08x11 - For the Gulf

[bunniefuu]

Wow,
I did not expect that.

You know Angelo.

The guy puts plates together
beautifully.

Did you guys see that
coming at all?

I mean, Tiff, you definitely
thought it was you.

In my mind, that was
the only possibility.

I was completely surprised.

Angelo, please pack
your knives and go.

Oh, my gosh.

I'm just truly honored to cook
alongside of all of you.

Wow.

Angelo's a great Chef,
but the reality is,

we all got to go,
except for one.

Better someone else
than me.

I'm on a high right now.

I won the quickfire,
and I won elimination.

They have a distinct
salty note to them.

Today's winner
goes to Dale.

[Light applause]

I crushed an episode.

Six Chefs remain

to fight it out
for half a million dollars

in cash and prizes,
the most in Top Chef history,

and the grand prize--

a feature
in Food & Wine magazine,

a showcase at the annual
Food & Wine classic in Aspen,

$200,000 to pursue
their culinary dreams,

furnished by Buitoni,

and the title
that's eluded them all--

Top Chef.

♪ ♪

You're
very organized, Blais.

It all goes to hell
once a challenge starts, though.

Preparation is everything.

I have filled up two notebooks
already this season with plans,

and they're detailed
with pictures,

'cause I'm not just here
to enjoy the experience.

You know, I'm here to win.

Use just coriander
and shredded coconut.

- Sounds good.
- Yeah.

Derry, you have
a date today?

- Ooh!
- Got the makeup going--

a little eye shadow.

Yeah, girl!

I figured
if I look better,

I'll feel better,
I'll perform better,

and so you know what?

Beauty is not
just skin deep.

Oh, my God!

Last season I was,
like, the fifth person

to be eliminated
before the finale,

and now we're almost
at that point.

It's like, Whoo!
All right.

I have to step up the game.

Let's go.
Let's roll.

Yes, mom.

[Laughs]

[Lively music]

♪ ♪

Oh, wow.
My mom loves you!

We walk into the kitchen,
and there is Paula Deen.

I wanted to, like, wave
and say, "hey, Paula."

You know, like,
I'm so excited.

Aah!

[Laughs]

Paula Deen, with her
beautiful hair, is right here.

Oh!

[Laughs]

Please welcome author,
restaurant owner,

and emmy award-winning
tv personality miss Paula Deen,

the queen
of southern cooking.

[Cheers and applause]

Hello, Chefs.

I know this is gonna be,
like, "fry me something,

"roll it in butter,

dip it in some mayonnaise"
kind of challenge.

This round
of the competition

is all about good,
old-fashioned southern cooking.

I don't know if you can tell
by my accent,

but southern cooking is
very near and dear to my heart.

You know, down south,
that's really how we show

our love for each other.

For your
quickfire challenge,

we want you to impress
Paula Deen

with your skills
using a deep fryer.

Yes!

[Laughter]

Y'all ready?

Yeah.

If you can eat it,
you can fry it.

I have fried
macaroni and cheese,

lasagna, balls of butter.

Let your imagination
run wild.

No calamari sprinkled
on top of a salad--come on.

The winner
will take home $5,000.

$5,000
for some fried food?

I'll put anything
in that fryer

you want in there, Paula--
just let me know.

You have 30 minutes.

Your time starts now.

Ooh, sorry!

Oh, my goodness.
[Laughs]

Catfish, catfish, catfish.

What else do I need?

Whoo!

Push, push, push,
push, push.

- Paula Deen--
she's just so night and day

from my flavor spectrum.

I mean, I work in a Chinese
restaurant, for Christ's sake.

I'm taking raw oysters,

and I'm wrapping it around
a little piece of beef.

I think
it's worth five grand.

I know I already have 30 grand,
but I'm a greedy American.

I want more.

Antonia, can I have
a little bit of cilantro?

Do you mind?
Absolutely, absolutely.

Thank you.

I fry food probably
more than I should.

[Laughs]

I see shrimp,
and I just start basically

putting together this idea
of a fried-shrimp salad.

Hot.

There's this little part
of a chicken

where the thigh attaches
to the body,

and they call that
the oyster.

It's a little bit
more unique.

I think people will fry chicken,
or people will fry oysters,

but people aren't gonna
fry the chicken oyster.

Richard and I talked about
a similar dish this morning.

We had a picture
in his book, and, you know,

it's kind of still stuck
in my head from then.

I was like,
"chicken oysters it is."

- Mikey, here's all the shells.
- Thank you.

[Groans]

What I really want to do
is fry some mayonnaise,

because this is Paula Deen.

I'm pretty sure, like,
mayonnaise

is, like, one
of her staple ingredients.

I'm gonna flavor it
with coffee and lime

and then drip it
into liquid nitrogen

so that it forms this ball
of frozen, hard mayonnaise.

Okay.

You know, this is not
the heart-smart dish.

It sounds delicious,
though.

