- Previously on Top Chef...
- The winner of the Last Chance Kitchen is...
- I am not happy to see Bev.
She's off in her own Bev-land.
- Watch out for my basket. - Sorry.
Were you guys surprised when I came back?
- No.
- And we were all excited
'cause we thought we were the final four.
- If I get eliminated because Beverly takes my spot,
I am gonna be so pissed off.
I paired it with a smoked oyster crema.
- I'm just not a big fan
of this particular oyster sauce at all.
- Ed, please pack your knives and go.
- To the final four. [Glasses clink]
- Four chefs remain, all hoping to win
a feature in Food & Wine magazine,
a showcase at the annual Food & Wine classic in Aspen,
$125,000...
Furnished by Healthy Choice
to bring their culinary dreams to life,
and the title of Top Chef.
♪ Top Chef: Texas 9x15 ♪ Culinary Games Original Air Date on February 15, 2012
== sync by elderman ==
- It feels great to be in Vancouver.
Yet, there's still so much more to do.
The biggest difference
between the Sarah that walked into San Antonio
and the Sarah now
is I've had time to learn a lot about myself.
My goal is to stay calm and be a really nice person.
- It's so good to see you. - Hi.
- Paul. - Hey, what's up?
- Good to see you. - Good to see you.
- Come here. - How's it going?
- Paul, Sarah and I have a special bond.
We've been through this since day one together.
- How are you?
- I think with Beverly, personalities clash.
So it's a little weird seeing her.
- Toyota time.
- I feel fortunate and blessed
to even have this opportunity.
My great-grandfather on my father's side
fled from China to the Philippines
to start a new life for his family,
and I've always felt like I had that responsibility,
being that I'm his eldest grandson.
So that is what I'm pursuing here,
trying to win Top Chef.
There's a letter.
- Oh, no! - Oh, no.
- [Laughs]
- "Chefs, welcome to British Columbia, Canada.
"Head up to Whistler and meet us at the top of the mountain.
Bundle up. Padma."
- No! - [Laughs]
- Oh, my God. - Yes!
- It was so stressful.
Now, looking back on it, I get upset with myself
about how upset I got in certain situations.
- Yeah.
- It feels surreal to be back,
especially after the mentor challenge,
when I almost got eliminated.
So, to win the whole thing would mean the world to me.
- It was totally awesome. [Laughs]
It was--it was pretty intense-- - Look at this tree.
- [Laughs]
- Sarah and Lindsay have never respected me as a chef.
Coming from the Last Chance Kitchen,
I really do have a lot to prove,
but having that second chance taught me
I have everything it takes to be Top Chef.
- We're here. All right.
- Wow. It's, like, really beautiful.
- I'm glad you like the, um, orange pants.
- Wow. [Giggles]
[Gondola rattles]
- Whoa, this thing's fast.
- I'm going back to my... - Wow.
- I'm not sure what's gonna happen
on top of this mountain today.
I'm just picturing, like, this skiing relay race
where we're going down the slope,
picking up ingredients to make a final dish
at the foot of the mountain.
- You can get a little motion sickness when you sit down.
- Yeah.
- I'm like, "Holy [bleep]."
There's a lot of wind, and there's a lot of snow.
Everything is just the total opposite of Texas.
I'm glad not to be in 115-degree weather.
But I'm also not that stoked to be in 5-degree weather.
[Gondola rattles] - Oh, jeez.
- [Laughs] - Oh, boy. Oh, boy.
- The first challenge back has a lot to do with the psychology.
I'm thinking if I could just blow them away
the first challenge, that would be a huge advantage.
- Hello, chefs.
And welcome to British Columbia.
- Hello.
- Whistler was a prominent venue for the 2010 Winter Games.
- So it's only fitting that we're gonna start
with our very own culinary game.
Only three of you will move on
to the final rounds of the competition.
There are three events.
The winner of each event will win $10,000.
For the first event, you'll each cook a dish
on a moving gondola.
- A moving gondola. - [Laughs]
- [Exhales sharply]
I get motion sickness,
so I'm like, "Oh, [bleep], what am I gonna do?"
- The peak-to-peak gondola
is the fastest unsupported span in the world.
- [Chuckles]
Up here at 7,000 feet above sea level,
the altitude alone can present a challenge.
