09x03 - Quinceanera

[bunniefuu]

Previously,
on Top Chef...


arrived in Texas...

It's Emeril. Bam!

Announcer: To compete
for a coveted Top Chef coat.

Can I move
while you're checking?

Pack up your knives,
and you can go.

Okay, fair enough.

Announcer: After a grueling
series of challenges...

- You have to go home.
- Okay.


to make the cut.

Welcome
to the Top Chef house.

- Whoo-hoo!

But once the smoke settled,
a new generation of chefs

claimed their place
in the Top Chef house.

Yes!

Thank you so much.

My name's Paul.

I'm the executive chef
of Uchiko restaurant

in Austin, Texas.

I couldn't feel happier.
I passed the first trial.

Come get your jacket.

My name is Richie.

I am the sous chef
at Moto restaurant in Chicago.

I've worked long and hard
to get one of those jackets

and show what I can do.

My name
is Lindsay Autry.

I'm the executive chef

of the Omphoy Ocean Resort
in Palm Beach, Florida.

Congratulations.

Getting the coat
is like 3,000 pounds

being lifted
off my shoulders.



all hoping to win...

A feature
in Food & Wine magazine,

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

$125,000, furnished
by Healthy Choice,

to bring their
culinary dreams to life,

and the title
of Top Chef.

- You ready?
- Almost.

I printed out
a sheet that says,

"congratulations,
Top Chef Beverly Kim."

I look at it every day.

If I can believe it,
I'm gonna achieve it,

so I keep telling
myself that.

I'm used to having
my wife beside me

and, like, embrace the little
small goals that I got.

You know,
like it's her idea.

My name is Keith Rhodes.

I'm the owner
and executive chef

of Catch restaurant
in Wilmington, North Carolina.

When I was young,
I went to prison,

but I think that cookin'
saved my life.

And this year I was nominated
for the James Beard award.

Just wanna compete
against some other guys

who think they're
the top chefs in their area too.

- Morning.
- Good morning.

How are you doing?

My name is Chris Jones.
I live in Chicago.

Now I'm getting
to know everybody,

and where they've come from,
and I'm just like, holy [bleep].

I'm going against
the best of the best.

I work with Richie
at Moto in Chicago,

and he's my competitor,

but we bounce things
off each other all the time.

So I'm very lucky.

He's like a brother
at arms with me.

Ready to see
what's gonna happen.

Let's do it!

As I walk into
the Top Chef kitchen,

I see these little boxes,
and this huge aquarium

with snakes.

I'm beginning to get
a little nervous,

because I don't
like snakes.

Congratulations.

Chefs: Thank you.

The 16 of you have proven
that you're worthy to compete

for the title of Top Chef.

I was the last chef
to make it

into the competition.

So winning
the very first quickfire

would prove
to the other chefs

that I'm
a fierce competitor.

Winning Top Chef
requires nerves of steel.

And that's exactly what we'll
be testing in this quickfire.

If you haven't
guessed it,

for your first quickfire,

you'll be cooking up
some rattlesnake.

Oh, boy.

I have this major
fear of snakes.

Slithering, and the coiling,
and eww...

I'd like you to meet
your guest judge.

He's the chef and owner
of La Gloria restaurant,

right here in San Antonio.

Please meet
Johnny Hernandez.

Hi, chefs.
Welcome to Texas.

Chefs: Hi, chef.

- Johnny Hernandez
is really well-known

for cooking
wild game meats.

He's an amazing chef.

Rattlesnakes
are something

very traditional
in Texas cuisine.

It's something that
we use in our company.

We do about


It's a meat
that's very delicate.

It can take spices,

but it's gonna have to
have a gentle touch.

It will challenge you,
so lots of luck.

Chefs, you'll have
one hour to cook.

And your ingredient...

Is in the box
in front of you.

Whoa.

Oh, [bleep].
This sucks.

Immunity and $5,000
are on the line,

so make it count.

When time is up,
I better see

some mother[bleep] snakes
on some mother[bleep] plates.

[Laughter]

Your time starts now.

- Whoo!
- Whoa...

- It's not alive.
- Thank God.

The snake is skinned,
and it's dead.

[Bleep].

Whoo!

Right behind you.

Ugh...

Wow.

I'm kinda freaking out
a little bit.

There's not a lotta meat
on this [bleep].

At my restaurant,
Moto, in Chicago,

I've never worked
with snake before.

The first thing
that goes in my mind

is I wanna
break the snake down.

Oh, wow, you got nice little
fillets off that guy, huh?

Yeah, you gotta cut it
into sections, Richie.

Get it small
so you can work with it.

That makes sense.

Me and Richie
are both from Chicago.

His style is, like,
fun and whimsy,

and total opposite
of what I cook.

With my Italian
background,

I like to keep things
very simple.

It's okay to go simple.

And often that can really
be the best-tasting dish.

It's gonna taste
effin' delicious.



Shoulda practiced
my rattlesnake skills.

I don't like snake,

I don't like the look of it,
it doesn't like the look of me.

We're not friends.

[Laughs]

I'm making
a rattlesnake fritter.

