Original subtitles

Previously on "Hell's Kitchen,"

the final four strutted their stuff on the red carpet

for "Entertainment Weekly."

- Mm, mm, mm, mm.

In a challenge that tested the chefs' presentation skills--

- One great photo can really put

your restaurant on the map.

--each of them made headlines.

- That's a little bite of heaven right there.

- I appreciate that.

- Your sauce on the bottom is incredible.

- Thank you, Chef. - Fish is cooked beautiful.

- Thank you, Chef.

But it was Dafne's dish--

- This is doing things.

--that stole the spotlight.

- Congratulations. - Thank you so much.

In dinner service, the chefs

took turns running the pass.

- Sommer, on the hot plate, please.

They each faced an assortment of sabotages--

- This is not halibut. This is cod.

- --courtesy of Chef Ramsay.

- Sabotage. - --with Sommer--

- Well caught. - --Dafne--

- Is this Arctic shark? - --Alex--

- There's fava beans in there instead of peas.

- --and Alejandro. - Hey, this is orzo.

This is up, guys.

- Each excelling. - Well-spotted.

Let's go.

At elimination--

- You made this so difficult.

--Chef Ramsay chose--

- Sommer. - --ending her dream

of becoming his next head chef.

- I'm going to pass out, this is--

- Should we do this?

Tonight on "Hell's Kitchen"...

- I feel like I'm going to get married right now.

--see who survives the final gauntlet.

- Ale, Ale, Ale, Ale, Ale.

Will it be Alejandro--

- I'm going to pull it, cut it, taste it, and see

where the flavor is on it.

--the family man from small town Ohio

and executive chef with a flair

for Middle Eastern cuisine?

- Go big or go home.

Or Daphne, the 29-year-old

from the City of Angels, an executive sous chef who is

a master at Italian cuisine.

- It's delicious.

This is a rustic yet elegant puttanesca dish.

Nothing's going to stop me.

Or Alex, the former restaurant owner

from Tennessee who takes Southern cuisine

to a whole new level.

- Let's try this.

I'm going to add a little bit of buttermilk.

Watch as the final three--

- It's way lighter for sure.

--put their heart and soul on every plate--

- There's zero room for error.

- We have five incredible judges, Stephanie Izard.

--to not only please these culinary icons--

- Visually stunning. - I mean, this takes guts.

- It is sexy.

- This steak's cooked immaculately.

--but also prove they're ready to become--

- My head chef at the brand-new

Hell's Kitchen Caesar Atlantic City.

Step up to your door.

Only one door will open.

- On the count of three--

Whose life will change forever?

- One. - Tonight--

- Two.

--watch the final three--

- Three...

--on "Hell's Kitchen."

- All three of you, head into the dorms.

Well done. - Thank you, Chef.

- Thank you, Chef. - Thank you, Chef.

- Uh, hell, Yeah.

- Hey.

- What is it? Oh!

- Good champagne. - Ohh...

- I can't unpack all the emotions so fast.

There's so much to process.

I know that my family is incredibly proud of me.

It's all for them.

- My family's going to be so proud.

- This is so surreal.

It's been a long journey to this moment

that makes me tear up and get emotional

because I'm super, super proud of myself.

- Oh, my God.

I had to beat 15 people to be where I'm at right now.

I am the last girl standing.

Gracias dios mio for this opportunity.

I love you.

All I have to do is beat two boys.

I'm so close.

I wouldn't ask for better men to go against me.

- It's me, Dafne, and Alejandro fighting it out.

May the best chef win.

- Cheers. - Cheers.

- This is Alex. - Alex, it's Chef.

I need a quick chat with all three of you.

Please, meet me in the dining room.

- Absolutely, we're on the way.

- Chef.

- Let's go.

Line up, please, all three of you.

- Yes, Chef. - Thank you.

Right, listen carefully.

For your final challenge, all three of you

will need to design a menu.

Now, to help start planning those dishes,

I have menu books for all three of you.

- Creating my own menu for Hell's Kitchen--

this is a dream.

Here we go.

- Each of you will be assigned a sous chef.

There are three of you.

So I've called in an extraordinary chef,

one of my dear friends, Chef Jonathon Scallion.

He finished third in season 11.

You're going to walk out of here as my lone, shiny star

from that Blue Kitchen.

Do me a favor.

Stay in touch.

- I will.

- Because there's always something around the corner.

He went on to become an executive chef

of my corporate team.

- It just goes to show you that whether you're

the winner or third place, I feel like you

can make a career out of this.

- Now I want you to open your menu books.

Inside that menu is an envelope containing the location

of your sous chef.

Dafne, you're off where?