- When your gondola reaches Blackcomb mountain peak,
you'll have to jump out, get a new ingredient,
and use that new ingredient in your dish.
You'll be serving the judges
at steeps restaurant on Whistler Mountain.
Let the games begin.
- I hop into a moving gondola.
I'm out of my element, and I'm nervous.
I definitely feel like I gotta get
out of my head and just focus on the challenge.
I'm a little nauseous.
Even though I'm nervous,
I've gone too far not to push myself through this.
I'm gonna go with lamb for today.
[Sighs] [Bleep].
It's crazy out here.
I gotta get ready to roll out, pick some stuff up.
- I see more ingredients than I thought.
So it's kind of making my decision
of what I'm gonna make more difficult.
Holy [bleep].
I grabbed salmon, cut off the belly...
[Bleep], there's scales on that. I'm not using that.
Holy [bleep], it's cold.
I can't open anything.
I am freaking out.
I'm not really finding the one direction I want to go.
[Bleep].
- Gosh, what do we have here?
I have to make a decision of what I'm gonna cook.
We have two induction burners and two saucepans, the chinois,
but real basic.
I think I'm gonna do a tartare, just to be safe.
[Utensils clattering] Oh, God, it's upside down.
It's really cold in the gondola,
and I'm thinking a cold dish is gonna be the best way to go.
So I'm thinking something raw would be good.
Sour cream would be a nice sauce.
Okay, still have some time.
- Whoo, balance.
I got a couple of ideas.
Cooking at high altitudes
is very different than cooking at sea level.
Water boils faster.
Something that you do all the time
and you think always works
quite easily could be a disaster.
This thing moving is not easy.
All the burners are tipped at different angles
and keep rocking back and forth.
So it's very difficult for me to cook.
All right, I'm a little nervous.
- Whoa. Oh, [bleep].
Once we hit Blackcomb,
I have to run out of the gondola,
pick out an ingredient and use it in my dish.
I pick the wasabi paste.
A little bit of a nice burning heat
would go with the lamb.
My [bleep]'s not cooking right now,
and I'm starting to think
that maybe this isn't the best choice for me.
I didn't get the caramelization I want on the lamb.
So I take my lamb loin off the lamb rack,
and I slice that in half to get smaller pieces
so I can make sure it cooks.
There goes the bones.
- Whoa.
It is, like, very nauseous in here.
You really have to open each container
to find out what ingredient it is.
So I go through every container.
Oh, my God, what am I gonna use?
I don't wanna use wasabi. I don't wanna use coffee.
So I end up choosing the prune juice.
I think that maybe I can deglaze the chorizo
with the prune juice
to give kind of a sweetness to the dish.
Everything freezes.
Oh, well.
And I'm thinking, "Oh, my God."
Wow, it's really crazy out here.
- I open the jar with the horseradish in it,
and I think, "Hmm, this could really
actually enhance my dish."
Okay, here we go.
I have part of my sauce started,
which already has white anchovies in it,
but the horseradish would actually compliment
that as well.
I'm afraid of heights, so I'm not looking outside right now.
- I'm really hoping
that there's some kind of piece of produce out there.
And I just feel like none of this is something
that I can incorporate into what I've already started.
So I grab the prepared horseradish.
So afraid that's gonna go flyin'.
Horseradish-- that's a very intense flavor,
so I've decided to turn that into a little vinaigrette.
I hope it won't overpower what I'm already doing.
A level place to cook is always a lot nicer too.
- Oh, [bleep], we're moving faster.
It's really hard to plate when things are moving.
Not my finest plate.
This plate is not right.
It's not exactly how I want it.
It's not the gondola's fault.
It's not my motion sickness' fault.
It's just my fault for not executing.
- I realize that I didn't make enough salmon.
Oh, my God, I feel like a wreck.
- Hi, Paul. - Hi.
- Paul, I'd like to introduce you to Gretchen Bleiler,
professional snowboarder, Olympic silver medalist,
and four-time gold medalist of the X games.
- Hello. - Hi, Paul.
- What was the new ingredient you picked up?
- Wasabi.
I did some lamb loin
with some lightly curried and roasted enoki mushrooms.
There's a little bit of wasabi creme fraiche,
and there's a light gastrique that has fresh juniper in it.
- It's difficult to gauge time in the gondola,
because there is no clock.
