Original subtitles

Up until now,

Up until now, I've always been the runner-up.

Now it's time to be the winner.

I have been a part of "Top Chef" family for 10 years.

I have definitely evolved.

Since I've been here last, I won a James Beard Award,

but the title of Top Chef, that's what I'm here for.

Please, and thank you.

- This is real. - I'm back.

- I'm back. - And I'm ready for it.

It is good to be back.

Go, go, go, go!

PADMA: 15 chefs have returned,

the fiercest this competition has ever seen.

Savages.

Last season, a lot of people were upset

and saying I got robbed.

I wouldn't be here if I didn't think I could win.

They're all here for redemption

and the one thing that's escaped them all--

the title of Top Chef.

So which one of you said you would never do this again?

[laughter]

[music playing]

At stake for the winner:

a feature in "Food & Wine" magazine,

an appearance at the Food and Wine Classic in Aspen,

and the largest cash prize in "Top Chef" history...

...furnished by San Pellegrino,

and the title of Top Chef.

PADMA: Good morning.

Welcome to Los Angeles.

What better way to start the new season

than right here at the historic Griffith Observatory,

which overlooks the entire city of Los Angeles,

one of the best food cities in the world?

Welcome back to you, too.

- [laughter] - Thank you very much.

You're an elite group of chefs. There's no denying that.

- Thank you. - Thanks.

I think we have a few James Beard nominees here.

Got a few.

Do we have any winners? Nice.

That's amazing.

This competition is already hard.

Seeing all of these chefs nominated for James Beards,

have multiple restaurants, empires basically,

I don't know what I got myself into.

Think we have some runners-up here,

and I'm sure we have some chefs

who think they got burnt by the game.

My elimination sucked,

and I think people really understood

that it was not the outcome that I deserved.

TOM: Nicholas, you're the reason why the team is here,

but you have immunity, and so you're not going home.

Stephanie,

please pack your knives and go.

Thank you.

I was devastated after being kicked off

for somebody else's food, but it won't happen again.

Who do you think is your strongest competition?

Well, I'm very scared of--of Bryan Voltaggio.

- [laughter] - Why me?

Bryan Voltaggio came last season as a mentor for me,

and that was amazing. I really wanted

to make sure that I impressed him.

Today we have made a waakye,

traditionally from West Africa.

I thought the dish was really well executed.

It's just an honor to cook against him.

Is there a Sexiest Chef here, too?

- Anyone? - I guess me

and this guy over here. - [laughter]

I think I got it once.

I know.

PADMA: He just asked you that so he could raise his hand.

- [laughter] - Okay, enough small talk.

Who's ready for the first Quickfire Challenge?

- Let's do this. - [fly buzzes]

Your first Quickfire is one you've all seen before,

the mise en place race.

- [chuckles] - Nice.

There'll be three legs,

each with a new ingredient.

Everyone must first turn three artichokes.

If it's done to my satisfaction, you can move on.

Fastest five chefs will become a team,

and you can head to the kitchen and start cooking immediately.

For the second leg, you must supreme five California oranges.

The fastest five chefs in this leg

will become a team and head on to the kitchen.

And for the third leg,

you must crack 20 perfect California almonds.

- [music slows] - [laughter]

Hold on.

Have I ever shelled an almond?

I don't have a nutcracker in my bag.

When I was a kid, my grandmother had one of those big nutcrackers

that looked like a little soldier.

You're like, doo-doo-doo-doo-doo.

Hopefully I won't get to the almonds.

Once your team is formed,

your challenge is to use your prepped ingredients

in two different dishes.

Winning will give your team a huge advantage

in the elimination challenge.

Once the last team enters the kitchen,

a 15-minute clock will begin.

The clock in the "Top Chef" kitchen,

it's gonna move fast.

In case they forgot.

[laughter]

Chefs, your time starts now.

And go!

[laughter]

Breaking down an artichoke

is a lot of careful little turns that you need to make.

We need to make sure that the choke is completely removed.

I did just open two restaurants in the last six months,

so my skills are pretty sharp. I've been doing a lot of prep.

ANGELO: Oh, my God. I'm mutilating this.

[laughs]

Turning artichokes under time restrictions

with these super-talented chefs is pretty intense.

Everything is shaking internally.

This is definitely bringing back some memories. [laughs]

At this point in my career, we like to call this P.F.T.S.,

people for that sh--. I got people for that.

- Check! - [blows whistle]

Stop, stop, stop.

No, this one I've got to reject completely.

- Okay. - I'll give you that one back.

You still got a choke in here, too.

- Okay, got it. - [blows whistle]

Listen, chefs, the choke needs to be out.

- Check. - [blows whistle]

What you got here?

Choke needs to come out of that one.

Your choke needs to come out of that one.

- Okay. - There is a lot

of premature check from the boys. Hmm.

- Check. - [blows whistle]

GAIL: Stop.

Dude, you're leaving choke on there.

Come on. Look. Come on. - [laughs]

Really, Bryan? Really?

Let's go. [blows whistle]

He definitely deserves to be penalized.

- Check. - [blows whistle]

[laughs]

All right, these are good.

- Thanks. - All right. Really nice.

[blows whistle]

Straight out of the gates,

definitely want the other chefs to see

that I'm a force to be reckoned with.

Almost there on these guys.

Jamie's the guy that gave up his immunity.

I would like to offer up my immunity

and be judged with my team.

Jamie, please pack your knives and go.

This is a competition.

I don't know why you would do that. [laughs]

Check!

- We're good here. - Cool.

- [blows whistle] - See ya.

- Good luck. - Check.

[blows whistle] Stop, stop, stop.

You're good. You could go with Kevin and Jamie.

Nice job, Joe.

[blows whistle]

Check! Check, check.

GAIL: Stop.

- We're good here. - Thank you.

- Nice. Congrats. - [bleep].

This is very stressful.

Nobody wants to be on the bottom.

The last group is gonna have 15 minutes

to make two dishes.

This is our own Hunger Games.

- Check! - PADMA: There should be

a penalty for calling us over too many times.

- Yeah, I know. - [laughs]

TOM: Okay, so this is the last spot for the first team.

I think you finally did it.

- Finally! - GAIL: Nice work, Bryan.

Thank you.

- Mr. Voltaggio. - Yeah, yeah!

Let's go.

Drop your artichokes. Oranges it is.

Team First Car.

[laughs]

I feel like we have a good team.

The trick here is we don't know each other's food,

but we have to collaborate on these dishes.

That's not easy. - Blastoff.

Good job, guys.

TOM: Don't cut too much off the ends.

They're not gonna be pointy that way.

[Angelo sighs]

This Quickfire, 100% déjà vu.

