"[dramaticmusic]" "Thisis thestrongestgroup we'veeverbroughtin." " Go, go, go!" " But you have a lot to live up to." "♪ ♪" " It's f***ing go time." " Hand me, hand me, hand me!" "I thinktoooften weforgetabout the emotional side of cooking." " This sh**'s not easy, man." " I beat myself today." " My heart is starting to beat a little bit faster again." " You go in there, andthere'sknivesand fire." "It's this macho experience." " I got two speeds:" "full-bore and dead." "[crashing]" " Oh." " Whoa, Nellie." " I'm starting to get a little nervous here because everything's been really good." "[all cheering]" " Don't crash!" " Ah ha ha ha ha!" "Weforgetthat deepdowninside we are all a little fragile." " It's so good." "Oh, my God." "It'sreallyimportant togrowas achef." "I think it's all important these journeys that we take." " [sighs] It's been a rough day." " You better kick ass." " Come on, let's get nuts." "[livelymusic]" " 17 chefs will compete ina culinaryshowdown acrosstheGoldenState." "Atstakeforthe winner:" "afeaturein  "FoodWine"magazine, anappearanceat the "Food  Wine" Classic in Aspen," "$125,000furnished bySanpellegrino, andthecovetedtitle ofTopChef." " Oh, God." "[laughs]" " Where's the music?" "[upbeatrockmusic]" " Yeah." "My heart's pounding." "Mind's racing." "Oh, God, what have I gotten myself into?" " Hello, everyone, and welcome to Los Angeles, California." "[all cheering]" "This season, we are dreaming big, traveling up and down the California coast, and we will end up where "Top Chef" started ten years ago in San Francisco." " Sweet." " "Top Chef" has produced such amazing talent." "A lot of our chefs have gone on to own multiple restaurants, won awards." "This is probably the strongest group we've ever brought in, but you have a lot to live up to." " Who here is an executive chef?" " [laughs]" " That's pretty impressive." " This is going to be fun." " I'm the sous chef at Buddakan New York, andbeingtheonlysous chef  inthiscompetition" "makes me feel really, really intimidated." "I don't know if that's the correct word in English." " What's your name?" " I am Renee Kelly." "I'm the super sassy chef from Kansas City." "I am executive chef and owner of Harvest." "In the kitchen, I try to not have very much emotion except for being genuine and authentic to myself, and that person happens to be really happy." "I like my life, and if that annoys you, go like your life." " Welcome." " Thank you." " Hello, I'm Renee from Kansas City, and I'm a sassy chef." "Who introduces themself like that in a kitchen?" " Aren't there a few James Beard nominees in this room?" "Yes, we know you." "[laughter]" "Oh,my God." "Everyone's like, "James Beard nominee,"" ""Owner," "Chef-owner."" "Sh**." "I'm Angelina, I'm 24," "I'm a chef de cuisine, and I'm the youngest I know." " My name is Karen Akunowicz." "I'm the executive chef and partner at Myers  Chang in Boston, and I'm nominated for Best Chef Northeast." " This year?" " This year." " So you're missing the awards tonight?" "Well, we're very flattered that you're here instead." "Hi, Grayson." " Hi." " Hello, Grayson." " Couldn't get enough, huh?" " Just loved it." "What am I doing here?" "Iwason seasonnine." "Man, these guys are gnarly." "In Texas, I mentally kind of gave up, and that's why I was eliminated." "Fouryearslater, I'ma littlebitolder," "I'm a little bit fatter, and hopefully I'm a lot of bit better." " Do you have any words of wisdom for the others?" " Nope." "[laughs]" " Grayson is probably agoodcompetitor, but there's a reason why she didn't win." "I'mreadyforanyone." "Growingup,my parents wereacademics." "We traveled all the time." "Wewouldconstantlycook and be very scientific with each dish." "Idefinitelyfeel Ihavetheskillset to do well in this competition." " Should we get down to business?" " Yes." " Yeah!" " It's about time." "I'm hungry." "♪ ♪" "Today's Quickfire will take place in two parts." "The first part is a "Top Chef" favorite, the mise-en-place race." "On display are five California ingredients for you to mise-en-place." "Based on your skill set, we want you to pick the one you think you can do the quickest." "The first nine chefs to finish will move on to round two, where immunity is up for grabs." " Okay, chefs, so the ingredients on display are at a first come, first served basis." "Some of these tests may seem pretty simple, but we're looking for perfection." " Ten years ago, I was a 16-year-oldkidin theBronx, gettingintroubleinschool," "I didn't know where I wanted to go in life." "Tenyearslater,I'm about tostartmy ownrestaurant, andI 'mon"TopChef."" "In my wildest dreams, I could never have thought that I would be here." " Let's see what you can do." "Your time starts now." "Good luck." " I've done a lot of food competitions." " Whoop." "Whoa, whoa." " Oh." " I won "Chopped," I won "Guy's Grocery Games,"" "and I won "Cutthroat