Previously on
Top Chef...
You're gonna work in two teams
creating a progressive
pickle menu.
We win as a team
or we lose as a team.
- Oh, Jesus.
-Cover it!
My cannolos,
they come out perfect.
They're crispy. They're thin.
You didn't shy away
from the pickle.
Tasting the dough,
you definitely got
some of that acidity from it.
I don't think
it's enough.
I decide to add tofu.
The porridge on the bottom
muddied up the whole dish.
It didn't work.
Wait, that's my mise en place.
I just
jeopardized Henry's dish.
I jeopardized
my whole entire team.
Just calm down.
It had great heat,
but not so much the pickle.
Taking the pickle!
- Into the jar.
- We won?
Go, chef.
The winning chef tonight...
Massimo.
Katianna,
please pack your knives and go.
Nine 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 & Winemagazine.
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.
Katianna? Pretty wild.
I thought she was
winning it all.
I was wholeheartedly, like,
expecting to hear my name.
Yeah, well, you've been
used to that, but guess what?
- I know.
- You're still here, bud.
I had this wall up for a really
long time in this competition,
then in turn, I wasn't
giving anything out either.
That wall worked both ways.
The walls are down now,
and I'm ready to do these
challenges in a different light.
I embarrassed myself and
the person I wanted to impress
most this whole season, so.
The rillette itself is
probably to the recipe almost
of what we did at the Nomad, but
I think under-seasoned a bit.
Can I do a brutal
honest with you?
- Yeah, absolutely.
- If you don't mind.
You had this conundrum
in your head of, like,
"I'm cooking my food.
Like, this is me."
No, this is where you worked.
- Correct.
- Flex you.
Don't flex other people's
accomplishments.
Yeah.
I worked for James Kent
for quite some time.
He's played a huge
influence in my career.
Unfortunately,
he passed earlier this year.
There's time and place
for a story,
and I think I was
probably just forcing it.
He basically made me who I am.
In the last few challenges, I've
kind of been cooking for him,
which is probably
not what he would want.
Naturally, if I'm doing myself,
I'm gonna impress him anyways.
Dinner plans for
this evening, guys?
- Fried pickles?
- I can't.
Hello, hello.
Seat belts, everyone.
Seat belts.
So what do you guys think
today is gonna be like?
Honestly, I'm hoping it's
some kind of open fire sh--.
The hell is that?
Is that dirty dishes?
-Dirty dishes.
-I think it is.
- Good morning.
-Good morning.
Please welcome your
very special guest judge,
the host of Top Chef Canada,
Eden Grinshpan.
Hi, chefs.
- Hi.
- Hey.
Eden!
She's cool, man.
I like her a lot.
Some of the nicest hair
in Canada is under one roof.
Hey, how's the hair?
The hair's good?
I am so excited to be here.
This all feels very familiar,
but obviously
a little different.
All right, chefs, who's ready
to get just a little bit dirty?
Eden, I don't know about
the Top Chef Canadakitchen,
but these chefs really know how
to generate
a lot of dirty dishes.
Chefs,
for your Quickfire challenge,
our friends at Finish Ultimate
have identified
and can clean the ten
toughest stains in America,
which you can see
represented right here.
You'll each be
using these stains
as inspiration for your dishes.
- Cool, cool, cool.
- Nice.
But your only clue to what
you might be working with
was left behind on these dishes.
You can come on up and grab one.
- How do you even choose?
-I don't know.
Would not recommend
licking them to find out.
I was gonna say,
is it a sniff test?
-It can be.
-Some of them are
pretty obvious. There's
a plate of tomato sauce,
some kind of chocolate cake
situation.
Oh. I see a green one.
Hoping maybe it's pesto
or something.
Massimo,
can you hold up your dish?
I smell tomato. I smell basil.
I think we're making pasta.
You're correct.
You have dried-on tomato sauce.
Finally! This is my opportunity
to make pasta.
- Let's go.
- I might have the pan
that made whatever
Massimo has on his plate.
So Lana, you have
burnt-on greasy meat sauce.
- Ooh.
- César?
- Coffee.
- Great guess!
Bailey, you have guacamole.
I might not have picked
the right plate.
- Mac and cheese.
- Right, mac and cheese.
Looks like barley or oats.
Oatmeal is what
you're gonna be working with.
Eggs.
- More specifically, yolks.
- Yes.
-Tristen?
- Yellow rice.
You're right.
It's a fluffy rice.
Uh, I would say lasagna.
Very good.
How are you gonna
rest the dough?
I'm gonna have
to figure out another way.
You must create a new dish
featuring whatever tough stain
was left behind.
Before we get started,
we should get those dirty dishes
into the dishwasher
to get 'em clean.
Go ahead.
Ahh! Brownie.
Don't forget the brownies.
Chefs,
you have just 30 minutes.
And you'll wanna win this one,
because the chef who wins
will take home $10,000.
- Ooh!
-Yeah!
All right, chefs,
your time starts now.
Coming down, coming down.
Mi scusi.
Paula,
what do you have going on?
I have lasagna going on.
Instead of dough, I decide
to go with butternut squash.
...with cashews.
Have you made
this lasagna before?
- No.
- Oh.
What's the toughest Quickfire?
It's when you pick up
your kids from school
and you have 15 minutes
to cook for them
because they're
jumping up the walls.
I'm channeling that. I'm making
a gnocchi alla sorrentina.
With half an hour, you don't
necessarily have enough time
to make a dough,
rest the dough, cook a dough.
So I make ricotta gnocchi.
I'm gonna make a very, very,
very, very quick tomato sauce,
grating it like you would
pan con tomate.
A quick parent trick.
Love that lean in for you.
I'm just gonna
double down on everything egg.
I'm gonna make some breakfast.
Can you guess what I'm making?
All right,
it's like hollandaise?
- Benedict.
-Oh, okay.
I love avocado in a nice salad,
so that's kind of where I'm
taking the direction from here.
Nice.
I don't wanna
just make guacamole.
I want it to feel refined.
So I'm trying to make something
that has the components
of guacamole.
