19x05 - Don't Mess with BBQ

[bunniefuu]

We want two dishes
that look exactly alike

but taste completely different.

This is a double elimination.

This challenge is
all about survival.

You don't want to be
the one to sink someone's dream.

I would never make this dish
if Buddha weren't on my team.

That might be
the best dessert we've had.

The panna cotta hasn't set.

Both domes are texturally off.

The winning team tonight
is Jackson and Buddha.

It sucks being down here.

Robert and Sarah,
please pack your knives and go.

Ten chefs remain to compete in
the ultimate culinary showdown.

At stake for the winner,

a feature in
Food and Wine Magazine,

an appearance at the Food
& Wine Classic in Aspen,

$250,000 furnished
by San Pellegrino

and the coveted
title of Top Chef.

I think as hard as it
could be to go out individually,

it's so hard to
go out as a team.

I was just like, "Oh,
it's not my name. Oh my God."

Hi, chefs.

- Padma.
- Twist! Oh no.

I know it's hard to
say goodbye to two chefs,

but the competition
has to go on.

Tomorrow, you'll meet
Brooke Williamson on location,

and she'll tell you
what your next challenge is.

Get some rest.

- Thank you.
- I'll see you later.

All right guys, from now on,

someone has to be on
watch out for the door.

It doesn't feel
like Padma would come in

and give us that omen
if it was just a Quickfire.

If she's coming in to warn us,

it's going to
be a hard challenge.

- Good morning, chefs.
- Good morning.

Follow me, I've got
some cool things to show you.

You guys,
how cool is this?

- Beautiful.
- We've been waiting for this.

It's the barbecue challenge.

This is Texas, and as you know,

it's all about
the perfect brisket.

Texas style brisket,

it's one
of the most difficult things

to properly accomplish.

Locals have perfected
new concepts like

brisket fried rice,
brisket hand rolls, brisket pho.

So, for your
elimination challenge,

we want you to flip the script
on what barbecue can be

and put your
own twist on brisket.

You guys seem
really intense today.

Girl's from Texas.

I have to represent.

This morning,
you'll have 30 minutes

to select your brisket,
trim it, rub it,

and get it on the smoker.

Once it's in the smoker,

I'm going to hang
back with Willow Villarreal,

the pitmaster here at J-Bar-M,
and monitor the temperature

while you all go
to Whole Foods Market

to shop out
the rest of your dish.

You'll have
until midnight tonight

to get your briskets done.

Definitely surprised that
we don't have a Quickfire today,

but really glad that
we have way more hours

in order to prep and cook.

Your guest judge for tomorrow
will be pitmaster Greg Gatlin,

and 20 of Houston's
best pitmasters.

- Oh, wow.
- Oh my gosh.

No pressure.

- Wow. --it.
- All right chefs,

your 30 minutes to get your
brisket prepped starts now.

- Oh my God.
- Oh yeah!

Oh yeah.

At this point
in the competition,

I've been pretty
much consistently staying

in the middle.

Being from Mississippi,
I have to crush this.

I'm getting that one.
My smoking game is pretty solid.

Those are the great
memories from back home,

sitting by
the grill with my family.

There we go.

As a chef from Texas,

you gotta figure it out
through the smoking process.

You want that
flavor to be dragged down

into the center of the meat.

Some nice briskets, huh?

Yeah, they're nice.

If don't put enough
flavor into your rub,

you won't find out
until 12 hours later.

I almost always rub my brisket

with some like,
paprika, harissa blend.

Sounds good.

We have 12 hours of cook time,

so I'm gonna really
think through this dish.

I am working on
this little spice rub.

- It's called "kitchen pepper."
- Love that.

I think of a dish
called Chicken and Slicks.

It's just
a simple broth with chicken

and these flat dumplings.

So, I'm thinking that I could
do kitchen pepper brisket

and sweet potato slicks.

Ginger...



Nick, what are you
going with for your rub, man?

I definitely add at
least 12 to 14 different spices.

What about you?

I'm sticking
with the black pepper and salt,

and then just adding
notes of different spices

that are going to be
part of my dish as well.

I've been waiting
to have the challenge

to really showcase
my ability to make curries.

So, I'm going to be
making a brisket curry.

So, for my brisket rub

I'm just adding
a little bit of cinnamon,

I have some coriander,
some fennel,

and a bit of paprika in there.

I think I'm in
between some pros over here.

Buddha, what are what
are you doing with your rub?

Almost tradition
with salt and pepper.

- Oh, cool.
- And yourself?

