07x10 - Covert Cuisine

[bunniefuu]

Previously on Top Chef...

Restaurant wars is the reason
that we're all here.

I hear murmurs that
Alex is not really involved.

I have to do all the fish
over again.

It's, like, everything
we've done over today.

Whose wine key is this?

It sucks.

Alex is very rude
with bad, negative energy.

How long on this?
I got it, Alex, Alex, Alex.

No talking in the kitchen
'cause I'm gonna blast somebody.

Food's coming, Tom.
Sorry, hang up on--

oh, no, it's not.

You are the winning team.

Shut up.

Ed, you're our winner tonight.
Cool.

Your ass
should be gone.

You didn't do
a thing.

Get the
Out of here, man.

You're crazy as .

This is the Real--
this is the reality.

Each person is to conceive
a Dish.

Kenny, please pack your knives
and go.

This season,
one outstanding competitor

will take the title
of Top Chef

and the grand prize:

A feature in
Food & Wine magazine

and a showcase at the
Food & Wine classic in Aspen.

$125,000 to help turn
their culinary dreams

into reality,
furnished by Dial Nutri Skin.

Top Chef Season Seven.
Hail to the Chef.

During our last challenge,
Alex did not put up a dish.

I think his team carried him.

Another day, that's it.

You know,
has he dodged some b*ll*ts?

Yeah, absolutely.
There's no question about it.

I mean, I don't think
he's at the same skill level

as Kenny,
who should still be here.

If I had to guess
what Kevin got upset about,

I think he was defending
Kenny.

It was tremendously
frustrating

'cause I think he was
sympathetic for his friends

and for his team.

Emotions were running high,
and at that particular moment,

he decided to vent on me.

But I had nothing to do with
the loss of his team.

I hope that Alex
either steps up or goes home.

If he steps up,
that's great.

Bring on the challenge.
I'd love that.

But don't get away
with bull.

I think Kenny was
the most fierce competitor here.

It just shows, regardless
of how talented you are,

everybody in the competition

should fear that
they're gonna go home.

Restaurant wars wasn't easy,
not at all.

I am mentally
totally exhausted.

All right, guys.
Let's go.

We're walking
into the kitchen,

the first think I see
is wylie dufresne

and the sideburns.

Wylie is known for using
newer techniques,

a very inspirational Chef.

I'm very impressed
to see him.

Please welcome
Chef and owner of wd-50

in New York City,
wylie dufresne.

Morning, Chefs.
Morning, Chef.

Seeing wylie there and,
and knowing that

he's into all this
molecular gastronomy,

who the knows what the hell's
underneath these boxes

with these huge question marks
on it.

Some sort of
wacky ingredients or chemicals?

You'll be working with
a mystery box.

You'll each start cooking
a dish

using the ingredients
in the box in front of you.

All the boxes have
identical ingredients.

However...

Through the course
of your cooking time,

more mystery boxes will arrive
with more ingredients.

You must incorporate
all of the ingredients

into your dish.

Well,
I think the difficulty

is you have to keep your vision
a little bit loose.

For me, it's a different style
challenge.

I just have to go with it.

Having been in
your shoes before

on Top Chef masters,

I know how hard
a mystery box can be.

And one that keeps changing,
I think,

is gonna be quite
a challenge.

I don't like surprises

and I don't like
this challenge.

I'm feeling
this nervous energy.

And so I'm just trying
to stay calm,

not freak out too much.

Oh, and this is
a high stakes quickfire.

Wow.

The winner will get
$10,000

furnished by Dial Nutri Skin.

So my fiancee

lives in Russia,
I live in New York.

I really wanna
win this money

because I need
to get her here.

You know, work out all
the issues with the visa.

This is the driving force
for me.

Please take your places
behind the boxes.

Chefs.

Your time starts now.

Inside, I see a fish,
some fava beans,

and a can with no label.

Beautiful.

Anybody got a can opener?

Tiffany has one.

Get the can opener yet?

No, I didn't.

This situation
kind of sucks.

I'm not getting along with

mostly everybody
in the kitchen.

I don't care.

I just wanna cook my food
and b*at them.

