- Previously on "next level chef"...
- Back at the club, baby.
- I'm happy that we're on the top floor,
But I feel like this thing is cursed.
- That's his [bleep] duck.
- Damn!
- The winning pizza of the night, nicole.
- Oh!
- Whoo!
- The dish I'm eliminating tonight is chris.
- ♪ I'm going down fighting ♪
- And tonight--
Opa!
- I want to smash one.
[screams]
- We are heading back to the cradle
Of civilization, greece!
- Yeah. - All right.
- Pig's ears.
- I can hear elimination calling me.
- Whoo! Fire!
- We haven't grilled before. [bleep].
- ♪ I'm going down fighting ♪
- This is incredible.
- It looks like someone threw it up.
- Wow.
- It's going to be a fight.
- ♪ I'm going down fighting ♪
[dramatic music]
♪ ♪
- Good morning. - Good morning.
Welcome back, guys. - Whoo!
- Yes.
That is the energy.
Man, our numbers are dwindling, right?
- Yes, chef.
- Ok, trailblazers.
Thanks to nicole, we are heading to the top level.
Now that we're on top, the question is,
Can we stay there?
- I don't feel like I've ever really been thrown around as,
Like, oh, someone to look out for.
But I don't know. Maybe people should watch out.
- Team arrington.
- Chef.
- We are back in that middle kitchen today thanks to mada.
You cooked your way out of that elimination.
- Thank you, chef.
- Christina, you didn't even hesitate to use
That immunity pin last time.
Was that an easy decision for you?
- It's what it's for.
- What does this competition mean to you?
- This is everything.
I've dreamed about this since I was a child.
It's the only thing I love to do.
That's why I'm putting so much pressure on myself.
But I need to just stop overthinking every cook.
And if I just do what I'm good at,
It will show up on that plate.
- That's why I chose you.
- Listen.
Richard, nyesha, and myself, we talk endlessly
About the passion we see every time you
Walk into this competition.
Keep that up, please.
Right, are you ready for today's challenge?
- Let's go. - Yes, chef.
- Let's go, come on. - So are we.
Today, we are heading back to the cradle of civilization,
The one place where tzatziki and togas came together
To form a perfect union--
Greece! - Yeah.
- All right. - Hands up.
Who's been to greece?
- Let's go.
- Major pressure for the greek girl to execute
A perfect greek dish.
I'm just going to go into it like it's any other cook.
- The best thing about the greeks,
They know how to party, right?
- Yes.
Opa!
[laughter]
I love that.
- Yeah, I want to smash one.
- The greek custom of breaking plates
Is a real symbol of good luck.
- In that case--
- Whoo!
- Opa!
- Yeah! Opa!
- Oh, my gosh.
You guys are absolutely ridiculous.
- Come on.
- I mean-- but since we're all throwing plates--
- Yes! - --Why not?
- Yes!
- Why not?
[cheering]
- Opa!
- Right.
Now that you've all got the amazing good luck
On your side, all of you today will have 25 minutes to create
One stunning greek entree.
Simple, fresh ingredients, elevate that.
Understood?
- Yes, chef.
- Ok.
Team blais, off to the elevator.
I'll see you on the top level soon, team blais.
Let's go. - Team blais.
- Let's do it, baby.
♪ ♪
- Ready as we can be.
It's going to be a long ride.
We're going all the way up there.
- All right.
- Yeah.
- Hoo, hoo, hoo, hoo, hoo, hoo, hoo.
- Feels good to be up here.
- It does, but you know how everybody
Has their superstition about the kitchen.
The top kitchen is cursed.
It's bad juju.
Everybody goes into elimination.
- Yeah. Let's break that [bleep] curse.
- Every time a team gets sent up here, they head straight
Back down to the basement.
Today is the day that we have to break this curse.
♪ ♪
- Oh.
- Home sweet home.
It feels like we've been here forever.
♪ ♪
- Let's get it.
- Right.
- How you doing down there?
- Please drop me a lemon or something.
God.
No lamb's tongue, please.
- Lamb testicles today.
- I'll cook some lamb [bleep].
Let's go.
- Ok, christina.
We get it.
We're in the basement.
We know.
But not for long.
♪ ♪
- Let's go, guys. - Let's go.
Come on.
- Get the hell out of here.
- Three social media chefs left on team ramsay.
We think outside of the box.
We're well rounded, and we're used
To just making weird stuff.
Bring it on.
- Greek food shines because of the ingredients.
- Yes, chef.
- It's greek.
Don't overcomplicate it.
- Yes, chef.
- But you, you've got to grab. - Yes, chef.
- Let's go.
Let's go!
- Give me some love. Boom!
Give me some love. - Let's go.
- He made it back. Ah!
Good vibes today. - Good vibes.
Good vibes. - We love it.
Yeah, you stay ready.
I'm so proud of you. - Thank you so much.
- Two in a row.
Wow.
- All right. Let's go.
- Yeah!
- Let's go, team blais.
I'm feeling it.
I'm feeling it today, ok?
Ok, listen.
You're going to have the lion's share.
You know what that should be in the framework
Of greek cuisine. - Yes.