Kitchen,"" "so next step, I guess, is "Top Chef."" "I grabasparagusthinking it's,like,thefastestthing." "It is 45 stalks, but it's asparagus." "Like, come on." "Icando thiswith myeyesclosed." " Which would you have chosen?" " I think the chickens or the artichokes." "Four artichokes are pretty easy." "I've trimmed a lot of artichokes in my days." " Come on." " [sighs]" "I haven't segmented oranges like that in, like, eight years." "My line cooks are going to laugh at me." "IthinkIhave themostadvantage." "Sous chefs are the bitches of the executive chefs." "We work harder." "Executive chefs take the credit." " She's doing a good job getting a little assembly line." " Well, that's what you have to do." " The day before I left for this competition," "Ihad24 minutestobreakdown sixchickens,fourducks, twoprimeribs, andbeeftenderloin." "Yeah, I got this." "Check." " Check." " Oh, we have two checks." "What you got here?" "Looks good." "Breast." "Looks like it's done." "Okay." " All right." " It's good." " Yeah!" " The person I thought was gonna be last is first." "She must be bad-ass." " Wesley." "Okay, this looks great." "Nice work." "You're number two." "[whistle blows]" " We're not safe yet." " Oh, my God, no, we're not safe yet." "I alwaysthoughtQuickfire wouldbemy strongpoint becauseI 'mveryfast." "I'm a two-times James Beard nominee, and I just became the executive chefofTheSpence, whichisRichardBlais's oldrestaurant." "A reviewer said that he liked my food better than Richard's." "It makes you feel cool as sh**." " Ah." " ****!" "Ijustgotanorange sprayedinmy lefteye , but I--it's not gonna slow me-- well, it's gonna slow me down, but it's not going to stop me." " Check!" "[exhales sharply]" " Damn it." " Great." "Looks good to me." " All right." " Chicken?" " Chicken." " Right on." "[whistle blows]" " Check." " That's 40." "Looks good." "[whistles blows]" " Those oranges smell really good." "I used to work for Mike Isabella for quite a while." "Hewasrunner-up in" TopChefAll-Stars,"" "andsoIfeellike  Ihaveto win, and that's a lot of pressure." "I mean, of course I want to win, but now, like, I have to win." " Check." " Looks good to me." "[whistle blows]" " Check." " F***." "I have two more to go." " It's all good." "Three spots left." " F***, here we go." " Sweet artichokes." "[whistle blows]" " Check." " Oh, chickens." "Crap!" "I need to just have my head in the game and be one of those nine." " Two spots left, chefs." "Two spots." "[whistle blows]" " Check." " Garret, how's it going?" "Let me see." "You got one broken one here, but" " I have a couple broken in there, yeah." " Well, that's not good." " Well, no, I have 20." " Okay, let me count them." "Let me count the whole ones, then." " I've always been aquickprepcook, but if you have to have the yolk completely unblemished and unbroken, you really have to be a lot more delicate about it." " At least one I can see is broken, so you need one more." " Then there's 19." " All I need is one yolk." "How hard can it be?" "[whistle blows]" "Crackanegg,yolkbreaks." "Damn." "Crackanegg, yolkbreaksagain." "Come on." " Check." " Okay, Jason." "Let me see what you got here." " Damn." " Good." " The restaurant I just left, Spinasse, oursignaturedish isaneggyolkpasta calledtajarin." "It'sactuallybeennamed one of the classic dishes of Seattle." " One spot left." "Soseparatingeggsquickly, it'snotabig deal." "[whistle blows]" " Who's gonna get that last spot?" " Come on, come on." " Check!" " Damn it." " Yeah, looks good to me." " All right, by the skin of your teeth, Grayson." "Get over there." "[applause]" " By the skin of your chicken." " That's the 30 seconds I spent cleaning my eyes." " You have all this left too, buddy." " That's 30 seconds right there." "I definitely think, had I had both eyes," "I could have easily made it in the top five with the orange." "I'mbummedout thatI didn'tmakeit." "I know how important immunity is." " Well, congratulations to the nine of you." "You've qualified to go to the next round." "Will all of you step to your right and also separate into three groups?" " So in round two, you'll work in teams in the groups that you're already standing in." "Together you'll create one dish that'll showcase at least one of the ingredients from your mise-en-place." " I think it's a bit too easy." " Of course." " It's good." " Stay loose, stay loose." " Whoo!" " 15 seconds." " I just have this, like, horrible sinking feeling." " F***." " Don't use that." " Oh, God." "but each of you will only get to work on it for ten minutes." "Until it's your turn to cook, you'll have to wear this." " [laughing] Oh." " Oh, okay." " You can't communicate with your teammates while they cook." " That's fun." " The entire team with the winning dish will win immunity, so there's three spots for immunity." " Immunity is awesome, hello, because the biggest fear of all of us is to