- Check. - [blows whistle]

The winner of our first Quickfire

is Angelo. Congratulations.

Obviously there's been so much transformation for me,

so much personal growth, so much hard growth.

- Check! - [blows whistle]

No. You left a segment there.

GAIL: There's a lot of meat that you left behind.

Yeah, you're leaving too much way behind on these oranges.

Ah, we can tell who's not used to prepping these days.

- Check. - [blows whistle]

- GAIL: Those are pretty nice. - TOM: That looks good.

And your artichokes look nice, too, Nini.

I know.

You are the first chef for the second team.

Honestly, I don't think

I've shelled an almond in 20 years.

I have to move my ass.

Check!

TOM: The shape's good. Okay. We're good.

- NINI: Come on, guys. Let's go! - You can do it!

- Check. - They look clean and pretty.

- We're good. - We're good, Steph.

- Check! - [blows whistle]

PADMA: These look good.

- GAIL: Yeah, these are nice. - TOM: Yep.

- [blows whistle] - BRIAN: What's going on?

Old man, let's go. Let's step it up.

- Joe, how we looking? - When it comes to making pasta,

usually you need a little more time.

If we can't fill it, Joe, can we do a flat pasta?

No?

- Check!

- Check! - [blows whistle]

There's one spot left now.

It's mine.

TOM: They look great. You are good to go,

fifth member of the second team.

Malarkey, wrap this up, and get in the car.

Yes, thank you.

Whew! Let's go.

Team 2, you're 5 1/2 minutes behind Team 1

BRIAN: Yes, yes.

It's only gonna be a five-minute head start.

Ooh, I like the gray wood, too.

It's the ladies and Malarkey.

What's your name one more time?

- Nini. - Nini, I'm Bryan.

- Karen. - Karen.

I'm excited to introduce myself to these people,

like, on a fan level, which is embarrassing,

and I'm not going to tell them that, because that's

gonna blow my, like, rock-hard exterior.

[bleep]. They all have to crack their nuts.

- 20. - That's a lot.

Okay, that's not gonna work.

Remember, you have 15 minutes

when you get back to the kitchen.

As fast as we can shell these almonds

is how much less of a time advantage

that we're giving the other teams.

I've just got to tap it just light enough

that I'm not gonna crush the almond on the inside.

[laughs] Okay.

I have a brilliant idea

of cracking the nuts with the wine key.

- Jen's got out a little... - Nutcracker.

- Nutcracker over there, sort of.

Agh.

[bleep].

- Check! - [blows whistle]

Lee Anne, these look great.

You're the first chef of the third team.

[laughs] Thank you.

GREGORY: I keep breaking almonds.

ANGELO: They're very delicate, like you.

Angelo, I haven't seen him in almost 15 years,

but we worked together at Jean-Georges.

He's gonna be some fierce competition.

The guy's an absolute beast.

- Check. - [blows whistle]

Check!

TOM: So Angelo and Gregory.

Okay, we got 20. They look good.

Gregory, you're the second... - Thank you.

- chef of the third team. - Sick.

And, Angelo.

They look good. Angelo, you can join the other team.

[laughs]

Check, please.

[blows whistle] Okay, great.

All look good. - Thank you, chef.

[blows whistle]

Let's go, Jen Carroll.

TOM: Jen?

I keep cracking 'em all.

Maybe the technique's wrong.

Got any tricks you want to share, Tom?

I don't, actually.

Last time on "Top Chef,"

I had a very aggressive attitude.

Why did you guys choose not to plate everything individually?

You guys are smart enough. You're the judges.

Why don't you say, "Hey, can I get a different plate for this?"

Whew! I had some balls. [laughs]

That's not what I plan to do this time around.

Let's go! Team Almond!

[laughs]

- MELISSA: Ooh-wee. - All right.

- Where do you want to go? - Right here.

Closer to the range, yeah.

Where is everything?

Okay, where is everything? [laughs]

KEVIN: We don't have any idea how much time we really have.

The last team has 15 minutes,

so we have at least 15 minutes.

All right, so I'm butchering these artichokes.

I'm gonna give you all the pieces here in just a second.

Bryan and I are going to make an artichoke

that has been grilled in a sumac marinade.

I'm going to work on the yogurt.

I got pasta started.

I'm working, uh, artichoke purée.

KEVIN: Jamie, Joe, and Melissa are going to do

a big tortellono with an artichoke-miso filling.

If Joe can make pasta that fast, good on you, my man.

- Check! - [blows whistle]

You're good. You're good. - Get out of here.

You are the last one to join...

- Ay yi yi. - the third team.

Welcome back.

Go, go, go!

Remember, you have 15 minutes when you

get back to the kitchen, so get going.

I'll do a sauce

for the raw, shaved crudo situation.

Yeah.

Guys, we don't have any idea how much time we have here.

We could have very little.

We're kind of working blind here on time.

Oh, great.

I'm going left.

Left, yes.

Oh, sh--, they're here?

- That's super fast. - Really fast.

Really, really fast.

Oh, sh--.

This pasta dough isn't even resting yet.

We may have to change gears on this.

- Where's the clock? - BRIAN: The "Top Chef" kitchen,

it's spectacular. I'm, like, "Wow,

these guys have come a long way since season 3."

- [music slows] - We were, like,

in a covered wagon in the olden days compared to this.

Nini, how's it going over there?

- Making the aioli now. - Copy.

The first dish we're gonna be making is the artichoke tempura

with the citrus-Asian aioli and tempura orange.

Bryan, I'm walking over to the fryer.

BRYAN: All right, here.

Holler if you need 'em thicker or thinner.

Let me know. - Thanks.

The other dish is gonna be

the Mediterranean carpaccio, which is gonna have

the raw artichoke hearts, the raw orange.

Karen's making a beautiful mint chimichurri vinaigrette.

Fresno or homemade chili? - Yeah, I want a little--

yeah, a little chili. - I got it.

Ho!

All right, that's 15 minutes right there.

15 minutes, guys.

- Ho ho! Ho ho!

KEVIN: How in the absolute flying [bleep]

did they get the rest of that stuff done?

We got to speed up.

I'm working on the tempura, okay?

The fastest way that we're going to be able to cook artichokes

within 15 minutes is throwing them into the deep fryer.

Anyone see ice?

Oh, my God. Behind!

- Can I come share your fryer? - Uh, give me two seconds,

and I can let you use this one.

Stephanie's got both baskets down in the other fryer,

so I have no fryer.

Sh--!

10 minutes!

10 minutes heard!

Joe, how we looking?

I got pasta dough working here.

MELISSA: How are those artichokes moving?

