15x14 - Finale

[bunniefuu]

- Right now on the finale
of "Top Chef"...

both: Hands up!

- Whoo!

- It's Joe Flamm
versus Adrienne Cheatham.

- Hot behind.
- I'm hot in front.

- Yeah, you are.

- These two Chicago natives

fought their way past


to be the last standing.

- Southside showdown.

- Coming from
esteemed kitchens

of chefs Eric Ripert
and Marcus Samuelsson,

Adrienne came to "Top Chef"
and found her culinary voice.

- You gotta cook
for your palate.

You're the chef.

- I have a fine dining
background.

My father grew up
in Mississippi.

It took me so long
to bring it together.

- The tostone's too sweet.

- Everything was wrong
with this dish.

- And I wanna stop fighting it.

I create elevated
Southern cuisine.

- The lungfish was
perfectly cooked.

Every component made sense.

- The winner for us today is...
both: Adrienne.

- Now that I know that and I'm
confident and secure in that,

it's gonna take a lot
to get in my way.

- It was a great dish.
- Next level.

- Executive chef of the
highly acclaimed Spiaggia,

Joe Flamm charmed the judges
and his fellow chefs alike

with his whimsical wit...

all: We're the bears!

- And deep-rooted love
for Italian flavors.

- Joe, there were so many
elements I loved.

It was plated so beautifully.

- Joe, way to be.

- Whoo!
- Holy sh...!

- This is a sudden death
Quickfire Challenge.

- [sniffles]

- Joe, please pack
your knives and go.

- [groans]
[whispers] Oh, my God.

- Thank you very much, chefs.

I got blindsided.

Being on "Last Chance Kitchen"
is such a great reminder

of, like, this is how I cook.

And that's how I made it
out of there.

- There was layers and layers
of steps to accomplish this,

and that's what really
sets a chef apart

from the great home cook.

- Joe Flamm, you're moving on
to the finale.

- Oh!
- Congratulations.

- But the competition
makes you push yourself

in ways you normally wouldn't.

I'm ready to go.
I'm ready to get in there.

I'm ready to crush it.

- Who will win the ultimate
title of Top Chef?

At stake for the winner:

a feature in "Food & Wine"
magazine,

an appearance at the
Food & Wine Classic in Aspen,

$125,000 furnished
by San Pellegrino,

and the coveted title
of Top Chef.

[light rock music]

I want both of you to really
savor and enjoy this moment,

because you deserve it.
- Mm-hmm.

- Thank you so much.
- Thank you very much.

- Yeah, enjoy it, but I'll
give you a little advice.

Cook like...

your life depends on it.

- Yeah.
- Oh, hell yeah.

- Think about your mentors
and think about the lessons

that you've learned,
how you grew up,

your family experiences,
restaurant experiences,

"Top Chef" experiences,
and roll them into

all these dishes.

- We will.
- Thank you so much.

- Thank you so much.
- Cook your hearts out.

[upbeat music]

- [laughs]

[applause]

♪

[line trilling]

- Hey, Joe.
- Hey, Tone.

How's it going, man?

- What are you doing?

- Doing, uh... doing pretty good.

Getting, uh, pretty far
down the road.

- I knew you would.
- [chuckles]

This is the biggest day
in my career to this point.

So I decided this morning

I'm gonna give Tony Mantuano
a call and, uh,

just try to get some
last-minute advice.

He's always the first person
I talk to about everything.

- First of all,
look down inside,

'cause you got it.
You got everything it takes

to go as far
as you can possibly go.

And the other thing
I always told you is

never change a dish
once you've started it.

- That was good advice,
by the way.

- [chuckles] Good to hear.

- He's like a living legend.

When I sat down with Tony
for the first time,

he's like, "You've never
cooked Italian food."

Like, "Why would I hire you?"

I explained to him, like,
"Hey, I'll work my ass off

to learn everything I can
about Italian food."

I was lucky enough
that he gave me the sh*t,

and he's one
of my best friends now

who I get to talk to
every day about food.

Like, completely special
relationship.

- Joe, we all believe in you,

and we know
that you're the best

possible person to take it.

So go for it, man.

- Thanks, Chef.
- You got it.

Thanks.
- All right, take it easy.

Bye.

♪

- Oh, my God.

"Congratulations on making it
to the finale.

Meet me and Tom at the top
of Aspen Mountain."

- Guess we're headed up
the mountain again.

- It's gonna be a death match.

I'm pretty scrappy.

I get that fight
more from my parents.

My father was a Black Panther.

He fought for civil rights.

My mother taught me that
work ethic will set you apart.

And so because of that,
I have what it takes

to be successful.

I can't even think
about going home.

- Yeah.

- To potentially be the first
black female Top Chef,

oh, my God.

I feel like I have a lot
to live up to.

- Let's go get bloody.

- [chuckles]
Can't wait.

[dramatic martial music]

♪

- A big part of this
competition for me is

starting to build the path
of, like, okay,

what's my journey
gonna be after?

♪

As much as I love Spiaggia...

İt's my absolute baby
right now...

Like, it's still not mine.

I still wanna go out there
and forge my own trail.

- Like a pro.

- Winning $125,000,

having the title of Top Chef,

you know,
that's a game changer.

- Ugh, well, it definitely
gets your adrenaline going

before you start cooking.
- Yeah.

♪

- Good morning, chefs.
Both: Good morning.

- Hey, chefs.
How's it going?

- Good, how are you?
- Good.

- Well, I'd like to welcome you
to the Aspen Mountain Club,

The Little Nell.

We're 11,000 feet up.

It's a nice view, isn't it?
Both: Yeah.

