- Last time on "next level chef"...
- Yo! Let's go!
From the 24 chefs here, only 15 of you
Will make it through the auditions
Onto one of our teams.
And today we are starting with the social-media chefs.
- [laughs] - [grunts]
- Congratulations, you are now the top five
Social-media chefs in this country.
[cheers and applause] - come on, baby! Let's go!
- And tonight...
- It's the eight home cooks.
- Eight of you will start in the basement.
And after each cook, one of you will be eliminated.
- Oh.
- I said get the pan hot,
But not burn the [bleep] kitchen down.
- This is my dream since I was a little girl.
Give me the shirt.
[knives shinging]
[dramatic rock music]
[elevator bell dings]
♪ ♪
[timer ringing]
♪ ♪
[elevator bell dings, hydraulics whirring]
- Let's go!
[thud]
Oh, too much weight in here. My bad.
- This is so crazy.
I'm not even on the competition yet.
I'm still just auditioning.
And we have to do this back to back to back to back to back.
- [squeals] - ooh.
[all screaming excitedly, elevator bell dings]
- Oh, this is not cool.
- This place is essentially a dumpster fire.
But I'm going to make it work.
- Oh, my god. Eh. - Look at this!
The colanders, there's holes the size of golf balls.
- This is nice that this is burnt.
You know what? There was a slight sense of panic.
And when I say "slight," I mean a lot.
Hey. - How we doing everyone?
We doing good? - Whoo!
- How's the dungeon? I mean, basement.
[laughter]
- This is an upgrade from my house.
- Really? Okay, I'm going to hold you to that.
- I'm having a little bit of a fangirl moment of chef blais,
Because I'm a huge fan of his.
I've watched all his stuff.
To just have his energy around us is just surreal.
- We ready to go? All: Yes.
- Okay.
For home cooks, this is like opening up your fridge.
You got a couple minutes on a Tuesday night,
And you got to make magic happen, right?
- Home chefs, show us what you got.
- The challenge is to make something out of nothing.
This is your opportunity in the audition process
To show us what you're all about.
For one of you, the audition is going to end
Right here in this kitchen.
How we feeling? - Not nervous at all.
Not nervous at all.
Joe, are you nervous?
Yes, but I think there's a pathway
Where I can get into the top five.
I just got to focus.
- Line up, it's time to go.
Only the worst ingredients come down here to this basement.
This isn't the discount rack.
This is stuff that never makes it to the shelf.
- I was on the far right, away from mada,
Because in a madhouse situation,
He'll probably run over five or six people at a time.
So I did not want to have anything to do with that.
- When the light turns green, it is go time.
[dramatic music]
[bell chimes] go time!
- Oh, god! - Check.
- I see shrimp, so I grab it.
Tiniest shrimp I have ever seen in my entire life.
- There we go. Get everything you need.
- I had a dream that my first challenge,
I grabbed beef tongue, and I was like, yes!
- Make sure you grab a protein.
- I got to the platform last, and I got nudged.
Didn't their parents teach them any manners?
- The ingredients are so scarce.
I had one frickin' baby corn that I could find
On the whole platform.
- Something to make a delicious sauce.
- It's crazy, the gals who are feisty and fast--
The big guy behind me, who was looking at me
Like I'm an ingredient.
- No one's got the alligator yet!
- Do I have a vegetable? Do I have sauce?
- No one wants alligator. - No one's got the alligator.
- Do I have a protein? You have to have a protein.
- He's got it. - Wow.
- If you can reach it, it's yours.
Okay, back to your stations.
- I don't even know what the hell this is.
- Your 20 minutes starts now.
Let's go.
- I don't even know what this is.
- This group of home cooks,
They're very familiar with the task of opening up the fridge
And making something delicious. - Yo.
- They have the toughest palates to cook for--
Children and family members.
- Ugh!
- So I am never surprised by a home cook who actually
Brings it on "next level chef."
- Ugh! Jerk!
- Alligator, joe? Really?
Alligator. What?
Trash ingredients, trash kitchen...
Trash man.
My name is joe.
That didn't sound natural. [laughs]
I'm a sanitation worker for the city of new york.
I was a janitor for 13 years, and now I'm a garbage man.
So, if you think about it, it's kind of like I graduated.
I cook every day for my wife.
She's pregnant with our first child.
And we just bought our first home.
Being in this competition, I want to prove to my wife
That, you know, an average joe can really roll
With the best of them.
$250,000 to me is life-changing money.
So if I were to win that...
[blows raspberry] you'd never see me again.
[laughs]
Oh, my onion. What are you doing, stupid?
- Mada, what are you making?
- Here, we got that minute steak.
We got the mushrooms. We got the rice noodles.
- Got it.
- And then I'll go over-easy egg on top, too.
- You got enough protein in this dish?
- I eat about 10,000 calories a day, chef?
- Do you? - Yeah.
- 10,000 calories a day. That's a lot.
- I'm only allowed to eat 1,200. [laughs]
- It's a lot of food to fill myself up
And fuel these 22-inch guns.