[Grunts]



Oh, mayonnaise. Oh!

This is
a southern challenge,

and I'm not expected
to fail,

because this is my genre.

But I get so nervous
about quickfires.

My head is just spinning.

I start with this
three-stage breading process,

but then I let it sit there

so it doesn't go
right into the fryer.

And the next thing I know,

I have this bland fish
with a thick crust on it.

Behind you--hot.

It's not the dish
that I wanted to make.

I do enjoy a good fish
or chicken fry, I must say.

I don't cook southern food
in my restaurant,

but I grew up
my whole life eating it,

so I decide I should just go
for what I like--

fried chicken wings,
fried pickles.

It's what you would find
anyplace that serves fried food.

Okay, everyone,
you have five minutes left.

Fried mayonnaise.
It's fried Mayo.

I look over.

You know, Dale has
beef, oysters, eggs.

I mean, he's got
a million things going.

Richard Blais has got
liquid nitrogen going,

bacon, this, that.

At the end of the day, less
is more, and simple is better.

[Lively music]

♪ ♪

Time's up.

Whew!

When time is called,
I look around,

and I see that everybody else
has two dishes on their tables--

one plate for each judge.

And I'm like, "oh, my God.

Did I forget to plate
a second plate?"

And I did.

I cannot believe
I did that.

Hi, Antonia.

So what I've done
is basically fried avocado

and fried shrimp,

some grilled corn,
tomatoes.

- I love fried avocado.
- Do you?

Yes.

Wow.

All I keep thinking
in my head is,

"I'm so, so, so, so stupid."

So I took an oyster,

I wrapped a thin piece
of steak around it,

deep-fried it.

I gave an egg yolk omelet

garnished with
a little parsley tips

and chives.

Mmm!

So here we have
sort of a lot of fried textures.

We have fried bacon, why not?

And also with fried mayonnaise,
on top of it.

Well I haven't heard a word you said,

because my hair looks
identically to yours

when I wake up in the morning.

[Laughing]

It's one part duck fat,
one part liquid nitrogen.

[Laughing]
Oh my goodness.

You're after my heart,
weren't yah.

I was. I was.

I am
from Beaumont, Texas,

so no other way to do it

than some good old
fried chicken.

- Is this fried okra?
- It's fried pickles.

And then the salad
is just a little bit

of a cilantro, cumin salad.

- Do I have it in my teeth?
- No.

[Laughs]

Um, it's catfish
with dijon and hot sauce,

some hush puppies,
and a little slaw.

They were a little heavy.

I know, Paula.
I'm sorry...

So sorry.

- So today I did
a little twist--

fried chicken oysters.

It's the piece that's attached
from the thigh to the body.

I decided to do a little spoof
and serve it in an oyster shell,

but I made a mustard gravy,

and I finished it
with an oyster liqueur.

Mike's dish sounds
very much like something

that's in one
of my notebooks,

and I know that, you know,
he's seen that before.

You're
very organized, Blais.

It all goes to hell
once a challenge starts, though.

I'm waiting for him
to look at me across the room,

and he won't look at me.

He definitely knows
it's plagiarism.

That's my dish.

I've never had
oyster gravy before,

and I make a lot of gravy.

[Laughs]

- Thank you, Mike.
- Thank you.

I could see Richard thinks
I stole this dish from him,

but I've seen it done before.

If he thought of his dish,
he should have done it, right?

Blais has, like, got his head
down, whatever, whatever.

If you're gonna win,
be a [bleep] winner.

Y'all are great.

I'd love to have any of 'em
in my kitchen.

Well, let's get the bad news
out of the way first.

Dale, I thought yours

didn't have any flavors
that really wowed me.

Okay.

Carla,
your hush puppies--

they were like spitballs,
kind of.

[Laughter]

Down south, our hush puppies,
they're floating,

and you have to snatch 'em down,
they're so light.

I live there too.
I understand.

Tell us who some
of our favorites were.

I have to tell you,
Antonia,

hands down, your dish
was the best.

I could come over there,
put you over my knee,

and whip
your cute, little ass.

[Laughs]

Why did you not follow
the rules?

I'm just upset.

It's hard to say good-bye
to $5,000.

Let's talk to Richard--
Mr. Hairdo.

I thought your fried mayonnaise
was out of this world.

Thank you.

Mike's chicken oyster--

I loved the presentation
in the oyster shell.

Thank you very much.

I'm in the top with Mike,

but he stole my dish,

so I'm competing
against myself.

Tell us
who the winner is, Paula.

Antonia was the winner,

but because
of a technicality,

the winner is...

Mike.
Wow.

Thank you very much.

Don't touch me.

Congratulations, Mike.

You win $5,000,
furnished by Buitoni.

Thank you.
Thank you.

So I win.
I feel great.

I'm gonna give Richard
a big, fat thank-you

for inspiration
of seeing a picture.

But, uh, Richard,
it's not your dish.

It's my dish,
'cause I won the five gs.

