[dramatic music]
- This is the strongest group
we've ever brought in.
- Go, go, go!
- But you have a lot
to live up to.
♪ ♪
- It's f***ing go time.
- Hand me, hand me, hand me!
- I think too often
we forget about
the emotional side of cooking.
- This sh**'s not easy, man.
- I b*at myself today.
- My heart is starting to b*at
a little bit faster again.
- You go in there,
and there's knives and fire.
It's this macho experience.
- I got two speeds:
full-bore and dead.
[crashing]
- Oh.
- Whoa, Nellie.
- I'm starting to get
a little nervous here
because everything's
been really good.
[all cheering]
- Don't crash!
- Ah ha ha ha ha!
- We forget that
deep down inside
we are all a little fragile.
- It's so good.
Oh, my God.
- It's really important
to grow as a chef.
I think it's all important
these journeys that we take.
- [sighs]
It's been a rough day.
- You better kick ass.
- Come on, let's get nuts.
[lively music]
- 17 chefs will compete
in a culinary showdown
across the Golden State.
At stake for the winner:
a feature in
"Food & Wine" magazine,
an appearance at the
"Food & Wine" Classic in Aspen,
$125,000 furnished
by Sanpellegrino,
and the coveted title
of Top Chef.
- Oh, God.
[laughs]
- Where's the music?
[upbeat rock music]
- Yeah.
My heart's pounding.
Mind's racing.
Oh, God, what have I
gotten myself into?
- Hello, everyone, and welcome
to Los Angeles, California.
[all cheering]
This season,
we are dreaming big,
traveling up and down
the California coast,
and we will end up where
"Top Chef" started ten years ago
in San Francisco.
- Sweet.
- "Top Chef" has produced
such amazing talent.
A lot of our chefs have gone on
to own multiple restaurants,
won awards.
This is probably the strongest
group we've ever brought in,
but you have a lot
to live up to.
- Who here
is an executive chef?
- [laughs]
- That's pretty impressive.
- This is going to be fun.
- I'm the sous chef
at Buddakan New York,
and being the only sous chef
in this competition
makes me feel really,
really intimidated.
I don't know if that's
the correct word in English.
- What's your name?
- I am Renee Kelly.
I'm the super sassy chef
from Kansas City.
I am executive chef
and owner of Harvest.
In the kitchen, I try
to not have very much emotion
except for being genuine
and authentic to myself,
and that person happens to be
really happy.
I like my life, and if that
annoys you, go like your life.
- Welcome.
- Thank you.
- Hello, I'm Renee from Kansas
City, and I'm a sassy chef.
Who introduces themself
like that in a kitchen?
- Aren't there a few James Beard
nominees in this room?
Yes, we know you.
[laughter]
- Oh, my God.
Everyone's like,
"James Beard nominee,"
"Owner," "Chef-owner."
Sh**.
I'm Angelina, I'm 24,
I'm a chef de cuisine,
and I'm the youngest I know.
- My name is Karen Akunowicz.
I'm the executive chef
and partner
at Myers & Chang in Boston,
and I'm nominated
for Best Chef Northeast.
- This year?
- This year.
- So you're missing
the awards tonight?
Well, we're very flattered
that you're here instead.
Hi, Grayson.
- Hi.
- Hello, Grayson.
- Couldn't get enough, huh?
- Just loved it.
What am I doing here?
I was on season nine.
Man, these guys are gnarly.
In Texas, I mentally
kind of gave up,
and that's why
I was eliminated.
Four years later,
I'm a little bit older,
I'm a little bit fatter,
and hopefully
I'm a lot of bit better.
- Do you have any words
of wisdom for the others?
- Nope.
[laughs]
- Grayson is probably
a good competitor,
but there's a reason
why she didn't win.
I'm ready for anyone.
Growing up, my parents
were academics.
We traveled all the time.
We would constantly cook
and be very scientific
with each dish.
I definitely feel
I have the skill set
to do well in this competition.
- Should we get down
to business?
- Yes.
- Yeah!
- It's about time.
I'm hungry.
♪ ♪
Today's Quickfire will
take place in two parts.
The first part is
a "Top Chef" favorite,
the mise-en-place race.
On display are five
California ingredients
for you to mise-en-place.
Based on your skill set,
we want you to pick the one
you think you can do
the quickest.
The first nine chefs to finish
will move on to round two,
where immunity
is up for grabs.
- Okay, chefs, so the
ingredients on display
are at a first come,
first served basis.
Some of these tests
may seem pretty simple,
but we're looking
for perfection.
- Ten years ago, I was a
16-year-old kid in the Bronx,
getting in trouble in school,
I didn't know where
I wanted to go in life.
Ten years later, I'm about
to start my own restaurant,
and I'm on "Top Chef."
In my wildest dreams,
I could never have thought
that I would be here.
- Let's see what you can do.
Your time starts now.
Good luck.
- I've done a lot
of food competitions.
- Whoop. Whoa, whoa.
- Oh.
- I won "Chopped,"
I won "Guy's Grocery Games,"
and I won "Cutthroat Kitchen,"
so next step, I guess,
is "Top Chef."
- I grab asparagus thinking
it's, like, the fastest thing.
It is 45 st*lks,
but it's asparagus.
Like, come on.
I can do this with
my eyes closed.
- Which would you have chosen?
- I think the chickens
or the artichokes.
Four artichokes
are pretty easy.
I've trimmed a lot of
artichokes in my days.
- Come on.
- [sighs]
I haven't segmented oranges
like that in, like, eight years.
My line cooks are going
to laugh at me.
I think I have
the most advantage.
Sous chefs are the b*tches
of the executive chefs.
We work harder.
Executive chefs take the credit.
- She's doing a good job
getting a little assembly line.
- Well, that's what
you have to do.
- The day before I left
for this competition,
I had 24 minutes to break down
six chickens, four ducks,
two prime ribs,
and beef tenderloin.
Yeah, I got this.
Check.
- Check.
- Oh, we have two checks.
What you got here?
Looks good. Breast.
Looks like it's done. Okay.
- All right.
- It's good.
- Yeah!
- The person I thought
was gonna be last is first.
She must be bad-ass.
- Wesley.
Okay, this looks great.
Nice work.
You're number two.
[whistle blows]
- We're not safe yet.
- Oh, my God, no,
we're not safe yet.
- I always thought Quickfire
would be my strong point
because I'm very fast.
