12x07 - Restaurant Wars

[bunniefuu]

- Hey, that was rough.
- Yeah.

For our last challenge

we cooked Thanksgiving dinner using tools

and traditional ingredients from the 1600s.

- Goose is hard.
- Goose is real hard.

I feel very lucky that
I'm still here today.

I tackled something I was unsure of,
and I failed completely.

I absolutely 100% think
it was too much of a risk.

Stacy, please pack your knives and go.

We lost a good one today.

- Stacy is an absolute gem...
- Yeah.

And to not be overshadowed,
congratulations.

- Congrats.
- Yeah, congrats.

Congratulations, you animal, you.

- Perfect.
- That was my kind of dish.

You know, it was sticky
and gooey and savory.

- That was money.
- Then there were eight.

Who is ready for restaurant wars?

- You think that's next?
- Let's do that .

Congrats, buddy.

That was supposed to be
a side dish for my dish.

Eight chefs remain to
compete in the ultimate test

of culinary skill.

At stake for the winner,

a feature in Food & Wine magazine,

an appearance at the Food & Wine classic

in Aspen,

$125,000 furnished by healthy choice,

and the title of Top Chef.

There's the anxiety.

As soon as you get the
note from padma, you're like,

- ugh, my stomach just dropped.
- Yeah.

This morning at the
house at 1330 boylston,

there was a note from padma

that said to meet her at the revere hotel

at Boston commons.

Let's do this, guys.

Top eight. The halfway point.

Whatever we do today,

I'm guessing, is gonna be really big.

Good morning, chefs.

Good morning, padma.

Please help me welcome James
beard foundation's award winner

for outstanding restaurateur

of 2014, chef Barbara lynch.

Welcome, Barbara.

- Hey, chef.
- Morning.

Barbara lynch is a fierce female chef

and definitely someone to look up to.

Chefs, there's only eight of you left.

Does anybody know what that means?

Restaurant wars!

It is time for restaurant wars.

Barbara owns several restaurants,

some of the best in
Boston and in the country.

It normally takes almost a
year to open a restaurant.

You have one day.

You have to be on point as a team, honestly.

Communication.

You'll work in two teams of four

to conceptualize your
restaurant in this space.

Each restaurant will serve 100 diners,

including the chase sapphire vip guests.

The vips are dining
enthusiasts with great taste,

and they will be the only other
diners besides the judges

who will taste all of the
food at both restaurants.

We'll be eager to hear

what they have to say
about their experience.

Okay, chefs, please draw a Kn*fe.

- Who has first choice?
- I do.

- And second choice?
- I do.

Okay, you two chefs

have the privilege of picking
the teams for restaurant wars.

Okay, Melissa, who is it gonna be?

I'll take my buddy Doug.

Katie, who's your first choice?

Gregory.

Katie really play it smart
with Gregory. Great chef.

I was very surprised by
Melissa picking up Dougie.

I guess she likes to have cooks
that are shorter than her.

I'll take Mei.

- Katsuji.
- Oh.

My buddy Adam.

Adam, he's a strong chef,

but I'm a little hesitant
because he's borderline ocd.

I mean, he likes to be in control,

so I'm hoping we don't bump heads.

That means, Keriann,
you're going to be on Katie's team.

I feel a little bit nervous with Keriann

because she's having a tough time,

maybe doesn't have her head in the game.

Restaurant wars is not something
we can mess around with,

and I'm hoping we can
come together as a team.

As a team,

you need to decide who's going
to be your executive chef

and who's going to be your front of house.

Each chef must be responsible
for at least one dish.

We'll provide the terlato wines.

Take some time to menu plan.

Stay focused, and less is more.

- Good luck, chefs.
- Thank you, chef.

Oh, I am so pumped.
I am so pumped. I am so pumped.

Front of the house gm right here, yeah?

That's what I'm saying.

Okay, that's a sword I'm
willing to fall on, kids.

I wouldn't want anyone
else at that judges' table

describing our food but him.

He's so suave and smooth.

You guys need to figure out

who's going to be the executive chef.

Want it?

- Do I want it?
- I love to expedite.

You're on Top Chef, and you're
going to be the executive chef

of a restaurant in restaurant wars.

It's definitely risky
to be executive chef.

I'll be responsible for everything

that happens in the kitchen.

I came onto this show because my dream

is to run my own restaurant,

so I'm ready.

It, yeah, I'll do it.

Is that all right with everyone?

I actually wanted to step into
that role as executive chef,

but we all know women are better line cooks.

I'm With it.

I would love to be front of the house.

I think you should do it.

Keriann's gonna be doing
the front of the house.

She has an amazing personality. She--

- oh, thanks, Katsuji.
- No, no--

- warmth, grace.
- Yeah.

- She looks cute in a dress.
- Wait a minute.

- That's not why I'm gonna do it.
- No?

How do you feel about
being executive chef?

Um, I'd do it, for sure, yeah.

I feel good about being the executive chef.

I teach culinary school,

but I also own a pop-up restaurant business.

I really understand both front of the house

and back of the house.

So I definitely feel like this is gonna

help with restaurant wars.