Yummy.

At my restaurant
I cook a lotta weird stuff,

like goat liver
and barracuda,

but rattlesnake
is new to me,

and I'm freaking out
about it.

Corner!

I had a pretty
unique childhood,

growing up halfway
between California and Mexico.

- Órale!
- I grew up on a farm.

Slaughtering animals
was real common,

so I'm not
afraid of snakes.

That's why I like baking,
freshman b*tches.

The dish
that I'm making

is influenced
from southeast Asia street food,

so it's barbecued snake
with an Asian slaw.

Being from Texas,
my pride is on the line

with this first
quickfire challenge.



Oh, [bleep],
there's only 16 minutes left?

Wow, that went quick.

I am a little unsure

if I cooked
the rattlesnake properly.

It has a little bit
of a chew,

but from a Korean
background,

some things are supposed to
have a chew to it.

So I go with it.

Jerk seasoning
with pineapple,

roasted corn,
and some other [bleep].

I want Richie to go very far
in this competition.

If we go number one, number two,
so be it, Jedi.

All right, dude.
Good luck, buddy.

It's go time, baby.

[Laughs]
[Bleep].

Needs more flavor.

Hands up, utensils down.

I don't like
rattlesnake too much.

- Hi.
- How are you?

Sarah,
what'd you make for us?

I never worked
with snake before,

so I just wanted
to quickly flash-fry it

and then finish it
with a little brown butter,

shallot, and caper.

- Anything else that you put on
before you flash-fried it?

I did a little minced
lemon zest on the rattlesnake.

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

I made a rattlesnake nigiri
out of it,

and I put a Thai basil jalapeno
aioli with it,

so I hope you enjoy it.

Today I made
rattlesnake nicoise

with olive oil pudding
and some olive panko.

- Nice texture.
- Okay, thank you.

Thank you.

- I did a cumin-breaded
rattlesnake

with a little bit
of bacon, lime,

and then just a touch of spicy
barbecue sauce to finish it.

- Thank you.
- Thank you.

- Hi, Paul.
- Hello.

What did you do?

So I went ahead and barbecued
the rattlesnake,

I paired it
with some peaches,

garnished it with a little bit
of fried peanuts,

and some
southeast Asian spices.

You got some really strong
flavors coming through.

If I think snake,
I think beer.

So I made a little
beer-battered tempura

with the rattlesnake
marinated in lime juice.

Just a little
warm succotash salad,

and zucchini almond
gazpacho.

- Thank you so much.
- Thank you.

[Sighs]

I've got a sweet corn
rattlesnake griddle cake

topped with
ancho mascarpone

and a beer-battered
rattlesnake crudite.

What is this
dipping sauce?

Tequila poblano
queso fondue.

- Do you mind
if I double-dip?

Hi, Nyesha.
What did you do with the snake?

I braised it,
a bit of Tequila and citrus,

jalapeno couscous
with rehydrated golden raisins.

- Thanks, Nyesha.
- Absolutely.

I did a little bit of,
like, an adobo seasoning,

grilled it,
and then I made

a pasilla balsamic
barbecue sauce.

- Thank you.
- Thanks.

Hi, Richie.
How is the snake?

It's grilled and also
has jerk seasoning on it

with roasted corn, pineapple,

jalapeno in it
for a little bit of spice.

- Thanks, Richie.
- You're welcome.

Okay, Johnny,
how do you think our chefs did

with the rattlesnake?

The goal of the challenge
was to showcase rattlesnake.

Rattlesnake is a very delicate
texture and flavor,

so it's difficult to balance
flavor and not go overboard.

Who were your
least favorites today?

Well, Paul,
when you looked at the dish,

certainly saw the use
of color and technique.

Played a little, maybe,
to your personal style,

but I feel that the rattlesnake
was totally lost in the dish.

I'd have to say Richie.

In that dish, to me,
all I could taste

is really
that citrus punch.

The rattlesnake
was obsolete.

Okay.

- Nyesha, it was a little
one-dimensional in the flavor,

but what really did it for you
was the overcooked rattlesnake.

All right,
now for some good news.

Beverly, I felt that
the elegance of that dish

presented really nicely.

And I think you cook
to your style,

and the doneness
of the snake was excellent.

Dakota,
your beer-battered rattlesnake

was one of our favorite.

Fried rattlesnake is certainly
a good nod to Texas.

Thank you.

Sarah,
I also liked your dish.

You ex*cuted and cooked
the rattlesnake with perfection.

You know, the little lemon zest
that you put on it

really showcased
the rattlesnake.

Thank you, chef.

One of you
will win $5,000

and immunity
in the elimination challenge.

Johnny,
please tell us the winner

of the rattlesnake
quickfire.

For me,
one chef really stood out.

And that chef is...

Johnny, please
tell us the winner

of the rattlesnake
quickfire.

To showcase rattlesnake,
one chef really stood out,

and that chef is...

Dakota.

Oh!
[Applause]

[Cheers]

Dakota, you win immunity

in the elimination
challenge and $5,000,

furnished
by Healthy Choice.

To be singled out
in the first quickfire is huge.

