- Previously on "next level chef"...
- All right.
- Now that we're on top, can we stay there?
Angela, platform is here.
- Let's go, angela.
- Go. - Good luck, ladies.
- I'm going into elimination, and I'm coming out.
End of story.
- The dish that I'm going to eliminate is angela.
- ♪ I'm going down fighting ♪
- Now it's on.
- And tonight...
- For the first time ever,
You'll all be cooking in teams.
- Ah! - Whoo.
- The one weak link in team ramsey is jordan.
Don't [bleep] around and fall behind.
Get going now, ok?
- What I need today is not three individual chefs.
I need one team.
If one of you fails, we all fail.
- There's no I in team, but there's a me.
- ♪ I'm going down fighting ♪
[knives shinging]
[dramatic rock music]
[elevator dings]
♪ ♪
[timer ringing]
♪ ♪
- Good morning.
- Welcome back, guys. Line up.
- Good morning. - Let's go, baby.
- There's a lot less of us. This room is big.
It's starting to feel like, you know,
The finals are in sight right now.
- Yeah, come on.
- Wow, feeling good?
- Yes, chef.
- Team ramsey, thanks to gabi,
We are back in our natural environment,
Which I call home sweet home.
The top level kitchen.
- Yes, chef.
I'm excited to get to the top.
It's a stigma that the top kitchen has been cursed,
And I'm ready to break it today.
So I'm ready for the challenge.
- Ok, team blais, we're down to two, right?
And we're back in the basement today, right?
- Yes, chef.
- Listen, we have our work cut out for us.
But you know what they say.
When the going gets tough--
- The tough gets going.
- We cook our asses off, that's what the saying is.
[laughter] - that's true.
- All right, team arrington, for the third time in a row,
We're in that middle level.
- It's time to take it to a new level today.
We need that top kitchen.
- I love that.
Chef von, how are you feeling?
- I'm ready to cook.
I'm just ready for this team [bleep] to be over
Because I'm just tired of doing great work and getting
The [bleep] end of the stick.
- Person that I'm going to choose
To go in to the elimination cook,
It's going to be chef mada.
Christina.
- My favorite saying-- there's no I in team,
But there's a me.
As long as my dish is good, that's all that matters to me.
- All of you, I need you to listen very carefully.
Whether you're working behind the line
In an amazing restaurant, or preparing
A large catering order, or even serving a beautiful
Holiday dinner for the whole extended family at home,
We all work better with an extra pair
Of hands in the kitchen.
- Mm.
- That is what today's challenge is all about.
For the first time ever on "next level chef,"
You'll all be cooking in teams.
- What?
Oh, my god.
No.
- Ah! - Wow.
- Gabi and izahya, both monster chefs,
I think whatever we do together is going to be elite.
- Here's the good news.
Each team will have 30 minutes to create
A beautiful three-course meal.
- Wow. - Wow.
- One appetizer, one entrée, and one dessert.
- Oh, my god.
30 minutes to make a three-course meal?
That is not a lot of time,
And we have one less chef than everybody else.
Please pray for us.
- Each member of your team is going
To be responsible for one of those courses.
These dishes must work together cohesively.
That's the most important thing.
Understood? - Yes, chef.
- Team blais, because there's only two of you,
You get to drop a course.
- Wow. Ok.
- No, you don't. I'm only joking.
[laughter] - "next level chef," baby.
- That is not fair.
- Ok, team blais, I'll see you in the basement very soon.
Let's go, team blais. - Good luck guys.
[dramatic music]
[hydraulics whirring]
- Three courses. - Wow.
30 minutes?
I'm thinking simplistic stuff like dessert.
Let's make a nice olive oil cake, you know what I mean?
- The struggle with this challenge
Is that it has to be cohesive.
So I'm happy to go with zach's idea.
I'm just excited to kind of play sous chef today.
I'm going to work my booty off, and we're going to pull
This three-course meal off.
Yeah, what's your-- do you have your recipe
For the olive oil cake?
Is that something that I can memorize quickly?
- 1 cup of olive oil. - One--ok. Two eggs?
- Three.
- Two cups flour, equal parts, 1 teaspoon baking powder.
I'm taking charge on the dessert.
Zach is going to work on our appetizer and entrée.
Salt and a little bit of milk.
I've never had olive oil cake,
But I'm going to bake it today, and it's going to be great.
[hydraulics whirring]
- This is it. This is it.
Theme today is top dish. - [laughs]
- Top dish. - Top dish.
- Come on. Come on.
- All right, guys.
- This is what I'm thinking off the bat.
I think we should aim for, like, an american gastropub
Sort of theme. - Yeah, all right.
Now, who's doing what? Let's get that going.
- Would you rather do appetizer or dessert?
- If you really feel comfortable with dessert--
- No, I don't, but I can pull it off.
- What are you most comfortable with, dessert or--
- Dessert's our biggest weakness,
And somebody has to pull it off.
- Yes. - If you want it, take it.
- Do you bake at home?
- I don't, but I feel comfortable with the custard.
- Ok. - Ok.
You feel comfortable with the appetizer.
I know you do.
So dessert, entrée, appetizer.
- Ok, done.
Buns out, guns out, ok?
I wasn't playing today. This means business.
