22x10 - From Dep Till Dawn

[bunniefuu]

Previously onTop Chef...

Oh, why are they here?

We are going to factor in
both the Quickfire

and the Elimination Challenge

in deciding who stays
and who goes home.

Yes, girl.

What are you going with, man?

It's like a mussel larb.

We asked for something unique
and you delivered on that.

This is what I envisioned.

-The winner is...
-Lana.

Congratulations, Lana!

César!

It's getting messy.

It just felt
a little bit flat.

We wanted a stunt
along with every dish.

This is
like tailor-made for you.

I'm getting started
on my pastry dough.

I have to be surgically precise.

I decided to cook you
a trout en croûte.

The dough was made today.

- I love you.
-Thank you.

Mission accomplished.

And the winner is Massimo.

Thank you, guys.

There's always laser beams.

Mine's totally frozen.

You couldn't eat the dish.

So cute!

The stunt is an illusion.

The cornmeal never
became hydrated

- at all.
- Okay.

I'm making
a miniature CN tower.

It needed some acidity
to cut through that sweetness.

Lana won the Quickfire.
Vinny was in the top.

And then César was on
the bottom and on the bottom.

César, please pack
your knives and go.

Six chefs remain to compete in
the ultimate culinary showdown.

At stake for the winner,

the largest prize package
in Top Chef history.

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.

How you doing?

Did they bring up the Quickfire?

Yes.

I don't like being on
the bottom for you, Chef.

I know, no more, huh?
I don't like it.

For the past few challenges,

I'm trying to forge a new path

and create my own identity.

But this time,
I dodged a b*llet

or dodged a laser.

This challenge is
like hyper-specific.

It was very easy to lose sight.

Trying to tie a story to it.

Don't stop doing that.

-No, no, 100%.
- You know what I mean?

I'm figuring it out,
slowly but surely.

I can't make food that
doesn't have a narrative.

I don't cook with a narrative.

I cook with

what are the most beautiful
products in front of me

and how I would want to eat it.

We all do that, you know?
I know there's more than that.

Massimo is my biggest motivator.

And this is going to
come out real bad, but...

in a way, he represents
everything I'm cooking against.

I believe you actually
do have a narrative,

and that is what made you
successful today.

It just got to come
from somewhere.

Right? Like, there's a reason
why I'm doing what I do.

All right.

Him always being in my face
about French cuisine

and Italian cuisine,
I want to top that so badly.

Top six.

- BAILEY Top six.
-It's exciting.

-It is exciting.
- A little more excitement,

- more energy.
-Woo!

More focus! Thank you,
"Woo" girls! Thank you!

Just to be clear,
Shuai was the woo girl there.

- I know.
- Woo.

- Cute.
- Yeah.

What?

Oh.

I don't know
what this word means.

Dépanneur. Wow.

Amazing. Amazing.

While you were gone,
we rearranged the furniture.

Wow.

Good job.

Looks like a bodega.

There's some French word
over the top of it,

never seen that before,

but definitely
missing the local bodega cat.

When you all walked in,
I was like, where's the rest?

I know, it's wild.

Well, chefs, you won't
be the top six for very long.

Whoa.

We have a new winner of
Last Chance Kitchen.

Oh.

Any guesses who's coming back?

It could be anyone's game.

There was
a lot of really great food,

a couple of winning streaks.

We did a crazy three-part
finale, but we have a winner.

César!

Hello!

CÉSAR: What'd I miss?

Come here,
come here, come here.

César, welcome back.

You literally missed nothing.
Zero.

Absolutely nothing.

Yeah, it was fun.
Grill that nicely.

The winner of
this challenge, César.

This is going
to be a two out of three.

What are you thinking
for your one bite?

CÉSAR:
Blue cheese and white chocolate.

I don't know why I feel
comfortable taking big swings.

Some have been great,
some have not.

The winning dish
for this round, tuna.

It's evened up.
So, it's time for sudden death.

Katianna, I like your dish.
César's is better.

Oh, my God.

You did a lot of things
right here. You're back in.

Last Chance Kitchenwas brief,
but it was necessary.

It kind of sparked
my creativity there.

It's like, let's just go for it.

Let's have fun. Let's get crazy.
Let's try some weird stuff.

That was the last
Last Chance Kitchen.

So whoever gets eliminated
from this point forward

- will be going home.
- Okay.

One of you will be
taking home the grand prize of

a quarter of a million dollars

furnished by
Saratoga Spring Water

and the title of Top Chef.

Whoever makes it through
this week's challenges

will go on to the semifinals.

Ooh.

And they
won't be happening here.

Oh.

That's because
we're on the move.

We'll be going
to Calgary, Alberta.

- Oh.
- Okay.

-Anyone ever been?
-Uh-uh.

I fell in love with it.

Well, before we head west,

let's just take
a small little detour

a little bit more to our east.

Please welcome your guest judge,

comedian and food show junkie,
Punkie Johnson.

- What's up, y'all?
-Hey.

- Woo! Hello.
- Hi.

I am so excited to be here.

It is a dream to
roll up in Top Chef.

I went through your Instagram

and you certainly
are no stranger to cooking.

I love to cook. Cooking
is very therapeutic for me.

I started cooking
in my dressing room

because there's
a lot of downtime on sets.

So, I just started throwing
stuff in the air fryer.

I use plastic forks, plastic
spoons, no chopping board.

Punkie, I know that
you live in New York.

So, you know a thing or two
about a bodega.

Oh, absolutely.

East of here in Montreal,
they have their own version.

Dépanneurs, or deps as
we call them, are the equivalent

of a convenience store
found all over Montreal.

For your Quickfire challenge,

we turned our Top Chefpantry
into our very own dépanneur.

And since it's Montreal,

most of the items are labeled
only in French.

