05x05 - Gail's Bridal Shower

[bunniefuu]

Previously on Top Chef...

You must create a dish
for a live television segment.

Here I've some

Blackened habanero shrimp.

[gail]
ooh, that has
a kick to it.

[melissa]
crap. I've blown it.

You can make this at home,

And you can really
wow your guest.

Pour it into the creme brulee,
put it in the oven for 350--

Your time's up, alex.

Oh, man.

I'm in trouble because
my creme brulee wasn't set.

[meredith vieira]
this morning
on "today's kitchen,"

Top chef is making
a meal for us.

Mmm.

Love it.

Good is good.
Good is good.

Number one.
Number one.

Yeah.

I proved to myself
that I can do it.

The dish was inedible.

Raw egg on tv.
Not a good combo.

I--I know better.

Why did you choose
a creme brulee?

I set myself up for failure.

[padma]
alex,

Please pack your knives and go.

At stake for the winner,

A feature
in food & wine magazine,

A showcase at the annual
food & wine classic in aspen,

$100,000 to help

Turn their culinary dreams
into reality,

Furnished by the makers
of the glad family of products,

And the title of top chef.

[rock music]

♪ ♪

[melissa]
this is the first time

That I've really thought
that I was going home.

This was a huge wake-up call.

It's time to be smart
about every single thing I do.

This is not a game.

The is the biggest
competition of my life.

[ariane]
I won the last challenge.

I think I'm getting
more confident.

I'm getting more confident

About my other
competitors as well.

I'm a 41-year-old woman,

I'm with a lot
of younger people,

But I'm here to impress.

How funny is that?

It's cute.

Stefan's insane.

And now he's made
a pair of pants

Out of a calphalon
dish towel.

It's hilarious.

[jamie]
stefan is probably

The cockiest person
in this entire competition.

But at the same time, like,
he's always making me presents.

And he has a huge crush on me.
It's pretty funny.

[stefan]
I think she's sexy.

I love jamie.

This is like the fourth
or fifth thing

That he's given me.

[jamie]
stefan, come on.

Does the word lesbian
mean anything to you?

[fabio]
we walk in the kitchen,

And there is, uh,
padma by herself.

There is no guest judges.

And I have no idea
what's going on.

Good morning, chefs.

[all]
good morning.

I can see you're wondering
why there's no guest judge

Standing next to me.

That's because
in this quickfire challenge,

You'll be the ones
doing the tasting.

A well-tuned palate
is the most crucial tool

A chef can possess.

We're gonna play...

Identify that ingredient.

Awesome.

[jamie]
I think I have a great palate.

So I'd like to win
one of these quickfires.

I have been so close,
and I haven't won.

Especially after
the last challenge

Being in the bottom,

Winning immunity would be nice.

Please draw knives.

Five.

Six.

Four.

One.

Oh.

One.

[hosea]
as the knives
are getting drawn out

You realize that people
are getting paired up,

And I'm with danny.

He's actually got
more of a brain

Than I think people
give him credit for.

I don't really know
what his style of food is,

But he's one of a kind.

Three.

Three.

Love it.

[padma]
okay, so here's how
it's gonna go down.

You'll enter the kitchen,

And go head-to-head
two at a time.

Each pair will taste
the same sauce

And then compete to see
who thinks they can identify

The most ingredients
in that sauce.

The last chef standing wins
immunity in the next challenge.

Daniel and hosea,
you two are up first.

The rest of you
please wait outside.

[daniel]
I'm predicting
for this quickfire

That I'm gonna win today.

I think I'll win it.

Okay, gentlemen,

I'm gonna
give you both


at the same time.

I'm gonna
flip a coin,

Heads or tails?

Heads.

Tails.

That means you go first.

All right.

You'll tell me
how many ingredients

You think you can
identify in the sauce.

Your time starts now.

[hosea]
right away, I get shellfish,

And I'm thinking
it's either shrimp or lobster.

Time's up, spoons down.

I can name four ingredients
in that sauce.

Danny.

Four also.

You have to go one higher.

I call your bluff.

All right.

Identify those
ingredients.

Onion...

Shrimp...

Lemon...

Carrot.

That's correct.

Yes.
Congratulations.

That means hosea,

You're going on
to the next round,

And danny, I'm afraid you
have to leave the kitchen.

Okay. Thank you.

[padma]
time's up.

I can name five ingredients.

I can name six.

Name those ingredients.

Fennel...

Salt...

Crab?
[buzzer]

Dammit.

That is incorrect, jeff.

Shrimp, huh?

Turns out the soup
has 30 ingredients in it.

He just guessed
the wrong shellfish.

So I was kinda like,
all right,

That was easy.

Okay, time's up.

[jamie]
stefan is definitely
one of those kind of guys

Who will, you know,
be an [bleep].

I think he's a button-pusher.

I mean, I think
that's his role here.

Three.

Four.

I can name five.

Name 'em.

Salt...

Lemon...

Pepper...

Lobster...

Olive oil.

That's correct.

Congratulations, stefan.

[whistles and makes
a whipping sound]

How about that?

Ass-whipping.

I can name four.

Fish sauce.

That's incorrect.

'sup, fellow losers?

[laughs]

I can name three ingredients.

Name it.

Salt,

Celery,

Lobster?
Correct.

Fabio, I have to ask you--

To leave.

[carla]
I think I have a good palate.

I tend to be able to think
of an ingredient

And actually taste it
in my mind.

I can name four ingredients.

Cream,

Salt, lobster,

Fennel.

Congratulations, carla.

As soon as I touch
the spoon to my mouth,

I know exactly what it is.

I can name five ingredients.

I'll say six.

I can name seven.

Go for it.

Coconut milk,

Sugar,

Basil--

Be more specific.

Thai basil.

Correct.

Ginger, salt,

Pepper...

Thai chili.

Correct.

I knew you'd get 'em.

[stefan]
of course I'm confident.

I'm always confident.

I'm good at playing games.

I don't give a [bleep]
about these people.

Four.

Five.

Six.

Uh, seven.

Eight.

Name eight.

Onion, turmeric,
lemongrass,

Coconut milk,

Salt,

Regular vegetable oil,

Ginger,

Sugar.
Correct.

