We're doing Triple G like we've never done it before.
-What? -[Guy] Four Triple-G winners
are back to take on the store.
What am I doing?
But wait until they find out that Flavortown Market is now a seller's market.
We're gonna call this Aisle Auction.
-Good Lord. -Whoo!
[Guy] Because tonight, we're selling groceries and the aisles themselves
to the highest bidder in the biggest, wildest auction ever.
-Aisle 1! -[Franco] $40!
-$40. -[Franco] $40 to $45.
Sold!
How big?
I'm bringing in a professional hype man auctioneer
to run the proceedings.
You got a gavel for me, right?
I do. Hey, Hunter. What you got?
Hey, this new meat mallet is awesome.
-There you go, buddy. -Here you go.
It's Flavortown Auction right now on Guy's Grocery Games.
[gavel banging]
All right, let's meet our returning Triple G winners.
Now first up we have Q. Matisse' Myers,
who won Triple G Price Check,
and was a finalist in our Summer Grillin' Tournament.
Now, he's back for more.
-Chef Q. Matisse' -[exclaims] Yeah!
[Q.] So being on Triple G gave me some good street cred, let the world know who I am.
I'm the crowd pleaser. I'm the hero. I'm the champ.
Nice to have you, partner.
And next we have Emily Lim,
the executive chef and owner
of a San Francisco catering company.
And she's back, looking for her third Triple G win.
Holy guacamole, this is spicy in the best way possible.
So good.
I am excited and nervous. I'm nervcited.
-Hi. -Go get 'em.
[Guy] Then there's Josh Hedquist,
who's back for another Twin City win.
-Congratulations. -[Josh] Thank you.
That was a tough competition.
[Josh] Winning this pushed me to chase my dreams,
so I quit my job and dropped down 50 g's,
and I opened up my first Joey Meatballs.
-Big man. Look good. -What's up, brother?
-Any new tattoos? -Of course.
And finally, Izzy Bausier,
the executive chef
of a tapas joint in New Jersey,
who is hoping to take home tonight's tapas spot.
Get it? Tapas spot? Ha-ha.
[Izzy] I wanted to come back because it's a no-brainer.
Somebody calls you and says,
"Do you wanna come back to Flavor Town," you're gonna go.
Welcome back, Chef.
They're in for trouble.
-Nice to be back, huh? -Oh, yeah.
-Absolutely. -Yeah.
But you can't all win this time, I'm sorry.
Just one of you.
But the chef with the highest combined score after both rounds
will get a chance to shop Flavortown Market for up to 20,000 bucks.
Wow.
First challenge tonight. I want you to make the judges
a Bountiful Brunch.
I want you to do a brunch worthy of your future victory.
How about that? That kind of brunch.
And to help make sure that you really are giving a Bountiful Brunch,
I'm gonna give you...
Hunter. Give us the money.
Yes.
Sorry, I thought it was for me, I was going shopping.
I got 400 bucks.
-Oh! -[Guy] Plenty of money to buy everything you need.
-$100 for you. -Thank you.
$100 for you.
That's unless you bid too much on an aisle.
What?
-[Guy] Oh, we didn't tell them about that, did we? -Bid?
Big shots call this Aisle Auction.
[groans]
[Guy] Here's how it works.
You could shop most of the less-popular middle aisles as usual.
But there are four exclusive, member-only aisles
that are gonna be auctioned off to you right now.
So if you're the highest bidder of any one of these four aisles,
you're the only one that can shop it.
Each chef can only buy one aisle.
And if you bid too much for your aisle,
you might not have enough money left over
to purchase all the food you need.
Oh, man.
[Guy] All right, Hunter, let's get this auction started.
First up, we have aisle 10.
Let me get Franco. There he is. Franco.
There you go, ladies and gentlemen.
-Come on! -[Guy] The man is here.
This is my buddy, Professional Auctioneer,
and Arena Emcee for the World Champion Golden State Warriors,
Franco Finn. Franco, thanks for making it.
Okay, and this is an important aisle.
Aisle 10. Dairy. Meat. Seafood. Eggs.
Eggs. Brunch. Come on.
My idea of what brunch is is like, eggs.
The starting bid, Franco, is gonna be 40 bucks.
-[Franco] Let's go 40 bucks. -Let her roll.
[in auctioneer voice] Who's in at $40? Winning bid at $40 We got $40.
$40 to $45. Winning bid now $45?
-[Izzy] $50. -Come one now, raise it up a little higher.
-$50. -$60.
-[Izzy] $65. -[Franco] $65 right here.
-How about $70 now? -I'll take $70.
Pushing the limits, I like it! $70 right here.
Winning bid now $75.
-$75. -My God, that leaves you at 25 bucks.
$75 now, $80 to you. How about $76?
-[Franco] $76, she's in-- -$80.
Oh, she's going $80. Winning bid now $81.
$81. $81 once. $81 twice.
Last call all in on--
$82.
Oh, we got a new person in here.