- Oh, boy.
- Amazing.

I gotta see a C in AP French.

I don't speak no French.

None.

Merci.

I feel like I'm at home.

You'll have to make a dish

with things that you can
only find in the Top Chefdep.

But that's not all.

In honor of our guest judge,

you're only going to have access
to what Punkie had access to

to cook your dish.

It's gonna get weird.

That means the hotline
and those knife rolls

are off limits
for this challenge.

I mean, I can just like
tear stuff, you know,

very like raccoon-like.

You'll be fine. Y'all got this.

The only cooking equipment that
you're going to have access to

is the electrical equipment
that you can find in the pantry.

You have just 30 minutes
to do your shopping

in the Top Chef dep
and to create your dishes.

And chefs, for your hard work,

the winner will take home
$10,000 in Quickfire quick cash.

Remember, the dish will be
taken into consideration

along with
the Elimination Challenge dishes

to determine who
stays and who goes home.

All right, chefs.

Your time starts now.

- And then you come with us.
-Okay, show off.

-Okay.
- Move, move.

I love a bodega.

There's fresh bread,
deli meat, condiments,

chips, almost
no vegetables whatsoever.

All I really want to do
is cook in an air fryer

and have some fun.

What are you? Lard?

Um.

We don't know what anything is.

We're trying our best.

Ah. Foie paté.

It says boeuf on it.

Popcorn.

We don't have that much time to
think about what we're grabbing,

but luckily
I see cheddar popcorn.

I feel like that's going
to be an easy one to cook with.

That's going to be the grits.

I'm making a cheese sauce.
In a Barbie's dream bowl.

How do you use this?

Oh my God,
how do I open anything?

What is creton?
About to find out.

Ew, it's weird.
Some kind of meat product.

Oh, my God.

Why do I have two things
of escargot?

It seems like two too many.

I'm not finding anything
that's really speaking to me.

You know what, I got an idea.

But then I see the waffle maker.

Where did my bag of milk go?
There it is.

About to get weird.

Let's see,
ham and cheese waffle?

-Nice, nice.
-Playtime is over.

Just spilling milk
all over myself, cute.

This is so stupid.

I've never had to cut a hot dog.

I hate this, I hate this.

Oh, my God.

I'm about two slices away
from just biting it.

Are you having
the time of your life?

Oh, so much fun, chef.

I have my fancy puncher set.

This isn't funny.

I'm going to do a variation
on a pâté en croûte

inspired by an Uncrustable.

Got a beautiful slice of jamon
followed by some foie pâté.

I love that.

Hey, what'd you grab over there?

I'm kind of going to
try to do this like prune,

raisin, mostarda toast.

The hardest part of this
Quickfire is knowing that

it will be aired on
national television.

[indistinct].
Oh, yeah. In.



César,
it's so good to see you back.

Welcome back, César.

Oh, thanks, man.
It's good to see you guys.

So, I'm making popcorn grits
with a little bit of broccoli.

Finish it with some cheddar.

When I first moved to Chicago,

I had like $600
in my bank account.

I survived off staff meal
and popcorn.

Just cook those down
with some cream

and they just get
a grit consistency.

They already
are cheddar flavored,

so I'll do
a little cheddar grits

with some goat cheese on it.



Hey, did you know you
can grate Parmesan with a fork?

Shuai, what are you
working with, brother?

Cross between
like a Monte Cristo

and a croque monsieur, I guess.

Guys, I'm going to use
the bread as pastry.

I'm making
a hybrid pigs-in-a-blanket

grilled cheese sort of thing.

We're making
prison-style mozzarella.

Melt the cheese curds
in hot water.

Make a ball of mozzarella.

Good job, well done, Massimo.

This is a first original
mozzarella from a dépanneur.



This is a little peanut soup

and some of my favorite food,
hot dogs.

I want something that
can be like very umami forward.

I'm going to make some croutons.

Now I just have to build
as much flavor as I can

and then blend this later.

That smells banging.

One cheese, one ham.
Okay.

Like a glove.

I'm going to try and
make a quick pickle for these.

Should I do a roll cut?

I'm going to make like
a spicy syrup.

We gon' have some waffles today.

Is this on? Okay, we have
the fire department ready.

- Seven minutes, y'all.
-Ooh! She's bubbling.

Tastes nice,
the broccoli's in there.

The popcorn just melts
into the cream bacon mixture.

Cooking that down,
a little seasoning.

Wish I had a strainer,
but it is what it is.

No blender.

No blender, chef.

Well, that changes things.

I can't use a blender.

I don't know,
it's kind of late in the game

to try to work it out.

Chefs, you have five minutes.

Five.

I'm literally trying
to bartend strain it

through two quart
containers into the bowl.

This is my hot garbage
plate of peanut soup.

I'm making
an Alain Ducasse recipe.

All the American baseball
hot dog condiments.

Mm.

Oh, boy.

This ham gets really dry.

Oh, I love that.

So I decide not to use it,
but it's too late to pivot.

- Thirty seconds.
-Oh, my God.

Celery leaves.

As if they're falling
from the heavens.

About as good
as it's going to get.

Four, three, two, one.

Time's up, utensils down.

César, let's start with you.

CÉSAR:
This is a cheddar popcorn grits

finished with a little bit of
goat cheese

and an apple bacon
celery leaf condiment on top.

What did you use for
your cooking implement there?

- Pressure cooker.
- Pressure cooker.

- CÉSAR: Just searing.
- Got it.

I wouldn't have known
it was popcorn

- if you didn't say anything.
- Thanks.

- Tristen.
-Thank you.

I did a bacon roasted
hot dog

in a yaka mein broth
with celery and kraut

and a little bit of croissant.

Did it turn out
how you expected it to?

No, I was expecting to blend it
so it would be a little richer.

