Original subtitles

Okay, time to step things up.

Over the last three years...

[exclaiming]

Oh, my goodness.

...I've made over 80 dishes,

with over 40 amazing chefs in my home kitchen.

-Whoo! -[screaming]

-What happened? -You don't want it now?

I'm trying!

This culinary crash course hasn't been easy.

-We did it! -There it is!

But it has been so rewarding.

Now I think I'm ready to take it to the next level.

Raquelle, hurry up!

So I'm heading out

to some of the hottest restaurants in Los Angeles...

Mmm. This is really good.

...to cook with the chefs on their home turf.

[Raquelle] This is how the real chefs do it!

[Selena] And on their terms.

-Because I said so. -[laughs]

[Selena] The goal is to create my own dish.

-Amazing. -[Selena] And I'm aiming high.

Would this be able to make the menu?

Seriously, I wanna make something good enough

to actually go on their menu.

No pressure.

♪ Watch her go mm-mm-mm mm-mm-mm, mm-mm ♪

♪ Look at her now Watch her go ♪

♪ Mm-mm-mm mm-mm-mm, mm-mm ♪

♪ Wow, look at her now

Traffic! I don't want us to be late.

I know.

I think we're gonna make it right on time.

[Selena] Lemon Grove, here we come!

Why do lemons wear sun-tan lotion?

-I don't know. -Because they peel.

[Selena] That was so bad.

-We're here! -Yay!

[Selena] Oh, my gosh, I'm so excited.

-Ready? -Ready.

[Raquelle] I smell the lemons.

[Selena] Are you making that up?

-Yeah. -Yeah.

It's creating a vibe.

[Selana] Raquelle and I are off to check out

Lemon Grove, a stunning rooftop restaurant

atop the Aster Hotel and Social Club that attracts

some of the biggest stars.

Chef Marcel Vigneron is not only famed

for his bold flavors,

but also for his impressive skills

in molecular gastronomy,

combining science with food.

He is known as the mad scientist of the kitchen,

and I can't wait to see what tricks he has up his sleeve

for us today.

-All right, is this it? -[Raquelle] Oh!

-Hello! -Oh, my God, hi!

-Selena, Raquelle. -This is Raquelle.

-Hello. -Welcome to the Lemon Grove.

-Heard amazing things. -Hi!

-Lovely to meet you. -Lovely to meet you.

Thank you so much for having us.

-Of course. -I brought a lemon purse.

Oh, I love that, and your whole ensemble

with the yellow and the lemons.

-She really came in-theme. -I try.

-You dressed very appropriately. -Thank you.

So, I was just preparing a couple of our signature items.

Uh, you know, we could do a little tasting.

So, you wanna help me with the finishing zhuzhing?

-Okay. -We would love that.

And we got some aprons.

[Raquelle] That's so cute.

So. [claps] Let's cook, shall we?

We're gonna cook?

-I thought I was gonna eat first. -You are gonna eat.

You're team finesse.

You're gonna help me plate a little bit.

So, for the dessert,

Selena, I have for you

the full moon coconut dessert.

Basically what we're gonna do is

we're gonna get our gloves and our goggles on.

-[Raquelle] Okay. -[Marcel] Safety first.

So, here we have some liquid nitrogen.

[Raquelle gasps]

[Marcel] Spare no expense here at the Lemon Grove.

We have 360 degrees Fahrenheit.

Just to clarify, are you referred to

as a molecular gastrologist?

I consider myself to be a chef, you know?

I think... What did I used to call myself?

A molecular gastronaut, right?

-Wow. -'Cause I thought, like, gastronaut.

You know, just making up words is always fun.

So, what I'm gonna have you do is

-freeze some blackberries. -Okay.

So what were gonna do is take these little blackberries

and pop 'em into the liquid nitrogen

one at a time. Perfect, perfect.

Sel, I feel like you're in a music video right now,

-with the glasses and, like, the smoke. -I know, I'm like...

[Marcel] So we're going to put our blackberries

-inside the bag, so... -[Selena] Do I smash it?

'Cause I really wanna use this.

Yeah, get in there. Smash it.

-And we'll just kinda... -I'm gonna stand back.

Pinch the end there. Yeah.

And let's use the flat side.

-Oh, just kidding. -Yeah, you're good.