- So you know what might be up there,
You're probably going to get it, right?
- Yes. - Ok.
- Let's do it. - Let's line up on the door.
We're ready to go.
- Let's do it.
- It's greek food, greek cuisine.
Let's go.
Ok, team blais. What do we got?
Some amazing--
There's bream, pig ears, lamb neck.
- Oh, my god.
- Greek, they love lamb.
Let's do it.
Let's try that.
Grab, grab, grab.
And we'll figure it out later.
- Octopus, really, really tasty.
Grabbed the octopus immediately.
Cherry tomatoes, goat cheese.
It's so hard to see.
It's such a challenging pairing--
Octopus with goat cheese.
So I'm going to have to pull tricks
Out of the hat for this one.
- Balsamic vinegar, cilantro, tahini.
- I feel like the grab is more stressful on the top kitchen
Because there is so much to look at.
The only thing I'm seeing is turkey thigh.
- Tomatoes, figs.
Five seconds.
- I'm really not seeing the things I thought I
Would see on a greek platform.
I can't even find a can of beans!
I wanted to make hummus!
- If you can grab it, it's yours.
- But for some reason, I grabbed a yellow bell pepper,
Just in case I can make that work.
- Ah. - Yes, yes.
- Dang it.
- Go! Let's go.
Beautiful greek dishes.
- I see some beautiful ingredients!
Red prawns!
Oh my goodness.
And I even found feta and some orzo.
Today is my lucky day.
- We got pork chops.
We have chicken.
- Airline chicken breast.
I'm like, yeah, let me grab that.
- 15 seconds, guys.
- And I also grabbed some red cabbage for some freshness.
- Come on, guys. Grab ingredients.
Everyone have a protein?
We got pork chops.
We got pig ears.
- Yuck. No, thank you.
Fried sardines are one of my dad's favorite things to eat,
So I grab it instantly.
Lemons? Lemons?
I'm feeling really good about my grab.
- Everyone have a protein?
It's leaving.
- Ooh.
- Let's go! Go, go, go!
Go!
- I see the pork chop.
Go, and it's gone.
Oh, damn.
- I got a top-floor grab today.
I'm feeling amazing.
- Salad, anchovies, look.
- This is the best day to be in the basement.
- Fennel, carrots.
- I'm super surprised to see bream made it to the basement.
I got this, man.
- Five seconds. Pig's ears.
- Ah, pig's ears.
[bleep]
- What the hell?
- I don't know, chef.
I end up with pig's ears.
I'm screwed.
- Grab, grab, grab.
Well done. - Holy [bleep].
I'm happy with my thick-ass pork chop.
I'm ready.
[bleep] yeah.
[giggles]
I'm cursing more than I ever have on this show so far.
I guess I'm getting more comfortable.
- Right, guys, your 25 minutes starts now.
What did you grab? - Pork chops.
- Oh, stop it.
That made it down here?
- Yes, it did, chef. - Love it.
Love it, love it, love it.
- Izahya, what did you grab?
- Bream. - Bream?
Yes.
- I mean, that thing is so mediterranean.
It's unreal. - Yes, chef.
Bell pepper.
- Nice.
- A red pepper jalapeno, some leeks,
Tomatoes, spinach, grapefruit.
- Traditionally, they don't fill them.
They slice them and marinade them.
- Oh, [bleep] pig's ear, bro.
- Pig's ears.
Oh my god.
Ok.
Have you ever eaten pig's ears? - No.
- Have you tried them? - Never.
- Man.
- Oh, jeez.
- Damn.
- I give pig's ears to my dogs.
Now I got to make it for gordon ramsay.
What the [bleep] am I going to do with this?
♪ ♪
- Gordon!
How's it going down there?
- We got pig's ears down here.
- Have you ever cooked them before?
- No.
- Oh, good luck.
- Listen, I prepared for many things.
I prepared for cow tongues, ostrich.
But one thing I did not prepare for was the ears of a swine.
- In greece, there's like a crispy pig's ear salad.
You slice them nice and thin.
Flour, egg wash, breadcrumb, beautifully fry
Like nice big lardons.
- This is going to be a uphill battle for sure.
- Man, don't make a pig's ear of this one, will you?
[bleep]
- Wow.
I can hear elimination calling me.
- All right, guys.
Think about how are you adding freshness.
Best dish of the day, yes? - Yes, chef.
- Christina, what is the vision for your plate?
- I'm going to make a traditional,
Like, potato garlic dip.
I'm going to just lightly fry those sardines.
- Do you cook a lot of greek food?
- I do. - Yeah.
- It's what I grew up with.
A lot more of the homey type of greek stuff, you know?
My dad always eats these deep fried sardines.
Ever since I was a kid, I remember
We used to have a greek diner.
So I did grow up in that environment.
But it's just so close to home and my culture,
And my greek heritage and upbringing
Is one of my strengths.
So that's what I want to replicate today.
- Fried sardines sounds delicious, chef.
- Yeah.
- Keep up that intensity, ok?
- Yeah.
- Oh, yes.
Let's go.
- Chef von!
- I have an airline breast right here.