- Chefs, this is where
your journey on "Top Chef"

will come to an end.

Only one of you will
take away the grand prize

of $125,000 furnished
by San Pellegrino,

and of course the coveted
title of Top Chef.

[chuckles]
- Chefs, your final

elimination should come
as no surprise to you by now.

Just cook the best meal
of your life.

- Ah.
- Oh, that's it?

- Yeah. Simple.
- That's all.

- Show us why you deserve
to be Top Chef

through a four-course meal.

- You'll be serving your meals
side by side

to a table of the most
accomplished chefs

in the country.

Jonathan Waxman, Curtis Duffy,

and Nancy Silverton.

- We're gonna offer you
just a little bit of help.

- Yes.
[chuckles]

- Each of you must draw
knives to determine

who chooses their
sous chefs first.

- Ladies first.

♪

- First choice, Adrienne.

- Ladies first,
like you said.

- So that makes me second.

- [laughs]

♪

- Each of you will get
to select two sous chefs

to help you with
your preparation

and service of this meal.

- The g*ng's all here.

- Squad's here.

- Adrienne, you're first.

[tense music]

- Chris.

- Chris.
All right.

- Chris is so talented.

He's embraced Southern cooking,
and his flavors are amazing.

So I know that he will be
invaluable.

- [sighs]
I have to take the other Joe.

Give me Sasto.
- Joe, Joey Joe.

- He's super creative.

We both cook a lot
of Italian food.

So having another person
who can work bossa with me

takes a huge chunk of time
out of the equation.

♪

- Carrie Baird.
[chuckles]

Carrie may not have a
background in Southern food,

but she is creative
and fun to work with,

which is really important,

especially
in stressful situations.

- Second choice?

- Uh, Fati.

Fati's super talented.
Really dynamic in skill.

Uh, she's also cooked Italian.

- So I'm assuming
you're giving us

an Italian-themed meal here.

- We're gonna go Pakistani,
actually.

- Yeah.
- I really flip it on you guys.

- Awesome. Pak-Itali, got it.
- It's very popular.

- Chefs, you have 30 minutes
right now to menu plan

before you go shopping.

You'll also be able to place
some special orders

with The Little Nell.

- Good luck.
- I'll see you tomorrow.

- Yep.
[sighs]

You guys got your notebooks?

Great, all right.
- Yeah, Chef.

- For the first course,
I wanna do a spoon bread...

- Okay.
- With sea urchin,

and then on top of that
I wanna do

the tuile that's,
like, flour, water,

and you cook it in the sauté
pan so it looks like a net...

- I've seen that before.
- When it cooks up.

But I need to test it.

'Cause I tested it before
for the high altitude thing.

- Yeah.
- It didn't work.

- All right.
- It was an epic fail.

I'm thinking about
the menu that I wrote

for my potential restaurant
in New York.

I've tested them out
and worked on them.

But this is the first time
that I'm actually cooking

these dishes together.

Second course,
charred octo with black grits.

- I like this one.

- I love this one.

This is one of my favorite
things to do.

- Yeah.
Joe Flamm is no joke.

I mean, he's tough.

But Adrienne, she's bringing it
a little bit harder.

- For the entrée,
I wanted to go meat for that.

Cheerwine and red wine
for the braise.

- Okay, that sounds great.

♪

- So, I'm thinking crudo,
either pasta or risotto course.

- I think you do pasta course.

- This definitely isn't
the kind of Italian food

that my grandmother cooked.

My version of Italian cuisine
is layering flavors,

reinforcing the flavors
throughout,

and taking food
that looks simple,

but at the same time
eats in a way

that's really technique heavy
and really has a lot

of back behind it.

Uh, my crudo is, um...

You know what
vitello tonnato is?

- Mm-hmm.
- It's reversed.

It's a tuna crudo
with a veal aioli.

And then for dessert,

it's like this super chewy
brown sugar cake.

- Okay.
- Sounds good.

- Yeah, thanks for taking
a chance on me, Chef.

- Yeah.
- Oh, yeah.

Beast from the Middle East.
- [laughs]

This is gonna be great.

I know for a fact Joe Sasto
is in love with Joe Flamm.

But I love Joe Flamm the most.

If this is a competition
of loving Joe Flamm, I win.

- All right, you guys
ready to go shopping?

- Yeah.
- Let's do it.

- I'm really,
really proud of you.

- Thank you.
- Really proud of you.

- Thank you so much.

I got my sh... together.

It took a while.
[laughter]

- They're gonna be
out of control.

- They have no idea
we're here.

- Hey, guys.
- Oh!

- Hey.
- [laughs]

- I guess we got
some new roommates.

[laughter]

- Joe... ing Flamm.
[laughs]

I hate you with all
my heart right now.

- [laughs]

- What's the matter?

- We're looking for 00 flour.

- I was here first.
- Hey, how are you?

But you didn't say anything.

Can I get a short rib?

- Yes, can I get
whole ribeyes?

One of the things about
Italian cuisine that I love

is, you know, when you go
to the different regions,

they just cook with the best
of what's around them.

I'll take... [whistles]
- Yeah, of course.

- For my third course,
I wanna do a beautiful

beef dish that's simple.

And there's been all these
beautiful mushrooms

and asparagus out here.

It'll be a manzo di Colorado.

Thanks, buddy.
I appreciate you.

- All right.
- Have a good one.

- Is Adrienne doing,
like, Southern?

Or is she doing French
Southern?

- Um, no, it's kind of soul.
Some grits.

What about you guys?

- Italian all the way.

- How many pastas?
Four?

- [laughing]

Every course
is a pasta course.