Watch the fingers.

See how it's, like, breaking into the individual cells?

-This is for sure getting out some anger. -Yeah.

[Marcel] You're doing a fantastic job.

So, you're looking pretty good there, Chef.

We can go blackberry caviar right into here.

Ooh!

[Marcel] This dish was inspired by a full moon.

So I went ahead and did a little blackberry purée

-on the bottom. -[Selena] Okay.

Kind of representing the night sky.

And then our black sesame cloud

is kind of, you know, a cloud.

I'm sorry, before you continue,

what the hell is that?

[Marcel] So, what we have here is

a black sesame praline sponge cake.

[Raquelle] Yum!

And we can sprinkle some of these on here.

Kind of look like little stars

in the night sky, if you will.

And then I'm gonna make

-a little coconut semifreddo over here. -[Raquelle] Whoa.

And then we have our full moon.

-[Selena] What the hell? -[Raquelle] Whoa!

-That is our coconut coulant. -It's a meringue?

[Marcel] Yeah.

-So we basically took... -Wow.

...coconut mousse,

and froze it, and it's still, like, nice and liquid-y.

[Selena] Wow, this is yummy.

-And mousse-y on the inside. -Mmm!

I can taste lemon.

I was just thinking that!

And, like, a little bit of tanning lotion.

[Raquelle] Yeah, I'm so confused.

Oh, yeah! A little bit of Malibu, right?

-A little bit of, like, coconut. -I definitely taste Malibu.

Yeah. So, if you guys wanna go

get set up in the dining room,

I will bring these dishes out to you.

-You don't need help? -I got it.

-[Raquelle] Oh, wow. -I'm a trained professional here.

-Chef Marcel. -Trained professional.

Gentleman.

I'll hold it.

It's like breaking bread.

Really? Okay, okay.

[Marcel] You know, in Italy,

there's certain parts of Italy where it's, like,

sacrilegious to, like, cut the pizza.

-[both] Really? -Yeah, yeah.

This is so good. This pasta.

-[Marcel] Please, get in here. -Mmm.

[Raquelle] Oh, my gosh, so good.

[Marcel] And this dish is actually vegan.

Sorry, I was half paying attention.

-This is amazing. -[chuckles]

This dessert?

She's stepping ahead.

-[Selena] Amazing. -[Raquelle] Mmm.

I cannot begin to tell you

how delicious this food is.

And now I'm even more nervous

for today, but in a good way.

I'm here for you. I'm here to sort of, like,

help inspire you guys.

Are there flavors that you gravitate towards?

Are there ingredients?

I am, like, a meat and potatoes girl,

but I think I wanna try scallops.

That could be a fun one.

-Yeah. -I'm into scallops.

I am so excited.

[Marcel] So, we've got our protein.

I really like your idea of scallops.

-Yeah. -I think that that's, like,

it's such a regal protein.

It's a great way to level up the game.

Just kinda elevate our cooking.

[Selena] I kind of want it to have a twist.

'Cause I love just nice scallop

with, like, a potato purée.

But I wanna add something.

When I think of scallops and potato,

it makes me think of, like, white on white.

Right? But I also love to have, like, color.

-Okay. -Do you have any favorite colors?

I actually love purple.

Purple? Another extremely regal color.

-I feel like purple's one of the most regal. -Yes. It's regal.

Hardly.

Okay, purple.

So that makes me think of purple cauliflower.

-Purple radishes. -[both] Ooh!

We love purple cauliflower.

There's also, it's, like, a special flower.

It's called, like, a butterfly pea flower,

which is also purple. That's fun.

-Yeah. -I'm gonna grab a bunch

of purple stuff. I'll be back.

Do you need help?

It's right over here. I got stuff.

I'm gonna go into the walk-in.

Maybe I'll take the escalator.

-[Raquelle] Oh! -Oh, my God.

Now we got the dad jokes going on.

-So you said potato purée. -Yeah.

I was thinking maybe purple cauliflower purée?

Absolutely.

So, Selena, we'll take off the green.

And then chop off some of the florets.

And we'll blanch those,

-since you know what blanching is. -Yes.

And then we'll blend it.

-Sounds great to me. -[Selena] Yes.

Okay, so, carrots.

