- Five all-star Chefs remain to fight it out
in the final round.
Only one will win the grand prize--
a feature in Food & Wine magazine,
a showcase at the annual Food & Wine classic in Aspen,
$200,000 to pursue their culinary dreams,
furnished by Buitoni,
and the title that's eluded them all--
Top Chef.
♪ Top Chef: All-Stars 8x13 ♪ Fit for a King Original Air Date on March 9, 2011
-- sync, corrected by elderman --
It feels amazing
to have made it to the finals
here in the Bahamas.
Thinking back to the entire journey,
this season has been so fiery.
Can you do me a favor and let me expedite?
I could whip your cute little ass.
And really emotional.
As long as I am focused,
I can actually win this.
I want to say the money's kind of second.
I really came for the title.
- What's up, Chef? - Hi.
- This is familiar, huh? - It's crazy.
Good to see you. We've been here before.
On another Caribbean island.
Last time I was in the finals,
I was left standing up there
when someone else won.
I feel like I, you know, choked.
Stephanie, you are Top Chef.
What, really?
I have one goal, and that's to win.
- Ooh. - Hey, sweetie.
- The baby's coming soon. - Any day.
- Oh, my God. - Her name's
gonna be Embry Lotus. Both: Ohh.
The absolute scariest thing would be
that I'm not gonna win and I'm gonna miss
the birth of my child.
Talk about losing a lot.
I like this. This is kind of cool.
This is, I don't shave until I win the Stanley Cup.
Okay. I'm sorry you're gonna go home,
like, with that long beard.
Coming from New Orleans,
when I feel like I didn't do my food,
I just gave my power away because I didn't think
my food was enough.
You let your sous Chef talk you out of cooking
the food that got you to the finale.
This season, I won a couple times
doing my food
from my heart.
The winner is Carla.
- Carla. - Carla.
Oh, my God! [Blathering]
It is about the title, but, more than anything,
it's about redemption.
That's my cousin. [Laughter]
The final challenge in New York,
I put up a soulful dish
that I learned from my grandmother.
I was really close
with my grandmother when she passed away.
You did your grandmother very proud today.
Yeah. I hope so.
During the time off,
I kind of started training more.
I was working around all the top kitchens in DC.
Learned how to work with different pastries
and different products.
And I'm a lot stronger now than I was
when I was in New York.
Coming into the final rounds,
I feel like the underdog.
Almost going home a couple of times.
I'm thanking my lucky stars
that the judges decided to send all five of us.
- Who's going? - We're all going! Aagh!
[Cheers]
I am bringing it.
My knives are sharp. I'm ready.
All right, guys, let's go inside and see what happens.
- All right. - Let's do it.
We all walk into the fort, heading into battle,
and we don't even know what we're getting into.
As we turn the corner,
it's like, holy beep.
[Laughter]
I see Kevin, the winner of my season.
Then I see everybody's season winner.
I'm like, oh, my gosh, what are we doing here?
Hello, everyone, and welcome to the Bahamas.
I'm sure you all recognize Eric Ripert from Le Bernardin.
And I'm certain you guys recognize
the people on your right.
Stephanie, Hosea, Michael, and Kevin are all Top Chefs,
the winners of the season that you competed in.
I'm thinking, obviously I want Mike on my team
if we're doing a team competition
because he's one of the best Top Chefs that ever competed.
So I'm excited.
For this quickfire challenge, you're gonna go head to head
with the Chef that won your season.
Oh, [bleep], now I'm even more stressed out.
I got to compete against a guy who pretty much dominated
our season.
During my season, I knew I was the best one there.
And now this is my chance
to finally beat the winner of my season.
If you beat your season's winner
in this head-to-head cook-off,
you'll win $10,000,
furnished by Terlato Vineyards.
If they beat you
they take home the money.
Each Chef has a cloche at their station
hiding an ingredient that I chose myself.
Your dish must highlight the ingredient that I gave you.
Chefs, make sure you cook your food with your heart,
and good luck.
Hey!
Hey.
Sorry it has to be like this.
- You too. - This is all too familiar.
Your time starts now.
- Holy [bleep]. - What is it?
Veal?
We got to share a rack of veal.
Definitely I think throws me for a curveball,
'cause I'm expecting something a little bit more Caribbean.
Is that a duck?
Are you kidding me? In 40 minutes?
We open up the lid, and there's a duck.
I really didn't expect a whole bird in there.
You mind if I cut to it, Mike?
Take care of business.
One has to start butchering it
and hand it off to the next.
So maybe I can push off the butchering on Mike
to slow him down a little bit.
Not what I was expecting.
- I know. - All right, I guess
we got to split this up, huh?
