22x06 - Pickle Me This

[bunniefuu]

Previously,
onTop Chef...

Toronto is one of the most

multicultural cities
in the world.

You're all heading out
to some of these neighborhoods.

We want you to work
in teams of two

to create a dish inspired
by your time on the line.

This is called
kamasutra chicken.

An entire team
will be going home.

Tristen, the winner
of Last Chance Kitchen,

who returns tomorrow,
will be your partner.

Ciao, amicis.

Okay, let's go.

No. It's about getting it done.

You're really
upsetting me at this point.

I'm not gonna let
anybody disrespect me.

Don't start.
Don't f---ing start.

- Let's have a good service!
- Woo!

It's all the way Greek,
you know?

-Yeah.
- My octopus was great,

it was cooked well, I got,
like, this really crispy bite.

It didn't fall apart, which
means it has enough breading.

The texture of this bomba,
to me, is a little off.

The winning team is...

Blue Team, Bailey and Tristen.

Welcome back, Bailey!

Kat and Corwin...

please pack your knives, and go.

Ten chefs remain to compete in
the ultimate culinary showdown.

At stake for the winner,

the largest prize package
in Top Chefhistory.

The grand prize of a quarter
of a million dollars

furnished by
Saratoga Spring Water,

the official water of Top Chef,

Delta Sky Miles
Diamond Medallion status,

and $125,000 to spend on
travel with Delta Airlines,

a feature in
Food & Wine Magazine,

an appearance at the
Food & Wine Classic in Aspen,

and for the first time ever,
the winner of Top Chef

will headline their own
exclusive dinner

at the historic
James Beard House in New York,

and the title of Top Chef.

That was a hard challenge.

You guys had a team
that maybe...

was having some moments.

The last Elimination Challenge,
Massimo and myself...

But honestly,
I need to leave it behind.

I don't wanna disappoint anyone.
That's my biggest fear.

Well, your sons
are gonna be really proud

- when they watch this.
- And I hope so.

I have to think about my boys.

I mean, as a parent, I wanna
be the best example they have.

I don't want them
to take anything for granted.

Yeah, and you're leading
by example right now.

Mm-hmm.

They told me he was not gonna
be able to talk or eat or walk,

and now he's doing
all those things.

He is resilient.

I wanna be resilient as well.

I'm eager to see
what's gonna be next.

Check it out, and move on.

-Oh, hello.
-Oh!

- Chipotle?
- Some "Chi-pot-el."

Yeah.

- Are you hungry?
- Yeah.

I love Chipotle.

This is my dream come true.

All right, chefs. Today we're
gonna keep it in the family

- with our guest judges.
- Oh.

Please welcome
Top Chef MasterSusur Lee

and his son, Jet Bent-Lee.

Welcome.

- Morning, guys.
-Morning.

When I think of Canada,
I think of Susur Lee.

I remember, like,
as a very young cook

when I ordered, waited,
and received his cookbook.

Top Chef Mastersis
definitely my favorite show

- he's ever been on.
- When I walked in here,

it's like, "I'm ready to go."

Well, chefs, it's time to
unwrap your next challenge.

Has anyone ever
come across Susur and Jet

on your social media feed?

Oh, thanks for watching, guys.

Jet, how did you guys
wind up going viral?

I brought him
already cooked food,

and I wanted him to transform it
into something gourmet,

and people really took to that.

Hey, Dad. Think you can
turn my frozen pizza gourmet?

Boom. Boom.

Homemade pesto.
I want you to try it.

Sometimes he could
be a real pain.

But, you know, I learned a lot.

So the other day,
you ordered from

a local Chipotle
here in Toronto for lunch.

Each of your orders
are on this display.

- Oh.
- Wait, you have my order?

- Uh-huh.
- Stop it.

I mean,
nothing's sacred anymore.

Like, even lunch?

Pretty sure I had a quesadilla
with a side of chips and queso.

I was eating
like a child that day.

I'm glad
you remember your orders,

because like Susur and Jet do,

you'll have
to create a new dish.

But not to worry,
you don't actually have to use

the prepared food to cook with.

Instead, you'll have access
to the real ingredients

that make up your order.
To be exact,

Chipotle uses 53 real
ingredients on their menu.

For example,
Vinny, your order has


ingredients in it.

- Sick.
- So that's all you're gonna

have access to
for this challenge.

And since you won't find a can
opener or a freezer at Chipotle,

those are both off-limits
for the challenge, as well.

Whoever creates the best remix
of their original order

will take home $10,000
from our friends at Chipotle.

Love that.

- Oh, my God.
- Chefs, you have 30 minutes

on the clock.
Find your order.

- Your time starts now.
- Aah! I'm using elbows.

Ah, get out of my way!

That's not even mine.

- Oh, my God, this is heavy.
- Oh, boy.

- Oh, my God.
-It's all happening!

All right, what do we got here?

Huge tortillas.

Just wanna see
what kind of pork I got.

Oh, cubes.

I usually just get beef,
and all the sauces.

I must've been alone that day,
so that's why I got dairy.

Okay. Poblanos, chicken,

dried chilies.

I wish I could just eat this
Chipotle order in the corner.

This is the same exact order
I get every time,

but so many ingredients.

I am drawing a blank.

Queso, bell peppers.

So I'm just doing the first
thing that pops into my head.

I'm thinking of making
a queso fundido.

Katianna, what'd you order?

Low carb.
I ordered high protein.

No rice, no tortillas.

Damn it.

I'm about to get these tortillas
fried for some tortilla chips.

I'm definitely pigeonholed
on this one.

All the flavor profiles

is chili peppers, and tomato.

I'm gonna try
and do some chilaquiles.

Actually, all of my kitchen
employees are Latino.

- CÉSAR: Yeah?
- So I'm making a tostada.

We do a tostada
at my restaurant.

That's actually a secret course.

This is my glaze for my pollo.

And in my humble opinion,

that dish is the best
thing on the menu,

and it's not even on the menu.

If I don't get this one,
the homies at home

are gonna be very, very upset.