Here we go.
That's a lot. Okay.
Coffee, it's nice and roasty.
It makes me think of a dish
at a place I used to work at
that did, like, salmon crudo
with coffee oil.
So I know it works.
Cured salmon, coffee mustard
on top. Just make it look
- like a cappuccino.
-Cute.
César's adding smoked salmon
to his coffee, and personally,
I don't see the vision, but
mans just did a pickle custard
that was one of the best things
Tom's ever eaten in his life.
So who am I to question him?
Forty-four minutes.
Tristen, who does
the dishes back at home?
- Me.
-You cook and clean?
-I do.
-I'd marry you.
Somebody needs to.
I'm going to attempt
to make a yellow jollof rice.
Jollof rice is a staple
of West African cuisine.
It came up into
the American South
during the transatlantic
sl*ve trade.
I'm coming behind you hot, okay?
I'm using a pressure cooker,
the only way to make rice in
this amount of time properly.
This is not an easy dish,
even in an hour.
Wish me luck.
Making rice cakes.
Instead of mac and cheese,
rice cakes and cheese.
I decided to make rice cakes
instead of just using dry pasta
because I love the texture of
a rice cake. It's, like, chewy.
- I made it plenty of times.
-Excellent.
It's almost like
making gnocchi.
I toasted some oats,
and I'm making sweet rice ba*ls
but with oat flour.
Oh, nice.
Hell yeah. Love that.
It's something I grew up eating.
My mom makes it a lot.
Traditionally, we fill it with,
like, sesame, butter, and sugar,
but I'm gonna fill it with
maple, butter, and oats.
-Do we have eggs?
-Eggs.
Oh, my God, bless. Oh! I thought
you were handing them to me.
-No!
- Top Chefbank account
right now is only at 5K.
Current bank account,
not as cute.
The prize money would
help me to travel.
My boyfriend,
he lives in Sicily.
It's literally,
like, a world away.
But he's fantastic and he's
one of my biggest supporters,
one of my biggest fans.
Working on a meat sauce.
Fifteen minutes.
I don't think
it's gonna work out.
I blanched the squash
too far down, but...
It's not my day today. Whew!
I have never
struggled like this.
Ten minutes.
My dough is good.
I'm just forming them now.
I'm gonna boil them.
For a really long time,
I steered clear
of cooking Chinese food.
It's always seen
as something cheaper.
Now I'm just highlighting things
that I've grown up eating.
That's the most Asian sh--
I've ever made in my life.
I get these little cups,
make it look like a cappuccino.
Slices of the salmon
at the bottom,
a little bit of coffee crumble.
I think the dish looks cute.
I hope they get it.
Eggs are cooking.
The rice looks good,
I'm just going to
season it up a little bit.
Behind. Not good.
- Chefs, you got five minutes.
-Five minutes.
I feel so great
about this salad.
Twelve out of ten.
I feel like
it's giving guacamole
without being guacamole.
It's very avocado forward.
All right, let's see
if we can make this fixed.
The layers of the lasagna
was a mess.
This is the weirdest dish
I've ever done in my life.
One minute.
This is crazy.
Five, four,
three, two, one.
- Time's up, utensils down.
- Whoo!
- Massimo, come on up.
- All right.
Tell us what you made
with your tomato sauce.
Gnocchi alla sorrentina.
A bit of Parmigiano Reggiano,
some mozzarella, basil.
Thank you, chef.
Okay, this was an adventure.
- A lasagna.
- Ugh, I know.
Wait...
That didn't sound promising.
I did a vegetarian lasagna
with layers of butternut squash,
vegan ricotta with cashews,
and mushroom-based tomato sauce.
All right, Bailey, what did you
make with your guacamole inspo?
I made a salad with trumpet
mushroom, celery, and avocado.
I made, like, a very light
agave cumin vinaigrette.
I love mac and cheese.
Close.
I made cheesy rice cakes.
I would put béchamel,
and the cheese is
cheddar, fontina,
and aged gruyère.
That's a lot of cheese.
- Cheesy.
- So cheesy.
Cheesy!
All right, Henry, what did
you do with your oatmeal?
Glutinous rice ball
filled with maple butter,
toasted oats,
and oatmeal broth on the bottom.
And how did you
make the rice ba*ls?
It's a glutinous rice flour,
a touch of AP,
and warm water to get it chewy.
Tastes like
my childhood breakfast.
Vinny.
I made you eggs Benedict,
carbonara hollandaise
with a poached egg,
some arugula,
and an egg yolk vinaigrette,
and then served on challah to
continue with the egg yolk vibe.
All right, Tristen, what did
you make with your rice?
I did a golden jollof rice
with clams, peas,
and some charred shishito.
Mmm.
Okay, Lana, what did you do
with your meat sauce?
I made meat sauce eggs
in purgatory
with Italian sausage, tomato.
- Great. Thank you, Lana.
- You're welcome.
All right, César,
what did you make with coffee?
It's a salmon cappuccino.
So on the bottom,
we have cured salmon,
celery root that's been
pickled with coffee,
and coffee mustard,
and a coffee crumble.
Salmon and coffee.
How do you arrive at bringing
those two things together?
Felt right.
Eden, how did our chefs do
with these tough stains?
Fantastic.
I'm truly, truly impressed.
Unfortunately, there were a few
where the stains may have been
a little tougher
than they look like.
Paula.
I absolutely loved
your cashew ricotta.
Unfortunately,
the lasagna just fell apart.
Who else was a little less
than successful today?
Bailey. I really, really wanted
to get guacamole from your dish,
but unfortunately, it felt
more like avocado was the star.
But also a very good salad.
And one more.
César.
The coffee and the salmon
wasn't really a great pairing,
and it felt just
a little bit too rich.
- Heard.
- A-plus for creativity, though.
Yes, truly.
All right,
now for some good news.
Who had one of our favorite
dishes of the day?
Massimo. I'm incredibly
impressed that you made
that beautiful gnocchi dish
in 30 minutes.
The texture of the pasta
was beautiful.
- Thank you so much.
- Who else had
one of our favorites?