Are they moving?

When it comes to making pasta,

usually you need a little more time.

This is definitely coming down to the wire.

If we can't fill it, Joe,

can we do a flat pasta

and serve it with braised artichokes

or no?

JOE: I don't think our plan's changing.

We're sticking with it.

Chefs, you have five minutes left.

- Five minutes, guys. - Crossing, crossing, crossing,

Coming through. Coming through.

There's a lot to do in five minutes.

We still have to blend up the purée

and pipe the tortellonis. Like, this is crazy.

Okay, what do we need? Ice.

No, no, no, no, no! Come on.

- [bleep] - At this point, the batter

has sat for about five minutes, and so all that flour swelled,

and now it's much, much thicker than it should be.

It's literally like a pancake batter.

- I need filling. - Yeah, I got you.

We're gonna get ----ing hosed by these guys who had less time.

Joe, can you get that pasta down now or what?

He's wrapping it right now.

Two minutes in the water.

What's he doing?

Sasto, he's making pasta.

It's like they never left.

[laughs] - PADMA AND GAIL: Three minutes!

Three minutes! There we go.

- Come on. - Behind, behind, behind.

Tempura's right here.

Let's go. Hold on.

Can I get that tempura, please?

Tempura. - Tempura.

They came out sweet. - Beautiful.

Chefs, you have 30 seconds left.

- How's that, chef? - Perfect.

- C'est bon? - Thank you. Merci.

Everything on the plate, guys.

- What do we need? - You want herbs?

Do you want, uh, chives?

Think more herbs on here?

- Yeah. - Always.

3, 2, 1!

Time's up. Hands up.

- Nice job. - [cheering]

Go, team. Go, team.

- That went so fast...

- That went so fast. - so fast.

Beautiful dishes, guys,

Beautiful dishes, guys, beautiful dishes.

Really nice. Well done, yeah.

- Hey, Blue Team. - Hi.

- Hi. - What'd you make?

NINI: The first dish is a artichoke tempura

with a citrus aioli.

GAIL: What's in that aioli?

There's a little bit of fish sauce, chili oil,

kind of like an Asian aioli, I guess.

KAREN: This one is crispy artichokes,

mint vinaigrette, orange segments,

as well as orange zest in the vinaigrette

and a little radicchio salad.

Tart.

- Thank you. - Thanks, guys.

I think they really liked it.

- TOM: Hey, chefs. - Hi.

- How you guys feeling? - [laughs]

- Pretty incredible. - We're just happy we finished.

- Yeah, heart rates are up. - Me, too.

ANGELO: What we have here is a beautiful artichoke crudo

with a carrot top and fennel gremolata

with a sweet-and-sour orange vinaigrette.

Where are the almonds in this dish?

- They're in the gremolata. - Very nice.

This is an almond-crusted fried artichoke with an orange aioli.

Is this how you wanted the tempura cooked?

Uh, I only had a minute and a half in the fryer.

All the fryers were occupied. - Thank you, guys. Bye.

Sorry I couldn't fry it longer, guys. I'm so sorry.

- Hi, guys. - Hi.

How are you?

You guys had the most time of anyone.

How did it feel in here?

Well, it felt like we only had

about 30 seconds longer than everybody else here.

- It sure did. - KEVIN: This first one is

our char grilled artichoke bottom

with sumac, yogurt, and tahini. - And what is this?

So we wanted to do a-a pasta for you guys...

- Really? - so we did...

- [laughter] - Joe?

- So soon? - Joe pasta?

So we did a tortellono artichoke barigoule with pancetta brodo.

The filling's made out of braised artichokes and miso.

PADMA: That's one rich brodo.

All right, thank you so much.

- Thanks. - Thank you.

- Thanks, guys. - Good job, guys.

PADMA: This was a really great start.

Each team had something delicious,

and no team was perfect.

Nothing bad,

little technical things here and there.

The Green Team, you guys know that tempura

was really, really heavy and dense.

Sorry. [chuckles]

And, Red Team,

Joe, the pasta was doughy, dry, and chewy.

And now for some good news.

The Blue Team, I thought your tempura was fantastic.

The fry on your tempura was perfect,

golden, a little caramel,

and I'm really into that aioli, guys.

Red Team, the roasted artichoke,

the whole thing ate together really, really well.

- Thank you. - I love how the yogurt

felt like a savory whipped cream, almost.

[laughs]

Tom, do you want to do the honors?

Great start, but, looking at our favorite dish,

and that's kind of how we went with this one...

Red Team.

JOE: I was so relieved.

It's kind of a bummer

to get some negative feedback on the pasta,

but first Quickfire win, this feels awesome.

Bryan, is this your first--

It is your first Quickfire win.

Yes, this is my first Quickfire ever.

- Is it really? - Ever.

[laughter]

- Ever. - [applause]

The curse has been broken.

- Enjoy the moment. - Thank you.

Now that you've had a chance to get your feet wet,

it's time to dive in to our Elimination Challenge.

For your Elimination Challenge,

you'll work in teams to create a seafood feast

that you'll cook and serve at Cabrillo Beach in San Pedro.

We want to see what you can do

when you only have the bare necessities,

so for this challenge, fire is your only source of heat.

You're not going to have access at all to electricity,

no appliances, just your knives and your talent.

BRIAN: This is in my wheelhouse.

I have a restaurant called Herb & Wood, all wood-fired.

I don't even like electricity.

I was, like, raised a cave boy.

So, Red Team, you remember I said you'd have an advantage?

- Yeah. - Each of you will now become

your own team captain...

- [sighs] - and will get to choose

who you will work with in five teams of three

to create three cohesive dishes served family-style.

So choose wisely because you'll want to impress

this very intimidating group of chefs and restaurateurs,

including Nancy Silverton, Marcus Samuelsson,

Michael Cimarusti, Caroline Styne,

Josiah Citrin, Suzanne Goin...

- Oh, cool. - and your guest judge,

the legend himself, Jeremiah Tower.

- Oh, my God. - This panel of judges

for this first elimination, it's a finale panel,

like we're working backwards here.

Red team, let's start with you, Bryan.

Who do you pick as the first member of your team?

My first pick will be Eric.

Eric's a strong competitor. I'm not really looking at him

as my mentee or somebody who's worked for me.

I want to build the best team I can so I can win this challenge.

- Kevin? - I'll take Jen Carroll.

KEVIN: Jen knows seafood.

She worked for Eric Ripert for years.

If you want to win a seafood challenge,

go out and get the seafood queen.

Jamie, who would you like?

I'll take Gregory.

- Joe? - I'll take Lee Anne.

- Awesome. - PADMA: Melissa?