I'm, like, super comfortable just,

like, banging the food out and just,
like, cooking.

Executive chef, cook,

- and cook? Okay.
- Yeah.

Katie has never been an executive chef

at a busy restaurant.

She has her pop-up things.

So Katie's good at--

uh, can somebody help me fill in the blank?

Good for her that she's taking a risk

but even better for us.

What kind of food are we gonna serve?

I think casual family style,
kind of like one big veg,

one big protein,
and then smaller plates to share.

So they are going to
be serving themselves?

- Yes.
- Yes.

It's 130 of everything.

- Are we all okay with that?
- I'm fine with it.

Family style is not simple from the front

of the house execution.

Dropping food on food is gonna be a show.

I have a volume of experience opening

some of the most high-end
restaurants in New York City.

And this family style thing,

it's not something that I
have a lot of experience with.

I'm not 100 on how the
sequence of service works.

I'm in the front making sure

that all the rest of this
goes according to plan.

And I got to trust you guys that

it's gonna be ex*cuted
exactly the way that I want.

- Otherwise I get sent home.
- Okay.

I'm feeling very, very confident

that my idea is gonna really work,

and I need Adam to kind of settle down.



So what do you guys want to do?

I'd be comfortable doing,
like, a Sri Lanka style.

Okay, I have a Chinese-inspired dish.

You, what about Japanese?

Yeah, Japanese, Mexican.

Mine's more like French.

Should we do by regions of the world?

- I don't mind doing that.
- Like, global?

Yeah, I like that.

Why focus on one specific area?

Let's hook it all together
into one international menu.

Mine will have ginger.
His will have ginger.

Is this cohesive enough?

- Yeah.
- Yeah.

- Okay.
- Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

It's two-sided.

After the last elimination challenge,

I'm definitely playing it safe this time.

Being in the background as a
line cook for this challenge,

I can take a backseat

and get really focused and get back on top.

You know, I've had to
fight my way through ups

and downs throughout my life.

Battling addiction from dr*gs and alcohol,

I was able to kind of refresh,
regroup, refocus,

and that's what I need to do right now.

I'll do this on my own.
I own my own restaurant, people.

- Dude, relax.
- I'm trying to relax.

I'm trying to relax.

What if we just do everything to go?

We are off to arhaus

and Peterson party center
to finalize some decor.

Decor is extremely
important in a restaurant.

It kind of sets up your whole mood

for the entire dining experience.

What about these candles?

- A little too...
- 499.

He has the worst taste.

Yeah.

This is gonna be a department

where I need to have a lot
of say out here, okay?

Maybe this?

I think we should go
with something real simple.

I see this. This is
incredibly simple to me.

What about these little pigs?

- This can be our theme.
- Yeah, no. Yes.

- And we got pork on the menu.
- Yeah.

- Get 'em, get 'em, get 'em.
- How many?

- Three of them?
- Let's get--

- we have three--
- four, there are four of us.

Melissa found these four piggy banks.

Four of us, four pigs.

There it is. The name of
our restaurant is 4 pigs.



That's how it's done.

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

- Aah!
- Hi!

Ooh.

Definitely like these.

I like these in the spoons, too.

Okay, so what can you
show me that can be done

in twos, fours, and sixes?

Now can we do plates?

Plates, plates, plates, plates, plates.

I feel great that Adam

is taking on the front of the house.

- 40, Doug? 40?
- Yes.


to fill the dining room.

But maybe he's taking the
little details a little too far,

and, you know, that can
really be your downfall.

Just in case someone
throws up on every single one

of those tables,
I want to be able to change that.

Either of you guys seen the clams?

The dishwasher didn't toss
them or anything, right?

No. My dish is ruined.

What the happened here?

Where the ?

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

Now that we have all of our furniture,

we are splitting up into groups,
and Gregory and Katie

are headed to whole foods.

And me and Katsuji are
headed to restaurant depot.

Watch out, Doug.

Spices were...

Katsuji!

Where the did he go?

Katsuji totally messed up our
plan of sticking together.

Katsuji! Katsuji!

Katsuji!

For Katsuji?

- Huh?
- Shrimp for Katsuji?

Yeah, yes, I got shrimp
and lobster for him.

They don't have pork shoulder.

No pork shoulder. Give him a call.

Let him know he's got to get his own.

- Hey, what's up?
- Hey.

They don't have pork shoulder.

They don't?

So do you have any there?

I'm gonna go check it out right now.

All right, bye.

I wish I would've brought my cart.

Me and my roommate in the winter
when we were broke line cooks

would always just buy pig feet and beans,

and we'd stew them together,
and you'd have, like,

all these kind of chewy, porky flavors.

That's gonna be my inspiration for my dish.

I think the other team definitely

has their work cut out for them.

There's a lot of different styles.

I'm kind of curious to Gregory's strategy,
taking the backseat.

I totally thought that he was gonna step up

with the experience that he has.

But lucky for us, Katie is kind of weak.

She's been on the bottom a lot,

and this will definitely work
to my favor in this competition.

- On to the kitchen.
- On the road!

How you doing, Adam?