Anybody get a can opener yet?

Alex has dodged
a lot of b*ll*ts.

And I'm not gonna be
the one to help him anymore.

I open up the can,
and I see hominy.

I'm thinking, huh, hominy.

So I am just like,
I gotta come up with a plan.

The hardest thing about
this challenge is

you come up with an idea

and then hopefully
the next set of ingredients

won't offset your direction.

Hot.

I'm thinking I wanna show
every ingredient,

cook it in some kind of
interesting way,

and then create
a composed dish.

But I have no idea
what it's gonna be.

I look over at what
Angelo's doing.

He seems a little worried.

I don't know that
he knows what he's doing.

So he looks like
a chicken with no head.

For the first time
in the competition,

I feel just
a little bit lost.

I can't decide if I wanna
serve the dish cold

or if I wanna serve it hot.

Ugh...

I don't have a vision.

So I think that's a little
complicated issue for me.

My God.

Oh, Jesus.
I know.

Oh, my God.

Another mystery box
arrives in the kitchen.

It comes faster than
I expected.

It was impossible

to fully develop a concept
for my dish.

I'm the first one
over to the box,

and there's squid
and black garlic.

Oh, God.

I don't really know anything
about black garlic,

so my first thought is
taste it.

And it's a little smoky
and a little sweet.

I'm starting to get nervous
because I don't want

the flavors to get
too confusing.

I'm not sure where
my Dish is.

I have a million things
going on in my head.

It's like a ping-pong match.

Are you kidding me?

Coming in.
Third mystery box.

Ramps and passion fruit.

What the Is--
like, I don't want that.

I'I've never u used a rampmp.

All I know
is it's like scallions

or like chives.

I'm not sure if
I'm supposed to use

the leaf or the stem.

Holy cow.


Thank you.

I could do a...

A quick gelee if
I really push myself.

But should I do that?
Yeah.

I'm just freaking out.

I really just did not know
what to do.

I'm still thinking hot.

My brain still is leaning
towards the cold,

and there's 10 gs at stake.

Hot, hot, hot.

There's another one.

Oh, God, here we go again.

Are you kidding me?
Jicama?

Ugh.

I julienne it

and just throw it in there.

I'm trying to roll
with the punches.

Although there are
several of them.

You have ten minutes left.

Damn it.
It's hot.

The kitchen
is extremely hot.

And this is the first time

I think I sweated
into the food.

Come on.

One minute, guys.

Ay yi yi yi yi.

It goes from 2 minutes
to, like, 20 seconds

like this.

I'm very concerned that
I'm not gonna finish plating.

Three, two, one.

Time's up.
Oh!

Oh...

Gah-dog!

Hello, Alex.
Hi, Padma.

Hello, Chef. How are you?
Hello.

I have a puree of fava beans
and a little ramp fondue

with leeks.

And the squid has been sauteed
with a little bit of garlic.

I know my dish
is all over the place.

Alex, quickfire
equals bottom.

Just, you know,
it's a mathematical equation.

Is this ramp cooked
or is this ramp raw?

It's not raw.
It's been slowly, uh, melted.

How are you?
I'm doing excellent.

I did a fish stew.

A little bit of the hominy,
fava beans,

and a little bit of saffron.

Yeah,
the broth is very nice.

Thank you.

I've made for you
my version of

a yucatecan seafood stew.

The black garlic is in
the base of the broth.

One thing I know about
wylie dufresne

is that he really
pushes the envelope.

So I'm not sure
what's going through his mind.

Spicy.
Thank you.

Thank you.
Thank you very much.

What I have here
is crispy skin striped bass.

Underneath is a leek
and oyster mushroom fondue.

Is this--
is this butter or oil in here?

A little bit of both.
A little bit of both?

Yeah.

Did a, uh, pan seared
rockfish.

Underneath is a black garlic
and hominy puree

and a jicama
and passion fruit salad.

What's the heat?

There's red pepper flakes
in the marinade for the squid.

I did a little, uh,
sashimi of rockfish

with some creamy hominy
and basil puree.

Excellent.