[hydraulics whirring]
- Team today.
We've been a team.
We've been a team since day one.
- Let's go.
Let's go.
- All right, team ramsey, three social media chefs.
We always have each other's back.
- Who's good at desserts?
- I got dessert.
I got dessert today.
What theme are we thinking? - I know.
Like, if I go scallops, what are you going to do, red meat?
- Surf and turf.
Just grab the best cut of [bleep] whatever is up there.
- Once the platform comes,
We're going to have to communicate.
- I'm officially doing the entrée,
And we're going to have to make this thing a cohesive dinner.
Hoping that we could break this curse today
And produce top level dishes.
- Yeah, baby.
- Hello. - How are we doing?
Are we ready? - Feeling good.
- Let's do this, chef. - We're feeling good?
- Yeah. - Ok.
All right. We have a theme.
What are we thinking?
- Keep it sexy, composed, light.
- Ok. - Yeah.
So we're just going to really decide on the moment.
- Yeah.
- Ok, that doesn't scare me at all.
- [laughs]
- Let's go. - Let's go.
- Congratulations.
Welcome back, girl. Welcome back.
What are we thinking, team?
- We want to go sort of, like, american gastropub vibe.
- And any proteins we're looking
Forward to on the platform?
- Yes.
- I would love chicken wings.
- Chicken wings, love that. - Yeah.
- And think about show-stopping presentation.
- Yes, chef.
- Right? - Right, let's go.
- Let's go, chef. - Let's go.
- Feeling good?
- Yes, chef.
- Whoa, whoa, whoa. - Feeling good?
- Yes, chef. - Right. Talk to me.
Where are we going with this?
- Well, if he goes surf, I do turf.
- Right. Don't play it simple.
Gabi, did you want the dessert?
- Yes, chef.
I feel like it's a strength of mine.
- Love it. - 30 minutes is tight, though.
- It's very tight.
- Jordan and izahya, pastry is not their strong suit.
I'm up for the challenge.
I'm ready to get my hands on some sugar.
- The platform is moving, guys.
Go!
- Go, go, go, go, go, go.
Oh, my goodness me, scallops.
Look at that. - Beautiful.
Ribeye. Ribeye. Ribeye.
I got the protein that I wanted,
A beautiful ribeye steak.
- Scallops. Scallops.
I got scallops. - Great.
- Keep going. Keep going. Keep going.
Normally, I'm just grabbing for myself,
And I know what I'm grabbing.
But today, I'm having to depend on my teammates.
- What else do you guys need? What do you need?
- Come on, guys. - Grab it. Grab it.
Whatever you need.
- From what I grabbed, I don't have enough
To make a next level steak dish,
So I just hope zay and gabi grab some stuff for me.
- Whoo, you got the scallops?
- I think this is going to tie into a really
Beautiful fine dining surf and turf sort of menu.
- Good grab, guys.
- Go.
Let's go, guys.
Chicken wings up top, baby.
- Chicken.
- Hallelujah!
Beautiful lollipop chicken wings.
Let's go!
- Grab beautiful gastropub ingredients.
- It's a little strange to do this
Team thing at the platform.
So I don't think that we grasp that concept very well.
- We have 30 minutes as a team to make this cohesive.
- Does anyone see coffee? - We have time.
- Coffee's here.
- Grab that. Get the coffee.
And the platform's gone.
All right, what do we got?
What do you want to do with this halibut?
- I can make a romesco sauce.
- Yeah.
- Yeah, just seared halibut over romesco.
- Gastropub? - Yes.
- I'm thinking like more farm to table.
Like, farm to table?
Farm to table. - Farm to table.
- That's what we're going to shoot for.
- American farm to table.
- We literally waited till the last second
To pick out our theme.
- Hey. We got this. - Let me know if--
- [bleep] yeah, we do.
- Let's go.
- Do we need lemons? Yes.
- Ok, sweet potato, avocadoes. - Lemon curd?
There's a lot on the platform, but it's all really random.
Lemon, citrus, fruits.
So I'm glad that I memorized that olive oil cake recipe.
- You got octopus up here.
Then you got rabbit right there.
Those are the proteins.
- Rabbit.
I'm like, man, I was hoping for a piece
Of like new york strip steak.
- Only a couple seconds.
Cherry jam, lemon curd down here.
- Do you need mayo? - No, no, no, no, chef.
- Ok.
- All right. [exhales]
I mean, it was kind of like a salvage grab.
- Ok, these are our berries we're working with.
Whatever was left, we just took it.
- Right, guys, your 30 minutes starts now.
All of you, listen to me, when you need help,
Say something, ok? - Yes, chef.
- Let's go, guys. - Yes, chef.
- Hey, if you need some tomatoes for anything,
Just add a splash of color, I got it.
- Let's go, team. - Yes, chef.
- Let's work smart.
Let's work clean.
- I got rabbit, a little bit of fennel,
Some stilton blue cheese, two asparagus,
And some frozen sweet potato.
- That sounds dreadful.
- [laughs]
A little bit worried about the rabbit.
It's something that I'm not super familiar with.
I might look like I know what I'm doing, but in my mind,
I got 10, 20 things going on at once.
- All right, nicole. - Yes, sir?
- It does smell good already.