You know, spending the majority

of my day in the front of
the restaurant tomorrow,

I will definitely be relying

on the kindness of my teammates
to get a few things done.

We're the dream team.

- It's finally here.
- This is awesome 'cause it's,

like, what everybody who wants to
come on Top Chef waits for.

The name of our restaurant
is gonna be Magellan.

Inspired by ferdinand Magellan,

who traveled the world to find spices.

Katie, what you doing, girl?

Peeling beets, buddy. Peeling beets.

Katie is making roasted
beets with a coconut curry

and a pickled cauliflower.

And Gregory is doing a haddock

and also a hoisin glazed pork tenderloin.

Katsuji is gonna be making a
pozole with dungeness crab

and then also a hamachi.

Those are going with your hamachi?

- Salsa.
- Oh, he's making salsa.

What a shock.

He's only done that every
day since I've known him.

I'm gonna be doing a vanilla
crepe with a burnt banana mousse

and a pistachio.

I serve it nice and chilled and cold,
so the other chefs

don't have to cook anything for me tomorrow.

I opened a restaurant in
New York a few years ago.

I think Dougie opened a restaurant

a couple of weeks ago.

But he only got the key--
that's the only thing

he did to open the restaurant.

This is pretty cool for Dougie.

He has never been an
executive chef in his life.

Good for you, little thing. Good for you.

The first time I was executive chef,

it was really, really nerve-racking,

so I'm not really gonna mess
with him too much tonight.

Katsuji's sad that we're
not working together.

hour and a half left!

I'm gonna be making salt-baked clams

with bacon wraps and sunflower seeds.

Clams are gonna be one per.

For two people?

No, one stuffed clam for one person.

That's fine, I think.

Doug's making his pork shoulder and beans,

which is braising in pbr.

How Portland hipster.

Mei's in brussels sprout hell.

Mei's making a chicken liver toast,

and she's gonna be executing
a brussels sprout dish.

And then Melissa's making a
scallop dish that's gonna be

served with kind of a mixed
radish salad with grapefruit.

Do you need the bottom oven, too?

Thank you.

Finally, the cobbler that Melissa's making

sounds phenomenal.

She's just gonna be using mixed berries

and some buttermilk biscuits
to serve as the topping.

Tastes like Thanksgiving.

We have 43 minutes left, b*tches!

Keriann's doing a crepe.

I think crepes should always be

made to order in order to
keep them nice and Fluffy.

She wants to pre-make them.

Tomorrow, I have plenty of
time to make crepes to order.

Am I gonna offer? No.

The truth, I only care about myself 'cause,

at the end of the day,
this is a cooking competition.

I'm freaking out here, man.
I'm freaking out.

Just got to start packing up.

Five, four, three, two, one!

- 4 piggies.
- 4 piggies.



We got to nail this today.

Me and Adam, both of our
asses are on the line.

He's got tons to deal with
at the front of the house.

I got tons to deal with
in the back of house,

so the hardest thing about this challenge

is gonna be me and Adam seeing eye to eye.

And if we do that,
we got nothing to worry about.

As long as the chef doesn't
freak out, we're good.

I'm not gonna freak out.

We think our concept's gonna win.

It's gonna take a lot of discipline,

but I think we have the team to do it, so--

I realize that our food is
very loosely tied together,

but I feel like the other
team's a little bit younger.

We're a little bit older.

So there's a little bit
of maturity in our style.

And I think that's gonna
be really important when

- you're building a restaurant.
- Good luck, guys.

- Teamwork, teamwork.
- Let's get out of here.

Smiles all around.

Oh, the green looks good, guys.

I love the green.

Oh, man, this is such a long walk.



- Cart coming through.
- Whoo!

Today, we have four
hours to finalize our menu

and have the restaurant ready.

I'm pretty good at the front of the house,

but Keriann, she's gonna look super cute.

- I picked those shoes.
- My name is Keriann.

You guys are gonna be with me today.

At the age of 22,

I was given the opportunity

to open my own restaurant on a cruise ship,

and it really taught me a lot.

Standard setup on the napkins

would be great on every single table.

It took me two years to
open my first restaurant.

Yeah, perfect.

So doing it in 24 hours is
gonna be beyond a challenge.

I'm gonna keep you just at host,
seating people

and then have these guys running.

Okay.

Just over three hours to service.

I'm getting as much of
my prep done as I can.

Coming out. Pardon, pardon, pardon.

The toughest part about
making this dish will be

getting the clams open,

cleaning the clamshells to be
used as a vessel to serve in.

But now, I'm gonna need to
run out into the dining room,

meet with my team,

and then get the restaurant's
actual dining space set up.

The kitchen is a 27-second walk away.

So that means that there's gonna be a lot

of coming back and forth.

How's it going, Mei?

I'm freezing the butter,

so the biscuits can get flaky.

The colder the butter,

the flakier your biscuits will be.

Learn to use nitro.

I'm definitely having a blast
working the line with Melissa.

We're homies, you know?

We understand each other,

and I honestly hope that it's
me and Melissa at the end.

Learn something new every day.



I'm gonna start stuffing Adam's clams,

- okay?
- Yeah.

Did he say his clams
are up here in this u?

