- Previously on "next level chef"...
I need to put someone in this elimination
That can take angela down.
Jordan. - I earned this pin.
I'm gonna use that today.
- He played his pin. - Wow!
- Maybe it's time that wendy proves her worth here.
- Go, go, go, go!
Oh! - Oh, my god.
- Which dish will you be eliminating?
- The pork chop.
- Wendy.
- I should have pushed angela. I'm kidding.
- And tonight, for the first time ever,
That platform will not be stopping.
- What? [laughter]
- This has never happened
In the history of "next level chef."
- Oh, [bleep], that's moving fast.
- This is utter madness.
- Oh, [bleep].
I just have air in my hands.
I'm like, maybe I'm just gonna boil [bleep] air.
[knives shinging]
[dramatic rock music]
[elevator dings]
♪ ♪
[timer ringing]
♪ ♪
[dramatic music]
[cheers and applause] - like it. I like it.
- Let's go. - Whoo!
- Rise and shine. - All right. Let's go.
- Yeah. - Whoo!
- Feeling good? All: Yes, chef!
- Team ramsay, oh, boy.
For the first time this season,
We are cooking in the basement.
But let me tell you something really important.
For me, I promise you, the climb upwards
Is way more satisfying than staying on top.
Come on. It builds character.
All: Yes, chef.
- Jordan, how are you feeling?
- You know, chef, last time, I walked in here
With a pin on my chest and a chip on my shoulder.
So today I'm humble, and I'm focused.
- I love the honesty.
Can we talk about those ripped jeans?
- [laughs] - yes, please.
- If you become our next level chef,
Will you buy yourself a new pair of [bleep] jeans?
- I'm in the basement. They fit right in.
- You stay down there, yeah.
[laughter]
[chuckling] yeah.
- Ok, team blais.
Thanks to angela for making a great elimination dish.
We're cooking in the middle level again.
Clearly, we're getting stronger as we go, right?
All: Yes, chef.
- Zach, did I miss some ink
On your hands or something?
- I got a little mirepoix, chef.
- What is that? - Mirepoix,
50% onion, 25% celery, 25% carrot.
- Mirepoix?
- Of course.
- I'm loving chef blais as my mentor.
We have this bromance. It's a hair thing.
We just, like, belong together.
It's like pretzel and salt.
- All right, team arrington.
- Yes. Let's go. - Yes.
- Thanks to von, we are back where we belong,
In arrington headquarters, right, that top level.
- Hell yeah.
- Ok.
As I told you all the last time,
You're gonna have to earn your street cred today.
That's because for this challenge,
We'd like to find out if you can walk the walk
When it comes to international street food.
- Mm. - Yes.
- Ooh! - Here we go.
- In my food truck, you have to make something out of nothing.
Street food, this is my element.
- When I travel to any new country,
The first thing that I do is go downtown
And find out what the locals eat.
- Absolutely.
You have tacos from mexico city.
There's banh mi from hanoi.
There's so many opportunities for amazing flavor profiles,
But they're difficult to get right.
- The key to great street food is,
You have to grab it quickly while you're on the go.
- Oh, lord. [laughs]
- So today, for the first time in this competition,
That platform will not be stopping.
- What? - [laughs nervously]
- As if this competition is not hard enough,
They just found a way to make it harder.
- You'll have to grab your ingredients on the go.
- Whoa.
- I'm supposed to cook, run to the platform,
Cook, run to the platform again.
It's like the hunger games this season.
- You all have 30 minutes...
- Ok. - To create an amazing,
Next level international street food dish.
- Wow. - All right, chef.
- All right, team arrington, please head to the elevator.
- All right.
- I'll meet you upstairs shortly.
- Ooh, let's go.
I am a man from many cultures.
I've traveled the whole world, and this is my specialty.
[exciting music]
♪ ♪
- All right. Let's do this! Whoo! Whoo!
[hydraulics whirring]
- ♪ in it to win it ♪
[cheers and applause]
♪ we're home ♪
- Blais apartments, here we are.
- Yeah, baby. I like this.
[hydraulics whirring]
- Hey, foot on the gas.
We got to get the [bleep] out of here.
- Yes. - Yes.
- All right, basement. - All right.
- Let's get it. Let's get it.
- Let's do this!
- This is like bumping into your ex-girlfriend.
- Go for it, friend. - Thank you.
All right. - Oh, man. All right.
Bro, I just need one good taco.
No tortilla press? - We'll see.
- There's a tortilla press right there.
- Hey. - I don't think this is it.
- Get over here.
Hey, team ramsay on three. 1, 2, 3.
All: Team ramsay.
[tense music]
- Let's go.
- There he is. Yes. - Right.
- Let's go. Let's go. - Let's go, you guys.
- How you feeling? - I'm feeling great.
- Feeling good? - Yes. Yes.
- Feeling good? - I'm feeling great, chef.
- Let's do it. Let's do it, chef.
[cheers and applause]
- All right. - Let's go, chef blais.
- Yeah, baby.
- I'm feeling the energy right now.
- Team blais.
- You know, we haven't had the big winning dish yet.
We need to see what that kitchen
Looks like. - 100%.
I was pissed off about my last cook
Not getting best dish.
I'm ready to rock today.
I want to bring our team up to that top kitchen
Where we belong.
- Let's go. - Let's go!
- Yes! - Let's go!
- Team arrington, baby. Uh!
I'm so proud of you guys. I really am. So...
- Thank you, chef.
- Platform is not stopping the entire time, right?
What is your strategy for today?