Henry. That mochi ball was so
unique and also very nostalgic.
- Thank you so much.
- When you cut into the mochi,
it just, like, all spilled out.
It was awesome.
- Thank you.
- And who else had
one of our favorite dishes?
Tristen. I love that
you took the baked-on rice
and you stuck to
that yellow tone.
- Thank you.
-I loved the heat,
and the rice
was cooked beautifully.
- Thank you.
- All right, Eden,
who was most successful at
taking on their tough stain?
The chef that
really wowed us is...
- ...Henry.
- Yes.
Yes, Henry.
I'm in shock. I'm so excited.
Like, I needed this.
I'm gonna start crying
all over again.
Henry, you just won $10,000 from
our friends at Finish Ultimate.
- Feeling good?
- Yeah, feeling great.
Who knew? Made a little
glutinous rice bowl,
and it won me $10,000.
I can't wait to tell my mom.
All right, Eden,
thanks for being here.
But I get to see you tomorrow,
so everything will be fine.
Thank you all so much.
All right, who's ready to party?
Tomorrow, we're gonna throw
Top Chef'sfirst ever
- pizza party.
- Okay.
Pizza might seem simple,
but it is truly an art form.
I let the pizzaiolos
of the world make pizzas for me.
What's a pizza party
without a few more friends?
Chefs, please welcome
owner of Stretch Pizza...
- Stop.
- Oh, stop it.
...James Beard Award winner
and Michelin star chef...
- Oh, sh--.
- ...Wylie Dufresne.
And Top Chef All-Star,
owner of We The Pizza,
- Spike Mendelsohn.
- Hell yeah.
-Welcome.
- Hello.
It's good to see you.
Hi, chefs. How are you?
- Hi.
- Very good, chef. How are you?
Wow. Wylie Dufresne
was one of the founders
of molecular gastronomy
and modern cuisine,
and then chef Spike Mendelsohn
was a beast in his seasons
of Top Chef.
It's nice to be back,
but I'd be lying to say
if I wasn't full
of anxiety right now.
One might be thinking,
why pizza in Canada?
Who here has heard
of Hawaiian pizza?
Ugh...
The collective, "Ugh."
By no means am I putting
pineapple on my pizza.
Is it my first choice? No.
Is it my second choice? No.
- I love Hawaiian pizza.
- Is it my third? No.
I love pineapple on pizza.
I'm sorry, but it's so good.
Despite its name,
Hawaiian pizza was invented
- here in Canada in 1962...
- Oh!
...by a Greek immigrant,
Sam Panopoulos.
- Okay.
-Motivated in part by
his cooking Chinese cuisine,
which commonly mixes sweet
and savory flavors,
Sam experimented with adding
canned pineapple, among
other toppings, to his pizza.
The brand of pineapple that
Sam used was called Hawaiian.
Thus,
the Hawaiian pizza was born.
But there was another
out-of-the-box pizza
that was conceptualized
here in Ontario.
Chef Kaoru Ohsada started
experimenting with sushi.
He fried up some sushi rice and
then topped it with some salmon
and named his dish
"sushi pizza."
For today's
Elimination Challenge,
you'll have to take inspiration
from these Canadian treasures.
You'll have to create your
own pies that push the limits.
Something that sparks
a conversation, a debate,
and tastes delicious.
There's a lot of opportunity
to have a lot of fun.
This is an individual challenge.
Today you'll have
to shop at Whole Foods Market.
Tonight you'll have
one hour to prep and cook
here in the Top Chefkitchen.
And then tomorrow you'll have
an additional hour and a half
to finish your pizzas
before service begins
at Niagara-on-the-Lake's
Ravine Vineyard.
Both indoor and outdoor ovens
will be available
for you to choose from.
You'll serve a crowd of over 70
hungry diners and us judges.
And whoever wins this challenge
will have immunity
in the next
Elimination Challenge.
The very last immunity
of the season.
Once your shopping
and prep are done,
you're in for
a very special treat.
We're sending you down
to Niagara Falls
to take a private cruise
with Niagara City Cruises.
- Ooh!
- Wow.
Don't get too wet.
We'll see you tomorrow.
- Good luck.
- Good luck, guys.
- Thank you.
- Thank you.
Pizza? Uh-oh.
We gotta cook for Wylie?
me.
When I started in
cooking with the pizzaiolo,
stretching pizza is one
of the most difficult things.
Oh, for sure.
- A Reuben pizza.
- That'll be fun.
It's kind of funny 'cause I gave
my brother so much crap
'cause he made me
a Reuben pizza.
My brother, Luciano, we're
very similar. We sound alike.
He's slightly shorter but
a lot more jacked.
- So if it does well...
- I love Reubens.
-Whoo!
- Sorry!
Ooh, sale.
It's a race
to go get to flour.
Luckily,
I'm one of the faster runners,
even though I'm a bit chubby.
Double zero, double zero,
double zero, double zero.
I need regular.
- Is that double zero?
-Yep.
So when you pull this and
it goes, like, quite easily,
it's because it's getting ripe.
Twenty-two minutes!
- Beep, beep, beep, beep.
- Flou-- Oh!
- Paula, what are you getting?
-Pork. What about you?
I'm gonna make
a mussel and clam pie.
That sounds really good.
Don't tell anybody I called
a pizza a pie, please.
Looking for anchovies.
They want controversial,
so I'm gonna do anchovy ranch.
I'm making a mole pizza.
So mole n*gro.
I've never seen a mole pizza.
Maybe I could do
something like that.
Trying to see if we can fit
some chocolate into the dough.
Fifteen minutes!
Sorry, sorry.
Henry,
how's your shop going, chef?
I'm doing a pho pizza.
I need to get all my herbs,
my spices.
Pho has vermicelli noodles
in it. This is a pizza pho,
so I'll let the pizza dough
part be the noodle.
The brisket.
Can I get, like, three?
I'll do traditional
pho toppings, rare beef slices,
Thai basil,
and the bean sprouts.
And there's my whole
budget right there.
This is parm.
Seven minutes, guys!
I have your cart!