- Ooh.

For the dessert,
I'm a little nervous.

Baking at altitude
can be tricky.

So I decide to go a little bit
more fun and Southern

by doing a yuzu banana pudding.

- I got everything except
for the vanilla extract.

- Okay.

The thing that I learned was
focus on the flavor.

And everything else will
kind of fall into place.

Don't overthink it.

- Let's make our way
towards the joint.

- We roll.

- You're at $462.43.

- Cool, we're good.

When it's all said and done,

we ended up being about $50
bucks under budget.

- What here do you
need more of?

- Um...
- Are you out of money?

- Give me your corn meal.
- And the oil.

- I'll take all three of these.

- All right.
- And then I'm done.

I know it's the finale,
but I'm not trying

to b*at anybody because
they don't have their stuff.

Southside, baby.
Come on.

[laughter]

I'm gonna win for my food or
I'm gonna go home for my food.

[dramatic music]

♪

- Start emptying the coolers?

- Yeah.
- Great.

♪

- Usually pig heads you get
are almost always female.

So I'm gonna call her Nora.

We're lucky we got to order
a few specialty ingredients

from The Little Nell.

- I'll get
the marrow bones going

and the wagyu fat
smoking for you.

- Okay.
For my first course,

I'm doing a play on
a classic vitello tonnato,

but I wanted to do, like,
a sexy version of it.

Because, like, poached veal
with tuna mayonnaise

isn't very sexy.

You make, like,
a smoked beef powder.

So it's all these beef
and veal flavors

going with the raw tuna dish.

- For that spoon bread,
you want eggs or yolks?

- Whole egg.
- Got it.

- Working for Chef Ripert,
developing tasting menus,

I learned
you wanna start light.

So, uh, Chris, you've made
spoon bread before, right?

- Yes.
- Awesome.

My first course is a spoon
bread and sea urchin dish.

- Adrienne, where does the
spoon bread idea come from?

- It's like
a cornmeal custard.

Almost just as common
as corn bread in the South.

I'm showing the versatility
of Southern food

with more Japanese flavors.

That's gonna add
another dimension,

something unexpected.

- One cup is in.
This feel good to you?

And one in the oven.
- Go one more cup.

- Sure.
- There we go.

- Coming out.

- You want me to turn
it down so the flames

don't lick your arm?

- It's not bad.
- Okay.

For the second course,
I'm making blackened octopus,

inked grits,
and chow-chow.

- You just want me
to cut it off at the head

like this, right?

- Just cut the tentacles
separate...

- From here?
- Yeah, from here.

Like, cut up.

I've had squid ink pasta
served with octopus.

And I'm like, "Why hasn't
somebody done this with grits?"

I really wanna show them
something different

and something creative.

And I wanna show them me.

- Do you know where
the grits are?

- Yeah, they're on the shelf
in the back

behind the Benton's ham.
- Oh, my God.

You're crazy to let me
make the grits.

How much do you want?
This is all...

- Pour it in, and that'll
dictate the amount of grits

we pour in.

- All of this?
And half of this?

- Lady, just cook.

- I've never made grits before.

I'm terrified.

Why do I have
to cook the grits?

- [laughs]

- It's for the finale,
so it's a really big deal.

And I don't want
to make a mistake.

- Don't overthink it.
It's grits.

[upbeat music]

- Coming down hot.

- Oh, you can keep going.
I was just...

- I just wanna see what color
this is gonna look like.

Oh, yeah.
That's gonna be beautiful.

I put Joe in charge of making
the pasta dough today.

We're gonna go 3/4 00
with 1/4 grano arso flour.

- That looks
so... ing cool.

- Grano arso flour, uh,

is this burnt wheat flour
from Italy,

uh, with toasted grains,
so what they actually do

is they, uh...
They burn the wheat fields

before they mill the flour.

- It's just really, really
different and beautiful.

That color is just...
- It's awesome.

- ing wild, bro.

- You can't get that
from toasting it.

Like, you need the real stuff.
- No.

♪

- What is that?
- Cheerwine.

You never had Cheerwine?

- No, I don't know
what Cheerwine is.

- It's like a cherry pop, yeah.
- Like, cherry pop?

- Uh-huh.
- Try it.

- A Southern delicacy,
huh?

- I love Joe Flamm.
That's my homie.

- Oh, it's delicious.

- If Flamm has a weakness,

it's that he's not a gambler.

But I am.
I wanna go for it.

This is one of those times you
have to step out a little bit

and take that risk.

♪

Hot behind.

Do you?

- What I love about
my grandma's cooking

is it's simple,
so for the fourth course,

I wanna make torte de nornina
on top of whipped ricotta.

Which, you know,
is a classic Italian cake.

It's not the cake I'm making.

But, I mean, the literal
translation of it

is "cake of a grandmother."

And I am making
a grandmother-style cake.

♪

Oh, thank you.
Thank you, Chef.

- There, it's starting to go.

You can see it starting
to pull at the edges.

- Yeah, yeah.
- That's good.

Just let it keep going.

- Tell me when.
- Keep going.

For the first course,

we need to practice out
our tuiles.

It's not getting
the net look to it.

Looks like the middle
might still be too moist.

A tuile is a crispy garnish

and usually flour,
parmesan-based.

What is wrong?

If I can't get it right,
I'm screwed.

Let's try no oil this time.

♪

- Chef, you wanna take
a look at this?

♪

She wants cocoa powder.

You can tell...
You can tell it's bitter.

- You just gotta make it
taste better.

That doesn't taste
good at all.

- The first batch of the cake,
it's just way too bitter.

The texture's good,
it's just, yeah,

it needs sweeter.
- Yeah.