- We got some zest going in here right now.
I'm gonna get this thing in the oven
Because it's got to cook, and we're going to get
Some macerated berries, might do a little berry sauce.
It's going to go great with everything zach's doing.
- Looks like we got a pastry shop.
- It's going to smell good.
- Some cakes take 30 to 40 minutes to bake,
And we don't have that time.
I don't even know how hot this oven is.
I can't tell the temperature.
This honestly might be one of the toughest challenges yet.
- Right. What did you grab, jordan?
- Chef, we got a ribeye. - Oh.
And how are you going to cook it?
- Do a hard sear, nice butter baste.
- Nice skillet. A nice cast iron skillet.
Get it on and get it smoking, please.
- Yes, chef. - Sweet potato puree.
- What about the sauce?
What are we going with it? - We got red wine over there.
- Get that on now. Get it reducing.
Put that in first, your sweet potato.
- Yep, yep, yep, yep, yep.
I've been flustered since the platform dropped.
You know, I'm flustered right now.
The more that I think about this, the more that I'm like,
Why did I give myself the hardest job?
- Right. What did you grab, izahya?
- So I have scallops, miso.
I'm going to go appetizer.
I made so many appetizers on my series, on my page.
- What are you gonna do with the miso?
What are you going to do?
- I'm going to add it inside the white beurre blanc sauce.
So I think that's going to be delicious, chef.
- Good.
- How are you looking over there, gabi?
- Looking good, guys.
- Got your sweet potatoes on.
- Yes, chef.
- You just need to get your reduction on now.
- Gonna get the reduction going right now, chef.
- Don't waste time. Most important piece first.
Get your pan on production. Little pan.
Let's go.
Ok, get organized, young man. Don't [bleep] around.
- You got it, chef.
- Jordan, don't [bleep] around or fall behind.
Get going. - You got it, chef. Yes, chef.
One plate, one plate, one plate, one plate.
- Come on, jordan. Let's go.
- Oh, my god.
♪ ♪
[dramatic music]
- I feel like this is not reducing fast enough.
That thing is not reducing, bro.
[bleep] man.
I'm just looking down and I'm like, [bleep].
[sighs] god, I don't know.
I don't know how this is going to go.
- I'm right here, jordan.
- Von, what is the vision of our menu today?
- Gastropub fare.
- We love that.
What'd you grab? - I grabbed the halibut.
So I'm going to do a crispy fried halibut
And I'm going to do a brown butter gnudi
With lardon, chef.
- And what about this says gastropub?
- It's american, it's comfort.
- American comfort. I love it.
- Yes, chef.
- Guys, five minutes down.
25 minutes to go.
You got what you wanted. - I know.
- So what's the game plan?
- We're going to batter these off, deep fried,
Nicely crispy. - Crispy.
- I'm going spicy and hot with the sambal, the honey,
A little worcestershire too.
- Sounds incredible. Sounds incredible.
- Let's go!
- Nothing says gastropub like a chicken wing.
- Yeah.
- The vision of the menu is coming to life.
- Yes.
- And so are we going dipping sauce?
Are we glazing these? - Yeah, I'm going to glaze them
And then make a nice dipping sauce just to complement it.
Almost tame the heat down for the people
That don't want too much heat.
- We love it.
- I got to think of everybody, chef.
- Yes. That's the signs of a good chef.
- Hey, it's like me as a--as a father,
I make three dishes in one.
I'll make one for me, one for my wife, one for my kids.
- And yours, you know the exact macro crowd.
- Exactly. - [laughs]
- I need all the protein.
- [laughs]
- Christina, where are we going?
What'd you grab?
- I grabbed a bunch of stuff to be able to make
A beautiful crema catalan. - Love it.
- If I have time, I'll do the donuts.
- I see you grabbed croissant dough.
Are you using that for your donut?
- If it works, that will be amazing.
I don't do desserts.
It doesn't come naturally to me.
So I'm just trying to focus on what I'm doing.
And everyone else is also, so our communication is lacking.
- Gabi, how are we?
- Chef, I have a shortcrust pastry that I'm rolling out.
I'm going to caramelize some peaches
And figs that's going to go in between with a cardamom cream.
I'm going to brûlée these figs as well.
- Love that. Love that.
- So [bleep] salty, bro.
- What's salty?
- It's too salty.
- What's too salty? - That's right here.
- Put it down.
Let's get a little bit of stock in there.
Back up to boil.
Come on, I've seen you better than this.
- I know, chef.
- I've seen you better than this.
- I don't know what's going on.
This is just hard.
In the last two days, I've just been in my head so hard
Just thinking about my brother.
He, unfortunately, passed away a few years ago.
He's been watching over me and cooking through me
Every single day in this competition.
You know, loss isn't easy, and it's tough to climb
Out of that dark hole.
I just got to get it together for myself and my team
Right now.
- How are you looking over there, jordan?
Are you good? - Good.
Not giving up, bro. - We need you right now.
Let's go. - Let's go, guys.
- Yes, chef.
- Teamwork, guys.
Ok, teamwork. - This is good?
Enough batter in the pan? Do you think this looks good?
- [bleep] yeah. I think it looks great.
Yeah, what do you think?
- Going in the oven.