The ramps and the shallots
went into a food processor

together and became this paste--

I'm not seeing your
clamshells anywhere, buddy.

Come back here.

I transferred them out of the
dish tray into a hotel pan.

Either of you guys seen my-- the clams?

The dishwashers didn't
toss them or anything, right?

No. My dish is ruined.

So what the happened here?

There's such a backup.

- don't give me those tickets.
- I see one table eating.

I know if I had a reservation
at this restaurant,

I would be really angry right now.

Oh, my God.

My clamshells are missing.

All of the clean clamshells.

This has got to be a joke.

I'm worried that all of my clamshells

might have just been carelessly
thrown away by someone.

And I'm seeing my life flash before my eyes.

All right, well,
we're gonna start shucking clams

and cleaning more shells, dude.

What I do know is that
we bought extra clams.

I just need to get them cleaned,
and I need Adam

to stop talking about it,
so we can start stuffing them.

Well, I mean, that's
what executive chefs do.

It's taking the show and turning it forward.

You know if we have more clams?

Yeah, we have to shuck
them and clean them, we do.

. Move.

There's no way I'm dropping the ball here.

And I need to get another 150 clams

clean as quickly as possible.

This is unbelievable.

How does a hotel pan of clams go missing?

They need to be at 41, the judges.

- The four-top.
- At 41?

Wait, I'm--wait, okay,
are we looking at this the right way?

Keriann was supposed
to train the waitstaff,

but it looks as though they
have no idea what they're doing.

Katie, you want runners
running the tickets,

or you want your servers
running the tickets up here?

Just the runners?

Whoever wants to bring it to me,

as long as the server

knows everything that's
going on at the table.

- You guys got that?
- There's lots of confusion,

whether it be the right table number

or whether it's who has what course.

I'm hoping that

that doesn't come back
to bite us in the butt.

I am gonna go back down,
and then you talk to them.

You guys have your ticket booklets on you?

- No.
- No?

Okay, why don't you go get those?





Well over 130.

Somehow,

I get myself to 150 clams.

Problem solved.

Ready to go.

I need to get suaved up for
the dining room. Hey, bud.

I'll be back in a second
with you in a minute.

I'm gonna get dressed up, okay?

Awesome.

I am prepared. I'm organized.

I'm ready for the doors to open.

Let's start this w*r.

Three minutes.

Are there any other last-minutey changes

- to anything?
- No.

- Maybe a few more onions.
- More onions.

Yeah, more onions would be awesome.

Let's roll this .

Welcome to 4 pigs.
You want to welcome the 24,

- and I'll handle the next party?
- Sure.

Awesome. Hi.

- Hi.
- How are you?

- Kristen.
- Keriann. Nice to meet you.

- Stephanie.
- It's a pleasure.

Nice to meet you, Stephanie.
Welcome to Magellan.

Thank you.

The chase sapphire party walk
in with Stephanie and Kristen.

I obviously watched them on
past seasons of Top Chef.

They both did really well.

I'm really excited to impress
this vip table tonight.

We are based on the traveler, Magellan,

who traveled all around the
world in search of spices.

The waiter will be right with you, okay?

Thank you.

- Could we all cheers?
- Cheers.

Nine haddock all day, Gregory.

Guys, here comes the six-top.

We just got to do that, like, 60 more times.

That's all.

We're going here first, 4 pigs.

- Hello.
- Hi.

We'd like a table for four.

Can I have your last name?

Now, I promise you I
have a reservation here.

I promise you we have-- I think...

Yeah, we hear that all the time.

- Top Chef judges.
- We are.

I'm so sorry.

That's the first time I
had to fight for a table

in a long time.

Tell Doug that judges are in.

Judges are in.

So the beets are

an Indonesian-inspired kind of flavor.

As for this, it's the pozole

and then the hamachi.

Please enjoy. Thank you.

So wait, did I hear that
you didn't like beets?

I would order these beets.

- Really?
- Awesome.

I would not order normal beets.

- Ooh.
- It's got a nice citrus.

Good evening, and welcome to 4 pigs.

We're serving everything on this menu

- as a family-style presentation.
- Great.

- Thank you so much.
- Thank you.

Having worked for such
great restaurateurs and chefs

such as Jean-georges,
Floyd Cardoz, and David Burke,

there's no way I'm dropping the ball here.

I have made this general
manager role my bitch.

Welcome to 4 pigs.

- Thank you.
- We love the pig theme.

- Thanks.
- Judges' table. Thank you.

- You're welcome.
- Four apps, judges.

Four apps, judges.

Hey, Melissa, I got their clams

in a saute pan in that top oven, okay?

Saute pan in the top oven, all right.

Restaurant wars.

To great chefs.

And to having you with us,
Barbara--it's always a pleasure.

- Thank you so much.
- How long on judges'?

- I'll walk the apps.
- Judge apps.

Let me know as soon as I can
fire their entrees, okay?

- I will fire their entrees.
- Love it.

I like the decor.

There's a deer with a do-rag.

That's Adam's do-rag.

That's a long walk with shaky,

"non-front of the house ready" hands.

Beautiful.

