The sauce is not working at all.
-Understood. Yeah. -And I think you know that.
Because when you tasted it, you didn't like it either.
-Yeah, no, I didn't like it at all. -[chuckles]
The sauce tastes of raw Romano beans.
Then you try to hide that flavor with
apple cider vinegar and sal
-and the snack cakes. -Yup, yup.
So all of these flavors
started contradicting each other.
Mmm.
Something like this happens,
you can pivot and have a plan B, right?
Yes, Chef.
Uh, Chef, tell us about yourself. Where you working?
So, I currently have my own catering business
in Denver, Colorado.
Um, I'm currently cooking for
a few pro athletes on the Denver Broncos.
So why would you wanna go from working for yourself...
-[DeAndre] Mmm. -...to subjecting yourself
to having to answer to one of us?
[laughs] Um, I never had the opportunity
to go to culinary school,
never had the opportunity to really be mentored.
I need the guidance.
[Ted] Chef DeAndre, thank you.
[DeAndre] Based on the judges' feedbacks,
I think Alex is getting chopped.
Uh, his goat brain wasn't coated right.
[Alex] I'm worried about the goat brains.
That's what I'm most worried about.
I think it's gonna come down to DeAndre or myself.
So, whose dish is on the chopping block?
[clock ticking]
So, whose dish is on the chopping block?
Chef Aubrey, you've been chopped. Judges.
Chef Aubrey, those pink snack cakes.
We thought that you could have
balanced that sweetness a lot better.
And overall, this did not come together
as a cohesive dish.
So unfortunately we will not be offering you a job,
and so we had to chop you.
I really appreciate the opportunity.
-It's been an honor. -Thank you.
[Aubrey] Definitely understa their decision.
I kind of felt like we were all neck-and-neck,
but I don't think I was able to just eke out.
[Ted] Chef Paco, Chef Alex, Chef DeAndre.
Legendary chefs you'd love to work for
are watching your every move,
does that make you nervous?
-Definitely. -I'm absolutely terrified.
-Not for you, Paco? -No, absolutely not.
Second basket's ready.
Check it out.
No idea what I'm supposed to do with this.
Gyros, huh?
[Ted] All right, you're looking at gyro poutine.
I love mushrooms.
[Ted] Velvet oyster mushrooms.
-Deckle of beef. -Yes!
I used to work as a butcher, and I am so excited
that it is a piece of meat that I am familiar with.
[Ted] And Calabrian chiles.
[exhales]
Interesting basket, for sure.
Scott, what are you demanding
of our candidates in this round?
We have Calabrian chiles in that jar.
I love the beautiful depth of flavor that they give,
and that incredible spiciness.
But we never wanna blow out the palates of our guests.
Right? With this basket I'm expecting
a nice balance of heat.
30 minutes to make the flavors sing.
Clock starts now.
-Yeah! Go chefs, go, go, go! -Let's go, chefs, let's go!
[Maneet] I love the fact that Alex
has gone and grabbed the meat grinder.
[Alex] Deckle is the muscle and fat
that connects the brisket to the ribcage.
If not treated properly, it can be
very tough, it has a lot of connective tissue in it.
I only have 30 minutes.
-[grinder whirring] -This needs to get ground.
I'm making a beef and oyster mushroom strogano
with Salmoriglio sauce.
A Salmoriglio is different herbs, garlic,
lemon juice, olive oil.
I'm definitely feeling more confident this round.
[blender whizzing]
[DeAndre] Man.
[Alex] It doesn't look like Paco or DeAndre know
what to do with this deckle
let alone what a deckle is.
Traditionally this cut of meat is something that's cooked
for a very long time.
Low and slow.
You either want to cut this really thin,
and cook it really quickly,
or you wanna grind it.
[Ted] Alex is trained as a butcher,
and if I were the other two, the competitors,
-I'd be following his lead. -[laughs]
[Chris] I don't love what DeAndre's doing.
-I agree. -He's trying to cut that deckle into,
like, uneven cubes.
I just feel like that's gonna
result in a tough product in the end.
[DeAndre] I'm making seared beef
with a mushroom cream sauce
The gyro poutine, I like it by itself.
[laughs]
So, I don't know how I'm gonna use this
for this entree basket.
Poutine is, I think, the ultimate indulgence dish.
There is the fries, the meat, the tzatziki.
[DeAndre] First thought is,
take the French fries off of the gyro poutine,
and use that as potato hash
[Paco] Never worked with deckle of beef.
My best hope is to pan-roast it
and cook it perfectly, medium-rare.