I'm going to do a sauteed chicken
Breast over a nice fresh fattoush
Salad with some crispy pita.
- Cook in that cast iron, love that.
- I'm going to get a nice crispy skin on that beautiful
Airline chicken breast because I
Don't want any of the mentors to talk
[bleep] about my chicken.
- Cook like you want it.
- Ah, ah, ah!
- We're working on the things that take the longest to cook.
So a couple of you are working on some breads.
That's awesome.
All right, angela, what are we thinking?
- I'm going to marinate this.
- Lamb neck?
- Right.
- Sear, oven, and try to leave this thing mid-rare.
- Ok, got it.
So those are mid-rare and then slice?
- Mm-hmm.
I've never made a lamb neck before.
I don't even know why I grabbed it.
I feel like that's, like, a basement protein.
- I would just be mindful that it still
Is a pretty big piece, so just let it rest for as much time
As it cooks, ok? - Yes, chef.
I won't even lie.
I don't even know people ate this.
- Lamb neck?
It could work, but it's an odd choice.
It's easy to under or overcook, and you're
Gifting your competitors better options on the middle
And the basement floor.
Zach, the octopus is going to hit the grill, right?
- Yes, chef.
- Yeah. That's a good call, right?
Because we don't have a lot of time.
I don't mind sometimes if you drip
A little oil into that grill.
- 100%.
- To get those flames licking, you know what I mean?
- You got it, boss.
- Ok, nicole, what are we thinking?
- I'm going to marinate my turkey thighs.
I think I'm going to give them a sear
And then put them on a skewer and grill them.
I'm going to do tzatziki something.
- Oh, tzatziki, one of my favorite things.
Ok.
On the last grab, I saw you overextend into the platform.
- Yes.
- You, like, have some superpower
That I'm not aware of? - I am elastigirl.
- Oh, you're elastigirl?
- She says, go, fight, win!
- But how do you do that?
- I have double-jointed arms.
I can do crazy things with my arms.
I can lick my elbow.
- Things I don't need to know in the middle
Of the competition.
- I won't do it now because it's
Unsanitary in the kitchen, but I'll show you later.
- We have the real-life elastigirl right here.
- My mom always tells me not to do that in public.
[dramatic music]
- Five minutes down, 20 minutes to go.
Yes?
Keep it going, guys, yes? - Yes, chef.
- Let's get out of this basement.
What'd you grab, gabi?
- All right, chef.
I have this beautiful pork chop,
And I'm marinating it right now.
- You got to cook it in the pan.
Don't put the butter in too early so it doesn't burn.
You've got lots of herbs in there as well,
So they may burn. Yes?
- Ok. Yes, chef.
- Yeah.
- I'm still learning how to cook meat.
And I picked a really challenging protein.
It was this thick!
[sighs] I just need it to be perfect.
- Hey, jordan.
We're going to set up here for your flour,
Egg wash, bread crumb. - Thank you, chef.
- All right. Get organized, young man.
- Yes, sir.
- Man, we are truly in the basement, let me tell you.
I cannot believe the grab from jordan.
He gets pig's ears.
Never taste them, never cook them in his life,
But there is a traditional pig's ear salad.
If he gets this right, it could be mind-blowing.
Izahya grabbed this whole sea bream.
That is grease to a t. And then gabi, the pork chop.
I mean, that is the perfect ingredient to highlight
Mediterranean cuisine.
So fingers crossed, we're going to get out of the
Basement quickly.
Let's go, guys.
- Yes, chef.
- Ok. Let's go, team blais.
Keep up the pace.
- Yes, chef!
- Angela, how are we doing?
- Um, I'm just curious about this tahini thing.
I'm not sure where I'm about to throw it.
I have never made no greek food.
- So it's sesame seed puree.
- You got to have that wheelhouse of technique
For greek because that tahini, when I open it,
And I see this much oil at the top, it's like,
Do people eat that?
It just tastes like nasty peanut butter.
- Ok.
- [giggles] I'm not really sure.
- That's a good description.
- Nasty peanut butter.
- But it's the flavor of bitter.
- I didn't like it.
I didn't know what to do.
I'm just like, hmm, got to figure that one out, you know?
I'm going to puree it.
- Ok.
We got to break the curse, everyone keeps saying.
- The top level, I think, it can be challenging because you
Do have so many ingredient options,
So I think it trips contestants up.
That is the curse of the top-level kitchen.
Halfway through.
Ok, the thighs are gonna be really hard to
Overcook, right?
So you gotta spin them on the side
Here where you can see it's raw.
You know what I mean? - Yeah.
- Ok. - It's my first I'm grilling.
- Yeah? It's your first time grilling?
- Yeah!
- It's your first time grilling?
What?
- I've never really properly used a grill before.
Whoo! Fire!
- Ok. Ok.
- I'm a baker.
I love baking cookies, pies, bars, treats.
So I feel like this competition is
Just a whole first for nicole.
But the more my confidence is growing, the more adventurous
I'm feeling to try new things and just put myself
Out there and see if it works.
- Ok.
- Go. Right.
Think about it. Stop.
Just think and work tidy, ok?