Your first course,
salt-baked clams with ramps, bacon,

and sunflower seeds.

Chicken liver toast with plum puree.

Please enjoy.

I like Adam's clam.

Could've been a little
salty in the beginning,

but then it all-- as I got down,
it was perfect.

It was a little heavy, a little dense.

But I thought the clam flavor was there.

I thought ramp flavor's there,
and bacon flavor's there.

Seasoning was right up to the edge.

I am so glad I wore sneakers.

I am running like a mother.

The chicken liver toast
Mei made is really tasty.

I really liked it with the plum.

I feel like I'm eating, like,
melted peanut butter and jelly.

- Yeah, which I didn't mind.
- Yeah.

I'm looking for two, four,

and a deuce entree.

Are they bringing double of everything?

Is that what they're doing?

So I'm not...

Third hamachi? Okay.

Let me check on that for you.

Gregory, 14 all day.

You just got a three and a four, okay?

- 14 pork?
- So that's 13 pork all day.

- Yep.
- 14 pork.

Pretty early on, we're getting backed up,

and there isn't really a sense

of unison between the back of
house and front of the house.

We're all kind of scrambling
to get it together,

and I'm trying to do my
best to get my food out,

to keep things going as best as I can.

- They--something--
- walk down with them.

Make sure they get what they need,
and then come back to me

with what you don't need,
and we'll just redo it again.

Those two ladies,
make sure you get with the kitchen

'cause they said they've
already three hamachis.

'Cause they're gonna run behind on orders

if that's how it's being done.

- Hamachi?
- One hamachi.

- Okay, table six?
- Table six.

Okay. All right,
I'm gonna go downstairs real quick.

There's a lot of confusion with
why tables already have food

although I've already crossed it off.

I honestly don't know what the is going on.

There's definitely some problems
in the front of the house.

Someone brought a Pinot--

- okay, so it was your mistake.
- One hamachi.

- One hamachi? Okay.
- One.

What's wrong, Katie?

I'm f*ring, crossing it out,

and she's coming up,
saying they don't have it,

but yet they--it's on the table,
and they're eating it right now.

I was kind of cracking 'cause
I was like, I'm sick of,

you know, making those guys do extra.

- So one hamachi, all desserts?
- Yes.

We're good? Awesome, okay.

Behind, behind.

I think Adam's doing a great
job at the front of the house.

You look around, people are happy.

There's a good pace to the dining room.

- The servers are happy.
- Yeah.

- Thank you very much.
- You're very welcome.

So your entrees,

starting with our braised pork shoulder,

baked beans, some pickled red onion,

and pickled mustard seeds over the top.

Seared scallops,
a radish salad with grapefruit,

and lastly, our fried brussels sprouts

with an anchovy-olive vinaigrette.

Please enjoy.

Maybe the brussels sprouts.

The acid is great when you
first have that first bite,

and then the more you eat,
you realize they're...

Too much.

- A little overdone.
- Put these entrees out.

- We got another one.
- All right.

The pork shoulder is really good.

Funny, we're in beantown, Boston.

- Yeah.
- This is great.

The pickled mustard seed
is really bringing it.

- Yeah.
- Delish.

Pork's seasoned right.

- It's tender.
- One of the two.

Give me one gluten-free, okay?

One gluten-free.

I think Doug is doing a great
job expediting tickets tonight.

We're communicating every step of the way.

That's exactly why service
is going so well for us.

All right, we got to roll.

This is the gluten-free on two.

Beautiful. Gluten-free, love it.

Melissa made the scallops.

The scallop dish is really good.

The scallop itself is salty.

So salty.

- Mine wasn't that salty.
- Oh, my God.

Can I get my little salt trays?

It's a little salty.

It's, like, overdressed a little bit.

- It's a little bit overdressed.
- It's, like, too intense.

This is judges' dessert.

Are we still doing good?

We're doing good.

My side of the kitchen is great.

I'm telling the girls exactly what I need.

They're calling back. We're getting food up.

I'm looking for entrees.

- Four, four.
- Four, four.

The family self-service is
working really, really well.

It's all about making things
as simple as possible.

But I feel like my team

and the orange team are night and day.

All right, I'm looking to fire
desserts on 22, 32, and 36...

They have not had it, right?

They had it? Okay.
So do that one more for vip.

- Order in.
- Table one.

- Table one.
- Orange team.

Orange team, down here, my man.

don't give me those tickets.

- Two hamachi all day.
- Two and two.

Table one. Good God, what is going on?

Now this--was this my table that wanted,

like, the--who cares?

Okay, right now what do you need for them?

Katie right now--

I don't think she has a specific way

of expediting the kitchen.

It just looks like an organized chaos.

Thank God I prepared way more than I needed.

Can you do me one more as
well as you're doing these?

On the fly, thank you.

I have a hot surprise for the table.

- Oh.
- Our buttermilk biscuit cobbler

and then cardamom cream for
everyone to share at the table.

It's a pleasure serving all of you.

- Thank you very much.
- Thank you so much, Adam.

Thank you very much, Adam.

I heart cardamom.

The cardamom cream makes this cobbler.

It's, like, kind of rustic but nice,

keeping with the style of the restaurant.