- Your office, Chef. - Alejandro?

- Patio. - Alex?

- Dorm kitchen. - Get out of here.

- Thank you. - Thank you, Chef.

- Thanks, Chef.

- I feel like a VIP going into Chef Gordon's office.

I am praying to God it's Chef Christina.

She's seen me cook throughout this whole journey.

Yes.

- Congratulations. Amazing.

You did so good tonight. - Oh, my God.

Thank you.

Oh my God.

This is crazy.

- Ha ha ha! Ahh!

Aah!

- Good job, man.

Congrats.

- Thank you. - What's up, bro?

- Nice to meet you, man. - Hey, pleasure.

- I'm so excited to see this come to life.

I want to do things that are going

to push me forward, maybe take a risk outside of the box.

A little bit of back story about me,

I'm so connected to Middle Eastern

and Thai food, Asian food.

I'm already thinking first course of tartare,

very Vietnamese style, lime, ginger, garlic, shallot.

- That makes me hungry.

I'm not going to lie to you.

- All right, what's the deal?

- So I'm going to go Italian heavy.

I think I feel so comfortable with that.

Even though I'm a Latina, I'm going

to go very heavy Italian.

It's what I love to do.

So I'm pumped.

For the first course, it's a beef tartare

with uni emulsion.

- Very decadent. - Yeah, it's Los Angeles.

People are so bougie.

- I think it sounds very much like you.

- Yeah.

- So prawn fritter.

Like a hush puppy sort of thing?

- So one of the best sellers at Dallas & Jane

was a crawfish hush puppy with an Old Bay mayo,

cotija cheese on top.

I'm from the South, man.

You know, fried things work.

People love them. - Yeah, same.

In my restaurant, we sell tons of hush puppies.

- Yeah.

- What about even using like sea bream,

really mild, flaky fish.

- I've never cooked with sea bream.

So I'm down to try something different.

- OK, cool. - I feel like if I can

execute that perfectly, it would be--

it'd be pretty ballsy.

- So second course, it has to be something light

that's not going to fill everyone up.

- Agnolotti, a nice raviolo.

- Ah, I'm going to write that. That's really smart.

And either cacio e pepe fondue

or moliterno al tartufo fondue.

- Slow down.

- I know, sorry.

- Chicken two ways.

- Yeah, I thought about a Southern dish,

show the versatility of chicken.

Give them a really good thigh with some bad ass

flavored beans.

- Just a little boring, you know.

- I made like a Tennessee white sauce.

And it was basically the combination of Carolina Gold

and Alabama white.

- I mean, a Carolina Gold would be bad-ass too.

- It's a play on Tennessee.

- An American Kobe-style New York strip

would be pretty dope.

- That would almost tie all of this together too.

- Truffle butter basting on the Wagyu.

- This is really coming together nicely.

- So we slice the strip and then the mushroom vinaigrette.

- Yeah, this excites me, actually.

- Um, OK. I think we're good, right?

- Cool.

- It's late. All right, good night.

- Whatever happens from this point on,

it's been a hell of a ride.

And I can't wait to see what happens tomorrow

when it comes to prep and plating.

But first, I'm going to sleep like a brick tonight.

- This is Alex.

- Alex, good morning. - Morning.

- Today you, Alejandro, and Dafne need to go to the patio.

Chef Ramsay has a message for you out there.

- Heard, thank you, Chef.

- Thank you.

- Good luck, guys.

I already have anxiety as it is.

And right now, I feel like I'm going to pass out.

- Oh my gosh.

- It's so early.

- We're not even usually out the dorms yet.

- I'm nervous.

I honestly don't know what to expect right now.

Is this another challenge?

Here we go.

- Good morning. Final three. - Oh, my God.

- I can't wait to see what your final menus look like.

So for today's challenge, I want you to--

- I'm starving.

When culinary icons come to dine--

- I mean, this takes guts.

- I think that one gets a 10.

- It really is beautiful.

--two chefs will triumph.

- Difficult decision.

And one will get left behind.

- It's all down to this. Please, Curtis.

- Um.

- Right, good morning. Final three.

- Oh, my God.

- I can't wait to see what your final menus look like.

And I'm sure you're all excited, probably a little

nervous about your final menu.

So for today's challenge, I want you to...

relax. That's right, relax.

- Yeah, I love that.

- Because I prepared a day of wellness.

First, an exquisite hotel suite.

- Oh. - VIP.

There, you're going to engage in a group bath.

- Group bath?

Do you want me to sit in a bath with Alejandro and Alex?

Eew, I don't want that.

- A sound bath, of course. Come on.

- Sound bathing?

I have no idea what the hell that even means.

