Previously on Top Chef Masters...
Big fire. Big fire.
12 of the most acclaimed chefs in America
put their reputations on the line
in one culinary clash of the titans.
- Oh! - Damn it.
It's a big wake-up call.
The pressure immediately began to show.
- I didn't finish. - I didn't finish.
I absolutely didn't expect it to be this hard.
We need to know if they need food.
The chefs split into two teams and competed in Restaurant Wars.
If my maitre d' sat the entire room at once,
that would be their last night at work.
It's completely insane to me.
The next course-- when are we going to get it?
Alex Stratta's fricassee won the first elimination challenge.
I loved it.
And Hugh Acheson's overly-salted scallop
sent him packing. My scallop was inedibly salty.
Please return to the kitchen and pack your knives.
11 chefs remain.
But only one can emerge victorious
and win the grand prize of $100,000 for their charity,
furnished by Kitchenaid,
and be crowned as the winner of Top Chef Masters.
♪ Top Chef Masters 3x02 ♪ Everything Old Is New Again Original Air Date on April 13, 2011
== sync, corrected by elderman ==
We're walking into the kitchen,
and we fully expected to find all 11 of us,
but John Sedlar's not here.
Good morning, chefs.
All: Good morning.
Unfortunately, due to an emergency,
John Rivera Sedlar has had to drop out
of the competition.
Really sad to see him go,
but I also know that this is a competition,
and it's gonna end with three people battling
for one spot.
And I want to be one of them.
So we'd like to welcome back Hugh Acheson.
[Cheers and applause]
So great.
- Welcome back, brother. - Thank you.
I hate that we lost John,
but I'm glad that Hugh's back.
I like drinking a glass of whiskey with Hugh after work.
The interesting thing is the critics were totally torn,
and they really had a hard time letting you go.
Sometimes things work out for a reason,
and I'm super happy that you're back in the competition.
I brought a smaller salt shaker.
[Laughter]
I am in kind of a unique position,
given the fact that I went home in the first episode.
But the nicest thing was that I was very much
welcomed back with open arms.
Thank goodness.
It's time for your quickfire challenge.
The challenge is simple.
We want you to make a meatball dish in just 30 minutes.
How fun. Who doesn't like meatballs?
So there's probably, like, some kind of twist.
Here's the meat.
And here's the grinder.
Shut the [bleep] up.
My heart just sunk.
It's been a long time since I ground meat by hand,
so it's gonna take the longest time.
And as a chef, I know this is gonna be pretty tough.
30 minutes to choose your meat, grind it,
turn it into a tasty meatball.
Better you than me.
[Laughs]
Your diner will be grammy-nominated
recording artist Kelis.
What you don't know about her
is she's a professionally-trained chef.
And she loves meatballs.
I'm very familiar with Kelis.
I absolutely adore her,
and her milkshake brings all the boys to my yard.
And... [Laughs]
The winner will receive $5,000 for their charity
and immunity.
Good luck.
Okay, I'll split half with you.
I see a nice piece of French bread,
and immediately I think of my son Justin
because he loves meatball subs.
I'm competing for the Young Scientist Cancer Research Fund
of Mount Sinai School of Medicine.
It's run by Dr. Narla.
He used to eat at my restaurant all the time.
And my son Peter had the opportunity to volunteer.
The money that is raised will help fund the student
who has an idea that can help find a cure for cancer.
Somebody have a little piece of pork belly?
I have some pork belly.
Meat's what I do at my restaurant.
I'm known as the meat lady.
And there's lots of pictures of me with, like,
a pig over my shoulder that I've just butchered.
I butcher whole animals on a butcher block.
So I'm not used to using this little hand crank thing.
How'd you get that on there?
At the back of the restaurant, we have a massive meat grinder.
This is a little more primitive.
I don't know what's wrong with mine.
Yeah, it's all jammed up right now.
The first quickfire, I didn't serve anything,
so I sure as hell better get it on the plate this time.
Floyd, I'm gonna have to use your table.
[Clatter] Sorry.
I'm thinking to myself,
we're screwed.
Where did you put yours on there?
I just do it by hand. Mine can't go on either.
[Bleep].
I'm making a pork and beef meatball
with a big chunk of cheese on the inside.
I think it's gonna be the best meatball
that Kelis has ever had.
[Sighs]
Chefs, you have five minutes
to have your meatball dish ready.
I know that meatballs are always paired with tomato
and I'm not going the obvious route again.
I'm sort of going towards a Vietnamese chicken meatball.
The South doesn't always get
a whole lot of respect,
and there's a lot of smart stuff
going on in the kitchens.
So to be somebody that represents
that part of our country,
you know, we're in it to win it.