I ordered a lot of stuff.

Yeah. You heard it here first.

'Cause of the ingredients
that we all have, everyone's

gonna try to make something
obviously, like, Mexican.

Tostadas!

I'm gonna make
Asian-style rice bowl.

So, hopefully
they'll really appreciate

trying something
different, and ambitious.

Toasting peppers.

Popo, what do you usually get?

I get a burrito
with carnitas, beans.

- Give me all the toppings.
-All the toppings.

I'm gonna do
an adobo for the pork.

Take this bad boy, and put it
on the grill. Woo-hoo!

Talk about a quick marinade.

Whew!

Tristen, have you seen
any of Chef's TikToks?

Yeah, they always have
some cool, exotic ingredients.

I really wanna
turn this on its head,

bring it to another culture.

Obe ata, which is, like,
a West African tomato curry.

This would be
a really tasty parallel

for the Mexican-ish ingredients.

Twenty-four minutes!

CÉSAR: Keeping it chunky.

César,
what are you thinking?

CÉSAR: I guess I ordered salad,

'cause that's kind of
all the ingredients I got.

César salad.

I wasn't very hungry.

Delish!

But, luckily,
I feel the most comfortable

cooking with vegetables.

I just love my plants.

In my apartment,
I have little plant babies.

I put grow lights under my bed,
and I grow my sprouts there.

So I'm super excited about it.

One of the ingredients
is juniper berries.

I'm gonna put that
in my roasted salsa.

-Feeling good?
-Eating good.

With 53 real ingredients.

Yeah, well I only got,
like, 20, so [bleep] you guys.

Whose fault is that, Chef?

Twenty minutes!

Hey, Vinny, guess what?

- Yeah?
- Making a quesadilla.

I hope it's as simple as mine.

-There you go.
- Behind, behind.

- Yep.
- The grill is loaded.

I'm not gonna fight for space,
so I am gonna do a tartare.

-Fifteen minutes!
-Yes, Chef!

The obe ata, it'll kind of melt

into the tartare,
and really flavor it.

I made obe ata in New York
working for Marcus Samuelsson.

It was the first time
I got to call a chef

that was Black "Chef."

He gave me that opportunity
to cook my heart out.

Since there's
not stock in my basket,

I use the back of my knife
to scrape the corn,

and get the really yummy
corn milk out of it.

It's kind of
exactly what I wanted,

it's like, very rare beef.

My plan is hot broth over
the top, to slightly cook it.

Relax!

I want everything
to be a pep of flavor.

So I'm glazing the chicken.
I'm grilling the chicken.

Glazing, I'm grilling,
glazing, I'm grilling,

- glazing, I'm grilling.
- Whew!

I think it's a bit spicy,
but what can we do?

CÉSAR: Come on, baby, slice.

Make sure my rice is done.

Brown rice is funny.
It takes longer.

- Come on, rice.
-How'd we do?

Mmm!

I hope I'm making
a $10,000 chilaquiles,

because I've won no monies.

I'm a broke-a*s b*tch.

Um, yeah.

One more sear to my pork.

Chefs, you got
five minutes left.

Yes, Chef!

Smells good.

The rice is not done.
Well, we'll see.

We've still got
four and a half minutes.

I'm a little concerned.

The rice could just use
a little bit more time.

CÉSAR: I've been a gangster.

Living my best life.

Gonna make a mess here.

This is green harissa.

Or as close to it
as I can get.

Two minutes, 15 seconds.

The rice is almost there.

Whoa!

Twenty-two seconds.

- Five, four...
- Oh, lord, Jesus.

...three, two, one.
Time's up. Utensils down.

Delicious.

I love that energy.

Ooh, smoky.

Henry, come on up.
What did you make for us?

One of my favorite things
to eat is a queso fundido,

but I made a quesadilla version,
with a chipotle queso salsa,

and avocado sour cream mousse.

Do you remember
how many ingredients you had?

- A lot.
-A lot.

I grilled
chicken thighs,

glazed with grilled tomatoes
and oregano,

avocado,
and grilled cilantro puree.

I just like
you don't use the stove,

you used the grill on this dish.

I prefer to cook maybe
a bit more primitively.

Mm-hmm.

CÉSAR: I only got a salad,
so this is a César salad.

That's cute.

We have some grilled romaine,
crema on the bottom,

roasted chipotle
and juniper salsa,

and then an avocado, torched.

Do you regret ordering
just a salad that day, or...

No, it was great.
Something light, refreshing.

I like it.

I made a marinated,
grilled pork shoulder,

an avocado cream,
corn succotash,

and some crispy tortilla.

Hmm.

So, what I did
is a tostada.

I did it with the pork shoulder,

avocado and roasted
poblano avocado cream,

roasted corn, and serrano salsa.

I know this is gonna
be a bit hard to eat.

Very good choice
of using serrano.

Thank you.

What I did was a steak
tartare flavored with obe ata,

like a little
African curry sofrito,

and tomatillo green harissa,

crema in there,
some lime-cured corn.

There's a big African population
in South America,

so I wanted to kind of
put my own spin on it.

Great.

Thank you.

I made you grilled pork
and roasted tomato chilequiles.

Is this your normal
Chipotle order?

No, I mean, typically
I would get some tacos,

with a different meat
in each one,

which I'm really regretting
not ordering right now.

My order was
a high-protein salad,

so I made a grilled lettuce,
chicken, and sofritas.

I like the way
you treated the romaine.

Thank you.

This is kinda inspired
by one

of my favorite Japanese dishes,
ochazuke,

which is a rice bowl
with protein on top,

and usually they'll pour
dashi or green tea on top,

instead of the broth here.
It's more like tortilla soup.

The rice, did you use stock
or do you just water?

- I used water.
- Mmm.

Okay. Bailey?

I did a grilled steak
with a sweet corn succotash.

I thought a succotash
would be a great vehicle

to highlight a lot
of the ingredients.

Thanks, Bailey.

Susur and Jet,
how do you think our chefs did

with their Chipotle
Quickfire Challenge?