I'm making a roasted beef deckle
with poutine mashed potato,
with Calabrian chile and mushroom ragout.
I'm gonna use the Calabrian chiles
to bring spiciness,
and offset the port wine tha I'm putting in the ragout.
Chefs, I'm gonna go see
how these chefs are faring with this deckle,
and also what they're doing with those Calabrian chiles.
Right behind you, chef.
All right, what are you doing with this deckle?
[DeAndre] Right now I'm just trying to sear it off.
I'm concerned about the toughness of it.
And if you're gonna be able to break that down
-in a short amount of time. -[DeAndre sighs] I know.
Who do you think your biggest competition is here?
[DeAndre] Paco's probably one of
my biggest competitors right now.
[Scott] All right, man. Chef, you ground that deckle.
What are you building?
[Alex] Honestly, I'm thinking about
a nice, simple stroganoff.
Who do you feel like
your biggest competition is here today, chef?
[Alex] Uh, I wouldn't, you know,
bring that down to any one single person.
You're saying you're the biggest competitor.
-Against yourself. -Yeah, yeah.
I would say that's a good way to look at it. [laughs]
Chef, are you gonna cook that or eat it?
[laughs] Go ahead and grab some.
All right, so, who do you feel like
your biggest competition is here, chef?
I like Chef DeAndre.
[Scott] Because you guys are gonna take Alex out?
-I hope so. -[Scott laughs]
Good luck, Chef.
So, initial observations.
I asked all three chefs who they thought
their biggest competition was.
Alex said it was himself.
But both Paco and DeAndre said each other.
Alex, how do you feel about that?
I've been overlooked my whole life.
It's nothing new.
I am used to people counting me out.
That makes me wanna win even more.
And it's just adding fuel to my fire.
Gyro poutine.
So, I'm using the French fri from the poutine
as a thickener for my stroganoff.
Behind, behind.
[whirring]
[Paco] I'm mixing up my potatoes,
and I take one good look at 'em,
and they are grainy and gummy.
So I grab some mascarpone.
Add it to the processor.
And I realize this tastes very, very similar to polent
So now I've gone from poutine mashed potatoes
to poutine polenta.
[Maneet] Right now, I think all these three
have the potential of being one of our sous chefs.
Paco, he's so focused.
Alex thinks that he's the underdog,
but he is showing such a strong grasp
on different techniques.
And DeAndre, he is not getting fazed.
[Scott] Paco, we're looking at you, brother.
Let's get it done. Get it on the plate, chefs.
-[Paco] Yes, sir. -One minute, chefs. Let's go.
Gotta go very fast, chefs. Get it down.
[Alex] I drizzle a little bi of my sauce over top,
and then realize that I need a little more garnish.
Under 30 seconds, chefs.
-[Maneet] Alex! -I know.
25 seconds!
-[Alex] It's all I need. -[Chris] I know.
[Alex] That's all I need.
Time flies when you're cooking here, chefs.
-Ten, nine, eight... -[Scott] Let's go.
...seven, six, five, four,
three, two, one.
-Time's up. -[applause]
[DeAndre] I'm worried about my meat.
It came out a little tougher than I wanted.
Uh, it's the first time I've ever cooked with this meat.
So, it was definitely a curveball for me.
[Alex] I'm definitely feelin a lot more confident
in this round than last roun
I think it's a mistake for my competitors
not to see me as a threat.
[sighs]
[clock ticking]
Chefs, in the second round we asked you to make entrees
with gyro poutine, velvet oyster mushrooms,
deckle of beef, and Calabrian chiles.
Chef Alex, tell us about your dish.
Uh, so, before you, you have
a beef and oyster mushroom stroganoff
with Orecchiette noodles,
and Salmoriglio on top.
[corrects] Salmoriglio. The "g" is "li," like that.
Okay. Salmoriglio.
Alex, you definitely have a grasp on flavors.
Let's start with the Calabrian chiles.
It is something that can overtake a dish,
but you've just used the right amount.
[Scott] Yeah, I think the pasta's delicious.
I like what you did with the meat.
I think it's a really good approach.
But I would invite you maybe to say
that it's inspired by stroganoff.
Traditionally stroganoff is stewed
and finished with sour cream
[sighs] Yeah, I mean, Scott kinda diffused my bomb.
-So I'm not gonna... -[laughter]
...go into the fact that this
surely isn't a stroganoff, right?
I don't really have anything negative to say about it,
except for one thing.
It doesn't feel restaurant quality.
[Maneet] So, what do you think?
What are your best qualities
if you are to be one of our sous chefs?