I'm a two-times
James Beard nominee,
and I just became the executive
chef of The Spence,
which is Richard Blais's
old restaurant.
A reviewer said that he liked
my food better than Richard's.
It makes you feel
cool as sh**.
- Ah.
- ****!
I just got an orange
sprayed in my left eye,
but I--it's not gonna slow me--
well, it's gonna
slow me down,
but it's not going to stop me.
- Check!
[exhales sharply]
- Damn it.
- Great. Looks good to me.
- All right.
- Chicken?
- Chicken.
- Right on.
[whistle blows]
- Check.
- That's 40. Looks good.
[whistles blows]
- Those oranges
smell really good.
I used to work for Mike Isabella
for quite a while.
He was runner-up
in "Top Chef All-Stars,"
and so I feel like
I have to win,
and that's a lot of pressure.
I mean,
of course I want to win,
but now, like, I have to win.
- Check.
- Looks good to me.
[whistle blows]
- Check.
- F***.
I have two more to go.
- It's all good.
Three spots left.
- F***, here we go.
- Sweet artichokes.
[whistle blows]
- Check.
- Oh, chickens.
Crap! I need to just have
my head in the game
and be one of those nine.
- Two spots left, chefs.
Two spots.
[whistle blows]
- Check.
- Garret, how's it going?
Let me see.
You got one broken one
here, but--
- I have a couple
broken in there, yeah.
- Well, that's not good.
- Well, no, I have 20.
- Okay, let me count them.
Let me count
the whole ones, then.
- I've always been
a quick prep cook,
but if you have to have
the yolk completely unblemished
and unbroken,
you really have to be
a lot more delicate about it.
- At least one I can see is
broken, so you need one more.
- Then there's 19.
- All I need is one yolk.
How hard can it be?
[whistle blows]
cr*ck an egg, yolk breaks.
Damn.
cr*ck an egg,
yolk breaks again.
Come on.
- Check.
- Okay, Jason.
Let me see what you got here.
- Damn.
- Good.
- The restaurant I just left,
Spinasse,
our signature dish
is an egg yolk pasta
called tajarin.
It's actually been named
one of the classic dishes
of Seattle.
- One spot left.
- So separating eggs quickly,
it's not a big deal.
[whistle blows]
- Who's gonna get
that last spot?
- Come on, come on.
- Check!
- Damn it.
- Yeah, looks good to me.
- All right, by the skin
of your teeth, Grayson.
Get over there.
[applause]
- By the skin of your chicken.
- That's the 30 seconds
I spent cleaning my eyes.
- You have all this left
too, buddy.
- That's 30 seconds
right there.
I definitely think,
had I had both eyes,
I could have easily made it
in the top five with the orange.
I'm bummed out
that I didn't make it.
I know how important
immunity is.
- Well, congratulations
to the nine of you.
You've qualified to go
to the next round.
Will all of you
step to your right
and also separate
into three groups?
- So in round two,
you'll work in teams
in the groups that
you're already standing in.
Together you'll create one dish
that'll showcase at least one
of the ingredients
from your mise-en-place.
- I think it's a bit too easy.
- Of course.
- It's good.
- Stay loose, stay loose.
- Whoo!
- 15 seconds.
- I just have this, like,
horrible sinking feeling.
- F***.
- Don't use that.
- Oh, God.
but each of you will only get
to work on it for ten minutes.
Until it's your turn to cook,
you'll have to wear this.
- [laughing] Oh.
- Oh, okay.
- You can't communicate with
your teammates while they cook.
- That's fun.
- The entire team with the
winning dish will win immunity,
so there's three spots
for immunity.
- Immunity is awesome, hello,
because the biggest fear
of all of us
is to be eliminated first.
- Chefs, you have one minute now
to talk about the order
in which you'll cook.
- Since I was the fastest with
chicken, I'll go first, yeah?
- Do you feel comfortable,
anchor?
- Sure, yeah.
- Want to plate?
- Yeah.
- I know Wesley
from a few years back.
We met at
a "Food & Wine" event.
I know he's
a really strong plater.
- Who's up first
from each team, please?
Go ahead and put on
your team aprons.
Renee, Jason, and Isaac.
The three of you will go first.
Everyone else,
put your blindfolds on.
- The last time
I was blindfolded
was the first time
I met my wife. [laughs]
- Your time starts now.
[applause]
- Go!
- Jesus, Mary, and Joseph.
At my restaurant, I create
wonderful, nourishing,
healthy, seasonal food.
As the first person
on the team,
I feel I should grab
all the ingredients
that I want to show up
on the plate--
mint, cabbage, ponzu.
I'm hoping that this dish
will be bright and fresh.
- All right, come on,
let's go, whoo!
- I'm Cajun man.
Cajun Man 5,000.
Born and raised,
so I'm gonna cook
what I would cook
back in New Orleans--
rustic Cajun breaded chicken.
They're not gonna hear me.
I can only leave hints.
So I make sure that I leave
some butter melted,
and I make sure to leave
the breaded piece of chicken
ready for them,
then it's up to them
to take it to the next level.
- Deeps breaths.
- Always.
- I can hear pots
clinking and clanging,
and my anxiety
is going up, up, up.
- She's running around.
- Oh.
- You have 2 1/2 minutes left.
- I want to provide a range
of ingredients.
I've got eggs on the boil.
I've got blanching pot on.
- 15 seconds.
Make it count.
- I sear off the chicken breast
and the thighs,
and I throw the wings and
the drumsticks on the grill,
you know,
just as a backup plan.
all: Three, two, one.
[whistle blows]
- Run, Grayson, run.
- ****.
- Whoo!
- I see Isaac's chicken cutlets.
Thank the Lord.
With my Italian nature,
I throw in lemon, capers,
and arugula.
I'm going to have
all of that out for Carl
so he knows to put that in.
If he feels like he needs
to expand upon it, he will.
- Stay loose. Stay loose.
- Oh, yeah.
I have no clue where Jason
was going with this dish.
I need to get something
set up for Wes
'cause this is just--
it's all over the board.
- [exhales]
- Maybe a carrot puree,
a simple slice of chicken.
There's not much you can do
in ten minutes.
- Get it, Red.
- I came here to win challenges
and win this competition.
I'm a single dad.
I've given my life
to this career,
and it's time to show the world
how bad-ass I am.