I am doing
like, a Cajun spice.

What are you thinking?

I think I'm going to
go pasta, man, finally.

My plan is to
make brisket the star,

which is why I'm going
to do the scarpinocc pasta.

You can stuff it so much
that it's like, 90% filling,

and just 10% pasta.

If I stuff a pasta,
I might need to grind it.

Yeah.

And you know,
the beauty of brisket is like,

- the whole piece.
- Yeah.

Any specific side
I should put down first?

Yeah,
fatty side towards the heat.

Towards the heat.

I feel we're about
to use the Rolls-Royce

of barbecue smokers here.
It's pretty cool.

The frame, is that kind of
to like lock in some moisture,

or you--

So, moisture.

Barbecue in Korea is really big.

But we slice
the raw beef super thinly

and grill on the table side.

All right.

So, this type
of barbecue is very different

than what I'm really used to.

Don't slam it.

I'm gonna just pray on it.

To the brisket gods.

- Y'all ready?
- Deal.

- I smell like smoke.
- Good luck, Jae.

- Good luck to you.
- Good luck, everyone.

Okay, so,
let's get some inspiration.

- What are you making?
- Onion soubise.

- Going super French on this.
- Soubise?

I'm actually doing
something French as well.

Beef bourguignon.

Oh, cool! Nice.

Because I'm so
uncomfortable and inexperienced

with barbecue itself,

I'm just going to
stick with what I know

and be inspired
by French cooking.

Hey, you need help?
Let me help you.

No, I think I'm okay.

I think of it like a steak dish

where you feature
the brisket on itself,

and on the side you
have potatoes or shallots,

things like that.

I'm doing something
like chicken and slicks.

Are you familiar
with chicken and dumplings?

Oh yeah.

I'm surprised at how
much cook time we have.

I start to think
of what else I can do:

stewed greens,
sweet potatoes, creamed corn,

flavors that are reminiscent
of my family barbecue.

I'm going to get more parsnips.

Five minutes, chefs.

All right, I'm checking out.

I think I'm just
going to make it.

- $293.
- Thank you.

All right,
let's get to the kitchen, guys.

Hey, chefs. How's it going?

We've decided to do things
a little out of order today.

Sons of b*tches.

We've decided to do things
a little out of order today.

Jesus Christ.

I never said
there wasn't a Quickfire.

So, for this
Quickfire Challenge,

we thought we'd
have a little fun

with a classic
- Texas toast.

Never made Texas toast.
Never eaten Texas toast.

Why does it need to be Texan?
Can't it just be toast?

Texas toast is
a thick-cut slice of bread.

at a pig stand in the '40s,

a bread order came
in that was too thick

to fit into the toaster,

so they decided to
butter and grill the bread,

giving us Texas toast.

We've stocked a variety
of breads and challenge dairy

for you to work with.

Come up with
something delicious,

possibly something
we've never seen before.

But there's
a little bit at stake here.

Whoever wins this challenge
will win immunity and $10,000.

- --it.
- Well, God damn.

$10,000... for toast?

Game on.

If I was to win $10,000,

I'd pay my pug's eye surgery.

No --it. He's gone blind.

You have 30
minutes on the clock,

- and your time starts...
- Now.

What do we have here?

Oh my God, this is crazy.

- Sorry, I'm in your face.
- What is this?

I go for the French country
bread, nobody touches that.

I'm okay, all right. Ugh.

I got all the things.

What kind
of bread did you get, Jo?

Olive oil and thyme.
What'd you get?

Thick-cut white bread.

I don't know
what to expect anymore.

Just when you think you're safe.

Oh my God,
this is time away from my dish.

I want to get
this Quickfire over with

so that I can
focus on my brisket.

I'm doing a pizza roll,
just like mom used to make.

I'm thinking BLT. Three
different type of tomatoes,

wilt down most
of everything on it.

It's hard to deliver up
that message of Texas toast

by having like,
a thin cut of bread.

You know, you're in Texas.
It needs to be durable.

What the Jackson!

I have no ----ing idea, man.
I'm from Cali. You know?

What's your plan, Jackson?

I'm going to do a shrimp toast.
How about you?

I'm going to do
a mille-feuille of bread.

In 30 minutes? Damn.

A mille-feuille is
basically a thousand layers.

So, my plan is to cut
the Texas toast really thin.

I want to make a buttercream.

Buttercream,
so you're going sweet?

I'm going sweet.

And create layers
of buttercream in toast.

Jae, what's your plan?

Vietnamese
style shrimp toast.

I am nervous!