All right, Lana.

Very cute.

I made a savory
ham and cheese waffle

with harissa syrup

and a little bit
of celery salad on top.

Where's the ham and the cheese?

It's in there.

Oh, okay. If you say so.

Okay, Massimo.

So, we made a hybrid
of mozzarella in carrozza

and a sausage brioche.

The sauce is everything
that goes on top

of an all-dressed hot dog.

This is just a weenie and bread,
but it tastes exquisite.

Okay, Shuai.

This is kind
of a croque monsieur.

There's two different types
of ham in there, cheese, curds,

parmesan, and fromage,
which I didn't know what it was.

-That's just cheese.
- Just cheese, yeah.

This is a good hangover
meal right here.

- Yeah.
-Mm-hmm.

Vinny?

So, I made a pâté en croûte

inspired by an Uncrustable.

So there's some ham cheese,
some foie pâté

as well as goat cheese,
and then some pickles

that were made in the microwave.

What's the meat in here?

There's jamon,
some like foie pâté.

Oh, the foie pâté,
that's what it is.

Okay, Bailey.

I'm admiring everybody's
use of celery leaf.

Very popular garnish today.

I made a raisin prune mostarda,

a little toasty with foie pâté,

a little bit of apple,
some crushed candied peanuts,

and the old celery leaf.

Was it the only like fresh leaf
or garnishing thing back there?

Sure was.

Judges, how do you think
all the chefs did

with this dep challenge?

There was a lot of creativity.

You didn't have a lot
to work with

and there were some great ideas.

We did have a few favorites
from today's challenge.

Massimo,
I love the fact that you made

a very bougie name for
what was a pig in a blanket.

It was delicious

and I love the fact that you did
something with the mustard.

It was great. I could
eat that mustard again.

Thank you so much.
It means a lot.

Tom, who else
had one of our favorites?

César, the creativity
of taking popcorn

and turning it into grits, you
need to be committed on that.

Strong move.

Then, it had
all these layers and textures.

You worked in your apples
that were crunchy and fresh.

It was really tasty.

Gail, who else had one of
our favorite dishes?

- Shuai.
- Oh.

You made us
a solid croque monsieur.

It was cheesy,
it was savory and salty.

Thank you so much.

Punkie, who had our
favorite dish of the day?

The chef that gave us something
delicious and creative was...

César.

Congratulations, César.

Let's go. Welcome back.

You just won $10,000,

courtesy of the Wells Fargo
Active Cash credit card.

Nice welcome back gift,
isn't it?

Yeah. Not bad.

Just getting back from
Last Chance Kitchen,

I feel like
I'm a little cucaracha.

You just can't get rid of me.
I'm going to keep coming back.

Congratulations, César.

So that means, unfortunately,

the rest of you had our least
favorite dishes of the day.

Chef Bailey.

I like how it was toasted,

but it would scrape
the top of my mouth.

- Oh.
- The texture of that foie

was very dense
and felt very weighted.

Mm-hmm.

Vinny, I think
the biggest thing for me

that threw it way off

was the texture of
the goat cheese and the foie.

Together,
it did not work flavor-wise.

I'll just put a grape jelly
in it next time. I'm sorry.

Lana. I liked the sauce.

I thought it was
a good play on maple syrup,

but the waffle was really dry.

Sorry.

I was missing all of the cheese,

and I just got
a couple little pieces of ham.

Tristen.

I think if you had the blender,

it would have eaten
a little differently.

Fair.

I just wish there was
something to just bring

that bowl fully to life.

I'm frustrated.

This is what's going
to represent me

going into
the Elimination Challenge,

but I'm not surprised
I'm on the bottom.

I would have put myself there.

Punkie, thank you for bringing
us this lovely challenge.

I'm so sorry
for ruining the show.

You'll get better food tomorrow.

- I promise.
- 100%. I can't wait.

I'm looking forward to it.

- Bye, guys.
-See ya.

Now that you've dipped
your toes into a depth,

we're going to take
things to new heights.

Montreal style.

That's creepy.

To help with this next
elimination challenge,

I've invited a couple friends.

-Oh.
-Wow.

Please welcome
Antonio Park,

Fred Morin, and Fisun Ercan.

Chef Antonio Park,
first of all, I love you.

Fisun,
Chef of the Year in Montreal,

and Fred Morin, a legend who has
helped put Montreal on the map.

Top chef, really knows
how to throw a party.

Montreal has
one of the largest urban

agricultural
programs in the world.

We're talking
about something called

the Green Roof Revolution.

You can find right now rooftop
gardens all around the city.

One of our claims to
fame is that Lufa Farms

became the biggest
commercial rooftop greenhouse.

- Wow.
- Awesome.

And I'm proud as
a Montrealer that we were

able to break
that glass ceiling.

Get it?
Greenhouse, glass ceiling?

Standing in for Tom is Fred.

All together,
that makes it possible to

be a little
bit more sustainable.

It's clear that this
UNESCO City of Design was

designed with
sustainability in mind.

For your elimination challenge,
we want you to design

your dishes with the same
approach, using delicious,

sustainably grown
Montreal rooftop ingredients.

And to practice
sustainability even further,

you'll only be utilizing
ingredients and products

that you can find left
over in the Top Chef Pantry.

And then whatever's left
after this challenge will be

donated because this is our last
challenge here in Toronto.

- But that's not all.
- Oh boy.

You'll also have to
use your dish to transport

all of us into one of
Montreal's four seasons.

Winter, spring, summer,

or Canada's very colorful
fall season.

Best season in Montreal is
the one where you go to Florida.

César, as the winner
of Last Chance Kitchen,

you get to select
your season and then

that season becomes off
the table for everyone else.

You cheeky.

What's it going to be?

I kind of want to do summer.

There's something
about summer in Chicago.