So today, we have a, uh,

a smoky hominy grit
With squid and the rockfish.

I was gonna serve the dish cold

but I didn't have time
to temper it,

so the, the gel
actually started to melt,

'cause I set it with gelatin,
actually.

Gelatin?
Correct.

Yeah.

I've never seen Angelo
this nervous.

He came out very strong.

I don't know
what happened to him,

but all of a sudden,

he's losing confidence
in himself.

Wylie, how did our Chefs
do overall?

I think you guys did
really well.

There's some unusual pairings
going on there.

I'm, I'm not envious.

Who had your
least successful dishes?

Alex, I really liked
your fava Bean

and, uh,
passion fruit puree.

But I just didn't think
the rest of the components

on the plate came together.

I don't think Alex
was able to step up.

It's time for him to go home.

Amanda.

Your dish was just
a little oily.

I wanted that fish skin
to be a little bit crispier.

You were selling it
as crispy.

That was
the most nightmarish

mystery box challenge ever.

Who had your favorite dishes?

Tiffany, I really liked
the way you integrated

all the components
on the plate.

And I think you really
got a lot of flavor

out of that broth.
Thank you.

Kevin's dish.

I think that your puree
on the bottom was very clever.

Thought your fish
was very nicely cooked.

It was a nicely balanced
dish.

Thank you.

I haven't won a high stakes
quickfire.

But we're having
another baby,

plus we're looking to move.

So there's a lot of things

that we could do with
the $10,000.

Please announce the winner.

I think the person
that really brought it together

and really used all those
ingredients successfully

was...

Tiffany.

Thank you very much.

Congratulations,
Tiffany.

My fiance will be so,
so happy.

I've won $10,000 before.

So I have 20 gs
I'm bringing home.

Uh, puff pastry?

If you're gonna serve
something like that,

you're almost asking
to be eliminated

from this competition.

Your elimination challenge

is a case
of national security.

You've been recruited
as special agents

by the central intelligence
agency.

For a secret Agent,

the ability to take on
a new identity

is often a matter
of life and death.

You'll each be takinover
a classic dish

and giving that a disguise,
but the flavors

should be
of the original dish.

It is a tricky challenge,

because how, how much do you
want to disguise the dish?

You want to have fun with it,
but you also

want to stay true
to the essence of the dish.

To find out your assignment,
please draw knives.

French onion soup.

Chicken cordon bleu.

Beef Wellington.

Kung pao shrimp.

Gyro.

Cobb salad.
Veal parmesan.

So you'll be cooking
and serving tomorrow

to a table of CIA officers

and the head of the CIA,
Leon panetta.

Oh...

Whoa! Oh, my God.

We're gonna see real guys
in black suits.

Leon panetta,
the head of the CIA,

is gonna be eating
my french onion soup.

I might get recruited.

I could seduce some secrets
out of the kgb.

You'll be serving
at CIA headquarters

in Langley, Virginia.

Very nice.
Very nice.

Oh, and one more thing.

The winner will receive
a trip to Paris, France,

furnished by
the Hilton hotels.

Whoa.

My girlfriend
has been bugging me

to go away on vacation
with her.

Paris,
that would be awesome.

Do you have 00 flour?

Professionally,
I guess I've been a Chef

for about six years now.

Before I was a Chef,

I was actually
a professional videographer.

I've sh*t over 500 weddings,

bar mitzvahs,
sweet 16s.

It's an Italian flour.

If somebody's been cooking
for 20 years,

they're kind of set
in their ways.

Having only six years
of experience

can be considered
advantageous

because I have an open mind
to all culinary styles.



Do you have rock shrimp?
Rock shrimp?

I have frozen rock shrimp
in the back.

My dish
is "kung pao shrimp."

Um, can you tell me
where the asian aisle is?

But I've never cooked
chinese food in my life.

So my strategy is to find
some sort of, like,

prepared kung pao
something

so that I can read
the ingredients

and kind of figure out
what goes into this.

Seven minutes!

Traditional beef Wellington

is beef tenderloin,
and then it's encased

in a puff pastry.