- Angelo. - Melissa, you get to go again.

Karen.

This is an all-star season.

Everyone here is an amazing chef.

I'm more concerned about personalities.

Angelo and Karen seem really calm and Zen.

- PADMA: Okay, Joe. - Mr. Malarkey.

- Jamie? - We'll take Stephanie.

All right, Kevin.

Come on, Nini.

Let's do this thing.

Let me guess.

- Come on in. - All right. Let's do this.

Go ahead. Pick me last.

If these chefs don't know anything about me,

they're gonna learn very quickly.

I was a finalist in Season 4

against Richard Blais and Stephanie Izard.

I can cook my ass off.

Today you'll have 30 minutes to menu plan

and shop here in the "Top Chef" pantry.

Tomorrow you'll have 2 1/2 hours to prep and cook

before service begins at Cabrillo Beach.

Show us why you have what it takes

to win the title of Top Chef.

Speaking of that title, the winner of this season

will win the largest cash prize

ever in the history of "Top Chef,"

a quarter of a million dollars,

furnished by San Pelligrino.

Whoo.

- That's a lot of clams. - [laughter]

It's a lot of money, and for a person like me

who wants to open a restaurant in New Orleans,

it would be incredible, a quarter-million dollars.

PADMA: Please take five minutes to menu plan and discuss

before grabbing your seafood.

Good luck, chefs.

We'll see you tomorrow at the beach.

- Thank you. - Thank you.

All right, guys.

How do you feel about citrus?

We need to be thoughtful about having a progressive menu.

I think so, too.

I want to do the sea urchin crudo...

- Yeah. - I want--

I was thinking about doing a flatbread.

Well, that's fine.

Clam, uni pizza. You--

You could make a clam sauce,

a ----ing clam pizza,

clam pie with ----ing sea urchin on it.

- Yeah. Do it. - Does that sound fun?

Want to nail it?

Even though I was team captain,

Malarkey definitely takes the lead.

Keep going. Keep going. So what's your protein?

Uh, I was thinking grilled, seasoned halibut

in--in a miso-butter coconut sauce.

Can you do some sort of like a slaw or something under that?

"Don't get that. Get this." Yap, bap, bap, bap, bap, bap.

It's gonna be vibrant and alive and beautiful.

- I had my eye on the swordfish. - ANGELO: Swordfish?

Okay, and it's great for the grill.

I was thinking it'd be a Cajun tomato-based seafood stew,

and I can do shrimp.

JAMIE: I definitely want to do mussels.

I was thinking about doing, like, a smoked cream--

taking some of the embers from the ----ing wood...

- I love that. - and throw them in there.

It's not easy. All of our styles

aren't particularly in line from a culinary standpoint,

so we decide to do beachy-type food

to make our menu cohesive.

You can throw a piece of grilled salmon on top.

I'll roast some chilies, so it's just, like,

just nice, chunky, super-bright relish.

BRYAN: Okay, you're working on a raw dish, right, a ceviche?

- Yep. - So you have citrus.

- I have citrus. - Okay. There's gonna be

orange juice in this guy.

We want to keep things

end-of-summer, very bright.

I'm thinking charred scallop ceviche.

I'll grab the scallops.

I'll grab the shrimp, sable, and uni, yeah?

Like, maybe 15 scallops will be good for me.

You got long arms, too. You're just gonna be like...

[laughs] I'm fully pumped.

I know I'm faster than everyone here.

That's a gimme.

[timer beeps]

It is frantic. This is like running of the bulls.

[overlapping chatter]

Savages.

Sh--.

This is all I got.

Sh--. Really?

I'll see if I can grab some more.

I think, as you get older,

you start to see the more optimistic sides of things.

It's like, "Well, this sucks,

but it's still gonna be delicious."

We can do shrimp for me as well.

Yes, chef.

This is like the new and improved Lisa

from 12 years ago.

The constant negativity, it's starting to wear

on some people in the house. I'm just letting you know.

That's your opinion. You're entitled to it.

Dale can go [bleep] himself, as far as I'm concerned.

Older, wiser.

We have 10 minutes left, 10 minutes!

See, I feel like pomegranate or grilled plum.

- On the pizza or... - Yeah.

Going into this challenge,

I want to make a good impression

because I didn't do very well

in the Quickfire.

Are these pomegranates coming?

Mm, I don't...

Sound like trouble?

I'm not 100% confident in exactly

what I want to do with the flatbread,

so I'm grabbing a little bit of everything to be safe.

Someone control me.

- Are we ready? - Yep.

That's it.

- Look out. - Wow.

This is amazing.

Wow.

My house doesn't look anything like--I live on a farm.

I'm gonna sleep on the pool table.

I call pool table.

I know nothing about L.A.,

but I do know that the Hollywood Hills

is sort of a place you want to be.

Who's in here?

Anybody in here?

There it is, the bunk beds.

If you like to cook, you, too, one day

might be able to compete on "Top Chef"

and live in a bunk bed.

You see this?

Whoa. Sh--.

- Holy sh--. - Oh, sh--.

The moon is looking spectacular tonight.

Jessie's following them down. Maggie, you should be the...

This is an incredible group of people.

I've watched all of you, you know, in your seasons.

I think we probably all share this common bond

in all this stuff. - Madness?

- And madness, yeah. - [laughs]

It's gonna be great to cook with all of you.

Cheers. - Cheers.

It kind of blows my mind that I'm standing here

and being, like, "I can compete against these people

and maybe even beat them."

Tastes like a quarter-million dollars.

[laughter]

Do whatever you have to do in order for the fire to breathe.

- Am I suffocating it? - Yeah.

Sh--, I need to oil this grill up.

Don't. It's gonna burn if you do that. Don't do that.

No!

You can do it.

Come on, Malarkey. Boom. Boom.

[hair dryer whirring]

The last time I was on Season 8 on "Top Chef,"

I mean, I honestly don't even recognize that person.

I-I've been doing a lot of this self-work,

a lot of self-development.

My son Jacob Elias is 11 years old.

Jacob is my light.

He's gone through some struggles in his life.

He had heart bypass surgery, and then, you know,

it ended up him having a chromosomal deficiency.

He's just been through so much fight,

so he's my motivation, my inspiration.

Like, I'm ready to cook passionately

and just put my heart on the plate.

To the beach.

Small, Asian women in the back.

I live in Hawaii.

Cooking over open flame on a beach

is very comfortable for me.

I can't get out of the car with all this sh--.

But the last time I was on "Top Chef,"

I was cooking over an open fire,

except it was in four feet of snow...

up on a mountain in a blizzard

while I was four months pregnant.