- Grab smart. - Grab smart.
Ok, let's line up.
- Yeah.
- When that light turns green,
You go, right? - Go. Yes, chef.
I'm kind of excited. Like, this is gonna be fun.
[hydraulics whirring]
- Go! Go, guys. Go, go, go, go, go!
We have some amazing proteins all around, right?
- This thing is moving faster than usual,
And it ain't stopping for anybody.
- [groans] - grab, grab, grab.
- I'm hanging off the platform while it's going down,
Just like, yes, I got the strip steak!
- Oh! Oh! - Oh, my god.
- In the first grab, I didn't even get anything.
- Happy? - No.
- You got time, von. You got time.
- I just have air in my hands.
I'm like, maybe I'm just gonna boil [bleep] air.
- Oh, baby! - Go, go, go!
Ok. - [muttering indistinctly]
- Go, go. Grab whatever you can.
Complete chaos.
You literally have two seconds to grab a protein
And whatever else you see, and that's it.
It's wild.
- Oh, my god, that was too fast!
- That was so fast.
- I literally got pork sausage.
- I got a lemon, literally got a lemon.
- Oh! [bleep]. - Whoa! What was that?
- Cucumber. - Watch your head, chef.
- Ok, guys, let's go!
Grab, grab!
Ok, what have we got? Tiger shrimp,
Pork over there. - Swordfish.
- Swordfish in the basement?
I got to be dreaming.
Oh, [bleep], that's moving fast.
- I told you guys to go.
Man, that thing moves fast, doesn't it?
- Yeah, it does, chef. Yes, it does.
- Chef. - Ok, it's coming back up.
Whatever you can grab. - Grab that pork.
Grab that pork. - I need the pork.
- Everything is demolished.
- Heard. Sorry, chef.
- Watch your arms in here. - No!
- Careful. - Damn it.
I literally got the top of a pepper.
And I've still got to conceptualize
What all of these ingredients are gonna be used to make.
- Coming back up, guys. It's coming back up.
- I need that lemon.
- I don't see anything that I want.
- Grab, grab, grab, grab, grab.
- Lamb hearts. - Lamb hearts.
- I just see one protein left, and it's a big-ass lamb heart.
- Let's go. Grab them.
- And I'm like, all right.
- Grab!
- Ugh.
- 30 minutes starts now.
Hurry up.
Street food, street food.
- Ugh.
♪ ♪
- Chef von.
- I have lamb hearts here.
I never seen one in my life, so...
- Do you know how to use lamb hearts?
- No, chef.
♪ ♪
Ah.
Oh, man. [breathes deeply]
It's a big-ass lamb heart.
Oh, my god. No!
Nah, I don't even know where the [bleep] to start.
[chuckles nervously]
♪ ♪
Why?
What the [bleep]?
Oh, man.
- I have lamb hearts here.
- Do you know how to use lamb hearts?
- No, chef, I never seen one in my life.
I don't even think I've seen a [bleep] lamb in person,
Never mind cook a lamb heart.
- Make sure you sear a piece off and taste it.
It's gonna tell you what you need to do with it.
Think of it like a tenderloin. - Yes, chef.
- Right? I know it's not easy.
I can't believe you grabbed this on the top level.
What were you thinking? - I wasn't. I was like--
- Yeah, but you're gonna elevate it, right?
- I am, just need to figure out how to make this street food.
- Yeah, I know you're experienced, chef.
- Yes, chef. - You got this.
- All right, zach. - How you doing, chef?
- What are we doing?
- I'm gonna do a beef-inspired empanada.
- Ok, empanada, so you're making that dough right now?
- Yes, chef, that's the first thing I'm gonna do
So I can let it rest and chill.
- Love it. Ok, you're on it. I love the idea.
Ok, lauren, what are we thinking about over here?
- I think I am going to do, like, savory churros.
- Savory churro?
[tense music]
- I'm gonna take these out of the casings
And do, like, a topping.
- A savory churro with the sausage?
- Yeah.
♪ ♪
Savory churros are a little bit weird.
This is a huge risk, but you got to fly that freak flag.
- If it's something you've done before, go for it, all right?
- I know the recipe. I've never made it.
♪ ♪
- Ok, all right, well,
Then you got to get going on that, right?
- Yeah. - Ok.
Savory churro, all right.
- 5 minutes gone, 25 minutes to go.
[timer beeping]
Chris, what'd you grab?
- I got some beautiful cod.
I can make a fried fish taco right now, chef.
- You sell great tacos.
You understand street food beautifully,
So elevate this now, ok?
- Yes, chef. - Yes? And what'd you grab?
- We got some fruit.
We got a lime, chili, and a swordfish,
Beautiful swordfish.
I don't know how it got down here.
- Where are we going with it? - You know what?
I'm thinking a swordfish skewer, maybe,
Get nice and delicate with it. - Nice.
- We got some fruit on there as well.
- Ok. Where are the skewers?
- Skewer--I dropped them.
- You dropped them? - Where'd I put them?
I put them-- - jordan, come on.
- I don't know--right here. - You're using those?
- Yes. - Ok, great.
- What'd you grab, mada? - I got a buffalo.
I'm gonna go middle eastern.
- Oh, platform is moving again.
- Heard. - Garlic, garlic, garlic!
- Just what you guys wanted.
Grab ingredients, guys, like your life depends on it.
- I'm trying to find anything that I can make
Some sort of a hispanic taco,
And I find nothing.
- Oh, my god. - Ugh.
- It's on the way back. - Come on, baby. Come on, baby.