I just want
everybody to know

that maybe I'm someone
you better watch out for.

Everyone,
please draw knives.

- Green.
- Pink.

Please gather into team pink
and team green.

- Pink.
- Green, green.

Green.

Tomorrow,
you'll be creating

a meal for a very
important event.

We'll pick a winning team
and a losing team.

Someone from the losing team
will be going home.

I'd like to introduce you
to your client...

Blanca Flores.

Hello.
Hi.

- This little girl--
I don't know who she is.

Maybe she's
a Mexican rock star.

Tomorrow
is Blanca's quinceanera.

Órale.

The quinceanera
is a big Mexican party,

just like a sweet sixteen.

Only the women
have the quinceanera.

Guys are just taught
to k*ll a goat.

[Laughs]
We don't get a party.

All my friends and family
are gonna show up,

so they're really
expecting it to be, like,

really big and great.

In San Antonio,
you see our Mexican culture

in the way
that we celebrate.

And this celebration
will be something

that the family
will remember forever.

The judges
and over 100 guests

are expecting
elegant Mexican cuisine.

And of course,
no quinceanera is complete

without a fabulous cake.

Blanca, I'm gonna leave you
here with the g*ng

so that you can tell them

exactly what your
likes and dislikes are.

Your 30-minute menu plan
starts now.

Everybody, let's go.

Hi.
Chefs: Hi.

Congratulations.

Okay, we have
many questions for you.

Does your family
generally eat spicier,

a little bit more
towards the mild side?

Um, mild because
I can't really eat spicy food.

Not so spicy, but they like
the flavor of chili, though.

Right?
Yes.

- Do you guys like ceviche?
- Yeah.

You like boys?

[Laughs]
Yeah.

Can we talk
about your cake really quick?

- Yeah.
- Do you like tres leches?

- Yeah.
- Is that your favorite?

Yeah.

I personally have
pastry chef experience.

That's what I thought
I wanted to do.

And then I quickly realized
how bored I was.

But it makes you
really well-rounded.

Any other animals we haven't
mentioned yet that you like?

Favorito is goat.

[Bangs fist]
Rock on.

[Laughs]

- Probably my best dish
that I cook all-around is goat.

I was taught
by my grandfather

how to slaughter
and cook a goat

and do it the right way.

It's something that's really
tied to my heart.

- Okay, thank you.
- Thank you.

Okay, we have to really
hurry with this list.

Hi, Blanca.
Are you excited?

Yes. Very.

What are your
favorite Mexican foods?

Cochinita pibil.

- What is it?
- Cochinita pibil.

I lived in Mexico
from 2004 until 2007.

I went with
Michelle Bernstein

to open her first
place down there.

Cochinita pibil
is the first dish

that I really
fell in love with.

It's pork that's roasted
in banana leaves.

You have any traditional
family dishes

that you really enjoy?

My grandma makes
cabbage leaves,

but inside of it
it has picadillo consomate.

It's a hot soup.

It's good.
Okay, great.

- Really excited for you.
- Thank you.

Thank you, Blanca.

Okay.

I think we should decide
who's gonna do what right now,

and then you go with your ideas,
make it cohesive.

Right now, we have
skirt steak, right?

So you have the pork shoulder.
Pork shoulder.

I think we should
do enchiladas.

All we have to do is put
sauce on, heat 'em in the oven.

Let's go shoppin'.
Let's get this done.

Our team splits
into two groups,

one going to whole foods,
one going to culebra,

which is
a Mexican meat market.

I'd like six jars
of kimchi.

Get the brand with
the Korean lady on the front.

All right,
I'll see what we got.

Powdered sugar.

[Speaking Spanish]

We're all gonna have to be
responsible for one thing.

We did not
have a clear plan

by the time time was up
in the kitchen.

How much is the shrimp there?
It's 8.99 a pound here.

The cheapest is 9.99
here on shrimp,

so you probably
wanna get it there.

Just make sure
it's really nice.

The shrimp
are gonna be cooked.

What's that?

I'm gonna get
the cooked shrimp.

Whatever, get it.

- We purchase pre-cooked shrimp,
given the price,

and making sure
we get something

that won't be
too time-consuming.

We have [bleep]
bunch of shrimp.

Do you know if you have
more of this in the back?

There's no rule saying I cannot
follow a recipe on a box.

We'll do one layer strawberry,
one layer pineapple,

one layer strawberry.

I've done a few cakes
in the past,

but little, teeny cakes,
not cakes for 155 people.

Okay...

I'm sorry, we need
to get someone here, please.

This is very,
very important.

This is the most
important dish here.

I'm sorry, I know everybody here
has stuff to do.

I need a butcher.

I'm sorry.

I need, um,
these short ribs.

And you can just
start doing it,

'cause I'm gonna
need a lot.

Four minutes!
Four minutes!

- They're gonna be nicely-made,
like, tortillas,

but they're not
gonna be homemade.

I'll tell you that
right now.

Okay, hey,
what kind of mushrooms?

- Five-hundo.

- Beautiful.
- Thank you so much.