The cool thing about up here is you don't have

to worry about refrigeration. - Yeah, right?

Okay, get the fire going.

So I ended up with altitude sickness,

and I had to go home.

I'm gonna gracefully just bow out.

Since then, I had my son Rye Ikaika Cady.

He is my world.

He's a little beefcake.

It was super-hard to leave him and come here.

I'm gonna talk about him a lot.

Bryan, how you doing back there?

Perfect.

Oh, a Boy Scout.

- Yeah, a little charcoal. - Okay, fire's rolling.

BRYAN: Just getting some coal

building on one side, get some--get some heat.

We're going to be sharing a wood grill.

You go in the center 'cause I know you need that hot.

Yeah, just so I can get it going.

It's a tight space, and it's a very small fire.

It's gonna be a challenge.

I'd love some stupid-hot fuego.

- Oh, yeah, look at that. That looks ----ing great.

Yeah, that's gonna be dope.

JEN: Don't know what I'm looking at, but I love it.

NINI: The wind is crazy.

KEVIN: Yeah, it's swirling now.

I'm really nervous, 'cause there is all kinds

of elements that you can't control, like wind.

This is just blowing sh-- everywhere.

I've never cooked in an open pit,

but Kevin has a beard.

He looks like he can make a fire.

KEVIN: You want your ----ing super-ridiculously hot fire,

you're good to go here. - All right.

KEVIN: I'm gonna do a-- like a braised swordfish

kind of dish, a little spicy.

Swordfish will be a great dish to treat like a meat protein.

It's gonna stand out because of how bold it is.

Jen, look at this real fast, and give me your opinion.

KEVIN: That looks really nice to me.

It depends on how you're cooking it

'cause I don't want it to dry out on you.

Let's--let's just see.

STEPHANIE: Looking at the other teams,

you know, Kevin and Jen were in the finale together.

Their team is really strong.

We need to move everything facing the wind

so that the ash goes flying over it.

I kind of went into this knowing I might be a tinge underdog,

just because how different my career is

compared to a lot of these chefs that own restaurants.

They need to have, like, a James Beard for private chefs.

Like, I'm about to enter that on the ballot.

Fire's looking good.

- Is it raging? - Yeah.

So, guys, I'm gonna do a Chesapeake bowl with prawns.

Lisa, what do you got going on?

Scallop and shrimp ceviche.

Bryan, what you got going over there?

Well, I'm starting to break down my sablefish,

make a broth with the bones, and then fresh corn grits.

For me to come back and to compete again,

you know, I got a lot to prove for myself.

Been a runner-up on "Top Chef" Season 6

against my brother Michael.

Congratulations, man.

My brother and I, we're competitive in so many ways.

When I was on "Top Chef Masters" Season 5

and I jumped out of a plane,

Michael was so jealous...

Holy sh--!

he went straight to Perris, California,

and jumped out of a plane in the same place I did

just to say he did it also.

Angelo, how you doing on those oysters?

- Aw, shucks. - [laughs]

- [laughs] - Dad jokes.

Hello.

I think always on a team challenge,

you can tell from the food and the menu

if folks didn't get along when they were cooking.

- I love that. - I do, right?

Happy cooks, happy food.

- I love how Zen we are. - I know.

I'm a Libra. We get along with all signs.

Let's meditate after this. - Yeah. Hey.

We're good-looking. We're charming. [laughs]

I'm gonna do swordfish grilled over fennel fronds,

and then I'll char some radicchio.

My plan is to throw the radicchio

straight onto the embers

to get nice and charred on the outside.

I'm constantly thinking, "How do I balance the flavors?"

My Libra side will definitely come out.

Got a little bit of sesame in here. Going for a flatbread.

I think I figured out what I want to do.

I want to build different layers.

So I'm making a flatbread with smoked clams,

sea urchin, and a garlic aioli.

I'm going to break down my spot prawns,

and I can start shucking clams for you, too.

Joe wants to do all of this stuff on the dish

with the clams, the aioli,

kind of like me when I was younger, I guess.

I got kicked off for doing too much stuff on my dish.

Bryan, was there anything in the pantry

that you didn't put on your plate?

That's not fair.

It still hurts.

You know, this being the first Elimination Challenge,

I just really want to show that I can come back.

Finishing runner-up, I've always felt

I had something more to give. I've dreamed about this day.

I've wanted to come back. I want to fight,

I want to cook, and I want that title of Top Chef.

I am excited to have seafood and open-fire cooking,

and I'm just gonna cook the bottom

just as tender as possible, directly on the grate.

Time to go? - Time to go.

Is my fan even doing anything?

Yeah, you gotta get in there with some big ones.

I'm up against so many years of experience.

I'm hoping to do what Kelsey, the winner of my season, did.

She learned from everyone around her

and found her way to the top.

Okay, I was, like, "Am I just not strong?"

So I'm gonna be a sponge and absorb as much as I can

from all of these chefs. - Okay.

And hopefully use it against them.

Mwa-ha-ha-ha-ha!

Just kidding. Not kidding.

Do whatever you have to do in order for the fire to breathe.

- Am I suffocating it? - Yeah.

Sorry.

It's so pretty, though.

- Thank you. - Manners.

- Oh, hi. - How are you?

Handsome people.

Welcome, everybody.

It's really nice to see all of you here.

When the sun is shining on the tops of your feet,

that's always a beautiful day. - Yes.

[laughs]

Well said.

JAMIE: 16 minutes.

Dude, that shrimp looks ----ing sexy.

- Thank you. - Those look great.

Think we're looking good.

LEE ANNE: I'm going right on there.

I want to get those grill marks, that char.

Sh--, I need to oil this grill up.

Can you help me? - Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Need 'em hotter. You need it hotter.

This is an unseasoned grill.

Lee Anne has put her fish down

on the unseasoned grates, and they are sticking.

Rub the grill with the oil. Rub the grill with the oil.

As I'm trying to get Lee Anne's fish unstuck,

she grabs cooking oil.

Don't. It's gonna burn if you do that.

Don't do that. [bleep]

No!

Rub the grill with the oil.

Don't. It's gonna burn if you do that. Don't do that.

[bleep]. Okay, not good.

Sorry. [sighs]

That flame came up and kissed it

and created black soot on the side of the fish.

That's a dumb technical error.

At the same time, I don't have extra fish to cook.

As long as I got the flavor, that's like...

- You got flavor. - Think about how

we might have to cover those up a little bit?

MELISSA: Eight minutes.

We looking good, everybody?

All those butterflies are coming back.

The judges can see through everything,

but the first time I didn't win "Top Chef,"

I was a bit younger, and now it's like

I've grown tremendously in those past five years.

That's time. Let's go.