- We need an appetizer, guys.
- Yes, chef.
- We're going to do a citrus aioli,
Chef, with fried baby octopus.
- Right. Our theme is?
- We're farm to table, chef.
That's what we're going to shoot for.
- I know you kind of work on a farm,
So these farm to table dinners, you're kind of
Like cooking in the garden.
- Yeah, love it.
- We're not on a farm.
I mean, we barely have a table, zach.
- [laughs] yes, chef.
100% the odds are against us.
♪ where is my knife? ♪
♪ yeah, [bleep] ♪
But that is when we're most creative
And we make something out of nothing.
[whooshing]
- 20 minutes left guys, ok?
- Heard.
- We have the worst ingredients that I've seen in a long time.
- Rabbit's going in.
- Rabbit and octopus, those are our proteins.
The risk with the rabbit is it can be really tough.
You usually have to cook it in an hour.
We have less than 30 minutes.
Baby octopus and rabbit?
It's a surf and turf of nightmares.
- You good, gabi?
- Yeah, I'm doing good, guys.
I'm toasting some pistachios.
- Izahya. Right.
So you've got your blistered tomatoes,
Your bacon, your beurre blanc.
- Yes.
- Get a plate for the appetizer,
And show me where you're going with this, ok?
18 minutes to go.
Jordan, pick it up, young man.
- Yes, chef. Yes, chef.
- That's the only course I'm a little bit nervous about now.
- We're almost halfway through this cook.
I feel my eyes just glazing over.
I can just kind of feel the wheels starting to loosen up,
And I'm like, oh, I can't let these things fall off.
- Down to 15 minutes.
We are halfway.
Please make sure you talk to each other.
This is a team challenge.
- Let's go. Let's go. Let's go.
- The three of you should be working as one.
- I got lemon if you need some.
Come on, von, talk it up.
Let's go. I want to hear that voice.
You guys good? Need anything?
Somebody? No?
[bleep] me.
It would be nice to get somebody to talk back to me,
You know?
- If one of you fails, we all fail.
- Not only are my teammates quiet,
But I just realized we have three fried elements--
Fried donuts, fried chicken lollipops.
We also have a fried fish.
I thought he was going to pan sear it,
To be honest with you.
We might be in trouble here.
- These chefs have all grabbed ingredients,
But they're not sharing.
They're not talking to each other.
What I need today is not three individual chefs.
I need one team.
- 12 minutes left, team.
I'm going to say this one more time--
I need you guys talking to each other.
- Yes, chef.
- All right, chef.
- How are we feeling, christina?
- Do you think that's a good texture?
- Yes, I think--yes, I do.
100%.
- I am just in my zone.
I know that the three of us are strong individually,
So I just have faith that everyone's doing
What they're supposed to be doing.
- Hey, jordan. - Yeah?
- So you're cooking asparagus before you cook what?
- The steak. - Yeah.
And what do we need to do with that steak?
- We need to get it in a pan right now.
- So you know this. Now, you ignoring it.
So focus. - Yes, chef.
- There's a little bit more pressure
When you're working as a team
Because you're only as strong as your weakest teammate.
How are you guys doing? - Good.
- Are you doing ok? - We got a reduction going.
These guys are looking good.
- My big worry right now is jordan, the entrée.
He's cooking asparagus that literally
Takes seconds to cook before the actual ribeye.
So we haven't even got anywhere near a resting period yet.
Izahya is on it, gabi's on it.
The one weak link in team ramsey is jordan.
- What you got? What you got?
- Maybe a little bit more sweetness,
But it's coming together. What you think?
- I think that is freaking delicious.
- Yes. [bleep] yes!
- Go, baby. - Eight minutes left, guys.
Let's go.
- I'm deep frying the halibut.
I take it out, and I was like,
You should have pan seared that.
I think I was just overthinking.
I wasn't paying attention, I don't know.
Just hopefully it comes together.
I wasn't thinking.
[tense music]
- All right, listen.
The big stakes here are getting that cake done,
Making sure that the rabbit's not tough,
And then making this octopus dish something
That looks like an appetizer, ok?
- Yes, chef.
I'm going to check this rabbit.
I checked it, and it's still a little under.
It needs more time.
- Do you think the cake is going to be done?
- It looks good. What do you think?
- Oh, it's a little loose.
- I definitely don't want to plate uncooked cake.
And if this doesn't go well, I'm going to elimination.
[energetic music]
- Yeah, this thing done, bro.
Is this accurate?
Can you give me a poke right here?
- Yeah. So we just want a medium rare.
It's a little bit over. - It's a little over, yeah.
How is it over?
I just stuck the thermometer in there two seconds ago,
And it said it was under.
And now, I mean,
The finger that knows everything touches it.
Hey, this is a little over.
- That's right, it's a little over.
- And I can't doubt this man's finger.
It touches a fish, a shrimp, a steak, a damn pork chop,
And it knows to the [bleep] degree what it is.
And I'm just like, oh, my god.
- Six minutes to go.
Beautiful.
Let the pan do the work, my man.
- Yes, chef.
- Hey, if you give up, your team gives up.
- I'm not giving up. - Let's go.
We need you right now. Let's go.
- Let's go, guys. We got this.
- Hey. Hey. Breathe, ok?