We're given three hours
to prep today.

The kitchen just
is like an expl*si*n

of body parts and knives
and pans and pots,

and people just
go flying around everywhere.

Behind!

So our two hors d'oeuvres
are gonna be

the shrimp cocktail
and the huarache.

Keith and I are doing
a pork tenderloin huarache,

then we have ceviche by Nyesha,
corn with chiles by Chris,

carne asada by Ty-lor,
green pozole from Whitney,

enchiladas by Keith,

the cochinita pibil pork
by Sarah and myself,

and then birthday cake
by Dakota.

Let's find those shrimp,
and let's look at 'em,

because we might
need to fry them.

Where are the shrimp?

I wanna get a really intense
[Indistinct] On

to poach the shrimp.

When I open it up,
I am truly shocked.

Oh, [bleep].

I see cooked,
frozen shrimp.

Why did y'all buy these?

That was all Keith.

Why did he buy
cooked shrimp?

Why didn't you guys stand up
for the frikkin' shrimp?

- I didn't see it.
- Oh, my God.

We're not gonna
be able to use this.

Did y'all not go
to the counter with him?

We did, but he's like,
"I got it, I got it."

Ah, God.

- Who would buy pre-cooked
shrimp in a cooking competition?

The point is
to cook the shrimp.

Keith, why did
we buy cooked shrimp?

God...

No one described
what you were doing.

Are these the same?
They're just loose?

All those
are the same shrimp.

It's baffling to me
that anyone would assume

that a pre-cooked product
was acceptable.

We're not gonna do this.

We're gonna 86 the shrimp.
They're terrible.

There were
a few chefs around me.

As we were shopping, they didn't
voice any concern at all.

I'm gonna get
the cooked shrimp.

Whatever, get it.

If my decision might've
been a little shaky,

someone should've said,
"hey, let's go another route."

Slight sabotage.

I saw Lindsay.

She's over there
talking [bleep].

My only concern
is that I really

don't have a dish anymore.

Is it me
against the team now?

I'm feeling alone.

You guys,
where's all the baking stuff?

Heather,
it's right there, yeah.

For our menu today...

Paul is doing
a shrimp ceviche,

Richie is doing
a pork carnitas chicharron,

Grayson is doing
chicken mole,

Edward's doing
a tomatillo gazpacho,

Chris Jones is doing
a green Chile empanada,

Beverly's doing
a short rib asada,

I'm doing a braised goat birria
with cabbage,

and Heather is doing
the vanilla tres leches cake.



- Oh, Grayson.
- Yeah?

You got a second?
Tell me about that mole again.

Yeah.

I'm the resident Mexican
of the bunch,

and all the other chefs
are coming to me,

asking about
the general flavor...

I haven't tasted it yet.

I just wanna double-check
the seasonings.

And making sure it makes sense
to a Mexican palette,

so I feel like even though
we're all different,

it's gonna
go really well.

Good stuff, right?
Cool, man.

Richie! Could you grab me
a scale? A baking scale?

Copy! Scale!

The monkey on my back

is making sure I finish
that stinkin' cake.

If I screw up anything,
I'm going home.

- [Bleep].
- Sarah...

Spin it.

All right!

Holy [bleep].

That sounds good.

We probably need
the pineapple salsa.

And cut pineapple big,

where I can just
put one piece on top.

If you wanna
cut it big,

then we can, you know,
cut it big.

Well, it's a team,
so I'm trying to get feedback.

It's seeming like
one person is deciding this.

Let's get
some feedback on it.

That's what
I'm looking for right now.

If you say, "well, man, nah,
we should maybe do it this way,"

I'm not opposed to that,
I'm just trying to, you know...

Absolutely.

I don't do well
with a whole lotta B.S.

That's why I'm really
looking forward to tomorrow,

is to wash away all of today
and win this contest.

[Playing mariachi music]

Our cake is the leaning tower
of tres leches.

This side, this side.

That side?

We arrive
at Aldaco's restaurant.

We have 2 1/2 hours
to finish everything off

for the quinceanera.

I'm gonna bang mine out first,
as quick as I can,

and then I'm gonna--
- Do it, do it. Yeah.

I feel like everybody
on the green team

is confident
in what they're doing,

and I feel like my team
is gonna win this thing.

Yeah. Yeah, that's
the way you want it.

I do think some of this pork
might be a little thick.

That's gonna be hard
for, like, a woman.

I've got so much pork,
I can slice some more thin.

Yeah, let's do thin.

There's
an underlying tension

between Keith,
Lindsay, and Sarah.

Okay, this is the thing.
He's cut the pork really thick.

Um, so I told him to leave
the rest of 'em whole.

We're gonna blast 'em, we're
gonna slice and order out there.

Slice and order,
I agree.

Sarah and Lindsay
are basically trying

to oversee and control
the entire group.

Do you have more sauce,
or you feel good about that?

Hey, Chris,
do you have, like, a mallet?

No.
No, I don't.

I have
three layers of cake.

It started leaning because it is
extremely hot in the kitchen.

Toast 'em out.

I'm gonna get, um,
a cutting board set up for you.