[leah]
stefan is an ass[bleep].

It gets me pissed off

That I lost to him.

I can name...

Five ingredients.

I can name six ingredients.

I can name seven.

Name them.

Coconut milk,

Um, lemongrass,

Ginger, uh, salt,

Um...

Chili powder?
[buzzer]

That's incorrect.

[radhika]
I'm so embarrassed.

I have a great palate,

But I just lost my mind

And I couldn't
think of anything,

So I just said that.

[padma]
so for this final round,

We're playing things
a bit differently.

All three of you
will taste the sauce,

And then you'll each
name ingredients in rounds,

Like a spelling bee.

The last chef standing

Will win.

Your time starts...

Now.

Time's up, spoons down.

Carla,

Please start.

Peanut butter.

[padma]
peanut butter.

Unfortunately, carla,
that's incorrect.

I knocked myself out
on the first go.

I'm so disappointed
with myself.

Again, let's start
with you, stefan.

Chocolate.

[padma]
yes.

Hosea.

Sesame.

Correct.

Pepper.
Correct.

Raisin.
Correct.

Coriander.

Correct.

Garlic.

Correct.
Tomato paste.

Tomato paste.

[buzzer]

I'm sorry.

That is incorrect, stefan.

Hosea, if you name
a correct ingredient,

You will be the winner
of this quickfire.

If you do not,

Then we'll go
for another round.

What is another
ingredient in the sauce?

Oil.
Oil.

Can you be
more specific?

Vegetable oil.

That's correct.

Congratulations, hosea,
you are the winner.

As the winner,
you will receive

Immunity from elimination
in the next challenge.

[hosea]
stefan's tough.
He's got a huge ego.

Not only was it
fun beating him--

Because he's
a tough competitor,

And he really hates to lose.

I out-palated him.

I'm just loving it.
I'm just happy as hell.

Hi, guys.

[clapping]

Hi.

I know that gail
likes pick--

A lot of uh, pickling.

I am concerned.

Now, it's time

For your elimination challenge.

Please draw knives.

Old.

New.

Borrowed.

Blue.

Borrowed.

[ariane]
we pull knives first.

I'm like, oh, it's a wedding.

Me being married,
I know the little phrase.

"something old, something new,

"something borrowed,
something blue."

New.

[radhika]
obviously, we're probably
gonna be in teams.

And I'm thinking,

Please do not let me
be on stefan's team.

Like, I would rather
be on satan's team

Than be on stefan's team.

Old.

[radhika]
thank god.

Borrowed.

[padma]
okay, so please go
stand with the team

That has the same names as you.

[fabio]
blue.

[man]
old. Over here.

This is gonna be good.

I'm throwing a bridal shower

For a very dear friend of mine.

And you guys
are doing the cooking.

And here she is now.

Hi, guys.

[clapping]

Hi.

Hi, cutie.
Hi.

Thank you so much, padma.

And thank you guys

For cooking for my
bridal shower tomorrow evening.

You're welcome.

I am very excited and pumped
to cook for her bridal shower.

I think she's gonna
be a hot bride.

There'll be about 35 to 40
of my dearest girlfriends.

They love food.

These are not
girls who like

Their salad dressing
on the side,

If you know
what I mean.

[jamie]
I don't know anything
about bridal showers.

I think it's gonna be
a hard crowd, for sure.

They know what goes together
and what works together.

Especially it's all women, too.

Women are picky.

There are a few things
that I prefer not to eat,

If given the choice.

Veal is one of them.

Black beans
is another.

But other than that,

I'm pretty open.

I just want it to be good

More than anything else.

And I want
to impress my friends,

'cause many
of them will be

From food & wine magazine.

It'll be colleagues of mine.

So you'll want
to impress them, too.

We'll see you guys
tomorrow night.

[daniel]
see you soon.

All right.

Good luck.

[jamie]
we get together in our teams,

And discuss and figure out
what we're doing.

We could do something
that's sort of indian-inspired

That you could say
you borrowed from your mother,

And I can say
that I borrowed

From that indian chef
that I knew.

So we're borrowing
basically

From your culture.

The concept of the dish
is definitely coming from me.

Because the dish is based off of

One of my secret ingredients
that I brought with me

Called vadouvan.

I'm saying to myself,
I might go to judges' table

And they'll say,
"well, you know,

"we know you're indian,
but can you cook anything else?"

I can take--
I'll do the lamb.

[radhika]
I'll make the marinade.

My mother only cooked
indian food every day,

So naturally those flavors
are going to be in my food,

But I want--

I want to express them
in a different way.

[leah]
look at how many things
are actually blue

In the food chain

That are nat--

Like, in the ingredients
that are natural.

Can figs be
kinda like, blue-ish?

They're purple.

[fabio]
we have the blue theme.

For sure, out of the four theme,
is the hardest one.

I see more the concept
of the ocean.

There is not
any freaking blue food.

So we have to come up
with a theme behind the plate.

Okay.

I think of new,
I think of like, pickled.

I know that--

I know that gail
likes pick--

A lot of uh, pickling.

[carla]
why does new make you
think of pickles?

[daniel]
I don't know.

Are pickles new?

Maybe we could do like,
madras curry.

Um...Pickled--

[eugene]
that is old to me.

[carla]
hmm, oh...

I can do a surf and turf
sushi roll.

Tempura shrimp
on the inside, it's cooked,

With seared filet mignon
on the top.

I really like that idea

Of the surf and turf
uh, sushi roll.

[eugene]
I've done a lot of sushi before.

We're taking in a whole
new concept of sushi.

[daniel]
that's new?

It's new.

I am a little concerned.

The idea of doing
a surf and turf sushi,

I'm like, what does that
have to do with new?

[eugene]
you guys feel comfortable
about doing this dish, right?

[daniel]
yes, I f--
you feel
confident about it?

I feel very confident.

[carla]
I'm not speaking up,
and I don't wanna put a damper,

If they feel that this is good.

Nice, very nice.

We could do a play on tomato.

Tree of heirloom.
Heirloom--

Heirloom tree.
Heirloom is old.

Heirloom tree?