I knew I had to buy it, no matter the cost.
$83.
-Winning bid now $84. -This is out of control.
$84, all in?
All done for the 10 aisle!
-Who's got it? -She got it.
Sold for $83! Winner Izzy for $83.
-[Franco] Oh, let's hear it. -[bell dings]
Good Lord. Whew!
Holy moly. Let's talk about the next auction item.
-Aisle 9. -Ooh.
[Guy] We're talking breads, rolls, jams, jellies. Frozen. Frozen meats.
It might not be in the perfect form,
but you definitely have all the ingredients to make a brunch.
All right, let's get it going. Start the bid at $40
Who's in at $40? Winning bid now $40. Now $45?
-Winning bid now $45-- -$60.
[Franco] $60. Now $65.
Don't let him take it. Come on, now. $65.
-Oh! That's what I'm talking about. -$35.
-Winning bid now $70-- -$70.
This guy. I'm not playing this game with him.
We got a sneaker. We got a creeper.
I'm not playing this game with him.
-He's in at $70. -$73.
-$73? -See that hand. $73.
You got it now, $74. $74 last call, all in, and we will sell it $73.
Emily, congratulations.
-There you go. -Thank you.
Ladies and gentlemen...
aisle one!
The cornucopia of fruits, vegetables, and leafy greens. The bounty of the county.
If you do not win this aisle,
you have to buy the final aisle for a minimum of $40.
And I don't know that that aisle is as fruitful as aisle one.
All right. Let's start it.
Here we go. Start the bid at $40. Here we go. Now $40 to $45.
-The bid now $45-- -$50.
$50, you are in. $55. Here we go.
-$56. Here we go. -[Franco] $56. Last call.
-All in, all done? -Wait.
Sold! [bell dings]
[Guy] Josh, you are the exclusive owner,
for $40, of aisle...
Seven!
-Baked goods. -Oh, yeah!
Flours, chocolate, cake mix, syrups.
You name it.
All the guilty pleasures.
-Aisle seven, congratulations. -That is awesome.
Okay, so let's talk about how much money we have.
-Iz, how much you got? -$17.
Big man, how much you got?
-I got $60. -[Franco] 60 bucks!
Q. Matisse', what you got?
Forty-four bucks.
-[Guy] Chef Emily. -I got $27.
Okay. Thank you, Franco.
-Wow. -That was intense.
So we can use two, three, four and six.
You can go to three, you can go to two.
You can't go to one.
But you can go to...
Two, three, four, five, six.
[Guy] Yeah.
[clock ticking]
-Oh, my God! -[all laughing]
I gotta find something. Pancake batter. Waffle batter. Chocolate chips.
[Guy] Aisle seven, go to heaven.
He got it for 40 bucks. He's got $60 to spend.
I could buy whatever I wanted. I see a box of pancake mix.
Look at that, I just saved some money.
I can put these two back and get that one deal.
You need eggs in this mix, but I got no eggs in my aisle.
Whole egg.
I find this granulated egg.
You saw it here first. Flavortown, baby.
And I turn around,
and the syrup I've been eating my whole childhood
is staring me at the face.
Next thing I know, I'm looking through some of the jerkies.
Holy smokes. Bacon.
For my Bountiful Brunch,
I wanna make different styles, and flavors, and offerings of waffles.
I'm gonna do one with the bananas and walnuts.
I know that we can go in some other aisles.
I'm not really worried about those because my aisle's the brunch aisle.
[scanner beeps]
$29.60 is gonna be your total for what you have so far.
-[Josh] There's $30. -All right.
I got a couple bucks left.
Aisle 10 is the absolute best for brunch.
It has everything you need, you have your eggs, the cheeses are there.
But I only have $17.
She's gotta be really smart with her purchasing.
I am a tapas chef.
So, for my Bountiful Brunch,
I'm making a tortilla Espanola.
A tortilla Espanola is a Spanish omelet.
Traditionally, it's made with onions, some potato, and egg.
But I can't use the produce section,
so luckily, in aisle 10, there are hash browns.
Hash browns is definitely a good play.
Traditional chorizo.
And then I also grabbed some piquillo peppers, some hot sauce.
And it's gonna bring in flavors that I'm losing
from not having those onions.
[scanner beeping]
Over by $0.05. I had to make a decision.
I'll part with the tabasco.
Got rid of the hot sauce.
[Q.] I wanted this produce.
I spent 56 bucks, now I got $44 left.
So in my Bountiful Brunch, I can't go vegetarian.
I like protein.
I went aisle one 'cause there's chicken in aisle one.
Okay.
So the new craze is chicken and waffles.
I didn't have waffles,
so I figured having chicken with salmon croquettes.
There we go. Ooh, Lord.
[Guy] There you go. There's canned meats.
When you don't have aisle 10,
you better learn to love the can.
Then I find instant polenta.
I think this polenta will make a nice base for my brunch.
So I need a sauce for my brunch.