No, this is my cart.
Where's mine? I got
your-- How did this happen?
This one felt rough.
Yeah, it always feels rough
to me, honestly.
$250 sounds like a lot
to make a few pizzas,
but we have to serve 70 diners.
Oh, [bleep] me.
Hmm...
Where's the basil?
Did I give you a flour already?
Oh, I see it. Okay.
$250 just, like, gone.
All right, let's do it.
That budget was rough.
Coming through.
We're going to the right.
It's dough time.
Let's get doughing!
I could spend the rest
of my life making pizza.
Pizza dough is usually flour,
water, salt, and yeast.
You really need a flour
with a lot of gluten.
It seems simple,
but if you make a mistake,
your dough will not rise.
You hear it?
This is what they call singing,
when the pizza dough sings.
Even though I have immunity,
I'm not even
thinking about immunity.
I'm gonna stay focused.
- How you looking on time?
- Good.
Messy, messy.
I'm making
a scallion pancake pizza.
Very easy mixture.
It doesn't take
too long to make.
It also has that nice chew just
like a good pizza dough has.
Whoa.
Please live for me, yeast.
Please don't die on me,
my good friend.
A lot of energy, a lot of focus.
Oh, sh--.
I only have, like,
one bag of flour.
The second bag of flour,
I probably just left it
on the bottom of the cart.
Where's the basil?
God damn it.
I definitely don't
have enough flour.
Oh, sh--.
I definitely don't
have enough flour.
I only have, like,
one bag of flour.
Do you need
some of this flour?
- How much do you have?
- What's on the table.
- You can have it.
- Yeah.
Sorry, this is weird, but...
I'm hoping this is enough
to get that rise in my dough.
I need this to work out.
Cocoa dough? Cocoa dough.
They wanted a weird pizza,
so let's add the cocoa powder
into the dough.
Pair it with my mole flavors.
Anyone have sugar
on this side already?
- I have brown sugar.
-That works.
César, once again,
he's Mr. Risk Taker.
He's added a bit of cocoa
to his dough.
I think that's
a really cool idea.
I know he's doing mole,
so the flavors make sense.
I think it's
looking good. What about you?
All right. It's gonna be
something called lahmacun.
I had an Armenian chef,
and then I worked with
a bunch of Turkish chefs, and
they kind of taught it to me.
-I love that.
-I'm gonna try
to speed fermentation up
with a little bit of beer.
How's everybody looking?
Still a bit stressed.
I'm gonna do a fugazzeta dough.
I'm gonna do everything by hand.
But I have not done it
as a pizza style before.
Roll, roll, roll your dough.
Feels good.
- Five minutes!
-Oh, my God.
I'm mixing this dough, just
trying to develop that gluten
as much as I can
before the time is up.
- Let's get it done, ladies.
- There we are.
Oh, yeah.
- That was insane.
- All right, guys.
Let's make like
some pizza dough and roll out.
-Ahh!
-Rolling.
Hey, BMW.
- Hey, BMW.
- Hey, BMW.
Take us to Niagara City Cruises.
Let's go.
Has everyone been
to Niagara before?
Uh, when I was really young.
So, like, a couple years ago?
Wow!
So exciting!
Is it natural? It's natural.
- It's giving natural.
- Yeah, it's giving natural.
We get to see
the waterfall!
Even though I'm from
New York City,
I think being out in nature
is really calming
and really beautiful.
A kiss from Mother Nature.
-Here we go, here we go.
-We're moving.
Yeah! Whoo, whoo-hoo!
Yo,
those waves look rough.
Yeah, it's gonna get really wet.
I'm gonna hide behind Henry.
We are feeling the energy.
- It's so beautiful!
- Oh, God.
I cannot open my eyes.
Oh, God.
It is one of the best feelings
I've ever had in my life.
So how are you guys enjoying
your time on Top Chef?
Great!
Wow.
Look at that.
That's----ing crazy.
Oh, it's so beautiful!
Paula, maybe you shouldn't have
worn your glasses today,
baby girl.
I'm definitely,
like, a mama's boy.
She taught me a lot
about creativity.
My mom and I would do,
like, church plays.
And she would do
all the costumes.
I would do, like,
the little displays.
It just kind of sums up
the playfulness
that I like to bring.
They were very young parents
coming from very little.
And all that hard work,
I think about it,
and it's kind of like,
I better do my work too
and make sure that
they didn't do it for nothing.
O-M-G. Look at
all these beautiful vines.
Yeah, this is beautiful.
Pizza party. All right.
Watch your step, guys.
Watch your step.
Coming in.
All right, let's go,
let's go, let's go.
Let's get our sh-- out.
- Coming out, coming out.
- Back, sir.
You think
I can put this in here?
Oh, my God,
why did I wrap this so well?
First, I wanna get
this dough portioned.
How's your dough looking, sir?
Yeah, I'm not gonna have enough.
My dough's dead. It doesn't
look like it had any rise to it.
Maybe I k*lled my yeast.
Henry, how you feeling?
You know,
I'm pivoting now.
I brought short grain rice
as one of my ingredients
in my bin from home.
He talked about sushi pizza. I'm
about to give you a sushi pizza.
This is not the way I thought
I was gonna use it.
The idea is to give it
a hard sear on the bottom,
so it still gives
the idea of a crust.
You need to freeze this beef
so that I could grind it.
Brisket is life.
Lana, how's your oxtail looking?
A couple of circles
around the pizza oven.
And everybody's brown now,
so we love it.
Back home, I make
a tamarind barbecue sauce.
It's sour, it's sweet.
So tamarind barbecue oxtails
with honey nut squash puree.
Putting it on a pizza
just feels like the move for me.
No tomato for this lady.
How are you putting
your twist on your pizza?
So this pizza
is almost like a kebab.
It has a spiced lamb mixture,
an anchovy ranch
that I'm making.
I'm feeling
a lot more confident.
Anchovy ranch,
it's actually quite delicious.
No matter what,
this pizza is gonna have
a conversation at the table.
It should be good.
Shuai, are you putting pineapple
on a pizza over there?