[groans]
- I think Blue was fastest
to get their sh** together.
- You got this.
- Last minute.
- One minute.
- Jeremy throws the chicken
in the oven.
I just have this, like,
horrible sinking feeling
because there's a chance
that Wes
is never going to see
the chicken.
I'm like, "There's no way
that this dish
is gonna come together."
- Two, one.
[whistle blows]
- Get it, get it.
- That is right.
- The last person has to
bring it all together quickly.
- Um, there's carrots,
um, in cream, cooking.
- F***.
Holy sh**.
This is f***ing stupid.
I just want to scream,
"Look in the f***ing oven."
- There's no f***ing way
that's going to be ready.
I don't know what's going on.
All I was thinking about
was the burning chicken
that was still raw.
The other side of the chicken's
not burnt,
so I cut two pieces
off the leg.
I think I can get this
cooked in time.
- Get it, Wes. Come on.
all: One minute.
- Got the chicken breaded.
All right.
- I've been a fan
of "Top Chef" for years.
I came into this competition
with a strategy,
and that strategy
is cooking smart--
simple and straightforward.
There's some beautifully
breaded chicken breast,
and there's brown butter
and some capers.
I feel like Isaac and Grayson
have set me up really well.
I'm pretty stoked.
- I hope he checked the chicken.
- I know.
- We have chicken,
chicken, get it--
- Wah! Yes.
- Okay, I have some chicken.
I got this Asian slaw.
Right away, I thought of making
a sweet and sour sauce.
Mustard...
I'm from the Dominican Republic.
I love bold flavors.
People make fun of me when I say
that I love yellow mustard.
It's vinegary.
It's sour. It's awesome.
- Ah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah,
that's what we want right there.
Yeah, Amar.
- 30 seconds.
Put it on the plate.
Come on, baby.
Go, go, go.
- You got this!
- I basically cook
some grilled chicken
with carrot-orange puree,
a little capers and anchovies.
Those are both salty,
but I know if I can
balance those out,
it's going to be good.
- Come on! Bring it home!
- Go, go, go.
- Hands up. Utensils down.
- Whoo!
- Yeah.
- Good job, guys.
- The chicken's
in the f***ing oven.
It's in the oven.
- Hi, Green Team.
- Hello.
- Hey, how are ya?
- So what are we eating?
- This is a breaded
chicken breast,
brown butter, asparagus,
and a mushroom sauce.
- Now, Isaac, is this what you
had in mind when you started?
- Definitely
the breaded chicken,
I had that ready for them.
- For a chicken breast,
it's nice and moist.
- Thank you.
- Thank you.
- Thanks.
- Hello, how are you doing?
- This must be an appetizer
portion of the meal.
What is this?
- Yes, it is, actually.
- We're doing a little carrot
puree with a hit of orange
and a little anchovy
and potato
with grilled chicken thigh.
- That's got a lot of anchovy.
Okay.
- Thank you.
- Sh**.
- It's a sweet and sour
sauce chicken
with citrus-marinated slaw.
- I like the mint.
Who added the mint?
- I think both of us did.
- Really nice flavors
in here.
- Thank you.
- Thank you.
- Thank you.
- F***.
- Considering it was
the first Quickfire,
I thought most of the food
was really good.
- Mm-hmm.
- Yeah.
- All right, so who's not going
to be winning immunity?
- Well, my least favorite
of the three was the Red Team.
- Ah.
- It was a balance issue.
The anchovy was
way out of whack.
It was a dish cooked
by three different people,
and it tasted like it was cooked
from three different people.
- So then that means
it's between
the Green Team
and the Blue Team.
- I thought the Green Team--
I thought the chicken was really
just beautifully cooked.
I thought it was
perfectly seasoned.
Blue Team, I thought
the flavors were really good.
The sweet and sour
definitely works.
I thought some of the Kn*fe work
was a little clunky,
but flavor-wise,
I thought it was great.
- All right, Tom, which team
is going to earn immunity
with their first dish?
- Flavor's always going
to stand out.
Blue Team.
[all cheering]
- We won it,
and it feels amazing, man.
It boosts my confidence,
and 100%,
I'm not gonna be eliminated
on the first round.
Cha-ching!
- All right, let's keep
this momentum going.
Your next few days
are going to be intense.
Chefs, over the next
three days,
you will face two
elimination challenges
that will take you
across the entire city.
Your first elimination challenge
will be at a dineLA showcase
in Lake Hollywood Park
tomorrow.
There will be 200 VIP guests,
so make sure your food is
consistent all the way through.
You can make
whatever you want,
but keep in mind, you will
need to separate yourself
from the pack.
Do something that really
lets you shine.
- You need to bring
your "A" games tomorrow,
because we've invited food
critics from across the state.
The guests that are
coming tomorrow
can make and break careers.
- The critics will also
be scoring.
Their average scores
will determine
who's on top
and who's on bottom.
The judges, of course,
will take it from there.
Joining us will be
returning judges
Gail Simmons of
"Food & Wine" magazine
and the legendary
Emeril Lagasse.
- Knowing that I'm cooking
for Chef Emeril
puts an extra knot
in my stomach.
One of my mentors, I worked
with the man for a decade.
Ten damn years.
I've gotta make him proud.
- Today you'll have $500
to shop at Whole Foods,
and then you'll have
three hours to prep
here in
the "Top Chef" kitchen.
Then tomorrow you'll have
an hour and a half to set up
before service begins.
- 200 people is a lot
of people. Keep it simple.
Good luck.
- Everyone I work with
says I'm messy.
Can I get more aprons?
- Coming down hot.
- If you can't think
on your feet--
can definitely be
your downfall.
- Please get out of my way.
♪ ♪
- You want radishes, right?
- Yeah.
- They're right here.
- We're supposed to be
cooking for 200 people,
which is a lot for an event.
Lime.
They want to see the dish
that signifies
who we are as a person,
and there are no parameters,
and without any parameter,
your mind goes crazy.
Just pick me out, like,
all the pink ones.
That would be awesome, dude.
At the restaurant,
we do a lot of crudos,
and I'm a fish guy.
I've always grown up
on the coast,
and I am definitely
one with the ocean.
This dish is like
a one-pop pow.
Thanks, bro.
- Upstairs.
- I'm making pork
and veal meatballs.
I've gotten raves
about my balls.
It's a good representation
of how I cook.