That needs to come out. - Yep.
Yes, chef. - That goes on there.
You fry them at the same time, yeah?
Let's go. - Understood, chef.
Come on. - Right.
What else are we going to serve with this beautiful fish?
- I'm going to serve a potato salad.
- I love that. I love that.
And where's this going now? In the oven?
- Yeah.
Ovens, ovens, ovens.
- Yeah.
They're over here, bud, remember?
Let's go.
- This is definitely a difficult protein, especially
Cooking the fish whole.
I could easily undercook my fish.
I need to get it in the oven.
And hopefully, by the time the platform comes, I'm all good.
- Gabi.
Watch that chop.
- Yes, chef.
- Let's go.
- My pork chop is just cooking too fast.
It's raw in the middle and burnt on the edges.
And that's where I'm at right now.
- For god's sake, that's dark.
That's too dark. All right?
So that's over now.
Look, remember I said to keep an eye on it.
So you clean that oil out.
If you're burning, you stop, and you start again, ok?
So it's not cooked.
- I'm worried now.
Oh, god.
I was feeling on top of the world with these ingredients,
But if my pork chop is messed up,
Then, like, there goes my whole dish.
- Let's go.
- [sighs] it needs to be perfect because if it's not,
Then this dish is ruined.
- [bleep]
- So that's dark.
That's too dark, right?
You have to keep an eye on this.
Right now, get some butter in there
And get that basting, ok?
And then let's get that thing in an oven.
No more color on that top, ok?
- Yes, chef.
Ok.
Chef ramsay, I trust you.
I need it to be attractive.
- You got the oven? - Yes, chef.
- You only need three or four minutes in there.
That's all. - Ok.
Thank you, chef. - Yeah.
- I really hope it works because if not,
This dish could be ruined.
- 10 minutes to go, guys.
Don't forget to season that orzo, chef.
- Yes, chef.
- Chef, what do you think?
- I think you need more coating.
- Ugh.
The sardine's just not frying up the way that I would hope.
This is food that I eat, my family eats.
It's literally in my dna, so I'm starting to freak out.
I'm adding some buttermilk to get it to coat a little bit.
- Slow your breath down, girl.
You got this.
This is in your wheelhouse.
Do you believe it? - I believe it.
- I know you do.
- I have to stop putting so much pressure on it
And go back to cooking from my heart.
- Don't get them too dark, ok? - Yeah.
- It's a delicate fish.
- Christina is bringing the dish to life.
I think she's building as she goes,
And she's drawing from her heritage.
I want christina to show herself that she can do this
Because it doesn't matter how much I believe in her,
She has to believe in herself.
- Push all the way to the end.
If you slowed down the pace, it's time to pick it back up.
You have a sauce over here, zach?
- Uh, do a puree.
- You got goat's cheese?
- Correct, yeah.
I was going to puree that with the roasted eggplant.
- You got that octopus going, you got your bread going.
You just make sure char-burnt, right?
Char-burnt.
Don't overcomplicate it, all right?
- Yes, chef.
- Simple is very tough for a lot of people,
Myself included sometimes.
And that's the concern.
Zach's got a great plan.
But as usual, he also has a thousand different elements
On his dish.
- Five minutes left, guys.
- Come on, guys.
- Chicken's cooked.
I wouldn't let it rest in that pan any longer, chef.
- Yes, chef.
- Happy, happy, happy?
- No.
Taste that?
- We're getting close.
- Needs a little more oomph. - It does.
- Yeah.
- You need that mada on that plate.
Give me some more love.
- Oh, yes.
- Four minutes to go, yes?
Start working this thing out, guys, please.
- All right, watch.
I got a little trick.
Whenever you've done something, and it's too dark,
Get a stick of butter.
It rubs the color off.
- Oh.
Chef ramsay shows me this magic eraser
Trick with a stick of butter?
Pfft.
Like, oh my god.
So my blackened pork chop, it's starting
To look a little bit better.
I mean, it's presentable.
- Jordan, start visualizing that salad now.
This dish could get us out of the basement.
Focus, ok?
- Yes, chef.
All of my components are here, but they're scattered
Across the kitchen, right?
I've got certain things on my bench, things in the fryer.
- Stop thinking about this in your mind.
Look at me.
Don't get bamboozled. Let's go.
Discipline yourself, yes?
- You got it, chef.
Time management and organization
Is my biggest downfall by far.
- Two and a half minutes left, ok?
Push all the way to the end, ok?
- Absolutely, chef.
- Simple, beautiful greek cuisine.
- The platform is on the way.
- Two minutes, start plating.
- Yes, chef.
- Elevated dishes, right?
- Yes, chef.
- Hmm?
Wow.
Come on, guys.
Here we go.
Finishing touches.
No missed platforms.
- Start plating, guys.
Move, move, move.
Drizzle, drizzle, drizzle.
- Get ready for the platform, guys.
- Beautiful. Tidy up that plate.
- Yes, chef.
- Now it looks beautiful.
Coming, guys.
- The platform is here.
Well done, gabi. Get it on there.
Let's go.
Platform now. Now.
- Platform.
- Now. - Platform.