At the last moment, I chop the pancetta,
mix it with a little bit of the creme fraiche,
and that's my sauce.
That was a tough one.
- Hello. - Hello.
My new ingredient was the prune juice.
It's a chorizo sausage
with a sauce of caramelized onions,
prune juice, with caked gooseberries,
pickled mushroom, and almond.
- Something else I can make crispy?
Because it is such a risk to serve a cold dish,
I find capers, and I throw them in the oil
to make sure that this is
complex enough to win the challenge.
It's gonna rock it! Yeah!
I'm amazed that I came up with a dish
that I would totally serve in my restaurant...
[Laughs] In a gondola.
Hi. How are you?
- Thank you.
- I made a salmon tartare,
and I did a white-anchovy horseradish,
sour cream creme fraiche,
as well as a little crispy panko,
a little crispy fried capers,
just a little simple cold dish.
- Cross our fingers and hope this is worth a damn.
As I'm arriving, I realize that
I didn't make enough salmon.
Oh, my God, I am about to step out of here
and be eliminated.
And I grab the salmon, cut it in half.
But I feel like a wreck.
Whew!
Hi.
I made seared salmon
over creamy red quinoa with chorizo.
On my second stop, I grabbed horseradish,
so I made a little horseradish vinaigrette.
And I finished it with a little bit
of, uh, creme fraiche sour cream.
[Exhales sharply]
- Tom, what'd you think of Paul's dish?
- The combination of things were good flavor.
I think the meat was under-seasoned.
But all in all, I thought you did a nice job,
all things considered.
- Yeah.
- The meat was a bit unevenly cooked.
But I love the seasoning on the enoki mushrooms.
- Cool. Thank you.
- The wasabi I really love combined with the lamb.
I never would have known
that you had cooked this in a gondola.
- Thank you.
- Tom, what did you think of Sarah's dish?
- I wish I tasted more of the prune.
As you talk about the stone fruits with this spice,
it all makes sense.
But that said, it's a very nice dish.
- Thank you.
- That gooseberry gives the acid to it,
and that, I think, is the key to this dish.
- Thank you so much.
- Gretchen, how do you think Beverly did with a cold dish?
- I love the crunch that you gave it.
I thought that was unique,
but I wasn't expecting a cold dish.
- I always think that a good tartare needs to be ice-cold,
and so, you got that part down.
[Laughter] The flavors are great.
There's a good amount of acid in here.
I think the horseradish really made the dish.
- Considering you were on a very rocky gondola,
the knife work's pretty great.
- Thank you.
- Lindsay's dish.
- Love the combination
of the salmon and the meat together.
The salmon is perfectly cooked.
Under the most ideal conditions, I don't think
you could've cooked this any better.
- Thank you. - I agree.
I love the combination of the salmon, chorizo, quinoa.
Overall, I think you did a great job.
- Thank you.
- All of you are making this very difficult.
- Not only will the winner win $10,000...
They'll also be the first chef in the final round in Vancouver.
- Oh, my God. [Laughs]
- So that person won't have to cook in the next two events.
- Wow.
The gondola was tough,
and I can only imagine it's gonna get worse.
So I really want to win this.
I just have this gut-wrenching feeling
that maybe I didn't do enough.
- I think we all were expecting maybe
at least one person to really stumble, but no one did.
All these dishes were really well thought out.
- Unfortunately, Paul, you came in last today.
Sarah, you took third place. - Okay.
- That leaves Lindsay and Beverly--
clearly the two standout dishes today,
but one's gonna take the gold, and one's gonna take a silver.
- And the winner of this event...
is Lindsay.
- Oh, my God.
- Good job. - Thank you.
It feels really good to take home the gold today.
It's gotten me off on the right foot.
And it's awesome that I have a guaranteed spot.
- Whatever difficulties you found up there
is not apparent on the dish at all.
- Congratulations.
That means you've won $10,000, furnished by Terlato
and an automatic spot in the final three.
- Awesome. Thank you.
- Lindsay moves on to Vancouver.
Now it's between Paul, Sarah, and myself,
which makes my heart drop,
because one of us will be eliminated tomorrow.
- We'll see you tomorrow at Whistler Olympic Park.
All: Thank you.
- Check out our digs.
- This is what I'm talking about.
- We check into the Fairmont Chateau Whistler.