[growls softly]
- Daniel. - Chef blais.
- All right, man, what's going on?
- So we're going to do a cauliflower puree.
- How are you going to puree it in the basement?
- Right here.
- And you're going to puree it in a mixer?
- I'm going to try. I don't know.
- How do you puree in a mixer? - Wow.
- Daniel, would your wife eat this over here?
- [chuckles] yeah, she would.
She might give me a little critical feedback.
I am a wealth advisor now, but I really want to be a chef.
When I get home after work,
Cooking for my beautiful wife, kendall,
Is the highlight of my day.
I want to win this competition for kendall
Because she wants me to be a chef.
And she truly believes that I'm going to win this thing,
And I'm with her.
Let's do it. [chuckles]
- Okay, so you got a cauliflower puree.
- Yep, I mean, and I know these are only going
To take about two minutes. - Keep working, okay?
- Got it. Awesome.
- Five minutes down already, everyone.
Five minutes down.
- Okay, let's make a sauce.
[sizzling]
- You got alcohol? My god!
- Yeah, baby!
- Alexandra, you--oh, my gosh.
- I know, chef. - I was over there.
You grabbed that. - Not on purpose. [laughs]
- Okay. Have you cooked with beef tongue before?
- No, sir.
- I mean, I wonder what they actually cook at home.
- No chance. They're out of their comfort zone.
They didn't see those proteins coming.
- Oh, for sure.
- Come on, come on, come on.
- Christina, how are we doing? - I'm good, I'm good.
- Okay, so you grabbed a-- - I got a pork chop.
- Pork chop.
- I have a bunch of asian ingredients.
I'm going to go some noodles.
I'm going to get the sambal, the ginger in there.
- Who are you here for?
- I'm here for my daughter, isabelle,
And also so I can realize my dream.
I do everything for everybody else.
And I'm here for me and my girl today.
I am an intensive-care unit nurse.
Pressure does not bother me one bit.
[chuckles] my whole life is pressure.
Here's the spinach. - Ew.
- Isabelle is my daughter.
She was born with a malformed chest wall.
Whoop. [chuckles]
She has had to have multiple surgeries.
- Why did you take everything down?
- Oh, because it looks so messy with all the stuff there.
- But that's real life. - [chuckles]
She's actually what inspired me to become a nurse.
Like, cooking just comes naturally to me.
And I want to live
Doing what I love every day.
Winning that money would mean that I could take a step away
From the weight that I carry every single day
And really focus on my career as a chef,
Because that's what I want to do with my life.
- I like the idea, okay? Breathe.
- I'm breathing. - You're here. You are here.
You got this. - This is how I work.
I'm an under-pressure kind of person.
- You got it. You got it. Let's go.
- I love the energy. - Christina.
- Let's go, sauce.
- Joe. - I grabbed alligator.
- You grabbed alligator?
- Not the smartest move. What am I doing?
So I'm going to maybe do, like, a panko-crusted alligator
And a sauce.
- Okay, now, have you ever cooked with alligator, joe?
- Nope. - No? Okay.
- Nope. - All right.
Alligator is like a grassy-tasting chicken.
- Got it.
- Is there another element
Besides the sauce and the cutlet?
- A little bit of cheese,
Which I got to melt last minute on top.
- So we're going sort of alligator parmesan?
- [chuckles] we could.
We could. - Joe, we are. We are.
- Alligator parmesan, I like it.
I feel great. I do.
I feel...
Yeah, maybe not.
Alligator parmesan? - All right.
Okay, listen, monika,
You got two things cooking already really, really quick.
- Yes. - What's the dish going to be?
- Um, um, um, this is mackerel.
I've never cooked it.
Like, an indian flair.
- You've never cooked mackerel before?
- No, but it's like fish, right?
- It's not like fish, it is a fish.
- Whatever you say. - Left the skin on it?
- Yes. - Just don't overcook it.
- As a home cook, I can put together at home meals,
10, 15, 20 minutes.
But right here, the fry pans are crooked.
Knives aren't even sharp.
And everybody else was so calm. What the hell is wrong with me?
[frantic music]
- You didn't come all the way out here to not make it
To the middle level, did you? - No, chef.
- Man, that did not work out.
I'm trying to make my puree.
It would help to have a machine to be able to puree something.
And using that mixer, it is a disaster.
I'm freaking out.
God.
I'm panicking. I'm running all over the kitchen,
Trying to see if there's a blender anywhere.
Nope, there's nothing.
Maybe a masher.
There is nothing in the kitchen to make a puree.
- Come on, come on.
- What is daniel making?
- My cauliflower puree is not going to be a puree.
And I have no clue where to take it from here.
- I've got to come up with a new plan.
The puree is not going to work--time is ticking.
All I know is that I have to get something in that bowl.
It's time to pivot.
Ding, it's time to make a soup.
- Are we tasting our food? - Yes, chef!
- Gordon and nyesha are watching you right now,
And we're looking to see who we want to draft on our teams.
- Cook your way into this competition, people.