Oh, definitely, chef.
Doing, like,
a charred pineapple relish.
I have my lamb going
on the pressure cooker.
So now I just have to do all the
knife work for the tiger salad.
We're just cutting
all the cabbages...
celery...
scallion...
radicchio.
My right arm's
gonna be so diesel.
Then cucumbers.
Why did I pick
the smallest cucumber ever?
'Cause they're cute!
Oh, so many things in a salad.
Whoo! Done-zo.
One hour left, everyone.
One hour.
Gotta cook my seafood.
This will be an intense service.
We're cooking for the judges,
I've got to stay focused.
It's been a while since
I've been in a pizza service.
I got into cooking accidentally
by getting a summer job
at a pizzeria.
I ended up falling in love
with the craft this way.
I'm doing a clam chowder,
but without the chowder.
Grinding some chicken up, Lana.
-That's gorgeous.
- Chicky chicky parm
all the way, my dude.
Because who doesn't want
chicken parm on a pizza?
But it's all about
the execution here.
And like I said,
I don't make pizza.
My partner makes
a lot of pizza at home
and I sit on the couch
and watch him do it.
We don't have time to
Goodfellasthat garlic today.
Vinny, how are you feeling?
It's not
too much left to process.
With a Reuben sandwich,
you always get a nice
little pickle on the side.
I'm gonna test it.
We have a couple
different choices
of how to cook our pizza.
One is the Gozney outside.
Give that a quick test.
I really don't wanna
move inside and outside,
so I decided to go with
the pizza oven inside
and get really nice char
on the crust.
That'll do.
Yeah, I'm gonna start rolling.
Gonna do a tester.
Oh, wow.
That came out really bad.
My first one's like...
Sticking to the pizza peel.
Adding cocoa powder in the dough
is maybe not so great.
Ooh!
Oh, wow.
That came out really bad.
I'm just gonna get my next
dough rolled out. We'll see.
It's not perfect,
but I can make it work.
- Can I borrow some flour?
- Up top.
I flour it
so I can move it around.
Hopefully it looks nicer.
Paula,
how'd your dough turn out?
I'm gonna finish
doing my pork right now.
Pineapple braised pork
has just a little more bite
and complex of flavors.
I'm about to make Mornay.
So for the sauce, I tried
to do something very subtle,
so I'm gonna do Mornay
instead of tomato sauce.
Yes, pressure cookers.
Oxtails came out cute.
-Thirty-two minutes.
-Thirty-two.
Okey-dokey, artichokies.
I've turned into my father.
Normally, Neapolitan pizza,
the reason why
the tossing is important
is because you want
to keep the bubbles
on the crust of the pizza.
If I were to roll out dough
with a roller,
we won't get
those beautiful bubbles.
I'm gonna make this happen.
My little pizza.
Every other weekend,
I'm probably making pizzas
back at home.
It feels like my day off
in my backyard making pizza.
I wish I had a drink in my hand.
All right.
-Is that your tester?
-Not quite.
Kind of par-cook most of them
and then flash 'em off the end.
Nice.
Luckily I make pizzas
quite often, so.
Twenty minutes, guys.
Oh, great. There's people here.
Oh, my God.
Hi.
We got some wine-friendly pizza.
César or Henry's, I think
it's gonna be very unique.
- It's Top Chef.
- You better bring
your best damn pizza, okay?
Stop sticking. Stop sticking.
All right, more cornmeal.
I am using cornmeal on
the bottom of the dough
to stop it from
sticking in the oven.
Okay.
I'm definitely stressed out.
It is a lot of pizzas
for the judges and 70 diners.
This challenge
is effing ridiculous.
Smells awesome. We're
definitely having fun here.
Yes.
John, thank you
very much for having us.
It's an absolute pleasure
having you guys all here.
This is
a beautiful setting
for Top Chef's
very first pizza party.
- What took you guys so long?
- We waited for you.
They had to wait for
their restraining order.
It just expired, so it's fine.
Can you not?
My pizza on the pizza peel,
it's sticking.
I'm trying so hard,
my sweetheart.
I'm not a pizzaiolo. Pizzaiola.
I'm not-- I'm not her.
Let me just
reach my hand in there.
I'm searing my rice
to get a nice little crust.
There is no time for testers.
You get only one shot at this.
And so I get my pan ripping hot
so that the rice
gets a really nice sear
and it seals it all in.
This is the first time
I've ever made this.
Very nerve-racking.
Ten minutes!
I feel like this is
a really difficult challenge,
actually, 'cause pizza
means so much to,
you know, all of us,
but in different ways.
Everybody has
a point of reference.
I like Sicilian pie.
I mean, personally,
I like a thin crust.
- Ooh.
- You're mad at that already?
No, no, no.
The dough
is arguably, like,
the most important
part of the pizza.
How long do you work on
your recipes, Wylie?
- I'm still working on it.
-Still working on it.
I don't necessarily
eat pizza with ranch,
but it's one of those
controversial things.
I wanna make a pizza
that starts a conversation.
Yeah,
this dough's pretty good.
Traditionally, a scallion
pancake is pretty thin,
but there's places
that I've had it in,
like Shanghai,
where it's thicker.
Instead of baking it,
I'm frying it on the flat top.
It's a great vehicle
for toppings.
Pizza-ish. Still put
a little cheese on there.
Two minutes. Two.
Oh. Doesn't fit.
I wanted to get the pizza
in the oven to melt the cheese,
but my pan may be
a little too big.
They're going right in there.
One minute.
Ten seconds.
I'm just raw-dogging
pizza off of my hands.
But the cheese
is melted, somehow.
-Scallion pancake pizza.
-Yes.
Look, we're starting off with
anchovy ranch on the first one.
There you go.
- I have no problem with ranch.
- Are you ranch, Tom?
I've never seen it.
It's never been offered.
- Yeah. Thank you.
- Oh, here we go.
Wow, that's beautiful.
Oh, there's a scallion one.
- Interesting.
- Hello.
- How y'all doing?
- Good.
All right, Shuai, can you tell
us about your pizza, please?