The energy level rises.

At my restaurant,
I started our rooftop

garden three years ago.

Now the entire rooftop
is covered with planters.

I love seeing my cooks up
there picking their own herbs.

This is going to be good.

Chefs, it's time to draw knives.

I got spring.

Shuai.

- Winter.
- Winter.

Winter is a bit depressing.

But some of
the most exciting food

happens in the winter
just because you need that jolt.

Give it to me. Let's go.

-Fall.
-Fall, babies.

Spring it is.

Tomorrow,
you'll have two hours to

cook before you serve
in the Top Chef kitchen.

Okay.

Good luck and we'll
see you tomorrow.

- Thank you.
- Thank you, Chef.

After seeing how the Quickfire
saved me in the last one and

being in the bottom
for a Quickfire now,

I need a reset, if you will.

I definitely want to see us
go as far as humanly possible.

It would be
cool if were on the finale.

Yeah, it's
important that we make

sure that we're
watching each other's backs.

Yeah, let's
do this for the ladies.

I know, do it for the ladies.

"For my Shuai..."

Where does this start?
So much writing.

I find a hidden note
in my baggage from my wife.

"My baby, I've been thinking
a lot about our first

"day out on the food truck."

"How stressful it was
hoping for customers."

We opened Short Grain Food Truck
back in 2015.

Our first business ever.

We spent a lot of our savings.

The first day that we
opened those windows,

we took a huge leap of faith.

"And look at us now.

"This feels like
a similar buoyant leap of faith.

"Just listen for me.

"You're made for this."

I've been overthinking.

Not wanting to
disappoint anyone in my life.

So I've been in my
head about letting them down.

And this letter is
really motivating me to

take my head
out of my a*s and focus.

Do the things
that you love to do.

It's just cook
and feeding people.

And just do it well.

Back with my girl,
the honey nut.

We have to
make a dish inspired by

one of Canada's vibrant seasons

using sustainable rooftop
ingredients from Montreal

and whatever's left
over in the Top Chef pantry.

I found the sugar pumpkin too.

-That's great.
-I'm excited.

I love fall. It's
a great season for fashion.

Vibes.

Vinny, what are you doing?

Not a clue.

Spring ingredients
are very flavor intensive.

A lot of peas, favas that need

chucking and things like that.

I find dried morels.

They're a spring item so
maybe make a broth with that.

We're going to make it work.

This is the cook that gets
us into the semifinals.

Flying to Calgary.

Toss and toss, toss.

Growing up in Beijing,
ate a lot of hot pot in winter.

Reading that letter from
my wife really motivated me.

And so I have a very
clear idea for my dish.

Ooh ! So hot.

I'm taking a lot of the winter
style vegetables from Montreal.

Kabocha squash,
sweet potato, and celery root.

Gonna make an egg
tofu with that.

My hot pot broth.

Ah ! So hot.

And then making this nice,
dark, flavorful mushroom broth

to kind of
bring it all together.

Tastes very good.

It's very concentrato right now.

How familiar
are you with this dish?

I've been eating this
since I was old enough to

use my mouth to chew food.

We're doing a Quebec classic
that you eat in the winter.

We're going to make
a farce with the thighs.

It's going to go between
the chicken and its skin.

It's a sustainability challenge.
You've got to keep all of it.

I'm feeling
good with this winter dish.

I'm going to be doing chicken
cooked in a salted broth.

In a beautiful, delicious broth.

A very, very
poetic winter classic.

This is a second layer
of defense from overcooking.

But also, who doesn't
love a nice chicken mousse?

Tristen, what's on
your spring menu today?

A little cabbage with a potato
farce and spring vegetables.

It's kind of a big
sign of spring for me,

especially when I was in Europe.

Caraflex cabbage is
really special because

it has a really great
sweetness when it's cooked.

A really fantastic texture
and it always keeps its shape.

These are some spring potatoes.

They're very
delicious when you just roast

them in a lot of salt.

They have a really,
really nice sweetness to them.

I also want
to add a touch of umami,

a little bit of substance,
into the potatoes.

So I'm mixing that with flaked
fish and a touch of butter.

Just rolling up my
potato farce into my cabbage.

Just like my Polish
grandmother used to make.

We've got a buck 20 left.

Spring has arrived.

I'm going to get this broth
going of morel mushrooms,

ginger, garlic,
charred scallions,

and a bunch
of the Asian condiments.

You seem to have a lot
of Asian flavors today.

- Something new?
- The first time I went

to China was in the spring.

Seeing a lot
of these ingredients kind

- of brought me back.
-Nice, nice.

For my 20th birthday,
I traveled to China.

It was very eye-opening.

Plus, I got to hold a panda.

So it looks
like we're both doing

international inspiration here.

Love that.

- César?
- CÉSAR: Yes, sir?

What's up, dog?

Working on my corn and ground
cherry gazpacho with variations

of cherry tomatoes,
sweet peppers, cucumber.

Pretty much everything
coming from that farm.

Everything tastes amazing.
I'm so excited about that.

I feel a little spoiled
because I got to pick my season.

The corn is very, very sweet.

I didn't have to
add any sugar to it.

The freshness of
the corn with the sweetness

of the lobster is
going to go really nice.

Sauerkraut,
sauerkraut, where is she?

Ba-ha-ha-ha, I found it.

I've definitely done
a lot of foods of the diaspora

while I've been here,
but I'm like a quarter German.

Got to get these
squashes roasting in the oven.

I decided to do squash spaetzle

as a shout-out to
my German heritage.

This is a dish
that I've made

for my grandmother
on my father's side.

She's from Germany.

It's very fall, the flavors.

So it just feels right.

I love fall. Fall is
like one day in Chicago.

And then it's over.

I'm going to make
a squash agrodolce

and these really yummy
bites of crispy polenta.