I almost like the raw freshness of them.

So we would just have 'em, like, raw and peeled?

-Like little shavings? -Yeah.

[Marcel] That could be fun. I like that.

Radishes, I kind of feel like the same.

-Totally. -So...

Oh! My flowers.

So, these are the flowers.

-Oh, okay. -They're pretty cute.

These are, I believe, from Thailand, actually.

-Love it. -Will we make this tea?

'Cause I think it's always when you elevate a dish,

sometimes you pour a sauce tableside.

-It's like, ooh-la-la. -Right?

You know what I mean? It's, like, oh, fancy.

It's like when they bring it and they go...

Yeah. The cloche. The voila!

Chef's kiss.

Um, you wanna help me with the tea?

-Yes. -I think for the tea,

we need flavor.

I like the lemon.

And we loved those, right?

Those little leaves over there?

-Love, love. -Love those.

Right. What if we get that in there?

-[Selena] What is this? -This is the lime leaves.

So what if we dump all these in a pot and make a tea?

[Raquelle] Let's do it.

[Marcel] Yeah. Get it in there.

Boom.

How we doing, Chef?

[Selena] I mean, I'm trying.

Just made up my own way to do it. Oh!

All right.

[Marcel] Oh, perfect florets. Nice.

If we just blanch these,

and then we just let it rip in the blender

-with some water. -Okay.

[Raquelle] Oh, it's amazing how this is turning blue, guys.

Look at that, baby.

It's so hot over here.

I feel like I'm in a sauna.

I'm gonna have to go in the freezer.

Okay. You're doing a fantastic job.

You have earned yourself one minute in the walk-in.

[gasps]

[Selena] Oh, my God, this is your heaven.

-It's so cold. -It's my cold, finally!

Holy moly.

[sighs]

This is legit. This is when you know we made it.

When we're in the walk-in.

My wrist. Hot.

[sighs]

[groans] I can't do this.

Not my happy place. Phew!

How do you feel about pickles?

I grew up obsessed with pickles.

I'm from Texas, so we do fried pickles.

I like bread and butter,

I like spicy, kosher, whatever.

Sour, dill. I'm obsessed with pickles.

What if we do, like, a pickled component?

-What if we do pickled cauliflower? -Okay.

How do you like to make your pickling liquid?

-Vinegar? -Yeah.

Sugar?

Sure.

-Water? -I love it.

I like to have, like, an acidic pickle,

so I usually do 2-1-1.

That's vinegar. Oh, yeah.

Always reminds me of, like, Easter egg thing.

You are gonna go in there with that.

And you're gonna go here with that.

[Selena] Okay.

What do we have left?

-Carrots, radishes. -Yeah.

For the radishes,

how do you feel, like, a nice little slice?

-Yeah. -Sometimes what I do

when I'm slicing radishes is I'll, like,

keep this guy so I can hold on to it.

Gotta protect the phalanges.

-Of course. -You know, keep the fingers.

When we're finished today,

-we want all ten of them. -We want fingers.

So, I kinda use this as, like, a little holder

on the mandoline.

-Have you ever microbladed? -No.

-[Marcel] Oh, well. -Uh...

-Maybe you do it, Sel. -Yeah.

Yeah. Let's call in the big guns.

[Selena] You have no idea. This could chop your fingers.

You don't want me to lose my finger.

-I don't. -Thank you.

[Marcel] And we don't need a ton of those.

Two-thirds of that radish is probably good.

-Okay. -Think you're good.

Yeah, these are beautiful.

That's nice.

Coming from the molecular gastrologist,

that means a lot.

You are loving that word.

I'm loving it. I just can't believe we're cooking

-with a real-life guy. -[laughs]

Carrot ribbons. What do you think?

-Something like that? -Yeah.

-Okay. -Yeah.

That's coming along.

And then, Selena, we have our florets.

-And we can blanch them. -Okay.

Five, 10 minutes till they're just nice and soft.

-Nice. -Bravo.

[Marcel] And then tea.

These chef stoves are no joke.

-Yeah. -The way the heat comes out,

-it's impressive. -Real hot. Real hot, right?

This is how chefs do it.

-Sel. -What?

I have no idea.

You just look like

you're going through menopause.

-Shall we taste our tea? -[Raquelle] Yeah.