I like that it's not too sweet.

Cardamomy but not overwhelming.

Overall, I think the 4
pigs did a lovely job.

There were some mistakes,

but conceptually from start to finish,
it was really well done.

Adam did such a great job as a gm.

I'd come back.

Let's go see what the
other guys have for us.

We got great feedback.

Okay, I got your entrees

coming out on 23, 24 in about 2 1/2 minutes.

That's phenomenal.

Go shake that ass out there.

Whoo!

How was the dessert, you guys?

- Are you kidding me? Okay.
- No.

- Sorry.
- Three dessert.

The plates are coming
out a little bit slower

than I would've liked.

We have a full dining room.

I'm trying to keep everything under control.

I don't know why my dessert

is taking so long to
come out of the kitchen,

and the judges are going
to be here at any moment.

We really need to pull it together,

or it's definitely gonna be a problem.

Dessert, two.

The dessert is taking a little long.

Please sit. I'm gonna bring
some more settings for you guys.

- Sorry for the confusion.
- That's okay.

You still didn't get your pork? Okay.

Let me check on that right now.

- May I help you?
- Oh, hi.

- Yes, table for four.
- Hello!

We haven't been here yet.

- Hi.
- Hi, there.

- Welcome to Magellan.
- Hello.

Please follow me.

Oh, man.

That is not good-looking for a mousse.

I started to prepare
Keriann's crepes for her,

but her spread cannot be spread.

This is more like a ganache,

like something super hard,
so there's no way to spread.

Look at them.

I know it's--maybe put some cream,
something like that

- in the mixer?
- Oh, my God.

I don't think Keriann thought
the dish through knowing

that she wouldn't be around
to execute it at all.

Make it warm? Should we heat them?

As the executive chef,
I definitely have to fix the dish

up to my standard.

Give me a whole bunch right here,

and I'll blast them in the oven.

We need to heat them
up for just a few seconds

to make the crepes a little bit better.

Right now, this dessert
is ruining our service.

I truly don't know how
this is gonna go down.

She's pissed off that
I sent the crepes warm.

Katsuji, how would you feel if someone

totally changed your dish that way?

- It wasn't my call. I--
- so whose call was it?

I'm the one who got put
up here in the awkward role

of trying to be chipper and cheery.

Adam likes to talk,

which is a huge bonus for
the front of the house.

I worked front of the house
when I was an 18-year-old

paying my way in college.

We've affectionately named him Katsuji.

And I figured who could get mad at

a messed-up looking deer with
an America bandana on his head?

I am far outnumbered.

So, please,

leave it to me to pronounce
things like scallop and COD.

At some point I get a cold beer.

That's all I keep telling myself.

First ones for the judges
are coming up right now, okay?

- Great.
- We're gonna send beets,

hamachi, and pozole.

You want them to get all three at once?

Not just the two and then the two?

Let's hold off on the hamachi
for a minute for the judges.

I don't want to overwhelm them, okay?

Overwhelm what? No, let's just--

okay, then give it to them, yeah, fine.

Out of the frying pan, into the fire.

The judges walk out.

- My vip ten-top walks in.
- Oh, my goodness.

I like the sound of this menu better.

- It's cohesive.
- I don't know how far away

the kitchen was when you guys did this.

I feel like there's three
stop signs and an exit ramp.

I mean, I don't see her out here at all.

No.

And I don't see--

I see one table eating.

One two-top has some food behind me,

but...That's it?

Oh, there she is.

She should be putting on her sneakers now.

- I know.
- I was just gonna say she

doesn't look like she can
walk very fast in those heels.

So we have the roasted
beets that Katie made.

It's a Sri lankan curry base

with toasted coconut.

And then we have the hamachi

from Katsuji with a roasted poblano,
a blistered tomato,

habañero salsa, and garlic chips

and also Katsuji's pozole with a
dungeness crab and chicharrones.

So please enjoy.

I thought when Katie's
beets came to the table

they were really pretty,
and I was really excited to taste them

because the combination
of the Sri lankan curry

and the coconut

- was really intriguing to me.
- It's not a bad dish.

I think the curry is
actually really flavorful.

But it has no bearing

and no relationship at all to the beets.

- Right.
- It just didn't come together.

How many postres? Dos?

Two. Two for the judges.

Keriann, her whole dish was
supposed to be room temperature.

But Katie take the decision
to warm it up a little bit.

It's not my call. I'm not the chef.

I'm just a cook.

Katie?

They good? Yeah, nice. Yeah.

What about the two
dishes we got from Katsuji?

I kind of like the hamachi,

but red onion's a little overpowering.

I'm excited about the
idea of a dry pozole.

I think that's really cool.

What else, chef?

We're still waiting for our haddock.

Yeah.

So I thought that would've come out first.

Right.

So this is Gregory's haddock

with a spiced tomato, a garam masala,

and then some pickled mushrooms.

Okay, please enjoy.

I really like the pickled veg,

and I really like the seasoning on the fish.

The fish is nicely cooked.

I like the tomato.

I think he should've stopped right there.

One came in extra and
then the two for the judges,

and that's it after this, okay?