- Five minutes left! Only five minutes!
Oh, god, dude.
- I'm really worried about one individual
That is just looking so out of place...
- Mm. - So uncomfortable.
I just don't think richard's going to make it.
[laughter]
- Final two minutes-- it's time to start plating.
- Alligator joe.
I wouldn't think to put cheese and alligator in one dish.
- No. - Never.
Oh, it's cheddar cheese!
I cannot.
[ticking] - one minute left.
Think about how it looks.
Do you have any garnish for it? Have I tasted it?
- The mackerel's upside down. Where's that nice, crispy skin?
- Mm. - 20 seconds left!
- Whoa. - Okay, wendy's getting artful.
I got to say, the ladies are kind of killing it.
- Five, four, three, two, one!
Time's up, everyone!
- Good job, good job, good job.
[elevator bell dings]
[suspenseful music]
- These dishes look good.
So I think it's time to dive in.
What do you think? - Shall we? Absolutely.
- All right, this is an alligator parmesan...
- Wow. - Interesting.
- With a tomato sauce.
- Seriously, alligator-- tough protein,
No fat, very unforgiving and also, just--
It's really hard to get right.
♪ ♪
I think you've pivoted brilliantly
To do a sort of take on an italian classic.
- What the hell?
- I didn't want to love this.
It's not the first pairing I think about in my mind--
Cheddar cheese and alligator.
It's a good first effort.
- I think I pulled it off. I don't know.
- Okay, so, moving along, we have christina's pork chop
With stir-fried noodles and crispy onions.
♪ ♪
- Delicious.
Really nice hit on the spice there and the seasoning.
For someone that works in intensive care,
You cook intensively.
- Moving along, over here, we have a pan-seared mackerel
With a vegetable korma.
The vegetable korma, quite tasty.
The fish is overcooked.
- It takes three or four minutes to cook.
You shot yourself in the foot there.
- This is lauren's pan-seared haddock
With a creamy succotash and potatoes.
♪ ♪
- Haddock's one of my favorite fish.
I think the flavors are great. Great job.
- This is mada's protein bowl.
This is a pan-stir-fried minute steak.
♪ ♪
- It's a little bit too sweet.
So just be careful of that. Just needs a touch of salt.
- Yeah, just got to make sure salty, sweet--
You got to balance things out.
It's like leg and arm day, right?
- You can't have chicken legs.
- But, again, put together in 20 minutes, it's good.
It's really good.
- Okay, this is daniel's cauliflower soup
With poached shrimp.
It just started as a cauliflower puree.
- I'd never attempt to do any puree in this kitchen
Because we've got no blenders to get this puree smooth.
- Just a few moments of, like, freshness
Would be nice to give my palate some reprieve
From the richness.
- Thank you, chef.
I just took on a task that was somewhat impossible.
But everything's very decrepit in the basement.
This is not the best conditions.
It's the hand I was dealt with.
- Okay, this is wendy's turkey stir fry with avocado.
- Wow.
Yeah, I've never seen a puree with a stir fry.
But the turkey actually tastes quite nice.
- When constructing a plate, you want some element for me
To be able to enjoy that delicious sauce that you have.
- Okay, final dish.
This is alexandra's beef tongue with a mediterranean salad.
- No one wanted tongue down here.
I'm amazed. It actually tastes quite good.
So the tongue's good.
- Okay, so we need a few minutes to discuss.
- Excuse us. - Thank you.
- Great job. - Good job, guys.
- Listen, you got some great dishes to begin with, huh?
- Some mild disasters. - I just want to keep going.
- Alligator parmesan, I would have never thought--
- No. I think the soup was a little bit weird
With the prawns.
That mackerel?
- She started cooking the fish the same time
She started making the sauce. - Yes.
- I'm never making mackerel as long as I live ever again.
- Happy? - Yeah, yeah.
- Mm-hmm, shall we? - Yeah.
♪ ♪
- Okay, so one of you, unfortunately, are going
To be leaving the competition.
The first three people that are moving up
To the middle level are...
♪ ♪
Christina, mada...
- Thank you.
- And joe. - Oh.
- Joe!
- Make your way up to the elevator.
Good job. Good job.
- I ended up turning alligator into something
That chef ramsay liked?
[exhales sharply] I'd go home happy today.
- The next three people that are making it
To the middle level are going to be
Lauren, alexandra...
And wendy.
Congratulations, you made it to the middle level.
Join your colleagues up in the elevator, please.
- Good job, ladies.
- Okay, so, monika, daniel...
Unfortunately, that leaves
Two of you and only one spot left in the elevator
To head to the middle level.
The person moving up is...
♪ ♪
- The person moving up is...
[suspenseful music]
Monika.
- Mm, it's okay. It's all right.
- You can join your colleagues in the elevator.
- Congratulations.
- Daniel... - Yeah.
- Today I just think the 20 minutes in the basement
Sort of got to you. - Sure.
Yeah, yeah, thank you, all three of you,
For this opportunity so much. - Head up.