Anything I do, I always wanna do better.
I also have a really good willingness to learn.
A willingness to work.
I think that would be my strongest suits
to bring to the table.
Next up, Chef DeAndre.
Awesome. Judges, what you have in front of you is going to be
seared beef with mushroom cream sauce
and a Calabrian chile hash.
How'd you get started cooking, Chef?
My grandfather would sit me up on a high-chair,
and we would make breakfast together.
I'm a big fan of over-easy eggs.
He would let me go through a whole carton of eggs
until I got it correctly.
I would definitely love to win Chopped,
not just for me but for my grandparents as well.
Um, the mushrooms, which you chopped so finely,
-really melt in your mouth. -Yeah.
And then you get those buttery mushrooms,
and the fries.
That is a crazy-delicious bite.
However, the deckle is a disaster.
Most of the pieces are on the larger size,
and they're just really tough.
This dish makes me angry.
Yeah.
'Cause it's so delicious.
-And I can't eat it! -Yeah.
But man, your handle on flavors is really good.
I love the Calabrian chile usage in here also.
I mean, it creates that beautiful, light spiciness
in the back of the palate.
Thank you, Chef.
[Ted] Chef DeAndre, thank you.
Finally, Chef Paco.
In front of you, you have a pan-roasted beef deckle
with poutine polenta
and mushroom and Calabrian chile ragout.
Paco, this poutine polenta,
the fact that you pivoted
and got the mascarpone, it's delicious.
It works very well.
And then the mushroom with the Calabrian chiles.
Delicious.
Then we go to the deckle of beef.
Again, this was not the way
that the deckle of beef should have been handled.
There is too much of connective tissue in it.
I agree. This deckle is, again, a disaster.
I don't even know how you accomplished this.
Every piece I have is medium-rare on one side
and well-done on the other.
This puts us in a very hard situation.
Because you guys all developed really good flavors.
But this deckle, this beef, it's disappointing.
All right. In a few minutes you'll find out
if you're still in the race. Thank you, chefs.
[Alex] I'm just hoping that my use of the deckle
is gonna really kinda save me in this.
'Cause I do think I did use in kind of like a smarter wa
than the other contestants did.
[DeAndre] I definitely know that I had a couple mistakes
Maneet stated that, you know, my food was making her angry.
And that's never good.
[clock ticking]
So, whose dish is on the chopping block?
Chef DeAndre, you've been chopped. Judges.
[Scott] Chef DeAndre,
by searing the meat the way you did,
it rendered that beef pretty much inedible, chef.
Understood.
We won't be extending you a job offer today, chef.
And so we have to chop you.
Thank you, guys. Good luck, man.
-Good luck. -Pleasure.
-Thanks, chef. -Thank you.
[DeAndre] To be able to be mentored
by one of the judges
would have been an amazing opportunity.
I'm definitely disappointed but at the end of the day,
I'm leaving here with the experience
of a lifetime.
Chef Paco, Chef Alex.
Take hold of your new baskets.
Let's see what's in them.
What is this?
[Ted] And you must work with deep-fried champagne.
Is there literally champagne in this?
-Oh, lychees. -[Ted] Lychees.
Oh, my gosh.
[Ted] Purple sweet potato vinegar.
-Great. -[Ted] And chickpea flour.
To test your skills,
we've given you a gluten-free chickpea flour
which kinda is gonna force you guys
to do some baking.
We wanna see what you can do with that.
[Ted] We'll know whether you've beat this basket
in 30 short minutes.
Clock starts now. [claps]
-[Chris] All right. -[Maneet] Go chefs, go!
Let's go, chefs, let's go!
[Alex] Heading into the dessert round,
I'm feeling more confident than ever.
To be this close to working for Maneet,
it's a dream come true.
I'm making lychee sorbet
with pickled lychee, fried champagne cream.
I mix the chickpea flour with butter, sugar,
all-purpose flour, to make a cracker.
Judges, these two final chefs have beaten
stiff competition to get here.
What do you need to see from them in this final round?
[Chris] I mean, quite frankly, separation.
Just very close.
They've both mastered flavors but not techniques.
And they both need to come with it,
because this is any chef's battle to win.
[Paco] I'm thinking I want t make a light, creamy dessert
Something that was Italian,
something that would probabl resonate with Scott.
I'm making a lychee panna cotta
and a sweet potato vinegar gastrique.
I'm taking the deep-fried champagne,
chickpea flour, adding some butter...
[blender whizzes]
...and hoping for a nice crumble.