- And then, you'll cast away your cares

with a VIP dinner reservation at

the amazing, opulent Castaway.

In fact, this breathtaking restaurant, it's so luxurious,

I'm going to join you.

- Yes.

- So all of you, you really want

to get dressed to the nines.

- I feel like I'm going to faint.

Uh, this is too much.

- Hey!

- Hi, welcome to your wellness suite.

I'm Roxie.

I'm going to be your sound healer today.

If you'd like to take off your shoes?

- Yeah.

What the hell have I just signed up for?

- Are you ready to chill out and go deep?

- If I wake up and I'm floating though,

I'm going to freak out.

- You might feel like you're floating.

- Alex looks so uncomfortable.

This is Los Angeles. We do stuff like this.

- Let's take a deep inhale in through the nose.

And exhale.

- At first, it doesn't feel like anything.

Within two minutes, you're taken over by this feeling.

My arms are literally melting and floating at the same time.

- She's just literally like a fairy,

just like boo, doo, boo.

And I can't see her.

But I feel like she's just moving with it.

- I'm definitely feeling the vibrations in my gut,

in my butt, in my toes.

She's over us doing this rain sound thing.

And then every now and then, it stops for a second.

And you just hear,

This guy fell asleep.

- Oh, was I snoring?

- And exhale with a loud sigh or laugh.

Let it go.

- Aah! - Aah!

- Awesome.

- Oh, that was great.

- Literally felt like I was on the beach.

- Yeah, that was crazy.

- I don't know what kind of voodoo magic she put on me.

- Thank you for joining me.

- But whew, that was nuts.

That was awesome. Thank you so much.

The second stop of Chef Ramsay's

day of relaxation is high up above Los Angeles.

- Welcome. Look at you three.

Wow.

Do you feel restored?

- I was relaxed.

But now you're here, so now I'm tense.

I'm nervous, Chef. - Don't be nervous.

Come on.

- I know you're up to something.

I cannot relax right now.

I literally feel stiff as a rock.

- Inside here is an amazing courtyard.

When you see it, you'll understand why.

- It's game on.

Look, I've watched this show for years.

This is how it always plays out.

These chefs are just bumbling through this place.

Next thing you know, it's like--

- Well, let me show you guys around a bit.

We've got amazing view from here.

- OK.

- Oh, my God!

- Let's go.

So when was last time you were at a musical?

- It's been years, Chef.

- Let's turn left.

- What's up with all these lights?

- Why are there people out here?

Oh, my God.

Oh, my God! - OK.

- Shall we? Should we do this?

- Yes. - Shall we?

- I feel like I'm going to get married right now.

- Come on in.

- Wow.

And nobody's home.

Just a courtyard.

- Oh, my God. - Stunning, isn't it?

- Where is my family?

Where are the people?

Where is the cooking?

- Through here is the Verdugo Room,

named after the amazing mountains behind us.

Now, in here are legendary events,

events that the Hollywood A-listers frequent.

It's just incredible.

The history of this room is breathtaking.

Are you ready to see the world famous Verdugo Room?

- Yes, Chef.

- Alex, hand on the door.

- This is it.

This is the challenge.

I am ready.

- In you go. - Wow.

- Holy--

- Carpet and windows and some rando people

over there rolling silverware.

- This seats comfortably 400.

- I'm about to pass out at this point.

If it's not from a heart attack,

then it's from an anxiety attack.

- Through here can seat up to 1,000 guests.

Oh, my God. - Holy crap.

- It's called the Starlight Room,

reserved for the most exclusive events.

- You OK? - Yes.

- Why do you look so nervous? - You're amazing.

- The faster we can get this over with,

the faster my anxiety goes away.

So let's just go.

- Right through here is the kind of place

you want to be for one of the most

important times of your life.

Imagine that, your loved ones to cheer you on.

- "Hell's Kitchen" doesn't do things small.

There's going to be a swarm of people.

There's a couple of ovens set up.

Our sous chefs are there.

- Would you mind opening this door with me

on the count of three?

- And right now, it's game on.

- I'm going to pass out. This is--

- OK.

- OK, here we go.

- And I just want to say, right now,

I couldn't be prouder, OK?

- Thank you, Chef.

Welcome to the Starlight Room.

- This is so big. - Dude, what the hell?

We've been bamboozled again.

When the hell is the bamboozling get to stop?

Like, seriously.

- I have a beautiful dinner arranged for all three of you.

Follow me. - Let's go.

At this point, I've given up on the idea

that my family is here or that there's a challenge

that's going to take place.

- Best of luck. - Thank you, Chef.

I'm just going to have lunch with Chef Ramsay,

which is not a bad thing.