- Thank you. - Thank you.
- A lot of things didn't go right today.
But I'm getting to go home to my beautiful wife, kendall.
[voice breaking] I'm, like, really excited about that.
Yeah.
[somber music]
[hydraulics whirring]
- Well done, well done, well done.
- Thank you!
- My god, is there a bar around here?
Just a quick tequila shot, and I'll be--
I'll be good.
- Ready for round two? - Let's go.
- Welcome. - Whoo!
- We've got blenders for purees.
We got fryers. - Can we look around?
- We got grills. We got ovens. Take it all in.
- It's an actual kitchen. Now we're cooking.
That's all I need, is the middle level.
I'll stay there the whole show, middle level.
Actually, no, that defeats the purpose. [chuckles]
- You did very well downstairs in that basement.
But my expectations are way higher up here.
Line up, please.
You guys know how to make a stunning Sunday dinner.
Now cook something unique, get up to the next level.
The platform is moving.
- I'm considerate to all the other contestants.
If I went full steam, everybody's going to get hurt.
I don't want it to be "next level emergency room."
That's what I don't want. [chuckles]
- Let's go! Let's go!
Turkey steak, sea bass.
- I'm grabbing that ground beef.
- Flat-iron steak, come on.
- I immediately could smell my mom
Cooking us up dinner in the kitchen.
- Pork chop.
- All I see again is a pork chop.
Oh, my god, I got the same thing.
- Oh, my gosh! - Come on.
- Oh, go ahead, you go first.
I'm too nice.
And as my last resort, I grabbed the turkey breast.
- Five, four, three,
Two, one, and go!
20 minutes starts now.
Let's go.
[ticking]
- Mid-level Sunday dinner. Both: Here we go.
- Guys, remember, we are watching your every move, yes?
I want to see what I'm going to be drafting...
- Yes, chef. - Someone creative...
- [softly] I like it. I like it a lot.
- Someone resilient... - My gosh.
- But, more importantly, someone that can be mentored
To the very top.
- Yes, chef.
- This sector of the auditions in that middle kitchen--
Beautifully equipped.
The ingredients are second to none.
So these home chefs are in a position now
To elaborate on their rustic home cooking.
Okay, christina, what is this affinity for pork chop?
That's a really good grab.
- I don't even cook pork at home.
- You don't cook pork at home, really?
- No. - You got potatoes, the kale.
- I'm going greek gyro flavors.
I'm seeing flavors that actually correlate really well
With my greek heritage--
Fresh mint, greek yogurt, potatoes.
And I'm like, that's it, I'm going with my heritage.
The yogurt is going to be tzatziki minus the cucumbers,
Because I couldn't grab those. - Nice.
But you can put the onion in as a replacement.
- Yeah, yeah, to sharpen it up a little bit.
- Okay, good.
- Joe, you're cooking for two people, not an army.
- Joe, so you've gone from alligator to flat-iron steak.
That's the dream.
Get that thing seasoned, olive oil,
And get it marinating, okay? - Wish I had lemon.
I don't have lemon. [bleep], I need an acid.
I'm thinking maybe a white sauce,
Because I don't have tomato.
- If you start thinking about all the foo-foo things,
You forget the most important, is the protein.
- My protein. - Well, that's
What's going to send you home, so focus on that first.
- Got it. - You got a great protein, yes?
Big man, what'd you get? Both: Salmon.
I'm going to go crispy skin.
- Skin side down, but don't overcook it.
Both: Okay. - Yes, chef.
We're leveling up.
- I think mada's wearing one of gordon's t-shirts.
How tight is that thing?
- He's definitely hitting the weights.
[both chuckle]
- People always tell me I look like a real-life superhero.
But for me, it's not this. It's right here.
I'm originally from egypt, grew up in new zealand.
I was a pro basketball player, wwe star.
And now I'm a celebrity personal trainer.
My one constant, no matter what country I lived in, was food.
And I had this deep passion for cooking.
I'm a home chef. I cook for my family.
Any type of steak, chicken, chops, you name it,
I can cook it.
I know a lot of people are going to underestimate me.
They're going to take one look at me,
And they're going to think
I'm just some classic meathead bodybuilder
That only makes meal preps.
But they're going to be surprised.
I love the look on their face when they find out the real me.
- 15 minutes to go. - Oh, that's going quick.
- Plenty time. Lauren, you got the best fish.
You cooked with bass before? - Yes, I love bass.
- That skin is delicious.
So cook it, you know, skin side down.
Shallots are burning, watch out.
Alexandra. - Yes, chef?
- Where are we going with this chicken dish?
- Chicken cutlet with kind of, like, a puttanesca sauce.
- Nice idea, butterflying it like that.
- It'll cook quicker as well.
Sunday dinner to me is pasta, chicken cutlets,
Garlic bread, wine.
Can you tell I'm italian?
- How long have you been in the police?
- Almost five years now, chef.
- Five years? - Yes.
- So I don't expect you to buckle under our lights.
- I won't.
Food and cooking was a huge part of growing up.