I mean, you know,
Mike wins with my dish.

This sucks.

Joining Paula
at judges' table

for this
elimination challenge

is winner
of the James beard award

for best Chef
from the southeast,

our friend from the bayou,
John Besh.

[Gasps]

Hi, John.

[Applause]

John Besh is,
like, the face

of the modern
New Orleans Chef.

It kind of ups the ante
a little bit.

Hi, y'all.
It's great to see you.

- Hi.
- Hi.

You know I grew up
hunting and fishing

in the marshes
of South Louisiana.

Because of the oil spill
in the Gulf of Mexico,

these essential things
are threatened.

The greater
New Orleans foundation

does a great job
with helping fishermen

bring their businesses
back on track.

Chefs, tomorrow
John and Paula

are hosting a fundraiser
to help the foundation.

You'll be providing
the food,

and in honor
of our guest judges,

you'll be cooking
Gulf seafood southern style

for the 300 attendees
at the event.

I'm really excited
about the challenge,

because to me,
it's not just about the food.

It's about giving back
and helping out.

And so I'm really
inspired by this.

Because we're asking you
to cook for so many people,

we've asked some friends
to help you out.

Here we go.

- Aah!
- Wow.

Tre, Fabio, Angelo,

spike, Tiffani f.,
and Marcel

all walk in,
carrying Gulf seafood.

I'm not excited at all

that the eliminated Chefs
came back,

because when you get eliminated
from this kind of season,

it builds angst in people,

and you just never know
what's gonna happen.

All right, Chefs, you'll pick
a seafood and a Chef.

They come together.

I'm a Chef.
I'll cook anything.

So I'm not really concerned
with the protein at all.

I'm really more concerned
about who do you work with,

who might not be mentally fit
right now.

Angelo just got eliminated.

His head cannot be
in the right place.

Okay, Mike, as the winner
of the quickfire,

you get to choose first.

Marcel has these
beautiful white shrimp

that I would love to have,

but I know I do not want
to work with Marcel.

I'm gonna choose brown shrimp.
Nice.

Tiffani's a beast
in the kitchen,

so I'm just glad
I got her.

I got a great protein,
and I got Tiffani.

- Let's do it.
- Who do you want to pick next?

I'm gonna have to go
with my buddy Richard Blais,

'cause he was an inspiration
in my dish today.

I'll take Fabio
and snapper.

I'm just lucky to have Fabio
as a sous Chef.

He's charismatic.
He's hospitable.

Snapper's good.
Fabio's great.

Tre and the red grouper.

I'm going to go with...

I'm like...
[Laughs]

I really don't want to work
with Marcel, but...

The white shrimp.

Oh, and--and Marcel.

[Laughter]
I come with it.

If you just want
the white shrimp,

I'll just give it to you.
[Laughs]

I'll take spike
and his crabs.

[Laughter]
Good luck.

Careful.

What about me, guys?

[Laughter]

I'll take Angelo
and the amberjack.

The amberjack was beautiful,

and I know Angelo's probably
one of the more talented cooks

that's up there.

I feel good about this.

You'll have $200
to go shopping

at restaurant depot

and $500 at whole foods.

Tomorrow you'll cook here
for 2 1/2 hours,

then you'll go
to the puck building,

where you'll have 30 minutes
to cook and prep

before the guests arrive.

Good luck, y'all.

- Okay, crab cake.
- Crab cake.

Crab cakes.

Spike and I--we've had
a love-hate relationship

in the past,
but it's always playful

and goodhearted,
nothing malicious.

Do you want to throw some
andouille also into the crab?

I think that's actually
a brilliant idea.

- Yeah?
- So what if you coated

the shrimp in grits?

Oh, that's a good idea.

Southern cooking's a little bit
out of my comfort zone,

but, I mean, during the


I find out she lived
in New Orleans for two years.

Wow, that just makes things
a lot easier now.

In gumbo, there's potatoes,
right, traditionally?

- No. Never.
- No?

You know,
a creole-inspired fish stew.

Beautiful.

I don't do southern food,
but also,

I'm not a baker.

But I just banged out
a cookie and won.

So for me,
it's business as usual.

We'll do grits
that are easy to cook.

I live in the south,
but I wouldn't classify myself

as a southern-style Chef.

Fish and grits
is a very southern theme,

so it's gonna be snapper
and grits.

And then I want to
work in some pulled pork.

Do you want to use
this polenta here,

or you want to use grits grits?
We'll buy some grits.

This is a new dish for me.

I only make new dishes
on Top Chef.

You are not gonna see me
using other people's recipes,

like Mike.

The two of us doing 300,
not an issue at all.

It shouldn't even be
a problem.

If this is not good--
like, if they--

like, I might be made
out of doubts,

because I'm known
for just grabbing.

I'm serious.

You know,
I'm from the south,

and my grandmother
is a great cook.

She typically does
southern soul food.