I'm really just trying
to celebrate the vegetables.

I did not do
well in the Quickfire.

It's scary
to think that that could

make an impact
on this challenge.

Polenta stirring.

Thank you!

It's a rule
in every southern kitchen.

You never walk past
the grits and not stir it.

I love that.

Massimo, are you
familiar with the dish

you're making today, chef?

I'm going to try and make

a salt soft crust
for the chicken.

The salt crust captures
steam and whatever you cook in

there just turns out
to be juicy in theory.

I'm going to
be doing something very,

very, very, very dangerous.

I'm going against
a rule that I had,

which was not to do something
for the first time on Top Chef.

Now, I've done it before,
but with vegetables.

But a real protein?

I could embarrass
myself in front of a bunch

of chefs I look up to.

How's that salt
crust looking, chef?

We'll see.

Won't know until
the last minute.

Happy shucking.

I'm shucking these peas.

Obviously,
it's a labor-intensive task,

but I think it adds to
the texture of the dish.

I feel like typically
we have somebody for this.

Now, it's just Tristen and I.

I don't have people to do this.
I am the people.

-44 minutes!
-Behind.

Smooshing some
baked sweet potatoes.

This just brings me
so many memories of winter

in Beijing with
my grandma and my grandpa,

having rosy cheeks and eating
hot sweet potato on the road.

Dumpling wrappers.
Or the collard greens.

And representative of where
I live now, which is the South.

Turning that into
a dumpling that's wrapped in

collard greens, I feel like
brings my two worlds together.

I'm going to put in
my tiny dumpling.

These are damn tedious.

Whee!

Oh-- Oh. That's pain in the a*s.

Smells good in here.

Smells like
all the seasons.

Hello, judges.

- Hey, chefs.
-Wow.

- I like this.
- Wintery.

This is our last
meal here in Toronto.

- Cheers.
-Cheers.

For being here.

Toronto has
treated us really well.

Yes, Canada.

Vinny, what
are you doing that for?

I'm grinding the lamb.

Sustainability is not just
about the freshest ingredients.

It's utilizing
the entire product,

making sure
nothing goes to waste.

So, I can use the lamb,
turn it into a filling

for a dumpling,
then use all the remaining

bones and all
the trimming for the consommé.

Adding a little
lamb to that broth.

CÉSAR: They're nice and a little
sweet, a little bit of tartness.

So, I need something
kind of creamy, a little nutty.

Fill them up
with a pistachio cream.

I just want
to give it a kiss of smoke.

Kind of like a summer
grill situation.

Ten minutes!

I can only guesstimate how
long the cooking time will take.

I'm scared.

Whoa.

Is it beautiful, chef?

Looking good.

Not to my surprise,
it is absolutely perfect.

Next, I'm going to grill
these cabbage that was

cooking inside the chicken.

And then start plating.

Winter interpretation
can be very different depending

obviously where you're from.

Canadians
aren't scared of winter.

There's so
much about the culture of

eating in Canada
that revolves around winter,

because it has to,
so you might as well embrace it.

There you go, you know, you just
got to use the right tools.

Making a vegetarian dish,
having people not miss any

proteins or meat at all,
is a hard thing to do.

Five minutes.

Instead of bonito in my mushroom
dashi, I'm using dulse seaweed.

Dulse's slightly smoky.

I'm hoping it will
give like that same kind

of bonito-y
kind of vibe to the dashi.

I hope they like it.

I'm shaking really hard.

I have uncontrollable shakes,
as I should.

Holy smokes.

- Wow, nice dish
- Thank you, chef.

-Thank you.
-Oh, fantastic.

Pardon my reach.

-Pour it right in?
-Yes, ma'am.

- How's the hair?
- Beautiful, chef.

- Gorgeous.
-Never seems to move.

So, in Montreal,
we don't hide from the cold.

We celebrate it.

We may eat a little heavier.

We may eat a little more,
drink a little more,

- make love a little more.
-Okay, yeah.

- That's good. Why not?
- All right.

I decided to
do something I grew up with,

with a technique
that I did for the first time.

This is poulet poché
sauce crème.

I fluffed the sauce
with a sauce poulet,

and the chicken
cooked in a salt crust.

Shuai?

Winter always reminds me of
having hot pot with my family.

So today,
I made a "last bowl of hot pot"

with Montreal hard squash,
the sweet potato dumpling made

with collard green wrappers,
fried enoki mushrooms.

The broth itself
is a mushroom dashi,

and then celery
root in the egg as well.

These are both really good.

- Nice job.
-Thank you, chefs.

-Delicious. Thank you.
- Thank you.

Why don't we
start with Shuai?

I can drink this broth
just as my morning water.

- Morning water.
- Yeah.

It was magnificent.
It's deep and rich.

I'll remember
forever the squash.

That crunchiness and
softness of the squash.

I love the contrast in one dish.

I agree. You know,
there's so much going on,

- so much work in this bowl.
- Yeah.

I mean,
the celery root tofu...

A beggar's purse just
beautifully done.

And all the components in
here are reflective of winter.

- That's delicious.
- Thanks.

What did
you think of Massimo's dish?

Flavor component on
using all the poulet.

Obviously,
very technical part of it.

Cooking it in the salt
crust retained so much moisture,

and that farce with the chicken
thigh was seasoned beautifully.

It was nice. Technically,
everything cooked properly.

While I enjoyed the taste,
there's something missing

to make it more comforting.

-It could be a potato.
-Yes.

One more thing that's going
to link winter to the dish.

Oh, my God.

Come on, come on.
You [bleep]. You did it.

- You know you did it.
- Oh, man.

Good job.
Good job, brother.

These crispy polenta look cute.

- Ten minutes, Vinny.
-Yep.

Be a chef, they said.
It'll be so fun, they said.