- Grab whatever you can go.
There's noodles over here, peanut butter.
- Up and down. Up and down.
It's coming. It's dropping.
It's going up. It's coming down.
Grab something quick.
- Worcestershire sauce. - Chorizo.
- Ok, chorizo. - Mint.
- Back to your stations. - [bleep] mint.
- Platform's here. Platform's here.
- Ok, go, go, go, go, go!
- Platform, quick! - Let's go. Come on.
- Give me a tortilla.
- Liquid seasoning there.
- Tortilla. - Chorizo!
- Is there any tortillas on there?
- Go, go, go!
- Oh. Ugh! Damn it.
- It's coming back up. Come on, come on.
- This is madness, utter madness.
Every time it goes down or goes up,
That thing that you thought you wanted
And was gonna complete your dish is now gone.
There's something here. - Anybody see what you need?
Look, look, look.
- So you've got to completely change your dish again.
- Yeah, you can see in. You can see it.
There's a truffle there. There's a truffle right there.
- I've just grabbed a $500 truffle for street food.
- Hoisin? - Ok, sauce, sauce.
♪ ♪
- 18 minutes to go.
- Platform, mada.
- Oh, platform's on the move again, guys.
Round out your dishes. You got onions.
You got cabbage. You got cucumbers.
You got herbs.
- Oh!
- Yes, I got garlic!
- What do you have in your mixer here, chef?
- I'm making kind of like a tortilla, pita type bread
To make taco with steak.
- How are you cooking your steak?
- I'm gonna cook it on the grill.
- Nice.
- 'cause I did not grab fresh herbs,
I'm gonna kind of pivot and make a coleslaw as a topping.
- Pay attention to which part you're using, right?
Am I using the best part of the cabbage?
Am I just cutting cabbage just to cut it...
- Yes, chef.
- Or am I trying to create the perfect bite?
- Perfect bite, chef.
- Christina, where are we going?
Street food. - So I got pork tenderloin.
I have a lot of greek flavors.
I want to do souvlaki.
I'm gonna try to make my own pita bread.
- Nice.
- Just keep it simple and delicious.
- Smart. - Yeah.
- Chef von. - Yes, chef?
- What's the plan with this?
- I'm just tasting that to see what it tastes like.
♪ ♪
Tastes just like what you would think heart tastes like.
[chuckles] [bleep].
But I grabbed a couple other items.
I'm like, I know I can make this work.
I can definitely do something with this.
I figured I'd do a little sweet potato
And pancetta hash. - Ok.
I'm glad you broke a piece off and tasted it.
Let's go, chef von.
- All right, zach, what are we up to?
- All right, chef, I got my spices ready to go.
- Ok. - And yeah,
Just getting everything together.
- And you couldn't help it, huh?
- Did you get a truffle?
- Yeah!
- And you got beef and truffle. - Yeah.
I'm super pumped. - Yeah.
- Truffle empanada dough? What?
- Don't try and sneak this out of here in the hairdo.
- [laughs] - I'm gonna be checking.
That might be hard to--ok. - Heard that. Heard that.
- 15 minutes left, only 15 minutes.
If you got a dough going, give yourself some time now.
Either bake it, fry it, whatever you're doing.
- Platform's on the move, guys!
Opportunity, let's go!
Grab herbs. Grab vegetables.
Come on, guys. Come on.
- Yes! - Cabbage.
- Every time I take a deep breath,
The platform's coming.
And then you're like, I just calmed down.
- Was that good for you guys? - Yes, chef.
- Platform's back. - Platform's back!
- Platform's back if you need it.
- Kimchi? Anybody need kimchi?
This dish is kind of coming together.
Kimchi, asian spicy flavor.
Chorizo, it's a little bit of Spain.
Probably doesn't really make sense,
So of course I'm gonna make it.
- I don't want that. Oh, [bleep], piece of onion.
- Oh, more food's dropping! More food's dropping!
- Platform's moving. - Another drop.
Let's go, guys! - Watch out. Watch out.
What is that? Both: Sage!
- Sage, grab that.
- Watch out! Watch out! Watch out!
- There's food falling down.
I think if I went over there with a bowl,
I'd have enough for a recipe.
- Hard shells, peanut butter. - Oh, my gosh, hard shells.
- Any potatoes anywhere? - Bacon, a beautiful egg.
Ooh, yay, I have bacon and eggs, bacon and eggs.
- Whoo! We have some chili oil.
♪ ♪
- Oh, it's back. It's back if you need it.
Garnish, herbs.
- Herbs. There are no herbs.
- Acidity, acidity. - Garlic, anything.
- Yes! Let's go!
- Whoo! - Let's go, team blais!
- Whoo! - Yes!
- Whoo!
♪ ♪
- Ok, what did you get? What did you get?
- I got some bread, and I grabbed some carrots.
I could do some pickled carrots.
So maybe I'll go banh mi route.
- Ok, or you know what?
Toast this up, and we're going sort of
Asian meatball sub.
- Yeah. - That's street food, ok?
- I love it. - I love it, love it. Ok.
- Platform's coming back up, guys.
Round out your dish if you need it.
We got daikon. We got rice.
Peanut butter, nice. - Pickled jalapeños, yes.
- Jalapeños? Nice. Good job, guys.
- I needed a pickle. I needed a pickle.
- 12 minutes left, team.
Show these guys why you earned your spot in this top kitchen.
How are you cooking your pita?
- Flattop right there on the pan.
- Ok. - This takes me back
To growing up on the streets of egypt.