Everybody else is frenetic.
I see a distinct style difference
between myself and everybody here.
When I drop an onion and look at my beautiful shoes,
I smile that life is not all that bad.
You all were worried they're all dirty.
Look! Both of us are clean.
And if I have to indulge myself, this is my chance,
and I do it happily and as gay as I can.
My dish is starting to come together,
but I'm still not happy with my broth.
It needs more flavor,
so I decide to emulsify it and froth it up.
It's all about being flexible.
Time's up, chefs.
Hands away from the dishes.
- Way to finish. - Whoo.
[Chatter]
I think I just lost three pounds.
I love that.
Kelis, did you bring your appetite?
- Always. - Good.
She looks great.
Okay, Kelis, here we go.
- Okay. - Our first meatball
is a spicy pork belly meatball
with a spicy tomato sauce.
- Whose is that? - It's mine.
The flavor's great. The texture's great.
The cheese is a nice little surprise in there.
Very good. Okay.
So here we've got a chicken-short rib
with a spicy tomato citrus broth.
I think it's definitely an interesting take.
You don't like it.
I don't love the froth.
- [Laughing] Okay. - That's just me.
[Laughs]
I do like the fact that the chicken wasn't dry.
No milkshake.
This is a toasted fruit and almond couscous
with spicy lamb.
- Who did that? - I did.
That's very good.
She likes it.
It's got a little spice to it.
- Mm-hmm. - A little bite after.
Thank you.
In terms of the garnish, if it's not to be eaten,
should it be put on the plate?
It's creative, but we were always taught
it's got to be edible if it's on the plate.
- Ohh. - That sounds like sour lentils
to me. [Laughter]
Okay. Next.
We've got a beef loin
that's a fried meatball with bacon.
Hope she realizes it's street food.
Is that salty?
Mm-hmm.
You got to eat it with the bread.
I like the balance of the crunchiness
of those vegetables.
For me, the salty just overpowers everything.
The sub is a sandwich,
and you got to eat it with the bread.
And she refuses to eat it with the bread
but complains about the salt,
so I'm a little disappointed about that.
Mine's next.
Our next dish
is a tarragon chicken meatball consomme.
Come on. Spoon.
You're eating a consomme without a spoon?
It's very mild.
It's garnished with dill.
I don't taste the dill, though.
It's not dill.
It's fennel.
So you're still waiting for that one to come along
and knock your socks off? I am waiting.
Yes. Let it be this one. Please.
This is a turkey albondigas soup with toasted pumpkin seeds
and manchego cheese.
You know what?
I forgot to put the vinegar in at the end though.
I love the flavor.
- There you go. - Ding ding.
It tastes really healthy.
It tastes like you're being good to yourself.
Yeah. Really fresh. It's good.
So this next one's
a straightforward Vietnamese chicken meatball.
I mean, I kind of like the look of this one.
- It looks great. - You did that.
Ooh, but that's not a good face.
That's wonderful.
- Wonderful. - Oh, man.
I think it's got, you know, curb appeal.
[Laughter] It looks great.
It's fantastic. - I'm just self-loathing enough
that I needed a compliment,
and that's good enough for me.
Here we've got the Indian spiced meatball
with a tamarind glaze.
- Nice. - This looks tasty
right from the outset.
Whoo!
The texture's great.
I love the tamarind glaze.
I think sweet and spicy are a really nice combination.
It's the sort of food you want to eat with a cold beer.
- Good job. - This is a lamb merguez
with a shiitake slaw and yogurt.
I like the meatball.
I like the meatball a lot actually.
I don't know that I love the combination of the yogurt
and the pepper sauce.
We're talking
about the mediterranean where these flavors
are used in conjunction all the time.
They work together.
It's just pointless criticism.
The time thing throws me all off.
There are so many impressive meatball dishes,
I feel a little daunted.
Top Chef Masters has been really quite a stretch,
and it feels good.
It just feels really,
really hard.
I am surrounded by this food all the time,
and I kind of hate it.
In this challenge, we sent you back to the grind
to produce the perfect meatball.
So, Kelis, what were some of your least favorites?
I think the first one that comes to mind
was the chicken and short rib. George.
I think that the chicken and short rib combination
was a little odd, and then I felt like froth
to me always is a little show-offy.
Another of my least favorite dishes
was the beef loin.
- Floyd. - I think it probably would have
been one of my favorites had it not been so salty.
I think the salt was so overpowering
that it was hard to really get
the full gamut of the dish.
I was actually hoping you'd eat it
with the bread because the bread had no salt.
I get that, but I think
everything has to stand on its own.
And finally another dish was the lamb and shiitake mushroom.