I'm hoping the judges can see that.

Hi, Green Team.

Hello. How are you?

- Nice. - Hi.

Melissa, tell us, what did you guys do today?

Today our team made a modern,

Californian, Asian-inspired meal.

- Nice. - I made grilled swordfish

with a hot and sour sauce, fennel fronds,

ember-grilled radicchio and charred Fresno chilies.

PADMA: Karen?

I made grilled scallops with gingered plums,

nuoc cham, and napa cabbage slaw.

- PADMA: Angelo? - I have a West Coast oyster.

I took oysters and put them into a smoked rice porridge.

- Thank you so much. - Thank you.

- You're welcome. - Thank you.

Very good start.

- Yeah. - Yeah.

Lots of flavor.

Karen did a beautiful job on her scallop.

I loved how bright the other flavors were

without weighing down and losing the scallop.

I would agree. I really liked the cabbage.

I really enjoyed the plums.

I thought it was really smart the way Karen used napa,

the fact that she's trying to use the grill.

With Angelo's dish, it was a dish that he wanted to do,

and the grill happened to be there.

- Right. - When I'm eating oysters,

I love getting that burst of brininess,

and I kind of think it got a bit lost in there.

The texture was a bit like baby food, you know?

There was no definition in it.

Whew!

PADMA: What about Melissa's dish?

My favorite bite was actually the grilled radicchio.

- Can I say that in a seafood... - [laughter]

God, it was good.

I agree also with Marcus, of the three dishes,

that's the one that I would return to.

This is how you grill, the whole radicchio in the embers.

I mean, you can make a dish out of that.

How did this team do as a cohesive meal?

I think there was a thread that carried through.

There was some boldness. There was some restraint.

There was nuance.

ANGELO: Hey, thank you for picking us.

- Good job, team. - Yeah, thank you, captain.

- Yeah, of course. - Five minutes.

You're going full plating right now, huh?

I have to.

I'm trying to cover up all that oil

that had burned to the side of the fish.

Some fish is better than no fish, right?

It is what it is.

Now where's the sea urchin?

Taste a piece of the flatbread.

It needs a little more aioli on top.

The last thing I want to do is for the bread to dry out.

- It's great. - Good?

The sauce be a little loose,

but... - It's okay. Saucy.

Just don't want it to make the flatbread soggy.

- No, it won't. - We're done. Let's go.

Agh! Sweat in my eye.

- Hi, chefs. - Hello.

Halibut, just like you ordered.

This is a sea urchin celebration right here.

- I am here for it. - Yeah!

Tell us about your menu.

It is an Asian-inspired California coastal cuisine.

So we have the sea urchin, the local spot prawns

with sun-made hibiscus ponzu, burnt chilies, burnt avocados.

So I wanted to do a sesame and semolina flatbread,

some grilled clams and raw clams on top,

fried garlic, sea urchins, pickled peppers

and then an aioli made out of some Parmesan and miso.

And then your entrée is shoyu tare glazed Pacific halibut

over charred sweet corn, napa cabbage,

and an anchovy tarragon butter, sea urchin on top,

and then uni miso buerre blanc.

PADMA: Thank you, guys.

Pleasure. Appreciate it.

I think we did ----ing great.

I think they loved the crudo.

Because it's family-style,

I don't think I would have chosen a sauce for the halibut

nor the crudo that was so thin and watery.

The sauces make the flatbread soggy.

For Joe's flatbread, I would have taken the uni

and just put that, nothing wet.

Just there's too much stuff.

And then, if you're doing a flatbread

with all this stuff, it better be crispy.

You better get that crunch. - The flatbread, it's fine.

It's just it's a little heavy and kind of messy.

How'd it go?

- Pretty good. - Yeah.

Lee Anne's halibut I'm not a fan of at all.

I thought everything was really muddy.

You can't taste flavors in here.

Look at that fish. You have all that carbon on that fish there.

That's just wrong. - Yeah, that's...

That's like rookie mistake.

I enjoyed Bryan's ceviche very much.

The charred avocado with a little bit of the spot prawn.

Use of the hibiscus there, I thought, was really nice,

but that said, there needs to be more grill.

He grilled a couple pieces of avocado.

Come on. It's-- That's not enough.

How was your fire?

[bleep], it was awesome. [laughs]

He did a good job on the fire.

Conceptually, they did an amazing job.

It's just that there's mistakes,

and there are big mistakes in every dish.

They seemed really excited about all the uni.

They did seem excited about it.

- Yo, yo, Jamie. - Yep, got it.

To get an element of the fire into my dish.

I chose to scald the cream with the embers.

- Oh, yeah. - This is a technique

that I haven't really used before,

but we're on the beach. I have this giant fire.

Like, I'm gonna go for it.

52 seconds.

We got this, guys.

- Ready? - Yep.

PADMA: Hello, Yellow Team.

- Hey, guys. - Hi, Jamie.

Hello. How are you?

Ooh. Thank you.

I get so excited when the food comes. It's silly.

Yellow Team, tell us about your menu.

What I've prepared is the salmon charred on the grill

with grilled peaches and then a sauce

made from roasted Fresno chili and roasted habanero,

so it's really spicy, really sharp.

- With the crawfish? - I love it.

Very well-balanced.

So I prepared for you guys the steamed mussels,

ember scalded cream, fresh herbs,

toasted bread rubbed down with some garlic.

I made a quick brined prawn, grilled.

On top is a fresh charred tomato sauce.

On the bottom is corn, celery, and herbs,

fried shallots, and potatoes.

- Thank you, chefs. - Thank you.

- Thank you very much. - Enjoy.

Dude, Nancy said your sh-- was spot-on.

Nancy, what did you think of this team?

I liked everything. I really did.

I think this is the meal that we expected and deserved.

- Yes. - Yes.

MARCUS: I love that.

Hey. What up? What up? What up?

I loved the way Gregory's salmon was cooked.

It was crispy.

The salmon was, like, pretty near flawless.

There's sweet, there's sour, there's spice

in that vinaigrette. There's salt.

With Jamie's mussels,

I liked that sauce, especially to dip the bread in it.

I mean, that was delicious.

I think it's flavorful. I just think

the mussels themselves are dried out.

I loved Stephanie's charred tomato sauce,

and I loved those crispy onions and potatoes.

I loved the char on the corn.

I'm floored. This was very impressive to me.

What I also love about it

is what I don't love about potlucks, you know.

You have a potluck dinner, and then somebody

has to bring the strawberry ambrosia,

and it ruins everybody--

you know, everything else. - [laughter]

I like that everything mixed together,

and it just tasted like a team.