- Alex, how important was it to announce

yourself in the competition without putting

a target on your back?

- Slowly but surely, I wanted my work ethic, my ability

to create things, perform and challenges,

I wanted those things to speak for themselves.

And slowly but surely, they did.

I have a spice crusted salmon.

It's in a chorizo broth.

- Yeah, it's cooked beautifully.

- I think I'm going to go with one point for Alex.

- That is utter perfection.

That is definitely in.

- Thank you, Chef.

There's going to be so many moments

that I will never forget.

- Y'all got your little lines going on.

- This is my opinion.

I'm allowed to have it.

This is why you're not a good leader.

- Yeah, baby.

- True blue, true blue.

Oh,.

- But come on. Dig in.

Dig in and enjoy yourself. Relax.

That's exactly what I do, Alejandro.

- Yes, Chef.

- Young man, describe the experience so far.

- Amazing.

I've had 20 top-10 moments of my life of all time

in a matter of weeks, just from this competition.

- You did it!

- The wings are double-fried, tossed in a dry rub

and then garnished with a little bit

of pomegranate seeds.

- Congratulations, well done.

- Thank you, Chef.

- Only thing missing with this dish is your jacket.

That's exactly what I was looking for.

- Thank you, Chef.

- Dafne, why so much self-doubt

in amongst strong competition?

Why is that?

- My dad and my mom never wanted me to do this.

So I almost feel like I always have to prove to them

that, hey, I can do this.

- What was the feeling like when Danny Trejo

said that about your taco?

- I felt that the Latina in me really brought it out.

- I did make my own masa tortilla.

- Wow.

Mom! You got my mom back here?

- You've definitely elevated it.

Good job. - Thank you, Chef.

And then the "Entertainment Weekly," I'm like, I'm set.

- Why do you have a lack of confidence again?

- I don't know. - I'm just wondering.

- Second black jacket goes to...

Dafne.

- Oh, my God.

- For me, the best dish winner is...

I've got to go with Dafne.

- Dafne. - It's Dafne.

- Congratulations. - Thank you so much.

- One more thing, OK?

You've got an exceptional dinner planned for tonight.

Now relax.

- We just had lunch with Gordon Ramsay.

- Well, this is our second time.

- Yeah. - Well, it's my first.

Six months ago, I never would have believed this was

even a reality of happening.

- It's going to be a crazy night tomorrow.

So top three.

- Here we go.

- Lunch is over. It's almost 5:00.

I'm about to just unwind.

I'm Thanksgiving full at this point.

I'm about to unbutton my pants, take a nap,

get ready for tomorrow.

It's going to be a big day.

- I didn't need five courses after that charcuterie.

- No.

- Come on!

After a relaxing day where

the final three were expecting the final challenge reveal--

- Wow.

- Welcome to the Starlight Room.

- It's so big. - Dude, what the hell?

--the unexpected happened

back in "Hell's Kitchen."

- Oh, my God.

- Come on!

- This season was called Battle of the Ages.

But this moment feels like three friends

hanging out that can't believe we're the top three

in "Hell's Kitchen." Unreal.

- Ladies and gentlemen, our final three amazing chefs,

Alex from Tennessee, Dafne from Los Angeles,

and from Ohio, Alejandro.

This is your final challenge.

- Thank you so much for being here.

Former teammates, welcome back. - Love you guys.

- Give our guests a little insight to your experience

across this competition.

- I keep saying that I've had top 10 moments of my life

just in this competition.

To everybody that's been a part of this, it's life-changing.

It's absolutely amazing.

- Oh God, I still can't believe this, it's unreal.

I love to cook.

And it's been a roller coaster ride.

I'm so grateful that I've spent it with really good chefs.

- For me, I owned a restaurant 20 miles south of Nashville.

It closed due to COVID.

And so for me, this whole thing has

been an opportunity just to give my family

a better opportunity.

- Now in just a moment, you'll be cooking your final menu,

five stunning dishes each.

The stakes are huge because the top two finishers in tonight's

challenge will move forward and lead

their kitchens in tomorrow night's grand finale.

- Yeah! - Whoo-hoo!

- Here we go.

- So this is it.

You've all got 60 minutes.

Off you go. - This is crazy.

- Where are we going, Chef?

- Let's go!

- I was not expecting to cook today.

However, I'm a badass. I feel confident.

This menu is great.

All right, Chef. I got this.

No problem.

Let's go!

- You ready? - Yep.

It's the start of the final menu challenge.

And the chefs have 60 minutes--

- True blue, baby.

--to produce five dishes,

a cold and hot appetizer--

- Let's get the proteins going. - OK.