- Yeah, okay. - All right.
What's at stake here is to prove to everybody,
to the haters, that I did deserve to win.
Definitely not feeling like I have it in the bag.
Does anybody have a chinois strainer?
All season, my stews and soups have been well-received.
So that's what I'm gonna do.
This time around, I think I can beat Hosea.
[bleep]. I would have never guessed that.
Oh, my gosh. I have to cook against Kevin.
I'm thinking to myself, okay, you can do this.
To stand out,
I need to blow them away with the flavor of my dish.
I just want to do well. My back is killing me.
[Indistinct chatter]
I have no idea what the [bleep].
Lucky me, I have two people from my season
that I get to cook against.
It's gonna be me versus Richard,
me versus Antonia.
But at least I have the chance of winning $20,000.
I'm pretty competitive,
so I like to win everything all the time.
You just have to cook something.
I know. I'm so out of practice.
There's 30 minutes left.
Been a while since we got to cook with each other.
I didn't come here to lose.
I came here to beat Mike.
I've got a somewhat perfect record.
I'd like to see that keep going.
You're only as good as the last plate you put out.
Do you know how to work this blow torch?
Mike was beet-red.
I think he had every piece of equipment
that they had there, he was trying to use.
- Got it? - Yeah, thanks.
A smoking gun. A circulator.
A pressure cooker.
You name it, he had it.
He wants to beat me and prove that he's still the best.
I can't let that happen.
- How much time? - 18 minutes.
Can I grab your oil for a sec?
I'm not having an easy run.
You know, like, I have my veal braising,
but I'm concerned that it's gonna be too salty,
too sweet, too aggressive.
How does this work over here?
I mean, I'm worried about everything.
Do we have any more inductions pans?
Every time I turn around, my induction burner's going off.
Temperature's going down. I'll turn it back on.
So I'm basically steaming veal in a pan.
My induction keeps turning off.
- Yeah, mine does too. - Yeah.
My burner is turning off.
I'm down to one pot.
So I put the rice in with my stew.
This is a bad move.
There's no way that my rice can cook in this pot.
I may have just shot myself in the foot.
I'm about to give you $10,000.
You can give it to me.
Hosea has to totally mess up
for me to win.
Ten seconds.
Hands up. Utensils down.
[Alarm sounds]
Hello. Hello, everybody.
Hello. I have barbecued pork with a little salad.
It's celery leaves, cilantro, shaved onion,
a little bit of celery, and citrus.
Don't be scared to pick up the ribs and eat those too.
I did a stew, so I have a little bit
of potatoes, the pork, the peppers, a little citrus.
You know, this is already tough,
because these are both really good dishes.
But I would say I prefer Tiffany's.
'Kay.
- Tiffany, you take this one. - Thank you!
It feels real good
to win $10,000
and beat the winner from my season.
This season,
I have not won anything.
So I was pretty excited about that.
This is a braised leg of lamb
and then goat cheese and rosemary polenta.
Being inspired in this setting,
I made a jollof rice, with a harissa lamb.
Did you mean for the rice...
To be so...
- To be undercooked? - No, I did not.
I don't even try to talk my way out of it.
I would go with Hosea.
- Thank you. - I would agree.
Tom? Oh, it's unanimous.
Can't get past undercooked rice. Yeah, I know.
Congratulations, Hosea.
[Sighs] I'm so disappointed.
I did a little bit of a veal scaloppini.
Underneath it's a tapenade,
and then there's a poached egg on top.
I did the veal roasted on the bone.
Underneath you have a puree of leek and almonds.
And then a saute of mushrooms, arugula, raisin.
I mean, on one hand, Antonia, I like your flavors.
But the veal is really tough.
Stephanie, I think the texture of your veal's good,
the egg is great, but there's so much going on.
It's tough, because I got to tell you,
I'm not a fan of either dish.
Forced to choose, Antonia.
- Hate to win that way. - Sorry.
I am a bit confused by the egg on top of the veal.
But your dish, Antonia, is dry and hard.
So, Stephanie, I have to make you the winner.
Guess I'll break the tie.
I'm gonna have to go with Stephanie.
Congratulations.
I'm winning on a crappy dish.
Thank you. Well, Richard,
you got your work cut out for you
winning against that one.
They don't have great confidence
about Stephanie's dish.
So I'm feeling like I have a chance
of winning this thing.
Veal I did two ways.
Seared the loin,
and I braised the cap of the veal.
You balanced the flavors. You are winner.
There's a good play on salty and sweet.
Hands down, you're winning on this one.
Off to a good start.
$10,000. Quickfire win.
There's an intimidation factor
and a momentum that feels great.
Michael, what did you make?