It's definitely familiar for me,
having these ingredients

transformed into
wonderful plates.

I taste some really nice stuff.
Thank you.

Unfortunately, a few dishes
did fall a little bit short.

Susur, who had one
of our least favorite dishes?

Vinny is my least
favorite today.

That's unfortunate.

The dish, I wish, could be
a little bit crispier.

It needed a little more flavor,

and needed to be
a little bit melted.

Jet, who else had one
of the least favorite dishes?

Chef Henry, unfortunately.

While we appreciated the sauces,

the filling was
a bit basic compared

to what some of the other
competitors did today.

Another least favorite
was Shuai.

I did like the fat
of your broth,

but the rice was
not quite cooked properly.

Thank you, Chef.

And of course,
we had some favorites.

Chef Massimo, I liked
the chicken, cooked perfectly.

Also, the grilling
really makes it clean-tasting.

- Thank you, chef.
-Jet,

who else had a favorite dish?

Chef César,
we loved your César salad.

We appreciate your presentation.

You charred the avocado.

It gives a little bit
of that really earthiness.

Thank you, Chef.

Chef Paula, I really loved
the serrano chili,

- also the sauté of the pork.
- Gracias.

And today, we even had a fourth.

- It's a good day.
- Oh, wow.

- Jet?
- Chef Tristen.

- Oh.
-I really appreciate you

taking the risk
using Mexican ingredients,

but also straying away from it.

It felt like
the most remixed dish,

and not another version
of the dish

- that you already had.
- Thank you.

Who had our favorite
dish of the day?

The chef that won today's
challenge used their ingredients

from their basket well,
and left us all very satisfied.

And the winner is...

...Tristen.

Tristen, you just won $10,000
from our friends at Chipotle.

Feels great.
This money is going into

a new restaurant for
Afro-Caribbean cuisine.

- Three wins in a row.
- Yes.

We'd call that a streak

- here at Top Chef.
- Awesome.

Double steak burrito, thank you.

- Thank you for being here.
-Thank you.

- So much fun, guys. Keep going.
- Thank you.

All right, so let's hope that
this next Elimination Challenge

doesn't leave you in a pickle.

-I hate pickles.
- It's not an avocado.

Tristen, did you
just say you hate pickles?

- I hate pickles.
- Do you hate pickles

- more than Figgy Duff?
- Probably.

-Really?
- Damn it, he's gonna win now.

Stop!

Chefs, please welcome
a very special someone

that knows exactly what it takes

to be in this competition,
and win it.

- 'Sup, y'all?
- Let's go!

Top Chef Wisconsinwinner,
Danny Garcia.

Recognize anyone?

Uh, Vinny.

We've spent some time
working together before.

- He's been doing good.
- All right, good to know.

We definitely have a history.
We worked alongside each other

for quite a few years.

I wanna impress Danny
pretty bad.

For this next challenge,
we are going way, way, way back.

Pickling is one of the oldest
methods of food preservation.

I personally used a lot
of pickles in last season.

- You did. You did.
- Yeah.

For this
Elimination Challenge,

you're gonna work
in two teams of five,

creating a five-course
progressive pickle menu.

- Yay!
- Yes.

I've always been a pickle girl.
I would just hear my mom

open the fridge and go,
"Oh, my God, more pickles?"

My parents ended up
getting a new fridge,

and they were like,
"You can put your pickles here."

First course must
include cornichons.

The second, a full sour pickle.

The third course, dill pickles.

Fourth course, spicy pickles.

And then the fifth course...

- Any guesses?
- Bread and butter?

Bread
and butter pickles.

- I love those.
- That's my favorite.

You'll be going head-to-head

against the other team,
in the same course.

The team with the most wins
will claim victory,

and one chef in the winning
team will take the prize.

And one chef from the losing
team will be eliminated.

Tristen and Bailey,
as the winners of the last

Elimination Challenge,
you both won immunity.

So you both get to choose
your teams for this challenge.

Tristen, who's the first person
you want on your team?

I'll take Katianna.

My strategy is to...
pick-le all the people

that have really
flavor-forward cuisines,

and Katianna literally
put pickled vegetables

on every single thing
that she's done.

All right, Bailey.
Who's your choice?

- I'm gonna choose Lana.
-Lana. Great.

Sorry, babe.

Let's go. The girls.

I was gonna say Shuai,
'cause he--

Shuai or César.

- This is like schoolyard.
- School. Ugh, I don't like it.

- I'll do Shuai.
-Shuai. Great.

- Paula.
-Pa-- Oh! Right there.

- Girl squad.
- César.

César.

- Hey.
-Vinny, right there.

Perfect.

Massimo or Henry?

We'll take Henry.

Henry.
All right, Massimo, go on over.

I mean,
this is the first time

that I was ever
chose last for something.

They probably didn't see me.

Today you'll have


before heading
to Whole Foods Market.

Tomorrow, you'll head to DaNico,

where the first course will be
served after 90 minutes.

Each course after
will serve every 20 minutes.

Joining me
as guest judge will be

the James Beard
Foundation's CEO,

- Clare Reichenbach.
- Oh, wow.

The winner of this challenge
will receive immunity

in the next
Elimination Challenge.

Get to menu planning.
Good luck,

- and we'll see you tomorrow.
-Good luck.

Cheers for the pickles.

I'm dreading the fact that I
have to cook with Massimo again.

At least this time, I'm not
cooking by myself with him.

I could do sour, I could do
spicy, I could do cornichon.

- I can do spicy.
- I'll do sour.

-I'll do B&B.
-I could take dill,

and then do, like, a fish dish.

You guys can pick what you want.

I would like dill,
if no one else wants it.

The spicy,
or the bread and butter.

- I want bread and butter.
- You want bread and butter?

- You wanna do cornichons?
-Sure.

I guess I'll do full sour, then.

Originally I wanted spicy,
but I should not be selfish.

With the immunity.

-Yeah, yeah.
- So sweet.

Just putting it out there,
last time we worked

as a big group challenge,
this has to be--

everyone has to be
on the same page.