- --as well as one chicken, one fish, and one beef entree.

- Looks great.

Maybe a little less spinach. - OK.

- It's a lot of pressure that I have inside of me.

And whatever I do in this next hour

is going to either make or break my career.

- Let's go, Dafne. You got this.

- This is wild.

And nothing's going to stop me.

Crazy.

- Alex, Alex, Alex, Alex, Alex.

- I want to do like a double dredge

and get those lacy fingers on the thighs.

And that should be good. I'll get started on the strips.

Cooking a five-course meal, that's a whole different kind

of challenge.

Like, we're talking from Mars to Pluto here.

The pressure is on.

- Wow, this is a freaking intense battle.

In my mind, this is anybody's game.

- Ale! - That's your homeys

right there. - It's weird.

I'm nervous as hell, especially cooking

in front of a live audience.

- Ale, Ale, Ale, Ale, Ale, Ale.

- I have to gain my composure.

If I go into this flustered, then I'm not going

to make it to the finale.

- I got some sea bream over there working.

I'm going to pull it, cut it, taste it and see

where the flavor is on it.

I get to work with sea bream for the first time.

I've never worked with it. - What do you think?

- I love it. It's mild.

It's flaky as.

But I feel like I need to go big or go home.

I'm in a no risk, no reward kind of situation.

Fish, this way, curry, and then mushrooms.

- Cool.

- Alex, 20 minutes to go.

- Yes, Chef.

- All right, chicken, steak, fried chicken is done.

I'm trying to make these things sing.

And I'm trying to put myself on a plate.

And I'm just thinking God, I hope

this is good enough to win.

- He looks like a killer. Let's go.

He's a killer!

- Alex, Alex, Alex, Alex.

- Yeah, woo!

- Dafne, Dafne, Dafne, Dafne.

- I'm super-happy to see Dafne.

We all came so far,

and you better kill it right now.

This is your time to shine.

- 15 minutes.

- 15 minutes heard.

I'm like shaking right now.

The bubble gut, the anxiety,

I'm feeling all of that right now.

It's like a crock pot just cooking up.

Oh, God.

But I'm not going to let my nerves

and my anxiety get in my way.

I'm going to put the uni on top of the beef tartare

and then the chervil on top of that.

I had to learn from so many mistakes to get here.

However, I feel like I found my voice.

I found my identity in this competition.

Basically, just created a border so my egg

yolk does not fall through.

Making raviolo with a whole egg yolk in it, like,

it's very precise.

This is a rustic yet elegant puttanesca dish.

I feel like I can really win this.

But everything has to be perfect.

- Dafne, taste everything, yes? - Yes, Chef.

- 6 and 1/2, yes? - All right, Chef.

- They still feel a little dense to me.

- You're running out of time.

You got to just get these cooked.

- I want to add a little bit of buttermilk.

It's getting down to the wire.

I fried off the hush puppies.

I didn't like the batter.

Let's try this.

I'm adding more batter, trying to find the right texture.

There's zero room for error.

It's way lighter for sure.

- OK, done. - Yeah, I'm cool with that.

- 90 seconds to go, guys.

Come on.

- Alejandro, Alejandro.

- We're in the home stretch, now.

We're in that last bit.

Two of us is going forward to the finale

and one of us is going home.

And no, it's not going to be me.

- Don't settle for second best, man.

This is your life right now.

- Don't over press that tartare, OK?

- Yes, Chef. - 30 seconds, guys.

- Yes, Chef. - Fast, fast, fast, fast, fast.

- Everything with confidence.

Think about how hard you worked to get here.

- Yes, Chef. This is it.

I put everything I can on these plates.

- Elegant with that negative space.

Yep, only two of us are going to be in the finals.

And ultimately, I'm proud of this menu.

And I'm praying it works.

- Let's go, guys.

- Five, four,

three, two, one.

- Well done.

- Each of you have got five dishes.

And we have five incredible judges,

some of the most amazing chefs from all over the country,

world-renowned. Chefs, are you ready?

- Yes, Chef.

- Judging round number one,

this is a chef whose restaurant Nightshade

was named one of the best new restaurants

by "Food & Wine," the amazing Mei Lin.

- Her restaurant is just extraordinary.

She is what I want to be.

I want to be a creative unicorn.

And that's what Mei Lin is.

- So good to see. Welcome.

Congratulations on all success.

- Thank you.

- Let's start off with Dafne, please.

- This is a Wagyu beef tartare with a little bit

of uni emulsion and taro root chip.

- Visually stunning.

I love that you have a crispy element

as well as a creamy element.

- I wanted to put my little Dafne kick on it.