Basically it's a citrus-cured
and smoked duck breast.
And then I did a duck leg
in bacon vinaigrette
and a burnt leek and coffee Pesto.
So here we have
a cashew-dusted spiced duck breast.
Then I took the leg and made a mushroom jus.
Nice.
I'm gonna go with Michael.
Thank you.
I think your dish was very interesting and complex.
However, I like the dish of Mike the most.
Thank you. Thank you, Chef.
I think they're both really nice dishes.
You know, the only thing I'm gonna have to go to
is who I think handled the duck better,
and that's Mike's.
Oh, wow. Thank you.
So you won, Mike. Congratulations.
Thank you.
It was very important to win to beat Mike, my nemesis.
Ain't nothing gonna stop me.
Quite honestly impressed that Mike Isabella
beat Mike Voltaggio. He's a tough competitor.
I don't underestimate anyone at this point.
Top Chefs, thank you for joining us.
- I'm so proud of you, though. - Thank you.
These guys are in for some tough times.
It's All-Stars.
They're gonna have their work cut out for him.
This fryer's supposed to be doing--
Seriously, like, this is gonna start something.
- I know. - Oh!
All right, let's get to your elimination challenge.
Tomorrow night, we've been invited to a dinner party
by Bahamian royalty to welcome us to the island.
And as a show of gratitude,
we suggested that you do the cooking.
[Laughter]
I hear I'm cooking for royalty.
Just thinking to myself,
you still have to cook good food.
So I'm still gonna cook the same things
that I would cook for someone who is not royalty.
It's truly an honor for us to be included
in such a prestigious evening.
Guys, you're all great Chefs. Please make us proud.
In the meantime,
you can all head over to The Cove at the Atlantis,
where you'll be staying for the duration of the competition.
See you tomorrow. See you tomorrow.
Good luck.
We arrive at Atlantis. It's just gorgeous.
All: Whoa! Wow.
The suite is amazing.
Oh.
This thing is monstrous.
It's gorgeous in here. [Cheers]
Carla and I decide to stay roommates.
We kind of rely on each other a little bit,
which was really nice, to have someone you can talk to.
That's my bff.
Wouldn't it suck to be here today and gone tomorrow?
Like, not to be here? You know what I mean?
Like, that's why we got to work that much harder.
I was really happy that I got this quickfire,
because I think now I'm finally feeling
my groove a little bit better.
- Oh, my God. - Did you find our room?
- Yeah, let's go look. - Winning Top Chef this season
would allow me to open up
the restaurant of my dreams.
Be the hardest-working person that showed up for this.
I've cooked every single piece of fish that I think swims
in a hundred miles of this island.
I would be prepared to go chase down a goat
and kill it and cook it.
After a beautiful day,
our first day in the Caribbean,
and for all of us being here,
I'm stoked.
Cheers. Cheers, guys.
Mike, you take your lobsters yet?
- Yup. - Where are those timers?
We have 2 1/2 hours of prep.
We have everything we need in the kitchen,
and we are cooking for "Bohemian" royalty.
This is our first elimination challenge,
so the atmosphere in the kitchen today is kind of hectic.
We are all running. No, I'm serious.
I'm doing a hash with it.
When you hear royalty, I really think of people
who've eaten everything and who's traveled the world.
And, honestly, you don't want to put up a plate of bull[bleep].
You got allspice, Antonia?
Yeah, it's on the station.
147.
Is this the same thing as the old school ones?
You want to toggle the fahrenheit to celsius.
You know how to do that? Huh?
My dish is gonna be spiny lobster
with some pulled pork
and pickled turnips.
I got it. I'm a professional.
I think my dish relates well to the challenge
because it's got a sense of refinement to it.
Yeah, I'll get right on that.
The dish that I came up with is lamb, bacon, brussel sprouts,
blue cheese, and hazelnuts.
It's an upscale dish.
It's a dish that you would serve
for the King and Queen of the Bahamas.
Can I turn this oven all the way to 500?
Yeah, it's just potatoes in there.
I've worked in the Bahamas a couple of times.
And I'm hoping
that I can use that experience
and it helps me.
I don't think this oven is still hot either.
My dish is pork medallions and apple chips.
Carla, did you ever find a rack?
A rack? No.
Mentally, I need to get over being on the bottom
for the quickfire because it's creating self-doubt.
- Carla, how are you doing? - I don't know.
I psych myself out, and the reason I think
I do better when I'm underestimated
is because I'm afraid of failing
if I really believe that I'm gonna do it.
And that's the trip that I have to go through.
It could be anybody's bad day.
- Right. Exactly. - That's really the truth of it.
All the people that have tried something
and have been underestimated,
it's for them.