Spaetzle can
be a little bit bigger,

but I'm going to treat them
like a super buttery risotto.

They're cuter. You know
how I feel about cute things.

"My name's Lana.
I make cute food."

This is going to be
my life for a little bit.

Just under four minutes.

Yes.

To match the fish, I'm going to
use a little bit of trout roe.

That usually
comes in existence in

the springtime
during breeding migration.

So I'm really just trying
to evoke spring the best I can.

Two minutes, Vinny.

I'm getting
down to the wire here.

Once I make
sure that the dumplings are

cooked through, it's
a last-minute ditch to get

everything in the plate.

Thirty seconds.

Some of them are sticking,

which is adding to the time

that I don't necessarily have.

Eighteen seconds.

Ah, you [bleep].

Timing gets the best of me,

and I don't get to garnish
all these dumplings.

It's super frustrating.

I kind of want to run
my head through a---ing

wall right now.

Oh my gosh.
We're ready for spring.

Thank you.

- Thank you. Okay.
- Oh.

- I'm missing the radish.
-I am too.

Tristen, let's start with you.

The only time I've ever
really had to play with spring

stuff is when I was
in Sweden and Scandinavia.

So this is a caraflex cabbage
that's been roasted and charred.

Inside is spring new
potatoes with smoked lake fish.

I didn't waste anything.

Even the bones from the fish

went into making
my butter sauce.

The trout roll.

You knew that was
a salty trout roll, right?

Yeah. I tried not to
put too much, though.

Okay. Thank you.

Vinny, tell us
about your dish, please.

I made a lamb dumpling

with a morel mushroom consomme,

enoki mushrooms just raw,
and some shucked English peas.

I'm originally from New York,

so there it's a more
traditional spring.

Moving out into Napa Valley,

you see spring items
as soon as February.

So I wanted to try
and do that

little bridge,
more of a rich consomme

going into
the lighter spring items.

How did you compose this soup?

Basically, any trim,
offcuts, from the preparation

of the farce went into
the preparation of the consomme.

- Thank you, chefs.
-Thank you.

What did
you think of Tristen's dish?

Overall, great execution, but
the sauce is just over-seasoned.

You know,
punching in with salt is...

I felt very
uncomfortable with that.

I find the potato
under-seasoned.

Yes, exactly.
I was going to say that.

There's, like, no salt on it.

I was really confused
about that, but I decided

to just go ahead
and use the sauce

to my advantage with the potato.

That's where it all
came together for me.

His comment makes me
think maybe I over-seasoned.

How's this taste?

It's bright.

How did you like Vinny's dish?

It was a very pretty,
springy dish to me.

Technically,
the dumpling was nicely made,

but I was missing some
components to make it complete.

Like, yes, I am spring.

There is an aggressiveness
to the consomme.

It had a funk to it.

You put all
the scrap lamb in it.

That's what you're getting.

I felt like
it overpowered the dish.

Did you have
the radishes on your plate?

- No, I didn't.
- I had no radish.

Oh, you guys
actually didn't get it.

No, a lot of us
didn't get radish.

I screwed myself.
It's a tough one.

I just got to portion this
and start plating.


Let's go.



I used all
the butter that I got.

Needs a little salt.
Bailey, how you doing?

Making my marinade
for my agrodolce.

Pomegranate molasses,
maple syrup, Calabrian chilies.

I want my agrodolce
to be in your face.

Flavor b*mb.
It could be polarizing.

So close!

Get it, Cesar!

I'm going for bright colors.
The bright yellow in the corn,

the bright green in the dill,

the pop of reds
from the tomatoes.

To me, it screams summer.

This is a really nice challenge,

something
I connect with very well.

It's summertime.

- CÉSAR: Hi, everyone.
-Hello.

CÉSAR:
Welcome to summer in Chicago.

These are all
things I grow in my garden.

This is a corn gazpacho, lightly
smoked cherry tomatoes

that have been filled
with pistachio cream,

and a lightly poached lobster.

- Great. Thank you, César.
- Thank you, chef.

Gail, what did you think
of Cesar's dish?

I wish the corn was sweeter,
because I actually

don't taste the true
delicious sweet corn flavor.

For me, saving César's
dish is the smoked tomato,

because it's
actually bringing a flavor.

It's bringing dimension.

But you can't tell me lobster,
and that's what I get.

I wish it would have said little
bitty piece of chilled lobster.

But I thought
the nuts and this cream sauce,

I thought it was
a pretty good combination.

I liked it, too.

It's a good dish,
but you want to excite people.

I agree with Antonio.
At this stage of the game,

you want to try to wow us.

Seven minutes, babe.

You already
starting to plate up?

Yeah. I am, bubba.

These are
sauerkraut compressed apples.

The juice from the sauerkraut
is like a nice pop.

Nice.

I'm glad I decided to go
in a route that is me.

I'm sure my dad
would be happy

that I'm doing something
for my German side.

Two minutes.
Oh, my God.

Oh, I need one more.

I have channeled my calm
in this competition somehow.

I don't know.

In general,
I'm a big overthinker,

but as this
competition continues,

I find myself
feeling more clear-headed.

One more roatsy-toasy.

Nobody there, nobody there.

That looks cute.

Cute. This is cute. Okay.

It's time for fall.

My personal favorite season.
Weather-wise.

-Sweater-weather.
- Sweater-weather.

They both look
and feel very fall.

I saw all
these beautiful squash,

and I was really inspired by it.
So, in this agrodolce,

I have
the honey nut, curry squash,

kabocha squash, and some acorn,
and then Calabrian chile,

crispy polenta, smoked labneh.

I like.

Lana?

I did a butternut squash
spaetzle, sauteed kielbasa,

and apples compressed
with sauerkraut juice.