My restaurant Aria is actually in the Fairmont Hotel Chicago,
so I'm, like, totally freaking out.
I'm like, "Is this a good sign?"
- Cheers. [Glasses clink]
- So two more. - Yeah. Two more.
- I feel stressed, because in this first round,
I failed so badly.
It's a wake-up call for me to accomplish what I set out to do,
which is to win Top Chef.
I'm just looking for closure--
either, you know, make it or we don't, whatever,
as long as it's done.
- I didn't think it was gonna be as hard as it was.
It's definitely freaking me out. I'm a little freaked out.
I hope I don't mess up tomorrow. - Tomorrow.
- So that two-- whoever's in the two,
it's gonna be, like--
- Ooh, that's gonna be a brutal battle.
- And we know what Bev has done after Last Chance Kitchen.
- Yeah, she comes out of nowhere.
So you can't underestimate her at all, you know.
- No. And I don't. Absolutely not.
Beverly has already been eliminated once.
She has nothing to lose at this point.
Now Beverly is ready. She's focused.
She is that silent horse.
She wants to be meek and timid
and that people don't see her,
and then she likes to attack like a tiger.
- We arrive at the Whistler Olympic Park,
and we see our judges and a handsome young guy.
I'm not sure who he is.
- Good morning, chefs. All: Good morning.
- I'd like to introduce you to your guest judge--
Canadian Olympic gold medalist in skeleton...
Jon Montgomery. Welcome.
- Thank you very much. Good morning, chefs.
- Hi. - Hi.
- On Jon's winning run, he was traveling 90 miles an hour
headfirst on the ice.
- Whew.
- In this event, you, too, will have to move very quickly
on the ice and adapt to the elements.
And this is your pantry.
- [Laughs] - Uh...
- How do you get it out?
- Oh, my God. [Laughs]
- In this event, you, too, will have to move very quickly
on the ice and adapt to the elements.
And this is your pantry.
- Wow.
- [Laughs]
- Uh...
- Oh, my God.
- How do you get it out?
- You better pick your ingredients wisely,
because you'll be picking away at the ice blocks to get them.
- [Laughs]
- Oh.
I've never used an ice pick before.
But this is the final round, so I imagine myself, like,
just breaking these things apart like, uh, she-ra or something.
- You will only have one hour to thaw your ingredients
and make them come to life in a dish.
- Sometimes fresh food is not available,
and flash-frozen is the next-best thing.
At the end of the day, you just have to make tasty food.
- I have to win this challenge.
If Paul wins, then it would be Beverly and I.
I'm really nervous if I have to go head-to-head with Beverly.
She wants to prove that she deserves to be here,
and she's a fighter.
- I've spent almost my entire life competing on ice,
and through my efforts, I was able to earn my country
an Olympic gold medal.
- Wow.
- I hope through your efforts here today,
you guys can get one step closer to your ultimate goal
of becoming Top Chef.
Good luck today. - Thank you.
- Your time starts now.
- I run for the crab leg,
but Paul gets there first.
Oh!
A lot of the ingredients were, like, so frozen into the blocks
I couldn't even tell what they are.
- Come on!
I feel like I'm chiseling, chiseling, chiseling,
but nothing's happening.
I don't even know what it is.
It's taking so long.
I'm worried about being able to thaw my ingredients.
[Exhaling sharply]
It's not breaking.
Ah!
- I get the crab, which is gonna be my protein.
My adrenaline is pumping.
- [Bleep] Open!
[Grunting]
I start attacking the ice blocks like a madwoman.
Banging it does nothing to the ice.
Let's break the steak. - [Laughs]
- God damn you.
- Looks like I got some peas.
Trying to chip as fast as I can
with a really, really sharp object.
I look like Psycho.
- [Imitates screeching]
- I'm getting chills.
I thought we were watching Sharon Stone in Basic Instinct.
- Yeah, exactly. [Laughs]
- Oh, dear!
- Bev, be careful with that spike.
- Come on.
- What is that?
- Looks like I got scallops.
- I'm going for some kind of fruit.
- I'd rather find the ingredient I want
than just start making something,
which is what happened to me yesterday.
- Here we go.
[Grunts, growls]
- Let me drop another one on that.
- Yeah, please. Thank you, Paul.