I want my team to win.
That is my end goal.

There's a lot of strong
personalities on this team,

but whatever, we're adults.

Like, just manage your emotions.

I have an idea
with the cornichon.

-What would it be?
- Steak tartare,

with tons of cornichon.

I mean, cornichon and tartare
is the most classical pairing.

It's expected,
but it's for a reason.

I could do a filled
pasta, but I know that's,

like, not supes traditional,

but, like, we always do pasta
last at Monteverde.

I was thinking clams.
Like, small clam cucumber.

-With dill?
- Dill.

Are you thinking dessert
for the last one? Or no?

It could be done.

A pickle dessert sounds
absolutely horrid to me,

but César is a monster
in creativity.

I don't want you to take any
risks that you wouldn't,

but If you make it sweet enough,
I think it's gonna be good.

I just wanna pull it off,
and just say that I did it.

It could backfire on me,

but you have to take risks
in this competition.

- Do what you wanna do.
- Yeah.

All right, y'all, let's
head to Whole Foods Market.

- Let's do it.
- All right, let's go.

Everybody have
a great shop.

Cucumbers. Think that's enough?

-Yeah.
- That's gotta be.

Dividing and conquering.

Grabbing some chard
for my pickle.

-Yum, yum.
- Oh, my God.

These are beautiful.

Across the street
from my restaurant,

there's one of Gail Simmons'
favorite restaurants.

L'Express. They make
the best tartare in Montreal.

We're paying homage to that.

And hopefully I'm getting
some points with Gail.

I'm gonna make horchata

and split it with
my pickle liquid.

- Do you have short rib?
- Yep.

I love spicy pickles.

The first thought that came
to my mind was Korean barbecue.

All the, like, little banchan
pickles on the side,

and then you have this meat.

Fifteen minutes!

Scusa, papi.
What are you doing?

B&B pickles, citrus tart,
and cucumber sherbet.

Bread and butter pickles are
much higher in sugar content.

There's also, you know,
the use of turmeric to give

that nice little yellow color,

and that's why
I thought of a curd.

Very tart, very pungent.

Dill, dill, dill, dill.
Where are you, dill?

It does make sense
in a weird way,

but I still have
to just pull it off.

If you were a pickle,
where would you be?

Mackerel.
I'll take all three.

Like pickles, that was a fish
that was always preserved a lot.

I worked in Sweden
for a little bit of time,

and Canada and Scandinavia

is actually almost
on the same latitude.

That's why some similar

preservation methods
can be used.

So I'm gonna treat the mackerel
like the Swedish treat herring.

- All right, I think we're good?
- Yeah.

- You guys ready? Let's do it.
- Ready. Let's go.

-Proteins.
-Are you doing tofu,

- or are you just backing up?
-That's backup.

I always like
having tofu around.

It's like
a security thing for me.

Let's go.

Off by 66 cents.
Can we take one lemon off?

-We're done here.
-Woo!

I'm sorry,
I can only open one door.

- One door today. One door.
- Beep-beep-beep.

I think this one's lucky.

- All right, let's do it.
- All right, Team Green.

Lean green machine.

Who's ready for a pickle-off?

This challenge,
it is a big deal.

Shaui, how you feeling
about the cornichons?

Probably my fourth
favorite pickle.

We want to start the menu
on the lighter side.

So I'll be making
fried pickled mushrooms

with steak tartare,
and Dijonnaise.

My goal is to make Tristen
hate pickles a little less.

If we win this challenge,
I'll like pickles a little more.

Hey, Purple,
who's got cornichons over there?

- I do.
-Oh, sh--.

What you got planned, chef?

My plan is to not
get beat by you

for a second time,
on something French.

Those are fighting
words.

I'm making
a fried pickle cannolo

with a classic
French steak tartare.

It's so risky doing a classic,

especially when you have
a beacon in the sky

that you can compare it to.

Yo, Purple, who's got full sour?

- That'd be me, my good sir.
- You and me, baby boy.

- What are you making?
- I'm gonna char some pickles

and cure some mackerel,
and then do that

with a couple
different cucumber variations.

What are you doing first?

I'm gonna get this
salmon brined,

and then go straight into making

- some gnocco fritto dough.
-Love it.

I'll be making
a smoked salmon rillette

with variations of pickles.

Sorry.

No, you're fine. Go ahead.

It's gonna be difficult,
'cause when Tristen doesn't

like things in this competition,
he tends to do really well.

Brine it in the pickle juice,
as you should.

-Which one are you doing?
-I'm doing dill.

Me too!

This dish is playing on
the duality of pickles.

I'll grill some cucumbers
dressed in

a dill pickle vinaigrette,
with some just-opened clams,

so it's like fresh pickle
dressed in pickle.

I like to take these,
dry them out a little,

and then, like, cream it out,
like innard cucumber porridge.

You know I picked you
because you always

are pickling something.

I just brined my scallops

- in pickle brine.
-Wow!

I'm gonna be going up
against Katianna,

with a pickle brine scallop,
and a dill pickle beurre blanc.

Katianna is a powerhouse,
and my dish is very simple,

but you don't need
to do a million things

in order to get a win.

Apparently it's gonna
make them neon green, too.

That's a fun fact.

CÉSAR: What are you
getting done today?

I'm gonna get
my short rib braise on.

I'm working on my garnish,
some collard pickles,

with some more pickle,
to go on top of it.

I'm making braised short rib,
with pickle jus.

The beautiful
little pickle garnishes

will help
bring the dish together.

I'm definitely
gonna bring the heat.

Paula, how you looking so far?

So I'm gonna do a grilled
octopus with chimichurri,

- using the brine of the pickle.
- Doing my baby.

Boop!

César, how are gonna balance
the sourness in your ice cream?

Just a good amount of sugar.
I'm using a little bit of maple,

but the bread and butter pickles

are already pretty sweet
to begin with.

I'm making a bread and butter
pickle curd mustard seed tart,

dill ice cream,
and some fresh cucumber.