We never even
talked about this possibility.

- Like, hello.
- 15 minutes.

Ugh!

Damn, ain't that some sh.

What are you making?

Mushroom toast
since I found lion's mane

and maitake mushrooms.

There's $10,000 on the line.

I have a wonderful
fiancée and a wedding to plan.

You ever
make Texas toast before, Jo?

Usually when
I'm drunk, very late at night.

When you're drunk? Okay.

Buddha,
how are you doing over there?

I've been better.

I've got a croissant.

So, I'm going to
do a mille-feuille.

Luke, what are you
doing in a blender right now?

- Silence.
- Thank you, Luke.

Lukey don't
have time to talk.

I'm going to make
crawfish and chorizo emulsion

on top focaccia with pancetta.

Why did
you use focaccia bread?

'Cause I like
focaccia bread.

Hot stuff, very hot.

Right behind, hot.

Hot, hot. Very hot.

Hey, chefs, you got five
minutes left. Five minutes.

- Five minutes. Yes, chef.
- Whoo!

Hot, hot, hot, hot.

Once I start
cutting the mille-feuille,

I realize that I need
something else on the plate

to give it another dimension.

I find king trumpet mushrooms

in order to make
my dish sweet and savory.

And so I'm rushing
to just get them cooked.

- Three minutes.
- This is crazy!

How is your
toast coming along, Evelyn?

Tastes delicious,
maybe doesn't look the greatest.

Coming through.

This right here is
going to make a statement.

Oh my God.

- 30 seconds, y'all
- Ugh!



Four... three...
two... one...

Chefs, time's up.

- Let's go.
- Oh, man.

I added too much of the pancetta
on top of my toast.

I wanted to grab some acid
that could cut that salt,

but it was too late.

You guys are toast.

Evelyn, come on up.

Hello, chefs.

- Hello.
- Dessert first.

Oh, look at that.

The toast itself
is sugared in a custard,

and crispy caramelized
on top, spiced pecans

and boozy strawberries.

- All right, thanks.
- Awesome, thank you.

So, I made
Vietnamese style shrimp

and lobster toast,
pickled veggies on top.

The shrimp is the purée?

Yeah,
I made a shrimp mousse.

Okay.

- Okay, thank you.
- Thank you.

Hi, chefs.
I prepared a pizza roll-up.

- Oh, okay.
- Wow.

With a Gruyère
and parmesan Reggiano

and tomato sauce basil sauce.

- Thank you.
- Thank you.

That's a strawberry
and raspberry mille-feuille

with whipped ricotta,
cinnamon, croissant toast,

and raspberry jam.

So, you hear Texas toast
and you pick mille-feuille?

Well, you said
reinvent it, so, yeah.

Yeah.

Today, I made a BLT.

My bread was
ciabatta Colby-Jack pancetta.

Did you turn the cheese
into a spread of some sort?

Yes,
from the fat from the pancetta.

- Great, thank you.
- Thank you.

I made focaccia
Texas toast with crawfish

and chorizo
emulsion with a pancetta,

pine nut, herb salad on top

So, I did a pizza toast:

Buffalo mozzarella
and fresh tomato sauce

with white anchovy, capers,

kalamata olives and I did
some fried prosciutto on top.

Thank you.

Monique, come on up.

What do we have here?

I had an inspiration
of mille-feuille as well.

I sliced it really thin

and made an
orange blossom buttercream

and then also glazed
the king trumpet mushrooms.

Is the bread toasted at all?

- It is toasted but--
- Is it?

I mean, yeah,
just a little bit.

I didn't want to
get it too toasted,

the buttercream might melt.

Got it.

- Hi, chefs.
- Hello.

I made for you
a mushroom and arugula toast

flavored with a little bit
of espelette and smoked paprika.

You like mushrooms, don't you?

Mm-hmm. Thank you.

Jackson, what'd you make?

Shrimp toast with
balsamic chili jam.

Is it a sweet jam?

Very lightly sweetened,
mostly acidic and spicy.

- Thank you.
- Thanks.

- Well, that was fun, huh?
- That was.

Yeah, some really
tasty bits, and others as well.

So, Brooke, what do you think?
Who's on the bottom?

Luke, I think
you had a good idea.

Unfortunately,
the whole dish was too salty.

Yeah, really, really salty.

Monique, the mushroom
and buttercream combo felt

a little strange.

I mean, it was
more like a Texas tea sandwich,

- not so much a toast.
- Okay.

So, Brooke,
who were your favorites?