And you asked me, "do you think you can win
doing what you do?",
and I said to you, "if I can't, I might as well leave well."
Okay.
11 minutes.
Are you going to use all of those containers?
No. Go ahead.
Carla, Tiffany, and Antonia
played it safe just to get here.
And I think they're playing it safe right now.
It kind of makes me a little upset.
[bleep].
For them, it's an honor to be here.
For me, it's not an honor to be here.
For me, it's an honor to win, and I'm gonna fight
till I get there. [bleep].
Don't worry about the sauce because it's hot.
Carla, what do you think?
I think it needs some salt and some spice.
- Some heat, you mean. - I'm worried.
[Police sirens wail]
Some police officers come on motorcycles,
and a big truck comes
to pick us up.
Every time I get a police escort,
I'm usually on my way to jail.
Thank God those days are over with,
and now I'm going to see royalty.
I mean, if we're getting a police escort,
that means the food's got to be good.
What if we walk into this mack daddy amazing kitchen?
Like, that is [indistinct]. Fantastic.
[Police sirens wail]
Not many palaces around here.
This is how they roll.
As we're driving, we're kind of in the middle
of these rows of restaurants,
and it seemed very local.
I have no idea what's going on.
I don't know. Is it a festival?
Jesus Christ. [Chatter]
[Festive music]
♪ ♪
- It's Junkanoo, kid. - Who?
♪ ♪
O.M.G.
What in the world?
I don't know whether I should be happy
or scared.
[Indistinct chatter]
Mike's getting his New Jersey groove on.
Go on, Mike, with your bad self.
I am called the Jersey two-step.
I have two steps-- to my right and to my left.
♪ ♪ [Laughter]
I'm very nervous now.
I'm planning on doing a four-star dish,
and my head just starts spinning really quickly.
And I start thinking about options
for my dish just in case.
♪ ♪ [Cheers and applause]
Hey, Chefs. How's it going?
I'd like to introduce you to Bahamian royalty.
This is Vola. He's the King of Junkanoo.
Hi, Chefs, and welcome to the Bahamas.
Duh. The King of Junkanoo.
How could that have escaped me?
Junkanoo is a celebration of life
in the Bahamas.
It can remind you of Carnival,
Mardi Gras.
It's a similar celebration.
You'll be cooking for the King, as well as his crew.
We're cooking here at Twin Brothers.
I'm thinking I got this one in the bag.
My dish is perfect for these people,
so I'm excited. Other people, not so much.
Definitely not the King and Queen that I was expecting.
I'm like, [bleep], my dish is just not gonna be good here.
Good luck. Your time starts now.
Eek! Let's go.
We get into the kitchen,
and it was kind of scary because we didn't know
what to expect. That's it?
This is it, y'all. Fryer, a microwave...
- And the flat top. - All we have is a flat top.
- Yeah. - Okay.
It's difficult because we have to cook for 50 people,
and there is limited kitchen equipment.
It's gonna be a little bit tougher to execute,
but I'll make it work.
[Grunts]
Is this fryer supposed to be doing this?
Yeah, this one is really hot.
That second one.
I drop my plantains in the fryer,
and the one to the right is lightly smoking.
I think we need to say something about this fryer.
Like, this should not look like this.
Seriously, like, this is gonna start something.
I know, and I tried turning it down.
It's starting to smoke.
It's gonna catch fire.
Oh!
Okay, the fryer just caught fire.
[Fire alarms wailing]
- Uh, Chefs... - What?
- Oh, man. - Shut up.
Seriously, like, this is gonna start something.
I know, and I tried turning it down.
It's starting to smoke.
It's gonna catch fire. Oh!
Okay, the fryer just caught fire.
Okay, I got it, guys. I got it.
Move the basket. I got it.
I got this one. We have a fire.
All right, don't-- don't move it.
Don't move it. It's gonna poof like that.
The fryer, it's the last place
you want to see a fire
because you just set about 35 gallons of oil on fire.
We've got serious fire.
This could be a pretty bad situation pretty quickly.
- It's not off. - Fire in the hole!
- Antonia, your food. - Should we keep cooking?
- Yeah, I got to move my-- - Should we keep cooking?
Even before we ran out the door, everyone was like,
"put towels over your food."
Clear the kitchen.
Shut it down. Everybody out of the kitchen.
Everyone was more concerned about their food
than their own personal safety.
Clear kitchen.
There was a lot of smoke.
At this point, I just hope that the kitchen's still okay.
[Fire truck alarms blare]
What did you do?
Nothing, the fryer was just turned all--
you didn't see the smoke?
Did actual flames start? All: Yes!
You didn't see it?
Whatever it is, I mean,
it went on fire, we're out of the kitchen.