I didn't cook
a whole lot growing up,

but I ate a lot.
[Laughs]

[Whispering] I think the first
thing we should do is, like,

grab all our equipment,
you know what I mean?

[Normal voice] 'Cause
the stuff's gonna go fast.

My strategy
for dealing with Marcel

is just to tell him
simply what I want.

I'm not interested
in ideas.

Well, I mean,
even if we did that,

one person would grab it,

and the other one
would be getting it started.

Yeah.

- You know what we do
with our greens--

we have tomatoes and cucumbers,
like, in vinegar.

Did you guys eat that?
- Mm-mm.

Dang.

- What do you guys eat?
- I grew up in the city.

- Oh.
- I'm a city boy, really.

What?

I wanted Tre

because I thought
he understands southern food.

He's like, "no.
I didn't eat that food."

- You know chow-chow?
- No.

Um, Tiffany,
you can have him.

No, I'm just kidding.
I'm good now.

[Laughs]

I think she's gonna
keep her white shrimp.

- Ah!
- [Laughs]

- [Laughs]
- Ah!

No, really.
Seriously.

Can we check
your NAACP card?

What are we gonna
call the pico?

Chow-chow pico?
- Chow-chow pico!

Aah!
[Laughs]

Let's go shopping.

[Upbeat music]

♪ ♪

So we have $200
and 30 minutes to shop

at Restaurant Depot.

Restaurant Depot is more
of a bulk supply center,

so you can buy things like


But for us, we're looking
for some Louisiana hot sauce.

Got your hot sauce
right here, baby.

Look for crystals.

Why me and Fabio
have a blossomed friendship,

it's interesting.

We are
pretty different people.

- You want tabasco or no?
- We want crystals.

Louisiana hot sauce.
Do you want this?

I want it to say--
is it crystals?

No.

Fabio told me, you know,

"we get along so well.
You remind me of my ex-wife."

I don't really know
what that means.

I drive for you. I don't want
you to work too much.

- You know I love you.
- Oh, Crystal!

Where?
Where is it?

This is about redemption,
this dish,

because I botched
my fried fish at the quickfire.

I'm making the fish again.

Pride is getting in the way,

because if I do something
that's not ex*cuted well,

I will go back and redo it
until it's good.

Maybe we should get
something like that,

add it to our chow-chow.

What the heck
is Jersey fresh tomatoes?

Probably involves
fist pumping.

We'll chug it.
[Laughs]

Whoa, whoa.
No cuts.

Oh, you're with him.
That's right.

I'll let it slide.

So we finish shopping,
say good-bye to our sous Chefs,

and we head back
to one Brooklyn Bridge Park.

Okay. Okay, can we talk
about, I think, the worst food

I've ever made in my life?

Yes!

- Oh, my gosh.
- Spitball.

There are a lot of nerves
that are happening in the house

about tomorrow's challenge.

There are only six of us.

There's gonna be three on
the top and three on the bottom.

There's no middle.
There's nowhere to hide.

Oh, Antonia,
I felt so badly for you.

[Laughter]

Mikey needs to give
the money to me.

It's like,
he wins by default,

and then wins with a dish that
was inspired by another Chef.

[Inhales sharply]
This is bad Chef etiquette.

And Blais is, like,
you know, his head down,

whatever, whatever--
pisses me off.

It's just like,
"come on, grow up already."

If you're gonna win,
be a [bleep] winner.

If you're gonna lose,
go in the [bleep] corner.

Richard had the dish
written in his book,

like, and they just talked
about it this morning.

Like, the book was on there.
He was like, "oh, what is that?"

And he was like,
"oh, it's my idea

of doing chicken oyster
on an oyster shell."

- [Gasps]
- That's Chef law, man.

I didn't know that, ma'am.

There is man law,
and there is Chef law.

You don't take
another Chef's idea.

That's a no-no.

That's something
you just don't do.

Serious Chef law.

[Thunder booms]

Can we stop the line?
Let's stop the line.

I'm so [bleep].

It's like slow-mo.

You see yourself [bleep] up, and
you can't do anything about it.

- We got burners up there?
- Yep.

Hey, look.

We're cooking Gulf seafood

for a lot of people

for the Greater
New Orleans Foundation,

and there's not
a lot of time to do it.

You want me
to salt everything?

Slice, and then we'll salt
in a big mixing bowl.

Trouble I'm running into
is there's so many people

here in this kitchen--
just a million people here.

There's only enough burners
for a certain amount of people.

[bleep] [bleep].

I want the kitchen to just--
the six people that are here.

You know, I've worked
the last six challenges

to get these guys out of here,

and now all of a sudden,
they show up.

They're like bedbugs.

We got to make sure
the maker's mark's

cooked out, like,
really well too.

The idea
is to use Gulf seafood

and to really
honor that seafood,

so I'm making a crab cake
with crab bisque

and a corn maque choux.

I'm making the hot sauce,
mustard fried fish

and collard greens.

We're not gonna
do them too wide--

about like that.
- All right.