Who did that? Hugh.
I just felt like all of the different flavors
were sort of battling each other.
So, Kelis, you had some definite favorites.
One of my favorite meatballs
was the classic pork belly and spaghetti.
That's me.
I thought it was a great take
on a traditional Italian dish.
- Thank you. - Another of my favorites
was the vietnamese meatball.
Oh, John.
Everything just worked really well together.
Thank you.
And finally another favorite was the meatball
with the tamarind sauce. Suvir.
I love the use, you know, of sweet and spicy.
So there can only be one winning dish.
And the chef that made it
will receive $5,000 for their charity.
So, Kelis, which one was your favorite?
I'd have to say my most favorite dish
would definitely have to be...
John's Vietnamese meatball.
[Cheers and applause] Thank you.
So $5,000 for your charity
furnished by Lexus. Well done.
I get 5,000 bucks for No Kid Hungry.
Our mission is to end childhood hunger
in the United States by 2015.
It's a tall task,
but I'm still in the hunt,
and I know that I can take down a few more bucks
if I really stay after it.
Well, Kelis, thank you so much.
It's been such a pleasure having you.
Thanks, chefs. All: Thank you.
For your next elimination challenge, we're going back
to one of the most iconic eras in American history--
the '60s. - [Softly] Nice.
The hit show Mad Men
has brought this era back to the forefront
of modern culture.
When I think of the '60s, I think
of three-Martini lunches and cheese fondue
and all sorts of things that my mom used to make.
For your elimination challenge, we want to explore
some of the classic dishes from that time.
I'm not a big fan of surprises,
but, you know, I'm just waiting to see
what's under those bad boys.
To decide who gets which dish,
why don't we use another classic, the fondue?
George, why don't you grab a fork and then pass it on?
George, which number did you get?
3.
Chicken a la King.
Sue? Number 6.
Duck a l'Orange.
- Nice. - Alex?
Bread pudding. I've never made one.
Not crazy about it.
But, hey, it could be worse.
Floyd? Ambrosia.
Lucky you.
I have no idea what that is.
Then I ask around me, and everybody says
oh, it's this really crappy dish from the '60s.
Now I'm really worried.
- Traci. - Number 4.
Beef stroganoff.
John. Oysters Rockefeller.
- Nice. - Mary Sue.
Deviled eggs.
Celina. Coq au vin.
Naomi. Grasshopper pie.
Suvir.
Veal Oscar.
I'm a vegetarian
who enjoys cooking meat
because we are in this business
to please others.
And I've created these recipes without ever tasting them.
Lucky last, Hugh.
Beef Wellington.
Chefs, I would like to introduce you
to your guests of honor.
You may know her as Joan Holloway,
the sultry master of politics
who quietly pulls the strings at Sterling Cooper Draper Pryce.
Please welcome Mad Men star Christina Hendricks
and her husband Geoffrey Arend from Body of Proof.
[Applause]
Welcome, Christina and Geoffrey. Both: Thank you.
I'm excited because Mad Men is such a fabulous show.
Christina, tell me.
Are you guys big fans of the '60s food resurgence?
Because of Mad Men, I am surrounded
by this food all the time, and I kind of hate it.
[Laughter]
I mean, we're big foodies.
We--we throw cocktail parties all the time.
We just never serve '60s food because it's gross.
[Laughter]
So we were actually hoping that the Masters could update
these dishes into something more modern.
Okay, chefs, here's your challenge.
You must make the classic dish and an updated version
as appetizers.
You'll be serving both
at Christina and Geoffrey's cocktail party
tomorrow night, serving to 40 guests,
including our critics.
Our job is to recreate appetizer-sized portions
of each one of these dishes
that she doesn't like in the first place.
It seems like we're heading into the teeth of the storm.
Christina, Geoffrey, any last-minute words of advice?
Stay away from Vienna sausages if possible.
- Please. - Please.
- [Laughs] - Okay, chefs, good luck.
You better get shopping.
[Chatter]
Oysters. You got some more oysters in the back?
Bring me out what you got.
I need to crack one of each
and taste 'em before I go, okay? That's fine. Not a problem.
I was born in Louisiana.
So I grew up with Oysters Rockefeller.
I mean, this is like a fastball straight down the center for me.
That's what I'm looking for.
That's the Luna?
You don't know how many of these you got?
In New Orleans, you can go
from a six-dollar roast beef po' boy
and jump straight into the most classic creole French
that there is.
And so my experience in food is incredibly broad.
Just I'll take everything.
All right, here you go. Have a good one.
You too.
I felt very fortunate
that I picked Duck a l'Orange
'cause it's something that I've made
as a child.