For my dish, I'm gonna
serve it as a pizza,

puff pastry crust,
and then I'm gonna cook beef

so it looks like pepperoni.

Okay, I'll take this.
How much is it?

How much is the weight here?

I have an innovative concept.

I think if I nail the flavors,

then the judges
will see the creativity.

Uh, puff pastry?
Right here.

I see Angelo
buying pastry.

I mean, it's definitely
a shortcut.

Okay, thank you so much.
You got it.

I mean, if you're gonna
serve something like that,

you're almost asking
to be eliminated

from this competition.

Thank you.

But it would be nice
to have Angelo go home

because, you know,
he is definitely a thr*at.

I'm excited about
the CIA challenge.

I love spy stuff.

One show that I used to like
back in the day

was la femme nikita.

Mission complete.

I really like nikita.

What's your spy name?

Brigitte.

I'm hiding my dish

by making
a deconstructed gyro.

I want to separate everything
to where

when you put them together,
you're like,

oh, my gosh, that's a gyro.
I know this flavor.

I've kind of always wanted
to be a spy

just 'cause I think
it's pretty badass

to say my name is natasha,

carrying a small .22
in my garter,

or something like that.

I am disguising
french onion soup.

I'm gonna make some onions
caramelized with maple syrup.

I'm gonna make a bread tuile.

Amanda's concept
is so obvious.

Her dish is french onion soup.

So if you still make soup,

it'd better be
really interesting

so it isn't too similar
to the original.

Amanda, how much soup
are you serving to each guest?

Uh, I don't know yet.

How much soup
did you make?

I don't know yet.

For my own dish,
I wanna use

all of the components
of kung pao shrimp,

but I'm putting
a disguise on it

by turning it into a soup.

But I don't wanna disguise it

to the point that
it's not recognizable.

My advice is
make it your way.

Because at the end of the day,

that's what
we're here for, right?

I'm not sure that Alex
understands his cuisine.

So why would I listen
to his advice?

Do you know what
I'm saying?

I know that a lot of people
in the house

don't like Alex.

But I like him.

I respect and admire
his cooking.

Hey, did anybody see
my smiley face cheese?

I put it in my basket.
I don't know where it went.

My dish is veal parmigiana

stuffed inside
a little tortellini.

Kelly's gonna help me.

If I execute it
the way I want to,

I think it's a winner.

Guys,
one hour, two minutes.

I bought the puff pastry

because I'm willing
to risk it

for an elimination challenge,

nor is the puff pastry

the main theme of the dish.

So I'm sure the judges
will be cool with that.

Behind, ed.

That's where you'll always be.
Thank you.

You know,
Angelo bought puff pastry

just like John did.

And that was one of
the main reasons

why he went home.

Uh, I guess I just
was being stupid.

Angelo could definitely
go home for it.



Ed, what is your spy name?

It's muffin winthrop.

My spy name would be
Dr. zhivago.

My mom always wanted
a doctor in the family.

So my favorite spy
was get smart.

He was awesome.

He had a phone
for a shoe.


and 36 seconds.

In a traditional
chicken cordon bleu,

the chicken is usually
on the outside

and the ham and the cheese
is on the inside.

But my version,

I have the ham wrapping
around the braised leg.

Basically an inside-out
chicken cordon bleu.

The game plan is to,
to take the basics

of the Cobb salad
and just change the textures.

I think the thing
that's most important

is for the flavors
to be the same.

But I'm a little bit concerned

because I'm not sure that
I'm giving it a new identity.

I think it's, you know,
a dangerous game to play.

All right, guys,
let's go.

Let's go.
CIA.

My rice
is totally overcooked.

What do you mean?
Like, they're not--unedible.

I'm really in a panic.

Walking into the CIA,
to see that seal,

I mean, it's
an amazing experience.

So many people
that will never get to

do anything even
remotely like this,

and we're really lucky.

It's very obvious
that we are

on restricted
government property.

The inspection
of our vehicle

and all of
our identification,

that's all taken
very seriously.

It's really something
very special.

We're really at the CIA.

It was kind of strange
thinking

that we're actually
at the CIA,

and, you know,
that this is where

major Goes down.