Two minutes!

I gotta grab
my shaper.

Yeah, yeah,
go do your thing, man.

I just wanna get
this first round out.

Yeah. Absolutely, man.

It's coming down
to the wire.

I see my good buddy Richie
plating like a madman,

so I jump in.

I'm like, well,
there's no way

these appetizers
aren't gettin' done.

I swear,
I [bleep] had 10 minutes left.

[Groans]
God, that's heavy.

Comin' up behind.

Real delicate,
and I will cry if this falls.

You're so pretty.

- Wait, wait, wa-wa-wah...
- No?

I'm usin' cast iron,
unless you wanna use it.

I could use that.

I have everything on green line
pretty much set.

I'm ready for people
to come through

and taste
all of our good food.

Is there, like,
Spanish for bon appetit?

Buen provecho.

Wow.

Very nice.

Well, here's to
our first quinceanera.

[Glasses clink]
Cheers.

Johnny, thank you
for sharing it with us.

I hope it doesn't taste,
like, artificial.

Ladies and gentlemen,

please help me welcome
the guest of honor,

Miss Blanca Flores.

[Cheers and applause]

[Playing mariachi music]

♪ ♪

- Hi, Blanca! Happy Birthday.
- Thank you.

- You look beautiful.
- Thank you. You too.

- This is Tom.
- Happy Birthday.

Hi. I'm Blanca.

This is Johnny.
You remember him from yesterday.

And this is Hugh Acheson.

And these are your parents.
Tom. How are you?

Nice meeting you.

- Jose.
- Pleasure, Jose.

Blanca, what are you
looking forward to the most?

The food.

- Yeah?
- Yeah.

♪ ♪

This is
the pink team, Blanca.

Please, please.
Start us off.

Ty-lor made a fire-roasted
summer fritter.

It has avocado mousse
on the bottom of it.

It was good, but, like,

you couldn't really
taste the avocado.

It was just there.

It's very dry.

I mean, it's a hush puppy.
What do you want?

Thank you.

So this is the green team.

Richie made
a pork carnita chicharron.

- [Crunches]
- Sounds like it's crispy.

What I think is the chicharron
could've been more crispy,

'cause with the pork in it,
it made the middle of it soggy.

You're good. You're good.
All: Yeah.

The chicharron?

Oh, it's autentico
and delicioso.

You care for one,
young lady?

Thank you.

This is Keith and Lindsay's
pork tenderloin

with a pineapple salsa
and a fried plantain.

Pork is really nice.

I took one bite of it,

and I dragged the whole
piece of meat in my mouth.

We're still struggling
with execution,

we're still struggling
with the presentation.

Paul made this dish.

A little shrimp ceviche
yucca chip.

I actually like
Paul's dish.

I think, so far,
of all the hors d'oeuvres,

I enjoyed this the most.

I think it was, um--had more
flavor than everything else.

I'll take
the other bowl back.

- Hola.
- Felicidades.

Gracias.

- Where's the pork?
- On the cart out there.

I just wasn't able
to bring it out yet.

Ladies and gentleman,
the buffet line is now open.

All right, guys, let's go
taste the pink team's food.

Great.

This stuff looks good, Blanca.
Like, I mean, for real.

I know. I wanna go have some.
Go sit down.

- How are you, Nyesha?
- Hello, Padma.

Let me introduce you
to our judges.

Hugh Acheson.
Pleasure to meet you.

Hey, good to meet you.

- Tom Colicchio.
- Pleasure.

Of course you remember
Johnny Hernandez.

Yes, of course.

I have prepared a ceviche,

with a bit
of tomato, lime,

avocado, and some
spiced popcorn for texture.

What's the dish?

It's a tilapia.

- Hi.
- Look at you.

You look like a princess.

So today I've made corn
with Chile picante,

and with cotija.

Thank you.

A little
chicken enchilada, here.

Stuffed with spinach,
mushrooms,

topped with a little
salsa verde.

Did you just
do this dish on your own?

This actually
isn't my dish at all.

This is Chef Keith's.
Okay.

Want me to do those?

Just do another batch,
and put 'em in here,

and just bring 'em
to me in the bag.

These are for our tacos

that we're building over here,
to the left.

Did you make
these tortillas?

We did not
make the tortillas.

Okay.

- This is actually Ty-lor.

He made carne asada
with some pinto beans.

I worked on the cochinita pibil
with Sarah.

We braised pork shoulders
with a lot of achiote,

some orange, but it has
the pickled red onions.

And then I made
a salsa negra.

- Thank you, ladies.
- Thank you so much.

- [Speaking spanish]
- [Spanish]

Well, let's start
with Nyesha's ceviche.

- I think flavor-wise,
it's good.

I find the texture
a little mealy.

Yeah.

- You like it?
- The ceviche's real good.

Hugh, what do you think
of Keith's enchilada?

It's a flour tortilla,

which, if it's an enchilada,
it should be corn.

Certainly, yeah.

I think once it absorbs
that sauce, it gets doughy.

- I think flavor-wise,
Keith did a nice job.

Like it or not,
Keith's made a burrito.