Tre buys greens in a can,

so, no, I don't trust Tre
with the collard greens.

For this,
just throw it away.

Richie!

Remember them days
back at C.I.A.

What's going on today?

Jersey Mike--
he's just loud.

It definitely bothers me,

but we're just focused
and trying to get our job done.

Mikey seems to be
heckling people

a little bit more
in the kitchen for some reason.

I think Tiffany's
making his sauce,

so apparently he doesn't have
that much to do.

I'm like, "Mikey, don't rile
everybody up, please."

Doing a great job.

Great job there, Chef.

You definitely get a sense

of how people are working
together on other teams.

I mean, Antonia and spike
are getting along.

Mike and Tiffany
are getting along.

Tiffany and Marcel...

Um, you should use
some of these,

'cause they have the head
on 'em, you know?

Use 'em in the sauce,
extract more flavor.

Marcel is giving me

one particular suggestion
over and over.

The heads just give you

all that nice flavor
for your sauce.

I was just thinking to, like,
cook the shrimp with 'em

might be kind of nice.

After hearing the comment
four or five times,

I made it real simple.

- Are you sure you don't want
to use some of these--

- really I'm more concerned

about having 320 orders
before I start using it.

It's my biggest concern.
Okay.

If anyone's gonna be able
to put Marcel in check,

it's gonna be Tiffany.



with some serious, like...

Yeah, we got to get
some shrimp down.

[bleep] ridiculous.

Once we get there, we're gonna
pull a Fabio Viviani.

We're gonna do a lot of things
at the last second.

One more box with our onions
and black peppercorn.

Ooh, lord, this clock
is running down,

and I'm just throwing stuff
together now.

Need veal stock?

One pinch.
Yeah, get a smidgen.

Hot, hot, hot!

Fabio,
just pack everything.

This kitchen
is like a w*r zone.

I mean, it's a w*r zone.

Hey, yo, who's spilling out
the nitrogen?

Guys, there's nitrogen going
all over the floor over here.

Five minutes!

You like that move?

Push, push, push.

Don't stop, Mikey.

Ow.
[Clattering]

Don't mind me.

Ten seconds!

- Saying things like, "Whoo!"
- Three, two, one.

And...

Done...
Barely.

Oh, wow, look how pretty
this ballroom is.

It's beautiful.
Really, really nice.

- In the middle?
- Yes.

Okay.

This is
the hardest challenge

I've had to go through,
period,

because it's the amount
of people

that you have to cook for.

It's a short period of time.

I actually have
a ton of work to do--

work that I should have
gotten done

at the Top Chef kitchen,
but didn't.

Gonna be fine, man.
We're gonna be fine.



How's
the polenta looking, Chef?

It will look good
in about ten.

I really hope
that the judges understand

conceptually
where I'm coming from.

It's a risk
putting pulled pork

and the fried seafood
on one plate.

So I'm really,
really nervous about this.

Keep going.
Don't stop.

Not stopping.

And don't get mad
at me either, huh?

I will never get mad
at you.

Marcel, give everything
a taste real quick

while your shrimp is going.

You want pepper
on the shrimp, yeah?

Yes.
Not a lot, though,

'cause you're gonna have
that red chili.

If it ain't perfect,
I wouldn't use it.

Oh, totally. That's why
I don't want it on there.

I've decided that I'm not
going to do cornbread.

If it's not--
if it doesn't work,

I'm not gonna serve it.

So redemption
is slipping away...

Far, far away.

Bye, redemption.

- How many minutes?
- Four.

Four.

- Over here?
- Yeah.

Collard greens.

Yeah?
This is done.

That is delicious.

- Hi, there.
- Hi. How are you?

Hi.

Diners come through.
We're the first station.

We're busy,
but we're doing well.

There's a lot of people
in here all at once.

[Laughs]

All right, so this
is some citrus polenta.

I say "polenta" 'cause my
sous Chef is Italian, so...

It's definitely hard
to keep up,

because there's just
so many people here,

and they're hungry.

And it's just 20 plates,


Fabio hasn't cooked this much,
he told me, in seven years.

We're going over
to the bar, this way.

- Hello. How are you?
- [Laughs]

Would you like white
or red wine?

- Let me get you one
without--with no dough.

- Tell me about the charity.
- Well, here's the deal--

the greater
New Orleans foundation

really stepped in
after the oil spill,

and we're one
of the biggest organizations

to give money
back to the fishermen

and their families--

paying utility bills,
paying mortgages,

giving them the crucial things
that they need to survive.

Here we go, guys.
Enjoy.

- What was the fish?
- The fish is Gulf red snapper.

Hello.
Good evening.

What did you make, Mike?

We have
a grit-crusted shrimp

served over sour cream
and chive potato.

So hopefully you guys,
uh, enjoy.

- Thank you so much.
- Awesome.

Mmm.

Mike hit the nail
on the head with this one.

I thought it was wonderful.