be eliminated first." " Chefs, you have one minute now to talk about the order in which you'll cook." " Since I was the fastest with chicken, I'll go first, yeah?" " Do you feel comfortable, anchor?" " Sure, yeah." " Want to plate?" " Yeah." " I know Wesley from a few years back." "We met at a "Food  Wine" event." "Iknowhe 's areallystrongplater." " Who's up first from each team, please?" "Go ahead and put on your team aprons." "Renee, Jason, and Isaac." "The three of you will go first." "Everyone else, put your blindfolds on." "Thelasttime Iwasblindfolded was the first time I met my wife. [laughs]" " Your time starts now." "[applause]" " Go!" " Jesus, Mary, and Joseph." "Atmyrestaurant,Icreate wonderful,nourishing, healthy,seasonalfood." "Asthefirstperson ontheteam," "I feel I should grab all the ingredients that I want to show up on the plate-- mint,cabbage,ponzu." "I'm hoping that this dish will be bright and fresh." " All right, come on, let's go, whoo!" " I'm Cajun man." "Cajun Man 5,000." "Bornandraised, soI 'mgonnacook whatI wouldcook backinNewOrleans-- rusticCajunbreadedchicken." "They'renotgonnahearme." "Icanonlyleavehints." "SoI makesurethatIleave  somebuttermelted, and I make sure to leave the breaded piece of chicken ready for them, then it's up to them totakeit to thenextlevel." " Deeps breaths." " Always." " I can hear pots clinking and clanging, and my anxiety is going up, up, up." " She's running around." " Oh." " You have 2 1/2 minutes left." " I want to provide a range of ingredients." "I'vegoteggsontheboil." "I'vegotblanchingpot on." " 15 seconds." "Make it count." " I sear off the chicken breast and the thighs, andI throwthewingsand thedrumstickson thegrill, youknow, justasabackupplan ." "all:" "Three, two, one." "[whistle blows]" " Run, Grayson, run." " ****." " Whoo!" " I see Isaac's chicken cutlets." "Thank the Lord." "WithmyItaliannature," "Ithrowin lemon,capers, andarugula." "I'm going to have all of that out for Carl soheknowstoputthatin." "Ifhefeelslikeheneeds  toexpanduponit, hewill ." " Stay loose." "Stay loose." " Oh, yeah." "I have no clue where Jason was going with this dish." "Ineedto getsomething setupforWes  'cause this is just-- it's all over the board." " [exhales]" "Maybeacarrotpuree, asimplesliceofchicken." "There's not much you can do in ten minutes." " Get it, Red." " I came here to win challenges andwinthiscompetition." "I'ma singledad." "I've given my life to this career, and it's time to show the world how bad-ass I am." "[groans]" " I think Blue was fastest to get their sh** together." " You got this." " Last minute." " One minute." " Jeremy throws the chicken intheoven." "I just have this, like, horrible sinking feeling because there's a chance that Wes isnevergoingtosee thechicken." "I'mlike,"There'snoway thatthisdish is gonna come together."" " Two, one." "[whistle blows]" " Get it, get it." " That is right." " The last person has to bringitalltogetherquickly." " Um, there's carrots, um, in cream, cooking." " F***." "Holy sh**." "This is f***ing stupid." "I just want to scream, "Look in the f***ing oven."" " There's no f***ing way that's going to be ready." "Idon'tknowwhat'sgoingon." "All I was thinking about was the burning chicken thatwasstillraw ." "The other side of the chicken's notburnt, soI cuttwopieces offtheleg." "I think I can get this cooked in time." " Get it, Wes." "Come on." "all:" "One minute." " Got the chicken breaded." "All right." " I've been a fan of "Top Chef" for years." "Icameintothiscompetition witha strategy, and that strategy is cooking smart-- simpleandstraightforward." "There'ssomebeautifully breadedchickenbreast, and there's brown butter and some capers." "IfeellikeIsaacandGrayson havesetme up reallywell." "I'm pretty stoked." " I hope he checked the chicken." " I know." " We have chicken, chicken, get it" " Wah!" "Yes." " Okay, I have some chicken." "I got this Asian slaw." "Right away, I thought of making a sweet and sour sauce." "Mustard..." "I'm from the Dominican Republic." "I love bold flavors." "People make fun of me when I say that I love yellow mustard." "It's vinegary." "It's sour." "It's awesome." " Ah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, that's what we want right there." "Yeah, Amar." " 30 seconds." "Put it on the plate." "Come on, baby." "Go, go, go." " You got this!" " I basically cook somegrilledchicken with carrot-orange puree, alittlecapersand anchovies." "Thosearebothsalty, butI knowif Ican  balancethoseout, it'sgoingto be good." " Come on!" "Bring it home!" " Go, go, go." " Hands up." "Utensils down." " Whoo!" " Yeah." " Good job, guys." " The chicken's in the f***ing oven." "It's in the oven." " Hi, Green Team." " Hello." " Hey, how are ya?" " So what are we eating?" " This is a breaded chickenbreast, brownbutter,asparagus, anda mushroomsauce." " Now, Isaac, is this what you had in mind when you