Hopefully we get to cook tonight.
What's the matter?
I'm trying to change my dish.
Change your dish to what?
Go with your gut. Go with your heart.
I'm already in a bad headspace.
I think I'm in Antonia's head a little bit intentionally.
Antonia's strength is well-executed food.
So if I can mess with her head, she might make a mistake.
If I start trying to change my dish right now,
I'm gonna be in trouble.
I think she's a threat, and this is a competition.
At some point, I'm gonna want her to bomb.
It appears that thermostat may have been off
or faulty or something.
Possibly something was too wet when it went in there.
Whatever happened, the fryer caught fire.
The fire protection system was pulled
to put out the fire.
It did the job but also completely contaminated
all the food that was there.
You can't cook in here.
- Hey, Chef. - Hey, Chef.
Uh, Chefs, um...
We cleaned up the fire.
But unfortunately the food,
it sort of has chemicals on 'em and stuff.
- What? - Ah, man.
- Shut up. - So we're starting over.
- Oh! - Really? Is it that bad?
Yeah, well, there's chemicals from the Ansul System.
But they have to scrub the whole kitchen down.
So we're back in the kitchen prepping, recooking,
and serving dinner later on tonight.
It's just a really weird situation.
You know, you just push so hard,
and then you're at that turning point where you're just about
to start plating, and then there's a big fire,
and you lose all your food,
and now I have to start from scratch again?
Like, [bleep].
Obviously the same food that you chose
to the best that we can, it'll be there.
But we are allowed to recalculate our dish?
- You can change the dish. - Totally?
Totally. Doesn't matter.
- That's amazing. - Yeah.
Yeah, I'm not so happy about this new development
because I feel like, you know, I had one up on everybody.
So let's get back at it.
- Okay. - Bye, Chef.
We have to re-prep it up and cook again
for the same night, and it's been a long day.
I mean, everyone's a little stressed out at this point.
Anyone got salt?
- Salt! - Salt?
I have salt at my station.
How do you find a can opener?
- It's frustrating having to re-prep the dish
because I think that I could have executed
my dish well, and we'll never know.
I'm choosing to do a new dish
because that's just the spirit
of this competition.
It's about coming up with ideas on the fly.
It's not about going into a recipe book
and just doing something that you did yesterday.
Behind you. Hot.
Now my dish is going to be
cannelloni of pickled turnip with braised lamb.
Behind. Richard and I are the only ones
changing our dishes.
I decide to do my version of shrimp and grits,
where I'm gonna do a crispy shrimp
on a pork-infused grit
to take it less formal
and more traditional.
Five minutes.
[bleep].
Let's go.
Down. Oh.
Excuse me.
We get back to Twin Brothers.
The kitchen is clear.
And this time we have some countertop fryers
to use.
[Beep] Oh.
Maybe it's okay.
I decide to fry my apple chips
because they have gone limp,
and, instead of doing the medallions,
I decide to cook the entire pork tenderloin
in the fryer.
Here I am again
doing a technique
that I would never do,
but I think it will cook more evenly.
I'm crossing my fingers.
Having to do the prep over again,
it's actually easier the second time.
Kind of looking around, and I feel like, you know,
my execution is better than everyone else's.
I'm just pumped up.
I'm not here to get a free vacation
in the Bahamas.
I want to win this challenge.
Since this is something I know how to do...
I just--I feel good.
- Is that dish for me? - No.
It's an undercooked piece of pork.
So I take my pork tenderloin,
and when I cut it and plate it,
I realize that the center is raw.
I'm trying to get that tenderloin cooked
so that I can actually serve it.
But I have to MacGyver this.
- Can I get you a drink? - Sure.
I think you know what the King drinks.
[Laughter]
I'll have a kalik.
- Hello. - Hello. How you doing?
- Good evening. - Percy, this is Padma.
The King of Junkanoo
and our host today.
Nice to meet you. This is Gail.
- Hi. - Gail. And this is Eric.
Hi, Percy. I'm Eric.
We're gonna be dining together.
Cheers to you, and thank you for welcoming us.
Cheers to Junkanoo.
All: Cheers. To the Bahamas.
So let's go taste the food.
Thank you.
Nice.
Junkanoo has to be the end of a show.
For you, it was the beginning.
It's a great way to kick off the first elimination.
It is. It is.
One minute and 30 seconds.
Can I get a sweep to the line?
Watch out. Behind.
Usually good, bad, or indifferent,
I know when a dish that I've done
feels right.
And as I'm plating the dish,
I'm like this doesn't seem like this came from me.
My friends are gonna talk about me smearing this.
I hear you saying I've gone to the other side.
I think, by the end, the pork and chips
are coming together. I like the sauce.