I decided to go with stewed tomatoes and peppers.
I'm the only one to have the access to anything fresh.
Oh, we got herbs. Let me get some herbs.
Produce section rocks.
All right, how we doing?
[Q.] As long as we're under 44 bucks.
-[scanner beeps] -Ooh.
$39.17 is where you are.
-All right. -Thank you. All right.
There'll be some different dishes around here.
I spent $73 on aisle nine, which is frozen, bread, jams.
Bountiful Brunch is when you're in with your friends, going like,
"Okay, you order this, and you order this,
and I order this so we can share."
I'm not even focusing on the bread or condiments.
I'm just zoned in on my waffle.
All right.
And frozen stuff.
What's brunch without hash?
Oh, my God, they're hard as bricks.
For my Bountiful Brunch, I'm making crispy hashbrowns with waffles.
When shopping on a budget, clearance aisle is your best friend.
And this canned chili is only $0.99.
And that's gonna give me protein for my hash.
Can I get syrups?
I love maple syrup with my waffles.
For my syrup, I'm gonna grab this big can of fruit cocktail.
$1.29 for the fruit salad.
[scanner beeps]
-$12. Okay. -$12.33.
You don't have any meat, though.
Is this not meat?
No, I mean, it's chili,
but it probably has something that looks like meat.
Okay, the rest of the money will be for frozen meat.
-Okay. -Yep.
-There you go. -Thank you.
I don't have enough protein in here,
so I gotta head back out shopping.
I see the Salisbury steak dinner.
It's got steak...
For breakfast?
...gravy, and mac and cheese.
Attention. Chef Emily.
-Chef Emily, the competition is going. -[Emily] Hi.
-[cashier] All right, $7.58. -[Emily] Oh, my God. Here you go.
Oh, my God. I spent too much time shopping.
[Emily] It's all frozen.
Correct. That's the aisle you bought.
[Emily laughing]
"It's all frozen."
You don't say.
[gavel banging]
[Guy] 21 minutes! 21!
So they can shop every aisle except for the ones that got auctioned off.
[Darnell] These are all returning winners.
So to come back, like, they know what they're doing.
-All right. -[Guy] How are we looking, brother?
We're looking good.
I'm gonna make a bunch of waffles.
We're gonna stack 'em tall,
and I found some egg granulate.
Right. If I don't like eggs,
I definitely don't like egg granulate.
Vegetable oil.
Dry mix. I'm mixing it all together.
Oh, that looked good.
Look at that, it's coming together.
I add bacon and chocolate chips to my first one.
For my second waffle, I'm gonna do my favorite one
which is these freeze-dried bananas, and walnuts.
[Josh] Do you like waffles?
I'm okay on waffles, I'm not a big breakfast guy, but my kids are.
-All right, buddy, talk to me. -What's up, brother?
Grill some of these wings on some creamy polenta.
-Okay. 19 minutes! -[Q.] 19 minutes. Heard.
[Damaris] Aisle one is smart.
There is that rotisserie chicken.
Now I'ma work on my wings.
I threw a little bit of lemon, some butter, some cayenne, some salt, some black pepper.
Going in the oven.
Next, I'm gonna work on my sauce.
I take my onions, peppers.
I'm the only one to have the access to anything fresh.
I start to saute them with a little olive oil and butter,
and then I add my tomatoes to my pan.
Got some herbs. Some thyme and rosemary.
So when I win the money, I wanna donate the money to Wounded Warriors.
My brother's a vet,
I just wanna make sure that all veterans get someone to look out for them.
So, that's what I'm here for.
Get my grits...
I got the best aisle for brunch,
but on the flipside, I have no more money
to be able to purchase anything else.
Iz, what's gonna be on the menu?
I'm gonna make a tortilla Espanola.
-Okay. -Spanish Omelet filled with chorizo and piquillo peppers.
[Guy] Fantastic. And you also have hashbrowns.
Remember, it is Bountiful Brunch.
-Yes. -[Guy] Bountiful.
[Izzy] I add piquillo peppers and my chorizo.
Once my hashbrowns are ready,
I take them and I pour them into my egg mixture that I have.
Next, I move the mixture over to the skillet.
I'm worried about Izzy, she's making the Spanish omelet.
Only has a few ingredients.
I don't know if it's gonna be bountiful. It's just gonna be one item.
I'm a little concerned for Emily.
She had the frozen section.
Took her a very long time to shop.
-[Emily] Hi. -What do we have, Chef?
It's my gluttony breakfast.
Waffles and crispy hash browns.
Mixed green vegetables.
Okay, you got the chili, where's the meat stuff you bought?
The meat stuff is in the microwave.
-Got it. Okay. -[chuckling] That's how you do it.
With canned chili, it needs a lot of help.
So I'm seasoning my chili with cumin, paprika, and cayenne.
If I win today, I'll take that money and put it into my restaurant.
I have a delivery, takeout, and catering business right now,
but I wanna have people have the experience of coming into a restaurant,
and you need capital for that.