started?" " Definitely the breaded chicken," "I had that ready for them." " For a chicken breast, it's nice and moist." " Thank you." " Thank you." " Thanks." " Hello, how are you doing?" " This must be an appetizer portion of the meal." "What is this?" " Yes, it is, actually." " We're doing a little carrot puree with a hit of orange anda littleanchovy andpotato with grilled chicken thigh." " That's got a lot of anchovy." "Okay." " Thank you." " Sh**." " It's a sweet and sour sauce chicken withcitrus-marinatedslaw." " I like the mint." "Who added the mint?" " I think both of us did." " Really nice flavors in here." " Thank you." " Thank you." " Thank you." " F***." " Considering it was the first Quickfire," "I thought most of the food was really good." " Mm-hmm." " Yeah." " All right, so who's not going to be winning immunity?" " Well, my least favorite of the three was the Red Team." " Ah." " It was a balance issue." "The anchovy was way out of whack." "It was a dish cooked by three different people, and it tasted like it was cooked from three different people." " So then that means it's between the Green Team and the Blue Team." " I thought the Green Team" "I thought the chicken was really just beautifully cooked." "I thought it was perfectly seasoned." "Blue Team, I thought the flavors were really good." "The sweet and sour definitely works." "I thought some of the knife work was a little clunky, but flavor-wise, I thought it was great." " All right, Tom, which team is going to earn immunity with their first dish?" " Flavor's always going to stand out." "Blue Team." "[all cheering]" "Wewonit,  anditfeelsamazing,man." "It boosts my confidence, and 100%," "I'm not gonna be eliminated on the first round." "Cha-ching!" " All right, let's keep this momentum going." "Your next few days are going to be intense." "Chefs, over the next three days, you will face two elimination challenges that will take you across the entire city." "Your first elimination challenge will be at a dineLA showcase in Lake Hollywood Park tomorrow." "There will be 200 VIP guests, so make sure your food is consistent all the way through." "You can make whatever you want, but keep in mind, you will need to separate yourself from the pack." "Do something that really lets you shine." " You need to bring your "A" games tomorrow, because we've invited food critics from across the state." "The guests that are coming tomorrow can make and break careers." " The critics will also be scoring." "Their average scores will determine who's on top and who's on bottom." "The judges, of course, will take it from there." "Joining us will be returning judges" "Gail Simmons of "Food  Wine" magazine and the legendary Emeril Lagasse." " Knowing that I'm cooking for Chef Emeril puts an extra knot in my stomach." "One of my mentors, I worked with the man for a decade." "Ten damn years." "I've gotta make him proud." " Today you'll have $500 to shop at Whole Foods, and then you'll have three hours to prep here in the "Top Chef" kitchen." "Then tomorrow you'll have an hour and a half to set up before service begins." " 200 people is a lot of people." "Keep it simple." "Good luck." " Everyone I work with says I'm messy." "Can I get more aprons?" " Coming down hot." " If you can't think on your feet-- candefinitelybe  yourdownfall." " Please get out of my way." "♪♪" " You want radishes, right?" " Yeah." " They're right here." " We're supposed to be cookingfor200people, which is a lot for an event." "Lime." "Theywantto seethe dish thatsignifies who we are as a person, and there are no parameters, and without any parameter, your mind goes crazy." "Just pick me out, like, all the pink ones." "That would be awesome, dude." "Attherestaurant, wedoalot ofcrudos, andI 'ma fishguy." "I'vealwaysgrownup onthecoast, and I am definitely one with the ocean." "This dish is like a one-pop pow." "Thanks, bro." " Upstairs." "I 'mmakingpork andvealmeatballs." "I've gotten raves about my balls." "It'sa goodrepresentation ofhowIcook." "Homey, kind of Italian." "I'm getting 40 pounds of ground veal." "On "Top Chef:" "Texas," I didn't quite know" "how to incorporate my own food into some of these, like,wackychallenges." "Iwantto cookhow  GraysonSchmitzcooks and not just, like, random crazy things." " Did you just steal my cart?" " I don't know." " 18 minutes, chefs." " Where's the papaya?" "I'm going to make, like, a modern Filipino mongo." "Every week, my dad always cook mung bean soup withpork andbittermeloninside." "Peopledon'tunderstandthe  flavor profile of bitter melon, but it's bitter melon." "Duh!" "It's bitter." "I'll go with my Asian ingredients." "For some who's gonna try it the first time, they will think it's poisonous, but it's not." " You want to place any money on this?" "Your cart to win, mine to show." "How's that?" " Huh?" " Nothing." "Making a bad joke." "Keep going." " I'm