This is a scallion
pancake pizza.
Cumin, Szechuan lamb,
mozzarella,
and tiger salad on top, which is
like a super herbaceous salad.
- Tristen.
- Mine is an Armenian pizza
called lahmajun.
There is an anchovy ranch.
I think lamb and anchovy
go really well together.
There's a little bit of pickled
grapes for some sweetness.
All right, Lana, tell us
about your pizza, please.
I made a pizza with
a honeynut squash sauce,
tamarind barbecue oxtails,
buttermilk dressings,
and fried plantain chips.
- Great, thanks, chefs.
- Thank you.
I'm gonna start with Shuai.
It was very bright.
It was very fresh.
I really liked
the texture of the pancake.
You could see the layers,
which is important.
I think Shuai is
actually smart doing this.
We're seeing pizza
fairly loosely.
I think he played
to his strengths.
The seasoning was very reserved
in terms
of the Szechuan profile.
- But I got it.
- I got it too,
- I thought it was--
- Responsible.
- Exactly, exactly.
- In a good way.
This is exactly
what I was looking for
with that cumin lamb.
How'd it go out there
for you, Shuai?
Ah, it's okay.
What did you think
of Lana's pizza?
Overall, it baked pretty well,
like in the crust area.
Yeah, I mean, that's
a nice honeycomb right there.
There's an open crumb.
The puree squash is too dry.
-Yes.
- And it's really sweet.
The conception was there.
I just did--
Maybe a little short
on execution.
It's something I would
never put together,
but I enjoyed it quite a bit.
It's sweet and spicy.
-How'd it go?
- Food made it on the plate, so.
-We love that.
- Love that for me.
I thought Tristen
did a great job.
It's definitely
more of a flatbread
in the style of the dough.
Very thin, crispy.
It was spicy. It had tang.
I liked the flavor a lot.
Tristen walked that line nicely.
I wanna know what you think
about Tristen's ranch, Tom.
- It was actually nice with it.
- Oh!
There was a place for that,
'cause it packed a punch.
The anchovy ranch
went really, really well
with all the other flavors.
Tristen needs to bottle
this anchovy ranch and sell it.
Pickled raisins were something
you would never expect.
I was very,
very pleasantly surprised.
-All yours, big boy.
- Thank you, chef.
All right,
guys, ten minutes!
I gave the dough a little
more time to crisp up.
They're nice and crunchy.
It's a little dark,
but honestly,
it kind of looks sexy
a little bit.
This is herb pesto.
And then in the beef itself,
I mixed together a pho broth.
What a woman. Just anywhere.
Oi. It is what it is.
Time.
I like a very exciting
pizza party conversation.
Chicago-style deep dish.
- That's lasagna, in my opinion.
- It's cake.
They can have their deep dish.
It's not for me.
It's like to pizza what
a hot dog is to a sandwich.
More pizza. Thank you.
- Oh, nice.
-Oh, boy.
Oh, someone did it.
We got the faux rice.
- Try to pick it up here, too.
- Small bites.
All right, Henry, tell
us about your pizza, please.
I fully embraced
the sushi pizza,
and I made you a pho version.
Brisket marinated in
pho flavors,
topped with herb pesto
and a hoisin and sriracha aioli.
You went for it, man.
ba*ls to the walls went for it.
César, can you tell us
about your pizza, please?
So we have mole n*gro,
chicken thighs,
black bean salsa with
crispy chicken skin.
What was your dough made out of?
Standard pizza dough, and I put
a bit of cocoa powder into it.
- Cocoa powder.
- That's what's giving
- the color, got it.
-Bailey,
tell us about your pizza, please.
So I did, like,
a chicken parm-inspired pizza
with a tigelle bread.
I just made, like, a chicken
thigh, a quick sausage,
and provolone, mozzarella,
parm, and pecorino.
- Thanks, chefs.
- Thank you.
Let's start
with Bailey's pizza.
It's a little heavy bready,
but if you're going for
a chicken parm tigelle,
maybe the breadiness
makes sense.
But this is under, unfortunately.
I did notice she put
a lot of cornmeal on the bottom.
- I actually don't mind it.
- I don't mind it either.
I find it, like, way too grainy.
It almost makes it like
a mass-produced pizza.
Maybe that's why I like it.
I like the chicken parm.
I love the flavor.
I mean,
that's familiar and great.
How'd it go?
I mean, this challenge
is----ing hard.
Consistency is everything.
I know each pizza
looks the same,
it's the same amount
of sauce, cheese.
I like this oven.
I'm, like, understanding it now.
Wylie, I have to know what you
think of Henry's sushi pizza.
I do like the flavor profiles.
Rice is hard to cook,
but there's none
of that crispy rice.
Yes, it's really just
kind of falling apart.
I feel like there's got to be
that handheld element to pizza.
That's a big one for me.
Also, he's not
leaning into the pho flavor.
Some of those flavors
are present, but not enough.
It's really
just eating, like,
- a tartar with extra herbs.
-Uh-huh.
It was more like a dish
you'd get in a bowl.
This one is definitely
out of the box, you know?
- I didn't make a dough.
-Oh, yeah.
Let's talk about César's pizza.
There's a good burn,
like a flavorful burn,
and I think this is
the off-putting better burn
- from the cocoa powder.
-For sure.
We learned the hard way
making donuts
that cocoa powder
burns really easily.
I actually like the mole sauce,
but when I picked up the pizza,
it felt like I was
just holding up the sauce
with this, like,
really soft dough.
-There's a flop there.
- I couldn't finish it.
Yeah, the crust for me
just, like, turned me off.
Oh, no! What the hell.
I'm getting a bit stressed.
...makes the texture
of the dough very soft.
I don't want it
to be super oily.
I'm hoping that the toppings
did not give too much water
into the dough and...
When you have a night off
of pizza, what's your go-to?
I mean, I always liked
plain, like a classic.
A classic New York slice
is a good place to start.
I'm really simple. Like, tomato
sauce, fresh mozz, little basil.
- I'd rather dry mozzarella.
-Do you?