- More of a chocolate,
less cocoa.

- I'll weigh everything out
and get it ready for tomorrow.

- So we gotta rework that.

It's a little nerve-wracking,
but, you know,

I trust my team,
and we'll figure this out.

- Jesus.

♪

- It's still a little chewy,
but we gotta go.

- Time is winding down,
and there's still a lot

that has to be done tomorrow.

Octo...

Maybe we'll just go 20 minutes
pressure cooker tomorrow.

- I don't wanna
pressure cook it.

What if?
- Yeah.

- What if it goes too far?

- With the ricotta,
you got a little tang to it,

so it's like...
- You gotta whip that, right?

- We wanna press that sh...?

- Yeah, throw it in real quick,
quick, quick.

[dramatic percussive music]

- With less...

♪

I remember we didn't press out
the ricotta for tomorrow.

Good call, guys.
Good call.

♪

- Ten seconds...

♪

To go.
- Yep, yep.

- Mm-hmm.

♪

Great job.

[timer beeping]

I could not do this
without you two.

- I love you.
- I love you guys.

- Love you.
- It's gonna be awesome.

♪

- I don't like the way
that turned out.

- My biggest question mark
is the dessert.

- So I'm just gonna
double-check the recipe again

and redo it.

- It's kind of a disaster.

[upbeat music]

♪

- They're gonna be
out of control.

- They have no idea we're here.

♪

- Graham, what are you making
for desert?

[laughter]

- Nothing.

♪

- Smells good.

- Oh!
- Hey.

How you doing?
- Oh, hey.

I guess we got
some new roommates.

- Oh, hello, Chef.
- Hey, guys.

- We felt like cooking.
- Oh, my God.

- You guys cooked for us
all season long,

so we figured we'd
return the favor.

- What do you guys got working?

- I'm stuffing this striper.

Over here we have
a whole roast foie gras.

- Just some asparagus clam
T-bones, and then...

- T-bone?
- A little sweet pea

mint yogurt.

- They're setting us up for
a pretty nice feast tonight.

You always see 'em
at judges',

and you forget they're
regular people.

They came up the same way
we came up in this industry.

- So, Adrienne, are you
opening a restaurant or...

- I'm trying to.

But I don't wanna sign
a lease, obviously,

until I finish
raising the money.

- Yeah, might be easier to get
some investors down.

- Hopefully.
- Might find...

Might find it might
be a little easier.

- Hopefully.

Part of my plan is that

the restaurant
that I wanna open

is working towards
Michelin stars.

There are not a lot of
Michelin-starred restaurants

that deal with
Southern cuisine.

I wanna change that.

- Congratulations.

- Thank you.
- For getting this far.

- Thank you very much.
- Cheers.

- Having come this far
in the competition,

I feel, like, more confident,
I have more clarity,

a better sense
of who I am as a chef.

- What do you wanna eat first?

- Uh...
- Fish first, hot food.

Let's go.

- This looks awesome.

- Sick.

Oh, yes.
Yeah.

Oh, my God.

- There's probably some bones
in it, by the way.

You can send me home,
if you like.

[all laughing]

- You think you would
have done this?

Come on the show?

- I think if I were 20...
Well, you know,

when I was 26, I was in a
restaurant called Mondrian.

Got a three-star review.

And that was, you know,
it made my career.

And I would have done it then.

♪

Nice cook on the lamb,
my friend.

- Is it?
- Yeah.

- Mm-hmm.
- All right, good.

You guys nervous
for anything tomorrow?

Is there, like, something
so temperamental

that could ruin it all?

- Everything is
nerve-wracking tomorrow.

- It is what it is.

It's like you gotta cook.
- You just gotta cook.

- But it's like you forget.

You... it's like you get so,
like, you know, distracted.

It's so weird.
It's so hard.

It's so different
than you expect.

- Yeah, but I think also you
get too pigeonholed into, like,

my style.
- Sure.

- So just cook.
- Right.

- I think that's the piece
of advice I would give you,

is just make sure that
everything makes sense.

Taste everything.

Taste everything again.

- Enjoy the moment.
Live in the moment

and realize what it is.

- Have fun with it.

All right, well,
good luck tomorrow.

- Have a great night.
- Thank you.

- All right, brother.
Good luck.

- Thank you.
- All right.

- Thank you very much.
- See you tomorrow.

- May the best chef win.

[glasses clinking]

♪

- I need a little bit
of centering.

I need a little bit of zen
in this morning.

[line trilling]

- Hello?
- Hi, Chef.

- Hi, how are you?
- How are you?

- I'm doing good.

I am in the street
going to work.

- Oh, are you walking
to the restaurant?

- Yep.
- Nice.

Working for Chef Ripert
for eight years,

I learned so much
about myself, about food.

It was an amazing experience.

I was doing the tuile,
the sauté pan tuile.

- Yes?
- And it's not coming out.

- Ah.

- No.

- Oh, my gosh,
thank you so much.

I was, like,
losing my mind yesterday.

- Thank you.

- It's great to hear
that voice

I heard for so many years

keeping me focused
and keeping me centered.

It's exactly what I needed.

Thank you.

- Okay, bye.
- Bye.

I wanna fight till the end and
give it everything we have.

Let's go, round one,
fight.

♪

One last time.

♪

Whoo!
I feel like we're going faster

than we did yesterday.
- Yeah, I told them

to pick it up a notch.
- [laughs]

- Said, "We got
a finale to cook.

Let's turn this thing
up to 11."

- Hell yeah.

♪

Why, thank you.

[people cheering]
Hey, guys.

- What up, guys?