I'm going to take that strawberry ambrosia recipe

and kill it. - Don't.

Just don't bring it to my house.

Just don't bring it to Nancy's house.

Nothing went wrong. Our food tasted good.

How are you cooking the swordfish?

Oh, very rare. - Very rare,

and then in the--Oh, okay. Yeah. - Yeah.

Coming into "Top Chef" the first time, I was a cook.

I still wasn't 100% sure

what kind of food I even wanted to make.

This time around, I'm a lot more aware of who I am.

- You need help? - Nope. I'm good.

I think my dish is awesome.

My sauce is delicious.

This is gonna be a home run.

Two minutes, guys, two minutes.

How clean are you guys?

I'm not super clean, to be honest with you.

You know who's not gonna like that? Jeremiah Tower.

That man always looks pristine.

Three seconds, Jen. Three. - We're good.

KEVIN: We're ready to go.

Hi, everybody.

I have two of my heroes at the table.

- Ooh! - Ohh!

Nancy and Suzanne are women chefs

that have blazed the way through this industry,

and I just would like to impress them.

- Oh, yeah. - That's pretty.

That's beautiful.

Blue Team, tell us what you made.

Today I made for you a spiced tuna loin over grilled kale

with roasted red pepper tahini sauce.

- PADMA: Nini? - Today I've made for you

a grilled scallop with grilled carrots and tomatoes,

charred Brussels sprout and fennel salad.

- PADMA: Kevin? - I made a eye of swordfish

braised in chorizo,

sourdough bread that is burned in the coals and crushed,

and then it's used as the thickener to this sauce,

coal-roasted onion, and then black and green olive,

as well as some barely cooked peas.

Thank you so much.

- Thank you. - Thank you.

They definitely had an herb line

going through all.

It's like herbal celebration. - Yeah.

What did you think of Jen's tuna?

I thought the sauce is-- was delicious.

I think that dish was the most successful.

I would eat Jen's dish for lunch...

- Me, too. - like, any day.

I think it came together pretty well.

- Yeah. - I think so. You never know.

I mean, the scallop is a beautiful technique

in terms of a perfectly cooked scallop.

I want to talk about Nini's carrot.

I love that it's cut in half but it's a whole carrot.

It looks like a carrot.

Michael, what did you think about Kevin's dish?

It delivered visually. The dish was stunning.

- Ohh. - That wins the cover shot.

Right. - But it's a disaster.

NANCY: Wow. Yeah. - Thank you.

After I tasted it, I felt so let down.

The fish is overcooked.

There's a million too many things going on.

He had all these ideas rolling around,

but then he forgot he was a cook.

LISA: Eight minutes, guys.

BRYAN: It's a little hot out.

Got a nice glow now.

- LISA: It's a shimmer. - Shimmer.

All right, start plating.

This is our first impression back on "Top Chef."

Here.

We're representing these dishes to the judges.

We want to make sure that they're perfect.

Let's go.

- Hello, everybody. - Hi.

How's it going, chefs?

You guys have quite the view from this table.

PADMA: Tell us about your menu, Lisa.

I did a charred shrimp and scallop ceviche,

little bit of chilies in there, candied squash,

sweet potatoes, king oyster mushrooms, avocado.

- PADMA: Bryan? - I did the fresh corn porridge,

and then over it is sablefish, finished it with some coconut

and then took the leek tops,

charred them on the grill, made a charcoal oil.

- PADMA: Eric? - So I did the Chesapeake bowl.

Just wanted to celebrate the prawns--

onions, celery, green peppers, a little bit of garlic as well.

All right, thank you so much.

Truly appreciate it. Thank you.

- Thank you. - Thank you.

- Good job. - Yeah. Good job.

Each of the dishes was technically prepared...

- Flawless. - flawlessly.

- ERIC: How are you? - [applause]

What up, dude?

What I loved about Lisa's, it was ice cold.

She didn't try to make it fancy.

A ceviche, you cut chunks of the seafood, you marinate it,

you add some good herbaceous notes.

I liked the dish.

Eric's prawns, I thought the sauce

was really nice and fun to eat,

like you want to dip it up with bread or...

To me, Eric's dish had the best flavor.

Mm-hmm.

I think Bryan's dish lacked textural complexity.

The leeks, the corn, the fish all became mush.

- Yeah. - I think this end of the table,

we disagree a little bit about that.

- Tell me why. - Yeah. I feel like

there was a sophistication level in this round of food

that we have not seen before.

But I thought Bryan's dish, altogether,

the balance, the flavor, the finesse in it was great.

Bryan, you got some color there.

Little bit, yeah. Picked up a little bit of the sun.

PADMA: I think we had a lovely meal,

and all in all... - Oh, yeah.

we had some amazing food.

- Absolutely. - Absolutely.

Agreed.

- Under difficult conditions. - Yeah.

- Not for us, but for them. - Not for us, yeah.

[laughter]

Some heavy hitters for the first table, yeah.

That was pretty intense.

"Resurrected Christ will be here for dinner."

[laughter]

GAIL: I loved this as our first elimination.

It took away everything and just left you to cook

in a way that we don't get to see very often.

TOM: Most of the food was really delicious.

There was a couple of flaws here and there,

but if you guys are gonna cook this way,

we're in for a tasty season.

PADMA: Who had one of your favorite dishes, Tom?

I had a few that I liked a lot.

Jen Carroll, I thought, put together a really great dish.

I can certainly have your dish for lunch every day.

It was delicious. - Thank you.

TOM: I liked Melissa's dish a lot.

To take a whole head of radicchio

and stick it in embers, I mean,

that takes a certain amount of confidence.

Thank you.

We had some amazing dishes today,

but there was one team that stood out,

and that team is...

the Yellow Team.

- All right. - Shut up.

- Hey, good job, guys. - Shut up. No way.

- I'm so glad I picked you guys. - [laughter]

The rest of you, please step to the side.

Oh, man.

Stephanie, you seem surprised.

- Always. - [laughs]

- [sighs] - Overall, you guys gave us

the best three dishes combined.

Jamie, I think the mussel dish,

the sauce was really, really good.

The one negative, when you cook mussels

and then you take broth away from the mussels,

they sit there, they dry. - Yeah.

Stephanie, I loved your dish.

I thought that the shrimp were cooked beautifully,

lots of charred corn.

It all made sense together.

I'm so glad you liked it.

It was one of the best things I had all day.

- Thank you. - TOM: Gregory's dish,

I thought the flavors were just really, really bold.

I mean, more importantly, the salmon was

as perfectly cooked as it could possibly get.

- Thank you, chef. - You said peaches,

and I went, "Peaches with salmon?"