I'm gonna wrap it, like, give the whole vibe.
- Wow, that's very smart.
When you can come from an authentic place,
That's what's important, right? - Yeah.
Yes, chef. Yes, chef.
- Guys, come on, big push. Stay confident.
Stay hungry.
- Guys, just over 10 minutes to go.
All right, what'd you grab there?
- We grabbed some anchovies for some flavor, some pop.
Cubed the swordfish up.
- Man, you got that chorizo as well.
- Yeah, I know. I don't really know.
- Beautiful. - Chorizo on swordfish?
- Beautiful, really beautiful indeed.
Slice that nice and thin and put that in between
The cubes as you grill them. - Ok. Got it, chef.
- Great ingredients there, by the way.
- Thank you, chef.
- Izahya, what'd you grab?
- Got a little tiger shrimp, rice noodles.
I'm gonna be making a ramen, chef.
- So you're gonna do a ramen?
- Yes, chef. - Let's go and make that.
How are you gonna cook these shrimp?
- The shrimp, I'm gonna pan-sear them,
And they're just gonna be laid right on top of my ramen.
Broth is tasting lovely, chef.
Delicious. - Good.
So you're building this flavor profile, right?
- Yes. Yes, chef. - You got the makings
Of a number one dish there. - Thank you, chef.
- Ok, young man? - Let's go.
- Let's go, my man. Let's go.
Let's go! [chuckles]
- Whoo-ee!
- Yo, we're getting out of here, guys.
- How you doing, gabi?
- I'm doing good, guys.
- Right, how we doing?
- We're doing all right here. - Yeah.
- I'm gonna just build a couple crepes.
I have some bacon now, chef, so...
Ok, good. You got bacon. - I have bacon.
I have my pork belly. I have a duck egg.
I'd love to present this crepe with a beautiful duck egg
In the middle. - Love that.
Have you worked with duck egg before?
- No.
- Hmm.
Tap inside and just check what's in there first.
- Ok. - Peel it first.
I think you'll be surprised. - Oh, my god.
- Oh, god. Is there a baby duck in there?
- Oh.
Wait, what? - It's a duck.
It's a baby duck.
- What's that?
Oh, my god.
- Wait. What did you grab?
- Do you see this?
Do you see this?
[laughs]
[tense music]
- 10 minutes, guys.
That's a century egg, gabi.
- Oh! - Ok? Very, very special.
- Ok, that's a little bit of a different--
- Very, very special. - Oh, my gosh.
So they're cured, right? - Yeah, that's right.
- Forever and ever and ever.
It's a century egg.
Oh, my gosh! I've heard of them.
I've never had one.
But I know they're cured for a really long time.
[gasps] wow.
I think this could still work really beautifully.
♪ ♪
- How we feeling, chef christina?
- We're gonna pull it together, girl.
- I see you.
I also see them fire eyebrows.
Your eyebrows look great, girl!
Yes!
- I have a really good eyebrow lady in new jersey,
If anybody wants her. [laughs]
- Chipping away at your vision?
- Yes, chef, I'm thinking I'm gonna keep it simple
And do an asian-inspired taco.
- Are you making your own mayo?
- I'm gonna do a lighter style,
Like, more vinegar style.
- When are you planning to rest your steak?
- Right now.
- Are you sure it's cooked through?
- I'm gonna touch it. - Make sure.
Von. - Yes, chef?
- Do not overcook that, ok? - Yes, chef.
♪ ♪
- Seven minutes to go.
This idea of the savory churro...
- Yes.
- Not something I've seen or heard of.
How are we gonna work the sausage into it?
- Thinking about maybe, like, crumbling the sausage.
- Got it, ok.
- Chef blais, he's never even seen a savory churro,
And he's kind of questioning it.
So I am starting to get a little nervous.
Oh!
I got to cool this pate a choux.
Ok.
- Last five minutes.
Crank it up. Let's go.
Five minutes, guys. Five minutes.
♪ ♪
- Probably this bowl right here, chef.
- Just...[spits] taste those noodles.
Yes, they need a touch more cooking,
Do you know what I mean?
- Mm-hmm.
Yeah, they're almost inedible.
- Chef? - Yes?
- This egg, I'm trying to think
Of the best approach for presentation.
- Get your knife hot.
Slice it in half and then quarters
And lay the quarter on top.
Is that what you wanted to do? - Yes.
- Yeah? Good. - Thank you, chef.
- Presentation-wise, where are you going?
- We're just gonna go ahead and lay those skewers
On top of each other, chef, a nice little sauce underneath.
Every part of me knows that this dish with two skewers
Is gonna look so empty.
And I know the competition is hot right now,
So I am a little stressed.
It is looking risky.
- That needs to be crispy, and it needs more color on there.
- Yes, chef.
- I know you're cooking it twice,
But the oil needs to be piping hot.
- That's coming right now with the second fry, chef.
- Best dish of the day, baby!
- Best dish of the day is right here.
Somebody get us to the top.
- Chef, do you think cheese would mess it up
If I toasted some cheese onto the bread?
Is that a bad idea?
- No, it's not gonna mess it up.
This is a fusion street food dish, right?
- Mm-hmm. - Now you're sort of
In this meatball sub, asian street food situation,
And it all works, ok? - Yeah. Ok.
- Zach, how's your filling? - Filling tastes great.
- And then what do we think?
We're gonna shave more truffle over the empanada?
- Absolutely. - Ok.
- Only four minutes left. - Here we go. Oh, gosh.