Tomato trio.

Fried green tomato.
Oh, my god.

I'm not doing
fried green tomato.

I'm not from the south.
You can do fried green tomato.

Pick--each picks
his own dish,

And they put exactly
what we wanna put on the dish.

I'd like to do

A tomato carpaccio.

Carpaccio's old school.

Heirloom or old vines
usually--

They make a really nice
tomato sorbet,

So mine'll be
light and chilled.

Do you want
a sorbet dish?

No, no.
Don't do it. No.

[hosea]
stefan is a caterer,
and he owns his own business.

He is used to
shouting out orders.

He's forgetting
that we're all equals here.

We're not working for him.

[jeffrey]
any time you work
with stefan on a team,

You're gonna have major issues.

He could give a damn

About anybody else
besides himself.

So you are sure you can scoop.

Yeah.


Yeah.

Make sure it works.

[stefan]
I've been doing this
for too long.

I know what works,
what doesn't work.

Jeff has no friggin' clue.

It doesn't work.

They get a piece
of nori--

It's broken up.

It's a deconstructed
sushi roll.

Women don't wanna
make their own food.

You know, you don't even have
to worry about our [bleep] dish.

We serve it the way we want to.

Do you have any chopsticks?

We got so much money.

[leah]
we go to whole foods,

And we have half an hour
and $800 to shop

For gail's bridal shower party.

They're california carrots,

We can borrow them
from california.

[ariane]
oh, there's the american.

I'm gonna see
if they have more.

Throw that one in as well.

Sea bass.

You get--you have
other filet than that?

It's perfect. Perfect. Yes.

Fish is beautiful.

Fish wanna go back
to the ocean, guys.

Let's go back there,

And let's look
for the uh, sushi rice.

We got 15 minutes.
[carla]
okay.

Can I taste
that peach sorbet?

Where are my peeps?

Hootie?

"hootie-hoo" is something
that my husband and I say

When we go out and we
can't find each other,

One of us will say, "hootie,"
and the other one'll say, "hoo."

You know, so it's a call.
It's a two-part call.

Where are they?

Hootie.

Ginger. No?
No.

White ginger?
We get the salad
for cleaning the palate.

It's new.

[eugene]
danny's offering a lot of ideas.

He's probably being a bit
apprehensive, I want to say.

'cause he's probably
not that knowledgeable

About sushi, you know?

Oh, yeah,
those are really cool.

[hosea]
we have old,
so we pick heirloom tomatoes,

Which is old seed, old vine.

There's three of us,

So we each wanna have
equal say.

Here. Yellows.

No, you'll need yellows.

Get 20 of them,
who gives a [bleep]?

[hosea]
I really start to see
how bossy stefan can get.

I'm doing my thing,
jeff's doing his thing.

They're gonna sink, though.
They're gonna sink in the soup.

You don't wanna
go yellow.

I do this all the time.

I know, I'm--

Don't worry about me,
worry about your own [bleep].

I am, I'm getting the purples.

[stefan]
hosea?

Douche-boy hosea?

Has immunity.

So hosea's lucky.

I'm not safe,
I'm picking one dish.

I'm picking one item.

If I [bleep] up, I go home.

Huh.

We're good.
You feel good?

I feel great.

Thank you very much.

I'm gonna take
that whole station over there.

Coming behind...

[jamie]
we head back
to the kitchen to prep,

And we have 2 1/2 hours tonight.

I mean, it's really
not that much time.

The only thing
we should be

Doing tomorrow
is heating stuff up

And cooking
the lamb.
Yeah.

We're the third course.
Uh, we're the borrowed team.

It's myself, radhika,
and ariane.

We are doing
an eastern spice lamb

With a vadouvan-scented
carrot puree

And wilted greens
and cucumber raita.

Clean it, french it,

We'll marinate it tomorrow,
we'll season it.

Okay.

[radhika]
I'm doing the marinade
for the lamb,

And the yogurt sauce
called raita.

It's an indian sauce
that goes on top.

I've made that, um,
I can't even count.

Maybe a million times.

I want to prove
to these other chefs

That you can take these flavors

And make a beautiful
classic dish that's not gonna be

So overtly indian.

Right now, I'm making
some wonton bowls

For our little salad.

Looks good.

[daniel]
how's it going
over there?
Good.

Team new, baby.

[eugene]
the new team is cooking
second course,

Which is a surf and turf
sushi roll.

Tempura shrimp on the inside,
and seared filet mignon on top.

Carla is doing the salad.

Danny chose to do
a peach miso barbecue sauce.

Are you gonna take
a s*ab at the sorbet?

Yeah, that's what
I'm doing now.
Yeah?
Okay, cool.

They're gonna love this.

They're gonna go crazy.

Oh, yeah.

[eugene]
my wife did not have
a bridal shower.

We went down to the courthouse
to get married.

I would love to see her have
her own bridal shower.

I'd love to cook for it.

[playing electronic music]

Rice is done.
You like that jingle?

[daniel]
what you wanna do
with the rice?

Just leave it in there.

[leah]
what, do you wanna
grill this,

Or roast it,
what do you want?

[melissa]
I think we should grill.

Our team is something blue,

And we're gonna
reference the ocean.

Fabio is cooking
the chilean sea bass.

Leah is making
a roasted corn sauce.

I'm gonna do the chard.

[fabio]
we're gonna feed 43 beautiful,

Well-educated woman
with a great palate tomorrow,

Which can be really good,

Or either really, really bad.

You need any help?

Listen, take care of make

Your food taste good
for tomorrow.

I'll take care of mine.

[stefan]
I'm gonna go smoke a cigarette,
I'll be back in a bit, okay?

How about that?

Right behind--coming at ya.

We do some dishes
from the old world.

Stefan does a terrine,

Which is a french technique

Of putting things in kind of
a little loaf and slicing them.

Jeff is going to do
a carpaccio of tomato

With tomato sorbet.

And I'm gonna do
a kick-ass gazpacho.

I'm trying to take a little bit
of a back seat here.

I have immunity.

I want us to be on top,
but for me--

I don't wanna be telling
these guys what to do

Because it's their ass,
not mine.

[bleep].