sorry, me no English." " [laughs]" " One minute left." "One minute." " Ah ha ha ha!" " I love food bloggers andcritics." "That's how a lot of people in this day and age find out about restaurants." "I'mactuallyexcitedtosee who'sgoingto be here 'cause I'm familiar with many, many of the bigger bloggers and critics in the city." "I spent $400 on crab and $100 on vegetables." "[laughter]" "You know, I don't really have a dish in my head." "That's not really my style." "My strategy here to make myself stand out is really just give yummy food." "There we go." " $497.32." " Thank you so much." " Go, go, go, go, go." " Behind." " What have you got going on over there?" " I'm making a spicy and juicy pork meatballs with cream cheese and everything spice." "Kind of like a take on a bagel." "Even though we have immunity, we still got to show them who we are." " I'm bringing it." " Amar?" " Yes." " You making meatballs too?" " Yes." "I'm not making any red sauce, though." " This is the snapper I'm going to use for the crudo tomorrow." " Oh, nice." "Where's my sous chef?" " [laughs]" " He's supposed to be doing this sh**." " Hour and a half, guys." " Making my grandmother's court-bouillon." "It's a traditional Cajun dish." "Can really be done with any good seafood you got, and if I don't put up a good South Louisiana dish like court-bouillon to Emeril Lagasse," "I probably should just pack it up and go right then and there." " Renee, I think you can give me your immunity." " No, no, no, no." " I'm making some egg noodle tagliolini with an Italian take on Vietnamese chicken pho." "I'mexcitedto mixVietnamese andItaliancuisine." "If you have your head up your culinary ass, you'renevergoingtogrow  asa chef." "Cookingisacontinuation ofphilosophy because it's a study of aesthetics, gustatory aesthetics, but there's nothing more connective withhumanexistence than the cultural manifestation of cuisine." "I think I did noodles for 200." " I love it." " That's f***ing great." "Wesleyis making histomatowater, and it's kind of a hot mess." " Can I get more aprons?" "So much easier at the f***ing restaurant." " Stop breaking things." " Oh, man." "My wife, everyone I work with says I'm messy." "I'm sure I'm going to get a f***ing nickname from it." "F***ing bullsh**." " Hey, chefs." "How's it going?" " Hey, chef." " Hey." " I've been an Emeril Lagasse fanforareallylong time , soI remember,like, racinghomefromschool, trying to get home for 2:30 'cause that's when "Emeril at Home" was on." "It'scoolto seehim  forthefirsttimeinperson." " Hello." " Hello." " Hi, chef." " What you working on?" " Goat cheese croquette, smoked romesco, caramelized parsnip puree." "Croquettesare verycommonin Miami." "I mean, I could eat a croquette on the corner." "Thisisadish thatrepresentsme , but Tom scares the sh** out of me." "He has such a poker face." "Iwasn'tsecond-guessing myselfuntilrightnow ." " I think you're the youngest one here." "Do you think that's" " My age doesn't mean anything." "My food does." "I'm just going to play it cool." " I like that." "Good attitude." " I like that." "Good attitude." " Thank you, chef." " Mr. Isaac Toups." " Chef." "Emeril." " What's going on?" "What you working on, man?" " Um, my Grandmother Toups's court-bouillon." " Uh-oh." "Mama watching the store?" " Oh, yeah, Mama's watching the store, watching the babies." " You guys go back, right?" " Yes, indeed." " Yeah, we do." "You could say that." "Going through Hurricane Katrina was probably one of the harder things I've ever done." "Packedeverythingup  andwentto Orlando where Chef Emeril really took care of us andmadesureweallhadjobs, andwhenwe neededmoney, he wrote us checks out of his personal account." "Ican'tgo on enoughabouthow" "Chef Emeril really took care of everyone under his wing during those times." " All right, bud, I'm just checking on you." " [chuckles]" " Oh." " Yeah, what happened here?" " My God." "What's going on over here?" " Uh..." " This is like a disaster." " Yeah, so we're just doing a little clams, tomato water, and, uh, a little mustard potato salad and shrimp." " Okay." " I'll do something simpler next time." "[laughter]" " Eventually, everybody will learn that." " Oh, sh**." " Okay, hey, chefs." "Can I get your attention real quick?" " Isaac Toups and I have worked together for a lot of years, and I just want everybody to know that I'll be harder on him than all of you, I can tell you that, so..." " Okay, anyway, good luck, we'll see you tomorrow." " Good luck, everybody." "Good luck." " Ten minutes." " Go, go, go." "Top two." " Coming down hot." "Please get out of my way." " Cooking in a kitchen that's notyourownisstressful." "If you can't think on your feet, itcandefinitely beyourdownfall." " Whoo!" "[smoothelectricguitarmusic]" "♪♪" " Welcome home, guys." " Oh." " Who doesn't snore who doesn't have a roommate?" " I snore." "And