- I really love a hand-cut tartare.

That's such like a pro move.

Fantastic job.

- Thank you, Chef.

- Alex, please describe your dish to Chef.

- This is snapper crudo.

It's some pickled Fresno chilis, puffed quinoa,

and a chive oil around the tangerine vinaigrette

on the plate.

- I love that hit of acid when it hits your mouth.

- Thanks, Chef.

- It's just really, really beautiful.

Great job. - Appreciate it.

- Amazing, well done. Good job.

Really good.

Up next, Alejandro, please.

Describe to Chef Mei.

- This is a Vietnamese-style beef tartare

with smoke oyster aioli with the rice cracker.

I recommend just smashing it all up and yeah, have fun.

- I like it. It comes with instructions.

- All right.

- Chef, how's that?

- I guess when you describe Vietnamese,

I'm not really getting that from the flavors.

But yeah, I love the playfulness of having us

smash into the chip.

- Thank you. - Thank you, Alejandro.

Now for the difficult part.

Three very strong cold apps.

We start off with Dafne first, please, score out of 10.

- A nine.

- A nine, wow.

- Thank you, Chef.

I'm off to a great start.

I wish I had maracas.

- And Alex's dish, Chef?

- I'm going to go with a 10.

- And Alejandro's dish, Chef?

- I'm going to go with an eight.

- An eight.

- This sucks.

I thought it was a solid dish. I would order that anywhere.

- Thank you so much, Chef.

Please give it up for Chef Mei Lin.

Good to see you, Mei.

I'll see you soon.

Next up, judging the hot appetizer,

the three Michelin star phenomenon

from the restaurant, ADRIFT, please welcome David Myers.

- So great to be back.

- Welcome back. - Hello, guys.

- How you doing, Chef?

- David Myers is the real deal, man.

I remember him from a earlier challenge.

He's going to be a tough cookie.

- Dafne, please.

- For your second course, you have

a huevo raviolo stuffed with ricotta,

a little bit of cacio e pepe.

And then the finishing sauce is brown butter

and crispy prosciutto.

- This is absolutely beautiful.

I love the presentation.

I mean, this takes guts.

- Chef, dig in, please.

- Oh, that's what I wanted to see.

I wanted to see that yolk just break

so beautifully like that.

That is how it should be right there.

- That's the money shot. Hey, good job.

- This is wild right now.

- So good.

- Great start.

- Alex, describe your dish for Chef David.

- This is a prawn fritter with jalapenos and garlic

and some caviar and chives.

I tried to make a really fancy hush puppy.

- Well, let me tell you something, Alex.

This is without a doubt, the fanciest hush puppy

I have ever seen. - Thank you.

- But I'm missing a little bit of that strong prawn flavor

that I really want to have with this.

It's still excellent.

- I knew it. He's tough.

My nerves are on fire at this point.

- Alejandro, please describe your dish to Chef.

I made a uni pasta.

It's uni butter, uni cream, glazed the uni, bruleed it.

Then I made a furikake over top of it

for that crunch in textures.

- Well, definitely decadent.

But for me, the crowning part of this

is where it's just a little bit of that torch on the uni.

And then uni on uni on uni.

It really works Alejandro.

- Thank you.

- Chef, now the tricky part.

For Alejandro, out of 10.

- I'm giving you a nine, man.

That was just beautiful.

- Yay, let's go, Alejandro.

- Dafne.

- Daphne, you just crushed me right off the bat.

You have a 10.

A 10.

- And Alex?

- Alex, I'm giving you an eight.

- Thank you, Chef. Appreciate it.

Damn it.

- It's going to be tight.

- The amazing David Myers. Good to see you.

I'll see you soon. - God bless.

- Thank you, Chef. - Take care.

Be safe. - Thank you.

- Now tonight, judging round number three,

she is the genius behind Girl & the Goat,

Stephanie Izard.

- Good to see you.

- Awesome to see her again.

She's a hard judge to please.

- Welcome back to "Hell's Kitchen."

- Thank you. I remember some of those dishes.

- I didn't even get a point for my dish.

- I'm going to do a point for Mindy and zero for Alejandro.

- But this time, the flavors are on-point.

I know I'm going to kill it.

- Alejandro, please describe the dish.

- This is pretty much home-style cooking.

And the chicken's just been simply roasted

on the skin side down.

I did seared baby squash and then

glazed, served with black truffle potato puree.

- So I admire that you just sort of went down home

and just kind of kept it really simple.

But when you do that though, it's

very important that every single thing

is seasoned properly. - Yeah, absolutely.

I'm feeling very confident.

But at the same time, I'm a little nervous.

Anything can happen.