My father's side
is from Germany.

This is kind of an ode to that.

Even with the sauce,
I, like, cooked it down

with a little bit of beer.

Supposed to be giving, like,

very Oktoberfest, fall vibes.

- Thank you, chefs.
- Thank you so much.

What did
you think of Bailey's dish?

My first bite, holy cow, I just
got hit by a baseball bat.

Whoa.

What did
you think of Bailey's dish?

My first bite, holy cow, I just
got hit by a baseball bat.

I was like, what is this?

All this saltiness,
acidity on these spices.

The agrodolce is aggressive,
but I like it because I think

the squash is really
rich, and then you got

the fat off
the fried brussel sprouts,

and you mix with the labneh,
the labneh cools it all down.

I actually like this dish.

Bailey's dish is
my favorite dish of the day.

That acidity just hit, but
it also hit with, like, spice.

It just
surprised me in every way,

but it also satisfied me
in every way as well.

Listen, I hear you,
but Bailey's dish

feels like a condiment,
not a dish to me.

It's very good, but I do agree
that there's something missing,

a little bit like somebody
with a tuxedo and shorts.

We do that a lot
around here, actually.

What did you think
of Lana's spaetzle dish?

Lana's dish definitely
reflected fall to me.

It could have
been a smaller dish.

It is heavy,
and it is monotonous,

but it tastes really good.

The kielbasa is infused
somehow in the squash, cream.

Flavor-wise, it's fine.
Seasoned well.

There's a lot
of little things happening here,

but I think it's very telling
that this is

a spaetzle dish, and no one's
mentioned spaetzle once.

There's more garnish
than spaetzle in here.

Because everything
was diced up really small,

it all just kind of
ate the same,

so there was
no relief whatsoever.

You know, overall, we had
some really standout dishes.

Fred, Fisun,
and Punkie, thank you

for being here,
lending a lot of great words.

- Oh, thank you for having me.
- Thank you very much.

Are we eliminating
somebody today?

- Yeah, of course.
- Oh, [bleep].

It's what we do.

Certainly a lot to discuss,
both on the tops

and the bottoms,
so Judges' Table?

-Okay.
- Okay.

CÉSAR: So, how did
everyone's seasons go?

The dish, I was happy with
the dish, but now we're in stew,

and now it's time
to question everything.

Now it's time to stew.

So this morning,
I read a note from my wife,

so I felt very motivated,
and I felt good cooking

this food today because
it was very much me.

- That's so cute.
-L'amour!

L'amour.

Massimo, Shuai,
and Bailey, please stay here.

The rest of you
can move to the side.

The three of
you are standing here

because you had
our favorite dishes of the day.

Congratulations.

Massimo, let's start with you.
How did the day go for you?

I had a good cook today.

We're cooking
for Montreal royalty.

If ten years ago,
I would have been told

I'd be in the same room as
everybody that was present

today, I wouldn't believe you.

The chicken was
exceptionally well-cooked.

The balance of the vegetables,
the balance of the chicken,

the balance of the sauce
is not because

you're from Montreal, buddy.

It's just that it was a really,
really well-ex*cuted dish.

- Great, great job.
- Thank you so much, Chef.

Shuai, how
did the day go for you?

Pretty good.
I just felt so motivated today.

I just needed
to come here and cook.

That's one thing
that I know how to do.

I think I finally got
a sense of how you cook.

It seemed like
a much freer dish,

like you were having fun,
you were cooking.

You looked at the dish,
there were so many

little pieces of it,
and it was like a package.

Every bite was different,
every bite had purpose,

everything was just
beautifully ex*cuted.

I really did feel like
this is the first time

on Top Chefthat I felt
like myself cooking that dish.

Fred Morin said
he will remember that squash

for the rest of his life.

- That's what he said.
- Oh, wow. That's an honor.

Thank you so much.
Thank you.

And Bailey?

I had fun today.

There was such
a fascinating layer

of flavoring in your dish,

a real intensity in
the squash, and then

there were these beautiful smoky
and cooling notes in the labneh.

It was a dish like
I haven't really seen before.

Thank you.

The polenta was just fantastic.

It was crispy, it wasn't greasy.

The agrodolce was aggressive,
but I liked it.

I thought you had
the richness from the squash

that actually
held up against it.

It was very tasty,
very interesting,

beautifully ex*cuted,
so, nicely done.

Cool.

Antonio, as our guest judge,

you have the pleasure
of announcing our winner.

The winning chef today
gave us a delicious dish

and really
connected to the season.

And the winner is...

Shuai.

Congratulations, Shuai.

Yay! Come here.

It was my first solo win
as an Elimination Challenge.

It feels really good
to win something

that's just my own,
and making a hot pot.

Something so personal
to me that's been with me

my whole entire life.

It's a very proud
moment for me, being Chinese.

Shuai, you just
won an advantage

going into the next
Elimination Challenge.

Well, well done
to all three of you.

- Thank you, Chef.
- You can all step to the side.

Thank you.
Thank you so much.

Tristen, Lana, Vinny, and César,
you can all step forward.

Chefs, the four of
you had our least favorite

dishes of the day, and
one of you will be going home.

Tristen, let's start with you.

The potato and the fish,
the ratio, was it equal?

I wanted it to be
more on the veg side,

and the fish
to just barely be in there.

The potatoes
were completely bland.

There was just
no seasoning at all.

Luckily, the sauce
was slightly over seasoned,

so it did balance
itself out a little bit.

I tried everything
together at the time,

so the potatoes
seemed seasoned to me.

I appreciate the sustainability,
but I feel like when you

do too much on one plate
and there's three sauces

with the other oil,
it just gets very confusing.

Thank you so much.

Lana, when you cut
all the garnishes

the same size as the spaetzle.
Was that for what reason?