Next I'm making the mixture for the panna cotta.
using the lychees, buttermil Greek yoghurt, creme fraiche
and the sweet potato vinegar
Paco is making a panna cotta.
That makes me slightly nervous.
Panna cotta is definitely one of those desserts
which needs time to set.
20 minutes left, chefs.
Hi, Alex. How are you doing?
I'm all right.
So, tell me, do you want to be one of our sous chefs?
Yeah, very desperately, yes.
Will the three of us fight over you?
I love it when three people fight over me.
[Maneet] Okay, fine.
-Paco. How is it going? -How you doing, Chef?
How do you think your desert will show us
that you can be a good sous chef to us?
Ah, I hope it's enough.
I don't have so much experience
in the pastry department.
We have Paco who, right now it doesn't look like he has
a tremendous amount of comfort with pastry.
-Best of luck. -Thank you.
[Chris] One third of the job interview process.
Pastry. This is a skillset you need.
[Alex] I'm using the lychee to make a sorbet.
And I need to get as much juice
out of these lychees as possible.
I'm sorry. Alex is doing something which is
making me really nervous.
He has the lychees, he's peeled the lychees,
he hasn't pitted it.
[blender whizzing]
[Maneet] The flavor of lychee pits
is really, really bitter.
There goes the entire dish.
Immediately I realize it is bitter.
So I add a little bit of lemon juice
and some simple syrup.
Stir it up.
And I have to get this
in the ice-cream machine right now.
[Paco] I'm making the mixtur for the panna cotta.
After I squeeze the first base out of the siphon gun,
I realize this is not gonna work.
Five minutes to get this done.
Chefs, if you guys wanna work for one of us,
you gotta step it up now.
[Paco] I desperately wanna b one of their sous chefs,
but I'm thinking, "What did get myself into?"
If I don't get this panna cotta right,
I just blew my chance at the final.
[clock ticking]
[Paco] I am in so much troub with this panna cotta.
So I realize the best option
is to turn this into a mousse.
So I add an extra cartridge of NO2
to the siphon gun.
I'm looking over at Alex
and I hear the ice-cream machine going
and I'm thinking to myself, "Wow, that's impressive."
I really underestimated Alex.
Let's go, chefs. Get it done. Let's go.
[Alex] I'm also making pickled lychees
to go with my dish.
I marinate them in the sweet potato vinegar
sugar, and a little bit of water.
I'm using the deep-fried champagne
to make a whipped cream for my desert.
But it's not whipping like I want it to.
What'd you just put in there, Alex?
-Xanthan gum. -Xanthan gum?
[Alex] And it is looking much better.
It's make-or-break time.
One minute to go, chefs.
[Paco] I taste my gastrique
and I realize this is missing some freshness.
Chef Paco, you gonna make it happen?
Yes, sir.
All right chefs, final seconds of the final round.
10, nine, eight, seven,
six, five, four,
three, two, one.
Time's up.
-Great job, guys! -Good job.
[applause]
[Alex] My nerves are through the roof right now.
I'm not a huge fan of how it looks aesthetically.
But I know that it's gonna b a well-flavored,
well-balanced dish.
[Paco] I was trying to do a panna cotta,
then I had to pivot into a mousse.
I like the flavors of it.
I hope what I made this round gets me to the finale.
[Ted] Chef Paco and Chef Alex.
Two hopeful job applicants.
You opened your dessert basket and found
deep-fried champagne, lychee
purple sweet potato vinegar and chickpea flour.
Chef Paco, what do we have?
You have, um, lychee mousse
with champagne garbanzo crumble
with sweet potato vinegar gastrique.
There's a lot that you got done
in, um, in 30 minutes.
There is almost this airines that you get in the mousse
because you used the whipped-cream cannister.
But I do not get lychees in it.
The crumb that you've made on the side,
it needed a lot more butter in it.
There's two problems with the crumble.
One is, to Maneet's point, it's really dry.
But it also just doesn't have a lot of flavor, right?
Chef, you said that you're not strong with pastries, um...
I think that's correct.
-[laughs] Yeah. -I think you're right.
-I think so, too. -I agree with you.
[laughs]
Finally, Chef Alex.
So, we have a lychee sorbet
with some lightly marinated lychees as well,
a chickpea cracker,
and a fried champagne cream.
Alex, what I do appreciate
is that you did give us a composed dessert.
But the pits just make the sorbet so...
bitter and astringent.
The chickpea flour and the fried champagne.
I liked the intent that you had for both.
What I worry about when I think about hiring you is
are you taking the path of least resistance, right?
Did you make a sorbet because it was easier than ice cream?