Ah, the moment of truth, baby.
I've got chef blais looking very intensely
At what I am doing here.
- How we looking? - Not bad.
- Yeah, not bad. Not bad. - Ok.
Am I doing this right? Is this right?
Is this right, chef? Like--
- Ok. - Ok, right behind.
- Is that mine? - Ok.
You can always get them in an oven if you needed to.
- They're not beautiful.
But they are gonna be delicious, I swear.
All right, let me cut into one of these right here.
- Three minutes, guys.
How many tortillas are you serving?
- Three.
- Then flip that over. - Yes, chef.
- Let's go. Come on.
Show us why you came here.
- Yes, chef. - Let's go. Let's go.
Finish strong, everybody.
Let's go.
- Platform is moving, heading to the basement.
- I am confident with this dish.
My steak is cooked beautifully.
I made homemade tortillas,
And I know my flavors are there.
♪ ♪
- Final two minutes. It's time to start plating.
Let's go.
- Nope.
These churros, they are not fully cooked.
I've got to throw these bad boys back in the fryer,
And we are running out of time here, people.
Come on.
Don't [bleep] me here.
I need you to work for me.
- 60 seconds to go.
Beautiful street food, yes?
- Yes, chef. - Start your garnishes.
Let's go. Nice, jordan.
Platform's here. Let's go.
♪ ♪
Let's go. Chris, move your ass. - Let's go. Let's go, guys.
- Move it, chris. - Yes, chef.
- Platform. - Let's go, guys.
You got to go. - Come on, chris.
- You got to go. You got to go.
You got to go.
I can't keep on saying it, chris.
You got to go. - Come on.
Yes. Yes. - You got to go.
Well done! - Yes! Yes! Yes! Yes!
- Let's go, man. Let's go!
- Platform's on the way.
- Finishing touches.
- Platform's here, guys! The platform is here!
- It's a lot of stress and a lot of pressure
To get to the platform in time.
- The platform is here! - Yes, chef!
- Come on, guys. - The platform is here.
♪ ♪
- Lauren, you got to go!
Lauren, the platform is here! - Yes, chef.
- Lauren, it's moving. Go! Go!
- Come on, lauren. - Lauren.
- Nicole is blocking my plate!
Move, move!
I'm like, move, move!
- Lauren, the platform is here again.
- Move, move! - Come on, come on, come on.
- Ugh, damn it. - I'm sorry. I'm sorry.
I'm sorry. - Oh, wow.
- We made that platform, baby.
Next time, I'm gonna have to start
Pushing people out of the way.
- Platform's coming, guys. - Behind you, mada.
- Come on, guys. Come on.
Mada! Mada!
[tense music]
- Good job, guys!
♪ ♪
- Oof.
- I'm looking at all of these plates on the table,
And I'm thinking, I thought I had a great dish.
But, holy cow, this is next level.
- [chuckles]
Now, that is what we've been looking for.
Oh, my goodness. Look at this.
Beautiful.
Nyesha, shall we start on the top floor?
- Yes, please.
First up, we have a pork tenderloin souvlaki.
♪ ♪
- This thing is delicious on another level.
Just absolutely spot-on.
It's a really good street food dish.
- Yeah, I really enjoy the creaminess
That the sauces provide this beautifully grilled meat.
I can picture myself taking this
And walking with it down the street.
♪ ♪
Next up, we have asian-inspired new york strip steak tacos.
♪ ♪
- Love the cabbage slaw on it.
I do wish it had something a little creamy
To sort of also work with that fresh, vibrant slaw.
- Meat's cooked beautifully, let me tell you.
It's just tender, melts in the mouth.
What else do we need? Touch of heat, maybe?
Little bit of chili.
- Next up, we have a lamb heart alongside sweet potato hash.
- I think it's good, but I also don't know
What the [bleep] lamb heart's supposed to taste like.
So hopefully, it tastes good to them.
This is way out of my wheelhouse.
- First of all, lamb heart,
I expected that in the basement.
No one was desperate to grab that thing, right?
But this is delicious. It's good.
- My only take on this would be,
Does it sort of ring as a street food?
Maybe I do want a wrap for it.
- Next up, we have a buffalo shawarma.
♪ ♪
- It actually tastes way better than it looks.
Delicious. It is sizzling.
It's the kind of thing that richard eats on a Friday night
After sinking 12 pints of guinness,
Walking home from his restaurant.
[laughter]
- This is quintessential street food.
- You guys are not gonna make this easy
For us three today, let me tell you.
Shall we head to the middle floor, richard?
- Yeah.
This is a beef and black truffle empanada
With a sriracha aioli.
- Black truffle empanada street food.
Where are we, on rodeo drive? [laughter]
- I just made it rain truffle in the dough,
In the sauce, and in the mix.
I hope I didn't overdo it.
♪ ♪
- Filling itself is flavorful,
And it carries that amazingly flaky dough.
- I have a beef black truffle empanada
On a couple of restaurant menus,
And I think we're gonna have to revise our recipe for it.
- Right now, I feel like a pig in [bleep].
Our job as professional chefs
Is to take humble ingredients and elevate them.
This is elevated.
- Yes!
If this doesn't get me top dish,
I don't know what will.
- Ok, up here, we have
A korean-inspired meatball sub.
- This one's packed with flavor, let me tell you.
Again, the perfect grab-and-go.
- I really appreciate the sweetness of the sauce,
Which is really pleasant.
- Here's another international street food dish.
This is a hot irish spice bag,
So fried chicken and chips, or fries,
With a little bit of curry sauce.