Breathe.
- I've got 17 pots and pans,
The oven, the blender, the puree, chef ramsay.
I'm just like, oh, my god, dude.
[laughing] remove me from this kitchen, please.
- What do you have in your gnudi dough?
- Ricotta cheese and micro basil.
- Micro basil, nice.
- Do you suggest cutting these in half or leaving them whole?
- What would you do in your restaurant?
- Make it taste good.
- Ok. - That's what I'm going to do.
- Does that mean cutting it in half for you
Or does that mean presenting it whole?
- To me, that would be half.
Or whole. - Believe in yourself.
- I definitely do that.
- Guys, we have 3 and a 1/2 minutes left.
- We got this, boys. - Let's go.
- I got the big boys on my team.
[laughs] - let's go.
- Nicole and zach, it's go time, right?
Almost two minutes. - Heard.
- Shoot, it's not cooked. It's not cooked.
- None of it's cooked? - It's not cooked.
- You know what?
You could do a rustic tear, yeah?
Take out sections that is cooked.
Zach, you're going to have to plate
Those other two dishes, ok?
- Yes, chef. - Ok.
Anything that's cooked, the bottom pieces,
Anything that's brown and lovely right there.
More bread pudding.
It's not exactly what we wanted,
But we got to make it happen.
Ok, it's time to plate. Let's go.
Go, go, go.
Platform's on the way. - Yes, chef.
- Platform's on the way. Here, you got to plate it.
You got to plate it.
Ok, you got everything on there?
- Yes, chef. - All the herbs?
- Yep.
- Get a nice little pile going on there.
The platform's on the way. - Yep.
- Platform's here, nicole. We got to go right now, guys.
Right now. You got two plates, zach.
The platform is here. - Yep, got it, chef.
- Five seconds.
I can't take it for you. I can't take it for you.
Last looks. Last looks.
Lemon juice?
Ok.
- Dang it. - Whoo!
- Platform's on its way.
Create that vision. Bring it to life.
Let's go. Let's go. Let's go.
- I'm going to take the far one, von.
You got the close one. - Yes.
- I'm going far. I'm already here.
- All right, I'm going middle. Come on, mada.
- Yup.
- Good job, guys. Look at that.
- Yeah! - Let's go!
- Valet service.
- Whoo!
- Crushed. Yeah, clean that up.
- Let's go!
- Let's go, baby. - Ah!
- Go, go, go, go, go, go.
One last look, guys.
Last look. - Come on, jordan.
Are you good, jordan? What do you need?
- Talk to me. Just talk to me.
- Platform's here.
We got to get it on.
Got to get it on, guys. Got to get on.
- Get it on there. Let's go.
Clean the plate. Come on, clean the plate.
- Look, look, look. Look.
- Let's go, bro.
Thank you for not giving up, bro.
Thank you for not giving up, bro!
That's what we're talking about.
Let's go.
- I don't want to ever weigh my team down.
Like, that's always a horrible feeling.
- I'm proud of you.
- I hate feeling like an anchor, you know?
But that's where we're at right now.
Oh, that was so tough.
- Mada. - Yes?
- Tell me what your dish is.
- Sweet and spicy crispy lollipops
With a special aioli dipping sauce.
- Love it. Von.
- I got a crispy fried halibut over ricotta gnudi.
- We said crispy twice now.
So talk to each other.
- You seared it, right?
- No, it's deep fried.
It's like, why did you do that?
I feel like we stuck to the theme
Of american gastro dishes.
I just didn't stick to my theme
Of having great [bleep] dishes.
Hopefully they can maybe save me a little bit today.
- You want me to say crispy lollipops, crispy halibut?
[suspenseful music]
♪ ♪
- Ok.
Ohh la la.
That looks beautiful.
Oh, dear.
- Damn.
- For the very first time, we asked all of you
To work in teams, compose a beautiful
Three-course menu cohesively with a theme.
Shall we start in the middle floor?
- Yes, please.
- I've got my eye on those wings.
- So the theme is gastropub comfort american fare.
- I'm slightly nervous about three courses
Back-to-back all deep fried.
- It seems like there is a lack of communication.
- And I agree with you.
By the time I turned around and the fish
Was in the fryer, that leaves us with not a lot of options.
First up, we have the sweet and spicy chicken lollipops.
The sauce is sort of like an aioli,
Almost like a fry sauce.
- It definitely meets the theme sweet and spicy.
Nice.
- They are absolutely delicious.
The dredging, spot on, crispy.
Mine is cooked to utter perfection.
They're really good sticky, delicious, dirty wings.
- We move to the entrée course.
Deep fried halibut over charred broccolini and gnudi.
- The actual halibut is dry.
I'd never deep fry halibut.
It needs to be basted, braised.
It needs vibrancy.
- The gnudi is dense, and the fish is overcooked.
- Next up, this is a play on a cronut.
This has a trio of sauces, being a raspberry coulis,
A beautiful brûlée of custard,
As well as a chocolate ganache.
- It's almost too good to be true.
They are [bleep] delicious.
I mean, seriously, really good.
- Once again, it's on theme.
And the sauces really each serve a specific purpose.
I like this a lot. - Good job.
- I gave it my all,
And I put out an amazing dish for my team.