What's the matter with it?

It's [bleep] mushy.

[eugene]
my rice gets [bleep]ed up.

I use a digital rice cooker
I've never used before.

And my rice comes out
too sticky for sushi rice.

So what do you wanna do?

How's the prep going?

Good. Really good.

So what team is this?

We have the blue.

Do you know there's
no such thing as blue food?

Did you know that?

[melissa]
well, there's--
blueberries are kind of--no?

No, no, they're purple.

But they say "blueberries."

So what're you
working on that's blue?

Blue remind the ocean.

Deep ocean,
so chilean sea bass.

We encrusted
with the blue corn flour.

Okay.

You know, considering
that there's no blue food--

No blue food.

Hello.

How are you?
[tom]
good, how you doing?

Good.

So what team is this?

[both]
this is borrowed.

Borrowed.
So what's the theme?

Well, we're borrowing,
um, a food theme

From radhika's
um, culture.

[radhika]
I'm lending it.

You're lending it.
Good, good.

[jamie]
a little indian flavor.

We're also borrowing
one of my secret ingredients.

For the uh, carrot puree.
Okay.

So we're borrowing twice here.

And what're you giving up?

They're borrowing
all my talents.

[ariane]
the lamb is, like,
the main thing

That's carrying me
with the group.

I don't care if I stand by
the oven and watch my lamb cook,

That's all I'm doing tomorrow.

Hey, guys.
'sup, chef?

How's it going?
[greeting at once]

We're doing like a--
a surf and turf uh, sushi.

[eugene]
it's gonna be
a totally cooked sushi roll.

He's making this special
fusion barbecue sauce.

[daniel]
white peach
barbecue sauce.

Okay. Barbecue sauce.

Yeah, barbecue sauce.

All right.

Got a yuzu sorbet
going on here.

[carla]
we have these
uh, wontons

That the little salad
will go in.

And then with a little
lemongrass oil

And then all
of the other components.

A lot of different things
that you're balancing here.

Well, pair it well to it,
it blends.

All right. That's good.

It's gonna be new.
And it's gonna give 'em
a new insight on sushi.

Hopefully not
a terrible one.

You guys cook.

Take care.

How we doing?
Good.

What're you working on?

I'm doing a trio of tomato.

Okay, a trio
of tomato.

So you're old.

Okay, so heirloom, old.

Old dude.

[hosea]
we're also doing a couple
dishes from the old world.

We got terrine: France,
carpaccio: Italy,

Gazpacho: Spain.

[jeffrey]
and then I have a nice,
little tomato ice over here.

[tom]
any of you guys married?

Yeah, twice.

Twice.

Same one.
Really?

Yeah.
Divorced now, but...

Are you gonna go
for a third time?

I don't think so.

I'll see you.

[jeffrey]
thanks, chef.
Take care.

Okay, chefs, you have
about 38 minutes left, okay?

All right, good luck.

I'll see you all tomorrow.

[tom]
you know, they cook
for the judges all the time,

Gail being one of them,

But this is something personal.

This is her bridal shower.

I'm sure there'll be some folks
from food & wine there,

As well as some
other friends of hers.

It should be
a pretty tough foodie crowd.

The blue team,

They're trying
to make blue food,

Uh, they're stretching
a little bit.

But their theme is the ocean.

The dish doesn't
seem that exciting.

In fact, it seems
a little boring.

This dish could very easily
get lost in the shuffle.

But we'll see tomorrow.

Put the rice
right on top.

[tom]
I checked over
with something new, and uh...

Boy, this dish--
it's out there.

They're doing some sort
of sushi roll,

There's a fried wonton,

A peach barbecue sauce,
yuzu sorbet.

Either this is gonna
be spectacular,

Or it's gonna be horrible.

So uh, this should be
interesting tomorrow.

33 minutes.

[eugene]
I've failed rice many times

Before in the past.

And I've learned
how to use the rice

By adding flavors,
adding texture to it.

So I turn it into
a chili pepper sticky rice,

Is what I do.

That's the best we can do.

That's [bleep] nice, dude.

That's nice.

Micro greens are in there,
lemon juice is in there.

[leah]
it is really good.

It needs
to get crunchier, though.

[fabio]
yeah.

[melissa]
I'm thinking to myself

That we need that pizzazz.

And I think our dish is lacking
the eye-catching pizzazz.

[hosea]
my only concern is that I don't
get to taste stefans' terrine

Because it needs to set.

What happens if they
try it all together

And it just tastes
like crap mixed in your mouth?

Three, two, one...

[stefan]
knives down!
Whoo!

[eugene]
so I had a brainstorm.

They can build
their own sushi roll.

Nice. We got it.
[carla]
I like it.

I mean, it's creative,
it's interactive with--you know?

I like that better.

[eugene]
I'm brainstorming on how we can
work on the presentation.

And I bring up that we should do
a ponchon-style sushi.

Which means it's
totally up to the guest

And what they do with it.

They can grab the nori,
put the rice...

If they don't want beef,
they can have the shrimp.

If they want it together,

They'll put it both on
and eat it.

That's awesome.
It's a new style.

We're doing new things.
I like it.

[eugene]
they're stoked about it.

It's new and I think it fits
what our team is named after,

And it fits on what gail
is about to do with her life.

How does it look like?

This--it's up to them.

They get a piece
of nori--
how do you
serve it?

It's ponchon,
it's broken up.

It's a deconstructed
sushi roll.

Women don't wanna
make their own food.

Wrap things up
and touch things.

They just don't--
I don't even wanna do that.

It doesn't work.

You know, you don't even have
to worry about our [bleep] dish.

We're gonna serve it
the way we want to.

You don't need to be curious.
Worry about your dish.

If it's good, if it's
flavorful, if it's fine,

We don't need
to worry about [bleep].

Perfect.

[ariane]
oh, my god.

[jamie]
ariane, we have 14 minutes.
What's the deal here?

'cause you're
freaking me out now.

[ariane]
I'm panicking.
The lamb isn't quite ready.

This is not
a good start to a new life.

Kiss me.
No!

No!
I'm telling you no.

Say yes.
No.

Say yes.

Stefan's playing the game,
for sure.