My dish is as good as it's gonna get.
[Timer beeps]
It tastes like chicken, doesn't it?
[Laughs]
So this is Carla's dish.
And Carla made a pork loin with sweet potatoes
and apples. It's beautiful.
Mm.
It is sweet.
- It's an apple. - It's caramelized.
But it's very close to a dessert.
A little sweet, yes.
But I like sweet.
My pork is underdone.
That's looking raw.
Unfortunately.
It's creative.
Potato chip.
Well, this looks interesting.
This is Antonia's.
She made a fried shrimp with grits.
A little slaw on top.
It has a lot of flavor. It's very tasteful.
It's spicy, and it's not really salt.
It's nice. I think Antonia's dish,
the shrimp is a bit overcooked.
There's a meat that sort of seems, like,
buried underneath, but has no distinct flavor
or character at all.
This little shredded carrot thing on top was, like,
Howard Johnson's called and they want their garnish back.
Did Antonia change her dish a lot
from before the fire?
She completely changed her dish from the fire.
She was using lamb before.
Fried shrimp is a great idea.
Yeah.
I'm talking to myself. I finally made the dish right.
Oh, no, I want a bed.
I want to cross my fingers.
Well, we're not about to hit any bed anytime soon.
This is Mike's dish. He made a sous vide chicken,
served with, like, a lobster hash.
A little surf and turf.
The sauce is nice.
I like the seasoning.
The iodine make it very unpleasant to my palate.
I love the sauce in Mike's dish.
There was surprises, and when you taste it,
there's a lot going on.
But I thought the white meat
was a little bit dry.
The dark meat, though,
that he incorporated into the hash
I thought was delicious.
I think it's a dish fit for a King.
You got a minute, Blais.
- Oh. - Oh.
- Thank you. - This is Richard's dish.
He made a lamb. It's roasted loin,
a braised leg wrapped-- it's a cannelloni,
but instead of pasta, it's actually a turnip.
And this is totally different than the dish
he originally was gonna do before the fire, right?
Yes.
It's amazing what you can do with food.
[Laughter]
Isn't it?
Richard did a great job with the lamb.
I can taste the mustard.
But it's very delicate.
It's not very pungent. No.
So he's using the turnips
to make the skin of the cannelloni.
It's a little bit undercooked.
See, I actually-- My favorite part of the dish
was the cannelloni. - Oh, really?
Yeah, only because I think that there's a way
of presenting it, and I think it's also a clever way
of saying, oh, it's a cannelloni, but it's not pasta.
My food is [bleep].
It's disgusting.
Who are you talking to?
- Myself. - No, don't do that.
Talk to somebody. What's wrong?
I'm just a little upset.
Like, I just feel like... No, no, no.
You guys don't do that, please.
Don't do that right now. Please.
Very tasty.
Ooh, I think there's some food coming.
- Hello. - This is Tiffany's dish.
She made a roasted pork. There's a dirty rice.
So it has all the gizzards and stuff
from the chicken that she had.
She made a little tomato relish and a little bit of slaw.
How does the rice taste?
It has a nice seasoned flavor.
The meat is very tender.
Nice spice to it as well.
I really enjoyed it,
but it didn't show us anything exciting.
I wish she had shown us just a little more,
pushed a little more.
Tiffany put together a nice dish.
It's fairly simple. Yeah.
Especially because she's cooking for royalty,
right, in this challenge. Yes.
- So... - That's right.
[Laughter]
I think mine had
a little too much salt.
- Oh, yeah? - Yeah.
I adjusted after that one, but...
I just think that, you know, some of it was good,
some of it was interesting.
I think maybe it's because the challenge
was a little bit misleading to them.
I think they were thinking
there would be a very upscale environment.
I wonder if the fire spooked them a little bit.
It might have. I mean, to have
to start all over again is a little disheartening.
Your energy isn't as up.
You're not as raring to go when you have to start
and stop like that. It's possible.
All in all, it was--
I think they did very well.
Yeah.
Percy, thank you so much
for welcoming us to the Bahamas.
It was a wonderful evening.
Well, it's better in the Bahamas.
[Laughter] That's what they say.
And now let's get back to judges' table.
- It's not bitter, right? - Mm-mm.
Is it too rich, too salty, or anything?
No. The consistency's really nice.
Blais is the odds-on favorite by everyone here.
When I win, then he's gonna be hurt.
Well, as usual, man, my dish could be awful
in ten of many different ways.
In retrospect, I kind of wish
that I didn't change my dish.
I know when I don't do well.
At this point, I'm just hoping that somebody else's mistake
was just a little bit worse.
I'm [bleep] exhausted. Let's get out of here.