Hey, Purple! Who's got bread
and butter pickles over there?

-Me!
- What's your dessert, Bailey?

I'm not making dessert, my dude.

- I'm making pasta.
- Oh, snap.

If he figures out
this pickle dessert,

more power to him.

I love making pasta.

This is a great pasta recipe,
and traditional.

Thirty-three minutes
left.

Yes, sir.

- Katianna, how are the clams?
-Chilled quickly.

They bring a lot
of umami to pickles, so.

- Mm-hmm.
- So I'm kind of going with some

different textures
of the pickles,

and then some fresh cucumber
to lighten it back up.

Massimo, how you looking?

I'm gonna start rolling
out my dough to do a test.

-I love it.
- The fried pickle cannolo,

it's going to be the element

that is gonna have
the wow factor of the dish.

Oh, wow.

CÉSAR: Ten minutes!

You're for tomorrow,
you're for tomorrow.

CÉSAR: How's that
pressure cooking cooking?

Cookin'. Peeling,
and then I'm gonna pickle

my lovely daikon right here
in the spicy pickling liquid.

How we looking on packing, guys?

- About to pack right now.
-Five more minutes.

Holla. Let's do the 'pus.

-What?
-The octopus.

I'm just gonna let my ice
cream steep overnight,

and then tomorrow,
I'll freeze the base.

That took forever.

Oh, I'm drunk, sorry.

Nothing like wrapping hot sh--
and throwing it on my cart.

Five, four,
three, two, one.

All right, boys and girls,
let's get out of here.

- Again, César's empty-handed.
- What the hell?

Getting that
pickle party happening.

What a gentleman and a scholar.

I have a little bit of an ego,

and I think my pride is my worst
enemy in this competition.

Hi! Hey, guys!

So, I'm trying to
remind myself why I'm here.

How are you?

I don't wanna ask too much,
I don't wanna ask too little.

I'm figuring out how to play
the game, which is harder for me

because I have to listen to
what other people want me to do.

Over a year and a half
I'm separated from my wife.

We were together for 16 years.

We made two incredible children.

How's school, baby?

I made so many friends already.

I'm thinking about
my kids a lot today.

I really, really miss them.

I have to just ground myself

and remember not to cook
more with my pride

than with my heart.

- Bye guys, love you.
-Bye, Daddy.

Bye.

- Whoo!
-Wow.

Wow, wow, wow, wow.

Lana, my dear, I don't wanna
say you're in my way,

but you're kind of in my way.

Trying to get
out of the way, guys.

Today's a big day.

Bailey, yours is right here.

Massimo, right here.

We're keeping
communication lines open.

We win as a team
or we lose as a team.

What you doing over there?

Burning pickles.

You get that caramelization.

I wanna name
a girl "Caramelization."

Um, don't do that.

Because
I have a lighter dish,

burnt pickles add another
dimension of flavor.

The mackerel's
cured really well.

I just wanna really
get this jus lié going.

Check the tartness
on that mushroom.

Oh, dude,
it does tastes like pickle.

Massimo's
going for classic.

I'm going for a tuxedo shirt.

Not the tuxedo shirt.

It's both formal and informal
at the same time.

Tiny pickles.

- Paula, how's that couscous?
- Perfect.

It's already marinated
with chimichurri. How you doing?

The ricotta is broken
with pickle liquid.

Good.

Still very----ing hot. Okay.

Masi,
how far out till first course?

Thirty minutes
till first course.

My canolos,
they come out perfect.

They're crispy.
They're thin. They're delicious.

What can I do for you, Masi?

- This?
- Yes.

Okay? Put them here.

I'm thinking maybe my dish
needs an extra garnish.

Maybe it would be clever
if I do a little brunoise

of fried potatoes.

Oh, Jesus.

Guys, guys, cover that!

- Cover it!
-Yes, chef!

- Oh, Jesus.
-Guys, cover that.

-Yes, chef!
- Cover it!

All right.

I throw gently some potatoes
into a pot of oil

without having strained
the potatoes.

Basically,
that's how you build a b*mb.

Guys, we're never gonna
be invited back.

Oh, my God. I don't know.

I'm not mad at Massimo.
I'm just disappointed.

I mean,
it's a rookie move for sure.

That poor kitchen.

Sorry.

The potatoes, we can
edit it out and move forward.

- Let's go, yeah.
- Let's go, let's go.

Yes, let's go.

Vinny, how you do-do?

Uh, doing good.
Getting there on the pre-plates.

Katianna,
how's your dish coming, chef?

It's coming. I actually like the
sea stuff I pressed last night.

It's like a cucumber porridge.
Cucumber and herbs.

- An herb sauce.
- Yeah.

Oh, amazing.

Wow, it's gorgeous.

Fabulous.

Welcome, everyone. Daniele,
thank you for having us.

Pleasure. My pleasure.

So, we have two teams of five.

Progressive five-course
pickle menu,

but the difference between
the other challenges and today

is we're gonna vote
in the moment, head-to-head.

So when we get up
from this table,

we're gonna have a winning team
and a losing team.

Is there anyone
not a fan of pickles?

I love a good pickle.

It's so often the accompaniment.
I'm intrigued to see

- what they're gonna do.
- I'm pumped.

Five and a half, guys.

We're gonna do dots, okay?

- So you go dots.
-Okay, that's one.

Dots, dots.

Pickles are finally done.

Beautiful.

Tartare on top
and then pickles, tiny pickles.

Nice. That looks gorgeous.

Thirty seconds.

All right.

Thank you.

This is good.

- Hey, guys.
- Hi.

-Hi.
- Massimo, what'd you make?

I was inspired by
a true Montreal classic,

the steak tartare
from L'Express.

It's the best in the world.

So, we made a hybrid
classic French tartare

with a deconstructed hybrid
of a canolo and a fried pickle.

Is it a traditional
Italian canolo dough?

No. Luckily,
it didn't burn or come apart.

That would've been embarrassing.

But I'm not afraid
to embarrass myself.

We're not afraid to tell you

when you're embarrassing
yourself.