Nick, your BLT was everything

that I want out
of a BLT in terms of flavor.

Agreed. And the ratio of that
thick toast to the topping

is just perfect.

Jo, your mushroom bread
was flavorful

and you held
the integrity of that toast.

It was really tasty.

Jackson, it was slightly sweet,

it was salty on top of the bread
that we wanted to eat.

Okay, so winner,
immunity, and $10,000.

The chef with the best
Texas toast dish today is...

The chef today that had
the best Texas toast dish is...

Nick.

Nice work.

Get back there, yeah, cool.

Finally, I'm on the top.

- About time.
- Good job, my brotha.

But no time to celebrate.

All right.

It's straight
back into the cook.

Coming through.

I mean,
how's she looking so far?

I think it looks great.

Oh my God,
that looks beautiful!

Jo, how you doing?

I'm Italian now.

Twist!

Thus far in the competition,
I've cooked a lot of Asian food,

and really,
pasta is sort of my wheelhouse.

When I started
cooking in New York,

it was all California Italian.

I don't think
I've actually cooked my food

since I've gotten here.

I don't know that
there's another prep task

in the kitchen that
I love more than making pasta.

Ooh look at
all that pasta! My girl.

Do I have to do this?

- It's kind of heavy.
- You got it.

Oh my God.

So, you gotta
spray it all over, okay?

All over? Like, a lot?

Yeah, yeah, yeah,
yeah. Like, all over.

All right.

I don't know, man.
I've never done this before, so.

I hear ya.

I'm also going to
commit a cardinal sin

and I'm actually
going to grind it up

and put it inside a pasta, so.

Why am I bastardizing
this entire process?

It just makes sense in my head,
and I am making it my own.

But... I could have 20 really
angry pitmasters tomorrow.

See how it goes.

Pouring here.

I'm in my potato zone.

--it needs to get done.

I can like, smell
the brisket already, right?

Nice and smoky.

Having this long cook
gives me an opportunity

to incorporate
elements into this dish

that normally
I don't get the time to do.

How much prep
have y'all completed yet?

I'm on the second component.

So, two out of five.

Oh wait, no, I'm sorry.
Two out of six.

I want to check
on our babies, brisket babies.

Oh yeah,
they're like 150 something.

Maybe tip it,

now you get that
grease that's pooling.

- Oh, I got you.
- Sweet.

I would move that one.

To the back?
I'm learning so much.

Perfect.

Oh, I'm so sorry! I'm so
sorry, so sorry, so sorry...

You picked
some big boys, man.

Yeah...

I'm going to try
to treat this brisket

like a star of the plate,

and then I'm definitely
doing some things

that I wouldn't do
because of time restraints.

I'm making
the Worcestershire consommé

to kind of show some technique,

pickles that could actually
sit for more than 30 minutes.

I'm hoping that
the flavors really come through.

It's going to get interesting.

Yes,
there's food out there

if you want anything, all right?

- Oh, look at this.
- Yeah!

- Oh my God. Amazing.
- So hungry.

If you're not drinking a beer,
are you really barbecuing?

What?

I ain't
never seen this before.

Okay, I'm from Texas
and I don't know how to lasso.

Like on the cartoons, man.

Y'all act
like y'all know it,

but come and show me.

Do it up!

- Oh, boy.
- Yee-haw!

Oh!

Oh. Ugh.

I'm definitely not
going to change careers.

You found your true calling?

Perfect. All right.

You got
a little ways to go.

Okay.

Might work on some pickles.

Pickles isn't traditional
on a beef bourguignon, but--

Brisket isn't traditional

With beef
bourguignon either, so,

you got that going for you.

I'm not going traditional
because the judges said

that they're not looking
for something traditional.

Funny finding you here.

Beef bourguignon with barbecue.

I'm eating it in
my mind and I'm going,

"This is going to work."

This is so cool.

The brisket,
you take it out of the smoker

and it has to rest.

So, we're walking in tomorrow

totally blind on
if your meat is tender,

if you over seasoned it
or under seasoned it.

Ugh.

You don't know what
you're working with exactly.

You guys are awesome, man.

Seriously.

We definitely
smell like smoke.

I reek of smoke.

Yeah, of course you are.

How are you feeling?

The main part of our dish
hasn't even been tasted yet,

so like, you get there
and it sucks, then it's like...

I know.

I'm just
naturally an anxious person,

and I think being
in this environment,

it's been very stressful,
like with this dish.

So, I don't know why I'm
taking this risk, to be honest.