- I'm more than happy to help Beverly and Sarah,
because this challenge is about the food
and not about how many ice blocks you can smash.
- Yeah.
Yes.
Without Paul,
I don't think Beverly or I would have any food to serve.
You're my bitch.
Aah! [Laughs]
I was imagining ten minutes to get my ingredients,
and it's more like half an hour.
I am getting really worried.
Breathe deep, Beverly. Breathe deep.
- I see some peas and some spinach,
and it looks like some ancho chiles.
I choose vegetables because they can thaw as they cook.
My plan is to make a pea and spinach soup
holy [bleep].
Paul, what are you making?
- King crab, scallops, mango butter, and red wine.
- Excuse me.
Can I use some of these spices? - Uh, yeah.
- Aha, garlic.
- Hey, Sarah, you like the cold, or you like the heat of Texas?
- I like the cold.
- Man, you're supposed to be from Houston.
- [Laughs] I am from Houston.
- It's cool. You're from Chicago now.
- No, I'm not! - I understand.
- Don't worry. I'm an expert at this knife.
- 14 minutes.
- Does anybody have oil?
- [Bleep]. Oh, well.
I burned my red wine gastrique.
I had given the rest of my red wine to Bev.
I go with plan "B,"
which is to make a chutney out of mangoes.
I'm just praying that it's gonna work.
Hey, Bev, what'd you grab?
- I'm making a seared scallop
with a citrus red wine reduction.
Cook this couscous.
There's no liquid to cook with,
so I grab some ice shards and put them in the pan.
- This is still frozen.
To my horror, the soup begins to separate.
The cream was frozen,
and now it's broken with beads of white fat,
like split-pea soup gone wrong.
[Hand blender whirs]
- You have five minutes, chefs!
I blend the soup as high as I can with the hand blender
to try to fix the problem.
I don't want to have to cook again for the next event.
[Timer beeps] - Time's up. Utensils down.
- [Exhales deeply]
- Hi, Sarah. - Hi. How are you?
- Good. What did you make?
- It's a pea and spinach soup, flavored with turmeric,
garnished with almonds and king crab.
- What was the hardest part of this challenge?
- Finding the ingredients and having everything frozen.
So, when cream is frozen, it kind of wants to break.
- I thought the flavor was really good.
The predominant flavor I get is spinach.
It really comes through.
- The almonds just seemed a little heavy
because the consistency of the soup is so thin.
- The crab was a great choice,
and, you know, Paul helped you out there.
- Yes.
- Hey, Paul. - Hello.
I did poached king crab in brown butter
that's been spiced with garlic, cayenne, and turmeric,
with some toasted almonds and chutney with orange marmalade.
- I especially love the mango and crab combination.
I thought that was actually really beautiful.
My only issue, actually, with the mango,
was that it was just a little bit frozen.
- Well, I thought the crab in the almonds was exceptional.
- Thank you. - Thank you, Paul.
- Thanks a lot, Paul. - Thank you.
- I did a seared scallop
with a red wine orange reduction,
buttered peas, corn, and couscous.
- So you were hacking away pretty wildly.
- [Laughing] Yes. I was like...
- Were you picturing any of the other contestants
while you were going to town on that block?
[Laughter]
- I could think of one or two she might want to take down.
- No. No.
- I was impressed with the sear that you got on the scallop.
It had a lot of flavor.
The sauce was a little bit heavy.
It made it off balance.
- A lot of your predecessors haven't gotten couscous right,
and you did.
You really did well. - Thank you.
I'm feeling really nervous.
I really want to make it to Vancouver.
- We're all very impressed with this outing.
But unfortunately, only one of you
will make it to the finish line.
- The winner of this event...
is Paul.
You've won $10,000, furnished by Terlato Wines,
and you'll be moving directly to Vancouver.
Congratulations.
- Thank you. Thank you. - You so deserve it.
- It feels good, because I'm back on track.
I'm warmed up. I'm broken in.
And I'm ready to go for Vancouver.
- Paul, you can head back to the hotel.
- See you guys.
- For me and Sarah,
this is our last chance to get into the final round.
I think I have the most drive.
I want it really bad.
- That means you two will be cooking against each other
in the last event.
One of you will get that final spot in Vancouver,
and one of you will be going home.
We'll see you at the last event. - All right.
I'm trying to stay positive,
but I cannot believe I have to go head-to-head with Beverly.