- Now. - Go.
- Now - go, go.
- Well done. - Go.
- Well done.
Well done.
- Let's go, guys.
Attaboy.
- Good job.
- Platform's here, guys!
Let's go.
- The platform is coming, but when
You have to have a composed dish,
And you're a perfectionist like me,
I'm using every second that I have
To put the best product out because that's my name on it.
- Guys!
- You don't ever want to be on greek time
Because we're always late.
Come on, guys.
I was not on greek time to that platform today.
- Let's go. Let's go.
Von? - Come on.
Come on.
Nice.
- I get it on.
I spilled a little bit, but we just pray for the best.
- Hey. Don't forget that salad, ok?
- Yep. Got it.
- Platform is here.
- Ah.
- It's go time now.
- Heard, chef.
- Zach, the platform's here.
Angela, platform is here.
- I'm a little stressed.
I need a little bit more time.
Bam.
- Let's go.
- I have to just run to the platform like a gazelle
And make that look perfect too.
- Couple seconds left.
- Agh.
- Angela. Angela!
[dramatic music]
- [bleep]
- Did you get it?
- Yep.
[sighs]
♪ ♪
- Wow.
These dishes look beautiful.
I feel like I'm cruising through santorini.
♪ ♪
Shall we start at the top?
Richard blais, what have you got?
- All right. Here we go, top kitchen.
Grilled octopus with goat cheese puree.
♪ ♪
- Wow.
I mean, there's not a more quintessential ingredient
Coming out of greece than octopus.
Unfortunately, there's a fattiness and sort of richness
That's lingering on my palate.
I believe it's coming from the goat cheese.
For me, that is overpowering the delicate sort
Of lightness on this octopus.
- This is my first kind of negative criticism.
I'm just thinking now octopus and cheese,
Why the hell did I do that?
I'm feeling super nervous.
Not sure what's going to happen at this point.
- This next dish is a lamb's neck.
- Uh, what happened?
- This was literally thrown up onto the platform.
- Because it looks like someone threw
It up after a heavy night.
- We have a lamb's neck marinated.
Then you have this fresh tomato,
Olive, and onion salad.
- There's a lovely vibrancy from this dish.
It doesn't look the most attractive,
But I love the olives, the red onions, and the
Blistered, roasted tomatoes.
Delicious.
Lamb neck can be served pink.
This one's a little tough for me
Because it's been sliced too hot.
- You guys are the cream of the crop.
When we say two minutes, at that point,
Cooking is done, right?
You're just composing your dish.
You worked so hard to just be thrown on that platform.
- This is my first ugly plate, you know what I mean?
Some people have been throwing the thing up there
Like frisbees all season, so you can't
Fault me off one ugly plate.
- Ok, this next dish is a marinated grilled turkey thigh
Souvlaki-- say that three times fast--
With fresh pita bread, tzatziki,
And a pepper and olive salad.
Turkey not something you jump to right
Away when you're thinking about greek food for sure.
- Um, cook on the turkey is beautiful, tzatziki vibrant.
The pita bread is delicious.
- The depth of flavor is phenomenal.
There's incredible garlicky notes
That are very, very pleasant.
Great job.
- The tzatziki and the turkey is really, really perfect.
The bread is nailed.
Tasty, tasty, and well-cooked turkey thighs.
- Oh my gosh.
It's like there's fireworks going off inside my body.
- Heading to the middle, we have
A mediterranean grilled shrimp with a feta
And cucumber salad.
- Beautiful.
Love the feta, the olives, and the tomato.
It's the perfect appetizer at a greek wedding.
- Yeah.
I mean, I think the ingredients scream greece for sure.
But the shrimp are a little mushy.
- Next up, this is a pan-roasted chicken breast
Over a salad of fattoush.
- Did the plate fall?
- The chef literally threw it onto the platform.
- Hmm.
The chicken's cooked beautifully, really delicious.
- Yeah.
I mean, for me, to be honest, it's a little clunky.
The chicken itself, well cooked,
But maybe you could have, you know,
Manipulated it a bit more.
- Interesting.
The fattoush salad is the perfect complement
To the chicken breast.
And I'm happy you guys actually got to taste it because I was
Very concerned that this was not going
To even make the platform.
- Wow.
- Next up, heading to the coast of mykonos, we have
Crispy deep-fried sardines.
- I know that what I put on the plate
Is true to the greek heritage.
I want this more than anything,
And I hope it's enough.
- There's not a more quintessential greek item
Than the charred lemon.
I love that this chef grabbed sardines
Because you got to fight that strong flavor with maybe
The sweetness of the tomato.
- Yeah, this dish is vibrant--
The eggplant, the tomatoes, and the roasted lemon.
The sardines should be the hero,
But they need to be cooked more or grilled.
But yeah, it's a great effort.
Shall we move to the basement?
I know these dishes look like they come from the top floor,
But they were granted some amazing ingredients.
- I don't understand how you get the pork chop
And the whole fish down there. - Yeah.
- Great ingredients.
- Let's start off with a sea bream
All the way from santorini.
- Really smart to keep the fish whole like this.