- Yes.
God, I love you guys.

So, here are prep lists.

Chris, spoon bread first.
And then the tuile.

I talked to Ripert
this morning.

He was like, "Adrienne, you
have to whisk it in the pan."

- "Ah-drienne!"
[laughs]

- There's a lot to do,
but today I'm cooking my food,

adding the touches that
are indicative of me

and my training.

There's no holding back
on that.

- Feeling good?
- I'm so... ing

excited right now.

- Whoo-hoo!
- Whoo!

[hip-hop music]

- Ooh, Nora,
you smell good today.

Pig head stock smells great.

Yeah.

Get it back going
on the stove right away.

'Cause I'm really
just trying to get

as much flavor as possible
into there.

♪

Beautiful, Joseph.

For the tortellini en brodo,

it's like we're only making
pasta for nine people.

We can do this totally
fatto a mano.

It means "made by hand."

It just gives the dough
a little bit more character.

It's imperfect.

There's different bites to it.

There's different textures.

When you do a broto pasta,
tortellini's the guy.

It's kinda like when you need a
mustache, Joe Sasto's the guy.

To go the extra mile
in the finale,

it's absolutely worth it.

Mamma mia.

- Hell yeah.

♪

- Whisk it?
- Yeah.

That is what ze chef said.
- Ze chef!

- Till it's starting to set.

This tuile is one
of those things that

you have to know la technique.

Whisk it again.

We tested out with what
I learned from Chef Ripert.

Let's see.
- Looks much better.

- Yeah.
Oh, I love you, Carrie.

They're starting to come out
the way that they should.

Yes!

Beautiful.
- Do you wanna be on my team

for the second course?

- You shut your mouth
over there, Joseph.

♪

- Ugh, God damn it.

With the brown sugar cake,

I've never cooked
at this elevation before.

I don't like the way
that turned out.

- Oh.
- Baking sh... 's a pain

in the ass here.

I don't think I put enough
flour in it.

So I'm just gonna double-check
the recipe again and redo it.

It's super stressful.

I really think Joe has
a great chance of winning.

I don't want to be
the reason he doesn't.

Okay, I got it.

- My biggest question mark
is the dessert.

With this much on the line,
we gotta make sure

everything's perfect.

If we gotta make it two, three
times, we're gonna do it.

- No problem.

- Hot behind you.
Coming through.

Guys, we got 40 minutes
till first course out.

- Whoo-hoo!
- 40 minutes!

- What what!
- And the battle begins!

Don't be scared, okay?
- [laughs]

- No fear, brother.

♪

- Aww, yeah.

I love black-eyed peas.

Traditional Southern
black-eyed peas

are cooked until
they are getting mushy.

So I decide to kind of mimic
overcooked beans

by having Chris
crush them up with a fork.

- Adrienne, I'm putting the
hock back in the beans, right?

- Yeah.

- This is going to be so yummy.
- I can't wait, Captain.

[upbeat music]

♪

- It's so quiet.
- Yes.

- Seriousness.
- Serious.

- Serious.
- Serious business.

- I'm very excited to see
what both Adrienne and Joe

are going to give us.

- Yeah, two totally
different styles.

- I bet one is Italian.

- Yeah.
- Yeah, I think you're right.

And one is committed
to doing Southern style.

- Well, that seemed to be
her eureka moment

while she's been here,
so that's very exciting.

- Yeah.
- To Aspen, to great food.

- Cheers, guys.
- Season finale.

- Thank you, Colorado.

- 7 minutes, 46 seconds.

- Brilliant.
So nice, Adrienne.

- It's good to see it
come together.

- You don't wanna dress
any of the greens, do you?

- No, I just want them to be,
like, fresh and, like, peppery.

Yeah, that's it.

The way I cook
appears so simple,

so it's like all the minor
details matter so much.

Yeah, that looks awesome.

- Carrie, you k*lled it
with these tuiles, though.

- But I see Adrienne's plate.

Um, you know, it's
a beautiful plate of food.

- Three, two, one.

- I feel like it's gonna be
neck and neck.

- Do your thing, girl.
- Love you, guys.

[exhales sharply]

[tense music]

♪

- Wow.

♪

- Beautiful.

♪

- Adrienne, what did you
make for us?

- We have a spoon bread
served with sea urchin

and buttermilk dashi,
a little bit of Benton's ham,

with caviar.
The tuile on top,

you just cr*ck that
and let it fall

into your buttermilk dashi.

- Beautiful. Thank you.
- Joe?

- First dish I did for you
today is a tonno vitellato.

It's a play on a classic
vitello tonnato.

Raw tuna with just olive oil,
lemon.

Veal demi aioli,
a little bit of smoked wagyu

powder on top.

- Your presentation
is really exquisite.

- Yeah.
- Good job, guys.

- Get back down
and cook some more.

- [laughs] Yes.
- Yeah.

- These two, I could be eating
at Le Bernardin.

I could be eating at Spiaggia.

I'm impressed.
- Mm-hmm.

It's a fantastic start.

- They're both stunning.

I love the acidity
in Joe's dish.

- What do you think
of the fat powder?

- I love it.
It's a creative way

to use fat to add unctuousness.
- Mm-hmm.

- Joe's was very simplistic.
And I like that.

I like that kind of, you know,
that clean look.

- But I think that we've
seen it before.

- Right.
- Where as Adrienne's dish

is much more provocative.

It's like you're peeking
under the dress

and then you see
the little ooh in there.

- Well, it's like a negligee.
- That's what I mean.

That's what I'm saying.
It's very, like, very sensual.

- Yeah.

- What I loved about
Adrienne's dish,

the spoon bread was so tender.