But meditation just helps me
kind of mentally prepare

to just start
working really quickly

because I know that there's
really no room for error.

- Let's get it.
- Okay, here we go.

Hot, hot, coming through.

Today, no pressure.

Just 20 of the best
Texas pitmasters

are going to be
trying my brisket.

Oh boy.

I'm scared as hell.

- Me too.
- ----ing terrifying.

All right.

Mmm. Mmm.

Pretty dang
close to perfect, man.

I like it.

Nice and juicy.

I'm so excited to be
cooking barbecue in Texas,

but I'm so
nervous at the same time.

Yeah.

You know why? Because
you don't mess with Texas.

Monique, that brisket,
what is it looking like?

It's okay.

The warm spices from
my rub didn't really come out.

So, I kind of really
just taste salt, pepper,

and at this point,
I have to work with what I have.

Maybe I'm going to add
more cardamom to the sides.

Uh, assuming you're dancing

means it turned
out pretty well, yeah?

- Yup.
- Awesome.

Part of me wishes that this
was just a brisket challenge,

straight up.
I know that I would k*ll that.

I'm struggling with figuring out

exactly how I'm going
to highlight the brisket

and yet still
incorporate it into my dish.

I'm going to cut into this one.

Definitely smells
like kitchen pepper. Ooh.

No. The brisket is under salted.

That's an unfortunate
mistake that I cannot take back.

So, I'm going to make sure

that the stew this brisket
lives in is full of flavor.

I'm going to go get
my slicks on, go from there.

Anybody want
some south in their mouth?

Oh --it.

Hey Buddha,
what you got going on

- with your brisket?
- Got a little bit of trim.

So, I'm just going to
make a stock out of it,

enrich it,
pour it back over my brisket.

Nice.

Got quite a few components, so.

Classic Buddha style.

This morning, I'm making
my brioche bread from scratch.

Ah, don't they like,
regular pastry brushes?

I make bread on a regular
basis in my pastry shop,

so very familiar with bread.

Time wise, I wish I could proof
the brioche bread for longer.

It just needs
to get in the oven.

Jackson, how do you
feel about that brisket?

Pretty good, mate.

I have to grind this brisket,
and it looks really nice.

There you go.

I feel kind of bad.
Chopping up the brisket.

Probably a cardinal sin
here in Texas.

But the goal is to be creative,
and I'm going to go for it.

- 30 minutes.
- 30 minutes.

Just working on
my burnt-in like, crumble.

I just want to incorporate
as much of the brisket

and all its
delicious layers into my dish.

Straight up brisket curry.

Oh --it, they're here.

Hey, how you doing?
How are you?

- 10 minutes.
- 10 minutes!

Ugh! Hot, hot, coming through.

Just kind
of a race to finish, you know?

So, Brooke,
you set up a challenge.

What did you tell them, exactly?

So, the goal of this dish
is to highlight the brisket,

but to turn it into
an actual composed dish.

And how do you
feel about stretching

the boundaries of barbecue?

I love it. It
invites some other folks,

different cultures, different
taste, different flavors,

different ways to do things.

Willow,
you gave your smokers away

to all our chefs.

Time is never
your friend on
Top Chef.

Five minutes!

- Yeah.
- Five.

All right y'all, this is it.

Nothing's changed.

Hello. How are you doing?

Today, you are having
a kitchen pepper rubbed brisket

with sweet potato slicks

and that is in
a cream of collard soup,

along with
a collard stem relish.

I made scarpinocc,
which is a pasta.

It is stuffed with brisket,

topped with burnt ends,
cornbread crumble.

It has a "beurre-becue" sauce,

which is kind
of like a beurre rouge

made with a North Carolina
Gold barbecue sauce.

- Thank you both.
- Thank you.

I actually sliced this brisket.

Super, super thick, man.

Boy, it's heavy. I can
feel my arteries clogging.

I think it's just really
hard to eat Ashleigh's soup.

I think she was trying
to highlight the brisket,

but it left it
a little bit thicker,

so it's kind of hard to eat.

Gotta use
the spoon, fork, Kn*fe?

This giant piece of brisket
feels like it's drowning.

Do you get any
smoke from that brisket?

I'm getting a little smoke.

I'm just finding
it under seasoned.

Mm-hmm.

I really enjoyed
eating Jackson's pasta.

I thought he was very restrained
and focused in his dish.

I was worried about kind of,

the filling, kind
of if you would get the smoke,

especially in the brisket,
and he did a good job on it.

It came through.

I think from
a challenge perspective,

Jackson took his way of cooking,
he made them something new,

and I think it
was really successful.