Let's discuss
Sarah and Lindsay's cochinita.

Kinda falls apart,

and I'm not sure
what cut of meat they used.

I think it needs some work.

- The bigger problem
I'm having with this is--

- is the tortilla.
- Tortilla.

And I just think it's
a real cop-out to go buy these.

They taste
like they were bought.

- Tortilla.
- Oh, yes.

- [Speaking spanish]
- [Spanish]

- I like Ty-lor's carne asada.
I think it was really yummy.

- I agree. I think Ty-lor
did a nice job with this.

The beans are nicely cooked.
Some good flavor.

- I'd love to give you more.
- Thanks.

My favorite thing
that the pink team made

was that corn salsa.

It had a lot of flavor,

I think Chris did
a really nice job with the corn.

How are you?
You want some corn?

Let's go try
the green team's buffet.

This is good stuff.

Oh, there's
the birthday girl.

Hi.

Are you enjoying yourself
so far today?

Yes.

- Hi. How are you?
- Hi. I'm very well.

So I wanna just
start you off with something

nice and cold
and refreshing.

We have a tomatillo gazpacho.
Nice.

And then
this is chicharron

with a little bit
of dried plantains.

Great.

- Enjoy your evening.
- Thanks, Edward.

I made the empanadas
this afternoon.

Inside, fire-roasted poblanos,
mushrooms, and Mexican cheese.

- I made goat birria, which is
an ancho-stewed goat dish

that my grandfather
taught me.

And Blanca mentioned also

that she loved
steamed cabbage leaves,

so we did some
slightly steamed napa.

I have the short rib.

I marinated
in Tequila and soy,

so I did kind of
a Korean-Mexican fusion.

Sounds like
a food truck.

All right,
what have you made for us?

So I have
a pulled chicken mole

- smells good.
- Holy mole.

With some pickled red onion,
radish, cilantro,

lime, and a little bit
of sour cream.

I'm smelling cinnamon.

These are just
grilled corn tortillas.

I take it you didn't
make your tortillas either.

No, we did not.
Did they?

Nope.

I apologize.

Dude, you should try that.
No, that thing's good.

I thought Chris
did a very nice job.

Really highly seasoned,

the dough is really nice,
and flaky, and light.

And then a little bit
of rojo salsa to finish it off.

Edward's gazpacho's great.
It's got good flavor to it.

I think the chicharron
was kinda lost on me on the top.

Tom, what do you think
of chuy's goat?

I'm enjoying it.
I like it.

The cabbage
I'm not quite sure of.

It doesn't add anything.

You know, you're not
sure what to do with it.

You're not gonna
eat the cabbage?

No.

I think Beverly
did a great job.

The meat's very tender,
there's a lot of flavor.

I like that
they chose to at least

griddle the tortilla
a little bit.

Just that one step,
I think, changes the dish.

- And you like flour tortillas?
- Yes.

I gotta say, I'm not
a real fan of Grayson's dish.

I find
the whole dish mushy.

It's almost too much cinnamon.
That's all I get.

Mole's a very elegant sauce
when it's done properly,

but it takes
a skilled hand.

The chicken
tasted like cinnamon.

That's the only thing
I didn't like.

There you go.

And then, like,
the chicharron,

like, I never
expected that.

Like, it was really
sweet on my tongue.

There were
some hits and misses.

Um, they did
a pretty nice job.

Well, let's not
jump to any conclusions.

We still have cake.

Ah, cake.

All: Blanca!

[Playing mariachi music]

♪ ♪

Keep going.
Can we go faster?

I really listened
to what Blanca asked for.

I gave her the colors,

I gave her the strawberry
and the pineapple

that she wanted.

- This is the good side.
- Okay.

So you can screw this side up,
so carry this side toward you.

Excuse us.
Pardon us, pardon us.

So, this is the front.

Can you help me?

Careful, careful, careful.
You're good.

Heather's cake
looks like a frikkin'

Easter basket gone bad.

I would even have it
a little this way,

so it leans back.

Our cake is the leaning tower
of tres leches cake.

♪ ♪

[Cheers and applause]

Whoo!

Yay!

Do you like
the pink team's cake?

I like
the pineapple filling and stuff.

I think it has
too much frosting.

- A lot of frosting on there.
- Yes, there was.

- There you go.
- Thank you.

You're welcome.

- So it's vanilla tres leches.
- Thank you.

What do you think of the green
team's cake, Blanca?

I actually think it's better
than the pink team's.

'Cause it's not as sweet,

but yet they still
threw in fruit.

- The cake--
it was pretty sloppy.

[Laughs]

[Speaking Spanish]

Blanca, I know you have
a dance to get ready for,

so Happy Birthday.
Thank you.

- Bye.
- Buh-bye.

♪ ♪

[Cheers and applause]

Watching Blanca
dancing with her father,

I was just thinking how special
that relationship is

between a father
and daughter.

I always think about how I still
want to make my dad proud,

and show him that, like,

even though
I'm a daughter, hey, you know,

I can just do
as much as a son would do.

[Cheers and applause]

What a great quinceanera.
I had a great time.