Ten minutes. You got 10 to go, chefs.
Is the egg granules working for you?
Let's take a look, you tell me.
[Guy chuckling] You didn't lose on that one, boss.
What else you doing? How much money you got left?
About 10 bucks.
Ten bucks. You wanna go spend that money?
You wanna do something with that--
Yeah, I do wanna go spend it.
[Josh] I got a lot of sweet stuff going on.
I see spam.
Spam. Gravy. Savory beef gravy.
-So I got meat and gravy. -[cashier] All right.
It's spam and waffles, baby.
I'ma throw it in that frier, get it crispy and delicious.
My little gravy, it's definitely gonna be
the yin to that yang on that dish.
Eight-and-a-half minutes!
[Q.] I got my polenta going.
While my wings are in the oven, I'm working my salmon cakes.
Normally, I need eggs, I need some milk to make salmon croquettes.
So my salmon cakes are gonna be simple.
This is a big budget-meal that was in my house when I was young.
Try to use flour and butter to bind it,
so I can put 'em in my hot pan with oil.
I think we're there.
[Izzy] My tortilla's working in the oven.
I start working on my aioli.
I take the egg yolks, olive oil.
From my pantry, I use paprika cayenne pepper.
Throw the piquillo peppers in there.
If I win today,
the money is definitely gonna go towards saving up for the Izzy's Tapas Truck.
They definitely need one in New York City, and I'm gonna bring it.
And the piquillo pepper will bring that down a little.
Once I tasted it... [exclaims]
I think it's perfect.
Yes, that's the sweetness that it needs.
[Emily] When I eat breakfast,
I like to have a mix of vegetables with my hashbrowns.
So it gives it more color.
I wanted to make a syrup to go with my waffles,
so I took the fruit cocktail, strained it out...
All right.
...used the syrup, and reduced it down.
By browning butter, it gives it a little note of nuttiness.
This needs to reduce a lot faster.
Three minutes!
[Q.] So first up with my creamy polenta,
I put that in the middle of my plate.
I then reach for my wings. They look nice and juicy.
Some red peppers, some yellow pepper,
and then my grandma's salmon cakes,
and add them on to the middle of my polenta.
[Izzy] I cut my tortilla into four equal pieces.
Nice big chunks to make it bountiful.
A nice piquillo pepper on top, and the piquillo pepper aioli, as well as garnish.
[Guy] Two minutes!
[Emily] First I got my hash.
Then I have my mac and cheese from my frozen dinner.
I also get the Salisbury steak out from my frozen dinner, I cut it in half.
It'll be like that sometimes.
And I get that chili on there.
Next is my waffles.
I am just going to do it this way.
Then my fruit cocktail brown butter sauce
is looking like a syrup. [slurps]
[Guy] Thirty seconds!
Let's go, baby. Fast hands, Chef, fast hands.
I'm like, "There are my waffles." I throw them on the plate.
Get that syrup on there.
I get the syrup on there, I throw the spam from halfway across the kitchen.
Literally throwing gravy, I was just like...
Five. Four. Three. Two. One.
That's it. Stop working!
-All right. -Impressive
That was rough!
I gotta tell you, chefs. You look like auction heroes.
Let's take it to the judges, right this way.
[gavel banging]
Judges, this is it.
Game one of Flavortown Auction. Gosh, that was great.
We gave each chef 100 bucks to bid for the exclusive shopping rights
of their favorite premium aisle,
but they still had to purchase all the food they needed to make a Bountiful Brunch.
Up first, Chef Izzy buys aisle 10.
And what are the judges enjoying?
Judges, you have a tortilla Espanola,
and also a piquillo pepper aioli on top.
-And it's a beautiful looking dish. -Thank you.
As far as gameplay goes, I was a little concerned for $17, and I was wrong.
This is tons of flavor,
I just don't love the one piquillo pepper over the top.
When you get in there, it gets a little slimy.
Thank you.
I have built my name on the back of brunch,
so if there's one thing I know, it's a good brunch.
You have the perfectly fluffy, light eggs.
From the aioli to the eggs, you used those ingredients in many ways.
Thank you.
I personally felt, "How can you do a brunch without an egg?"
And you paid for your egg, and it speaks brunch.
But you did what you were supposed to do,
I don't know if it's a $100 egg.
I'm not quite sure if I feel the love in it.
Thank you, Chef.
All right, up next, Aisle nine for $73.
Chef Emily, what do you have for us?
In front of you, I have a beef hash with some frozen vegetables.
And then, of course, for brunch, you must have waffles.
And I reduced the syrup of the fruit cocktail
that I got from the bargain aisle, and made it a syrup.
This is very bountiful.
I don't think I've ever seen a meat loaf, macaroni and cheese hash.
[all laughing]
But the syrup was probably your best component you had,
and you tried to make a syrup out of the fruit.
Outside of that, you know, this is a lot to talk about.
Yep.