- Again, delicious.
The texture on the chicken is beautiful.
- Maybe a little bit more sauce
Drizzled over the top, but tasty dish.
Ok, and here we have a savory churro...
- Wow.
- With a chorizo and pork sausage, queso,
And a pickled cabbage slaw.
- I am standing behind these stupid savory churros.
Either I fall flat on my face with this dish,
Or I become top dish.
- The spice is delicious.
It's warm.
It's everything you want from street food.
But the texture of the churro is sort of wet and soggy.
What a shame.
- I love the spice in the pickled cabbage.
But churro is a doughnut, so it's a tough sell,
This savory, spicy doughnut.
- Hmm. - Mm.
Shall we head down to the basement?
- Please.
- Let's start off with a swordfish skewer and chorizo
And caramelized mango.
- The saltiness that's coming
And the depth of flavor coming from the chorizo
Is an amazing pairing with the fish.
I'm not really loving the texture of the mango.
I think it got a little bit soft on the grill.
- I think I love the thought process of this dish.
It's something you can grab, walk down the street, and eat.
It's slightly simple but really tasty.
This is a ramen broth
With the noodles, the mushrooms, corn ribs,
And then fried the shrimp separately at the end.
- Wow, even visually, this is bringing a smile to my face.
I love a noodle and soup moment.
- Mm-hmm.
♪ ♪
- It's delicious.
Love the broth. That's the hardest thing to do
Is to get all of that depth of flavor into a broth
In a short amount of time.
- The noodles are delicious.
- Shrimp is cooked perfectly and seasoned really nicely.
There's not really much I can say
That I don't like about this dish.
- Next up, a crispy cod taco with a cucumber relish.
- I love crunch, and this definitely gives me that.
The tempura batter around the outside is craveable.
- The cod is cooked beautifully.
It's glistening. The batter is crispy.
I'm just proud that this came from the basement,
'cause it's delicious.
Last up is a galette crepe made with pork belly.
It's also got a century duck egg in there.
♪ ♪
- Classic pairing, ham, egg, cheese.
Smart rendition.
- A little bit of exoticness on that century egg.
- I love the edges here.
It looks like it's lace.
I mean, it's street food, but you're on
A parisian café somewhere. - Mm-hmm.
- It's very elegant.
- Oh, my gosh. Oh!
I didn't have the greatest grab,
But they loved it.
- Wow, this is easily your best performance so far.
This is where nyesha, richard, and myself struggle
To nominate a bad dish,
'cause there's nothing bad in front of our eyes
Right now, let me tell you.
Good job, all of you. Excuse us.
Wow. - Whoo.
- Good job, bro. Good job.
- Here's the simple thing.
There's no worse dish, right? - No.
- It's like we're spoiled for riches.
- Most memorable were the noodles.
That broth was incredible.
- It's a standout.
- The truffle beef empanada.
- And not just because there's a black truffle on it.
It was about the texture of the dough for me.
- Are you truffle boy? - [bleep].
- [laughs] - right?
- The new york strip tacos,
For me, they were just a little bit bland.
Needed a chili, something to lift it, no?
- It was lacking a salsa or a sauce.
- The lamb heart, I just needed a wrap.
I needed a pita bread. - You need that.
There was another dish for me that was missing something.
It was the savory churro. - Yeah.
- It's one thing to be soft, but it was soggy.
- And when they try to get too clever
With the wrong ingredients--
- You can overthink things sometimes.
- What about those swordfish skewers?
I felt like it was missing one element to it.
- And it was a little dainty for what street food is.
- We good? - Yes.
- Oh, baby. - Oof.
Dear, oh, dear.
Ok.
Today's dish that takes their team into the safety
And moves them to the top kitchen
In the next challenge...
♪ ♪
Today's outstanding dish was the...
♪ ♪
The empanadas.
Congratulations, zach.
- Yes! Nice.
- Yay!
I am safe, baby.
- Heck yeah. Yes. - Yay!
- Well done, young man.
- Whoo! Best dish, baby.
I finally got it. Yes.
- Thanks for taking me up to the top level.
- Yes!
- Good job, zach.
- We're going up, top kitchen, baby!
[all cheering]
Yeah!
- Yes! Yes! - Go, zach! Go, zach!
Go, zach! - Yes!
- I do not envy your position, nyesha and gordon,
Because there are people that are going to the elimination
That cooked good food today.
- We have some of the best chefs
Left in this competition,
And it showed in their food today.
I don't want to lose anyone from team arrington.
- Damn.
Today's cook has been one of the most exciting,
One of the most creative so far this season.
So it's gonna be a tough choice.
Damn, damn, damn, damn, damn.
- Nyesha, I'm gonna start with you.
- The chef that I'm gonna put in the elimination today...
♪ ♪
It's gonna be alexandra.
♪ ♪
- I'm definitely frustrated.
This is the best dish that I produced,
And now I'm in elimination.
- You had an amazing vision.
It's just about execution, and I think you're gonna
Get better in that kitchen.
- I got this, chef. - Yes, you do.
- Hell yeah. - You do. We got your back.
- So, gordon, who are you going to send
Into the elimination to face alexandra?
- This is so hard.
I think we've just come off our best cook as a team.
I think you're gonna be shocked with this.
♪ ♪
Izahya.
♪ ♪
- So, gordon, who are you going to send
Into the elimination to face alexandra?
- I think you're gonna be shocked with this.
[tense music]
Izahya.
♪ ♪
It's not you.