And any good chef could go home.

It's the third round of a very

tight final challenge.

And Alejandro has presented his chicken entree.

- The chicken is cooked beautifully.

It's super moist.

The skin is crispy.

It has great seasoning on it.

And I can eat a bowl of those potatoes.

- Awesome, thank you.

- Nice job. - Thank you.

- Alex, describe for Chef. Thank you.

- So you have a breast on the left.

It's got mayonnaise, a little like a honey mustard.

And on the right, you have a buttermilk

brined fried chicken with a hot pepper jelly.

- The seasoning on this side is so great.

And then when you get to this side of the plate,

you lose it a little bit.

So if you had gone with just one,

I think you could have been a little bit more successful.

- Thank you, Chef.

- Well done.

OK, Daphne, please describe your dish to Chef.

Thank you. - This is my take on a classic

Italian chicken puttanesca with a tableside pour,

a San Marzano saffron and Calabrian chili.

- I love that you took such a simple dish that

can be so casual and you really brought it

up for a restaurant setting.

Great dish. - Thank you, Chef.

- Chef, let's start the scoring.

Out of 10 for Dafne first, please.

- I'm going to go with nine.

- A nine, wow. - Thank you, Chef.

- And Alejandro.

- Yeah, I mean your seasoning's spot-on.

We're going to go with a nine.

- Nine, wow.

- Thank you.

- Alex next, please, Chef?

- Just because of the duo, I think we're

going to go with an eight. - Thank you, Chef.

Two more dishes to go, Dafne's in the lead.

- Great job. Thank you. - Thank you.

- Alejandro and I are tied.

- They're tied.

- Not feeling too comfortable.

- Judging round number four, she is a Michelin star chef.

Please welcome Nancy Silverton.

- Nancy Silverton is a legend.

This is an honor.

- Always a joy to see you.

- I'm starving.

You're star--

Alex, please describe to Chef.

- So I've made a Carolina Gold rice congee

and then a miso-cured salmon

with kimchi mayonnaise on top.

- Visually, what do you think?

- It is sexy.

It's colorful.

It seems like it all belongs there.

And it's delicious. - Thank you, Chef.

- Well done. - Appreciate it.

- Thank you.

- Way to go, Alex.

- Dafne, please describe your dish to Chef.

Thank you.

- This is a potato-crusted halibut

with a champagne beurre blanc.

- Oh, yeah.

- And caviar to finish it off.

- Fish is cooked beautifully.

I mean, I think everything is just done with elegance.

- Thank you, Chef.

- Please, Alejandro. - Oh.

- So we have a sea bream that's been cooked on the skin side

down the entire time.

And then I have a Thai green curry

with king trumpet mushrooms cooked

in lots of brown butter. - Ooh!

- - It's a hard job.

But somebody's got to do it, right?

Do any of you need jobs, by the way?

- Yes, Chef.

- Depends on how this goes.

- Really, really delicious.

- So, Chef. Now for the hard part.

Alejandro's dish first.

- I think that one gets a 10.

- A 10, wow.

- Dafne's halibut, Chef.

- I think it's another 10. I mean, it's a 10.

- Another 10, wow.

- Ah, thank you, Chef.

- And Alex, Chef?

- Can I give another-- I mean, is that all right?

- Absolutely. - It's a 10.

- You get a 10. You get a 10.

You get a 10.

Everybody gets a 10.

- Thank you so much.

Still tied.

Me and you, Alejandro.

It's going to come down to the wire on this one.

- Now judging the fifth and final round,

this chef is a powerhouse and a Michelin star chef.

Please welcome Curtis Stone.

- Curtis Stone is iconic, iconic.

He's about to judge my last dish?

Oh, my God.

- Let's start off with Dafne.

Describe your dish.

- So this is a Wagyu New York steak with a little bit

of salsify puree.

And then to finish it off, I did an Amarone wine jus.

- I mean, your Wagyu is cooked perfectly.

It really is beautifully cooked.

The only thing that lets you down is your puree.

It just needs a little more seasoning.

- Yes, Chef.

- Alex, please describe your dish to Chef.

- Chef, we have a pan-seared

New York strip in a nice farrotto.

And then I folded in some charred cabbage

and Parmesan cheese as well.

- This steak's cooked immaculately.

I love the farro.

The mushrooms bring earthiness to it.

- Thank you, Chef. - Very good.

Good job.

Final dish, young man.

Sell it.

- So this is a dukkah-crusted American Wagyu strip.

On the bottom is a Calabrian Chile yogurt,

fried shallots, and then just a simple herb salad.

- Chef, how was that?

- This is a wonderfully cooked steak.