I'm so torn if I had to talk bout this dish
because it's done so affordably,
and there are a few flavors that I do like in there.
The frozen aisle was one of the best aisles to get
because you have the bread and you have the jellies,
and you have the frozen vegetables, but then also frozen fruits.
That's where you messed up.
-Is in your shop. -Yeah.
But what you did give us,
there's a few things in there that are craveably delicious.
This tater tot canned chili...
is surprisingly delicious.
If you'd put it on top of the waffle,
I'd be judging it a little differently.
Because right now, it feels like you have the waffles,
and you have this chili hash.
Up next, aisle 7, $40.
Josh, how much you got left?
I probably got $13 left in my pocket.
You don't get to keep that, that's the show's money.
Tell us what you made, Chef.
All right, so I did crispy spam and waffles.
Each waffle has a different flavor and component.
There's bacon and chocolate chip,
there's the walnut and bananas.
How'd you pull off the egg, Chef?
Well, I found this thing called egg granulate,
but it did the trick
because I think that the waffles came out nice, light, and fluffy.
When it comes to Bountiful Brunch,
you gave us a plethora of flavors.
The ham was a smart addition.
It gives you that meat component,
and your gravy has a very nice texture to it.
Brown waffle, brown gravy, kind of like brown meat, you don't need a brown plate.
Yeah.
I do think you could have gotten a nicer syrup, especially with $13.
I gotta say, I am not a fan of the texture of the waffles.
That really throws me off, and because of that, maybe I wouldn't want so much.
Finally, Chef Q. Matisse', aisle one. What do we got?
For my Bountiful Brunch, I think proteins, right?
So I have chicken wings, I have some salmon croquettes,
I have a sweet and savory polenta,
and with the stewed tomato sauce on top.
-How much money left? -I had $6 left.
[Damaris] When I look at the plate,
it is shocking to me that you got the produce aisle.
Because there is not a ton of produce on the plate,
but the texture of the onions and the pepper is so nice, it's nice and supple.
It really feels lively.
It doesn't feel like brunch to me.
It feels too much like dinner.
Heard that.
The polenta has great flavor.
If I was gonna pair it with the vegetables,
I would have stewed them longer so the flavor of that polenta melded more.
You know, you had the produce aisle,
your croquette needs the herbs,
the vegetables that are in that aisle to be inside this cake.
But the seasoning you put on the chicken was spot on.
I just think you needed to use aisle one like you bought it.
Got you. Heard it. Thank you.
All right, judges, thank you very much.
Chefs, you know what happens now.
We'll call you in a bit. Thank you.
Judges, 20 points available in gameplay,
20 points available in taste, 10 points in plating.
[gavel banging]
Chefs, I will be 1,000% honest.
I don't think you used your sections very well.
I don't think you spend all your money.
Three of you will move on, one's gonna be checking out.
Q. Matisse'.
Out of 20, for gameplay, 12.
Taste, 13.
Plating, 6.
A total of 31.
Gives a 62%.
Emily. 12 out of 20 in gameplay.
12 out of 20 in taste.
6 in plating for a 30.
Josh, you gotta do better than a 30.
14 out of 20 in gameplay.
14 out of 20 in taste.
7 for plating, for a total of 35.
Not bad.
All right, Izzy, you gotta do better than a 30.
14 out of 20 in gameplay.
16 out of 20 in taste.
7 on the plating for 37!
-[Josh] Wow. -Taking the lead.
-Congratulations. -[all applauding]
Unfortunately, Em, you didn't get the gameplay,
and you didn't get the taste out of it,
and at 30 points, we gotta say goodbye.
Thank you, Chef.
I know I didn't play the game to the best of my abilities.
-I'm so proud of you. -Thank you.
But you learn from your mistakes, you know.
This is the final round of the Flavortown Auction.
-Chef Izzy. Well done. Congratulations. -Thank you.
[Guy] In the lead, but I gotta say,
you could turn this whole thing around.
-Oh, yeah. -It's time to impress the judges...
-with a Winner Winner, Seafood Dinner. -I like that.
-Isn't it-- Right? -That's good.
And in this round, I'm gonna let you shop any aisle you want.
Ooh.
We're gonna hook you up with some dollars.
$50 to you.
-Thank you, thank you. -[Guy] Plenty of money.
Plenty of money also to bid on your protein.
All right? And remember.
After you've bid on the protein,
you still have to purchase the rest of the ingredients to go with that protein.
So where's the auction guy? Where's Franco?
Uh, he's busy right now.
[Guy] Franco!
-[all laughing] -[Guy] Hold up. Franco, come here.
What do you have him doing?
What's up?
[Guy] Lose the apron.
He said that he wanted some more work.
[Guy] All right, the first item is gonna be...
Lobster tail.
[in auctioneer voice] The winning bid at $20. Who's in at--
$20.
-Oh! We got 20 right here-- -$25.
-[Franco] Oh, yeah, Q. Matisse' at $25. -30 bucks.
Oh! He's upping it to $30.