He's cocky,
he's trying to,

You know,
pick at people.

He sees it's competition.

He knows
it's competition.

You know he has
the hots for me.

I have the hots
for jamie, big time.

He has the hots
for the lesbian.

I got the hots
for lesbian.

Me and jamie, we kind of have,
like, an edgy thing going on.

If you win the challenge,
I get a kiss.

Aren't I lucky?

You can kiss my cheek
if we win the challenge.

No, you can
kiss my mouth.
No!

No--no tongue,
bull[bleep] like that.
Ew!

Okay look.
Like, a little peck.

I can't believe we're even
having this discussion.
A peck?

Ugh.

Promise?
Promise?
Shut up!

You are so gross!
So gross!

Come on.
Ugh!

Come on.
Yeah.

Boom, boom, boom.

Loser.

[laughing]

[leah]
hosea is probably one of, like,

My favorites
in the house, right now.

I just get along
with him really well.

s*ab you if you don't
watch yourself, my friend.

I'm afraid of that.

[hosea]
leah and I have fun together,
we flirt.

But she's got a boyfriend
that she lives with,

And I've got a girlfriend
back in boulder, so.

You know, we're--
we're just friends.

This can be
a really stressful environment.

So it's really nice
to have a good friend.

You know,
so we've become good friends

In a short amount of time.

[fabio]
I got married two years ago.

I cooked for the bridal shower
of my wife.

She loved it.

Bridal shower
is very important,

Because you don't want
to pissed off the bride

Right before the wedding.

So we better do
some good food for gail.

She's waited all her life
for this day,

And it's going
to be probably phenomenal.

[ariane]
I was married
a long time ago.

It's wonderful.
It is.

It's such a happy occasion.

I mean, I cater a lot
of bridal showers,

I cater a lot of weddings.

And it's a special day.

I'm going to want
to actually be a guest.

[laughs]

[radhika]
you guys say it.

I wish I was invited.

[ariane]
it's gail's day.

So we definitely want to make it
the best it could be for her

You know, you only like to think
she's only going to get one.

You know?

[laughs]

I think as long as
the food tastes really good.

[melissa]
we're here
to charm and impress.

We already got the charm down.

[laughing]

[radhika]
so we walk into 24 5th avenue,

And it's this huge,
extravagant, gorgeous room,

With this really long table.

And I feel like,

"[bleep], our food has
to match this ambiance."

So I'm getting
a little bit nervous.

Let's go.

[clanging utensils]

This is amazing.

It's like,
the largest table

Of hot-looking ladies

I've ever seen in my life.

Ten minutes.
Okay, no problem.

[hosea]
we're serving the first course.

We're trying to,
like, hustle and make sure

That we're ready to go.

Because this time crunch
is a big deal.

We've got a lot of little
components going on our dish.

Okay, we gotta
start picking up now.

Hosea, now.
Yep, yep.

[hosea]
our dish is the first impression
of the whole group.

And I don't want them
to be like,

"god, I hope it gets better."

I want them to be like,

"wow, could it even
get any better than this?"

[padma]
ladies...

I just want to thank
all you beautiful women

For coming together
to say with me

How much we love you, gail.

And...

How lucky jeremy is.

[all]
yeah.

Thank you so much.

Oh, my goodness.

Hello, chef.

How you doing?
Good.

[tom]
basically, I'm here

Because I wasn't allowed
to the girls' party.

So they had to figure out
something to do with me,

So they stuck me
in the kitchen.

[fabio]
don't come in the room,
make me nervous.

Colicchio is, for me,
is like, uh...

If you are a priest, and
there is the pope in the room.

You have be on top
of everything.

[stefan]
chef's sorbet wasn't that sexy.

I had a bit of an issue,

Because you know what?

For me, savory sorbet
for lunch...

Nee.

I would've not done it.

Are we ready?
Yep, go.

I can't take it in.
Let's go, let's go.

My hands are shaking
so bad, dude.

Go, go, go, go.

[hosea]
I have to go down these steps.

And one of my glasses
starts to slide a little bit.

And my hands start shaking
so bad,

That the glass was like,
bouncing on the plate.

It was like, ting,
ting, ting, ting, ting, ting.

Coming in, right here.

Whoa.

Wow, a little shaky
there.

[hosea]
I don't know how I didn't

[bleep]ing spill soup
all over the table.

You're in good hands.
Now I'm fine.

Now I'm fine.
Lots of girls.

[giggles]

Nice to see you all.

I'd like to introduce you
to your guest judge

For this round, editor-in-chief
of food & wine magazine,

Dana cowan.
Hello, chefs.

[jeff]
I'm nervous.

You know, editor
of food & wine magazine,

Dana cowan is our guest judge.

She's going
to be a pretty tough critic.

Good evening, ladies.

We chose old.

So we decided to go
with an heirloom tomato.

I, myself, took just
a simple, purple cherokee,

Sliced it,
and I made a nice

Tomato sorbet.

[hosea]
my dish,
it's a smooth tomato gazpacho.

Heirloom tomatoes,
those little mints, watermelon,

And cucumber salsa on top.

[stefan]
mine is tomato terrine.

It's wrapped in eggplant.

It's slice of tomato, basil,
and balsamic vinegar.

Enjoy.
Thank you all, very much.

Thank you.
Absolutely. Enjoy.

Enjoy.
Pleasure.

I love it.

My vote's for the sorbet.

[stefan]
I'm watching tom eat my plate.

And he's eating the whole plate,
there's nothing left.

And I'm feeling pretty good.

I'm down
with the heirloom-guy.

I think the terrine
was a little bland.

My favorite thing on the plate
was jeff's sorbet.

Yeah, that tomato sorbet
is nice.

[eugene]
it's our turn.
Second course comes up.

I'm excited.

We have the most creative
and original dish.

You'll have the rice,
shrimp, and beef.

And it will be up to the guest

On what type
of sushi they want,

Because they will be the ones
rolling it themselves.

It's their choice.

Like gail has a choice
to get along

With her husband's family
or not.

[daniel]
me, carla, and gene

Are helping each other out.

I begin cutting
a little shitake mushroom

For carla's microgreen salad.