loud." "[laughter]" " Let's do it, man." "Come on." " I do." "I can." "Frances and I decide that since we did such a good job on the challenge..." " That we would go ahead and bunk together." " Um, I ain't gonna lie, but I don't know, they kind of-- [laughter]" "They look a little similar." " Is this why I'm going to be your roommate?" " And you guys are roommates?" "Thenshewhipsouta picture ofherandher wife." "Hmm." "[laughs]" "It's okay." "I'll sleep with one eye open." " Yeah." "Cheers." " Cheers to being nominated." " Thank you." " That's f***ing awesome." " I appreciate it." " I can't believe you're missing the Beards." " Tonight, my spouse, LJ, went to the James Beard awards in my place in a very handsome tuxedo." "LJisamazing." "The minute that we met, I knew we were going to get married and spend the rest of our lives together." "Hello?" " Hey." "Did you have a good time at the awards?" "I did." "Yeah,itwasreallyfun." " Who won for Best Chef Northeast?" " Um, Barry did win." " Barry won." "That's awesome." "Barry's just a great chef and a great friend." " So cute." " Of course, I'm disappointed, butI amjustgonna standstrong and use that as fire and motivation." "I love you, and I hate being away from you." " Bye." " Bye." " I smoked the crab in applewood and f***ing dry grass that we're standing on." " That's kind of gross." "There's dogs right there." " All right, here we go." "Showtime." " Oh, my God!" " Don't twist your ankle." " Where's Kansas?" "Show me Kansas." "Whoo!" " Food bloggers, critics, and the media can do a lot of really good for your business." "Theycanalsodo alotof reallybad ." "What I like about this challenge is that I get to cook my food." "Ilikeusingunique ingredients-- grasshoppers,agaveworms." "I'm going to have face time with people." "I'mgoingto hopefully winthemover with my food and my beard." " Southern Louisiana comes to Hollywood." " So the craziest thing is, D.C.'s like, the smallest city ever." " Yeah." " We've never actually met." "Like, I think that's so bizarre." "I knowMarjoriehas worked fora goodamountoftime  withMikeIsabella, who's,inmy humbleopinion, serving one of the worst bastardizations of kind of Italian food in the history of the world." "Hopefullyshe'sgotmore chopsthanthat." "I just tasted my broth." "It's delicious." " Can I have some of your confidence, please?" "That would be awesome." "[laughs]" " Ugh." " I'm going to smoke it with this dry grass." "Oneofmy signaturedishes atScratchBar is king crab, cauliflower, and smoking goat's milk cheese." "So we make the goat cheese;" "we smoke it tableside over hay." "Whatishay?" "It'sdrygrass." "They got dry grass right here." "Perfect." " That's kind of gross." "I feel like there's dogs right there." "I don't know." "Behind him is, like, a dog wiping its butt on the grass." "That's like the kind of foraging that I don't agree with." " It's an L.A. challenge." "It's fine." " [laughs] Still gross." " Five minutes." "[intensemusic]" "♪♪" " Ten seconds." "[alarm buzzes]" " That's the timer." "How are you guys doing today?" " We're doing well." " This is a spiced carrot soup with some garbanzo beans." "Y'all enjoy." " Thank you." " I'm from Philippines." "Yep." "Fresh off the boat." " It's beautiful." " Very nice." " These are pork and veal meatballs." " How is that?" " Really good." " Yeah?" " This is the first elimination challenge, and we didn't give them any restrictions yesterday." "It is 200 people, though." " Right, and you're by yourself." "Usually, we've done events like this for 200, 300, 400 people, but you have your staff with you." " You're also outside without access to a real kitchen and water supply in the same way" "But, you're talking about cooking, setting up, you know, all of that;" "this is big." " Let's go try their food." " Sounds good." " We'll see you in a bit." " Enjoy." " Enjoy." " All right, shall we?" " Yeah, please, sir." "Hey, Isaac." "I'm Gail." " Gail, very nice to meet you." " Did you turn or did you stay on track with Grandma's" " No, no, I said I was going to cook" "Mama Toups's court-bouillon," "I cook Mama Toups's court-bouillon." "Iusedalittle WestCoastingredients." "Ifoundsomegoodwhitefish andsomegoodshrimp." " Very, very Sunday-- Sunday dish." " And you get a little bit of that heat from the jalapeños." " Mm-hmm." "Delicious, Isaac." " Thank you, Chef." "I appreciate that." "[exhales]" " This was a really nice way to start our day." " Have a good day, Isaac." " Thank y'all." " Thank you." " Thank you, chef." " Chef Isaac's court-bouillon was great." "Like, the shrimp was so perfectly cooked." " The man is a salesman." "He's, like, pitching his "Chef Toups" to Hollywood execs, but then it's really good." " What did you make?" " This is a goat cheese croquette, smokedromesco,and acaramelizedparsnippuree, and a touch of cider vinegar." " Some of that beautiful goat cheese would have come