But I have something else to say to you guys.
You're not gonna win this tournament
if you come in and make desserts like this.
It's as simple as that.
So you've gotta come in here with some basic recipes.
Ice cream. Something you can bake.
Something that's going to impress us.
Chef Alex, what does this potential opportunity mean to you?
It means so much to me. Um...
I will say this, Maneet, um...
I had your food at Chauhan's down in Nashville.
I was about 19 years old.
And it was more impactful than I think that you know.
I had a braised lamb shank that was just...
It was so good that I never...
I never wanted to have
another piece of meat cooked any other way.
Oh, you're going to make me cry. Thank you.
It means a lot, and the thing is,
I've always wanted to say it to you.
Thank you, that means a lot.
But you know, Chef, so it's exactly that experience
that you're talking about, and the impact it had on you,
our intention is to have that impact
on every customer that walks in our door.
But it came from a person exactly in your position,
that followed the necessary technique
in order to achieve a great dish
that a customer can enjoy,
and to change their life.
Yes, chef.
Okay. Only one chef can move on
to the Desperately Seeking Sous Chef finale.
We'll let you know very soon
which chef it's going to be. Thanks.
Disappointing.
-It's just disappointing. -Very.
I mean, the idea was great.
But the execution was lacking.
-What'd you think? -I told you it was gonna be hard.
-[laughs] I knew it. -[laughs] Oh, God.
Yeah, that was tough love, man.
It was obviously really close,
and nobody took a big leap ahead in dessert.
[Chris] You know, one of the challenges
I think in Paco's appetizer
was just his overall lack of seasoning.
But his handling of the goat brain,
that outside crust was just perfect.
With Alex's appetizer,
his creativity with the green Romano beans,
that was a delicious bite.
And that is the kind of chef skill
that I want in my kitchen.
Unfortunately, he didn't nail the goat brain at all.
[Chris] So, in the main course round,
I was happy to see that Chef Alex
had ground that deckle of beef.
What he gave us was yummy.
[Chris] But the dish was just really not refined enough,
it wasn't really restaurant quality.
Chef Paco roasted that whole deckle.
And, uh, it just didn't work
But he made that "polenta" out of the French fries.
That was kind of amazing.
You know, it's not like regular Chopped.
So there's more at stake, right?
We have to potentially live with this individual.
So of course we have to look deeper
than just the quality of food.
I definitely botched the dessert round a little bit.
Chris said, "You wanna take the easy way out."
That makes me wanna take the hard way out
every single time now.
[Paco] I didn't realize how bad I wanted this
until that final round.
Winning this competition would mean a lot, not just to me,
but for my family.
So, whose dish is on the chopping block?
Chef Alex, you've been chopped. Judges.
Chef Alex, um, in the first round,
we absolutely loved what you did with those Romano beans.
It was actually one of our favorite bites
of the whole day by any chef.
Unfortunately, you had problems with the goat brains.
And then in the dessert round I think you both struggled.
But we think Paco was able to give us
a more fully-realized dessert.
We will not be extending you a job offer today,
and so we had to chop you.
Once again, thank you guys so much.
-Your attitude's gonna take you very far, also. -Thank you. Yes.
-Absolutely. Thank you, chef. -Thank you.
Good luck to you, man.
-Congratulations. -Good job, man.
Thank you.
Thank you, guys.
[applause]
[Alex] It didn't go the way that I wanted.
But, I mean, I'm walking out of here
with an experience that, you know, is priceless.
And that means, Chef Paco Moran,
you are the Chopped champn
and you will be returning
for the Desperately Seeking Sous Chef finale,
where you might just take it all.
-Congratulations. -Thank you.
-[Maneet] Woo! Yes! -Thank you.
[applause]
My... my hands can stop sweating now. [laughs]
Getting the chance to be one of their sous chefs,
it's a dream come true.
I still have a whole 'nothe competition ahead of me,
but winning Chopped feels amazing.
A chance like this comes along once in a lifetime.
[man] There's challenges tha define who you are as a chef
Everything's on the line for me right now.
This is gonna change my life.
[man] Definitely freaking ou
My one piece of advice to you would be, don't [bleep] up.
It's survival of the fittest.
-I am a bad bitch. -Oh, yeah!
[man] I want this badly.
Only one chance to make a first impression.
[man] I just screwed this up
There goes the entire dish.
You've gotta really move.
We need a sous chef. Let's get it done!
You're not gonna win this tournament
if you come in and make [bleep] like this.
Simple as that.
[Maneet] You thought this was gonna be
an easy job interview?