I mean,
the flavors are all there,

uh, but it's really clean.

It's great and crispy,
but the sauce makes it.

Fabio, do you have those five
pieces of fish for the judges?

Yeah, but, no, you brought it
back there for some reason.

Because I'm, uh, busy.
I'm sorry.

Fry the fish.
I need it fried.

We only have a couple minutes.
Dude, it's inside.

There is nothing
I can do about it.

You're gonna [bleep] it up.
Hold on.

Let's--let's--told you.

As the judges
approach the table,

me and Fabio have
our first fight of the evening.

I need it.

Dude, it's inside.
You check it.

The judges
are not even close yet.

Throw it back in the fryer.

Hello.

Hi. How are you?
Hi, guys.

What are we eating?

- Okay, fried fish and grits...
- Okay.

- And also some pulled pork.
- Great.

So it's a little bit
of surf and turf, if you will.

There we go.
Thank you, Richard.

Enjoy.

You know, when I saw

the menu item
for Richard's dish,

really questioned,
how's this really gonna work

with the pulled pork and
the citrus grits and snapper?

But it really--
it kind of works.

It's seasoned nicely,

but it's not aggressive
with heat and spice,

so it kind of works.

- It's still pretty light.
- Yeah.

I like the flavor
of the grits, though.

I love that,
those anson mill grits.

I mean, I love the grits.

I just don't know
if it goes here.

But what do I know?

You know a lot.

Jesus [bleep] Christ.

Can we slow down and reload?
Yeah.

- Let's--can we stop the line?
Let's stop the line.

Sorry, guys.
Give us one second.

Everything's tasting
the way I wanted it to taste,

I just am having
a hard time executing it all,

because the process
of sauteing more vegetables,

thickening it,
reseasoning it,

it's just kind of a mess.

Dale, it's fine, really.

It's right there, man.

At this point,
I'm so [bleep].

It's like slow-mo.

You see yourself [bleep] up, and
you can't do anything about it.

How are you?

[Laughs]
[Imitates g*nsh*t]

What goes in your, like,
little red pepper honey action?

So we're
in the middle of service,

and Marcel tells me
we're out of the honey glaze.

I explain to him how to do it,
and so he made a second batch,

but I didn't have time
to taste it.

You're welcome.

I have never prepped out food

that I really
didn't taste very much,

and I've never been
this worried.

There you go.

The thing is,
I'm from the south,

so the expectations are

that I'm gonna blow it
out of the park.

There are so many people.

Okay, okay, okay.

The line never ends.

People are coming.
They just keep coming.

We aim to please.

And they just keep coming...

- Love you, Carla.
- Love you too.

And keep coming.

Hi.
Hey.

All right, so we have
grouper fish and collard greens

that are made
with, um, ham hocks.

So enjoy.

Kind of a bitch
about my collard greens, now.

I'm sorry.
Really?

I didn't care for 'em.

I think there's
too much hot sauce on the fish.

There's something in there
that's a little salty.

I love Carla.
It wasn't special enough.

The diners are coming back

and saying that it's not
in their favor.

I could go home
for this one.

Somebody has to mess up
more than I'm messing up.

Enjoy a taste of the south.

So I'm doing
shrimp and grits.

I picked the white shrimp,

because I thought
it just looked fantastic.

If you're gonna do it,
you better do it right.

Yes.

Tear his head off.

Rip his head off, baby.

You like it, John?

Tiffany's glaze
on the shrimp was good,

but you don't taste
the shrimp.

I was not that impressed
with the sweetness with it.

And I found her shrimp to be
a little overcooked,

and I'm not a fan
of the honey glaze.

- Tiffany's dish--
that's a classic dish.

I want that to be my favorite.
It's not.

Hey, Padma, how are you?

So today I had amberjack.

Um, and we decided to go--

I decided to go with a stew.

We took the amberjack,
we blackened it.

The stew is, uh,
with andouille sausage,

bell peppers, potatoes,
and some, um, onions.

Thank you, Dale.

Enjoy.

[bleep] me.
What--what happened?

I don't know if the potatoes
are cooked all the way.

I have a couple
of pieces of potato

that are undercooked.

I think Dale has way too much
mustard on that crouton.

That's all you get.

The stew is not bad.

Once you taste the crouton,

the whole dish is finished.
Yes, yes.

- That mustard was, like--

that was a lot of mustard.

- I'm like--
my lips are tingling still.

I got a blue crab cake

with a little bit
of blue crab sauce

to go along with it
at the bottom.

Thank you so much.

You're welcome.

I feel like these
are delicious dishes.

So far, I've only won
one elimination,

but I've also been
on the top consecutively.

This could be my second win.

I really like
Antonia's dish.

The crab's so delicate.
You can actually taste it.

I think Antonia
made a great sauce.

The blue crab...

- Delicious.
- Is unbelievable.

Yep.

Padma, I think
they did really good.

You know,
this is a lot of pressure.