Homey, kind of Italian.
I'm getting 40 pounds
of ground veal.
On "Top Chef: Texas,"
I didn't quite know
how to incorporate my own
food into some of these,
like, wacky challenges.
I want to cook how
Grayson Schmitz cooks
and not just, like,
random crazy things.
- Did you just steal my cart?
- I don't know.
- 18 minutes, chefs.
- Where's the papaya?
I'm going to make, like,
a modern Filipino mongo.
Every week, my dad always
cook mung bean soup
with pork
and bitter melon inside.
People don't understand the
flavor profile of bitter melon,
but it's bitter melon.
Duh!
It's bitter.
I'll go with
my Asian ingredients.
For some who's gonna try it
the first time,
they will think it's poisonous,
but it's not.
- You want to place any
money on this?
Your cart to win,
mine to show. How's that?
- Huh?
- Nothing. Making a bad joke.
Keep going.
- I'm sorry, me no English.
- [laughs]
- One minute left. One minute.
- Ah ha ha ha!
- I love food bloggers
and critics.
That's how a lot of people
in this day and age
find out about restaurants.
I'm actually excited to see
who's going to be here
'cause I'm familiar with many,
many of the bigger bloggers
and critics in the city.
I spent $400 on crab
and $100 on vegetables.
[laughter]
You know, I don't really have
a dish in my head.
That's not really my style.
My strategy here
to make myself stand out
is really just
give yummy food.
There we go.
- $497.32.
- Thank you so much.
- Go, go, go, go, go.
- Behind.
- What have you got
going on over there?
- I'm making a spicy
and juicy pork meatballs
with cream cheese
and everything spice.
Kind of like a take on a bagel.
Even though we have immunity,
we still got to
show them who we are.
- I'm bringing it.
- Amar?
- Yes.
- You making meatballs too?
- Yes.
I'm not making
any red sauce, though.
- This is the snapper I'm going
to use for the crudo tomorrow.
- Oh, nice.
Where's my sous chef?
- [laughs]
- He's supposed to be
doing this sh**.
- Hour and a half, guys.
- Making my grandmother's
court-bouillon.
It's a traditional Cajun dish.
Can really be done
with any good seafood you got,
and if I don't put up
a good South Louisiana dish
like court-bouillon
to Emeril Lagasse,
I probably should just pack it
up and go right then and there.
- Renee, I think you can
give me your immunity.
- No, no, no, no.
- I'm making some
egg noodle tagliolini
with an Italian take on
Vietnamese chicken pho.
I'm excited to mix Vietnamese
and Italian cuisine.
If you have your head
up your culinary ass,
you're never going to grow
as a chef.
Cooking is a continuation
of philosophy
because it's a study
of aesthetics,
gustatory aesthetics, but
there's nothing more connective
with human existence
than the cultural
manifestation of cuisine.
I think I did noodles for 200.
- I love it.
- That's f***ing great.
- Wesley is making
his tomato water,
and it's kind of a hot mess.
- Can I get more aprons?
So much easier
at the f***ing restaurant.
- Stop breaking things.
- Oh, man.
My wife, everyone I work with
says I'm messy.
I'm sure I'm going to get
a f***ing nickname from it.
F***ing bullsh**.
- Hey, chefs.
How's it going?
- Hey, chef.
- Hey.
- I've been an Emeril Lagasse
fan for a really long time,
so I remember, like,
racing home from school,
trying to get home for 2:30
'cause that's when
"Emeril at Home" was on.
It's cool to see him
for the first time in person.
- Hello.
- Hello.
- Hi, chef.
- What you working on?
- Goat cheese croquette,
smoked romesco,
caramelized parsnip puree.
Croquettes are
very common in Miami.
I mean, I could eat
a croquette on the corner.
This is a dish
that represents me,
but Tom scares
the sh** out of me.
He has such a poker face.
I wasn't second-guessing
myself until right now.
- I think you're
the youngest one here.
Do you think that's--
- My age doesn't mean anything.
My food does.
I'm just going to play it cool.
- I like that. Good attitude.
- I like that. Good attitude.
- Thank you, chef.
- Mr. Isaac Toups.
- Chef. Emeril.
- What's going on?
What you working on, man?
- Um, my Grandmother Toups's
court-bouillon.
- Uh-oh.
Mama watching the store?
- Oh, yeah, Mama's watching the
store, watching the babies.
- You guys go back, right?
- Yes, indeed.
- Yeah, we do.
You could say that.
Going through Hurricane Katrina
was probably
one of the harder things
I've ever done.
Packed everything up
and went to Orlando
where Chef Emeril
really took care of us
and made sure we all had jobs,
and when we needed money,
he wrote us checks
out of his personal account.
I can't go on enough about how
Chef Emeril really took care
of everyone under his wing
during those times.
- All right, bud,
I'm just checking on you.
- [chuckles]
- Oh.
- Yeah, what happened here?
- My God.
What's going on over here?
- Uh...
- This is like a disaster.
- Yeah, so we're just doing
a little clams, tomato water,
and, uh, a little mustard
potato salad and shrimp.
- Okay.
- I'll do something
simpler next time.
[laughter]
- Eventually,
everybody will learn that.
- Oh, sh**.
- Okay, hey, chefs.
Can I get your attention
real quick?
- Isaac Toups and I have worked
together for a lot of years,
and I just want everybody to
know that I'll be harder on him
than all of you,
I can tell you that, so...
- Okay, anyway, good luck,
we'll see you tomorrow.
- Good luck, everybody.
Good luck.
- Ten minutes.
- Go, go, go.
Top two.
- Coming down hot.
Please get out of my way.
- Cooking in a kitchen that's
not your own is stressful.
If you can't think
on your feet,
it can definitely
be your downfall.
- Whoo!
[smooth electric guitar music]
♪ ♪
- Welcome home, guys.
- Oh.
- Who doesn't snore
who doesn't have a roommate?
- I snore. And loud.
[laughter]
- Let's do it, man.
Come on.
- I do. I can.
Frances and I decide that
since we did such a good job
on the challenge...
- That we would go ahead
and bunk together.
- Um, I ain't gonna lie, but
I don't know, they kind of--
[laughter]
They look a little similar.
- Is this why I'm going
to be your roommate?
- And you guys are roommates?
- Then she whips out a picture
of her and her wife.
Hmm.
[laughs]
It's okay.