Carla, actually
had no idea I was doing it.

I just thought it would be
a nice compliment to the dish.

Once they get
to the bottom of the salad,

They find some
little mushrooms sitting there.

Behind you, hot.

We got nine minutes.

[carla]
during the plating,
I see danny

Putting some mushrooms
on the salad.

I'm like, "oh, my god."

This is my portion
of this dish.

I don't know anything
about the mushrooms.

There's a lot going
on the plate.

[hosea]
I don't know why those guys

Decided to do
as many different components

On that plate.

There's a [bleep]-load
of food going on.

[daniel]
our integration of components
are a little much.

But that's new.

A little dab of this,
a little dab of that.

A little crunch of this,

A little splooge of this.

That's what makes it new.

And I think our flavors

Are going to marry really well
with each other.

It's too much vinegar, danny.

Okay.

[daniel]
serve?
Let's go.

Thank you.

[daniel]
I think they're going
to love it.

I think they're going
to dance with it.

I think they're going to start
taking their clothes off,

You know, and start eating.

Hello, ladies.
[all]
hi.

How are you?

[eugene]
we pulled new.

So we decided to do
a new-school type of sushi.

Everything's cooked.

Sushi doesn't have to be raw,
it doesn't have to be rolled.

We have
tempura kawai sweet shrimp.

Danny here
made the filet beef skewers.

[daniel]
yeah, filet of beef skewers

With a peach miso
barbecue sauce.

What you'll find over there
on the spoons,

Is a yuzu granada.

Basically, you taste it

At the end of the course

To cleanse your palate,
to go to the next course.

[woman]
thank you very much.

Thank you.
Enjoy, people.

Thank you, enjoy.

And there's no explanation
how to do this.

I mean,
what do we do with that?

[eugene]
I failed to mention
how to eat the dish.

I'm certain it'll come back
and bite me in the ass.

[gail]
the tempura shrimp was cold,

And tasted like it
had been fried in oil,

And it'd been sitting there
for a really long time.

I'm not sure why they had
to tie together sushi in new,

'cause there's
nothing sushi-ish here.
No.

I just want to say, gail,

I hope you do better
on your venture.

[gail]
thank you, yes.
On your new--

This is not a good start
to a new life.

[jamie]
I really feel that I'm going
to win this challenge.

I mean,
I was the one who came up

With the idea for the dish.

I think I've been in the top
three so many times,

And I haven't won anything.

And it's frustrating as hell.

Let rest five minutes.

So I need 15 minutes.

It has to go in
for nine minutes.

At 15--no.

So...
Okay, all right...

You need more time
than that.

[radhika]
ariana's been in the bottom,
the top,

She's been
all over the place, so.

We're both counting
on her to cook

This lamb perfectly.

[jamie]
I'm in charge
of making the carrot puree.

And then,
radhika makes the raita

And the marinade
for the lamb loin.

All right, lamb.
Please be ready.

Oh, my gosh.

[ariane]
I'm panicking because the lamb
isn't quite ready.

I was like this is the only
friggin' thing I had to do.

[jamie]
ariane, we have 14 minutes.

What's the deal here?

'cause you're
freaking me out now.

[jamie]
ariane is stressing out
about the lamb,

And then, therefore
stressing me out about the lamb.

Maybe we should've put them
in a little earlier.

I know, I'm sorry.

This is really rare.

[bleep] me.

[jamie]
we had it timed so that we were
going to start plating

Ten minutes out.

So ariane,
we have to start plating.

All right.
We have ten minutes.

Okay.

Are you ready,
or are you not ready?

[hosea]
you guys got an assembly line,
it'll be fast.

[ariane]
I think so too.

[jeff]
if it was me,
I'd wait a minute.

[ariane]
can you
give me two more minutes?
Yeah, two more minutes.

I want the lamb cooked.

[radhika]
jamie and I are
both kind of freaking out.

Like, I'm not serving rare lamb
to these women.

I'm good.

[jamie]
all right, we have
seven minutes, 58 seconds.

You guys, are you ready?
'cause I'm going to start.

Yeah, go ahead.
Yeah?

Three minutes.

This one needs salt,
back here.
Got it, here.

[radhika]
everyone's helping us.

I totally appreciate that.

Ay.

[jamie]
we have one minute,


Keep these plates
beautiful, guys.

[ariane]
nuts, nuts, nuts.

Thank you.
Thank you.

Perfect timing.

[jamie]
come on,
let's get it out then.

[jamie]
hi, ladies.
We had borrowed, so.

And what we decided
to do was actually borrow

From radhika's culture,
'cause she's indian.

So we did

An indian-inspired dish.

So what we have here is
a vadouvan-scented carrot puree.

It's an eastern spiced lamb
that was marinated in yogurt.

We have a little wilted kale
and then a little raita

With some toasted almonds
on top.

And then a smoked paprika oil.

Thank you.
Enjoy!

Enjoy it.
Thank you.

The lamb is delicious.

[dana]
you know what, it looks like
it's well-cooked for everybody.

Oh, I'm so happy.

This spice is so nice.

The spice is yummy.

It's wonderful.

The lamb was cooked perfectly.

I think it's really good.

There's really nothing
to complain about.

[gail]
everything just went together.

This dish
made me really happy.

[melissa]
we're the fourth course.

And we're ready to go.

I really want gail's shower
to be really special.

And I want her to enjoy the day,

'cause she's
going to rip us a new one

If she doesn't enjoy her food.

Guys, grab the corn.

I've got the corn.
Over there.

The far side.
Over there.

[leah]
I feel pretty good
about the dish.

But when I tasted the fish,

I thought that
it needed a little seasoning.

But I--I trust fabio
with his seasoning.

[jamie]
team blue just
looks kind of bland and boring.

And like,
not even remotely interesting.



Let's go.

All right.

Leave it alone.
Pick it up later.

Leah and melissa,
they want me to talk,

Because they think
that I will charm everybody.

[leah]
it's like 45 women,
and fabio has an italian accent.

Like, he's pretty charming.

First of all,
congratulations.

Thank you, very much.

And all of you
looks absolutely beautiful.