Sorry, it's dirty.

Oh, don't apologize for cleaning, Chef.

Oh, now it's got more of that, like, deep-ish purple flavor.

Oh, that's really yummy, wow.

[Selena] Great.

Tastes like fruit loops.

I think it needs honey.

Honey?

Guy?

-Yes, Chef? -Honey?

-Oh, honey! -Oh, honey!

-[Raquelle] Honey! -We need some honey.

-Got some honey, honey. -The honey! Yay!

-[Marcel] Honey! -[Selena] Thank you.

-Thanks, Guy. -You're welcome.

[Marcel] Nice. Cool.

Maybe it takes a vacation

and keeps on infusing,

but when it's in a happy place...

-Yeah, yeah, yeah. -...we'll give it a little strain.

[Raquelle] I'm into the tea vacation.

[Marcel] Oh. You know what we forgot about?

-What? -Our purple cauliflower.

-Right. -Let's go check it out.

Yeah, you're right.

Oh, wow.

[Marcel] Yeah. Look at that.

-That's so pretty. -So...

I wanna see if it's tender.

Ah! Is that not hot?

That was bold.

-It's good? -That is crazy.

[Selena] It's like, "Here's something boiling.

I'll just put it in my mouth."

[Marcel laughs]

Our pickling liquid is hot.

[chuckles]

Smell all the vinegar.

[Raquelle] That is a strong aroma.

[retches]

[Marcel chuckles]

Pickled cauliflower kinda reminds me a little bit

-of, like, baby fart. -Oh, yeah.

A little bit of, like, a little diaper, you know?

Not a clean diaper either.

Basically what we're gonna do is we're gonna submerge

the cauliflower

-with the pickling liquid. -Let's do it!

Nailed it.

Cool.

You can see it's actually changing color already.

See how it's turning into, like, hot pink now?

[Selena] Yeah.

That's the acid

in the pickling liquid, the vinegar,

it's changing the pH of the cauliflower

as it's pickling.

So weird.

-Crazy, right? -That's pretty.

[Marcel] It is really pretty.

Okay, so now we're gonna strain our tea.

-Yep. -And we're gonna strain

-our purple cauliflower. -Right.

And then we're gonna make our purple cauliflower purée.

I am excited.

[Marcel] We're gonna use our blender.

[Selena] Oh, so I get to put it in the blender?

[Marcel] Yeah. I love that smell.

I was thinking we could add a little bit of this tea

to kind of, like, keep that purple vibe going.

Really?

Add a little salt.

Interesting.

[Marcel] So we'll probably go

maybe halfway up the cauliflower with liquid.

-So pretty. -[Raquelle] Oh, wow.

[Marcel] Yeah, maybe we start somewhere around there.

-Okay. Start with it low? -Yes.

-Look at that. -[Marcel] Crank it.

Let's taste it. We can see if it needs more salt or...

Oh, that's so good.

[Marcel] Nice and smooth, right?

Okay. Scallops.

For the scallops,

I think we can season

-both sides with salt. -[Selena] Yes.

[Marcel] Whenever we're dealing with

super high-temperature cooking,

couple things we wanna take into consideration, right?

Like water and oil,

-not the best friends. -Yeah.

They don't really like each other.

So you see how we seasoned the scallops?

And now where the salt is, like, penetrating water

and, like, coming back up, right?

So it's, like, pulling out all the water.

-So maybe a paper towel over it? -You got it. Yeah.

[Marcel] Okay. Nice.

So we're...

like, next to nuclear.

-Oh, wow. -So can I make a guess?

Yeah.

Two minutes on each side?

That sounds good.

I might do three and then one.

The first side to be put down,

wanna get a really nice, like, hard sear.

-Okay. -Caramelize that as much as possible.

Baste it a little bit, kiss the back side,

-and then we're good. -Great.

I love that idea.

That's what I was gonna say next.

[Marcel] Um, I'm gonna add some oil.

And then we're gonna basically put the scallops

in there, but, again,

away from yourself.

That make sense?

Away and in where the oil is. Yeah. Good.

I'm just gonna move the oil around. Okay?

-Ah, you scared me! -You're good.

-[Raquelle laughs] -You're good.

Bravo, Chef. Bravo.

So, let's get some butter in there.