We got $30, can I have $31?
Will you do it? $31?
All in? All done? Anyone?
Sold for $30, Josh gets the lobster!
[Guy] There you go, Hunter.
What could be next?
How about we have a fantastic offering of...
-[Hunter] Pig feet. -[Guy] Nope, it's tilapia.
Now I'm not saying this is your up or down from where this one is,
but I do wanna say that this next one will go for $20
regardless of what it is.
Let's go, $20. Who's in at $20?
We got $20. Now $21.
-Winning bid now $21. -$21.
-All right, you're at winning bid, $21. -$24.
$24, now $25, ma'am?
$24! Sold!
-Very nice. -Thank you, thank you.
[Guy] There you have it my friend.
And the wonderful Izzy receives...
Frozen calamari!
[laughing]
[Guy] Frozen calamari for $20.
-Talk about delicious. Congratulations. -Thank you.
Okay, right now, chefs, you can go back.
There are other proteins you can get, of course.
That closes out the auction today.
I gotta tell you what. You are the real deal.
-Thank you so much. -[Guy] Okay? Thank you.
-Thank you. -All right, guys.
-Franco Finn! -[all applauding]
Thirty minutes to make your Winner Winner Seafood Dinner
featuring what you won at the auction.
Now, Hunter and I will sing a song for you, and I will play the cymbals.
♪ Three, two, one ♪
It's your line.
Wait, am I supposed to say "go," or--
-[groans] -Oh, man!
Good one.
It's a new one for us. We're working on it. Our album will be out soon.
Oh! [laughs]
As soon as I saw the lobster, I knew what I was cooking.
I was gonna cook this lobster gnocchi dish.
I've been making it for 10 years.
That's why I got this tattoo on my neck!
Now I only have 20 bucks left, but gnocchis don't cost a lot to make.
2 bucks.
Ricotta.
I'm gonna grab some ricotta cheese, pecorino, and eggs.
And with the flour I got in my pantry,
I'm gonna be able to whip that together in five or ten minutes.
Can't just do gnocchi and lobster meat.
$1.99.
So I'm gonna grab some chives, and I'm gonna grab some asparagus
'cause that pairs really well with the rest of the dish.
Ah, that sounds delicious.
All right.
-[scanner beeps] -$18.75 it is.
-Here you go. -Thank you.
[Izzy] I gotta make a Winner Winner Seafood Dinner,
and I got frozen calamari.
Frozen tentacles of the calamari.
Ugh. Painful.
But on the flip side, I do have $30 to shop with.
Right away, I'm thinking about grilling these calamaris,
so my mind goes to a salmorejo.
Similar to a gazpacho, but it has more body
because it's also made with bread.
I chose the Roma tomatoes because of the price.
I know that I need garlic and I know that I need sherry vinegar
because it brings up such a pop.
-[scanner beeps] -All right. You're at $16.11.
-Still have some money left. -Yeah, you do. You got a lot of money left.
Any other ingredient that popped into my head,
I know that I can always just run back and buy it.
[Q.] Here we go!
So I got 26 bucks to make my seafood dinner.
This is the most expensive tilapia I've ever bought.
Swinging in.
So for my Winner Winner Seafood Dinner, I'ma make a seafood boil.
I'm gonna fry some tilapia, I'm gonna fry the shrimp.
Nope, not over here.
I'ma need something fatty and juicy,
so I went for the andouille sausage.
Then I went over to the produce aisle.
I'm gonna add some grilled corn, some potatoes,
everything that you need for a seafood dinner.
-Hey, hey, hey. -[cashier] Hello, my dear.
[Guy] 23 minutes. 23 left!
-[beeps] -How much do you have to spend, my love?
-Did you ring that up? -[cashier] I have not.
[Guy] Q. Matisse', let's go!
I'm trying to make sure I don't spend all my money.
I gotta get going.
-You're killing me, Smalls. -Heard. Uh...
-[Q.] Let's take this off. -[cashier] Take the-- okay.
I had to put some things back.
-[Guy] What is he doing? -[scanner beeping]
-So you're at $26.79 with no cipollini, no parsley. -Yep. 25, 26, 27.
-Okay? All right. -Okay.
Twenty-two minutes...
to cook the dish of a lifetime.
Eight-minute shop is unheard of.
[gavel banging]
-Thank you. -All right.
[Nancy and Damaris] Winner Winner Seafood Dinner.
And now they had to auction
what seafood they have to feature.
Q. is back with 21 minutes on the clock.
[Q.] I got tilapia, I got shrimp.
Last time I was here, I won with my seafood boil.
I figured I'd try it again.
I'm gonna add some grilled corn, some potatoes,
gonna add some andouille sausage.
Now I'ma work on my tilapia.
First thing I do, I dredge my tilapia in the fish fry.
And then I add it back to the milk.
I wanted to make sure I got a nice coating on my fish.
He's frying his tilapia, which is very smart.
I definitely think that Izzy has the hardest of the seafoods.