I'll sleep with one eye open.
- Yeah. Cheers.
- Cheers to being nominated.
- Thank you.
- That's f***ing awesome.
- I appreciate it.
- I can't believe
you're missing the Beards.
- Tonight, my spouse, LJ,
went to the James Beard awards
in my place
in a very handsome tuxedo.
LJ is amazing.
The minute that we met, I knew
we were going to get married
and spend the rest
of our lives together.
- Hello?
- Hey.
Did you have a good time
at the awards?
- I did.
Yeah, it was really fun.
- Who won for
Best Chef Northeast?
- Um, Barry did win.
- Barry won. That's awesome.
Barry's just a great chef
and a great friend.
- So cute.
- Of course, I'm disappointed,
but I am just gonna
stand strong
and use that as fire
and motivation.
I love you, and I hate
being away from you.
- Bye.
- Bye.
- I smoked the crab
in applewood
and f***ing dry grass
that we're standing on.
- That's kind of gross.
There's dogs right there.
- All right, here we go.
- Showtime.
- Oh, my God!
- Don't twist your ankle.
- Where's Kansas?
Show me Kansas.
Whoo!
- Food bloggers, critics,
and the media
can do a lot of
really good for your business.
They can also do
a lot of really bad.
What I like about this challenge
is that I get to cook my food.
I like using unique
ingredients--
grasshoppers, agave worms.
I'm going to have face time
with people.
I'm going to hopefully
win them over
with my food and my beard.
- Southern Louisiana
comes to Hollywood.
- So the craziest thing
is, D.C.'s like,
the smallest city ever.
- Yeah.
- We've never actually met.
Like, I think
that's so bizarre.
- I know Marjorie has worked
for a good amount of time
with Mike Isabella,
who's, in my humble opinion,
serving one of
the worst bastardizations
of kind of Italian food
in the history of the world.
Hopefully she's got more
chops than that.
I just tasted my broth.
It's delicious.
- Can I have some of
your confidence, please?
That would be awesome.
[laughs]
- Ugh.
- I'm going to smoke it
with this dry grass.
One of my signature dishes
at Scratch Bar
is king crab, cauliflower,
and smoking goat's milk cheese.
So we make the goat cheese;
we smoke it tableside over hay.
What is hay?
It's dry grass.
They got dry grass right here.
Perfect.
- That's kind of gross.
I feel like there's dogs
right there.
I don't know.
Behind him is, like, a dog
wiping its butt on the grass.
That's like the kind of foraging
that I don't agree with.
- It's an L.A. challenge.
It's fine.
- [laughs]
Still gross.
- Five minutes.
[intense music]
♪ ♪
- Ten seconds.
[alarm buzzes]
- That's the timer.
How are you guys doing today?
- We're doing well.
- This is a spiced carrot soup
with some garbanzo beans.
Y'all enjoy.
- Thank you.
- I'm from Philippines.
Yep. Fresh off the boat.
- It's beautiful.
- Very nice.
- These are pork
and veal meatballs.
- How is that?
- Really good.
- Yeah?
- This is the first
elimination challenge,
and we didn't give them
any restrictions yesterday.
It is 200 people, though.
- Right, and you're
by yourself.
Usually, we've done events
like this for 200, 300,
400 people, but you have
your staff with you.
- You're also outside without
access to a real kitchen
and water supply
in the same way--
-But, you're talking
about cooking, setting up,
you know, all of that;
this is big.
- Let's go try their food.
- Sounds good.
- We'll see you in a bit.
- Enjoy.
- Enjoy.
- All right, shall we?
- Yeah, please, sir.
Hey, Isaac. I'm Gail.
- Gail, very nice to meet you.
- Did you turn or did you stay
on track with Grandma's--
- No, no, I said I was
going to cook
Mama Toups's court-bouillon,
I cook Mama Toups's
court-bouillon.
I used a little
West Coast ingredients.
I found some good whitefish
and some good shrimp.
- Very, very Sunday--
Sunday dish.
- And you get a little bit of
that heat from the jalapeños.
- Mm-hmm. Delicious, Isaac.
- Thank you, Chef.
I appreciate that.
[exhales]
- This was a really nice way
to start our day.
- Have a good day, Isaac.
- Thank y'all.
- Thank you.
- Thank you, chef.
- Chef Isaac's
court-bouillon was great.
Like, the shrimp was
so perfectly cooked.
- The man is a salesman.
He's, like, pitching his
"Chef Toups" to Hollywood execs,
but then it's really good.
- What did you make?
- This is a goat cheese
croquette,
smoked romesco, and
a caramelized parsnip puree,
and a touch of cider vinegar.
- Some of that beautiful
goat cheese would have
come out even more if you
didn't have quite so much--
- Garnish?
- Purees. Yeah.
- And the croquette's
not that crispy.
As a dish, not as successful
as it could have been.
- I'm trying not to get pissed.
I wanted to show them
this little spunky girl
can make a good dish.
I failed.
And it was cold.
- Two of the cultures
that have influenced me
are Southeast Asia and Italy.
This is kind of my attempt
to bring them together.
So it's a mixture between
the Italian brodo
and a Vietnamese chicken pho.
- I not only like
the toasted garlic,
but your noodles
are really delicious.
Nice job.
- Thank you very much.
- Here you go.
You're very welcome.
- I haven't been to Kansas.
Why does this represent you
as a chef?
- I serve approachable food
at my restaurant,
and I think that I'm
a pretty approachable person.
- Is that a tenderloin?
- It's a citrus-marinated
pork loin
atop some soft polenta.
- The pork is
really nicely cooked.
- Thank you
- Could be seasoned
a little more.
Same thing
with the polenta.
- Okay.
both: Thank you very much.
- I'm going to season
that right now.
[laughs]
- So this is shrimp and pork
with charred pineapple,
toasted peanuts,
red- and green-leaf lettuce
with a coconut-habanero foam.
- I noticed that the peanut
flavor is so pronounced,
and it completely changes
the dish.
Nice.
- Thank you.
- The flavors keep
building up too.
- Yeah, I'm still getting
a little tingle
and a little bit
of nuttiness.
- Yeah.
- Thank you so much.
- Hi, Amar.
- How's it going?
- Great.
I made a spicy cherry-glazed
pork belly meatballs
with a celery root cream cheese
puree and everything spice.
- Like an every--I got it.
Like an everything bagel.