The combination of sea urchin
and ham worked really well.

- Honestly, what
she put together

is a flavor combination
that I've never had before.

- Exactly.
- Mm-hmm.

- Eight minutes.
- Full plates.

- Give 'em a wipe real quick.

- It feels like
the first course,

Adrienne's dish
was a showstopper.

But my second course,
the tortellinis in the brodo,

it's simple, elegant.

This might be one
of the better plates of food

I've ever put out in my life.

- I don't know if I'm
pronouncing this right.

That's a mamma mia.
- Mamma mia!

- Yeah, Care Bear.

- Is this how caramelized
you want it?

- Yeah, yep, I'm gonna start
laying grits down.

We're just going, like,
a smear on the plate.

- Did you taste them? Salt?
- Good cook on 'em.

Seasoning's good.

Carrie's still worried
about grits,

but she crushed it.

- I need a plate wipe.
And I need garnish.

- Don't freak out.
Stay calm.

- Push it so you get that
on the plate.

Four, three...
[claps]

- [whistles]

[upbeat music]

- Wow.
- Ah, ooh.

- It's beautiful.

- My dish is
a tortellini en brodo.

The filling is pig head
that I braised.

The broth is some
of the braising liquid.

All the pasta's completely
fatto a mano, made by hand,

with grano arso flour.

So it's flour that they burn
in the fields in Italy.

- It's the most
magnificent color.

- Yeah, it's like a river rock
or something.

- Yep.
- Yeah.

- Adrienne?

- We're doing kind of a play
on fish and grits.

Instead of doing
blackened catfish,

doing blackened octopus served

with chow-chow
and black grits.

- Thank you both.
- Thank you.

♪

- This is insane.

This is, like, I think some of
the best food we've ever had

at a finale.
- I know.

- This... this is...

- Damn.
- Joe's dish is just amazing.

The broth is really delicious.

It's so flavorful.
It's just perfect.

- It really does look
like river stones.

You just wanna dive in
and eat them.

- Adrienne did a beautiful job.

The octopus was
cooked beautifully.

And I did like that subtle,
beautiful, blackened heat.

- I like it a lot,
I just think it eats dry.

- Yeah.
- It needs some kind of fat

or aioli or vinaigrette.
- Or more grits.

- Or more grits.

- It's a really
tight competition.

- Yeah.
- So far.

- Off to a great start.

- Pull 'em out and rest
for the last minute.

My steak comes out.

The time's a little tight
on this,

but I feel like we're
gonna hit it.

Taste this.

- That smoke is...
[kisses]

- Do you feel...
İs every one good?

- I don't know.
We'll see.

- The beans are amazing.

Got that smoked hock
up in there.

- The short rib
is really tender.

The black-eyed peas,
you taste the ham hock stock.

But this course,
I'm not 100% sure.

Whenever you
second-guess yourself,

that's usually when you
make mistakes.

Two, one.

[tense music]

[upbeat music]

- Mmm.

Oh, it's beautiful.
- Mm-hmm.

- [whispers] Stunning.

- So, today we have
Cheerwine-braised short rib

served with black-eyed peas.

Some of the black-eyed peas
were crushed

to give it a little body.

And then there's some
roasted bone marrow

that's folded in at the end
of that as well.

- Joe?
- This course I call

the manzo di Colorado.

It's beef ribeye eye
roasted in a pan.

Asparagus are cooked
in their own juices.

The sauce is smoked
bone marrow.

- Joe, tell me how you
made the asparagus.

You said you cooked them
in their own juices.

- So, we took
the stems off 'em,

juiced 'em,
roasted 'em in a pan.

And then we hit it with that
juice from the asparagus.

- Thank you.
- Thank you.

- Thank you.

- Can't get out of here
fast enough.

[all laugh]

- Are our leaders back?

How'd it go?
- You never know.

- They were all struggling
with the ribeye.

- I noticed that... and, yeah.
- And I was like...

[tense music]

- With Joe's dish,
I was just torturing this meat.

- That's over-rested.
- Yeah.

I will say, though,
Joe's asparagus were magic.

It was just an amazing,
beautiful bed of food.

- Adrienne's short ribs
and black-eyed peas,

they all go together
quite well.

But it just was dry.

- It's that she mashed
half the peas.

The insides that are smashed...
- Destroyed, yeah.

But I like the ham hock.

That's where the flavor in
the beans are coming from.

It's all ham hock.

I like Adrienne's dish.
I think it's so close.

♪

- Touch it.

- Yep, that's dense and gooey.

It's like... more like a brownie
than a cake, almost.

- Okay.
- Let's start doing it.

The cake's out of the oven.
It's got a great chew to it.

It feels like a huge relief.

You know,
I think this is gonna work.

I love the flavors.
- This is really good.

- Dark and sexy.
Just like you, baby boy.

- [kisses]
- Taste this, man.

Some banana yuzu.

- Mmm.
- Right?

- But Adrienne's desert
is absolutely gorgeous.

Nah, throw that away.
Start over.

- Desserts I don't do
as frequently.

I want it to hit the table
and you're like, "Wow."

- Do you feel there's
enough banana?

- Yeah.

At the end of the day,
I know my dessert is good.

I am ready to serve my last
dish here at "Top Chef."

- Holy sh..., guys.

It's about to be over.

All: Three, two, one.

[all cheer]
- Good job, guys.

- Congratulations, guys.
- That's it.

- We'll see you
on the other side.

- Do your thing.

[upbeat music]

- Thank you.
- Wow.

- Wow.

- Big breaths
from the diaphragm.

- Joe, tell us what you made.