Gabi.
♪ ♪
It's not you.
♪ ♪
The person I'm sending into the elimination...
♪ ♪
Is jordan.
- Let's go.
- I selected jordan for a reason.
The more he's under pressure, the better he performs.
I know he can take his opponent down.
You didn't cook a bad dish.
You're in the elimination,
And you're coming back from that.
Is that clear? - 100%.
Let's go.
- Ok, alexandra, jordan, for today's elimination,
We're leaving the streets behind.
And we're heading into your local bar and grill
To make one of the most popular finger foods in america...
♪ ♪
Chicken wings.
- Let's go, baby.
- Chicken wings are right in my wheelhouse.
If I go home because of a chicken wing challenge,
I'm going to be disowned by everyone.
- Both of you will have 20 minutes
To create next level chicken wings.
Head to the elevators, all of you,
And I'll meet you up there shortly.
- Good luck. Come one. - You got this, alexandra.
- Good luck. - Let's go, baby.
- All right. Come on.
- Come on, sis. You can do it.
- Stay in control, girl. - Let's go.
- I'm good. I'm good.
♪ ♪
[hydraulics whirring]
- Let's go, bro. - Let's go.
- Come on, alex.
- Let's go, baby! - Jordan!
- I could worry. I could stress.
But, like, I've made chicken wings a billion times.
Think I could absolutely win this challenge.
- Jersey's here.
- It's game time, baby. Let's go!
- I'm not done yet.
I don't like being underestimated,
And I'm gonna do what it takes to make sure that I stay here.
♪ ♪
- Ok, everyone. Ready to go?
- Watch me work, chef. - Ok.
- I got this, chef. - Ok.
- I think jordan's gonna be in for a surprise on this one.
Alexandra's a fierce competitor.
I mean, she's a fricking cop.
Even though I'm 6'5", 300 pounds,
I wouldn't want to go up against her in a dark alley.
- Look how fierce alex looks. - Yeah.
- She's like, there's no way
I'm losing this thing to this guy.
♪ ♪
- All right, when the light turns green, you can go.
Go time. - Go, go, go, go, go, go, go!
- Oh!
- Take them. I don't want them. I don't want them.
My game plan is to grab those wings
And get them into a marinade right away.
All right, all I need. Let's go.
- Come on, alex. Season those up.
- What are we thinking we're gonna do?
- This is a wing challenge... - Yeah.
- So I'm gonna do a buffalo wing.
- Classic buffalo wing?
- Classic buffalo wing, chef.
- You've made buffalo wings before, right?
- Absolutely, chef.
I just did 3,000 wings for an event,
So I'm gonna let that shine.
- 3,000 wings, now you just have to make 3
Really, really delicious, right?
- I got this, chef.
- Do your thing, jordan.
- What do you think you're gonna do?
- We're gonna do a creamy parmesan garlic wing
With some herbs that we're gonna pull the oils out of.
And then we're gonna toss that into a nice creamy sauce,
Top it with parmesan and chives.
It's gonna be delicious, chef.
I'm not doing classic, traditional buffalo.
If we want to make it out of elimination,
We got to think outside the box right now.
- Alex, you have to season them and then do them together.
Mix them up, all right? Don't waste time, yeah.
- Ok, so your wings are just kind of coated
In a little bit of cornstarch?
- Cornstarch, salt, pepper, garlic powder,
Onion powder, and then I'm gonna fry them.
- So she just did a dry rub on those?
- Yeah. - That's it?
- She don't got enough on them chicken wings.
- Come on. Let's go. Get them in.
- Get them in and get your sauce started.
- Let's go. Hot sauce, brown sugar.
- Alexandra, is there gonna be a garnish?
- Yes, chef. - Ok.
There's gonna be carrots and celery
On the side with a ranch dipping sauce,
Scallion on top.
I'm keeping it simple.
Classic buffalo wing,
That's what you get when you go to the bar.
That's what you're gonna get here.
- 12 minutes left.
There's only 12 minutes remaining.
- All right, get them out.
Get those out. Get them over here.
Come on, alex. Come on.
- Go, go, go, go, go.
Throw that bitch in. Yeah, we'll watch it.
We got the wings.
- Focus on your ranch and your sauce now.
- All right, jordan, time to cook.
- You need to get those in the fryer.
- Yeah, right now.
- Don't wait till the last minute, bro.
- Jordan, get that chicken, bro.
I don't know.
- Man, she's already in the fryer, bro.
[bleep], man. - Come on, jordan.
You got to get it in the fryer now.
- Jordan, get ready. - Yup.
There's a lot of voices coming at me right now.
Things are moving a million miles an hour.
I got to focus, though.
- Yes, yes, yes. Go, go, go, go, go, go.
- Get them in there, man.
There you go.
- Come on, alex.
Is your sauce good, alex?
That's the most important part.
It's a wing challenge.
- All right?
- Taste, taste, taste, taste.
- Jordan, add something fresh to the plate.
- Yes.
- Put them on a bed of, like, red cabbage.
- What are we doing with it? - Make a slaw with that.
- Red cabbage for the bedding of the wings.
We're just gonna have to plate this as is
And try to make it look as pretty as we can.
- 6 1/2 minutes!
♪ ♪
- Chef, tongs! - Tongs.
- They ready?
- I don't think they're ready yet.
- They ready? - They look it. Look at them.
- I don't know.
- I don't think they're ready yet, bro.
- They're good. They're good. - Let's go! Let's go!
That's what we're talking about, baby.
They look amazing. Let's go.