- Thank you, Chef.

- It should be hero of the dish and you've made it that.

Well done. - Thank you, Chef.

- Chef, no pressure.

But you are now going to decide who our two finalists are.

We'll begin with Dafne.

- Just that puree let you down,

But apart from that, it was wonderful.

I'll give you an eight. - Thank you, Chef.

- An eight, wow.

- Alejandro's dish, Chef.

- It's so neck-and-neck right now.

Me and Alex are tied.

I'm hoping I get that 10.

And I'm hoping Alex gets a nine.

- Alejandro, I'm giving you a nine.

- A nine. - Thank you.

- So first up, I'd like to congratulate

Dafne as our first finalist in "Hell's Kitchen."

- Dafne!

- Ahh!

- Dafne, Dafne.

- This is my dream.

And it's coming true.

- So Chef.

It's all down to this.

Alex needs a 10 to win, a nine to tie.

If he gets an eight, Alejandro gets in.

- If Dafne didn't get a perfect score,

and Alejandro didn't get a perfect score,

I don't know if I'm going to get a perfect score.

- Difficult decision.

Please, Curtis.

- Um...

With the first slot in the "Hell's Kitchen" finale

already clinched by Dafne--

--Alex needs a perfect score from Chef Curtis Stone

to surpass Alejandro's score of 45.

- Alex, you took a real risk because you cooked farro.

You served it separate to the beef.

There's a chance the beef could eat dry.

To be honest, to get that right,

you just had to do it all perfectly.

And you did.

You get a 10.

- Woo!

- Aah!

I'm in the top two.

- Congrats, Alex.

- Oh, my God.

It's this real life?

- Congrats.

- This is the ultimate form of validation.

The amazing Curtis Stone, please.

- Thank you. - Good job.

- Alejandro, young man, let me tell you

something really important.

You've made your parents proud.

And tonight, I couldn't feel any prouder.

Congratulations. - Thank you, Chef.

I would not trade this experience for anything.

I'm extremely proud of myself.

This has been such an amazing experience.

My head is held up very high.

And I'm excited what the future brings.

- Let me draw your attention to our incredible,

feisty returning chefs, Vlad, Abe,

Brett, Tara, Sakari,

Cheyenne, Sommer,

and of course, Alejandro,

ladies and gentlemen.

Tonight, you tied 46, 46.

And because tonight, you scored three 10s and Dafne,

you scored two 10s, Alex, you get first pick.

- He is a plethora of culinary information.

His flavors are incredible and unique.

And he was standing right up here next to me

the whole night.

- Alejandro, come up here.

- Let's get it. Let's get it.

- Alejandro is literally a workhorse.

There would have been no other pick for first.

You're back so soon.

Dafne, your first pick.

- This person, they really put their heart and soul in

any position that they're in.

That's why I'm choosing Sommer.

- Yeah, Sommer.

- Sommer and I, you know, we've had ups and downs.

But I know the kind of chef Sommer is.

I know that she'll fight for me.

- OK, Alex.

- I'm going to pick this next person because of his drive

for excellence.

And I know that he will work incredibly hard for me.

So my next choice is Brett.

- Woo!

- Come here, buddy.

- Dafne.

- This person, I can tell that they love what they do.

Sakari.

- Sakari.

- Alex, your pick.

- She has only been cooking for four years.

And she's a killer.

So I'm picking Cheyenne.

- I'm really happy to be on Alex's team

compared to Dafne's.

On my elimination night, she kind of

did me a little bit dirty.

- You couldn't even see her.

She was gone.

- Because I wasn't answering you.

I wasn't--

- You just look overwhelmed and you were lost.

- So I'm not that cool with her right now.

- Dafne, third choice.

- Vlad. - Vlad.

- OK, Alex, what a night this has been because you're

picking from both teams.

- This is hard.

They're both talented cooks.

But they both bring another level of tension

to an already tense moment.

- Are you OK?

Go yourself.

I'm not as educated as you.

- Stop, stop.

- What are you talking about?

- Stop.

- Please, give us a name.

- This person brings dedication, hard work,

work ethic.

My next pick is Tara.

- Tara, let's go.

- Of course, I should have been picked sooner.

But I'm a hard worker, and Alex knew that.

And we're going to kill it tomorrow.

Sorry, but go blue.

- Let's get this. Let's get this.

- I used to be true blue.

But now it's a team Dafne, baby.

- Now the final dinner service for the 21st season

of "Hell's Kitchen" takes place tomorrow night.

And for one of you, you'll become

my new head chef at Hell's Kitchen Atlantic City Caesars.

- And one final applaud for these two incredible

finalists, Alex and Dafne.