- Everything bagel. Yes.
I just wanted lots of flavor,
and I love pork.
I'm a pork-aholic.
- It does have a lot of flavor.
It's spicy but not crazy spicy,
and it is nice and moist.
- It's delicious.
- Off to a good start.
You got immunity.
- Yeah.
- Just a walk in the park.
- It is a walk
in the park.
- It shows.
This is really nice.
- I think that Chef Amar
is really gonna be hard to b*at.
Those meatballs were amazing.
- Today, I have a salmon
and apple tartare
with pomegranate
pickled cherries,
tomato-pomegranate vinaigrette,
and Szechuan walnuts.
- The texture is definitely
what comes out,
and I love that crisp,
fresh apple.
It sort of makes the dish.
- Cool. Thank you.
- Wow.
- So far everything's
been really good.
- Yeah. I'm impressed.
It seems like they're
pretty organized.
- Hi, Grayson.
- Hi.
This is a pork and veal meatball
with a spicy tomato sauce,
some gremolata, and Parmesan.
- Why'd you choose to do
this particular meatball?
- I have a lot of
European influences.
- This is, like, Jersey
red sauce influence, though.
- Yeah.
- What?
- Could I get this
at my local pizzeria
when I order a meatball
sandwich?
Probably.
- And would it taste the same?
- Yeah.
- Yeah? Oh.
- And I think you could have
done something
a little more interesting.
- I made 400 balls.
- Okay.
- I know that my flavors
are on.
It's Italian.
It's how I cook.
I followed the challenge
perimeters exactly.
So we'll see.
- If you put a spoon in your
mouth, don't put it in my food.
- Yes.
done.
- Thank you.
- Perfect.
- So have you tasted
some good things?
- Chef Kwame came back
from Thailand.
He's putting some great
Thai flavors together.
- Yeah.
- We liked the first meatball.
- Yes, I did too.
And so did you.
- That's so cool to be out here.
You know, I've never
been to L.A.
So to do this and be, like,
under the Hollywood sign
making food
for a bunch of people,
it's kind of what
I signed up for.
It's really important
to show that
I'm here to win this season,
and I really want to make
great food
and I want to make a great
first impression today.
I made a spiced carrot soup.
This is a dish that really
represents where I live.
I live in a predominantly
Middle Eastern neighborhood
in Boston,
so this is the type of food
that I love.
I love spice. I love acid.
I love herbs.
- Chef.
- Hey, how are you?
- How are you, sir?
- Hey, I'm Carl.
- I'm Gail.
- Hey, nice to meet you.
- Nice to meet you too.
So what I did is,
I made a little soup
spiced with some Turkish
spices, some cumin,
some smoked paprika,
garbanzo beans.
- Beautiful carrot flavor.
The almond's great, the feta
is actually really great.
- Awesome. Thank you so much.
- Have a great day.
- You as well.
- What is this crudo about?
- So this a little Pacific
shaved snapper
with kombu gel and lime zest.
I love clean, simple flavors,
and this showcases the fish
and the chiles
that are local to here.
- It's simple. It's clean.
This is
the perfect temperature.
- It's delicious.
Beautifully done.
- Thank you.
- Thank you so much.
- I nailed it. I'm stoked.
This is huge.
It's the first impression
of me and my food.
- It's also nice after eating
a lot of heavy dishes
to get something clean
and refreshing.
- Hi, Stacy.
- Hi.
- Well, this is quite
exciting for Los Angeles.
- It is.
We've definitely
been getting noticed,
and the international
food scene here
is really what sets us apart.
- What do you think of the
things you've tasted today?
- Have you guys tried Chef
Amar's pork belly meatballs?
- We have not.
- Would be right up your alley.
- Yes? Okay.
- Enjoy, guys.
- So what is this?
Is this potato salad?
- This is potato salad and it
has a very small touch
of mayonnaise.
A little ocean herb broth
with clams and shrimp.
Um, so I'm just
balancing this out, um,
this dish is super a la minute.
It's great for
"Top Chef," right?
- Uh-huh.
- If needed.
- I'm also very happy that
you're tasting your food,
but I would suggest
doing it with a tasting spoon
you'd throw in the garbage as
opposed to dipping in there.
- Yes, Chef.
- Yeah.
If you put a spoon in your
mouth, don't put it in my food.
- Yeah.
- Your broth is delicious.
- Thank you.
It's great to hear.
- You got dashi in there.
You have potato salad.
I mean, it's kind of all over
the place, but it's really good.
To me, this feels like
a picnic in a bowl.
- Thank you so much.
of different vegetables all
treated in a different manner.
Pickled, three different
colors of cauliflower,
little bit of avocado mousse,
roasted radish, um,
puffed amaranth, little bit
of shaved Purple Haze asparagus,
little bit of red grape,
then some king crabs.
- You just listed to me,
like, 47 ingredients.
Was that a worry
in the preparation?
- It's about, does
your bite make sense,
and I believe that
this bite make sense.
- My only wish is that
I wanted more.
- To me, that's
a pretty good critique.
- When I think of
California though,
and I think about the
new California cuisine--
- Yeah. That's it.
He is it
with his man-bun and his--
- Puffed amaranth.
- White teeth and his
puffed amaranth, exactly.
- Okay, Chef Phillip is like,
Mr. Cocky Pants over here.
Every time I walk by he's like,
"Yeah, I'm from L.A. I know
half the people here."
- Anyone who's from here,
you guys know,
we always have good vegetables.
- Tell us what you made.
- Cauliflower almond soup.
The soup is vegan.
It's made with almond milk.
I'm pairing this with prosciutto
which is not vegan.
- I know this.
So I've heard.
- What's nice about it
is it's not using cream,
it's still getting
the richness without using it.
So it gets heavy. Nice.
- Exactly.
- I did a lamb tartare with a
little bit of smoked egg yolk.
- The most important thing to me
is the temperature of the lamb.
- Yeah.
- And it is cold.
It's really nice.
- The green puree is actually
called a salsa Apicius.
Little caramelized honey,
some fish sauce
with little toasted long
pepper.
It's pulled from
basically one of
the earliest existing
cookbooks.
Apicius was a philosopher
and gastronome.
- I really like this dish
because it shows
a level of confidence
that you're just relying
on solid technique
and good flavors.
- This is a tangerine aguachile.