And Sunday dinner is always, like, a whole-day event.
So we'll have, like, Sunday fun day
In the morning, where you have bloody marys and your wings.
And then there will be homemade meatballs.
And it's just your typical loud italian family
And everyone together on a Sunday.
[chuckles]
I am a detective in the ballistics unit.
I deal with incoming weapons that were involved with crimes.
Cooking is definitely a switch off for me.
And it's fun, so let's go. [laughs]
- Do them proud, do yourself proud,
And get up to that next level. - Yes, chef.
- Yes? It's coming up nearly to halfway.
Monika, okay, what did you get?
- I'm going to do something with the turkey steak
Because I don't have a garnish.
- Well, that's it in terms of garnish?
What were you doing?
- These little [bleep] were in my way.
- He's a big [bleep], not a little [bleep].
- [chuckles]
You cannot tell me what to do.
I'll just do the opposite.
I came from corporate america.
I had a successful career in finance.
But then something shifted.
I've always, I think, had a passion for food.
So I quit.
Yum!
I cook with my heart.
Like, I'm a mom. I'm not cooking with tweezers.
I mean, I pluck my chin hairs with tweezers.
- Explain the dish.
- I'm just going to do a bulgogi.
- A bulgogi, okay. - Yes.
Or a stir fry.
I see it in your eyes. I'll go stir fry.
- What, I'm telling you to do a stir fry?
- Are you?
- You need to follow your instincts.
- I'll go stir fry.
- Be decisive.
- I don't think he knows he's my best friend.
But we have a connection. We do.
- Just do what you need to do to get yourself upstairs, okay?
- All right. - Nine minutes to go.
Let's go.
Let's go, let's go, let's go.
- Oh, jesus.
Okay. Aah!
- Monika's burning down the [bleep] kitchen.
Monika, what are you doing? - I don't know.
- I said get the pan hot,
But not burn the [bleep] kitchen down.
- Whoo!
- Holy [bleep]. I don't want to catch on fire.
What the hell?
- Monika, what are you doing? Honestly, what are you doing?
- It just--it caught on fire.
- You can't use that, all right?
[suspenseful music]
Get your [bleep] together, girl.
Let's go. Let's go, let's go. - I hear you. Yes, chef.
- Eight minutes to go, guys. Eight minutes to go.
- Hi, chef.
- Wendy, in terms of inspiration,
Where is this coming from? - From my mom.
The sauce that you loved from the last round,
That was the sauce that my mom made for me growing up.
And so I can't wait to be on facetime to tell her that.
[chuckles]
Just, like, out of the womb, I just, like, came out,
Just running out, like, ready to cook.
But growing up in the bay area,
Everyone ends up working in the medical field
Or mostly in tech.
But I wanted to do more of what I loved.
Now I am, like, the epitome of what a home cook is.
[chuckles]
Growing up, I never really got a chance
To see somebody that looked like me
On a cooking competition.
So I hope when young asian children see me on screen,
They will know that if they wanted to,
They could be sitting right here, too.
- Tasting. Why? You taste all the time, yes?
- Oh, yeah. - Yum. Good.
Touch of salt. - Yeah.
- Taste it. Taste, taste, taste, okay?
Macaroni, elbow. Have you tasted it?
Have you tasted? Have a taste.
- I saw him moving his hand.
I was like, this is not real life.
This is not real life.
Chef ramsay's feeding me pasta.
Thank you, chef.
I don't even think I believed it as it was happening!
This is wild!
- Oh! [bleep]!
- Tell me what you're doing.
- I'm doing a little bit of a cheese sauce for the steak,
Because it's got to be rustic.
It's got to cook down a little more.
- Look at me.
You're focusing on all the wrong things right now.
You got that flat-iron steak that's not even cooked.
And that needs to be cooked and rested.
- And rested. - Yeah, and rested.
Remember? - Forgot about the rest.
- Let's go. - Yes, chef.
- Five minutes to go, guys.
- How many? - You got five minutes to go.
Right, you're back on track? - I'm trying.
- Good. Come on, monika. Let's go.
- That's going in. - It's still not hot enough.
Get it out. - Take it out?
- Otherwise, you're going to boil it.
- Sorry, sorry. - Breathe, joe.
- Oh, joe. Joey! - Buddy!
- Come on, son of a bitch.
These auditions are tough.
It's almost like cooking when you have company over.
Everyone's yelling. Nothing works.
Except your company is three--
Three of the best chefs in the world.
[laughs, sighs]
Thank you, chef.
- Got to start editing yourself
And bring it back together, please, yes?
- The home cooks, they cook so much different than pro chefs.
Who are your standouts?
- Alexandra and christina right now, I think.
- That pork resting? - Yes.
- Okay, start thinking about that, visualize now, okay?
And we want the best for richard and nyesha, right?
- Yes.
- I like her, man. She thinks on her feet.
Big christina fan. - Is that your first pick?
What are you thinking?
- Start plating, guys! Two minutes!
- You got to pick one of these chefs here to be on your team.