There...
[laughs]

[fabio]
any woman needs to hear
that she's beautiful.

So what a better way to start to
"you all look beautiful?"

Our inspiration
was the blue color.

So we came up
with the concept that blue

Remind of the ocean
to everybody.

That's why we decided
to do some chilean sea bass.

On the bottom of the fish,

There is
a roasted sweet corn puree

And some green swiss chard.

The green and the yellow,
in the light spectrum,

Come out blue.

[all]
ooh.

And then we have the fish
that is encrusted

With blue corn flour.

[all ooh's]

[applause]

[fabio]
ha! They bought it.

So, we'll see
if they bought the dish.

Just saying the
chilean sea bass choice,

Not the most politically
correct choice, perhaps.

This dish to me,
while it was delicious,

Felt a little bit like, um,
old people food.

I think it's underflavored.

I actually prefer a plate

That's a little more
challenging to my taste buds.

I do think the flavors
in the third course

Were more...Bold.

Mm-hmm.

Well, all in all,
I think it was a great job.

The food
all went out on time.

So I think, you all did
a very nice job

For gail's party.

We'll see you back
at the top chef kitchen.

Good job, guys.
Thank you.

[cheers and applause]

Whoo!

Cheers.

[gail]
first of all,
thank you all,

For coming and, um,

Sharing this evening with me.

I'm completely overwhelmed
and almost embarrassed.

But, um, thrilled
and very touched.

So, thank you
for being the strong,

And beautiful and smart
and extraordinary women you are.

Mazel tov.

Thanks.

[cheers and applause]

And I can't wait to get married!

This was just, conceptually,
a disaster.

[padma]
it's indefensible.

It was just a sad plate.

Whoo-hoo.
Yeah.

Ugh, I think I'm going
to pour myself a drink.

[laughs]

[ariane]
we can probably get
some more of that.

That challenge
was intense.

Hi.

We'd like to see the chefs
who made the first course.

The old course.

And we'd also like to see
the chefs who worked

On the third course,
the borrowed course.

Thank you.

Thank you.

[padma]
so both teams...

Are our favorites tonight.

Aw...

Ay, ay, ay.
[cheers]

I told you,
I told you.
Come here.

[laughing]

Oh, my god.

[tom]
the dishes were very good.

Uh, jeff, the sorbet
was fabulous.

Thank you.

[padma]
that was the star
of that course.

[dana]
the flavors were

Intense,

And it was really delicious.

[padma]
let's move on to

Our borrowed lamb course.

Who did the carrot puree?
I did.

It was really tasty.

I mean, you really
could taste the spice mix.

And it added so much,
I thought, to the dish.

[tom]
but it was also subtle.

Those were a lot of big flavors,
but it was very subtle.

That was
kind of the point.

We just wanted subtle.

Who cooked the actual lamb?

I did.

I think it was perfect.

I think it was juicy,
and very well-cooked.

And it was such a lovely,
lingering taste.

It was wonderful.

It was perfectly cooked lamb.

There were a few
who thought it was raw.

Before--
before it came out.

We were just waiting.
We were--

Biding our time,
we were waiting.

[ariane]
when you're actually working
in front

Of a clock that's ticking,
the pressure is on.

You know, so--
yeah,
totally different.

It just gets intense.

So, dana,
as our guest judge,

You have the pleasure
of announcing

Our winner tonight.

Well, the person who won

Made the most flavorful
component of the evening,

And that person was...

Ariane.

Me?

[applause]

And we have
a little something for you.

Oh, my god.
[padma]
so ariane, what you've won

Is a brand new set of
calphalon contemporary cookware

As well as a whole set of
the new calphalon

Kitchen electrics collection.

Thank you.

[ariane]
I'm excited that I won.

But I look at jamie,
and I know she's upset.

And that kills me.

So congratulations

To all of you.

Please send back

The other two teams,
thank you.

Thank you.

[cheers and applause]

Oh, my god!

[jamie]
well, the other chefs
have been saying to me,

That I'm always a bridesmaid,
but never the bride.

'cause I keep ending up
in the top three,

But not winning anything.

Don't be upset with me.

I'm not upset with you.

[jamie]
I'm bummed.

I mean like, none of us expected
anyone but me to win.

So I was really annoyed.

So they want to see
the rest of you guys...

Inside.
Let's do it.

Let's go, let's go.

Good luck, guys.

[padma]
you were our least favorite
in this challenge.

Let's start with team new.

[gail]
where I was
a little confused was,

How was it meant
to be eaten?

The whole dish
was totally meant

For you
to create your own sushi.

Which I should have said

When we presented the dish, and
I completely forgot to do it.

When we had it, it really seemed
like a something to sample.

It's a little bit of beef,
it's a little bit of rice,

[padma]
who did that sticky rice?

[eugene]
I did.

The sushi rice
came out

A little too sticky
than normal,

But I have a few recipes
I've used before,

To use that rice,
instead of wasting it,

By adding more texture
and flavors to the rice.

Adding things to it
doesn't camouflage the fact

That the rice was mushy.

[padma]
carla, were you happy
with the plate

That your team put forth?

Probably not as happy
as I should be.

There were a lot of components.

I allowed it to happen.

Eugene, same question.

No.

[padma]
daniel?

I was--
I was unbelievably happy.

[tom]
you have overcooked shrimp,

You have steamed beef,

You have sorbet
that was meant

To eat at the end
that melted.

I mean, this was just
conceptually a disaster.

Carla,
why were there mushrooms

On the bottom of your salad?

That was me.

I figured it would be
a nice,

Earthy flavor to the dish.

[padma]
carla, you did the salad,
though.

I did the salad.

Um...

What happened?
Why?

The mushrooms
were a last addition.

[tom]
did you think

The mushrooms
were cooked correctly?

Did you think
they were seasoned correctly?

I--I didn't taste them.

You didn't taste it?

[tom]
did anybody
taste those mushrooms

I did.
Before you put them on a plate?

You did?
I did.

You thought
they were cooked right?

[daniel]
I thought
they were seasoned perfectly.

[tom]
okay,
the mushrooms were pretty bad.

Are you still happy

With this dish?

Yeah.

Okay. Let's move on.