The barbecue
sauce was interesting.

Three... two... one... Time.

- Hi, Nick.
- Hello.

- What did you make?
- Carrot purée.

I have the smoked brisket,
over the top is a sauce harissa

with a lot of barbecue notes,

and then you have a pork
neck and collard gremolata.

Hey Damarr, what did you make?

Smoked brisket with
candied yams, braised cabbage,

there's
a Worcestershire consommé,

and a little giardiniera on top.

- Thank you both.
- Thank you.

Nick's brisket is
cooked really well.

His rub, you can
taste the spices and things

that he has in there.

I appreciate
that flavor on there

because the rest of the dish
kind of doesn't exist to me.

His carrot purée
was okay too, but...

All right,
I hope I did damn justice.

I hope I made my mama proud.

Damarr's on the other hand,
this is fantastic.

I think the broth is
really, really flavorful.

I think the sweet potato
is nicely cooked.

I like braised
cabbage in the dish,

and I think the pickles on top

just kind
of pull it all together.

I thought that
it was really, really homey.

- Thank you.
- How's everybody doing?

Pretty well,
how are you doing?

Very good.

Hello.

Hello. Thank you.

What I have for you
today is a brisket

that is served
with barbecue sauce

that is based off of onion.

On top, we have
a coriander and lime stem salad

with balsamic
pickled red onions.

Monique, what did you make?

Smoked brisket with an
onion soubise, confit potatoes,

also a bone marrow and honey
glaze brioche on the side.

Have either of you
done barbecue brisket before?

This was way out
of my comfort zone,

but I try to go
back to familiar flavors

that I was trained in.

- Thank you both.
- Enjoy.

- Yeah, yeah, yeah.
- And the horseradish,

I really like that
acidity and brightness.

Tom, what do you
think of Luke's meat?

I think
the flavor's really good.

I mean, the sauce
is a little thick,

but I think that's what
he's going for. I like it.

I like the texture of the sauce,

the thickness
of the sauce that he put down.

I actually love all
of his accoutrements.

All right.

What do you think
about Monique's brisket, Gail?

I like the soubise
that she put it with.

I think it's balanced.

The potatoes are very bland,

and I think her little bun
here is a little undercooked.

It felt a little--

Undercooked and it's
not formed properly either.

Yeah.

Better technique, this dish
would have been a great dish.

I actually like the flavors,

But from a technical
standpoint, you just missed.

That's sad.

Thank you. It looks nice.

- Hey there, how are you?
- Good.

- Hi.
Hi, Jae. Smells great.

My people. Houston community
is very small and very tight.

So, just seeing all those
pitmasters, their face light up,

they're like,
"Holy --it, you're here."

And I'm like, "I know!"

Jae, please
tell us what you made.

Today I made a K-Jun,

that's Korean and Cajun
style barbecue brisket,

Korea's grits,
and cherry tomato kimchi,

and then you have
a little Asian pear relish,

and smoked brisket beef stew.

The tomato is excellent.

So, what I've
made for you guys today,

it's a Texas style
brisket curry.

On the bottom,
we have aromatic rice,

we have our slice
of brisket, some pickled relish,

fresh scallions, herbs,

and then I did a crumble
with roasted pistachios,

fried garlic, and burnt ends.

I know you're
a local girl, right?

What does it feel like
to cook for all these people?

It feels amazing.

- Thank you both.
- Thank you. Enjoy.

Jae's plate has a ton of flavor.

It feels almost
like a Korean banchan

of ingredients
that are collected.

So far, Evelyn's dish
is one of my favorites.

The curry is bold.

It's got heat,
but it doesn't annihilate you.

I really get the aromatics,
the lemongrass, the cilantro.

- I think she nailed her dish.
- It's delicious.

The spices are smooth, they
had been cooked down properly.

I'd tell her to get me
a pan, I'd put it in the back,

and just let me go away with it.

I need to... try Evelyn's.

This is a dish that,
if you put this on a menu,

this becomes a signature.

Oh definitely, people crave it.

People come for this.
This is like, destination food.

Brisket, I think is fabulous.

Yeah, that brisket was great.

Woo! A lot of emotions.

Four minutes.

That's beautiful.

I would never think
to do that to a beet.

Thank you.

Hello, everyone.

So, my dish is
a barbecue beef bourguignon.

It's served with a brisket

that's been
braised in barbecue sauce,

I actually call
it a "barbe-jus".

It's served with
a beef fat potato croquette,

caramelized onion jam,

and slow roasted
double smoked bacon on top.