Who are you going to pick? - I'm going with...
- Time's ticking. Times ticking.
- Come on, you got 30 seconds. Let's start plating.
- Ticking. - Gordon ramsay.
- Oh, gordon ramsay.
Okay, yeah, that's not a bad choice.
- Okay, let's go.
Five, four, three,
Two, one, and stop!
Hands up!
♪ ♪
- That was intense.
- Richard, nyesha, welcome back.
Let's dig in.
This is a ground-beef asian-style curry
Cooked by wendy.
- That's cooking. That's soulful cooking.
- You stayed in your comfort zone,
But it's a good effort. - Thank you, chef.
- Next up is alexandra's chicken breast served
With a little elbow macaroni.
- This hit some big nostalgia notes for me.
That's what I grew up eating.
- Beautiful, classic dish, right?
- The chicken's a hero. That's evident. Well done.
- Yes, chef.
- Next one is lauren's grab. She grabbed the sea bass.
Needs to be roasted skin side down.
- Visually, it looks like a restaurant dish.
I don't know if it's Sunday dinner at home,
But it's quite beautiful.
♪ ♪
- Bass cooked beautifully. - Thank you, chef.
Next up is christina's pork chop,
Pan-seared, almost done in a sort of greek way.
That there is textbook.
- I love the brightness coming from the apricot.
I'm very impressed. - Thank you, chef.
- This is monika's dish--
Turkey, done with a bok choy, finished with a fried egg.
♪ ♪
It's underwhelming.
This is not next level.
Next up is mada.
This is a crispy, seared salmon served with a succotash
And a rigatoni.
- The glaring area of opportunity for growth here
Is controlling the pan heat when you sear the salmon,
But the salmon inside is actually cooked nicely.
- This dish is by joe.
This is a flat-iron steak.
Sorry about all the blood into the sauce.
- It's apparent that the steak
Was not rested before you plated.
- No. - Right?
- No. The dish is a mess. I'm relying mainly on taste.
- Well, the steak was seasoned well.
- Thank you. Thank you, chef.
- Seven amazing home chefs.
And based on that last 20 minutes,
You've made it difficult for us.
Give us two minutes.
♪ ♪
The turkey scallops with the bok choy, monika's?
- For me, at 20 minutes, why spend half your time
Chopping it up like that?
- You guys grabbed proper ingredients for your dish.
[chuckles] I grabbed two things.
- Joe's?
- I mean, literally a bloody mess.
- Awful, awful. - A bloody mess.
- But the steak was cooked really, really well.
It was tasty. - Yeah.
- It's going to look awful, but I'm relying on taste.
- You did good.
- Happy? - Think so.
- Yeah. - Yeah.
- Oof.
♪ ♪
Okay, let's start off with the first three cooks
Moving into the top-level kitchen.
Christina, wendy,
And alexandra, congratulations.
Make your way to the elevator, please.
- I am so proud of myself.
I'm just imagining my mom at home being
So stoked that I used her recipe.
[chuckles]
- The next two dishes making their way up
To the top-flight kitchen are...
Lauren and mada. Congratulations.
- Thank you, thank you, chef. - Strong, strong plates.
- Giant weight off my shoulders right now.
Wow.
- Yes. Good job, guys.
- Joe, you were time poor.
Monika, you were uncertain
Of where you wanted to go with your dish.
The final person moving to the top...
♪ ♪
Is...
- The final person moving to the top
Is...
[suspenseful music]
Joe.
♪ ♪
- You were great. You were great.
- You got lucky on this one. - I know.
- Elevator. - Thank you, chef.
- Monika, keep up the dream.
Continue climbing that ladder.
And thank you. - Thank you so much.
- Good luck.
Oh, monika...
Bye, monika, take care. - Bye, monika.
- Good luck.
♪ ♪
- Chef gordon ramsay tossed me to the side.
But I'm really confident we're going
To be best friends still,
Even though he just forgot to give me his number.
[elevator bell dings] - good luck, guys, yes?
Final 20 minutes. - You guys ready to do this?
- Yeah! - Let's go.
- Top level, baby. [elevator bell dings]
Take a look around. Take a look around.
Familiarize yourself.
- Yo, these are so much sharper.
Bro. [chuckles]
This top kitchen is beyond incredible.
I don't know half the equipment in here.
I'm like, is this a kids' toy?
You know how to work this?
Oh, my god.
But for me, I don't need any equipment.
I will go outside right now and start a fire if I have to.
- You've all looked around, right?
It's the best of the best up here.
This is a chef's playground. - I'm moving in.
[laughter]
- With better equipment, better ingredients
Comes higher expectation. - Yes.
- I want you all to make sure that the dish you put out
Gets you onto one of our teams.
- Yes, chef.
- Yes? All: Yes, chef.
- Home cooks, got a lot to prove.
- Whoo!
- Last opportunity to earn your spot in this competition.
Line up, please.
Platform's going to be coming down.
[hydraulics whirring]
- I'm not going home today.
I'm here for my daughter. I'm here to change our lives.