Yeah, the peaches were lightly rubbed

with a little bit of curry paste and a little olive oil,

- and that was it. - Anyway, I changed my mind

as soon as I tasted it, so...

While this was a team challenge,

one chef stood out as our winner.

Jeremiah?

There was one chef who understood completely

what it was like to do a dish here under these conditions,

and it was technically perfect, and that chef...

is Gregory.

- Thank you. - [applause]

Good job. You deserve it.

- Thank you. - Good job.

Thank you.

It feels so great to have this redemption.

This is 16 years of amazing chefs

trying to fight for that title.

Obviously, I'm here to win.

I gotta take it to the end.

Thank you, Yellow Team,

You can step to the side.

One team did have our least favorite dishes today,

and one of you will be going home.

Red Team,

Red Team, please step forward.

Before I give here, I want to make a few comments

to a few chefs here.

Angelo, your dish I wasn't crazy about,

and I'll tell you why.

You made an oyster that was kind of not cooked,

but it wasn't cold. It was just like a bit of phlegm.

It was not pleasant at all.

Kevin, presentation was amazing,

but that swordfish was hammered, man.

- It was too cooked? - Oh, yeah. It was tough.

Back to the Red Team.

How are you feeling right now?

We felt really good coming away from the table,

but we're here now, and... - [chuckles]

Last place we want to be.

On the ceviche, I love the jimaca,

the hibiscus, and that color,

I just looked at that dish and thought it was beautiful.

I, too, loved the color,

but some people commented about a lot of liquid.

GAIL: When you put it on a plate

and then you put your halibut, Lee Anne,

and then you put a piece of flatbread beside it,

it becomes completely soggy,

and so eating the three together wasn't clean.

What was the spread on top of your flatbread, Joe?

It was like an aioli I made, some Parmesan in there,

a little bit of miso, some shrimp paste,

and I thought that would act as kind of like the glue

to hold down the clams and everything.

"Glue" is not a good word when it comes to food. [laughs]

PADMA: I think there was also too much of that aioli.

You covered up all of that flatbread with all this stuff.

I mean, that's something I think I've always struggled with

is that editing process.

- PADMA: Lee Anne. - Ohh. Yeah.

There was a lot to like in your dish,

but I think you needed a lot of editing today, too.

The sauce just weighed everything down

and right over those beautiful frizzled leeks.

We all noticed the sort of soot

on the edges of the fish from the cooking process.

- Flare-ups? - Yeah.

You see it, but you can taste it, too.

Well, I apologize, chef.

I hope I don't have to swim home.

- [laughs] - It's not too rough.

Hawaii is very far away.

[laughter]

PADMA: Chefs, we have a lot to talk about.

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

- Thank you. - Thank you all.

Let's give it up for the Yellow Team, huh?

- [applause] - Oww!

- Killing it. Killing it. - Nice job.

You know when you don't make a perfect dish.

You know it in your heart. - Totally.

But that's the way the game is played.

We have a really tough decision to make tonight.

No one wants to be the first person to go home.

Bryan's dish, there was no serious flaw.

There were flaws on the other two dishes.

GAIL: I would agree with that.

TOM: Yeah, we can take him off the table.

Okay, so then we're left with Lee Anne and Joe.

I don't think the flatbread itself was very good.

I thought that was also chewy.

And then he just piled so much on top

that it was really hard to see the forest for the trees.

As he talked about those flavors,

actually when you took a bite, you didn't get any of that.

None of it.

Lee Anne's, same problems, though,

the problem with composition.

You had a rich sauce. You had rich uni.

Lee Anne knew her mistake.

She had some serious problems working that grill.

That really ruined her dish.

You all right?

Uh, I mean, like, utter fail yesterday and today,

but other than that, I'm good, I'm great.

Pbbt! Twice in a row,

I'm making dumb technical errors.

This is not who I am as a chef.

[sighs]

Very sad. [chuckles]

If I never cook in a fire pit again...

- Oh, we are. - I am so okay with that.

These are two dishes that just didn't work at all,

and it really surprised me

'cause they're-- they're both good chefs.

Okay, I think we have our decision.

Let's get them out here.

TOM: You know, chefs, it takes a lot of courage to come back.

There's a lot of pain with it. But you're all back here,

and you're back here fighting for your lives,

and you're back here because you love to cook.

It's tough to be the first one to go,

but unfortunately there's always one that has to go first.

Padma.

Joe...

please pack your knives and go.

Joe, there was just too many ideas

crammed on one piece of bread.

But we will see you in Last Chance Kitchen.

You can edit yourself, and, um...

- I know what to do now. - hopefully win a bunch.

Sorry. Ohh!

It's okay.

Being eliminated first sucks,

but it's always what you make of it.

If you go out doing something really dumb,

you gotta live with that, but if you go out

because everybody cooked really good food,

then you gotta be prouder of still what you did

and stand by that.

- I love you, bro. - Take care.

I don't think there's anything negative to be seen

by being the first one eliminated.

[applause]

"Top Chef" is a once-in-a-lifetime experience,

and here we all are doing it

for a second time in the same lifetime.

I mean, that's an accomplishment in itself.

I know it's been a long, hot day,

and I know it's hard to see Joe go,

but this is "Top Chef,"

and your next Elimination Challenge...

starts right now.

- Man. - [laughs]

- Wow! - Oh, my God.

This is the ultimate smackdown.

PADMA: This season on "Top Chef"...

Look at this place.

For this challenge, you'll be going back into history.

- This is scary. - [wails]

- The competition is harder... - [gasps]

but I think that we're all better.

- [cheering] - Done!

- Hi! - [screams]

Please welcome some of the biggest names in the business.

- [laughs] - Oh, my God.

Welcome back, Stephanie.

I know a lot of these chefs from other seasons,

so this was very enjoyable to me.

For the first time ever,

"Top Chef" is headed to Europe for the finale.

Benvenute a Italia.

This was pretty close to perfection.

It's a Michelin-star dish for sure.

- Wow. - I will put it my restaurant.

TOM: And it's flavorful but still light.

It's just absolutely stunning to look at.

Got a long season ahead.

- No, no, no, no! - TOM: Right now,

the mistakes are gonna be amplified,

the cooking is all gonna be really top-notch.

You don't want to be the one

walking out of here second-guessing.

Unless I break my leg off,

I will be the next Top Chef.

Guys, we got one minute left!

The hummus was needing some seasoning, too. Is that correct?

Do you see the bus tracks on my back?

This season will be the most difficult season of "Top Chef."

Go hard, or go home, right?

[bleep]!

- Get your second wind. - [laughter]

For more exclusive "Top Chef" content, go to bravotv.com.

[giggles]