Jo?

In front of you,
you have a brisket pappardelle.

House made
pasta with some brisket

that was smoked with harissa,
a little harissa cabbage

over the top,
and then some corn in there,

some kale in there as well.

Thank you both so much.
Thank you.

All right. That's it.

Let's talk about Jo's dish.

For all of the ingredients
that Jo talked about,

I'm only tasting one thing,

and I'm not really
getting any flavor from it.

I can't explain it.

- There's a word for this.
- Tell me.

Whelming.

I think it's actually
straight up underwhelming.

I tasted
the brisket a couple of times,

and it's kind of, "Okay."

The star of the dish,
it was kind of lost

'cause we got
a couple small pieces in there.

We have our last dish,
Buddha's dish,

which I thought looks beautiful
with those beet petals.

This was
a beautifully composed dish.

A lot of good technique.

You know, I like that
the b*at was actually raw.

Yes.

'Cause it gave it some texture,
and a little bit acid.

Also, the mushroom
flavor came through.

And this dish started
out as a beef bourguignon.

That was his concept.

And so, to see him execute it

and to where it
ended up on a plate,

I think Buddha
did a great job here.

The brisket was good.

What he came with on
the plate was just visually,

I think it was outstanding.

It was a great take on it,

and I got all these little
complexities of the flavor

of the beef bourguignon.

A lot of the pitmasters
seem to love it.

We're going
to go take a nap now.

Well, I want to thank
everybody for being here.

I know the chefs were
really excited and nervous

to cook for all of you guys.

Thank you for
having us here in Texas.

Let's get back to judges' table.

Tom, how do you think
our chefs did?

You can look at smoking meat
as something pretty simple.

You give it a good little rub,

you put it in the oven for
a bunch of hours, and let it go.

But we all know there's
a ton of variables involved.

But I thought that the meat was,

for the most part,
all really good.

You guys
brought us some dishes

that we don't see every day,

and that's what I enjoyed a lot.

Some hit,
some missed a little bit,

but they did well.

Buddha, Evelyn,
and Jackson, please stay here.

Everyone else,
please step to the side.

You had our
favorite dishes of the night.

Thank God.

Buddha, your concept
was a really successful one.

Honestly,
when the plate was dropped

in front of me, I looked at it,
and I was angry and jealous

that I hadn't
thought of that myself.

It's one thing to
paint a pretty picture,

but the flavor of this dish
lived up to the presentation.

All right. Thanks, Tom.

Well, Evelyn, I'm going
to be craving that dish

for a very long time.

I mean, I'm just so
proud and excited that

I got to eat this
plate of food today.

You made brisket the star

and then all
the supporting cast around it

just came together perfectly.

In 19 seasons, all the curries

that have been
attempted on this show,

Padma always
has issues with them.

I had absolutely
no issue with your curry.

Where have you been all my life?

This is the curry
I've been looking for.

In Houston, apparently.

How did you feel today, Jackson?

- Very nervous.
- I was worried too, man.

Everything kind
of came together.

I think I got all
of that beautiful brisket flavor

from inside of the pasta.

But those little
pieces of burnt ends

drove in that it
was a brisket dish.

Your pasta was
so light, so delicate,

and the pasta to
meat ratio, perfect.

Thank you.

Brooke, you have
the pleasure of telling us

who won this challenge today.

The chef with the winning
brisket dish today is...

Evelyn.

Oof!

Finally won, okay?
I keep making it to the top,

which is great, but to
finally actually get a win,

and then to be
the brisket challenge

feels frickin' amazing.

Thank you so much.

Oh, this feels great.

And Padma loved my curry, okay.
I need that clip.

Oh, I'm just so proud right now.

Congratulations again,
Evelyn and all three of you.

You three can step to the side.

Monique, Ashleigh,
and Jo, please step forward.

The three of you had
our least favorite dishes,

and one of you
will be going home.

The three of you had
our least favorite dishes,

and one of you
will be going home.

Let's start with you, Monique.

How do you think
your dish came out?

I thought it was just okay.

I'm not really
familiar with barbecue,

so I didn't want
to try anything super new.

You were kind
of playing it safe.

And when you play it safe,

your heart and your soul
doesn't come out in that.

The brisket itself
was a little bit tough,

and the rest of the dish
felt like you weren't confident

to really push yourself.

It's seemed like you
put a collection of things

on a plate that
didn't talk to each other.

You know and the roll, you're
a baker, so I was surprised.

It wasn't--
it wasn't that great.