Oh, by far.
And I got frozen calamari.
As my calamari is defrosting, I get started on my salmorejo.
I started dicing the plum tomatoes,
throwing that into the blender with some garlic, a little bit of salt.
Then I add the crispy portions of the bread.
I start to squeeze in the olive oil
until it starts to create that smooth consistency.
[blender whirring]
Taste it, and you don't even notice that there's bread in there.
I definitely feel like I'm one step closer
to that $20,000 and Izzy's Tapas Truck.
Next, I get started on this calamari.
I start breaking apart the calamari that's already thawed out,
I put in the marinade. Shallots, garlic, parsley, sherry vinegar, and olive oil.
And I throw that on the grill.
This is a neck and neck competition, anybody can take this game.
We're gonna make some fresh pasta today.
I know it's gonna be the home run.
I gotta make up two points to win.
I'm gonna make homemade gnocchis.
I'm gonna throw in some pecorino.
[Guy] Chef, what's the gameplan?
I'm making some ricotta gnocchis.
And then we're gonna poach off some of this lobster.
Hit it with some asparagus and chives,
-and bring it all together. -Okay.
I think in this situation, though, I wouldn't make fresh.
He has to get moving, though.
[Josh] All right, gnocchi dough is looking good.
I usually like to let my pasta rest for 30 minutes, I don't got that much time.
I wanna win today,
I wanna donate some of the money to the non-profit,
The Redemption Project.
It's a cool thing we started three or four years ago.
We work with convicted felons, and we do mentorship through meaningful employment.
And we really try to give them opportunities for leadership.
I can't wait to donate some money
because it's a message that we really believe in.
[Guy] Sixteen minutes. 16 to go.
Tell me about what you have over here. What's in the blender?
Salmorejo. A cold Spanish soup similar to gazpacho.
-It's delicious, whatever it is. -Thank you, Chef.
That's got a ton of body.
-How much money you got left? -I still have, I believe, $16.
-$16? -Yes.
-I'm running back. -Awesome.
I know my calamari is ready because it has those perfect grill marks.
I run back into the store to get shrimp.
Need to get a lemon.
Lemon is definitely needed with grilled calamari.
Thank you!
Back at my station, I take my shrimp
and toss it up in the marinade from the calamari
and throw them on the grill.
Ten minutes! You've got 10 minutes to be plated. Good luck.
Making sure my corn don't burn.
-What's the dish gonna be? -I'm doing a little seafood boil.
I gotta fry tilapia.
I got some corn, I got some andouille sausage, got some potatoes.
Okay.
[Q.] I pull out my tilapia, they're looking really nice. Golden brown.
Next, I'm gonna fry the shrimp.
There's $20,000 on the line. I'm here to win this money to help out my brother.
-How you doing, Q.? -I'm doing well, how you doing, brother?
I think I might pull a little rabbit out of my hat today.
I don't know, man.
Get these lobsters looking sexy, right?
While my gnocchi dough's resting,
I'm gonna get these lobsters blanched.
Gonna be real rough if Josh has that neck tattoo,
and doesn't know how to cook lobster.
We're gonna let this go for six minutes.
I'ma grab this asparagus,
I'ma chop it up into small pieces.
We don't have any wine, so we'll use...
So I'ma use a bit of red wine vinegar to bring some acidity to the dish.
Look at that. That's worth the money, right?
I'm scraping the meat out, I'm gonna chop it up.
Look at that, it's perfectly cooked.
Just a little bit on the outside.
And I just throw it in there. Splash.
It's time to roll up these gnocchis.
I cut it into manageable pieces.
I'm gonna crank through it because the clock, it's ticking.
They're going in the drink.
Four minutes!
[Izzy] The first thing I do is take some of the salmorejo, and just line my dish with it.
And then I start to add on my seafood,
and I go shrimp, calamari, shrimp, calamari.
Izzy is doing a beautiful job plating.
Two-and-a-half minutes.
[Q.] I get the potatoes, the corn,
I start to cut my andouille sausage.
I fold it all into some butter, paprika, salt, pepper.
Dumping shrimp.
Then I grab my fish, add the tilapia to the top of my seafood boil mix.
I added the shrimp.
This is looking really good.
One minute!
Taste that little guy.
Once the gnocchis rise to the top,
I'm gonna skim them up, I'm gonna bang 'em in the pan.
Wha-pow.
And making sure that everyone gets enough lobster.
Oh, yeah, look at that gnocchi. Wow.
Here we go, chefs!
Five, four, three, two, one.
And that's it! Well done, you guys.
-Real good. -[Damaris and Darnell] Good job!
-Good job. -You too, buddy.
Here's my LeBron moment. [laughs]
[gavel banging]
Game two of Flavortown Auction.
And it was a little protein auction.
The chefs had to create a Winner Winner Seafood Dinner.
Chef Josh. Lobster tails, 30 bucks. What did you make us?
What I made you today was lobster gnocchi.