And one year my father helped me make Duck a l'Orange.
I'm playing for the Louisiana SPCA.
I'm a big animal lover.
Since Hurricane Katrina,
we've had a lot of animals that needed to be evacuated
and taken care of,
so it holds a special place in my heart.
I'm just checking to see what ingredients there are
so I can make a decision of which direction
I'm gonna go with the dish.
I've got a very simple dish, deviled eggs.
Hmm. In this last challenge,
I didn't take any chances, and I played it very safe.
We do have eggs in the kitchen, don't we?
I just wanna make sure. Thanks.
I have plenty if you need them.
I'm gonna go in a Japanese direction.
Sometimes doing something new creates a certain tension
that makes me do it even better.
But I've never made it with stakes this high.
You think I should do banana?
I mean, it's not traditionally in there.
I am still asking everybody what the heck is ambrosia.
And every single person tells me it is a [bleep] dish.
There is whipped cream, marshmallows,
toasted coconut.
There are canned pineapple
and canned oranges and canned cherries--
three things that I can't understand how people eat them.
Okay, so you're at $146.92.
Very well. Can you please charge it to my room?
[Laughter]
- Thank you, sir. - You're welcome.
So, you know, we jump into our Lexuses
and we run back and make sure we get ready in time.
I'm still very, very nervous.
World treating you all right?
Right now. We'll see in a couple minutes.
It was fun to have a second chance,
and it was good to come back, but it would be
very embarrassing to lose the first and second time.
So there's a lot of pressure in that.
Mm.
Veal Oscar is interesting in that it's all fatty
and rich and quite flavorless,
but that is, I guess, part of the '60s in America.
My version will be a symphony of flavors.
Cilantro, mint, ginger, shallots.
I've never made bread pudding before,
so I'm gonna stick to what I know best.
I'm not gonna do anything outside of my range.
I'm gonna put some chai tea, and I'm gonna steep the custard
in chai tea to give it some spice.
How do you cut yourself on an eggshell?
Please be clean.
Sweet.
When I think of these classic dishes from the '60s,
I like them, which is why I have American classics night
at the restaurant.
My restaurant is named Julian,
and that's two names put together--
my two culinary inspirations
Julia Child and my grandfather Julian
because he taught me a lot about cooking.
Who changed the temp on this?
I want to do sort of a deconstructed beef stroganoff.
So I'm gonna do, like, a tartare
with all the same components, but it's gonna be cold,
the beef's gonna be raw,
and that's gonna be my modern version.
I am making ambrosia.
So for the modern rendition,
I immediately think back to my wife barkha
because she makes this amazing mousse
that my kids absolutely love.
I decide that this is what I want to do,
and, instead of fruit mixed up in there,
I'm gonna skewer all my fruit on the plate,
so the guests can eat it with this moussey kind of thing.
Do you feel for me? I do feel for you.
Between the grasshopper pie and that, I'm not sure
which one I would rather-- - Which one is worst?
- Yeah. - Right behind.
Thank you. Hot. Hot.
Do I know what grasshopper pie--
I know what a grasshopper is. I know what the cocktail is.
I have a certain amount of trepidation
about it, and also I'm just kind of--I'm a little frustrated.
I cook meat.
I feel like I've been cursed
with the dessert bug.
Oh, my God. Why? Why again?
Five minutes, everybody.
Five minutes.
It's not spicy.
I'm looking around,
and my teammates are still running around,
and I'm thinking, wait, did I forget something?
Then, you know, insecurity starts sinking in,
and I'm like, am I going too simple?
You know, this and that. But I'm like, nope,
I'm gonna stick to my guns.
Here's fresh oysters, but I can't open 'em
because the oysters will just shrivel up, they'll dry,
they'll lose all of their brine.
So I'm not gonna know what I've got
until I get to the kitchen the next day.
This could be totally cocked up by the time
it's all over.
All right, guys, let's go.
I'm not gonna get plated.
You've got 40 seconds, Naomi.
Can anyone else help Sue?
[Alarm goes off] Oh, [bleep]!
Oh, oops. So sorry.
That's okay.
Doing great.
Coming through.
Today is the day of our elimination challenge,
and we're taking a classic dish from the '60s
and turning it into something modern and exciting.
- Somebody can work right here. - I want that.
- Somebody can work right there. - I want that.
We're catering to Christina Hendricks
from Mad Men, which is, you know, a beautiful woman,
gorgeous, and a great actress
and a great show, and her husband Geoffrey.
All I need is two burners and a little space.
- They got the plate-- - Yeah, it's right there.
I need that space now, guys.
There's a lot of people in here, and it's small.