I mean, for me, the star on this plate is the fish.
Really challenging to cook fish properly on the bone,
And this is incredible.
- And it's also incredibly simple.
It's hard to do simple things well.
It's a very classic greek dish right there.
- It just oozes mediterranean.
So this pork chop was marinated in a citrus marinade with
Okra, potatoes, and peppers.
♪ ♪
- Perfect.
This dish is vibrant.
The pork chop is cooked beautifully.
And that viscosity from the okra is incredible.
- For as beautiful as it looks, I have to be honest,
The flavor is also as good.
- It looks like it just stepped off the cover
Of "bon appétit" magazine.
Well done.
- I applied to "bon appétit," and I got a big, fat rejection.
So to just hear gordon ramsay say that this dish belongs
On the cover of a magazine?
Ok!
- The pig's ear, not a great ingredient.
So this is a crispy pig's ear mediterranean salad.
♪ ♪
- I got to say, the pig's ear is crispy, and it's beautiful.
- Not an easy thing to cook.
What I really love about this dish
Is the simple salad that you see in the mediterranean.
Overall, I think it's a pretty good dish.
- A really good cook on that pig's ear.
Well done.
- Do you hear what I'm cooking right now?
I'm stoked.
Top dish with pig ears?
We might be there.
♪ ♪
- Ok.
Right now, we need a very serious moment.
Top nine, it's a very tough debate back there,
Let me tell you.
Excuse us, please.
♪ ♪
- Um, right.
Shall we start in the bargain basement?
- I don't understand how you get a whole fish down there
And how you get a pork chop down there.
- The sea bream, he cooked it beautifully.
And you know what?
He didn't just stick it in the deep fat fryer.
You don't do that in greece.
- Totally.
- Then the pork chop.
- The gordon hype train has some merit to it.
- Hype train? - Listen.
I do love the fish.
The pork chop is stunning.
The pig ears, maybe not the pig ears.
Come on.
Not-- not--
- Hold on now.
- If I had pig ears, bro, I wouldn't have
Been able to do what you did.
- And we did that [bleep] in the basement.
- I did love the chicken from middle floor
With the fattoush. - It's ugly.
I'm sorry.
- The chicken was delicious.
- It looks like it fell off the truck.
It looked like it fell off the euro truck.
- Because the chef actually threw it onto the platform.
- I had a chef who threw something onto the platform
Too, and it looks better than that.
- What? The lamb neck?
It did not look better than that.
- It absolutely looked better than that.
- What?
- I thought it was missing ingredients.
It looked half done to me.
- Chicken was cooked way better than lamb.
- Onions, tomatoes, olives.
- That was not a next level chef dish for me.
- What are they're fighting about?
This is stressful.
- Those sardines, I would have preferred to see them grilled.
Deep fried sardines, sorry.
- I agree with you on this one.
- But there was other better flavors
On the plate than sardines.
The octopus with the goat cheese.
What happened there?
- This is my best chef over there,
So I'm letting him ride a little bit more.
- But you have to put the reins on him.
- They disliked the goat cheese.
- I'm, like, that's the first time
I put an ugly plate up there.
- Best dish of the day, it's got to be between the pork
And the fattoush, no?
- The fattoush?
- Oh, it tasted good, the fattoush.
- We're talking best dish?
- Yes.
- Best dish?
- To be clear.
Come on. - Best dish?
- Come on.
- You think it's on your floor.
- I think to me, the best dish is-- hear me out.
- I'm listening. - I'm listening.
- The marinated turkey thighs and the beautiful, soft
Pita bread.
- Interesting.
- So turkey, chicken fattoush, and pork, best dishes.
- I'd say so.
- Great.
- Which dish do you picture coming out of greece?
Ah. - Hmm.
That's a good argument.
- You know what I mean?
- That's a good argument.
- Let's go. Come on.
You got this.
- Here we go. - It's time.
- All right. Let's go.
- Ok.
- Ok, these conversations are getting more
Difficult each and every time.
Now, only one of these dishes we could agree that
Stood out above the rest.
The top dish today is--
♪ ♪
- The top dish today is--
[dramatic music]
Gabi's pork chop.
[cheering]
- Let's go, dude!
- Gabi, it was cooked to perfection.
Magazine-cover food.
- I was rejected from a job at "bon appétit,"
So hearing that, it was like, just, wow.
- What would you say to "bon appétit" right now?
- I'd say, "bon app," hey.
You could have had this, but not anymore.
[laughs]
- Well done.
Next time around, team ramsey will
Be in that top-level kitchen.
Head to the lounge. Well done, gabi.
- Legend.
- Team ramsay is definitely a force to be reckoned with.
Right now, we're the top dogs.
[cheering]
♪ ♪
- Each of you now have to nominate
One individual to head into a tough elimination.
All right, richard, I'm going to start with you.
- Angela, it just didn't quite work out today.
Zach, the goat cheese dominated that dish.
It's a pretty big error at this stage in the competition.
Zach, you do have that pin on your chest.
♪ ♪
But it's angela that I'm going to put
Into the elimination today.
- Absolutely.
It's my second time going into elimination.