All right, guys, let's go.
My meat was unevenly cooked.
To be totally honest, was not proud of tonight.
All I got was fryer grease.
So tell us about this nut theory.
If nuts were musical genres,
peanuts would be like, you know, rock and roll.
Walnuts are very close to the peanuts,
almost like British rock.
[Laughs]
An almond is very, like, elegant.
It's like ballet. It's like classical.
Hazelnuts are like hippie.
Hippie nuts. Oh, yeah.
- Pistachios? - It's like pop.
- What about Brazilian nuts? - Ooh.
Are you supposed to eat those, really?
They're always in a lot of nut mixes.
Only because they take up space.
Exactly.
That was a good distraction, Carla.
Our new home for a couple of hours.
Ohh.
It's been so long since we had a judges' table.
- Hate it. - Hate it?
The process of it.
I second-guessed every dish I put up this season.
I just hate everything I [bleep] do.
That's the point. That's the problem.
I mean, that's not-- that's a bigger issue
than right now.
If there's no difference in your feeling
when you do well and when you don't do well,
how do you distinguish inside?
I don't, unfortunately.
I was looking around at everybody else's food.
I'm like, [bleep].
Everyone else is miserable too.
[Laughter]
And then I said,
"they're probably feeling exactly how I'm feeling."
And I said, "stop it, Carla. Do what you do."
Yeah, but today's not what I do.
That's why I feel, like, sick to my stomach.
Good evening.
- Good evening. - Hello.
We'd like to see all of you, please.
Thank you.
Here it is.
Chefs, tonight we had a wonderful celebration,
but unfortunately your meal as a whole
missed the mark, and one of you will be going home.
Halfway into the cook, there's a fire.
Yeah, it was tough.
But they're gonna be tough
from hereon in, so get used to 'em.
Carla, did you change your game plan
the second time around?
I planned to do the same thing.
The one thing that was different
were my apple chips.
I was amazed at how crispy your chip was.
But it was too sweet.
It wasn't the apple chip that I had intended.
But I needed some-- I had to put something on it.
You know?
My meat was unevenly cooked.
It was quite pink in the center.
I think Gail's being kind.
It was-- it was pretty raw.
And there was a reset
because of the fire.
You had a chance to rethink this.
Why did you... - But you all--
that batch was the only one that was like that.
And I'm sorry you all got that one.
- Well, some of us-- - well, not all of us.
My piece was perfectly cooked.
And I think Tom was jealous.
- Antonia. - Initially when you said
to cook for royalty, I was gonna do lamb
with fennel butter, and when I arrived
to the fish fry, I was like,
I can be a little less stuffy about it.
I just changed my entire dish
and, you know, to be totally honest was not proud of tonight.
The shrimp were overcooked,
and it was very, very dry.
Fair enough.
I just wasn't quite sure about where the meat fit in.
That's what tripped me up.
It kind of looked like that beige mystery meat
that, you know, you used to get
in the school cafeteria.
I know.
What was it? Was it pork belly?
It was shoulder.
- Why? - I was hoping to just bring
just more of a richness to the grit.
The problem is, once you put meat in there,
it's no longer creamy grits.
It's stringy meat and grits.
I found the dish to be just odd.
- Tiffany. - Flavor-wise, I thought mine
was good. I mean, it was very rustic.
I would have liked to see something a bit more complex
and a sauce that made the dish not as dry.
Yes.
That was in my head as well.
But it was weird to me with the rice, kind of had--
I didn't-- I don't know.
I wanted more of that ginger-tomato jam.
I didn't get enough of it.
And when you put the word curry into the description,
we were kind of expecting this punch of flavor,
and we couldn't really find it.
Maybe I shouldn't even have called it, like,
curry slaw.
Maybe I lost focus a little bit.
- Mike. - I liked my dish.
It was a little bit different.
You know, I mean, I enjoyed the nice, roasted chicken
with that flavor off the lobster.
I thought the flavors worked nicely together.
I thought the sauce was the star of the dish.
It was nicely made.
I thought the lobster was nicely cooked,
and the components,
they were many, but worked together.
Thank you.
I agree. I think that the sauce
did bring everything together,
and it had a great richness.
You really tasted that lobster.
But I thought the breast meat was dry.
Okay.
I thought the dish had a lot of complexity,
but every element was making sense.
Thank you.
Richard. What did you think of your dish?
I mean, honestly, I hate everything I do.
To be candid. Okay.
I thought both lambs were nicely cooked.
I thought the seasonings were all right on.
Could have used another element, 'cause all it was was, you know,
the mustard and lamb, and the turnip.
I brought some dehydrated apple,
and the humidity killed it.
That might have done that. I don't know.