Blanca was awesome.

I have to say, I think that
one team did stand out.

I agree.

Let's go
deliver the news.

Teams, we thought that you
really came together,

put together a great display
of Mexican food.

Blanca really
enjoyed her party.

But we felt
that there was one team

that just pushed
a little further,

was a little more
authentic,

and a little truer
to what we were looking for.

And that team...

Was the green team.

[Cheers, clapping]

It's a group thing.
No, dude.

I feel so good to be
on the winning side.

Especially
in the first challenge.

I feel like
I stood out as a person

that was leading
the whole thing,

so I feel relieved
that I'm not going home,

that I'm staying another night
in that beautiful house.

Pink team, that means

we'll need to see you
at judges' table.

People loved our food.

The judges matter,
but I felt good about that.

I'm feeling
a little anxious

about going
in front of the judges.

I'm foreseeing
the throwing under the bus,

especially
about the shrimp.

Were you shopping
by yourself?

No, sir,
I had a team with me.

I am not here
to boss everyone around.

You love drivin' the bus.
Hittin' people.

A lot of different variables
came up, and we still produced.

Food was on time.

Except
the shrimp cocktail.

And I did what I did to try
to really help us get going.

Right.

Do you think some people
worked harder than others?

No, not necessarily.

I see what you're
thinking about,

but we were all in agreement
on what everybody was gonna do.

And everybody
fulfilled that.

This is my first
judges' table.

I don't know
what to expect.

I'm worried because whenever
you take a leadership role,

you have to be able
to sink with the ship.

I don't know how you guys
came back with frozen shrimp.

Like, I don't know
how that happened.

You have to be careful
making excuses.

Yeah, but someone's
going home,

not just necessarily
for what they did.

Hello.
Chefs: Hello.

We'd like to see Ty, Sarah,
Lindsay, and Keith. Thank you.

See y'all later.

Oh...

[Suspenseful music]

♪ ♪

You four had our least
favorite dishes

on the pink team today.

Unfortunately,
one of you will be going home.

All in all,
you guys did a good job.

The other team
did a better job.

The birthday cake

on the other side
was also better.

Now, I know Dakota
has immunity,

and that's why she's
not standing here with you.

Sarah,
let's start with you.

We really
did not utilize

our 30-minute
menu planning wisely.

It really set us back.

None of us
really spoke up,

and we shoulda picked
a group leader at that point.

You guys
are eight chefs.

You can't figure out
how to lead a bunch?

You do this every day.

There really
wasn't a menu,

Ty-lor was gonna
do carne asada,

Lindsay was gonna
make the shrimp cocktail...

Shrimp cocktail?

I don't remember
seeing that.

The shrimp
for the shrimp cocktail

were pre-cooked.

- Who bought
pre-cooked shrimp?

I bought the shrimp.

I looked at price,
I figured about labor...

I was just thinking
about a lot under pressure.

Were you shopping
by yourself?

No, sir,
I had a team with me.

I feel for you,

but if you had brought back
pre-cooked shrimp to me,

and I was
in their position,

I'd be yellin' at ya too.

Sorry.

Lindsay,
what did you ultimately do

in place of the shrimp?

Ty picked up
and made a fritter.

Just the term "fritter,"

from the beginning,
didn't set right.

It certainly
did lack flavor,

and I think
that was the problem.

The corn fritter
was sort of

a "your first appetizer
didn't work out,

"you need to come up
with something immediately,

you have 30 minutes or less
to prepare it."

Certainly that's not
the reason it was dry.

No, sir,
that's a cooking failure.

Yeah.

Let's talk
about the cochinita.

Lindsay and I
got achiote, the garlic.

We couldn't find sour oranges
so we brought clementines.

I made the salsa negra.
I made the chipotle cream.

Wanna know my big mistake
that you made with that?

Is the tortilla.
They were crappy.

Let's talk
about the enchilada.

When I was
shoppin' for it,

I just thought
about an enchilada.

I never had
a corn tortilla enchilada.

In my region,
we get flour.

- From the get-go,
a flour tortilla--

technically, that was
the problem with that dish.

If you were with the corn,

you could
appreciate the spinach,

you could
appreciate the sauce.

I grew up
here in Texas,

I've eaten enchiladas
my whole life.

I never do enchiladas
with a flour tortilla.

Sarah,
it is a team challenge.

Did you say to Keith,

"we usually do enchiladas
here in Texas with corn?"

I did not.

I am not here
to boss everyone around

and tell them, "your dish sucks,
your dish is great."

I don't wanna
be that person.

If she had an opinion
about something, then say that.

- This is--

- you love drivin' the bus.
Hittin' people.

We had an army
of corn tortillas.

So no one ever suggested
to you to use corn tortillas.

- Not at all.
- Okay.

Even though this is
an individual competition,

we were working
as a team.

Keith, during the prep,
you weren't talking to anybody.

If I could go back,
I would change it,

because this is the last place
I wanted to be right now.

If Sarah or Lindsay
said to you,

"I think you're makin' a mistake
by using a flour tortilla,"

you woulda listened to them
and used the corn?