-Less wet.
-It melts better.
Thirty seconds.
Okay. Ugh.
- Those look great, Vin-Vin.
- Thank you.
I did not think I would be
serving all these judges
a Reuben pizza.
It's gonna be fun explaining
that to my brother.
He'd probably just be like,
"Yeah, I know.
It's a really good pizza."
Whoo!
Whoo-hoo!
That's gotta be the Reuben.
These look like good pizzas.
- Wow.
- I'm into this.
All right, Massimo,
why don't you start us off?
- Tell us about your pizza.
- I started in this career
- as a pizzaiolo.
- Oh.
We have a pizza
with a persillade,
with some colatura di alici,
some potatoes, mussels, clams.
It's like a pizza that
you could have at maybe
Una Pizzeria Napoletana
in the Lower East Side.
- Fighting words.
- I mean...
Bon appetit, guys.
-All right. Paula?
- I braised some pork
with pineapple,
some caramelized onions as well,
chimichurri,
and Mornay with some gouda.
And the dough that I used
today was fugazzeta.
Can you tell us
a little bit about that?
So the fugazzeta is
an Argentinian pizza.
- Vinny.
- I made a Reuben.
And no Reuben is complete
without a pickle,
so a nice little pickle on top.
But all your typical
accoutrements:
sauerkraut, Thousand Island,
whipped ricotta,
and some gruyère.
- Thanks, chefs.
- Thanks, guys. Bon appetit.
What do you think
of Paula's pizza?
The dough's too soft.
I mean, it's that milk.
You use milk
and it's gonna get soft.
That is the style
of Argentinian pizza,
but it's not that soft.
It's a little under.
Paula's feels like a milk bread.
Yeah. It feels like brioche.
The pineapple braised
pork shoulder was really nice.
The chimichurri,
that's where it started to feel
- a little murky for me.
- Also too much stuff on it.
-It was raw.
- The dough was undercooked,
but I really liked
the pork itself.
Ah! That was wild.
- Yeah.
- That was wild.
How are you finding
Massimo's crust?
I do appreciate
the lightness of it.
It's complementary
to the toppings.
I mean, look at that bubble.
I think that's the largest
bubble we've seen so far.
I think his fermentation and his
style of making dough was right.
I liked it. I actually
wish that the potatoes
were a little crispier.
- They felt slightly under.
- They need more oil on them.
And I don't know,
what do we think about
sacrilegious to put any cheese
on seafood, right, so?
- It's controversial.
- Yeah.
I feel okay with
seafood and cheese.
- I do too.
- Me too.
I'm just checking.
I was just checking.
I don't think I would
ever have thought
to order seafood on a pizza.
I think he's uber creative.
That, ladies and gentlemen,
was what they call a tough one.
Then we have Vinny's Reuben.
The dough was very successful.
- My piece was really zero flop.
-And it was fun.
I feel like we don't see
Vinny have a lot of fun.
-Yeah.
- Crust was pretty good.
And it tastes like a Reuben.
I mean, if you like Reuben.
Yeah, sure do.
You just need a side
of mustard ranch.
- Yes.
-Pickle was perfect.
It was, like,
the right amount of acidity
to kind of balance,
like, the Thousand Island
and the fattiness of the meat.
It was really good.
-How'd it go?
- Felt good.
No, no, no. Was it like
a little "[bleep] you"
because they said they didn't
get enough pickle last time?
No.
- John, thank you for having us.
- Happy to have you guys.
Eden, always a pleasure,
my friend.
Thank you for having me.
Time to frolic
and then go to judge's table.
- Shall we?
- Let's go.
Oh, yo, yo, yo.
All right. Do the honors.
All right, guys.
Who's thirsty?
-Me.
-We're all thirsty.
All right, guys.
- Cheers.
- Another one on the books.
- Salud.
- Salud.
Every now and then, our career
brings us to beautiful places.
Yesterday, today,
we're in paradise.
This is the first time
I've sat on a porch
- and didn't have no sweet tea.
- It's just tea.
Chefs,
we asked you to put on
a Top Chefpizza party.
Tom, you think they delivered?
Uh-- That's pretty funny.
I know, I know.
We did get some tasty pies.
Some maybe not so tasty.
Vinny,
Tristen, and Shuai,
can you please stay here?
Everyone else
can move to the side.
So, the three of you
are standing here...
because you had
our favorite pizzas of the day.
Congrats.
Shuai, can you just kind of walk
us through your thought process?
I'm not great at making doughs.
So scallion pancake is
something that I love,
and I figured
that was a great vehicle
for the bottom for whatever
I wanted to put on top.
I thought that was a good
way to go, but what made it work
was the toppings
were all really delicious.
- Thank you, chef.
- There's acidity in the salad.
There was spiciness
in that lamb.
It challenged our idea
of what pizza could be,
and I think that's
what we asked of you.
Thank you.
Tristen, your pizza.
Immediate idea?
I basically took all the things
I wouldn't do on a pizza.
Like,
I don't like ranch on a pizza.
- But, like...
- What?
It's not my thing.
I wanted it to kind of
eat like a kebab,
and, like,
that comes with tzatziki.
So, like, I wanted to do that.
I was a little scared
about the dough because
I used straight beer
for my crust so that I can,
like, hopefully get more
fermentation in the flavor.
The idea of the kebab, I think
you ex*cuted that quite well.
It was quite successful
and clever.
You spoke to my Greek heart
on this one.
That ranch anchovy
dipping sauce, that took it
- to the top for me.
- Thank you, chef.
Vinny, tell us a little bit
more about your Reuben pizza.
Honestly,
this is me eating my words
'cause my brother's
made this pizza for me,
and I was like,
"That's really stupid.
"Why would you ever do that?"
It was a great idea,
and you ex*cuted it well.
I could close my eyes
and I was eating a Reuben.
I thought it was fun. There was
a lightheartedness to the pizza.
It was the pie
that made me smile.
Thank you.
So, Wylie and Spike,
as our guest judges,
you get to announce
the winner today.
The winner of today's challenge
is the chef that really brought
the flavors forward, and
the balance, and the textures.