Yeah.

I was really impressed
with a few

and really underwhelmed
by a couple of 'em.

Okay, let's go back
to judges' table

and hash it all out, okay?
Okay.

- I love you.
- I love you too.

- Thank you.
- You're welcome.

- I love you for everything.
- Go win this.

Two more challenges
till I get to the finals.

Got to knock
two more people out.

It's my time now to shine.

I left my season
way too early,

so I plan
on going to the top.

I appreciate that.
Thank you so much.

I hope I helped, man.

- Stop worrying.
- It was tasty, though, right?

It was great.
Now shut the [bleep] up.

Go.
[Mike laughing]

- Bromance--
what's going on, bromance?

I couldn't have done it
without you.

- Anytime, girl.
- Okay, bye.

I'll be seeing you soon.

If I go home,
I will be upset, because...

It's--it's pride,

not my heart
that went into this dish.

I could go home
on a southern food challenge.

Yeah, me too.

- So many things competing--
it was like flavor warfare.

I just don't get it.

None of it made any sense.

I'm trying to be a mole.

- You want to go--
you want me to go look?

Go, go, go.
Go, go, go, go.

I send spike out
into the crowd of diners

to be a spy and see
what the judges are saying

while they're
eating the food.

Cut my line?

Yeah, you know,
like, there's a long line.

- Oh, you're in the wrong line--
[Glass breaks]

All spike manages to do

is knock over some wine
from some girls,

probably get
a couple of numbers.

Spike is an amazing sous Chef,
really bad spy.

Aah.

That...was crazy.

I'm pissed about it.

Fabio said
he hadn't cooked that much

in the last seven years.

I could go home
on a southern food challenge.

Yeah, me too.

Mine wasn't fancy.

Who cares about fancy?
Lots of flavor.

Good evening.

We'd like to see Antonia,
Richard, and Mike.

[Suspenseful music]

♪ ♪

Chefs,
the three of you served...

Our favorite dishes
of the night.

[Laughter]

Richard...
My inspiration was sort of

the other side of the Gulf,
you know,

that Georgia's still part
of the Gulf and Florida.

You showed a lot
of restraint in that dish.

Marrying snapper,

which I would never think,
to go with pulled pork

is unbelievable.

- Wow. Thank you.
- Mike...

My original idea
was shrimp and grits.

I put a ton of shrimp head,

andouille sausage,
some pork.

I never seasoned it up--
I just let the salt come out

from the reduction
of the sausage and the bacon.

Well, I loved it.

I thought it was genius coating
your shrimp with the grits.

And you had me
on the potatoes, honey.

[Both laugh]

You went after my weak spot.

- I tried hard.
- Antonia...

I think the dish really
exhibited a lot of balance,

but it's that little bit
of andouille sausage,

the smoke and the spice
that emanated from it

that I thought
was really special.

Thank you very much.

As our guest judges,

the honor
of announcing the winner

falls to John and Paula.

I tell you,
it was all wonderful,

but the one dish
that really set it all apart

exhibited balance.

The winner is...

Richard.

Wow.
Oh, thank you so much.

To be recognized
by two amazing southern Chefs,

you know, it's a big deal.

Sorry, Mikey,
this one is mine.

Congratulations, Richard.

You've won a six-night trip

to Hilton Barbados
in the Caribbean

and $5,000 for airfare,

furnished
by Hilton Hotels and Resorts.

Thank you so much.

I get a trip to Barbados?

I'm gonna invite Fabio

to go to Barbados
with me and my family.

I also need you to send back
your colleagues.

Thank you very much.

Thank you, guys.
Thank you. Pleasure.

Oh.
[Applause]

Thanks.
They want to see you guys.

- All of us?
- All of you.

- Good luck, you guys.
- Good luck.

Stand tall.
[Groans]

If you're gonna sit here,
are you gonna burp?

Oh, please.

Because I'll move.
I'll move.

Please don't burp on me,
fart on me,

or flick a booger on me.

I'll think about it.

[Mike belches]

[Suspenseful music]

♪ ♪

Chefs, the three of you
had our least favorite dishes.

Tiffany, you picked Marcel.

- I picked the shrimp.
- [Laughs]

Marcel cooked the shrimp
and really helped me there.

You didn't cook
any of the shrimp?

No, I didn't cook
any of the shrimp.

Those were
big, beautiful shrimp,

and, you know,
just slightly overcooked,

and they become
a little bit mealy.

And I know
you didn't cook 'em.

It's still my dish.

When I saw your dish,
Tiffany,

oh, my goodness,
I got so excited.

I love heads on shrimp,

because I know I'm gonna be
sucking that head,

but it threw me--

the sweetness of it.

I think
it confused the dish.

Dale...

There were some problems
with the soup.

One was the potatoes were raw.
Yeah.

- You know. You knew.
- I know that.

Angelo and I
were tasting the soup,

and I was happy
with it at first,

but we were f*ring in batches,

and that batch--I knew
the potatoes were under.