On top, you have a little bit
of scallop and shrimp cake
seasoned with ancho chile ash
and a little bit
of ground grasshopper.
- There's like a deep funk
at the bottom of this dish,
in a good way.
- Yes.
- You know, there's like,
a real savoriness.
- I grew up eating mung beans.
- Uh- huh.
- And this soup, it has
yuzu, bitter melon,
fresh turmeric, fresh ginger.
- I'm not a fan of bitter melon.
I like it pickled.
'Cause it starts off with
a good smack of acid,
then it gets bitter in the end,
but it's not too bitter.
- Google it, people.
Google bitter melon.
- I'm enjoying this, and I'm
enjoying it more as I eat it.
- Thank you.
- I love the little pop
of the garlic.
- Mm-hmm.
- Thank you, chef.
- So what we did is
we took grasshoppers,
we dip it in a saltwater
solution that was--
- Where'd you find
the grasshoppers?
You found them?
- Uh, we get them
from Guadalajara.
- I'm into it.
- We like it.
- Are you?
- Yes.
- Great flavor.
I see why everybody's
talking here, you know?
- How y'all doing today?
- Good.
- You taste some good food?
- We have, actually, yes.
- What's your favorite thing
so far?
- We can't tell you that.
You'll find out.
- Did you make your own noodles?
- Yes, I did.
This is "Top Chef." You have to.
- Noodles seem to be
a little bit broken or over.
- I feel my heart drop into my
stomach, and all of a sudden,
you know, you have
the most important people
in front of you,
and you make a mistake.
- Is there a reason why
you toast this so dark?
- Are you getting
bitterness out of it?
- Oh, yeah.
- Okay.
- We are.
- It's burnt.
- If it's bitter
then it's miscooked.
I start wishing that maybe
I had fewer components,
maybe I didn't go
for a fresh noodle.
Keeping up with
the mise-en-place
is extremely difficult
for 200 people.
All right,
thank you very much.
- I had more expectations
from you.
- I'll put sparkles.
- Let's be clear for a second.
- Clear.
- Are you guys done?
- Yeah, you need to eat fast.
- Can I have yours?
[laughter]
- You like Grayson's meatballs?
- I like the meatballs.
The lemon zest was
a different trick.
I would never have
thought to do that.
- Yeah, it's nice
to see her back.
[laughs]
- Hmm.
- Amar's meatballs
to end the day.
- Absolutely my favorite.
both: Yeah.
- Carl has some good
flavors in here.
- Well, I, for one,
am really full.
- I forget, season to season,
how much food there is
that first day.
- All right, so the critics'
scores are in.
- Ooh.
- Ooh.
- So, the tops are Isaac, Amar,
Jeremy, Carl, and Kwame.
- All right.
- Interesting.
- And the bottom is Angelina,
Renee, Grayson,
Garret, and Francis.
I think some of these
are really fair.
- There were a lot in the middle
that I thought were better.
- I thought Chad
should have been up here.
- I thought Jason should have
been up there too.
- Well, we can't, so...
- That's the game.
- Amar, loved his meatball.
Is it the winner?
I don't know.
- I thought Isaac gave us a
really beautiful, home-style,
authentic Louisiana dish.
- I thought it was good.
Didn't love it.
- I wouldn't put Kwame
on the top at all.
- Kwame, yeah, no.
Carl did a really great job.
- I loved the feta, I loved
all the Middle Eastern spices
that he used.
- Yeah.
- There was a lot of depth
to that carrot soup.
Jeremy, too, made a very clean,
very simple dish,
but he ex*cuted it beautifully.
- I love that little finish
in that citron vinegar.
- Yeah, the citron vinegar
and the cold fish.
- Yeah.
- Yeah.
- Now, the hard part.
We have to decide who goes home.
Frances has immunity
and Renee has immunity,
so out of Angelina, Garret,
and Grayson.
- My least favorite dish
was Garret's.
That garlic was absolutely burnt
and ruined the dish.
- I have to agree with Tom.
- You guys got a different dish
than what we got.
My dish from Garret,
the broth was tasty,
delicious, my noodles
were perfect.
- I think that Angelina's dish
was the weakest today
of those three.
I liked the romesco,
it was smoky and deep,
but there was just this
tiny dollop of it.
The dish itself was
sort of forgettable.
- What did you think of Grayson?
- I thought it was a good
meatball and tomato,
but there's a certain
amount of ambition
that you have to have
to--to win here.
- Yeah.
- And I did not see
that ambition.
First impression,
re-introducing yourself
to us, reintroducing yourself--
- Should've came out the gate.
- You should really, yeah,
come out strong.
- All right, then I think
we know our answer.
Let's go back
to Judges' Table.
- I recognized at least
12 or 15 people.
- Really.
- The head editor of "Zagat"
was there, for L.A.
The head editor of
"Thrillist" in L.A. was there.
- I know every critic in L.A.
by face, blah, blah, blah.
Honestly, who cares?
- Not that I know them, but,
I know what they look like
in case they come into
the restaurant.
[man chuckles]
- Hello, chefs.
We'd like to see all of you
at Judges' Table.
Thank you.
- Thank you.
[nervous laughter]
- Let's do this.
[suspenseful music]
♪ ♪
- I thought, overall, you guys
did really well.
I mean, there were some minor
things here and there,
but there wasn't a dish
that stood out
as just being, like, god-awful,
and a lot of times,
the first round, it happens.
[laughter]
Overall, I think we're off
to a great start.
- Amar, Jeremy, Carl.
The three of you had
our favorite dishes
from the critics' top picks.
Please remain where you are.
The rest of you, please step
over to the side.
[dramatic music]
♪ ♪
- Amar, when you first told us
you were making a meatball,
I was a little apprehensive.
We've all eaten
a lot of meatballs.
They can be a little plain,
a little ordinary.
Um, but yours was anything
but ordinary.
- It was a crowd pleaser for
sure, and, uh,
and a job well done, so...
- Thank you, Chef.
- Yeah.
- Carl, your carrot soup
was delicious,
and it's easy to be heavy-handed
with those spices,
especially when you've got
something as pure and simple
as carrot soup.
- It tasted of carrot,
but it also
tasted of spices, and a couple
little garnishes
that you added didn't detract at
all from the flavors.
- Thank you.
- And I felt like I was
eating at your house.
- Oh, that's great.
You can come over anytime.
- Okay.
- And hang out.