I am going to bring it like I brought it last time.
- Oh.
Honestly, I don't want to put anyone
Up in that elimination cook.
♪ ♪
Christina, you were in your head.
I want you out of your head, girl.
Get your ass back to team arrington.
- I got you.
I'm going into elimination, and I'm coming out.
End of story.
- Christina, angela, you've got one last chance
To prove yourselves.
Both of you'll be working with a protein
Synonymous with the greek cuisine,
A perfect rack of lamb.
- I've been waiting for the rack of lamb.
- Now, you both got 25 minutes to cook that rack of lamb
However you're doing it.
But it needs to be cooked perfectly.
Right.
Head to the elevator. I'll see you shortly.
- Let's go, christina.
- Angela, get it in the oven.
Get it cooking fast. Three go up--
- Flavor, girl. - --Three come back.
- Wow.
- It's going to be a fight, man.
- All right, girl.
You got this. Let's go.
- I'm excited. - Let's go.
- I'm coming in this ready.
There's a history of some pushing and shoving
Running to that platform.
I will get dirty if I have to.
♪ ♪
- This is not going to be kiss of death
Or bad juju like everybody thinks in the top kitchen.
I'm breaking the curse, so christina is going home.
♪ ♪
- Ladies, come over.
Come over, come over.
- She looks so composed.
- Ooh. - Yeah.
- Last time, angela, she looked just like that
Throughout her whole cook.
- Yep.
- Racks of lamb it's the rolls-royce cut, ok?
It all depends on that first initial sit
And getting it in the oven so you've got time to rest.
The very best of luck to both of you, yes?
- Thank you. - Both of you line up.
Let's go, ladies. - You got this.
Let's go!
- Platform's coming.
I feel like I'm watching the super bowl.
The stakes are high.
If you lose this challenge, you are going home.
- Your 25 minutes
Starts now!
Let's go.
Good luck, ladies.
- Oh, push!
- There we go.
Rack of lamb, well done.
- Even though we both had a rack of lamb,
The rest of the ingredients are really the most important.
That's what more so was going through my mind.
- 25 minutes to get yourself out of this elimination.
- Let's go.
There you go.
- Christina pan's smoking, fat side down.
- Yep, always. - There you go.
- And let the pan do the work. - Yeah, absolutely.
- Good. Tell me about the dish.
Where are you going?
- I'm doing a classic seared lamb chop.
I'm going to make a pasta with lots of lemon, garlic.
I want to do some pureed carrots--
- Nice.
- --And seared trumpet mushrooms.
- Love that.
Love that, love that, love that.
Good.
Right, angela, cooking that meat on the bone
Is where the money is, right?
- It's where all the money is.
I'm just going to take some of my fat off.
- Oh, she's taking that whole piece off.
- The whole fat cap off?
- I mean, it's going to make it cooked through quicker.
- Tell me about the dish.
What are you thinking of doing?
- I'm going to do a balsamic glaze.
- Right.
I'm going to do spiced potatoes.
- Ok, good.
Speed up that process, yes?
Let's get this lamb in the oven.
- I cut majority of the fat off because sometimes it doesn't
Crisp, so I wasn't going to take that risk
To have a thick fat like that.
♪ ♪
- Good. Lamb in the oven?
- Yep. Ok, well done.
Now, that was a shock for richard
And I when nyesha said, look, girl, you're in your head.
- It's all good.
- But from a woman that handles so much
Pressure on a daily basis.
- I handle pressure from stuff on the outside
With my daughter, my being an icu nurse,
But I tend to be the hardest critic of myself.
- So let's get rid of that self-doubt.
Listen to your mentor. - Yeah.
- Ok?
And believe in yourself, ok? - I do.
I do. - Five minutes gone.
Right. What's in the reduction?
What have you got in there?
- Balsamic and red wine vinegar.
- Good. I love that.
And then in terms of the garnish.
- I'm just going to do a fresh roasted tomato salad.
- Really?
- I want to actually grill those really quickly,
Get a nice char on them.
- And sort of blister them as well?
- Then I'm going to do some fresh red onion.
I just want to keep it nice and something simple and fresh.
- So you've got a really nice cut of lamb,
The rolls-royce of lamb.
So if you're going to make a salad with that,
It needs to be a salad of absolute vibrancy.
- Heard, chef.
- Tomato and lamb, to me, isn't--
- Nah, it don't sound right.
- I'm not that into it.
- Oh, there you go.
Let's go.
- 10 minutes gone.
15 minutes to go, right?
- You got 15 minutes.
This is your [bleep] world right now.
- You've got mint in there?
- Yeah. - Ok.
Are those mushrooms, christina? - Yeah.
- You should put a little bit of lamb fat,
If you have some, on there to add--
Layer that flavor, right?
- Love that idea.
Right, is the dish starting to come together in your mind
Now? - Yes.
- Taters are boiling, that's good.
Reduction is done.
Nice little blistered tomato.
Some tomatoes on the vine there working as well.
- Let's go, girls.
- Ooh.
- Angela, what are--
[stammering] it's got to come together.
- Christina's dish is sounding like it makes more sense.