If the dish
wasn't ready to serve,

you should have just
had us wait.

I-I just felt really pressured
at that point.

You know, it's like,

I was in the juice,
and I was just--

I didn't know what to do.

There was so much mustard
on that crouton,

it just k*lled it.

It was like flavor warfare--
so many things competing.

The one thing that was left out
was amberjack,

'cause the amberjack,
you flat out couldn't taste

because of everything else
happening.

Yeah.
You're right.

Carla...

I decided to do
the fish again,

because it was
such a disaster.

And it's a lot of pressure,

'cause you all
are looking at me, like,

"oh, Carla is gonna do, like,
such a fabulous job, and..."

You know, you got
this beautiful fish,

and I don't understand

why you douse it
in hot sauce and mustard.

And that's all you taste.

I just don't get it.

Yeah.

The tomatoes,
the chow-chow, the collards--

none of it
made any sense to me.

None of it
complemented the other.

- I-I get it.

We have
some discussing to do.

You can return
to the stew room.

- Thank you.
- Thank you.

Marcel was talking [bleep]
about Tiffany

when I went over there,
and it was just Marcel.

What was he saying?

- Marcel was like...
- What'd he say?

"Tiffany's dish was bland."

He had a better idea,
and she didn't want to use it.

Oh, obviously.
Of course he had a better idea.

Paula's so sweet.

Everything went good?
Everything was sweet?

It was sweet, all right.
[Laughing]

I made a honey-chili mixture.

I explained
to Marcel how to make it,

but I dilute it with water
so that it's not too strong.

Oh, oh.

But, of course,
I'm not gonna sit up there

and say Marcel did it.

Let's start with Dale.

Well,
I like my potatoes done.

[Laughs]

The fish was supposed to be
the star here tonight,

and it got lost in the dish.

It was almost like
there was no fish there.

Because the mustard
was so overpowering,

all I tasted
was the andouille,

so to me,
it tasted like a hot dog.

On the other hand,

Carla took
this beautiful grouper

and--and basically
made chicken wings out of it.

This is
the most beautiful seafood,

and yet we mask it
with hot sauce and mustard

and throw it into the fryer.

It really isn't
accomplishing much.

Tiffany's dish...

It just threw me
when I bit into the shrimp.

My mouth
was wanting one thing,

and it got another.

The first thing
I tasted when I tasted it--

I was like, "why is all this
sweet stuff on the shrimp?"

I just didn't care
for it at all.

I do think
we have a decision.

There's one
that stands out for me.

Yeah.

Okay,
let's get them out here.

[Suspenseful music]

♪ ♪

Chefs, tonight's challenge,

you were cooking for the
Greater New Orleans Foundation,

to raise money to help some
of the fishing families

affected by the oil spill,

and it was the fish
that we were here honoring,

and in all three
of your cases,

the fish
just didn't come through.

Dale, there was
absolutely no way

we could taste that amberjack

buried underneath
all those spices.

Tiffany, too much honey
on that dish.

Couldn't really taste
the shrimp.

You know, and they were
also overcooked.

Carla, you coated that fish
with mustard and hot sauce.

There was absolutely
no way to taste

that beautiful grouper
that we gave you.

I think you're all
really great Chefs,

but as you know,
one bad dish can send you home.

Dale, please pack
your knives and go.

Thanks, guys.

It's great to meet you.

Pleasure to meet you.
Chef.

- Good luck to you.
- Thanks, Padma.

- Thank you.
- Thanks, guys.

It's just tough.

[Voice breaking] It sucks.
You're, like, right there...

So close.

- What?
- It is what it is, brother.

Oh, man,
you're a [bleep] animal.

It's what it is.
It's what it is.

It was a pleasure.

You know,
what I'm really proud of

is how I went through
this whole thing.

First time I was here,
I didn't like me very much,

so I took it out
on other people.

Hopefully people were able
to see that I've grown up.

I think this time around,
I'm in a really good place.

- To the bodega.
- To the bodega.

I know I'm leaving
a better person.

I know I'm leaving
a better Chef.

Flow like the water.

Yeah, I tried.
Fish caught up with me.

This was the hardest thing
I've ever done.

Great--great job, Dale.

[Applause]
Guys, peace out.

After this experience,

there's no way
that I can't handle anything.

Opening a restaurant?
Fine. Let's do it.

I feel like--like superman.

Next
on Top Chef All-Stars...

- Oh!
- Oh, my God!

Padma's in the lion's cage.

[Horn blows]
Whoo!

Is there a cutting board
or anything?

There's no kitchen equipment.
There's no nothing.

How many minutes away
are we?

- Ah!
- Oh!

Oh, my God!

It was like a rejuvenation.

If I go home today,
I will be utterly heartbroken.

Oh, this is gonna k*ll me.

It's my last chance
to make it to the end.

I hate to see any one
of you go home for this.

It might be time.
Like, I'm really nervous.