What I'm noticing around the kitchen
is we have no cooking space
to actually lay down your 40 plates.
Get these plates out of here. Can someone move this?
Can we get rid of this cooler, please?
And overall a very high level of pressure.
Where's the dishwasher?
I gotta lay out my plates, Suvir.
You're taking up this side
right here, Traci, yes? Yes.
For me and Sue, we feel like the refugees.
We have no room in this kitchen.
We don't belong here. George!
- Yeah? - I'm gonna need
some burner space over there.
And, George, I need one.
Hey, hey.
As I go to the hot line
to cook my veal, every gas burner is taken.
And the only space open for me to do any cooking at
is the deep fryer.
I have never prepared veal deep-fried.
Every fear I had about deep-frying
is coming alive.
Yeah, wait, I need to just clean them really well.
These are for the judges.
Sue and I realize
there's half an hour left.
Let's help them and get them out of this kitchen.
I would rather find time to help the others that are failing
than be a diva. For plating, can I slice here?
You have five minutes.
That may be a little better but has no generosity of self.
Do you want me to bring it to you?
- Could you? - Yes, I can. Hot.
Coming through.
I wanted to help them because I care about them,
but it was slightly self-serving
because I wanted to get to the areas
where they were because I needed to start cooking my stuff.
Are you doing plates?
I just need to plate.
- I can do that for you. - Thank you.
[Spraying]
A glass of rose champagne and a vodka Martini.
So should we go to the bar first?
Oh, I'm very old school. Gin up. Olive up.
Cheers.
All: Cheers. To the '60s.
- To the '60s. - I will drink to that.
Hi.
I haven't eaten all day. I'm ready.
- Hey. - Hello.
Both: Mwah.
So I hear you don't like the '60s.
We have a lot of events
for the show, but it would not be my top choice.
That's why I'm really anxious--
how are they gonna do beef stroganoff
in an appetizer?
I'm curious.
Get rid of that cutting board and spread plates out there.
I got to blast 'em in the oven, Traci.
I have about five minutes left,
and I haven't started plating, and I realize
that I could very easily not get my deviled eggs done,
so I'm panicked,
but there's no room,
so I just set myself up under the table
to get my eggs into their cups.
Man, I am glad I created option number three for my dish.
As I'm opening the oysters,
they're falling into uncookable variety,
so my contemporary dish is going to have to be
the pickled oyster.
My fear is that they will look too similar,
and I start to worry a little bit
that the judges are not gonna be happy with that.
Just put all my junk away if it's in your way.
12 seconds.
John and I are extremely lucky
that we were the first two to go
because we can see that the kitchen is becoming
more and more chaotic.
And it would take just a lot more to get your food out.
- Hi. - How are you?
- Very good. How are you? - Excellent.
My goodness.
So I want to just quickly reintroduce you
to Ruth, James, and Danyelle.
- James. Hey, guys. - John, why don't you tell us
about the dish that you've prepared?
I got Oysters Rockefeller.
I shucked the oysters
and put a tiny, little mignonette on 'em
with horseradish creme fraiche, the collard green,
and then crispy, spicy bacon.
I drew deviled eggs.
I prepared a egg in a Japanese style,
like with a little umeboshi and mustard, mayonnaise on top.
Enjoy.
Thanks.
Oh!
John's oyster is comforting and warm.
- That was delicious. - Very good.
- It was good. - Why would anybody have
Oysters Rockefeller when they could have this?
The bacon was perfect. That was my favorite.
It's always good. Bacon's always good.
Bacon on anything. That's what I'm all about.
Let's try Mary Sue's Japanese-style egg
with a bit of seaweed.
I'm not sure
if I would ever think deviled egg
when I ate this,
but I think it's amazing.
It's almost only barely a deviled egg.
But somehow in its essence
it is a deviled egg,
and it's very, very delicious.
You couldn't tell?
'Cause I don't know
what a traditional Oysters Rockefeller is.
- Who are you? - I know.
I've never had it. You're no foodie.
See you later. Enjoy.
[Laughs]
37 minutes.
Is that right? Jesus. That was fast.
George, what does the time say?
Five minutes...Even.
Guys, I need this space over here.
Whose mise en place is over here to the left?
[Laughing]
My challenge was Chicken a la King.
I replaced the cream with yogurt.
There was roast chicken breast.
And then there's seasonal vegetables.
I have beef stroganoff.
Basically a steak tartare.
Underneath it, you have little noodles.
Thank you. Enjoy.
Okay, so we'll start with the Chicken a la King.
But there's really no comparison.
The modern version
just blows the classic one out of the water.
You don't find the bread a little soggy on the--
No! Not at all.