- [sighs]
- 10 minutes remaining.
- Lamb's ok? - Yeah.
I'm going to check it. I'm going to check it.
- Feeling organized and good?
- Yep. - That's good.
Let's take that.
Put it on here. What do you think?
- I need to rest. - Yeah, that's right.
It's cooked beautifully, by the way.
- Thank you.
- Yeah, girl.
- Let's get that lamb out.
Am I gonna test now?
You got a thicker-sized lamb.
So it's quite rare there still.
- Right now, I'm freaking out that my lamb is not
Going to be cooked on time.
- But you can't fast-track it, right?
Here we go.
- Mm.
- Oh my god.
- If it's not cooked, I'm going home.
♪ ♪
[dramatic music]
- Six minutes, guys.
- I'm having a blast, y'all.
- You got the chili.
You got mushrooms.
You got puree.
- Zip it on there.
- Let's go. - Don't panic.
Relax.
- I need to wait until the absolute last minute
Before I cut this lamb.
God forbid I slice it, and it's raw.
- That's what you [bleep] got.
This is what you do.
- We are down to our last two minutes, ladies.
Start plating. - Plate!
- Start plating.
- Yeah, grab your plate, girl.
- Angela, compose yourself.
- You got this. - Take your time.
Bring it home.
Get everything on your plate first, ang.
We're down to 60 seconds to go.
- I have to cut it now and get it onto the plate.
- There you go.
- Yeah!
Let's [bleep] go!
- All right.
- 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5,
4, 3, 2, 1, and stop.
- Yeah! - Well done.
- Whoo!
♪ ♪
Well, nyesha, richard, welcome back.
Ok.
Two phenomenally cooked racks of lamb.
Let's start with this rack of lamb, beautifully marinated.
There's a grilled blistered tomato
Salad with smashed potatoes with a balsamic
Vinegar reduction.
- Lamb is cooked absolutely beautifully.
Where I get a little bit lost is
It kind of looks like there's two concepts on one plate.
Other than that, really beautiful.
- Yeah, I love the wine vinegar sauce
With the gaminess of lamb.
With the tomatoes and the onions,
You know, one half of the dish is a little summery,
One half is a little wintry.
That's where it gets confusing.
- The fat on that lamb is caramelized,
And it's just delicious.
Really good.
Second lamb dish served with a carrot puree,
Green beans, pistachio pesto, and chanterelles
That were sauteed.
♪ ♪
- That mushroom that's so beautifully
Caramelized with the lamb fat, really smart.
Very herbaceous, the pesto on the side.
If anything, I would say, put more on the plate.
For me, the eye goes to that carrot puree,
And it's almost like that's the center of the focus.
- Mm.
The pesto is almost too acidic, but it works because the lamb
Has the fat on it.
You know, we're sticklers all for purees.
That's a proper puree.
- The lamb is beautifully cooked.
Thank you.
Ok, moment of truth.
Nyesha, which lamb will you be sending home?
- Um, so the dish that I will be eliminating today
Is going to be--
♪ ♪
The lamb with the feta cheese and zucchini.
- Thank you.
Ok, richard.
- The dish that I'm going to eliminate is--
♪ ♪
The lamb with the feta salad.
- Damn.
Angela, I am so sorry.
Young lady, witnessing you across those last 25 minutes,
That was phenomenal.
- Thank you.
- It sucks to lose you right now, you know,
Because you were so talented.
- Please say goodbye to your colleagues.
You will not be our next level chef.
- The juju kitchen be taking people down.
Mm.
- I'm so proud of you.
- But I'm leaving very proud of myself.
- Take care.
- Good luck, angela.
- Good work.
- My journey keeps evolving.
You have to keep going.
You have one life to live, so don't be
Afraid to try a new journey.
- Come here.
Get over here, you.
I am so proud of you.
You got through that.
And you better believe-- - I'm glad you [bleep]--
- --You're stronger. - --Threw me in there.
To be honest.
- I knew you were going to come back.
- I needed to just [bleep] face it.
- You did it. That's a beautiful plate.
- Good job, chef.
- Being thrown into that fire where it's all or nothing,
I think I needed that confidence boost.
And now it's on.
- Let me tell you something.
Right now, the competition is wide open.
Nobody reaches the top on their own.
Sometimes you need a little help from your friends.
Good night. - Oh.
- Great job. - Oh, ho, ho.
- Thank you, chef.
Oh, I get to hug you.
My daughter's going to be so happy.
- Well done, guys. - Whoo!
- Whoo.
- My daughter gave me, like, a checklist.
She's like, you have to hug chef ramsay.
- Oh. - Hell yeah, girl.
Nice cook.
♪ ♪
- Next time on "next level chef"--
- Go!
- For the first time ever on "next level chef,"
You'll all be cooking in teams.
- Ah!
- There's more pressure as a team.
You're only as strong as your weakest teammate.
- Baby octopus and rabbit?
It's a surf and turf of nightmares.
- If one of you fails, we all fail.
- The one weak link in team ramsey is jordan.
Don't [bleep] around and fall behind.
Get going now, ok?
- Remove me from this kitchen, please.
♪ ♪