Shuai, what did you make?

Starting with a little
hors d'oeuvre here of

fried pickled mushroom,
tartare, and Dijonnaise.

And the pickle fried mushroom
is more the main thing.

The tartare kind of adds
more richness to the pickle.

Looking for like
a trashy, fancy feel, right?

You get, like, the fried chicken
with the caviar on top,

so this should give you
that same kind of vibe.

Your mushroom inside
was brined in pickle juice?

We took the pickle liquid
in the cornichon containers

and we hot pickled
the mushrooms in that.

All right,
it is time to vote.

-Yeah.
- Mark away.

So you can pass 'em down
once they're all marked.

All right,
with a score of six to two...

Massimo, congratulations.

You took that one. Well done.

Well done.
You won the first round.

A privilege
cooking for you guys.

- Thank you.
-I voted for Massimo.

You didn't shy away
from the pickle.

And tasting the dough
on its own,

you definitely got
some of that acidity from it.

- Thank you.
- You showed a lot of restraint

and balanced
the flavors really well.

It was a beautiful dish.

And Shuai, I think
your pickle fried mushroom

had enormous pickle flavor.

- Thank you.
- The tipping point, for me,

was just the tartare,
it could've just been presented

in a slightly tighter way.

- Absolutely.
-Thank you, chefs.

- Thank you guys.
-Thank you.

Well?

Whoo!

- We got it?
- Yeah.

Massimo!

yeah, Massimo.

-Sorry, guys.
-No, we're okay.

Let's not
get c*ck, though.

Four minutes.

The mackerel's really good.

All right, Massimo, coming out.

Very, very small amount.

I'll start with fish.
Follow with pickling.

Forty-five.

I don't wanna shake.

We're just gonna do it off
to the side like that.

So pretty.

All right, Vinny, can you
tell us about your dish, please?

So here we have a pickle brined
Atlantic salmon rillette

with a pickling-spiced
gnocco fritto.

This is probably
one of the first dishes

I put out at the Nomad.

- Any flashbacks, Danny?
- Little bit.

All right, Tristen,
how about you?

I have a charred mackerel

with a half-sour
celeriac vichyssoise.

Underneath is a cucumber and
celeriac and pickle jus lié,

some pickled dulse,

and then there's
some burnt pickles as well.

How did you do the burning?

On a Conroe grill.

- Okay.
-All right.

Time to vote.

All right, full sweep here.

Can we look yet?

All right, full sweep here.

Tristen, congratulations.

- Thank you.
- Nice job.

I thought this was so inventive.

The mix of textures
was so balanced.

The full sour was there,
but it wasn't overpowering.

I thought it was really
beautifully integrated

- in each element.
- Thank you so much.

The rillette itself is
probably to the recipe almost

of what we did at the Nomad, but
I think under-seasoned a bit.

- Well done. Thank you.
- Thanks.

Two great dishes again.

Tristen's got these wild ideas

and he technically
pulled it off.

For me, it was taking
that super humble ingredient

and to execute something
like that is unbelievable.

This is one of
the best things I've ever had.

And the guy
doesn't like pickles.

Well, it looks like
we got that last win.

It was also a full sweep.

Nice job. Hell yeah.

Vinny, how are you feeling?

Good. I'm just hopping
back in with everybody else.

I get no votes today
'cause I suck,

but the score is one to one now.

Luckily I got the rest of my
team to hopefully bring it home.

A roaring simmer.

Yesterday, I spent all my time

making all these beautiful
little garnishes, pickles,

and now I just need
to finish the short ribs

and let it braise
until it's more tender.

-Can I try?
- Yes.

-She's spicy.
-Spicy pickles.

Shuai, I just need to get these
a little fuller so they pop out.

I love the texture
of the ice cream.

It's gonna cool down
that tartness from the fruit.

- That's----ing really good.
- It tastes like a pickle.

Let's just get weird.

Six minutes.

How we looking back there?

I'm gonna start
grilling the octopus.

Shuai, can you taste this?

- Probably acid.
-Acid.

I like how smooth it is,
but I don't think it's enough.

I'm gonna mix a little tofu in.

I have my security blanket,
tofu,

and so I decide
to add the squeezed tofu

and fold it in
to the cucumber porridge.

It's a little soft, but I just
figure I like crumbled tofu.

I like that texture.

Can you go around and put four
clams sticking up like this?

Three and a half.
Three and a half.

- Heard.
-Lana, what do you need?

Just hands to plate.

It's gonna come down
to the wire for me.

A few drops, yeah.

A couple of these guys.

I wanna have some fresh dill.

And then the sauce around.
Behind.

Maybe one more clam.

That's everything.

Thank you.

Hello, chefs.

All right, Lana,
let's start with you.

I have a seared scallop

that I brined in
the dill pickle liquid.

The sauce is a dill pickle
beurre blanc.

On top is
a grilled dill pickle relish.

Katianna,
what did you make for us?

So these are some
roasted dilly cucumbers.

It's a dill pickle and
smoked clam vinaigrette.

Some potatoes that have been
poached in the pickle brine.

The porridge is made with what?

Cucumber seed porridge.

The cucumber seeds
pressed overnight.

All right, time to vote.

Okay,
by a vote of seven to one...

Lana, congratulations.

Nice job.

- Thank you.
-Congrats.

Awesome. Thank you guys.

You put up a lot.
It all came through nicely.

Everything was cooked nicely.

Simple, straightforward dish,
but it packed a lot of flavor.

Thank you.

The porridge on the bottom
muddied up the whole dish.

If you would've left that off,

I think it would have been
a completely different dish.

Yep.

- Congratulations, Lana.
- Thank you.

Head back to the kitchen.

- Thank you so much.
- Thank you both.

Team Purp!

- What is it?
- Cucumber seeds and tofu.

Whoa, chewy.

Not feeling great.

If Purple Team wins the next
head-to-head, then they've won.

What time is it?

Nine minutes.

Perfect.

Wait, that's my mise en place.

- That was yours?
- Yeah!

Oh.