And the winning chef is...
...Tristen.
Tristen, congratulations.
Not the first immunity.
How many is this now?
- Three.
-Three,
and the last one of the season.
- So, congratulations.
- Thank you.
Pizza!
I beat the two Italian guys.
It is a win for me for sure,
and to get this last immunity
is an amazing, amazing feeling.
Yeah, well done.
The three of you
can step to the side.
Henry,
Paula,
and César, the three of you
had our least favorite
pizzas of the day,
and one of you
will be eliminated.
Henry, why do you think
you're standing here?
Well, I struggled
with my dough last night,
and then I didn't
have enough flour,
so I just pivoted really hard.
So what was
the original plan?
It was always supposed
to be the flavors.
I just had to reimagine it
with the rice now.
Did you try to crisp the rice?
- I did.
- Okay. That didn't happen.
- Huh?
- It really wasn't crispy.
- You only crisped one side.
-Yes.
I was trying to do, like,
a crust on the bottom,
almost like a pizza, and then,
like, softer in the middle.
You couldn't pick it up
and, like, do anything with it,
so it was just a rice dish,
and it was somewhat tasty,
but it was a rice dish
with raw beef on top.
- Yeah.
- It was round.
That was about all
you could say in terms of
- how to approximate a pizza.
-Yes.
César, how are you feeling
about standing here?
- Are you surprised?
-No.
The whole pizza challenge
was a challenge for me.
I know you guys
wanted something different,
so I was like,
maybe chocolate with pizza,
and I just wanted to try it.
Where you lost me
really was, for me,
unfortunately, on my first bite.
I got a sense of bitterness
that wasn't pleasurable,
and I think adding
that cocoa powder
and then you get
that burning on the bottom
just didn't do
the pizza dough any favors.
I agree. Your flavors were good,
but there was
just a lot on there.
You needed that
crunch underneath
to really let that dish shine.
Paula. Did your pizza turn out
the way you wanted it
to turn out?
I don't think so. I think
I put too many toppings on it.
The chimichurri,
a lot more fatness
that I wanted
once the cheese all was melted.
Even maybe
too much sauce as well.
These milk doughs
are softer doughs,
so it's gonna flop. And it
seemed to be very undercooked.
Yeah, I saw your bite, and
as soon as you picked it up...
I was like, "Oh, okay."
When you start to add
a lot of those toppings
and all that moisture,
you're never really gonna
be able to get a true bake
because you're releasing
much more moisture in the dough
and it's baking in,
and I think that's why
my pizza was raw.
I apologize. Thanks, chef.
All right, we'll call you back
in a little bit. Thank you.
Tristen, let's go.
Let's go! Daddy.
To the pizza boys.
The pizza boy.
How are you feeling?
Well, I don't know.
I'm trying to process it all.
Yeah, that's fair.
Let's just say
you get rid of the dough.
César probably
had the best dish.
- Correct.
- Yes.
César had
the most coherent thought
in terms of what
he was trying to build,
but my first worst bite
out of all of them was César's.
I judged this so badly, too.
I was like, "Ugh, sushi pizza."
And then I was like,
"Oh, here's sushi pizza."
Henry. Sushi pizza is crispy.
So why didn't you attempt
to make crispy rice?
What I think he was getting at
was that that dough situation
threw him so much, and I think
he just spiraled from there.
But then I'm just having
a hard time believing
a chef doesn't see rice
that needs to be crispy
- and can't make it crispy.
- Right.
How you feeling, Popo?
Yeah, it was too much.
Too many toppings. Absolutely.
The Hawaiian pork
was pretty good,
but the rest of it
just didn't work.
Raw dough
is never gonna win.
It was just a puddle
of cheese and sauce.
Yeah, it was very heavy.
If I'm sitting
at a restaurant,
I'm sending back
the one that's raw.
Maybe I have problems
with Henry's rice concoction,
but it's still edible in a way.
But Henry's isn't even a pizza.
It's a pizza challenge.
We got a bowl of rice.
- It's true.
- It's only gonna get harder,
- but, you know.
- And no more immunities.
All right,
I think we have our answer.
-Yes.
-Sure.
Okay,
let's get the chefs out here.
You know, chefs, I think
too often pizza is considered
a convenience food,
but we found out today that
it's very difficult
to make pizza.
It's even more difficult
to master pizza.
And unfortunately,
one of you will be going home.
Henry,
please pack your knives and go.
We'll see you in
Last Chance Kitchen, Henry.
Yeah. Thank you
so much for everything.
- Thank you, Henry.
- Thank you, Henry.
I did a pizza challenge
with no real pizza.
It finally happened.
I'm going home because I didn't
make what I wanted to make,
and I was cooking to survive.
- I'll be back.
- Yes!
Freeze on set!
I've never challenged myself
in this kind of way before.
Top Chefpushed me
to my absolute limit.
But I don't give up.
Just because something's hard
doesn't mean I'm gonna stop.
Oh, my God,
I'm the only Asian left.
- I'm one-eighth.
- Oh.
Tonight,
Henry's sushi pizza sends him
intoLast Chance Kitchen.
Oh,
this is my biggest nightmare.
Now he needs to beat
the reigning champ.
Don't burn down my kitchen.
Watch now on Peacock,
or BravoTV.com.
Next time
onTop Chef...
welcome...
to Restaurant Wars.
- Whoo!
-Yeah!
Restaurant Wars is
the most difficult challenge.
Stressful.
We are very behind right now,
I would say.
I know we're in the weeds.
Judges are ready
whenever you are, chef.
- Yes, chef.
- This already looks
just, like, really homey.
It brought me
a little bit of joy.
I thought it was
perfectly cooked.
Oh, sh--.
There was as much pork
on the plate
as there was on the salmon.
But we just can't
have a conversation.
What the
does this mean?
I need Massimo now.
Yeah!
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22x07 - You Wanna Pizza Me?
Watch/Buy Amazon Merchandise
Show features chefs competing against each other in culinary challenges.
Show features chefs competing against each other in culinary challenges.