Sauteed some asparagus.
Josh, I think that you played the game the best.
Spending the money on a seafood challenge,
and getting the most high-end seafood.
I wish that the sauce was a little thicker,
and I really wish it had clung to the gnocchi.
Yep.
And on that note, ricotta gnocchi, I love them.
-[Nancy] Delicious -Thank you, that means a lot coming from you.
-I wish that you had offered us a straw or a spoon. -[Damaris] Yeah. [laughs]
or a piece of bread 'cause the sauce is delicious.
Thank you so much.
This is a fun dish.
Beautiful plating, great choice with the asparagus.
Thank you.
All right, judges, up next, Chef Izzy.
She got frozen calamari for 20 bucks.
What did you make us, Chef?
In front of you, judges, you have a grilled calamari and shrimp.
And they're sitting on a bed of salmorejo.
-Izzy, you do tapas, right? -[Izzy] Yes.
-Well, you do tapas very well. -Thank you, Chef.
Beautiful grill marks. The calamari was cooked right.
Out of everybody on the auction,
you got what no one really wanted to have to cook with.
And for you to be able to cook it like this,
-speaks of your technical skills. -Thank you, Chef.
-Izzy, this is a gorgeous plate. -[Izzy] Thank you.
The shrimp are nice, it really gives a little heft to the meal.
The soup that you've made
is creating the most beautiful sauce for rather bland seafood.
Thank you.
First of all, this is so delicious,
and I wouldn't have known that it was frozen calamari, necessarily.
-I wouldn't know it. -Thank you, Chef.
My worry: You had the most money.
Potatoes, couscous, whatever you wanted to give me,
is missing the other elements of a dinner for me.
Okay. Not to be outdone, though, Chef Q. Matisse' got tilapia.
We got some fried tilapia, we got some fried shrimp.
Also has some grilled corn, potatoes, some grilled andouille sausage.
The plating is very fun.
-It screams seafood dinner. -Thank you.
You took tilapia, which is throwaway fish a lot of the time.
But you managed to shop so well
by buying that already-flavored seafood shake.
-The breading. -The breading, yeah.
[Damaris] And it's really highlighting that this is a fresh tilapia.
If it's missing anything, I could have used a little more salt.
Got you.
The corn, the andouille sausage, all great hits.
You grilled them perfectly. The only knock I would say is the butter.
You gotta make your identity in the butter.
You know, it could have used the garlic, it could have used the herbs.
Heard that.
I love that you did the andouille. I loved the fish.
I think that we got a Winner Winner Seafood Dinner here.
Heard. Thank you.
Great. Judges, thank you.
Chefs, you guys did great.
Really great round. I'm gonna send you back to the kitchens,
let the judges deliberate.
We'll give you a call. Thank you.
Judges, you have to bid farewell to two of these chefs.
Who is going once, going twice. Who is...
You're the champs that I thought you were.
You delivered. I am just in awe.
That being said, two of you are gonna go home.
Q. Matisse', 31 in the first round.
17 out of 20 in gameplay.
17 out of 20 in taste.
8 out of 10 for plating
for a 42, and a score of 73.
[all applauding]
[Guy] Josh. Two points behind Izzy.
17 out of 20 in gameplay.
19 out of 20 in taste.
8 out of 10 for plating for a 44, and a score of 79.
-Wow. That's crazy. -[all applauding]
[Guy] 42 or more, Iz.
15 out of 20 in gameplay.
18 out of 20 for taste.
And the plating is...
-an 8 for a 41, a one-point difference. -Wow.
[Guy] Congratulations, Josh.
-Congratulations, Chef. -Good job, brother.
Your last round was amazing, the food was delicious,
but we will say good night to the two of you,
and look forward to seeing you again in the future.
[Izzy] Unfortunately, I did not win, but I'm feeling pretty good.
I lost by one point to the chef with the lobster tattoo
that made the lobster dinner.
Thank you.
[Q.] I came to play, I came to win, but I didn't make it.
Win or lose, Flavortown is a good time.
You've had your fair share of life's experiences.
Yeah, I've had a few.
Now you have your own restaurant,
and you're hiring people that have been through the same situations.
-Yes. -Tell me a little about that.
When I came on this show with you,
it changed my life, my trajectory.
I just organically wanna do the same thing for other people now.
I got a big break, now it's everybody else's turn,
and it's cool how that all works out.
-There you go, ladies and gentlemen. -[all applauding]
This guy came in and rocked the house!
Go make some money. Go on, Chef.
Right now, typically, is when we talk about the shopping spree,
but tonight...
I'm gonna just give you 20 grand.
[judges cheering]
[Guy] Congratulations. Congratulations.
-Whoo! -Chef Josh returns to Flavortown Market,
has to outcook and outbid the other chefs,
and takes home, from the auction house, 20,000 bucks!
See you next time on Guys Grocery Games.
-Adios! -Great job.
-The real deal right there. -[Damaris] That is wonderful.