I just jeopardized
Henry's entire dish.

I jeopardized
my whole entire team.

.

He just threw away
my mise en place.

-Who did?
-Shuai.

I thought it was
Katianna's. I'm sorry, dude.

I just want to crawl into
a hole and never come back out.

Let me just think.

What can I do to help?

What do you need?

Just let me think.
Let me think.

I have less than ten minutes
and Shuai just threw away

my----ing mise en place.

I need daikon, but I don't
have braising anymore.

I mean,
there's no cucumbers left.

All my pickle garnishes
are gone.

- What time is it?
- 5:50.

I'm just looking at
what I have left.

Can you use half of these?

Yeah. Can you start
cutting them in slices?

- Large juliennes.
-Heard.

I have some dried up daikon.

I have my short rib.
I have my sauce.

And I start plating that.

I'm just gonna
plate it really small.

Paula, what do you need?

Is a pig's a*s pork?

So, three peppers,
two small baby pickles.

My heart is beating
so hard right now.

Just calm down, just calm down.

Masi, do you mind
putting the octopus? Go ahead.

Thank you.

Hello, everyone.

-Hello.
-Hi.

I have a grilled octopus
with a spicy pickle chimichurri

with braised pickle beets
and some serrano peppers.

Henry, what did you do
with your spicy pickle?

I made you a bulgogi-style
braised short rib

with a fermented collard greens
and spicy pickle foam.

How many hours
cook the short ribs?

I cooked it in
the pressure cooker

for about 30 minutes,
and then I cooked it again here

slowly for
the last hour and a half.

All right, time to vote.

If the purple team takes this,
they win.

Already, my heart is
pounding in my ears.

With a score of seven to one...

Paula, congratulations.

Oh, my God. Thank you so much.

I thought this was
such a beautiful expression

of the pickle.

You layered everything
really beautifully.

Thank you, Clare.

I actually really liked
what you did, Henry.

I wasn't getting
the pickle enough.

Well,
Paula, congratulations.

- Thank you so much.
- Go tell your team

that you won, but we do
still want the last course.

- Yes.
- Please send that out.

- Congratulations.
- Thank you.

Thank you, team.

Spicy pickle! Into the jar!

- We won?
-Yeah.

Oh, my God.

I feel so----ing bad.

I lost it
for the whole team.

Now one of us is going home,
and I feel embarrassed.

I feel sad. I feel scared.

I feel it all.

I cried in the bathroom
like a civilized human being.

You still have
to serve your pasta!

Finish strong! Finish strong!

-Six minutes!
-Once these go in,

we need to be super
- ing delicate, okay?

-Heard.
-Si.

Put them underneath
the cucumber. Yeah, like that.

I really need to knock it
out of the park with this one,

knowing that we already lost.

My life is on the line, I guess.

Let's do dill on top
of the ice cream.

Can I get garnishes here?

Working, finishing.
Right here, right here.

Good. Go, go, go, go, go, go.

Time's up.

- Nice job, baby.
- Whoo.

Wow.

-Hi!
-Hello.

Bailey, tell us about your
bread and butter pickle dish.

I had a really fun idea
to make a ricotta filling

with a pickle and red wine
braised beef ragu

and finish with a little
B&B giard and parmesan fonduta.

In terms of progression,

what were the thoughts
about ending on pasta?

I've done pastry
a few times in the past.

I wanted to lean into
something that I love to do.

Excellent job.

- All right, César.
- So I did dessert.

I have a curd made out
of the pickling liquid

from the bread
and butter pickles

and a dill ice cream

drizzled with a bread
and butter pickle gastrique,

and then the tart
has mustard powder.

So kind of taking the components
that go into the pickling spice

of the bread and butter pickles
and then spreading them around.

Have you ever made anything
like this before, César?

Not really, no.

Has anybody ever made
anything like this?

All right, it is time to vote.

All right, with a clean sweep...

César, congratulations.

Bravo. Like, hats off to you.

This felt risky,

and that dill ice cream was
absolutely delicious.

Thank you, chef.

Bailey,
this is a good dish,

but this is out of this world.

The curd is beautifully made,
really smooth,

and it has just
the right amount of sugar,

but the pickles
still come through.

I can't wait to tell
my pastry chef, 'cause

I'm always trying to get her
to put weird stuff on the menu.

- Thank you, chefs.
- That was really wonderful.

- Thank you.
- Thank you so much.

Thank you.

This one is my favorite.

For the day.

- He's so happy.
-The pickle ice cream?

It was disgusting,
so I knew they'd like it.

Overall,
I think the chefs got creative.

There's always
these really exciting moments.

There's one or two times
during the course of our dining

where you're just,
like, excited.

- I like it.
- Twice today.

- Twice today.
- And a big one. Very big one.

Arguably, the two best dishes
that we had today

are on the Green Team.

A lot of discussion.
Decisions must be made.

Off to the judges' table we go.

All right, so as you know,

the Purple Team
won this challenge.

However, it was a really
great showing. Well done.

If this kind of level
of cooking continues,

the finale is gonna be amazing.

There were two dishes
that were probably some of

the best dishes
I've ever had on the show.

Tristen and César, your
two dishes were exceptional.

- Thank you.
-Just stunning.

So, I guess you can
tell by that that...

-Yeah, yeah.
- ...you're probably safe.

So, Purple Team,
you can stay here.

Green Team, you can move to the
side for a second, thank you.

Lana, Paula, and Massimo, you
won your head-to-head battles.

You should all feel very
good about yourselves.

Danny and Clare,
you get to announce our winner.

The winning chef tonight
gave us a dish that highlighted

the pickle incredibly,
showed a ton of technique,

and really just played
into the challenge really well.

And the winner is...

Massimo.

Thank you. Thanks a lot, guys.

The tartare, first of all,
was an excellent tartare.

It had flavor, it was seasoned
well, it really delivered,

and you really integrated
the pickle at every level.

Thank you. Because, you know,
I was throwing an arrow at you

- with the L'Express tartare.
- I know, and I felt it.