[padma]
okay leah,
why don't we start with you?

Were you happy with the plate
your team put forth?

Yeah, I thought
we were pretty creative,

With the way that we tried
to work in blue.

And um, overall,

I was pretty happy
with the dish.

I think a lot of the women
at the party,

That the criticism
that they had

Was that flavor-wise,

They thought it was lovely.

Texturally,
it was a little bit lacking.

I think one of them referred
to it as,

Um, "very old-people food."

Nursing home food.

[gail]
you know,
there was sort of a mush,

With puree, you know.

It just lacked a little bit
of texture.

[tom]
I didn't care for the dish.

It reminded me of the blues,
it gave me the blues.

It was just a sad plate.

And everything was fine.

But it just, again, it was like
another one of those safe--

It was complete opposite of

What they did.

[fabio]
so you guys, trying to cook

Perfectly a nice piece
of fish for 45 people,

Is played safe?

Yeah, I don't
think it's that difficult

To cook 40 pieces of fish.

I really don't.
I mean, come on.

Let's not get too happy
about cooking chilean sea bass

Correctly, because it's a fish
that you almost--

[padma]
it's a forgiving fish.

[tom]
it's a very forgiving fish.

Just...Yeah...
It's quite--

I'm not going to say that,
it's all right.

[padma]
we'll need
to discuss some things

And we'll call you back.

Thank you.

Hey.

What's up, guys?

I'm going
to pull down my pants,

Tell me if
I have another ass [bleep].

I got ripped a new one.

Fabio, melissa,
and leah's dish

Was oversimplified.

You know, if you were
opening a restaurant,

Is that a dish
that you would put on the menu,

And--and be proud of?

And I can't believe it is.

It was certainly
unimaginative.

[padma]
the new team was so sub-par,

It's indefensible.

This dish
really disappointed me.

Each one of them
made catastrophic,

Individual mistakes.

[padma]
you know, I think carla's salad
was the very brief

Point of light.

[tom]
if that's the bright part
of a dish,

Ooh, boy.
Yep.

We're really scraping the bottom
of the barrel here.

[gail]
I could tell, though,

That she was stewing in

Wanting to say

How she felt, and
she just wouldn't let herself,

To maintain her own integrity
and the integrity of her team.

[dana]
you know, a great chef

Does something about it.
Speak up!

The thing that I picked up
about danny

Was he did
very small components.

We had disastrous mushrooms.

[gail]
the components he made
went into a dish

That created a whole
and failed in doing so.

[padma]
he is lacking in some insight

About what his palate is
telling him and not telling him.

He likes that dish.

He likes that dish.
It's mind-boggling.

I was baffled by that.

You have my phone number,
right?

I got it.

Let me give you mine just
in case I [bleep]ing bolt.

[gail]
eugene messed up that rice

And he was trying
to argue that he knew

How to salvage bad rice.

I don't wanna
eat bad rice.

I don't care
what you do with it.

Toss it out and think
of something else to do.

It's hard to keep

Someone who made
so many mistakes.

In the case of eugene,

I wonder about his judgment.

Are we agreed?

Absolutely.

Yes.

All right,
let's get them out here.

Tonight's challenge
was pretty straightforward.

Come together and cook
for gail's bridal shower.

And I think judge's table
was pretty harsh.

And I think mostly because
this was very personal for us

And we were expecting

Just amazing food.

Team blue,

This kind of food is boring.

It's not going
to win this competition.

If you continue
to cook this way,

I don't see the three
of you being here much longer.

You guys can
leave the kitchen.

Thank you.

Team new,
usually when dishes go wrong

You can either point
to conception

Or execution.

In your case,
we can point to both.

This dish was
all over the board

And for many
different reasons.

You know, eugene,

Two major components
on the plate,

The rice and the shrimp,

Both overcooked.

You know, you talked
about being able to save rice.

The best thing you can do
with bad rice

Is throw it in the garbage
and start again.

Carla, you seem to have
enough sense about you to know

When things are going wrong.

You can't just let it slide.

Some of your actions
contributed to

This dish being
as bad as it was.

Daniel,

I don't think
you still believe

That this is a bad dish.

And a lotta things that you
contributed to the dish

Didn't need
to be there at all

And essentially you were
just wasting your time.

Quite frankly, I would love
to send all three of you home.

But we had to make
one decision.

[padma]
daniel,

Please pack
your knives and go.

Yeah.

Thank you.

I was very upset
they eliminated me.

I didn't think I shoulda
been eliminated at all.

I don't think the judges got,
really, what I was doing.

It was me.

You're going?
Yeah, I'm going.

Aw, man.

Really?
Yeah.

It's all right.
Whatever.

I think if I woulda thrown
people under the bus

I woulda been here longer.

Thanks, good luck.

[melissa]
could you do one thing
for me before you leave?

Yeah.
Just, can you do the--

[shivers]

[laughter]

All right, see you later,
chefs.

Bye, chef.
Bye, danny.
Take care.

[daniel]
I do feel like they made
the wrong decision.

But there's nothing I can do.
It's outta my hands.

You know, there's wrong
decisions in football games.

You know what I mean?

Barry sanders runs the ball.

The guy grabs
the back of his jersey.

The refs didn't see it,
but all the fans saw it.

So everybody's booing,
you know what I mean?

The ref makes the final call
and there's nothing you can do.

[padma]
next on top chef...

We've brought in someone

Who knows a thing or two
about home cooking.

[gasps]
oh, my god!

Hi, chefs.

[melissa]
martha stewart is a tough woman.

She's gonna be a tough judge.

Holy [bleep].

Oh, my god.

The fridge is warm!

I can tell you right now
I can't serve this.

I could make everybody
in the room very sick.

I don't wanna go out

Giving foodborne illness
to anybody.

This is garbage.

The stress is absurd.
The judges are coming.

They expect something.

They don't care
what happened.

[hosea]
you've got an event planned

And there's invitations
to hundreds of people

And whether
or not you're ready,

They're gonna
be there hungry.

This is good.

That was a bit of a shock.

Could he have tasted this?

'cause if he tasted this,
he would have understood.

[padma]
for more about
the recipes seen tonight,