You know, looking up in
the corner of the rooms

and stuff like that.
Look and see

if there's speakers
and thers little cameras.

You just don't know.

Our mission is to take
a traditional dish

and put a disguise on it.

Going at 400 here.

Do you have a problem
with that?

Nope.
Thank you.

It's really important
for me to nail this dish.

It definitely isn't
my most complex dish,

and it's not as creative
as I had wanted it to be.

But this is my life.

Like, this is everything
I've ever worked for.

So I'm putting everything
that I have in it.

I think Angelo's upset
about his performance

in the quickfire.

His body language,
I mean, he's bothered by it.

Someone that's passionate
about what they're doing

and, and they're here
to compete,

they're gonna be upset.

First thing I do
is get my rice

in the rice cooker.

For me, an hour and a half
is plenty of time.

I don't have a lot of prep
to do.

Everything just
needs to be ex*cuted perfectly

or I could end up being
the girl who goes home

for kung pao shrimp.

Everything's turning out
the way that I want it to.

But I'm thinking
I didn't disguise it enough.

Helen Keller would be able
to guess what the dish is.

I have not made
this dish before,

but, you know,
from the beginning

I decided, uh,
that I'm not gonna cook

any items that I've cooked
before, and I'm still here.

So I think it's working out.

I think that Alex,

his thought process
of the food is underdeveloped.

I'm not really impressed with

some of the stuff that he does,
you know?

Double doors coming open.
Okay.

Hey, Tiffany.

This rice cooker
should turn off, right,

whenever it's done?

Yeah, it's still going
right now, yeah.

I'm kind of starting to get
a little worried.

The dish is already
very simple,

so if one component of it
is not right,

then the whole dish
is ruined.

How are you doing?

I'm doing good so far.

I'm doing well
while I'm cooking

until all of a sudden
my rice cooker starts beeping.

Oh, my God.

And it is mush.
Complete mush.

My rice
is totally overcooked.

What do you mean?

Like, they're not--
unedible.

In Colorado,

I cook at 8,000 feet
above Sea level.

Rice takes an hour.
Minimum.

So I'm really in a panic.

Take it out.

I can't eat it.
I've already tasted it.

No, take it out
and start over.

Get it out, get it out,
get it out, get it out.

I really want
that little bite of rice

at the bottom of the bowl.

I don't think I could
get it done in time.

I'm just gonna serve it
without rice.

I have 30 minutes.

You got time.
Do it on a pot.

Do it on the stove.
Okay.

Do it on the stove top.

Thank God for Tiffany
because I'm a mess.

So quickly, I get
some more rice on the stove

and I do it
the old school way.

I'm kind of crossing
my fingers

hoping for the best.

Come on.

How much time we got?



Damn it.

Kelly's stressing
a little bit.

What you need, kel?
Come on, come on.

Just, if you have time,

follow me and make sure
that plates look beautiful

after I ladle.

I got ya. Go.

I have time,
so why not help her plate?


You're doing good.

I don't wanna win
when something didn't go right.

I want to compete against you
at your best.




Okay, that's time.

I'd like to thank
our host,

esteemed director
of the CIA, Leon panetta,

and all of the officers
and staff

who have joined us.

Welcome.

Just grab a bowl.

I'm good with you
grabbing a bowl.

As I put the dish out,
I was like, oh.

This isn't me.

Normally, I would just
deconstruct the living daylights

out of the beef Wellington.

I have no clue
what's going on in my head.

You know,
what's going on, ang?

I mean, what's your problem?

The Chefs' challenge
was to take a classic dish

and give it a new identity--
to use the same ingredients

but disguise it.

This is a first
at the CIA.

Angelo's dish.

Anyone have an idea
what it was?

Beef Wellington.
Yes.

Poor disguise.
Okay.

They would have--

they would have captured
this individual and hung him.

Director panetta, what did
you think of Angelo's dish?

It was salty.

And I thought the, uh,
the pastry was a little hard.

It looks like
he took a shortcut

and made it, like,
very easy.

Beef Wellington
is definitely, uh,

more challenging.

Kelly's dish.