That bread is designed to absorb all of that delicious sauce.
Fantastic. I completely disagree.
The stroganoff, but I love the spice,
and I love the noodle underneath.
When I hear stroganoff, I expect
sort of more of a mushroom flavor.
And I didn't really taste that.
The noodles are what stuck out to me,
and I don't know if that's really what you want
to walk away from when you're having a beef stroganoff.
As I'm pulling out the veal from the deep fryer,
it looks awful.
I made the wrong choice.
But there's nothing I can do to fix it.
Trash?
Hugh, do you have a few minutes to spare?
What do you need? Plating help?
- Yep. - I'm not gonna get plated.
I've got 40 seconds, Naomi.
- 40? - 40.
I spent so much time helping other people
I started to kind of lose track of my own time.
Can anybody help me?
- Can anyone else help Sue? - Give me. Give me. What?
Slice, stack, and put it on the other side.
I'm right behind you. Sauce goes over the pineapple.
Let's clean four plates.
[Timer goes off] Oh!
- I love you. - When the timer goes off,
only half my plates are done.
The other half of my plates are missing major components.
If you don't have food to serve
to the critics or to the guests,
then how are they going to judge you?
Sorry about the mess, guys.
I didn't finish in time.
My apologies.
Both: Thank you.
Suvir, could you tell us
about your veal oscar dish?
Today we have an Indian version of a veal kebab.
We used mint, cilantro,
chutney, and a salad of asparagus.
Okay, why don't you tell us about your appetizer?
Well, it's supposed to be Duck a l'Orange,
which all the components didn't get on the dish,
was going to be a crispy duck breast
with blood orange gastrique
and a pineapple-mango salad.
And the crispy cracklin' didn't make it on the plate either.
And I'm sorry to some of the guests.
I don't think half the components are on it.
What happened?
Um, just ran out of time.
She was helping all of us, and her generosity of self
hurt herself. Well, don't worry, Sue.
We haven't tasted it yet. It might be delicious.
- Yeah. - Thank you, chefs.
Thank you, chef. Oh, my God.
That breaks my heart.
As a chef, you always want to please your guests.
And I know that half the dishes went out with no food on it.
Not gonna taste good.
Let's start with the veal oscar dish from Suvir.
This got cooked a while ago.
Yeah, it's tough, right?
It's a bit dried out.
There is no way of knowing what this is
that you're eating underneath it.
Mystery meat.
No...Flavor really stood out to me.
- Yeah. - It was just one bland note.
Let's move on to our Duck a l'Orange.
I'm honestly a bit verklempt
about Sue's palpably bad experience in the kitchen.
It's upsetting.
I love the little bits of pineapple.
I think that's a really lovely touch
to tease out the sweetness.
Would that cracklin' have made a big difference?
- Sure. - Yes.
I agree.
Okay, do you have time to plop food on the plate?
1:13.
Okay, no, no, no, no.
You take those two.
Always this six. Come on.
This shouldn't be even a question.
[Timer goes off] I mean, I love you.
What I'm trying to say is I love you.
Thank you.
I already love the modern Wellington.
Hey, thank you very much.
Celina, tell us about your dish.
I had coq au vin.
I actually turned the chicken into a frisee salad.
Beef Wellington is a small piece of filet mignon
seared off, a mushroom espuma,
and then a little ring of crisped puff pastry.
- Welcome back. - Thank you.
- I went lighter on the salt.
[Laughter]
Okay, so we're gonna start with the coq au vin.
Mm.
Very abrasive with the vinegar, this salad.
- Not for me. - Not to me either.
I love that vinegar-y flavor.
So the .
Hugh got a hard dish to make, though.
What are these three things doing together?
They're in many ways the opposite
of Beef Wellington,
which is you take these and you marry them.
And here you've divorced them.
Well, it's for, you know,
it's an updated version of that.
[Laughter]
Jesus, who would have thought it would take me this long?
My bread pudding
came out exactly like I wanted it to.
I did really well.
So, you know, I'm thinking
maybe I'm going to win this thing.
For the modernization of this dish,
my mousse has not set, so I want to spin it as a fondue.
I know the ambrosia looks nothing like the original,
so that at least will not cloud their judgment
of what it should be.
- Hi. - Hi.
How are you?
When I saw ambrosia, I had no idea what it was.
I did a custard of mango and coconut
with a little bit of orange, and on the side
you're gonna dip into the custard like a fondue.
I got the bread pudding.
It was the first time I've ever made a bread pudding.
I have a chai tea custard
with a panettone crust
and a little apple salad on top.
I got grasshopper pie.
I did a minted warm chocolate souffle
with a toasted kirsch marshmallow.