- So, this is
a torta di nornina.

Before Nancy says it,
I'll say it.

This is not
a torta di nornina.

- I know.
- But it's in the style of it.

It's a brown sugar cake on
a bed of some whipped ricotta,

blueberry thyme sauce,
little shards of chocolate

as well.
- Mmm.

- Adrienne?
- Today we're doing

a banana pudding.
There's a little bit of yuzu,

slices of banana on top
of the Nilla wafers.

And a pinch of turmeric.
- It is good.

Which is very, very
intellectual.

- Well, you've now both served
your last dish on "Top Chef."

How does it feel, guys?
- Uh, it feels amazing.

- It's been great cooking
for you guys today.

Thank you.
- Yeah.

- Thank you.
We'll see you later.

- Thank you.

♪

- Oh, that's it, guys!
- That's it.

Pass the champagne.
- [sighs]

- Thank you, guys.
- Cheers.

Both: Season 15.

♪

- My nonna never made
cake like this.

[chuckles]

- I think with Joe's,
the cake was great.

It had a really good,
deep concentrated flavor.

The blueberries
delivered a lot.

- I really like
the cake density,

but the, uh, ricotta underneath
it was, like, really heavy.

- Adrienne's dish was
incredibly creative.

And I thought the wafers
were great, too.

But I lost the banana
pudding in it completely.

- This is definitely
good eye candy.

I just wish it tasted as good.

- I'm impressed
with both of them, honestly.

And we're nitpicking,
I'm sorry,

that's pretty...
That's pretty basic.

- Clearly they're both
really talented.

In my opinion, they both
deserve to win, so...

[upbeat music]

- Oh.
Cheers, buddy.

- Cheers.
- Congratulations.

- Congratulations.
Great job today.

- I was really nervous
about my dessert course.

But I think they liked it.
- It looked good.

- I thought that octopus dish
was really, really smart.

- Thank you.
That's one I've been working on

for a little while.

- There's a huge respect level
between me and Adrienne.

Let the best chef win,
and if that's not me,

like, hell yeah,
that's you.

- No matter who wins,
southside comes out on top.

- Southside, huh?

[dramatic music]

♪

- Congratulations.

We got the best food
of the season tonight.

- By a lot.
- And that's exactly

what should happen.

Things were really delicious.

There were some curve balls.

There was... it was exciting.

It was all starting
to come into focus.

And as young chefs,
that's gotta feel great.

- Thank you.
- How did you come up

with your first dish, Joe?

- That's a play off
of the classic, you know,

vitello tonnato,
which is a dish I love,

but it's, like,
a really heavy dish,

and it's hard to do
in a sexy way.

- I'm pretty sure this
is better than the original.

- [laughs]
- Yeah, I gotta say,

just really well balanced.

Good amount of acidity,
and was playful

because you had
the fat in there.

- Thank you, Chef.

- Adrienne, that first course
of yours was probably

the best thing I ate
all season from anybody.

It was beautiful with
this veil of lace.

And it had so much flavor
and umami from the broth.

That should go on some menu
immediately as is.

- Thank you.
- Please don't touch it.

- It was one of those dishes
that would be talked about

in any restaurant review and
would become the signature.

You are never getting rid
of that dish.

- Wow, thank you so much.

- I'd like to move on
to the second course now.

- Adrienne?
- At Le Bernardin,

we did a braised octopus,
and I was like,

"What if I did it like
a blackened octopus instead?"

And why not squid and grits?

- The idea of this dish
is just mind blowing.

If you're looking to
reinterpret Southern food,

this would be it.
This is just perfect.

- Right, poster child.
- It is.

And it ate
really, really well.

But it just needed more fat
and richness, more grits.

We just wanted more.
[chuckles]

- Yeah, it was
just super clever.

The cookery,
the thought behind it,

presentation, really showed
who you are as a chef now.

- Thank you.
- Joe?

- The first dish when I took
over as chef at Spiaggia

was a pig head risotto.

And I felt like it was
a nice representation

of how I like to cook.

- So here's the second dish
that I will never forget.

There was something so magical
about that broth,

and as soon as you said
it looked like river rocks,

it shouldn't make you
wanna eat it.

I don't know why I now
wanna eat river rocks.

[laughter]

But it was a dish that you
sit and think about

long, long after you eat it.

- It takes a lot of experience
to make a broth

that rich in texture,
that rich in flavor.

It was just perfectly seasoned.

♪

- How did you guys conceive
of this third course?

Adrienne?
- So I really wanted to play up

Southern things
that you see a lot,

like black-eyed peas.

So I mashed half of the
black-eyed peas so that...

- Why did you do that?

- Well, I'm trying to mimic
the spirit of black-eyed peas,

and I've never had
black-eyed peas that were not

half falling apart.

- Usually beans break up

because they're
not cooked right.

'Cause they're cooked too hard.
- Mm-hmm.

- And I understand you're
trying to mimic broken beans,

but you're a better cook,
and you can cook them

so they're not falling apart.

And you should.
- Joe?

- This dish for me was a
really Italian way of cooking,

of just cooking with
the best things around you.

- One of the great things
with your dish

was the attention to detail
that you had

with the vegetables.

They had this beautiful flavor.

- I agree with you.

The asparagus and
the bone marrow sauce,

when you put them together,
was like fireworks.

The meat was quite chewy.

[dramatic music flourish]

- Dessert.
What were you guys thinking

when you came up
with these deserts?

- It's an ominous way to ask.
- Yeah.

- And this isn't an Italian
cake, by any means.

It's not at all.
I know that.

- Some nonna could have
made it somewhere.