Yeah-- no, no, no, no, no, no.

- Three all day after this.
- Oh, okay.

This is another one of Gregory's dishes.

It is a hoisin pork with
bay scallops and xo sauce.

- Thank you, guys.
- Pork's delicious.

The pork's nicely cooked.

I like Gregory's scallop 100
times better than Melissa's.

These are not oversalted.

It's not oversalted or overcooked.

I--this caramel is .

Add a little hot water,
shake it up, and it'll be fine.

Entrees out. All we got is desserts.

Boom, vips, see you later.

Nice work, guys.

Hot, hot, hot.

All day, six desserts.

We're done?

I think I performed to
the best of my abilities

as executive chef.

This is what I do at my restaurant.

I'm sous chef, but I expedite service.

I mean, you have to structure
your kitchen for success.

We put so much work into it.

Adam k*lled front of the house.

We k*lled the back of the house.

I'm ready for a cold beer.

Big hugs.

Judges' desserts are on their way.

All right, here we go.
I need you to run four...

One for each?

As I go to serve my dish to the judges,

I notice that my dessert is hot.

Service is a mess,

and now my dessert is completely changed.

I could definitely be
going home for something

that is totally out of my hands.

I prepared the dessert for you guys.

A vanilla crepe with a burnt banana mousse,

a macerated cherry with ginger,

and pistachio.

- Thank you.
- Thank you.

There's no color on the crepe.

I have no idea what this even is.

But it's, like, dry as--

you could play hockey with this thing.

This just pisses--
this just pisses me off.

I'm not paying for dinner.

Dinner's on me, Barbra.

I'm out.

Did you have to make more crepes? Was--

guys, we still got to--

okay, they were hot for the judges.

- What?
- Okay, let's--

- what?
- That was her decision.

To make it hot?

- That's up.
- That wasn't my decision.

It wasn't my decision.

She's pissed off that I
sent the crepes warm.

It wasn't my decision.

Not focused, and there's not a leader.

And there's not--then--

Magellan has lost his way,

let us say.

Table 30, it's our last table.

All right, that's it.
That's it. That's it. That's it.

- You guys ready?
- Yes.

Awesome.

Maybe we should've sat down

and I should've explained
to you more how you do it.

You just, you know,
put a little filling in the middle,

then you fold it over kind of, that's it.

- Hello.
- Hi, padma.

We'd like to see the gray team, please.

Thank you.

You guys really exhausted?

- You look it.
- It's a long 48 hours.

It's a tough job out here.

At no point did that escape me.

I admire you.

You got respect right
away from your servers,

and it really showed.

Yeah, the service here
was very, very good.

- Thank you, chef.
- Yeah.

Listen, I thought the
clam dish had some flavor.

I thought the ramp flavor came through,

the bacon flavor came through.

It really was delicious.

I mean, you're cooking simple food.

It's almost like walking a
tightrope without a net.

So really nice work on that.

Thank you, chef.

I thought your dish,

Doug, actually, really had
a ton of flavor and was,

like, perfect in the setting.

We all just totally

scooped it up, couldn't get enough of it.

I think your flavor was brilliant...

- The flavor was brilliant.
- It was clean.

- It was great.
- Thank you, guys.

And it felt like it all came
obviously from one kitchen

that was led by one vision.

I think he did great
today as far as expediting.

He was just on top of every call.

We just banged food out all night.

Did this experience make you

want to open your own restaurant or not?

The whole point of me
doing this is, you know,

to step up and to push myself.

So it's like, why not? Let's go.

To me, I'm very proud
that you worked as a team

- and held it together.
- Thank you.

Can you send back the orange team, please?

- We can do that.
- Thank you so much.

- Thank you all.
- Thank you.

It's your time on the f*ring squad, guys.

Hard service?

When you were putting this together,
did you think that

you were gonna get tickets
that were going to be very,

very difficult to keep track of?

Dishes kept coming out when
they weren't being ordered,

or I don't know if they were refired.

I don't know how--

I wasn't in the kitchen
to see that part of it.

I think there was an issue in
the dining room with the runners

not listening to you,
or did you not have time

to educate them on the system?

No, we absolutely educated
the servers on the system.

Where were you, Keriann?

Because you weren't on the floor.

I don't know.

I really was trying to walk
around and hit each table.

I did actually hit each
table and every diner

that came in, and I talked to
them and explained the menu.

But I was trying to be on
the floor the entire time.

Were you worried at
all about how disparate

all your dishes were?

Yeah, it definitely occurred to me,

but ultimately, I wanted the chefs to be

comfortable with the dishes
that they were making.

The beet dish,
the dish never came together.

It was almost like two separate dishes.

The beets were absolutely beautiful

and cooked beautifully.

- I just wish...
- I should've put it together.

That it had been together a little more.

- Definitely.
- Barbara, what did you think

of Keriann's dessert?

You delegated your crepes, right?

I did, yes.

The crepes were soggy.

And I was unaware of
that until you received it.

They decided to heat it up.

It was definitely meant
to be a different dish.

My original concept is served cold.

It's not served warm.