That's what I'm here for.
- Go!
Grab a protein!
- This platform is so much better.
I grab a veal chop.
So I'm like, here we go again! I'm cooking a chop, I guess.
- Wow, they're feisty. - Oh, look at that!
I like how she jumped up.
- If there was just a competition
Just for platform grabbing, sign me up.
[laughs]
- My feet were dangling trying to grab the lobster.
Oh, my god! - Leave yourself options.
15 seconds, guys.
- Only five of us are making it onto the team.
I have got to fight for what I want.
- Earn your spot into this competition.
- Garlic, garlic! - Let's go!
- Grab, grab, grab!
Get back to your station, let's go.
- Jiminy christmas, what a nuthouse.
- 20 minutes starts now.
[ticking]
- I need pans. I need my fish pan.
- Lauren, what do you have? - I grabbed a rib eye.
And I'm thinking about making a celery-root puree.
- All your pans are getting hot, right?
- Yes, everything's on the fire.
- Lauren stays pretty organized.
I guess from cooking on a private jet,
You don't have a lot of space.
[bell chimes]
- Can I help you?
I am a flight attendant on a private jet.
It's like cooking in the basement on steroids.
I have one induction cooktop burner, a blender.
So I am used to having pressure,
At least cabin pressure.
I am so passionate about cooking.
It is my love language.
I love cooking for other people.
I love the yummy noises.
It just makes me smile.
I am completely self-taught.
I have never been to culinary school.
But I want to prove to myself
That I do have the chops to be considered a chef.
[dramatic music]
- Okay, we're already five minutes down, guys.
Mada?
- Boom, I got some tiger prawns.
Got the shells there with some fish broth.
I'm gonna sear this.
I'm gonna use the pancetta
With all these fresh vegetables
To make kind of a light sauce for these noodles.
- Sounds like you got a game plan.
- Yeah. Let's go, chef. I'm ready.
- Let's go. Wendy, what did you grab?
- I grabbed endive. I got a lamb loin.
And I got coconut milk again.
So I'm going to do, like, a coconut-butter cream sauce.
- That does not sound great.
- No, not with a lamb loin. - No.
- I think it's going to taste-- - sort of malaysian influence?
- Yes, here I go. - Stay focused.
- Yes, chef. Thank you.
I grabbed the lamb loin thinking it was a steak.
I have never cooked lamb before.
I'm just going to take a gamble on this one.
- Hi, joe.
- Here's the thing. - Tell me.
- Plot twist-- I don't cook fish often.
You guys don't understand. I don't cook fish well.
Like, my fish just turns to [bleep].
Like, this was the one time, genuinely,
Where I looked at my ingredients,
And in my head, I'm like, [bleep].
And, naturally, it's on the top level.
- Israeli couscous, where's this going?
- I'm going to do a side.
I'm going to toast it first. - Keep cooking.
- Toasting the couscous? - Get it in some water.
Just get it in some water. - It needs to be cooked.
- Alexandra, how familiar are you with cooking lobster?
- I don't cook it as often as I would like to.
I'm blanching a lobster tail. - Yeah.
- And then I'm going to cook it in, like, a chorizo butter.
- Oh, I like this. - Chorizo butter.
- Lobster with chorizo butter? Oh.
- I can't stress enough
That you need to get in front of time.
You see how fast this goes, right?
Stay focused.
Veal chop? - Yeah. [chuckles]
I am doing a basic spice rub.
I'm going to do a blackberry reduction...
- Love that. - Pomegranate molasses.
- I saw that look you just gave.
Are you thinking that's team ramsay right there?
- I like her.
- Halfway down, guys. 10 minutes left.
- Yes, chef.
- This is a life-changing opportunity.
Let's go, let's go!
Prove that you want your spot on gordon's team,
Richard's team, or myself.
Final five minutes! - Yes, chef.
- Come on, mada.
Wendy, you okay? - Yes, ma'am.
- Be careful. Resting is so important.
It still has carryover time to cook, you know?
Hustle, hustle, hustle! Come on, guys!
Time is ticking away.
- Joe. - Stay with it, joe.
Come on, finish strong.
- Watch that couscous, joe.
Guys, two minutes left. Start plating.
♪ ♪
Bring the vision to life.
One plate that's going to get you into this competition--
One beautiful plate.
15 seconds!
Make smart choices.
Five, four, three, two, one!
Hands up, guys! Hands up!
- Wow, that was intense. Well done.
- Should we taste? - Please.
- So, first up, lauren has prepared a rib eye.
She prepared a celery root two ways--a puree and roasted.
♪ ♪
- Rosy pink all the way through--great cook.
Classic combination-- celery and beef.
- Next up, we have a veal chop prepared by christina
With a blackberry sauce,
A snap-pea and sweet-potato puree.
♪ ♪
- I'm kind of blown away that you got so much work done
In just 20 minutes.
And I guess the only question I have is,
Can you cook anything besides chops?
[laughter] - I don't--
[laughing] I've never cooked a veal chop.