out even more if you didn't have quite so much" " Garnish?" " Purees." "Yeah." " And the croquette's not that crispy." "As a dish, not as successful as it could have been." " I'm trying not to get pissed." "I wanted to show them this little spunky girl can make a good dish." "I failed." "And it was cold." " Two of the cultures that have influenced me are Southeast Asia and Italy." "This is kind of my attempt to bring them together." "Soit'samixturebetween theItalianbrodo anda Vietnamesechickenpho ." " I not only like the toasted garlic, but your noodles are really delicious." "Nice job." " Thank you very much." " Here you go." "You're very welcome." " I haven't been to Kansas." "Why does this represent you as a chef?" " I serve approachable food at my restaurant, and I think that I'm a pretty approachable person." " Is that a tenderloin?" "It'sacitrus-marinated porkloin atopsomesoftpolenta." " The pork is really nicely cooked." " Thank you" " Could be seasoned a little more." "Same thing with the polenta." " Okay." "both:" "Thank you very much." " I'm going to season that right now." "[laughs]" " So this is shrimp and pork with charred pineapple, toastedpeanuts, red-andgreen-leaflettuce witha coconut-habanerofoam." " I noticed that the peanut flavor is so pronounced, and it completely changes the dish." "Nice." " Thank you." " The flavors keep building up too." " Yeah, I'm still getting a little tingle and a little bit of nuttiness." " Yeah." " Thank you so much." " Hi, Amar." " How's it going?" " Great." "I made a spicy cherry-glazed pork belly meatballs with a celery root cream cheese pureeandeverythingspice." " Like an every--I got it." "Like an everything bagel." " Everything bagel." "Yes." "I just wanted lots of flavor, and I love pork." "I'm a pork-aholic." " It does have a lot of flavor." "It's spicy but not crazy spicy, and it is nice and moist." " It's delicious." " Off to a good start." "You got immunity." " Yeah." " Just a walk in the park." " It is a walk in the park." " It shows." "This is really nice." " I think that Chef Amar is really gonna be hard to beat." "Those meatballs were amazing." " Today, I have a salmon and apple tartare withpomegranate pickledcherries, tomato-pomegranate vinaigrette, andSzechuanwalnuts." " The texture is definitely what comes out, and I love that crisp, fresh apple." "It sort of makes the dish." " Cool." "Thank you." " Wow." " So far everything's been really good." " Yeah." "I'm impressed." "It seems like they're pretty organized." " Hi, Grayson." " Hi." "This is a pork and veal meatball with a spicy tomato sauce, somegremolata,andParmesan." " Why'd you choose to do this particular meatball?" " I have a lot of European influences." " This is, like, Jersey red sauce influence, though." " Yeah." " What?" " Could I get this at my local pizzeria when I order a meatball sandwich?" "Probably." " And would it taste the same?" " Yeah." " Yeah?" "Oh." " And I think you could have done something a little more interesting." " I made 400 balls." " Okay." "I knowthatmyflavors areon." "It'sItalian." "It'showIcook." "I followed the challenge perimeters exactly." "Sowe'llsee." " If you put a spoon in your mouth, don't put it in my food." " Yes." "done." " Thank you." " Perfect." " So have you tasted some good things?" " Chef Kwame came back from Thailand." "He's putting some great Thai flavors together." " Yeah." " We liked the first meatball." " Yes, I did too." "And so did you." " That's so cool to be out here." "You know, I've never been to L.A." "So to do this and be, like, under the Hollywood sign makingfood fora bunchof people, it'skindof what Isignedup for." "It'sreallyimportant toshowthat" "I'm here to win this season, and I really want to make great food and I want to make a great first impression today." "Imadeaspicedcarrotsoup." "This is a dish that really represents where I live." "Ilivein apredominantly" "MiddleEasternneighborhood inBoston, so this is the type of food that I love." "I love spice." "I love acid." "I love herbs." " Chef." " Hey, how are you?" " How are you, sir?" " Hey, I'm Carl." " I'm Gail." " Hey, nice to meet you." " Nice to meet you too." "So what I did is, I made a little soup spicedwithsomeTurkish spices,somecumin, somesmokedpaprika, garbanzobeans." " Beautiful carrot flavor." "The almond's great, the feta is actually really great." " Awesome." "Thank you so much." " Have a great day." " You as well." " What is this crudo about?" " So this a little Pacific shaved snapper withkombugeland limezest ." "I love clean, simple flavors, and this showcases the fish and the chiles that are local to here." " It's simple." "It's clean." "This is the perfect temperature." " It's delicious." "Beautifully done." " Thank you." " Thank you so much." " I nailed it." "I'm stoked." "This is huge." "It's the first impression of me and my food." " It's also nice after