- Tom, what did you think of
Jeremy's dish?
- You know, one one hand,
it was predictable.
You know, raw fish,
we've seen it,
but this was a really, really
good version of the dish.
- The beautiful citron vinegar.
It brightened everything up.
It was like a little bit of
sunshine that came
through the clouds.
- I was impressed in how
organized your station was.
It's hard to teach that
to people that cook.
- There were others who should
take note of that.
Okay, Emeril?
- The chef who really stood out
tonight, for us,
really put together
a great dish.
Simple, great flavors,
very clean.
And that chef is...
Jeremy.
- Thank you.
[applause]
- Congratulations, Jeremy.
- Thank you.
To have this win under the belt
makes a bold statement
to the other chefs here that I'm
a force to be reckoned with.
It's huge.
I'm very honored.
Now there's a ton of pressure
to keep it up,
but I love it.
I'm ready for the next
challenge, man.
- Angelina...
Garret...
and Grayson...
please swap places
with Jeremy, Carl, and Amar.
[chefs whispering]
The three of you had our
least favorite dishes
from the critics' bottom picks.
- Angelina, when we got
to the table,
you talked about how you're all
about ingredients,
and great ingredients.
What was it about those parsnips
that sort of
spoke to you that you
wanted to use them?
- I just wanted something
different, so,
I definitely took the safety
route with doing something
sweet with a vegetable,
but I do feel like
my flavors were there.
- Your food was seasoned well.
It didn't necessarily feel
like a unique dish.
- Right.
- This isn't always about
doing something that's
so original it has to be
outrageous,
but you gotta give us all
a sense that you're
pushing a little bit, yeah.
- Pushing the envelope
a little bit.
- Yeah.
- Right.
- You know, I think Garret did
something pretty interesting
today.
It worked for me.
There's gonna be a little bit
different opinions
at this table.
- I think there's reasons
for that, yeah.
- I loved the concept
of your dish.
- It could have been good except
for the b*rned garlic.
- I think I failed to provide
the due vigilance
to kind of execute that dish
with consistency,
so you and Gail ate
a completely different dish
than Tom and Padma.
- Consistency means everything.
- Grayson.
I know it can't feel good to
stand where you are right now.
- I don't know, I'm sorry you
didn't enjoy my meatballs.
- Whoa, whoa, whoa.
- Let's be clear a second.
- Grayson, hold on.
- 20 critics voted you here.
- Mm-hmm.
- There was nothing about your
dish that made it interesting,
that gave us a point of view
that could be
just yours, otherwise it just,
it felt
like it could've come from
70 different--
- Any Italian...
- Any Italian restaurant--
- Place in New York City.
Got it.
- All right, I'm gonna cut
through the bullsh**,
okay, and just, like,
be straight.
I had more expectations
from you.
- I'll put sparkles.
- The carrot soup was
really simple.
- Yeah, there were--you can do
simple and still be exciting.
I just don't know if you
hit that balance.
- Mm-hmm.
- You know, on "Top Chef,"
no one wants
to be the first one out,
but one of you will
have to go home.
- We all need to just
step it up.
- Good morning, chefs.
We warned you these first few
days were going to be intense.
- Holy sh**.
if you think this is crowded,
17 chefs in one kitchen,
trying to stand out,
think about all the thousands
of restaurants
that are in this country
and the hundreds of thousands
of chefs out there
right now cooking.
Think about the ones
that you hear about,
and you read about,
and you know about.
They stand out for a reason.
They stand out because
they have great technique,
they can take something very
simple and make it exciting,
and they're telling
their own story.
All those things together are
gonna win this competition,
and all those things make
your restaurant stand out
from a very crowded field.
Just a piece of advice.
It's terrible to be the first
one leaving the competition,
but there's always a first,
um...Padma?
- Garret.
- Ouch.
- Please pack your knives
and go.
- Thank you very much, chefs.
- Garret, listen, it was
a more exciting dish,
but it was the only one that
was a real mistake.
- I understand.
- Yeah.
- Thanks, guys.
- Good meeting you, man.
- Thanks, guys.
Good luck to everybody.
Keep it up for D.C., okay?
- Yeah.
- I came in the competition
thinking that I was
going to be a strong contender,
so it's humbling
that I'm out this early.
Sh**.
At no point did I feel
like I was outgunned.
I still don't feel that way,
but the competition
is fierce, and doesn't take too
much to send you home.
- Oh, my God.
- What a day.
- Winner, winner, winner,
chicken dinner.
- Jeremy, salud.
- Thanks, brother.
- Yes, congratulations.
- And here's one
for Garret, too.
For Garret.
- A little, tiny thing
sends you home.
- Burnt garlic.
- I wanted to treat this
like a vacation,
but now that I'm really starting
to settle in with
the idea that this
is a competition,
it's more difficult
than I thought it would be.
- We all need to just
step it up.
On every challenge.
- I can push the envelope,
I just choose to cook
how I cooked.
The judges
weren't thrilled about
just having a meatball,
but that's how
I like to cook.
I'm gonna stay true to myself.
Okay, guys,
let's...go home.
- Cheers to that.
- Wake up, sunshine.
- How's it going, buddy?
Morning.
- Good morning, how are you?
- I'm great.
- Um, guys.
- What is that?
- What's that?
- Here we go.
- "Please meet me on the roof."
- What?
all: Oh!
- Padma.
- All right, you guys.
You wanna roll?
- Let's do it.
- Let's go.
[suspenseful drum music]
♪ ♪
- We warned you these first few
days were going to be intense.
We want you to get to know
Los Angeles
just a little bit better.
For your next
elimination challenge,
you will be opening four pop-ups
across the city...today.
- Oh, wow.
- Wow.
- Holy sh**.
- Tomorrow night, the
"Top Chef" premiere continues.
- Hot, hot. Hot, hot.
- Persian food.
What do I know about it?
Nothing, I know nothing
about Persian food.
- Let's make sure that we stop
what we're doing, we're ready.
- Phillip is being bossy.
- I just don't get Mexico
in this dish at all.
- Are you Korean?
Do you make Korean wings?
- Girl's never fried
a chicken wing before.
- To learn more about
the chefs, go to BravoTV.com.
[laughing]
13x01 - Stop the Presses
Watch/Buy Amazon Merchandise
Show features chefs competing against each other in culinary challenges.
Show features chefs competing against each other in culinary challenges.