Okay.

Ashleigh, did you
feel good about your dish?

I've been very anxious
to put myself on a plate,

and so I thought
of flavors of home,

like Carolina barbecue,

which is why I incorporated
things like creamed corn,

collards, and the sweet potato.

It felt like one dish
got dumped into the other,

and it was a mistake.

Did you anticipate
that we would need to cut it

- with a Kn*fe and fork?
- No.

Had that brisket been softer
or been cut up into cubes,

it might have eaten differently,

but it didn't do justice
to the amount of work

that you spent on that brisket.

Jo.

What kind of got me
in this challenge

was that I saw that
we had time, and I was like,

"Okay, I'll make pasta
'cause I've been wanting to."

I should have
highlighted the brisket.

Yes, that's what happened.

It was two different
dishes mashed into one.

I didn't get
a lot of the flavors

that I know you put in there.

There just wasn't
a payoff from all of that work

with your brisket.

- Go with your gut, Jo.
- I know.

You knew what you wanted to do.

Go with the brisket.
It's the star.

I agree.

All right. We'll
call you all back in a bit.

Thank you very much.
That'll be all for now.

Lord, lordy, lordy.

All right!

Guys, don't even.

Queen curry! Nice job.

We can't keep you
off the top, ----ing Jackson.

Jesus Christ.

- Well.
- Ugh.

Well, here we are again.

These three
chefs worked so hard,

but each of them
in their own way failed today.

They put so much care
into the brisket itself,

and with all
three of these chefs,

we really never got to see it.

In Ashleigh's,
just the beef was lost.

Collard greens, corn, brisket,
beef, it all makes sense.

It's how she chose
to compose it.

You start thinking
about all this other stuff,

"I gotta do this,
I gotta do that."

And then
the basics aren't there.

I've definitely
fell victim to overthinking.

They read me like a book.

Jo also, I mean that dish--

A professional chef
doesn't make a dish like that.

No. Noodles and slow
cooked beef can work.

Oh, yeah.

But there was no way to taste
any of that beef in Jo's dish.

It was just kind
of like this meaty pasta.

I can smoke a brisket.

I can make a mean pasta,
but I was just like,

"Why am I doing this
together now?" Ugh, idiot.

Monique's dish to me
felt like a culinary student.

Make a sauce Mornay,
make this, make this.

Like, things you
tick off a list of like,

classic French
items you have to master.

It was boring.

She didn't embrace
the challenge of the brisket,

and it showed that
she lacked the confidence

in the plate itself.

I knew I wasn't inspired.
I mean, everything they said.

I was like, "Spot on."
You know what I mean? So.

I think we have our answer.

- Agreed.
- Definitely.

Let's get them out here.

We continue for


out of their comfort zone.

You can tell when
someone is uncomfortable

because you'll get a dish

that doesn't have
a strong point of view.

You'll end up with
a dish that is tentative

because you're a little confused
as to what direction to go,

or you'll end up with a dish

that clearly you're overthinking
and trying to do too much.

And unfortunately, this is
how it ends for a lot of chefs.

Ashleigh, please pack
your knives and go.

Thank you. This has been
a really great opportunity.

Listen, we'll see you
on Last Chance Kitchen,

and my advice is
always cook from your heart.

Thank you. Thank you, chef.

Ugh, this ----ing sucks.

It sucks.

There's always
Last Chance Kitchen, right?

I enjoy being thoughtful

and intentional
in everything I do,

but I just overthought

and it's very unfortunate
for me right now.

I didn't expect that at all.

It's a blow to my confidence,

but I'm ready for
the Last Chance Kitchen.

I'm determined to win.

Tonight,
Ashleigh's constant overthinking

lands her in
Last Chance Kitchen.

Can she simplify her thinking?

I have no idea what I'm making.

And will it be enough

to get her back
into the competition?

The winner of this challenge
will return to Top Chef.

A two-part Last Chance Kitchen
starts now on demand

or wherever you stream Top Chef.

Next time on Top Chef...

Please welcome back the winner
of Last Chance Kitchen.

Hey, y'all.

You'll be making a dish in honor

of five
trailblazing Texas women.

I never wanted to be
known as an Asian chef

or a female chef.

I just wanted to be
known as a good chef.

You know,
I'm going to work my magic.

- This is--
- Wow.

Amazing.

The confidence was so profound.

That didn't work.

I have to figure this out.

This dish doesn't
come through at all.

Trying not to be emotional.

There was some hesitation,

but hesitation is
just not strong enough

to continue in the competition.