But I'm not super confident in von's dish,
And this might affect our chance to win.
- So the theme of the top kitchen today
Was all about fine dining.
- The one in the center doesn't quite look like
A restaurant dish, to be honest.
- Shall we?
Dig in, please.
Pan seared scallops in a cast iron pan,
The miso beurre blanc.
- Miso beurre blanc sounds incredible.
A fun, approachable, but fine dining dish.
The scallops couldn't be cooked more perfectly.
Delicious.
- Man, I'm thrilled.
I'm beyond, beyond happy.
- Ok, to the entrée.
First of all, we were time poor.
Ribeye, sweet potato puree, red wine reduction, asparagus,
And charred broccolini.
- Besides the visual, the sweet potato is too sweet,
And the steak isn't seasoned enough.
- The steak is unevenly cooked.
Half of it is well done, and half of it seems to be rested.
The vegetables are overseasoned,
And the steak is underseasoned.
- Yeah, I'm a little bit lost for words.
Upset for this individual.
I'm underwhelmed.
They know that.
Our team knows that.
And you've just tasted it.
- I had a bad day today.
You know, I'm not proud of that.
I just received a gift-wrapped, autographed,
First class ticket to elimination
For that performance.
[sighs]
- Dessert.
It's a pâte sucrée stack dusted with a cardamom powder
And the caramelized fruits with a fresh coulis.
- I almost don't want to cut into this
Because it's so pretty. - Wow.
- Yes.
- I feel every nuance of this dish
Cared for from the pâte sucrée tender.
Beautiful.
Pairs so nicely with the fruit that's not overcooked.
It still has a bit of bite to it.
- I had to go in for three bites.
I can't stop eating it. I want more.
- That cardamom.
- The pistachios.
- Oh, my god.
- Richard, shall we move to the basement, please?
- Yeah.
The theme today is your local farm to table.
- And what farm across the u.S. Do you get octopus in?
- [laughs] - it's a coastal farm.
- Oh, coastal farm. Just asking.
- Yes, chef. - Excellent.
But just visually, the portions are beautifully done.
Shall we dig in? - Yeah.
So start with the octopus here.
So this is buttermilk garlic, dill, and lemon.
- This is a beautiful showcasing
On how dairy and seafood works well together.
The sauce is really bright and brings a nice levity
To the crispy seafood.
Great job.
- What an amazing start to a farm to table theme menu.
There's something really refreshing about that sauce
At the bottom.
- To the entrée portion.
And this is a roasted rabbit with butternut squash cherries,
Blue cheese, and hazelnut.
- It's a very bold move at this stage of the competition
To start cooking rabbit. So unforgiving.
There's no fat there.
Cherries, rabbit, beautiful pairing.
- The rabbit is cooked beautifully.
Most of the elements work on this plate.
- All right, heading to dessert.
This is a brown butter and olive oil crumble
With a blueberry compote and some lemon curd and mint.
- And we say crumbled, it literally is crumbled.
Did something happen here?
- The oven's down there, the timing.
We had a larger cake. - Right.
- So we had to just sort of turn it into
A crumble at the end just so we could get, you know,
A tasting product on the plate.
- For me, the lemon curd, it's a bit sharp.
And how are we elevating this and saying,
This is "next level chef" on a plate.
- Please give us a moment.
Thank you.
Shall we?
[tense music]
- Right.
- Yeah.
- Top floor.
- There were two dishes that were really strong,
But the entrée left a lot to be desired.
- Yeah.
- You went from a fine dining restaurant
To a mediocre home meal with that dish.
- Middle floor, the wings.
Top notch stuff. - Yeah.
Listen, I'll be honest, nyesha.
Two of the dishes from your floor, bullseye.
- Halibut, dry.
- Were they talking to each other?
- No. I think that they took the easy road.
Dropped the fish in the fryer.
I mean, panicked.
- Uh-oh.
Chef arrington looks a little distraught over there.
- The donuts at the end.
- So good. - Beautiful.
- And the trio of sauces really, really worked.
- Yeah. - I will say.
In the basement, there's only two people and three dishes.
So the communication was fast and furious.
- Seriously impressed, honestly.
- I wanted more of that olive oil cake,
And unfortunately, I got most of what was sort of dry,
The crust.
I just wanted like a whipped cream or something.
It just was missing an element to bring it together.
- [sighs]
- All tasting good, though.
- All tasting good. - Really good.
- I think if the issue is I'd like more of it,
That's always a good problem. - Let's go.
- Uh-oh. All right, guys. Come on.
- Ok.
At this time, we're trying to look
For the most cohesive menu.
And richard, nyesha, and myself
Really do believe that one menu stood out.
The winning menu today is...
♪ ♪
The farm to table menu from the basement.
- Yes! - Oh, my god.
- [whistles]
- Yeah!
- I went from thinking "I'm going to elimination"
To "we are top of the day."
I mean, that is quite a spectrum.
- That teamwork has earned you safety--
- Yes!
- --From elimination today.
Nicole and zach, head to the lounge.
Get ready for the next challenge.
- Thank you so much. - Thank you so much.
- Well done.
- Ok, so unfortunately, we know what
That means for the rest of you.