It was a Cupid
right to my heart.

Awesome.

So you've seen
a million tartares.

This was something
completely new and different.

Possibly better than L'Express.

Mon dieu!

I'm really proud of my team.

We worked as a cohesive unit.

But what means
the most is...

...Tom gave me a compliment.

Oh, my God. These things
mean more than the victory.

Congratulations, Massimo.
You just won immunity,

and Clare also has
a special prize for you.

- Cool.
- As winner of this challenge,

we would like to invite you to
take one of our coveted spots at

the James Beard Chef Bootcamp
for Policy and Change.

- Wow.
-So we're delighted

to invite you
to be part of that.

That is so generous.
Thank you so much.

- I can't wait.
-Congratulations.

You all can step to the side,
and then Green Team,

you can come forward, please.

All right, Green Team, you lost
the head-to-head competition

and one of you
will be eliminated.

All right,
let's start with you, Henry.

So you had the spicy pickle.

Did the dish turn out how
you wanted it to turn out?

No. Everything was
going really well for me,

and then the last ten minutes,

I lost a lot
of my mise en place.

Where did you lose
your mise en place?

Into the garbage can.

Whoa.

I was trying to be helpful
and clean the pass,

and I didn't realize
half those garnishes were

- actually Henry's garnishes.
-Oh.

So, what was missing?

Dill puree mixed in
with some of the pickles,

daikon that was braised
in the pickle liquid--

with some of
the pickling liquid.

- That explains everything.
- That explains it all.

Yeah, because we were
missing pickle.

I do appreciate the spice
that you brought into the sauce,

but I think the braised
short ribs could've been

a little bit more tender.

Katianna, when you plated it
and when you looked at it,

were you thinking, maybe
this looks a little bit curdled?

Um, yeah, well,
the porridge being that,

I'm like, oh, it would be nice
to have something, like, smooth

and creamy to balance out
acid and crunchy, but yeah,

it became muddled looking.

That just didn't translate.

I mean, it just felt
a bit puzzling.

The question is,
is that the best thing

for underneath that dish?

'Cause you had these
fresh flavors, and then

all of a sudden,
there's this creamy thing

that looks broken,
that didn't have a good texture.

It just didn't work.

Shuai,
how did your dish turn out?

I think pretty good.

I was just thinking
about picking another, like,

like a one-biter mushroom
steak tartare as hors d'oeuvres.

The way you had described it
of fancy, trashy,

I think I understood
that perspective, which is,

I'm assuming, why you
served it the way you did.

I think that the beef itself
could've been, like,

just maybe cut a little
bit nicer and smaller.

Otherwise, I thought
the flavor was nice.

I think the pickle
really came through

on the mushroom itself, though.

All right, we'll call you back
in a little bit. Thank you.

All right, who needs a drink?

Massimo, you don't pour it.
I'll pour it for you.

You deserve one.

-Massimo.
-Congratulations.

Thanks, guys.

You crushed it. Give me a hug.

Are you okay, Shuai?
You're incredibly quiet.

I just feel so terrible.

I feel like I screwed
my teammate completely.

Had Henry completed his dish,

they may have just been
the winning team.

But looking at Shuai,

I feel like we all agreed
it was still a good dish.

This really comes down
to Henry and Katianna.

I think I came to terms
with it at the restaurant.

Yeah, I cried my eyes out
in the bathroom.

Henry's dish was
completely out of whack,

which we understand why.

I can sympathize with him,
but at the end of the day,

that is the dish
that he served us.

Pickle aside, if he had
cooked his beef properly,

I think I would have
actually voted for his dish.

Yeah.

That broken look
they're talking about

is the tofu I added in
at the last minute.

'Cause I didn't think
I had enough.

But it was delicious.

Yeah, but that's the broken look
that they're talking about.

Obviously, Katianna's cucumber
porridge did not work.

It didn't
taste good at all,

and the texture
was just really bad.

If Shuai had just thrown out
that cucumber porridge,

- it would've been great. Yeah.
-It would have!

But also,
it really was cucumber-forward,

not pickle-forward,
and there is a difference.

Even as a cucumber dish,
though, I wasn't enjoying it.

If you put those two plates
in front of you now,

I would still take the
short rib, with all the flaws.

- Agreed.
- Good point.

Whatever happens in there, like,

that is not a reflection
of you guys as chefs.

It's just one bad day.

- So we have our answer?
-Oh, yeah. Yeah.

All right,
let's get the chefs out here.

You know, chefs,
maybe you didn't want a dish

to be so pickle-forward

because it's something
you wouldn't naturally do,

but what it really showed
is how a simple mistake

of cooking or composition
can completely ruin a dish.

Katianna...

please pack your knives and go.

Katianna,
the composition was off.

We'll see you
in Last Chance Kitchen.

- Just cook from your heart.
- Thank you very much.

-We'll see you there.
-Thank you.

Thank you, chefs.

I want back in. I think
I deserve a place back in.

- It's me.
- Oh, my God.

No!

The porridge was not broken,

but it was clear
they didn't like it,

so I ultimately decided
just to stay quiet.

Bye.

I think, like, cooking-wise,

experience-wise,
I think I deserve a place.

Tonight,
Katianna's pickle dish sends her

- her intoLast Chance Kitchen.
- It's like a bad dream.

Is the reigning champ about
to be in a real dill-emma?

Honestly, chef,
I don't really know, you know?

Watch now on Peacock
or on BravoTV.com.

Next time onTop Chef...

I'm gonna hide behind Henry.

We're gonna throw Top Chef's
first-ever pizza party.

Pizza is a tricky mistress.

Whoever wins
this challenge will have

the very last immunity
of the season.

It's dough time.

I'm about to give you
a sushi pizza.

Pickle on top of the pizza.

A little bit weird.

CÉSAR: That came out really bad.

Oh, it doesn't fit.

This isn't working.
.

I'm not a pizzaiolo. Pizzaiola.

The anxiety just kills me.

Wow, interesting.

-Oh, boy.
-Oh, someone did it.

And the winning chef is...