I'm gonna fight to make it into the finale.
This is all or nothing.
- Oh, my God, she has a gun.
Oh!
Oh, [bleep].
- Looks like we're going over here.
- I've been bullied a lot and underestimated
throughout this whole competition.
So it feels right to go against Sarah,
to see who deserves to be in the final three.
- Oh, my God, she has a gun.
- Oh, my God!
Do we have to shoot our own game?
- Hello, chefs.
- Hello. - Hi.
- For this final event, I'd like to introduce you
to your guest judge,
Olympic gold medalist and one of the first women in history
to be inducted to the Hockey Hall of Fame--
Miss Cammi Granato. - Hello, chefs.
- Hi. - How are you doing?
- Cammi Granato--
she's, like, this totally badass woman.
I really don't have a clue what's in store for us.
- Chefs, this is your last shot
to move on to the final three.
Get ready for the culinary biathlon.
You'll have to cross-country ski along a course
that will take you through the trees
before bringing you back here to the shooting range,
where you'll have to shoot for your ingredients.
- Oh, man.
- Once an ingredient's been shot, it's no longer available.
Each of you will have a total of ten bullets.
- Oh...
- As soon as you have your ingredients,
you'll cook and serve your dishes to the judges
in the Whistler Conference Centre.
Only one of you will move on,
and one of you will be going home.
Have either of you shot a gun?
- My dad used to take me practicing shotgun
with tin cans in the country. [Laughs]
- I've never skied. I've never shot a gun before.
I'm feeling really nervous.
- Chefs, you've both been great competitors.
I don't think the targets have any judges' names on them,
but this is probably the closest you're gonna come
to actually shooting and killing something on Top Chef.
Good luck.
- Your time starts now.
- I really want to be in the top three.
I can, like, feel it.
I can almost, like, touch it, like, grab it.
- If Beverly moves forward instead of me,
it's gonna suck.
I would never forgive myself if that were to happen.
- I'm driving myself to go as fast as I can.
I want first shot at those ingredients.
My hat.
Aah!
Oh!
- [Grunts]
- Okay. We're gonna go down here.
- Oh! [Laughs]
Beverly's so far ahead of me, she's already hit the point
where she's turned around on the course.
- Where's Sarah?
I don't see Sarah anywhere.
I think I totally smoked Sarah. [Laughs]
- What are you doing?
- Aah! - Aah!
Whoa, watch out, watch out!
Aah!
Oh, [bleep]!
It seems like Beverly doesn't mind
taking out the competition, literally.
- Are you okay?
- [Sighs]
- Right, left, right...
- [Bleep].
Oh, my God, I don't want to go down that hill.
- I reach the shooting range first.
I have to decide quick what ingredient I'm going to use.
Arctic char.
[Gunshot] All right!
My first shot--I hit the target, which was crazy.
If I keep this up, I feel like Sarah's going down.
Uh, let's go to celery root first.
- I need to get shooting. There's such a limited pantry--
if you don't hit a target,
you're really not making anything.
Right over there.
For some reason, rabbit is just sticking out in my head.
It's like, "pick me, pick me, pick me."
[Panting]
[Gunshots]
This [bleep] has to come off.
Growing up in Texas,
my whole family pretty much has guns.
I might have a slight advantage.
[Gunshot]
- Push this.
- There, should be now.
[Gunshot]
I feel concerned, because the more bullets I'm spending,
the less ingredients I'm gonna have.
Come on, baby.
[Gunshot] Yay!
Let's go to truffle.
[Gunshot]
Jeez!
My dad is not happy with me now.
[Gunshot]
- All right.
[Gunshot]
[Panting]
I gotta breathe. I gotta focus. I gotta slow down.
[Gunshot] Oh.
- Got it. You got it.
- Yes!
Thank God.
- Okay, where do you want to go now?
- All right, here we go.
[Gunshot] Yeah, cabbage!
- Make it happen, Beverly.
[Gunshot] Yes!
[Gunshot]
Yeah, hazelnut!
- You got a shot left. - Only one?
- Let's go to the beets.
- I only have one shot? - Yeah.
- I feel like she had way more shots than I did.
Is she taking beets? - Come on, mama.
- [Bleep].
I have one bullet left.
Oh!
All right, let's go cherries.