Gordon and nyesha, I'm going to ask each of you
To choose one chef from your team
To head into the elimination.
Gordon, I'm going to start with you.
- Well, I'm going to do something
I've never done before.
I'm not going to choose.
[suspenseful music]
- I'm not going to choose.
[suspenseful music]
Because that individual knows who they are.
Step forward.
Thank you. - Absolutely, chef. Yeah.
I'm going to own it. Yeah, let's go.
- Ok.
Nyesha, who's going into the elimination to face jordan?
- One dish was not up to par on the cohesiveness.
I think you know that, von.
But you are a phenomenal chef.
- I know that.
- And I want you to take jordan down.
- Yes, chef.
It happened. Everybody has an off day.
I got this.
I can redeem myself.
- Ok.
Jordan, von, for this elimination,
We're going casual with a comfort classic,
Chicken and waffles.
What started as an unusual brunch combination
Has become a cult classic.
Both of you are going to have 25 minutes
To give your take on an elevated version
Of chicken and waffles.
- Yes, chef.
- Head to the top floor.
I'll meet you up there in a little bit.
Good luck, gentlemen. - Let's go, jordan.
- Let's go, von. - Man.
- Calm too, bro.
Whenever you feel like you're going off the rails--
- I'll call you. - Calm, jordan.
- I'll call on you.
He's a pro.
He's probably got 15 or 20 years on me
As far as experience.
He literally owns a breakfast joint
That I'm pretty sure has
Chicken and waffles on the menu.
- Be confident.
- Breathe, [bleep], breathe.
Chicken and waffles we do run as a special.
It's one of our top selling dishes, actually,
At our restaurant, at chef von & mom.
We make it with love, and it's delicious.
- Let's go. All right.
- Game time.
- Ok, how are we doing, everyone?
We're doing good? - Yes.
- All right, listen, one of the toughest things to do
As a competitor is to, like, shake it off, right?
And I'm looking forward to witnessing
An epic battle tonight, ok? - Absolutely.
Let's go. - Let's put it on.
- All right, let's line it up.
- Let's go, bro.
- Here it comes, guys.
- When it's green, it's go time.
When it's green, it's go. - Let's go.
- David versus goliath, that's--
That's it, you know.
- Go, go, go, go, go, go!
- It's like trying to run around a box truck.
I'm like, get out of the way, dude.
- Drumsticks, thighs.
- Oh, got it.
Got it.
- Chicken breast, if anyone wanted to do that.
- Breasts dry out very fast.
I'm like, let me do some thighs.
- You can always go back to the platform.
[dramatic music]
Ok, so a bone-in thigh over here
And drumsticks over there for jordan.
- Is there bacon up there?
- All right, so we got the bone-in thigh marinating.
What is it marinating in?
- It's marinating in a little bit of pickle juice,
A little of butter-- - ooh.
- Buttermilk, and a little bit of hot sauce.
- Pickle juice and buttermilk, yeah, money.
- And what type of waffle are we making?
- Simple buttermilk waffle. - Ok. Got it.
- Let's go, jordan. Let's go.
Let's go.
Jordan needs to keep his cool.
It's a david versus goliath story.
But hey, david definitely beat goliath, so come on.
You got this.
Stay strong, and just get the job done.
- All right, jordan,
So you're deep into the measurements over here.
- Getting our waffle batter going.
We're going to do a waffle with macerated berries
And some chipotle whiskey maple syrup.
- Damn, jordan, you're fighting for your life right now.
- Five minutes gone.
- Now we're doing the tricks of the trade over here, chef von.
- He's frying the bacon.
Interesting.
- Elevated chicken and waffles.
How am I differentiating myself?
Am I doing something unique to the chicken or the waffle?
- What are you doing with that? Going into the butter?
- No. Whiskey maple syrup.
- Ok, let's go. - All right.
- 10 minutes down.
15 minutes remaining.
- Put that one in this one because it's going
To cool your oil down. - Yep.
You guys are [bleep] legends. Thank you.
- Drop them. Let's go.
[clapping] - all right.
- Let's go.
- Game time, baby.
Are you going blueberry?
- Yep.
- Are you going all sweet or gonna add some heat to it?
- Yeah, all sweet. - All sweet, y'all.
- You guys intentionally using very similar flavors?
- They say the best form of flattery is imitation.
[laughs]
- What do you need? - Whiskey.
Is that bourbon? Oh, he got it already?
- He got us.
- It looks like some champagne.
- Go buy the champagne.
- I got that. - Oh!
- Let's go!
Pop it!
[cork pops]
Let's go.
Ah! - [laughs] oh, no!
- I'm a chef. That's what we do.
A little bit for the sauce and some for me.
- You haven't won yet, chef.
You haven't won yet.
♪ ♪
- Halfway mark, 12 and 1/2.
- Good job, jordan.
Let's go!
- Don't go overboard because it's tiny.
- Yeah.
- Stop. That's good. - That's good.
- Right in the center. - Good, good, good, good.
- You might need to put it under the oven as well.
- Chicken is done.
- Come on, baby. Let's go.
- Just cut it open and check real quick.
Is it looking good? - Done. Done.
- Von, how are we feeling about your chicken?
It's getting pretty golden brown.
- I run over to the fryer, chicken looks good,
But I'm like, no, that's way too early.