What do you think?

I'm trying to figure it out.

Yeah, I know what it is,
but for once,

I know something you don't.

I don't know.
Does anyone?

Pad thai.
Pad thai.

Pad thai?
Kung pao shrimp?

Yeah.

What did you think
of Kelly's dish?

I, I liked it.

I, I thought the flavor
was great.

Kung pao shrimp
is normally with a sauce,

and turning it into a broth
I thought was a nice spin.

I just think there's a little
too much of it.

The texture of the nuts
with the rice

really went well together.

And, uh, I was so distracted
by how good it tasted

that, uh, I didn't know
what it was.

Try that.

What's my time?



Do you need anything?

Need you to wipe the plates
if you can.

Whoo.

Tiffany's dish.

It's good.

If I had to guess that

they were trying
to hide something,

I think, uh, gyro's
probably the best guess.

That's exactly what it was.

I would order that anywhere.

Probably
the most elegant gyro,

uh, I have ever ate
in my life.

This is Kevin's.

Any guesses?

Cobb salad.
You're right.

But I didn't guess it
right away.

Oh, you didn't?

Not until I,
I hit the blue cheese.

I thought
it was something mexican.

It's a Cobb salad.
It's also a salad.

It hasn't really changed.

Did you like it?
I did like it.

I thought it was--

but then again,
I love Cobb salads.

I really do.

If you make the dish
so complex

that they can't
figure it out.

What's the point of it?

Did you have a lot of
formal dinners here

in the evening
for special occasions?

It's usually, uh, when we have
our advisory groups in,

or we have, uh, some of
our individuals

that, uh, come in
for meetings here.

We'll hold it--

you have to excuse me
because, uh, business calls.

I've, uh, truly enjoyed
being with all of you

and, uh, particularly
enjoyed the food.

Lovely to meet you.
Thank you.

Thank you, everybody.

Are you used
to director panetta

having to dine and Dash?

It happens often.

A little too tough?

Close.

Alex is talented.

He just has a problem
with his execution.

I don't like to see that

even though maybe it means
something good for me

if he overcooked his veal.

What kind of time?

Time, 5 minutes,


I really like Alex.

He's, like, the wise old
Jewish Uncle

that I never had.

I don't wanna see
any of my friends fail.



Take these last two,
please.

And this one, sir.

Let's start with Amanda.

You could tell
it was french onion soup.

I will say before
I tasted it when it came out,

I thought the shaving
was coconut.

So I didn't immediately
think it was french onion soup.

The idea of putting
an oxtail marmalade

with her french onion soup
I think is a good idea.

Unfortunately,
the marmalade's a little sweet.

It was like, like honey
and lemon cough syrup.

It was so sweet.

Do I have everything?
Everything, everything.

Alex's dish.

Oh, my God.

Yeah, the meat's tough.

It's really tough, yeah.

What do you think
this dish is?

Lasagna.
It's not lasagna.

Veal parmesan?

Perfect.
Bingo.

I think the veal was as tough
as pulling a post in Yemen.

Just the execution
on various things,

just really poor.

I think that there are some
successes and some failures,

unfortunately, in the dish.

I think,
of all the dishes,

it might be the hardest
to have guessed what it was.

I would have preferred

to see less disguise
and a better dish.

You know what?

Today's the most organized
that I've been in my head.

Nothing's going wrong
on my mission.

No problems.

I feel good about this dish.

The plate looks good,
it makes sense.

I mean, if you were
to close your eyes

and eat this chicken,
it would be

exactly like eating
a real chicken cordon bleu.

Let's go.

That's a big portion.

This is our final dish.

It's Ed's.

Eric, what is this dish?

I think it's pretty obvious.
It's, uh, cordon bleu.

I think the dish itself
is really good.

I think the, uh,
the chicken is nicely cooked.

The flavors are all good.
It's seasoned well.

There's clearly a lot of labor
on this plate.

Unfortunately,
he didn't take enough care

to disguise it.

That was the last
of our courses.

We now have to do

some top secret deliberation
of our own.

But thank you all.

Thank you.

Bye,
it was nice to meet you.