[Gunshot]
Whaa! [Laughs]
I finish first, and I feel really great
about having a nice amount of ingredients to work with.
I can already foresee myself in the final three.
[Gunshot] - Dead on.
Beverly finishes first, but I'm close on her tail.
She better watch out.
There is no room for error.
- I get to the kitchen ahead of Sarah,
and I get cooking.
I'm gonna make a slow-roasted Arctic char
with an onion and beet compote.
Slow roasting a fish is taking a risk,
but I don't want to do something that's conventional.
- I'm making braised rabbit.
My concept of the dish is to show the rabbit in a few ways.
I want to braise the leg, roast the loin,
and then prepare it with kraut puree,
because it takes a little bit of my German heritage.
Seems like a winning combo for me.
- 39 minutes!
- I think that Beverly, after winning Last Chance Kitchen,
is on her game, and she's gonna be a tough one to beat.
- I'm doing a dish I've never done before, totally.
- Ha!
- Just something that sounded really good in my mind.
I feel concerned, because the pantry doesn't have
any coconut milk or lemongrass--
the flavors I normally build upon.
I'm banking on the fact that I'm using a different technique
and I'm going outside of the box.
- Are you gonna blend right there?
You have a thing over there.
Blend. It's fine. It's fine, but...
Beverly needs to use the electrical outlet on my station.
I'm not sure if she remembers that there's one on hers.
It's just frustrating to have her in my way.
It slows me down.
- Behind you. - Beverly, really?
I just keep my head down and stay focused.
Bev, 11 minutes! - 11 minutes.
- I couldn't see myself doing anything
for the rest of my life than cook--this is who I am.
If I can't win this, what is there?
Bev, we have 50 seconds.
- I need to get into the top three
to make it to Vancouver.
This is the most important dish I've ever cooked.
[Timer beeps]
- Thank you.
- Well, both these plates look wonderful.
Why don't you start, Beverly?
- I made a slow-roasted Arctic char
with the onion and red wine beet compote,
with a celery root truffle puree,
shaved fennel salad, winter black truffles on top.
- Sarah?
- I did a braised rabbit leg in red wine
with cherries and hazelnuts and a--kind of a kraut puree.
And then there's a slice of the rabbit heart on top.
- Thank you. - Thank you.
- Beverly,
what was the decision process to do everything?
- I always thought, like,
celery root goes really well with seafood.
- Why'd you choose to puree it and fry it?
- Just to give it that unctuousness
or give that sauce or, like, you know, a puree quality
to your dish. - Got it. Okay.
- And then I also thought the sweetness of the onions
complemented the beets very well,
and I wanted to do almost like a crust on the fish.
- I like the dish.
Making the celery root into a sauce--great idea.
You also--there's some nice, bright colors.
The flavors all worked.
But maybe overcooked it slightly.
- I liked the flavor combination that you chose--very earthy.
That really complemented the fish.
- I love when I took a bite
with all the other components in the dish,
it added a lot of flavor for me,
and I thought it was really delicious.
- Thank you.
- Sarah, you took a lot of risks here.
Number one, to make a sauerkraut in such a short amount of time.
To braise the leg in a short time was also very risky.
Everything worked nicely.
But I just want to know why you chose
to approach each ingredient the way you did.
- I kind of had this connection
with the environment here,
with that kind of germanic, Italian, Northern Italy thing.
- Okay.
- And so that's where the kraut came in.
And I'm very much German,
so kind of bringing those two ideas together for me.
- The first thing I noticed was flavor.
The first bite, it was just there.
And it tasted really--
like, I wanted another bite right away.
And I like the cherry.
It added a little bit of sweetness.
- Thank you.
- The rabbit, I thought, was a little tough.
I know that it can be tricky,
but I wished it had just been a little bit more tender.
- Okay.
- These are two very good dishes.
You're not making it easy on us, so thank you.
[Chuckles]
- Okay, we'll see you in a bit.
- Okay, thank you. - Thank you.
- That was intense. - That was very intense.
- What do you think?
- I don't know--I think it's gonna be really close.
- Let's start with Sarah's dish.
- I felt the cherry and the hazelnut
were just a wonderful combination.
And simplicity--I think that's what I loved about it.
- I liked the collection of ingredients.
I like how she used them.
Hazelnuts were used for crunch, and she also braised them,
and I liked that she incorporated the heart.