So I put it back in.
How much time do I have, chef?
- Four minutes left.
You're two minutes from plating.
- You think it'll cook in two minutes?
- Von, get your chicken out of the fryer, maybe.
- [exhales]
- 3 and 1/2 minutes.
- Plate everything else and put that last.
Cook it to the very last second.
- Beautiful. - Oh, my gosh.
Let's go, jordan.
- Two minutes left. You can start plating.
- Get the sauce on there.
[dramatic music]
- Here we go.
- 1:30 left.
- Von, let's go!
- Wow, I can't believe he's waiting
To the last minute, man.
- Make sure you got all the elements on the plate--
Chicken, waffles, sauce, garnish.
- That's got to be cooked.
Put them on here.
Yeah.
Yeah, that looks good.
- Be careful with that.
- 60 seconds left.
- There you go.
- Yes, yes, yes.
Garnish, sugar.
- I'm stressed.
- 15 seconds.
- Let's go!
- 9, 8, 7.
- Yeah, a little salt.
- 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1.
Hands up. [cheering]
- Let's go!
[tense music]
- Gordon, nyesha, both of these chefs did themselves proud.
And I know this is an individual battle,
But there was lots of great team vibes and spirit
Up here for sure. - Beautiful.
- Two classic takes on chicken and waffles,
One using the chicken thigh and one using chicken drumsticks.
And we will start off with the drumsticks.
- Chicken drums.
It's just a bold move, especially across elimination.
- This sauce is whiskey and chili and maple.
♪ ♪
- Chicken is delicious, whoever cooked that.
Waffle could have been a little touch longer in the oven.
It's good. It's a really good effort.
- This is that quintessential flavor.
I have the waffle and I get some texture
And crispiness coming from the chicken.
For me, this blackberry sauce around the outside
Is overpowering that beautiful, delicate maple syrup.
I think it's really smart to add the chili.
It adds another layer and depth of flavor.
- All right, next up we have our crispy chicken thigh
On a bacon-studded waffle
With a champagne and berry sauce.
- When I hear champagne and blackberry sauce,
I'm just wondering if it's missing
That sort of traditional flavor with the maple syrup.
♪ ♪
- There is part of this chicken
That's a little bit overcooked.
I think this thing needs some heat, hot sauce,
But it's beautifully seasoned.
That's the big plus here.
- The chicken, it's almost like
The flour has this burned flavor to it.
However, I am enjoying this waffle more than this waffle.
I think the champagne sauce is a little bit formidable
On the champagne flavor.
But we did ask for elevated, so really smart play.
I see elements of brilliance
In both of these chicken and waffles.
♪ ♪
- So, gordon, which dish are you sending home tonight?
- It's a tough one.
Purely on taste, the waffle dish
That I'm sending home was made with the...
[suspenseful music]
--Thigh.
- Ok, nyesha, same question.
- [sighs]
Tough.
The chicken and waffle dish that I will be sending home
Is going to be...
♪ ♪
--The chicken and waffle with the thigh.
- That dish was cooked by von.
- Yep.
It's ok.
- It's not, though.
[soft music]
♪ ♪
- Oh, my god!
Thank you, god.
That was for my brother.
My brother is working through--
I said, jake, work through my hands.
[sniffles]
Then he did.
Before my brother died, he had a mural
Of david and goliath tattooed on his arm.
And, um,
I got the scripture tatted on my wrist
Of david and goliath.
- Oh.
- That's crazy.
- Young man, you were a standout.
One thing that's evident is that you were born to cook.
- Yes, chef.
- And that pro experience got your team,
On multiple occasions, out of the weeds.
And so this is not the last time
We're going to be hearing of von.
- Oh, [bleep] no. - No chance.
- All right, von, say goodbye to your teammates.
- Absolutely. See you guys.
- Come here.
- See you, von. - My man, good job, buddy.
- You always do a great job. - Great job.
- Thank you. - Take care, von. Take care.
- See you later, bro. - Bye bye.
- Thank you. Thank you.
- Good luck. [applause]
- Super proud of myself.
It's been an awesome experience.
Zero regrets.
My mom, she would be super proud of me right now.
Cooking, that's in my blood and it's in my dna.
It's what I do. It's what I know best.
So ready to get back to the restaurant
And keep killing it.
This is not the last america's going to see
This guy right here.
[laughs]
- You've seen first hand
What's just happened to a very talented pro chef.
- Yeah.
- You cannot afford any mistakes.
Because next time, if you want to succeed,
You'll have to think inside the box.
Goodnight. - Goodnight.
- Good job. - Goodnight, chef.
- Goodnight. - Goodnight.
[chattering]
- You can't go yet. - Not yet, baby.
Not yet. - Good job.
- Let's go. Ah!
[chattering]
Let's go.
[laughter]
- Next time on "next level chef"...
- From here on in, you are all cooking as individuals.
- [whistles]
- Now is the time to push.
- Normally, I have a sense of composure.
[bleep].
Today, that's not happening.
- Watch out. Watch out. Watch out.
I don't have much to go back to.
Is this the way I'm going to go out? [sniffles]
- We've decided there's one more chef
Joining that elimination.
- Who's the third person?
- [bleep].