Yeah, thank you very much.
A pleasure. Yeah.

That tastes very good.

Does it?

It doesn't taste, uh,
too sweet?

It's a little sweet.

But it tastes good.

Now what's this?
It's my baba ghanoush.

It's bangin'.

With the oven dried
tomatoes.

That's eggplant?
Mm-hmm.

Today is just crazy.

I'm a little bit
disappointed in myself,

and I don't feel confident
about anything

at this point in time.

Throughout
this whole competition,

I've given more than I even
knew that I had.

It would be very traumatic
if I were to go home.

Turned out that your disguise
was really poor execution.

We ended up with something
that was kind of sad.

It's really cool,
we went to the CIA

and met Leon panetta.

Think he's got any secrets
he could share with us?

Can you imagine
being that dude

and all the stuff you know?

You think he knows
who k*lled jfk?

He knows who k*lled jfk.

Like, he knows where
the aliens are living.

I was gonna say
he knows if there are aliens.

There are aliens.
He knows where they live.

There's one in L.A.

He knows--

The egghead.

Alex, you are the first
alien contestant on Top Chef.

Your veal parmesan
was excellent.

You never know.

Like, the concept is,
you know, relevant, obviously.

You know, did you--

did you do what they asked you
to do?



You know, like, kind of
throwing everybody off

was my disguise, right?

Good evening.

We'd like to see Tiffany...

Kelly...

And ed.

Good job, guys.
Go get 'em, guys.

♪ ♪

so congratulations.

You had the winning dishes
in the CIA challenge.

Thank you.
Thank you.

But there can only be
one trip to Paris.

Kelly.

You know,
I really was trying

to think of ways to think
outside the box.

My first thought was soup.

I just thought it,
it was a great way

to make it look
completely different.

I like the broth
very much.

I also like the fact that
the rice

was counteracting
the spiciness.

It was a very good dish.

Thank you.

You really captured
the flavors of kung pao shrimp

and gave us something
very different,

so nice job.

Tiffany.

I really liked your dish.

And I also liked the fact
that you took something

that normally is eaten
with your hands

and you've made it a dish.

I think that helped
to disguise it.

Thank you very much.

As soon as I tasted it,

it reminded me, obviously,
of a gyro.

I really enjoyed it.

Ed.

I wanted it to be,
you know, in disguise.

Basically, I did an inside-out
chicken cordon bleu.

It's difficult when
you have so many components

in the dish,
to have all of them

perfectly ex*cuted,
which you did.

So we compliment you
for that.

Thank you.
I really appreciate that.

You know
how to cook chicken.

You know, that was evident.

Wylie,
please do the honors.

The Chef who embraced
the challenge,

who really made
a very tasty dish...

Was Tiffany.

Yes!

I got a honeymoon.

So congratulations,
Tiffany.

You're gonna have
a trip

to the Hilton arc de triomphe
in Paris,

including airfare,
courtesy of the Hilton hotel.

Yes!

She's getting married,
trip to Paris, France.

Definitely know my girlfriend
will be upset,

but I was happy for Tiffany.

Now we need you to call back
some of your colleagues.

Thank you.
That'll be all.

Ed, you're going to France?
Oh, tiff?

Well, unfortunately,

the judges would like to see

Alex, Amanda, and Angelo.

Good luck, guys.
Good luck, guys.

♪ ♪

Alex, Angelo, and Amanda,

you had the three
least successful dishes

of the CIA challenge.

Amanda.

I was definitely aware

that my dish was not

disguised adequately.

I was honestly--
I was going more for flavor--

I certainly would have liked
to have seen you

try to disguise the dish.

You know, you had a dish

that gave you
a lot of opportunities,

and didn't feel like
you seized them.

You could have played up
the cheese

and did a panna cotta.

Onion and cheese,
that's it.

You took a soup
and made a soup.

But that aside,
the marmalade was so sweet,

it completely threw off
the entire dish.

Angelo.

As soon as
it was presented,

it was like,
"oh, beef Wellington.

Okay. Get it."

I totally missed the mark,

and a lot of what you said
to Amanda resonates with me.