- You really tasted the cherry.
You really tasted the sauerkraut puree.
- It was a very good plate of food.
- But I didn't love the way she chose to braise the rabbit,
so it was a little bit tough
and not as enjoyable as I had hoped.
There were a lot of smart things Beverly did.
I love that she chose to make seafood
paired with really earthy flavors--
celery root, beets, onions.
- I actually really liked the beets and onion.
I-I thought it was really nice with the fish.
- Those are pretty big flavors,
and I think the char disappeared
because it wasn't seasoned enough.
- You know, after watching them be so competitive
and so tenacious, it's really sad that one of them
is going home tonight. - Mm-hmm.
- But I think we have an answer. - Yeah.
- I think so.
- Oh, my gosh! - Hey, how's it going?
- Hey.
- How are you guys?
Bev or Sarah--they're both really tough competitors.
I don't know what's gonna happen.
Did they give you any feedback?
- I could've taken it out just a couple minutes earlier.
- They thought that
the rabbit should be a little bit more braised.
- But they liked all the other components?
- Who knows?
- Sarah and I have a special bond,
and I just hope that I'm able
to make it to the final round with her.
- Look at your hand. - Oh, I know.
It's a bruise. - You guys got in a fistfight.
[Laughs]
The most surprising thing to me about Beverly
is how tough she is.
You know, she's fierce. She won't go down.
- It was a tough battle.
[Suspenseful music]
♪ ♪
- All of us really just would hate
to see either one of you leave the competition.
You cooked some delicious food for us throughout the season.
You know, Sarah, the dish was really well thought out.
The puree cabbage was a different approach
to that vegetable-- it worked really well for you.
Rabbit either could've been cooked more or cooked less.
Beverly, you went out of your comfort zone.
We're used to seeing Asian flavors from you,
and this one's a little different--
kind of went in an earthy direction with truffles
and celery root and beets.
And you chose to almost downplay the char
and just make it soft.
I would love to see both of you in Vancouver,
but only one's gonna move on through.
♪ ♪
- Beverly...
Please pack your knives and go.
- Thank you for this awesome opportunity.
I really, um, learned so much from this whole experience.
Thank you so much.
- Oh.
- [Muffled speech]
All right. Bye.
I think being kicked off Top Chef
and then having to fight my way
back through Last Chance Kitchen...
It's not gonna be me.
I've surprised myself, actually.
You guys are wonderful.
In the beginning, I think
it may have seemed that I was sort of, like,
the weaker link in the team challenges.
[Laughs]
But I think that Sarah, Lindsay, and Paul
look at me differently.
They've seen how far I've come and how much I fought.
It's been a long road, for sure. - Yeah.
- You kicked ass. Come on, Bev.
- You kicked some hard-core ass.
- Sarah, that means
you'll be joining Paul and Lindsay in Vancouver.
Congratulations.
- I want this so bad. Thank you for seeing that.
- And you also win $10,000 from Terlato Wines.
- Oh, my God, I forgot about that!
Thank you so much. Thank you.
- We'll be seeing you very soon. - Okay, thank you.
- We'll see you soon. - Bye.
- See you soon.
Oh. [Laughing]
- I'm so glad we got to cook together
and have this experience together.
- It was very special. - It was very special to me.
You're amazing. - You too.
- You're amazing. - Sarah, you're amazing.
- All right, I'll see you in Chicago.
- All right. See you. Go, Chicago!
Bye, guys. - Later, Bev.
- Here, give me a hug. [Laughs]
- I think now I have a lot more confidence in myself.
It's about what you have inside.
No matter what people say,
who you are will shine in the end.
- Next on Top Chef...
- Cheers.
- Beverly's left the competition.
This time, she's not coming back.
- Say good-bye to Whistler.
- We're down to the final three.
It's only gonna get harder. - [Squeals]
- Switch!
- Why did I make pasta? - Really hot!
- I think if I cut my finger off, I'd keep going.
- To execute 150 plates-- I am sweating.
I wish I had another hour.
- Is this supposed to be so...
- Frozen? - Frozen?
It seemed like an afterthought.
Like, "Yeah, I'm gonna lay this over here because I need color."
- Only two of you will move on to the finale.
For more about the recipes seen tonight,
go to bravotv.com.
== sync by elderman ==