I like the idea of the cannelloni.
I thought that was smart.
It was a great way to contain the braised lamb,
and the mustard was really great.
I disagree with Gail for the cannelloni.
It was too soft.
I put the turnip in the pickling liquid.
As it sat in the pickling liquid, it softened up.
If I get through tonight, I need to work
on my vegetable cookery. You got to get better
each and every day, so I agree.
You show that you master a lot of techniques,
and I appreciated that.
Eric, as the guest judge,
please announce the winner.
For us, the dish that was the most harmonious,
well-executed, and delicious
was the one from...
Mike Isabella.
Oh, wow.
[Applause] Thank you.
- Congratulations, Mike. - Thank you.
I'm stoked.
And I think that beating someone
like Richard Blais could really change his mental game.
I really do. He gets really,
really stressed out about a lot of little things
because he cares so much.
Richard, you're also safe from elimination.
You can all return to the stew room.
We have a decision to make.
Congratulations, Mikey.
- Thank you. - Congratulations.
Thank you.
I want to win every time,
so I'm disappointed that I didn't win the challenge.
Second place sucks.
Sorry for you guys
having to sit through this.
So Tom, I made this pork dish that--
I put it in the fryer, and then I finished it on the grill.
I mean, that's his vision of what I did all night.
And I didn't.
Based on the comments, I would think it's Antonia.
- See? - But...
My shrimp was overcooked.
No, you could not eat mine.
But Eric said, you know, he ate his
because his tenderloin was cooked perfectly.
That's the point.
I mean, one out of four doesn't keep you here.
You know, I think we could find fault
in any one of these dishes.
I mean, any one of them could really go home.
Yeah.
Each of them made some technical mistake
in each dish that they prepared.
Carla made that dish that was so sweet
it was almost a dessert.
That chip to me was just grease.
It was like a doughnut that was, you know,
fried in some really bad grease with sugar on it.
My biggest issue was, I could not finish eating the dish,
because the center of my pork loin
was pretty much completely raw.
Both the major components of Antonia's dish
had problems with it.
The shrimp, you saw it, they were dry.
The grits were watery.
And then with the meat in there,
it just didn't make sense.
Which was sad because Antonia knows
she can do better.
Tiffany's dish, pork and rice,
tomato jam, nothing wrong with it,
but it's not exciting, and so it wasn't a good dish.
It's almost street food.
It was just sort of middle of the road.
I certainly am never going to think about this dish again.
Won't remember it tomorrow morning.
Yeah, you kept saying you didn't like the jam,
and they loved it. Yeah.
I think we know who made the worst dish tonight.
- Mm-hmm.
Yup.
Let's get them out here.
Chefs, tonight's challenge
was to cook for the King of Junkanoo and his crew.
The three of you cooked food
from your heart and from your soul,
but it didn't go far enough.
It was very basic, and, at this stage
of the game, we need something more exciting
with more punch, more spirit, more life.
Tiffany, your pork was nicely cooked, nicely seasoned,
but missing an element, maybe a sauce.
You knew coming here you have to give more.
Carla, we got a lot of sweetness
from the sweet potato and the apple,
but really the downfall
was the pork was just really undercooked.
Antonia, shrimp and grits, we've seen it.
Not a good version at all.
For one of you, you'll have a short trip to the Bahamas.
Carla, please pack your knives and go.
Thank you so much.
This has been amazing.
And I appreciate it.
The judges made the right decision.
I didn't have a winning dish.
I wanted to go home making a really good dish
that I was proud of.
And I think that's disappointing.
[Sighs]
I think, in the end,
undercooked pork just really did her in.
It's me.
Come on, D.C.
One of the best things about actually being here
is the personal growth and the self-acceptance.
All right, make mama proud. All right, Miss Carla Hall.
- Bye, Carla. - Bye, guys.
Doing Top Chef again, hands down I'm a better Chef,
and it will change me personally just because there's been
a sense of doing what I want to do
and acceptance of myself, which, for me,
is--is some kind of personal victory.
Next on Top Chef All-Stars...
- Ooh, jeez. - Whoo!
Padma in a bikini. So good morning.
I see smoke over there.
Okay, guys, so this is, like, some campfire stuff.
Ah, [bleep]. We're in trouble.
Oh, my God.
Where's the conch?
- We got to go get it. - Oh, my God.
There are sharks out there. I'm pretty sure.
I can swim, but it's definitely not my strong point.
I'm a hot mess out there.
- Oh, my God. - Whoo!
Is your lobster undercooked?
I thought I had a shot to win, but then you get, like,
a smack in the face.
For more about the recipes seen tonight,
-- sync, corrected by elderman -- go to bravotv.com.