I, I should have pushed
the envelope.

The bigger problem was
the pastry was just dried out.

Was that frozen pastry
that you bought?

That is correct.

Or to do something
completely different.

It didn't need to be
puff pastry.

Even simple things
like the plating itself

was sloppy.

Guess I was just excited
to see where you were going,

and unfortunately,
it didn't go very far.

It was probably
one of the challenges

where you had the most freedom
to express your creativity,

and we ended up with something
that was kind of sad.

Alex,
you had veal parmesan.

I was excited
when your plate came

'cause it was the first plate
that wasn't really obvious.

But it turned out that
your disguise

was really poor execution.

Well, I was thinking
I was going to use

some techniques that I don't
usually use like sous-vide

and hope it worked out,

but my execution
totally failed.

It just seems to me
like the wrong time

to do something
that's completely out of

your comfort zone.

Hard to say
where to start here.

The meat was tough,
the fried mozzarella,

I've had better
at the street fair

and I've had better frozen
tortellinis out of a box.

You know, there's seven left,
and it seems like--

that the three of you
have done your--

your worst work
at this point.

Are either one of you
willing to say that,

you know, you were seventh best
in this competition?

No.

Then why are you cooking
like that?

'Cause one of you
are going home.

So one of you is gonna be
seventh best.

We'll call you back
in a bit.

This is an embarrassment.

I mean, I own up to it,
you know, 100%.

I should go home,
to be honest with you.

I should go home.
I don't feel bad for Angelo.

I like competing against
Angelo, but I'm here to win.

So, you know,
if today's his day to go home,

I'll give him a hug
and we can move on.

I can't believe it.

Okay, so all of
these three Chefs

failed on two levels.

They didn't give us a good dish,
first and foremost.

And they also didn't address
the challenge.

Alex put a lot of time
in preparing that dish

compared to Amanda
and Angelo.

At least he has this idea

of where he wanted to go and
how he wanted to disguise it.

But, you know, as good
as some of these ideas are,

again, it's a problem
of execution

and the veal was so tough
it was hard to eat.

Go with what you know
at this point.

Cook from your gut,
you know?

He bit off
too many unfamiliar things.

Amanda's efforts
just didn't meet

any of the criteria.

If you weren't gonna
hide the dish,

then you had to at least
make a good dish.

And I think she failed
on both counts, unfortunately.

If you're gonna take cheese

and just grate cheese
on a microplaner,

that's gonna be
the big disguise?

I mean, there's so much
you can do with cheese.

And she had four hours.

That is a long time
to do a dish.

A long time to just make
a dishwater.

And Angelo's beef Wellington

would make Julia child
very sad.

I think he was totally,
uh, lost or uninspired, or--

it seemed like he froze
a little bit.

He froze, yeah.
At some point.

It seemed like it
because he certainly

can do better than that.

Anyone could do better
on that who knows how to cook.

I think we have
our decision.

I think so too.
Yep.

♪ ♪

so for this challenge,

you were asked to take
a classic dish and disguise it.

In all your cases,
your cover was blown.

If there was any disguise,

you disguised yourselves
as really poor cooks.

And one of you will be
seventh best.

Alex.

Please pack your knives
and go.

Thank you.

There is no margin
of error.

If you screw up just a touch,
you're going home.

Going back to cali.

All right, brother.
Take it easy.

You know, I expected to win
the whole thing, you know?

You know, I didn't come here
with expectations

of, you know,
finishing seventh.

I mean, seventh sucks.

See you guys.
Have fun.

Be good.

I have nothing against
the other Chefs.

Um, they were frustrating
with certain situations.

You know, that pea puree
conspiracy

and the ange
about restaurant wars.

Was frustrated as well.

I choose not to vent
and create hostility.

I'm a different kind
of person.

Each person has to live
with themselves.

You know, I try every day
to make myself a better person.

next on Top Chef...

We are going to run
our own concession stand.

About to get ugly,
boys and girls.

It got ugly the first day
you walked into this place.

There's no way we can all do
six orders

and put the food out.

Chill out, please.
Chill out.

No, I don't have to chill.