I mean, I guess I was
hoping that you would kind of

- get a bite of everything.
- Okay.

Because you cut everything
to the same size,

it was very hard
to differentiate

- texturally between everything.
- Okay.

I like where you're going here.
It felt very fall.

I just thought the spaetzle
was a little on the soft side.

It just disappeared,
and it's like a spaetzle dish,

and the worst part
about the dish was spaetzle.

Vinny, what
happened with the radish?

It was just a timing thing.

I mean, just boiled down, and
I missed a few of the plates.

Did you taste
the consomme on its own?

I tasted it afterward.
It was seasoned.

It was definitely there.

Because it was
so rich and heavily seasoned,

it overtook everything else.

I thought that the lamb
was too punched up,

especially in the consomme,
and I'm still not getting

a sense of
who you are as a chef.

Like, this is a dish
that anyone can make.

I know you have a point of view.

I'm just not seeing the season,
I'm not seeing you.

César, how'd the day go for you?

I was excited to cook summer.

It reminded me of my garden.

All the ingredients I put on
the plate is something I grow,

something I know that I like
that goes well together.

Did you taste the corn itself?

I tasted it as
I was seasoning it, yeah.

- Was it sweet?
- A little bit sweet, yeah.

So the ratio of corn
to the ground cherries

to the yellow peppers,
what was that?

- Were they all equal?
- It was almost equal, yeah.

All of us were
looking for the sweetness.

Why did you decide
to fill up the tomatoes?

I just thought
a nice little creaminess

with that would be nice.

I don't think you needed it,
because that nut

just gets in the way
of those fresh flavors.

All these summer
ingredients

didn't shine the way
they normally should.

All right.

We're taking into
account the Quickfires.

So between coming out
first on the Quickfire,

and you didn't have
a bad dish by any means,

it puts you in a place
where we feel that you are safe.

So that means
Tristen, Lana, or Vinny,

one of you will be going home.

All right, chefs. We'll call
you back in a little bit.

Thank you.

Congrats, Shuai.

Thank you, chef.
Thank you, chef.

Oh, man.
It's not nice to be here

second week in a row,
that's for sure.

You know, it's really clear that
the chefs not only

struggled with execution,
but also to highlight

the season that they were given.

I think in some of those cases,
the technical flaws

are part of the reason
why it didn't really

match up to the season either.

You know,
I feel like I did

a dish that was very
true to me, you know.

Lana's dish,
I totally think it ate one note.

All this other stuff
was happening inside,

yet you couldn't
taste any of it at all.

That was the problem.
Her dish felt lackluster.

But I think of the three,

Lana's made the most sense
to her season.

For me, Lana is fine.

Of the three, I would
happily eat Lana's again.

- Me too.
- Oh, God. How are you doing?

I mean, this is my third time in
the bottom at the judges' table.

It sucks, but it is worth it.

For me, Vinny's,
it didn't feel

like spring, except for a couple
peas thrown in there.

Now, consomme,
which should have been

a lighter consomme for spring,
was really lamby.

It overpowered
everything in the bowl.

It was also salty.

- And smelly.
- And smelly.

Vinny is good at
taking the challenge

and, like, fitting
a story into it.

I think this is where he got
caught in the middle somewhere,

because he was like,
sustainability, I'm going to add

lamb bones as
opposed to thinking,

does this consomme need it?

I'm content.
I wish you all the best of luck.

Once again, this has
been surprise after surprise,

and we've seen people go home
on their first time, like me,

today was my
first time on the bottom.

You never know.

Tristen, I feel like it was just

under-seasoned potato.

I was just shocked
a little bit

with that salty sauce.

It was so rich and heavy.

In this challenge, how does
that tell the tale of spring?

That really buttery sauce.

I got to get good
at Quickfire. I swear to God.

It hits different, for sure.

Let's just also point
out that these chefs

were at the bottom
of the Quickfire.

Vinny had made a foie
goat cheese uncrusted sandwich.

Foie and goat cheese.

Why do you put foie gras
and goat cheese together?

- I don't know.
- And Tristen made

a hot dog soup
with croissant in it.

I don't see the Quickfire
saving anyone.

I think they're all
very much equal right now.

- Yeah.
- Yes, I agree.

- Well, do we have our answer?
- Yes.

Let's bring
the chefs back out here.

So chefs,
the three of you have done

some great work all season long.

But this is the point
in the competition

where exhaustion sets in.

And yet, this is the point
where you need to summon up

as much strength as possible
to push on through.

But unfortunately
for one of you,

this is the end of the road.

Vinny, please
pack your knives and go.

- Thank you.
- Thank you, Vinny.

It was a pleasure.

Pleasure.
Thank you guys. Thanks.

I got to show people who I am.

But my representation of food,
I don't think

I fully got to do that,
which is upsetting.

Oh. God damn it.

- Good luck, guy.
- It was a pleasure, man.

Definitely disappointed
in myself, but by no means

do I deserve to be here
with the dish I created today.

I didn't pivot the way
I probably should have.

- Thank you, guys.
- Bye, Vinny. Thank you.

Love you all.

I've been pretty vocal
about cooking for mentors,

and I think
I've made them proud.

Now it's just a time
to identify the food

I want to cook and push forward.

Next time onTop Chef.

Welcome to Calgary!

- Yahoo.
- Yahoo!

Howdy.

Burnt pancake is no bueno.

Breakfast is up!

- Smoking hot.
- It's amazing.

It's time to
beef up the competition.

- I'm so excited.
-Coming through, cold.

As usual, Tristen's
making something delicious.

Sexy.

At this point,
one misstep and you can go home.

- Wish me luck.
- Pressure's on.

Four minutes.

To be here in
the semifinals is crazy.

It was really well balanced.

It was beautiful.

I kinda think this
dish is a showstopper.