- Somebody's grandma
makes that cake.

I'm not lying. Um...

- No, I'll give you that one.
- Okay, thank you.

- I thought that your cake
was really tasty.

I thought the blueberries
were beautiful.

Mine were perfectly poached.

- I thought it was actually
quite successful.

The ricotta was the only thing
that sort of weighed it down

a little bit.
- You have a good dessert.

I think you just need
a better name for it.

It's like a band
that has a bad name.

- Yeah.
- The Hoobastank of deserts.

- Yes, that was the...
[laughter]

Adrienne?
- I love banana pudding.

- I would have loved more
banana in my banana pudding.

- Knock, knock.
- Who's there?

- Banana.
Knock, knock.

- Who's there?
- Yuzu.

[laughter]

If you had called this
a yuzu meringue pie,

we would have went, "Wow,
this is a great version

of yuzu meringue pie."
- Damn it.

- But I gotta say
it was a good end

to a really delicious meal.

Both: Thank you.

- [sighs]
Okay, guys.

We'll see you in a bit.

♪

- How about one of these?
- Uh, definitely.

- They really gave us
what we hoped for today.

We need to now figure out
the tiny nuances

of each person's cooking and
who deserves to be Top Chef,

which I think has never
been more difficult.

- Yeah.
- It's a very close race.

- That first dish, Adrienne
put out a k*ller dish.

- Mm-hmm.
- Thought-provoking

and delicious.

- I haven't had spoon bread
and sea urchin and butter...

I've never seen
a buttermilk bashi.

I mean, this is like
a new author

creating the first chapter.
It's just like, "Wow."

both: Mm-hmm.

- [sighs]
- The second course.

The sheer beauty of Joe's hand
rolled pasta was perfection.

- Right, and, you know,
even though Joe

was doing Italian food,
he's doing it his own way.

That broth is not
traditional at all.

It's what you'd find if you
were having Japanese ramen.

That's what made that special.

But it really shows a sense
of maturity, though.

- You're such a dirty
ing competitor.

[both laughing]

- So now we're neck and neck.
- Yeah, it's...

- What about the third course?
- Yeah.

- Adrienne did a really nice
job cooking the short rib.

It was really tender.
It was nice and rich.

But if you make great beans,
they're not broken up.

- Yeah, but the actual flavor
using the ham hock,

they were delicious.

- Joe's ribeye, to me,
was not perfect.

But every other element
was cooked so beautifully

that I think it...
İt outweighed it.

- As far as, here's
some great asparagus,

some baby chanterelles.

I mean, it's a smart dish.

- Dessert's interesting,
because both Joe and Adrienne

gave us dishes
that they misnamed.

- I did like the textures in
Adrienne's dessert, though.

No two bites were the same.

Whereas Joe's had
a homier feel to it.

- I thought the cake was really
delicious, the cake itself.

- I loved the cake.
- I loved that texture.

- I totally would have
a piece right now.

- Yeah, I think he ex*cuted
his dessert better.

- Mm-hmm.
- Adrienne's was striking.

But there was absolutely
flaws in execution.

- Torta di nornina.
What was I thinking?

- Banana pudding
featuring yuzu.

What was I thinking?

- I gotta say, this was...
This was exciting.

We've had some great food
in our finales,

but this one'll stick
with me.

- [sighs]

- Oh.
[cheers and applause]

[dramatic music]

♪

- You know, chefs, there's
something inside of us that

makes us wanna cook.

We have to cook.

But the better chefs,
they go on a journey,

and they find themselves,
and they find their voice.

And they find what's
important to them.

And you think you have it,

you start over again
and go on another journey.

For 35 years I've been cooking,
and I still am reaching.

It's absolutely great
to watch your journey

from when you started here
to where you are now.

It's hard to say
there's only one winner,

because you're both winners.

- But there can only be
one Top Chef.

♪

Joe...

[suspenseful music]

You are Top Chef.

- Oh!

[cheers and applause,
laughter]

- Joe Flamm!
[laughter and applause]

- Holy sh...
- Congratulations, Joe.

- I just won "Top Chef."
[laughs]

I can't believe it.
I don't even know.

Like, it feels
ing amazing.

Oh, thank you.
[applause]

I'm excited.

I'm literally standing
on top of a mountain

and just won... ing
"Top Chef."

[sighs]
- Joe, congratulations.

Not only are you Top Chef,
you've also won yourself

$125,000.

[cheers and applause]

Furnished by San Pellegrino.

So congratulations.

- Congratulations.
- Thank you.

- Thank you so much.
- Nice, nice job.

- Thank you. Thank you.
- You did a great job.

- I'm very happy I came here
and competed.

I feel good about the food,
but I lost.

I'm really excited.

I'm also
a little disappointed.

You know, it's just
a lot of emotion.

♪

- Thank you, honestly,
that was so beautiful.

- Oh, thank you.
- It was stunning.

- Would I have preferred
to win?

Yeah.
But I have no regrets.

- I'm so happy.

[laughter]
- Oh!

I've learned so much.
I've pushed myself so hard.

I'm excited to take that
back home.

I'm excited to bring that
back to Spiaggia.

See how far I can push it
there, you know,

with me and Tony,
until I'm ready

for the next chapter.

Oh, sh..., thank you, man.
- Hey, what'd I say?

- I couldn't have done it
without you.

- Yes!
[laughs]

- Oh, thank you.

- Oh.
- Hey. Hi.

- Ooh.

Guess what.

- I just won "Top Chef."

- [laughing]

- Oh.
- Great job.

- You didn't believe in me?

- [laughs]

- Here's to season 15.

- Season 15!

[all cheering]