Sure.

Chefs, we have
a big decision to make.

We'll call you back.
Thank you.

What was it?

Nothing was great,
and a lotta things sucked.

They say anything
about the cake?

Yeah, they said
she would have been there

if she didn't
have immunity.

Oh, my God.

Defining point about the flour
tortilla was huge in there.

No one stepped up
and said,

"hey, this is how
it should be done."

I made what I thought,
and what else could I do?

What a mess this is.

All of them deserve to go home
for one reason or another.

This is tough, because these
are all really talented chefs.

Sarah works at spiaggia, it's
a Michelin-starred restaurant,

she's the executive
chef there.

Keith has been on the short list
for a beard award.

Lindsay's
the executive chef

of one of Michelle Bernstein's
restaurants.

Listening to them, they were
lucky they got food out at all.

You see where
the miscommunication started.

From the very beginning,
it was just a house of cards.

What I wanted
in this challenge

is for somebody
to step up in front,

be the person who's going,
"this is the menu."

All that time that they
spent messing around,

they coulda made
everything better.

Well, there's certainly
enough blame to go around.

Let's talk
about Keith's enchilada dish.

For an elegant,
refined request

that we asked them
from the beginning,

maybe they should have
trimmed 'em,

they shoulda put
something over the top

other than just
melted cheese.

I mean, there's so much
that they could've done.

Even Blanca thought
that the enchiladas

shouldn't have been
with flour tortillas.

He needs advisement

on not to buy frozen,
pre-cooked shrimp

and what an enchilada is?

I have some worries about
why he's standing up there.

Sarah cooked

the cochinita pibil
with Lindsay.

The aromatics
that were missing

were the clove,
the oregano, the pepper.

None of that came through
in Sarah and Lindsay's dish.

They attempted something
that needed a lot more time,

and a lot more
flavor going on.

Lindsay didn't
do a great job.

For her
to live in Mexico,

that's a very
traditional dish,

I mean,
that she should nail.

That was one
of my least favorite dishes.

The other one
was the fritter.

- Ty-lor kept saying,

"I decided to do that
with 30 minutes to go."

If this is
the best thing

that he could pull
out of his pocket for that,

there's some issues.

Ty's fritter was also
too large, it was dry.

I couldn't even discern
what kind of fritter

it was supposed to be.

I think we know
who's going home.

- Yeah.
- Sure.

Let's get them
out here.

Chefs, you four
had our least favorite dishes

on the pink team today.

Unfortunately,
one of you will be going home.

Chefs...

Today you were asked to prepare
a meal for Blanca's quinceanera.

And I think
one of the biggest problems

was just a lack
of leadership.

You guys seemed scattered,

and just sort of
not all on the same page.

Sarah, I think
you probably should have

suggested to Keith that he was
using flour tortilla,

and the corn tortilla
was the proper one

for the enchilada.

Okay.

You also had a hand
in the cochinita,

and, you know,
it just wasn't that great.

Lindsay,
you had the most experience

working with Mexican food
and spent time in Mexico,

and your cochinita
just didn't have

that authentic flavor
that we were looking for.

Ty, that fritter was dry
because of that preparation.

Keith,
it was your enchilada.

Even if someone knew better
and didn't point it out,

we still had
a pretty soggy enchilada

that didn't have
just a ton of authentic flavor.

It's very difficult
being the first one to go,

but we have
a decision to make.

Padma?

[Suspenseful music]

♪ ♪

Keith,
please pack your knives and go.

Thank you
for the opportunity.

Thank you.

I've had some
tough times in my past

that have caused me
to really dig deep,

and just know that there is
light at the end of that tunnel.

I've been through
that tunnel a few times,

so good things
happen to good people.

It's been real, guys.

All: Oh...
It's all good.

Seriously?

Yeah. It's my pleasure.
It was nice to meet you, dude.

It was good
to meet you too.

I didn't know
what to think of Keith,

and as I got to know him,
he's kind of like

a gigantic Teddy bear.

And it's sad to see
new friends go

before you really have a chance
to get to know them.

Thanks, y'all. Come on.
Right here, one time.

All right,
good luck, everybody.

- Bye.
- Keith made poor decisions.

But he's
a very genuine man,

and it's heartbreaking
to see that it is Keith

that has to go home.

- All right, love you guys.
- Bye, Keith. Love you too. Bye.

God, that was awful.

Bein' on Top Chef
is definitely

one of the highlights
of my career.

I just wanna say,
dream big, dream hard,

because dreams come true.

I'm a testimony to that.

Peace.

Next, on Top Chef...

- We're havin' a chili cook-off
for 200 rodeo goers.

Oh!

- Seeing Padma on a horse--
it's just pure beauty.

Am I sweating again?

There is no clock.

I'm a little
really [bleep] pissed off.

There's no sleep
till the rodeo.

Chili's an all-nighter.

I am so
[bleep]ing tired.

It's just weird.
There's no crying in cooking.

And,
for the first time ever...

Eliminated chefs
will have a chance

to get back into
the Top Chef competition.

- Two minutes.
- The winning chef is...