Chefs, thank you very much.
- Terrific. Thanks. - Thank you, chefs.
Let's start with Floyd's ambrosia.
Mm.
I always think of fondue as slightly whimsical,
so it was just-- it was very pretty.
And that pecan just sitting there at the bottom.
The minute I put it in my mouth, I was like,
thank you so much.
You know, good day to you too, sir.
Alex's sauce is nicer,
but I feel like it's all sauce.
I lost the bread.
My heart goes out to the man.
He has never made a bread pudding.
It's like cooking 101.
Let's move on to the grasshopper.
The mint in the updated
tastes a little off to me for some reason.
I'd eat this at any cocktail party.
This is a better cherry. I didn't have this cherry.
That cherry's a real cherry, there.
[Laughs]
What were your favorites? What was your favorite?
- The egg. - The egg and the ambrosia.
Nice work.
So you were converted now with the '60s food?
If it's this group cooking, I'm converted.
This was sensational.
Christina, Geoffrey, thank you so much
for joining us tonight. It's been a real pleasure
for all of us. Thank you for having us.
The critics have got a really tough job
in front of them, so I'm gonna have to get them off
to a room somewhere and get some thinking done.
Bye, guys. Good luck at your decision-making.
Were you happy with your dish?
I wanted to do pan-fried and then finish in the oven.
I feel relieved that my food is now out there.
But I'm also "trepidatious" and nervous
because I know
I have sent veal that wasn't acceptable to me.
Neither dish was particularly good.
We were laughing. I said, "who would eat this?"
It almost tasted like a scented candle.
The girls are protected from them.
I have a farm in upstate New York
that occupies the equal time of my life.
What predators do you have up in upstate New York?
Every. I have coyotes,
cougars, foxes.
And you stay out there with your shotgun?
I want to see you in this outfit
with a shotgun. - I-I've never...
We do have a gun.
'Cause the goats were in danger by the coyotes,
and somebody had to shoot them. Not me.
- What kind of gun? - One of those long thingies.
I don't know what they are.
[Laughter] - "One of the long thingies."
[Laughter continues]
Mary Sue,
Floyd, and John,
after hearing Christina,
Geoffrey, and their guests' comments,
the critics decided that the three of you
had their most exciting appetizers.
Congratulations.
[Laughter]
Fabulous.
I thought they were just all really out of the park.
You guys did a really fantastic job.
- Thank you. - Thank you very much.
It was a tough kitchen
and a tough, you know-- down to the minute.
I was really blown away by all six of your dishes.
You made sexy finger foods
out of each of your challenges.
John, I really thought that your oyster was great.
It was really well executed.
You really took that, and you made it into something,
so well done. Thank you.
I have never had so exquisite
a version of Oysters Rockefeller.
I think you, for me, have tonight
created a benchmark Oyster Rockefeller.
You absolutely nailed it.
Thank you so much.
Floyd, you made a chef's version
of a sort of horrible home classic.
[Laughter]
I looked around and people all over were just drinking it.
It was irresistible.
I love how you nodded to the '60s
by creating a fondue out of your mango ambrosia
and we were able to dip all the different fruits in it.
Mary Sue, I want that recipe.
However you cooked that eggs,
before we part company.
I want to know how to do it,
because they are delicious.
I'd be proud serving those in any restaurant
in any part of the world. Thank you.
The dish was really a stunner.
It was warm. It was just so delightfully
unctuous in the mouth.
It was a perfect balance of flavors and textures.
Thank you.
Between the three of you,
you created six delicious appetizers.
But in the end,
the critics can only choose one,
and that chef will receive $10,000
for their charity, furnished by Lexus.
And the winning chef is...
Mary Sue. Nice.
Congratulations.
I'm so happy.
[Laughter]
Thank you so much.
We asked you to take a chance,
and I love the fact that you went for it.
You've won $10,000 for your charity Share Our Strength,
furnished by Lexus.
I am so happy.
Thank you.
I am thrilled to know
that $10,000 is gonna go
to Share Our Strength.
We are working
to make sure that no kid
in the United States goes hungry.
Chefs, please return to the kitchen,
and I'm gonna have to ask you
to send some of your colleagues back to join us.
Congratulations.
So, guys, Mary Sue won.
[Cheers and applause]
I knew it. I knew. I knew.
Hey, guys, the critic needs-- needs three of you.
Sue, Alex, and Suvir.
It's no fun to win when somebody has to lose.
Sue, why do you think you're here?
Um, because I didn't get my food onto the plate in time.
- What went wrong? - I tried to help out people,
but when the clock started ticking,
I just ran out of time to plate.