- Next up, we have an angel-hair pasta
With roasted shrimp.
Mada has roasted the shrimp heads
And folded that into the sauce, some tomatoes,
A little bit of spinach.
- The shrimp are delicious. - Thank you, chef.
- Yeah, the seasoning's really good.
I wish you would have tossed the noodles with the sauce.
- Yeah.
- Next up, we have lobster
Prepared by alexandra.
This is folded in with roasted chorizo,
As well as a broccolini.
I was concerned that the lobster would be overcooked,
But it's really nice.
Next up, we have a pan-roasted branzino,
Cooked by joe, israeli couscous on the side,
As well as parmesan potatoes
And roasted onion-spinach medley.
♪ ♪
- Branzino cooked crispy. Really good.
- I've never made branzino ever.
It's a win for me.
- Couscous sadly undercooked. It's very hard.
- Next up, by wendy, we have a lamb loin
And a coconut pan jus.
- Lamb is cooked beautifully.
The strange part of this dish is the rest of the garnish.
It's like there's two different dishes going on here.
- All right, guys, so we have
Some very hard decisions to make.
Please give us a second. - Wow.
Why would you put coconut with lamb?
- I think that's her wheelhouse.
- But the coconut can work, but not in connection
With the endive and some of the other stuff.
- No. - You said it--
There was two dishes on one... - Two dishes.
- On one plate, absolutely.
- I am praying with every fiber of my being.
Like, I'm not going to accept that it's my fate
To leave this competition right now.
- The fish was nailed--
The bit on the side with the silly little scales,
And then that couscous, it was rock hard.
It was inedible. - I did as best as I could.
But I'm a garbage man.
So, if I go home,
The rats are still gonna accept me for me,
I hope.
- They were both under-par dishes, right?
- Yes.
[suspenseful music]
- We have come to a decision.
But before we reveal that decision,
I want to remind you what's riding on this.
♪ ♪
- I smell the mentorship.
Give me the shirt.
- As you can see,
There are only five chef jackets on that platform,
And there's six of you.
The first person moving into the draft
For a shot at one of our teams...
♪ ♪
Is...
Christina. - [cheering]
Thank you, thank you! [chuckles]
This is my dream since I was a little girl.
And now I'm here, and I'm doing it.
And I'm freakin' killing it so far.
- Great job. - I'm just getting started.
- Keep going, girl.
The next person that will be moving into the draft...
♪ ♪
Is lauren.
- Oh, my god. [chuckles]
Thank you so much, chefs. - Thank you.
- Great job.
The third person who has earned...
Their spot on one of our teams...
♪ ♪
Is mada.
- Yes, let's go.
Thank you so much, chef.
Let's go! Your boy's made it.
I know my kids are watching right now.
They're like, go, daddy! Let's go!
- The fourth person
That has made their way into the draft...
Is alexandra.
- [squeals] - whoo!
- Thank you, chef.
I'm used to being calm. I'm not calm right now.
[laughter]
Holy [bleep].
It was getting close.
- That leaves two.
Joe and wendy...
We have one last spot available.
It was actually a very tough decision for the three of us.
♪ ♪
The final person moving into the draft is...
♪ ♪
Wendy. - Oh.
- Congrats, girl. [applause]
Joe, how you feeling, bud?
- Frankly, [bleep].
But that's the first time I cooked fish successfully.
- Amazing. You should be so proud.
And we wish you the best. Please head to the elevator.
- Thank you, guys. - Thanks, joe.
- Bye, joe.
- Some people win, some people lose.
Today I lost.
I'm proud that I got up there. I just really wanted to win.
- So standing in front of us now,
We have the five most talented home cooks anywhere in america.
Well done. Come on. Come on!
[all cheering]
Today's been refreshing.
These home chefs have really stepped up.
And without a doubt, they can compete against the pros
And the social-media chefs.
I've spotted three talented home chefs
That I would love on my team.
- For home chefs,
There's definitely going to be a learning curve.
But I have a pretty good idea at my top two.
- Excited? All: Yes, chef!
- I am super pumped up about this draft.
I have to win. There's a lot of pressure on me.
- Get your jackets.
Good night. [all cheer]
- This is just the best feeling ever in my life.
I feel like this is finally my moment.
[laughs]
- Good job. - Thank you.
Ooh, look at your boy! Let's go!
- I know this is just the auditions,
But it feels like I just won the olympics.
- Wow. They're certainly beyond home cooks.
- Absolutely.
[all cheering]
- Next time on "next level chef"...
- Go! Let's go!
Pro chefs, time to see what you're made of.
- Let's take it, baby, straight to the top.
- Go! Grab ingredients!
- Babe, I'm not letting go. I'm not gonna let go of it.
- It is game on.
- I've been waiting for this my whole life.
Oh, [bleep]!
- That knife is sharp, though.
Medic? - Oh, my god.
♪ ♪
- Oh, my-- - oh, hell, no!
- We got no [bleep] lights!
- The pressure is really on. This is all or nothing.
♪ ♪