When we add the butter,

we're actually gonna get a deeper, richer,

more golden color.

-How many? -Like, you know,

maybe, like, four knobs.

-Butter always makes everything better. -Yeah.

[Marcel] 'Cause I used to, like, just sear

on oil and stuff like that,

then I realized it doesn't really get you that same color.

Wow. All right, good. Let's...

Let's take it easy there, French Chef.

You said four!

Okay, you're right. I did.

-[Raquelle laughs] -Rude!

Sel!

[Marcel] Look at that sear you got on there, Chef.

That looks beautiful.

[Marcel] Now let's just take a peek.

Oh, wow. Look at that. Yeah, flip 'em over.

[Selena] Pretty.

-Wow. -They look so pretty.

And then do I just pick it up

-and put 'em on? -They're cooked.

-But the other side... -[yells]

-[Selena] Sorry. -It's okay.

Guy, can I get six more scallops?

[Guy] Yes, Chef.

[Marcel] Think we should do our plating now.

-Okay. -[Marcel] I like it.

[Marcel] So, this is our tea.

I'll call it our sauce.

And we have our scallops.

And then I put these on?

[Marcel] Ooh, you're fancy.

Okay, now I feel like I need something like this.

-You feel me, homie? -What are you thinking?

-Some greenery on the scenery? -Yeah.

We can make that happen.

-[Selena] Oh! -I like cilantro.

-Great. -Mélange on top.

You said you like things spicy.

-How about, like, a little serrano? -Yeah.

-What do you think, a little sprinkle? -Yeah.

-Make it hot, right? -[Raquelle] Wow.

[exclaims]

All right, bye.

[Raquelle laughs]

I want to eat it!

That is beautiful.

[Marcel] Let's go, um...

-get reviewed. -Okay, yay!

-Let's see how they like it. -All right.

♪ Who's gonna walk you through the dark side of the morning ♪

-Hi, how are you? -Good, how are you? I'm Tyler.

Tyler is our general manager.

And you guys have already met Guy.

Why don't you tell us what we've made, Chef?

Oh, gosh. Um, scallops.

Purple cauliflower purée.

And then we have this thing.

[Raquelle] Cauliflower purée?

Babe, that was the first thing.

Serranos? Don't mind me.

[Marcel] We also made a butterfly pea broth.

So you can do a little drizzle.

And then voila.

I'm very nervous. Go easy on me.

I'm not a professional.

[Marcel] I'm definitely digging all the purple and pink vibes,

-for sure. -[Selena] It's really cool.

So, I have a question, which to me is...

-[Marcel] Talk to me, Chef. -...one of the most important

parts of why I do the show.

Do you mind telling us a little bit about

the charity we'll be donating to?

Absolutely. So, my charity is Band of Parents.

And Band of Parents deals with

children that have cancer.

A friend of mine, her son Julian is

undergoing chemo, but the kid is, like, incredible.

He's, like, you know, such a fighter.

And thank you for doing this,

because it actually goes a long way.

[Selena] Today we'll be donating $10,000

to Band of Parents.

The organization funds

innovative research and clinical trials

to help increase patient survival rates

and fast-track a cure,

using less toxic and more targeted therapies.

-So thank you. -Absolutely.

Thank you for introducing me and the viewers.

If you're watching this one out there, Julian,

-this one's for you, bud. -Aw. Hi, Julian.

So, Guy, what do you think about this dish?

[Guy] Flavors are there. Nice and fresh.

-Cauliflower's simply delicious. -Cool.

I think it's beautiful.

I think the scallops are cooked perfectly.

The purée is delicious.

Maybe a little bit of room for improvement.

Okay.

The spice I would like to see more of.

-Okay. -But I think overall,

-really, really great. -I'll take it.

Do we think that, like,

this could become, like, a Lemon Grove...

-Like, is this a... -I mean, I think...

-With the improvements. -I mean, I think

with the slight modifications,

I think that it could do very well

on our menu, absolutely.

I can already see it. "Selena's Scallops."

[Raquelle] Selena's Scallops.

I love it. It has a ring to it, doesn't it?

Absolutely, absolutely.

I love it.

[Marcel] Chef's kiss.

-[Tyler] Yeah, it was great. -[Marcel] Voila.