Sue, I can't help but wonder, why were you helping
everybody else in the kitchen?
I don't know if you've been back there,
but it's a really, really small kitchen.
I would help the people that needed to get their food out,
put it on their plate, so I can have that space
and work on my own dish.
It's obvious you were not having
a great day at the office,
and my heart goes out to you.
I was pretty disappointed with the Duck a l'Orange.
It just wasn't anywhere near what that dish needs to be.
What you didn't do
was really show us the difference
between a '60s dish
and what a modern take on it could be.
That wasn't my intention.
They were gonna be different,
but two garnishes did not make it to the plate, so...
So, James, what did you think of Suvir's appetizer?
Suvir, you're a fabulous cook,
but the veal was kind of like shoe leather.
And it was also such a big piece,
so you had to cut it, so it wasn't
exactly an appetizer size.
But in that kitchen was divas
who were coming to do their work,
and threw us to another side.
I had no fire.
'Cause there was no station or oven for me to cook in.
The only space that I had was the lovely deep fryer
that I actually respect and know the benefits of.
Who were the divas that came into the kitchen--
it doesn't matter. There were too many.
It wasn't--
it was the attitude.
Alex, what's your take
on what was going on in the kitchen?
You know, when I grow up in the French kitchens,
you know, you got to watch your back.
How did you think you did with the bread pudding?
I thought that tasted good.
I really did.
What bothered me was I thought, you know,
bread pudding is something you can really play with.
For a Master Chef, I expect, you know,
something wow.
My strengths are in olive oil and garlic
and onions, not chai tea and panettone, you know.
Chefs, please return to the kitchen
while the critics make their final decision.
We don't know yet.
You don't know yet?
So should we start with Sue?
She sent out dishes that weren't complete
that weren't particularly well-cooked.
And, I mean, a maigre of duck is a piece of cake.
Both dishes that Sue made, I could have eaten them.
And in fact, I did.
But at the end of the day,
did she put out what she set out to do?
And the answer is no.
I understand she had another touch or two to put on it,
but I really don't know that conceptually she'd come up
with something that was gonna wow us anyway.
The devil was in the conception.
But still I stand by the fact
that they tasted fine.
Suvir's dishes.
Did they taste fine?
It was tough and chewy and hard,
and it wasn't even the right size for an appetizer.
But he served his dish.
He met the challenge of putting it on the plate.
And he had a lot of odds against him.
Suvir's veal oscar-- blech.
The meat underneath.
He reinterpreted it in a way
that is very modern and gave you something
that was potentially really exciting.
It...It didn't work.
Now I know there was a few people
that were really adverse to the bread pudding
that Alex served. That would have been me.
It wasn't good.
Those two that Alex prepared
are the ones that I could not finish.
It was bread pudding,
and some people like a lot of booze in their sauce
and some don't.
It wasn't quite as bad as the veal.
It's a tough decision, but it sounds like you've made one.
Sue, Suvir, and Alex,
you all served the critics' least favorite appetizers
tonight, so unfortunately one of you will be going home.
Sue, unfortunately,
you didn't finish your dishes,
and you sent out incomplete plates.
Alex, your bread puddings were quite disappointing
and very undelicious.
Suvir, both versions of your veal oscar
were just too tough for words.
Sorry.
The chef eliminated from Top Chef Masters tonight is...
Sue.
Thank you.
I'm disappointed and sad,
but I didn't get my food on the plate in time.
So I think it was a fair decision.
Sue, we will be making a donation to your charity
Louisiana SPCA.
Now please return to the kitchen and pack your knives.
Thank you, guys. Good night.
Thank you, chefs.
He's leaving with me.
All: What? No, I'm going home.
All: Ohh. But I love you guys.
Thank you so much for everything.
I've learned so much.
I'm gonna take away
a lot of great memories
and friendships.
And I've learned so much from all of my other competitors.
It was a great experience.
Great to know you all.
We're not gonna let you go.
I wish everyone the best of luck.
I know that the women are gonna take it.
And, boys, you better watch out.
All: Bye.
Next time on Top Chef Masters...
We're going back to our roots.
Whoa.
We're gonna have to cook with freakin' bugs.
This little guy, first, let's finish him off.
- Why--oh, dear. [Groaning and exclamations]
This is killing me.
Tonight's waiters will not be coming.
Everybody, simplify your dish.
No. Stop. Stop. Put it down. Put it down.
It's certainly not gonna win any beauty prizes.
- No. - Are you directing
or am I sending them? I'm sending them out.
She's just trying to take total control,
and so am I.
You [bleep] set your own [bleep] table.
For more information on Top Chef Masters,
visit bravotv.com.
== sync, corrected by elderman ==