- His look good.
- They look crunchy.
It's gonna be crispy.
- Oh! Chef blais.
- He got a little smirk on his face.
- Alex, taste them. Check those.
♪ ♪
- Good. - Boom.
Be careful when you sauce it.
- Come on, girl! You got this!
- Ok, hers don't look bad.
But then the hot sauce could make them not crispy no more.
- Five minutes left!
- Everything's good? - Yup.
- Hold on, hold on, hold on.
- Save the toss. Save the toss.
- Organize yourself. - Breathe.
- Yeah. - Breathe.
- I feel like I've been cooking stressed
And, you know, that's probably why I'm in elimination.
- Keep going, jordan. Make it pretty.
- Let's go, baby. Let's go! - You got it!
- Let's go! Let's go! Let's go!
- Breaded wings hold on to a lot of sauce
And get soggy a lot faster than a naked wing.
Should I toss them in it?
Do I coat them with sauce?
Do I do it on the side?
- Come on, jordan! We need you.
- Come on! Let's go, man.
- Jordan, you're making me really nervous.
You're just kind of standing around.
- A lot of big decisions to make right here
That could totally change the results
Of this elimination round.
- Are you tossing?
- I'm gonna go with my gut.
I like a saucy wing.
We're gonna toss them.
- All right.
- Oh, no. What are you doing?
That's gonna ruin the crispiness.
Put it on the side!
That's a dipping sauce.
That's not a basting sauce.
♪ ♪
- One minute left. - We got one minute.
- All right, not too much sauce, now.
- I'm just trying to keep focused.
The only thing I'm thinking about
Is flavor and making sure those wings are crispy.
[tense music]
I'm gonna kill it.
I'm not gonna go down to someone
That's only here for youtube views.
- Make them pretty. Make them pretty.
- 30 seconds left.
- Let's do it, jordan. Come on!
- Yeah, there we go! - Yeah!
- There we go, baby! There we go! There we go!
- Go, jordan!
- This could come down to the garnish.
- Chef blais is continuing to say,
It's gonna come down to garnish.
And I'm looking at my dish right now.
We're looking pretty basic.
- 10, 9, 8, 7...
- Jordan, your herbs! - 6, 5, 4...
- Are they good? - 3, 2, 1.
Hands up. - Yeah!
- Whoo! - Let's go.
- Good job.
Nice work. Nice work.
♪ ♪
- Oof. Richard. - [exhales sharply] gordon.
- How was that?
- Well, both chefs left everything on the plate,
And it was a fun cook for sure.
All right, so we have garlic parmesan wings,
And we have a sweet-spicy buffalo wings.
And we will start off with the garlic parmesan wings.
- Right.
♪ ♪
They actually taste way better than they look.
♪ ♪
The garlic parmesan is actually really nice.
But what I love most is the crispiness of this.
Don't think the red cabbage really suits it.
- Yeah, I wish there was a little bit more flavor
Coming off this red cabbage.
The flavors are really balanced.
I'm getting a lot of garlic on my palate,
Which is kind of what you want in a garlic parmesan wing.
- Secondly, we have a classic spicy and sweet buffalo wing
With a buttermilk ranch and celery.
- They look appetizing.
Shall we? - Let's jump in. Ok.
- Thank you, I'm gonna go for the ranch first.
♪ ♪
- This is a classic showing, right?
They're sticky. They're unctuous.
For me, really, a lot of the flavor is coming
On the coating on the outside of the chicken wing
As opposed to sort of permeating throughout.
- Whoever cooked these wings, they're cooked beautifully.
It just feels like it needs to be a little bit more textured.
It's just smothered in a very, very strong sriracha.
- So, gordon, this is hard, but I'm gonna start with you.
Which wing dish are you going to eliminate tonight?
- The wing I'm sending home...
♪ ♪
Is...
♪ ♪
This one, the hot, spicy wing.
- Ok. Nyesha?
- Both dishes, I can picture myself eating
On super bowl Sunday.
♪ ♪
The wing that I'm sending home...
♪ ♪
It's gonna be the buffalo.
- [exhales heavily]
That wing was cooked by alexandra.
- Seriously?
- Damn.
- Oh. - Damn it.
- Damn, I think she played it a little too safe on this one.
- You're so fierce, you're so strong,
And you take direction so well.
And it's an honor to coach someone like that, right?
- Thank you for pushing me.
You've taught me so much already.
- Pleasure.
- You know, I was honestly not expecting
To be here as long as I was.
Thank you.
So to even make it this far was a great thing.
♪ ♪
[applause]
♪ ♪
- Jordan, well done. And you can handle pressure.
The crispiness on those wings were delicious.
- Thank you, chef.
- On the back of what you all did today,
I need you all to sharpen your knives tonight
Because the next challenge, I promise you,
Is a cut above.
- Mm.
- Good night. - Oh, ok.
[applause]
♪ ♪
- Well done, jordan. - Come on.
♪ ♪
- Next time on "next level chef"...
- You guys ready to rock? - Yeah!
- For today's challenge, there's a twist--
Three huge cuts of beef.
- I have zero experience butchering red meat.
Last time, zach saved me,
So I'm banking on zach for sure.
- Coming through. I'm coming through.
- Make sure it's perfect.
- It's blue in the middle.
I'm panicking.
Come on! Just cook!
- That's nasty.
- ♪ don't go crazy ♪
- Jordan, you can't [bleep] around, young man.
- I'm all over the place right now, chef.
I'm the weakest link in this room.
Wheels are falling off.