Who decided to change the
dessert or refire the--

just put a little water in a pan,

like, super low, and I warm up the crepes,

and then I put the filling.

Katsuji, how would you feel if someone

totally changed your dish that way?

I would feel upset,

but I told her, I said it's not my call.

- Whose call is it?
- It wasn't my call, I--

so whose call was it?

Executive chef.

I guess at the end of the
day when I see a product

that if it's called a white
chocolate banana mousse,

I'm picturing, like, a mousse texture,

and this was not mousse in
my opinion, so, you know--

yeah, maybe, okay, yes.

At any point did you call Keriann in

to consult her and say,
"we're having a problem.

These crepes are tearing,
and this mousse is too thick"?

At that point we had started service,

but no, did not.

When you saw them going out,

did you ever think, like, "oh, my God.

Look at this dish. This isn't my dish,"

and run back there and say, "fix this"?

Absolutely, but at that point,

they were being walked out to you guys.

Not ours. We weren't the first
person you served that dish.

We probably were the last.

Yeah, I didn't get to get
around to see every dessert.

That was my mistake.

Okay, well, we certainly
have a lot to talk about.

We'll see you in a bit. Thank you.

That's not good. They didn't like it.

They didn't get it. It didn't work.

There's a clear winner,

and that's 4 pigs.

At 4 pigs, there was a unified vision.

They respected each other.

They worked towards the mission.

We got there together.

Wouldn't have had it any other way.

Adam did an amazing job

- in the front of the house...
- Yes, he did.

But Doug put together one really good dish

but also held the team
together in the kitchen

and did a great job.

Now comes the hard part.

Keriann had no urgency in the dining room.

I don't think Keriann
trained the staff well.

I agree.

Clearly, dishes aren't
coming out fast enough.

The runners don't know their jobs.

But I felt bad for Keriann

because clearly her dish was h*jacked.

Katie doesn't strike
me as the type of person

that would sabotage a dish.

I think she actually was
looking at a bunch of mousse

that was thick and stiff and said,
"I got to fix this."

But Katie, look, I mean,
as the executive chef,

I don't know if she held that team together.

She wasn't a leader.

I have a problem with her.

Katie was in over her
head tonight, quite frankly.

She thought she knew what it meant

to execute and also do a dish.

But I think she clearly did not
have control over her team.

Well, I think we have our answer.

I do, too.

Let's go back to judges' table--it's late.

All right, let's go, guys.

Ain't going home yet.

Someone's going home, that's for sure.

Someone's going home.

Tom, how do you think they did?

Restaurant wars is about the concept,

how well you execute that concept,

how well you work together.

One restaurant was clearly better.

Congratulations, gray team,
on winning the w*r.

Oh, God.

It feels good.

You know, I commend you all.

But we do have to have one winner.

The winner is...

Doug.

What I saw was a concept

that would be tremendously successful.

The entire team should feel really proud.

This was a team win.

Well done. You guys can step to the side.

I stepped up under pressure,
and I k*lled it.

I feel like I'm definitely ready to step out

and run my own restaurant.

Unfortunately, Magellan was
our least favorite restaurant,

and one of you will be going home tonight.

You know, Katie,
you put together one okay dish.

But there was some problems

with the food coming out of the kitchen.

And I'm not sure why you didn't

let Keriann know that you
were changing her recipe.

I guess you felt you had to
do that as the executive chef.

You know, Keriann,

you took out a big job in
the front of the house,

and you didn't have much experience,

and it really showed.

And your one dish, it was pretty weak.

Even though it was one shared vision,

people have to work together,

and you guys didn't really sort
of come together and do that.

That's why one of you will be going home.

Success in the restaurant business,

it's really all about collaboration.

The idea could be a singular idea,

but you still need an
amazing team to pull it off.

You guys just didn't come together.

Keriann, please pack your knives and go.

Thank you for the opportunity.

Yeah, Keriann was kind of a combination

of sort of disorganized service

and a dish that we thought was
the worst dish on your team.

Okay. I understand. Thank you.

The rest of you, please say
your good-byes to Keriann.

We'll see you next time.

Keriann.

Bye, lady.

I don't think there's
ever a good way to go out.

I mean, it sucks 'cause everyone here

wants to make it to the end, but...

I'm disappointed that I'm
going out for, you know,

front of the house,
when it's just not what I do.

I shouldn't trust my dish

with people that obviously
didn't respect my food.

This is the hardest thing I've ever done.

But I'm sad to be going.

I'm a mom, a wife, a chef,

so I've got a great family to go home to.

Next on Top Chef...

This is a sudden death quickfire.

.

If your enlisted chef wins,

he or she will rejoin the
competition immediately.

Oh, and there's one more chance
to return to the competition

because last chance kitchen is back.

Get the out of here.

Chefs, you won't be shopping today.

Padma probably has
people shopping for her.

We need a cleanup in aisle two.

We have 75 superfans coming in.

There's no more being in the middle.

You're top three, or you're bottom three.

But you're safe, Adam. You know that.

Why, 'cause I just float
around in the middle?

This is Adam's Top Chef history.

He's never that good,

but he's never that bad.

It sort of slimed around
your mouth a little bit.