eating a lot of heavy dishes to get something clean and refreshing." " Hi, Stacy." " Hi." " Well, this is quite exciting for Los Angeles." " It is." "We've definitely been getting noticed, and the international food scene here is really what sets us apart." " What do you think of the things you've tasted today?" " Have you guys tried Chef Amar's pork belly meatballs?" " We have not." " Would be right up your alley." " Yes?" "Okay." " Enjoy, guys." " So what is this?" "Is this potato salad?" " This is potato salad and it has a very small touch of mayonnaise." "Alittleoceanherbbroth withclamsandshrimp." "Um, so I'm just balancing this out, um, this dish is super a la minute." "It's great for "Top Chef," right?" " Uh-huh." " If needed." " I'm also very happy that you're tasting your food, but I would suggest doing it with a tasting spoon you'd throw in the garbage as opposed to dipping in there." " Yes, Chef." " Yeah." "If you put a spoon in your mouth, don't put it in my food." " Yeah." " Your broth is delicious." " Thank you." "It's great to hear." " You got dashi in there." "You have potato salad." "I mean, it's kind of all over the place, but it's really good." "To me, this feels like a picnic in a bowl." " Thank you so much." "of different vegetables all treated in a different manner." "Pickled, three different colors of cauliflower, littlebitof avocadomousse, roastedradish,um , puffed amaranth, little bit of shaved Purple Haze asparagus, little bit of red grape, then some king crabs." " You just listed to me, like, 47 ingredients." "Was that a worry in the preparation?" " It's about, does your bite make sense, and I believe that this bite make sense." " My only wish is that I wanted more." " To me, that's a pretty good critique." " When I think of California though, and I think about the new California cuisine" " Yeah." "That's it." "He is it with his man-bun and his" " Puffed amaranth." " White teeth and his puffed amaranth, exactly." " Okay, Chef Phillip is like, Mr. Cocky Pants over here." "Every time I walk by he's like," ""Yeah, I'm from L.A. I know half the people here."" " Anyone who's from here, you guys know, we always have good vegetables." " Tell us what you made." " Cauliflower almond soup." "Thesoupis vegan." "It'smadewithalmondmilk ." "I'm pairing this with prosciutto which is not vegan." " I know this." "So I've heard." " What's nice about it is it's not using cream, it's still getting the richness without using it." "So it gets heavy." "Nice." " Exactly." " I did a lamb tartare with a little bit of smoked egg yolk." " The most important thing to me is the temperature of the lamb." " Yeah." " And it is cold." "It's really nice." " The green puree is actually called a salsa Apicius." "Littlecaramelizedhoney, somefishsauce withlittletoastedlong pepper." "It's pulled from basically one of the earliest existing cookbooks." "Apicius was a philosopher and gastronome." " I really like this dish because it shows a level of confidence that you're just relying on solid technique and good flavors." " This is a tangerine aguachile." "Ontop,youhavealittlebit ofscallopandshrimpcake  seasonedwithanchochileash and a little bit of ground grasshopper." " There's like a deep funk at the bottom of this dish, in a good way." " Yes." " You know, there's like, a real savoriness." " I grew up eating mung beans." " Uh- huh." " And this soup, it has yuzu, bitter melon, freshturmeric,freshginger." " I'm not a fan of bitter melon." "I like it pickled." "'Cause it starts off with a good smack of acid, then it gets bitter in the end, but it's not too bitter." " Google it, people." "Google bitter melon." " I'm enjoying this, and I'm enjoying it more as I eat it." " Thank you." " I love the little pop of the garlic." " Mm-hmm." " Thank you, chef." " So what we did is we took grasshoppers, we dip it in a saltwater solution that was" " Where'd you find the grasshoppers?" "You found them?" " Uh, we get them from Guadalajara." " I'm into it." " We like it." " Are you?" " Yes." " Great flavor." "I see why everybody's talking here, you know?" " How y'all doing today?" " Good." " You taste some good food?" " We have, actually, yes." " What's your favorite thing so far?" " We can't tell you that." "You'll find out." " Did you make your own noodles?" " Yes, I did." "This is "Top Chef." You have to." " Noodles seem to be a little bit broken or over." " I feel my heart drop into my stomach, and all of a sudden, you know, you have the most important people in front of you, and you make a mistake." " Is there a reason why you toast this so dark?" " Are you getting bitterness out of it?" " Oh, yeah." " Okay." " We are." " It's burnt." " If it's bitter then it's miscooked." "I start wishing that maybe I had fewer components, maybe I didn't go for a fresh noodle." "Keepingupwith themise-en-place is extremely difficult for 200 people." "All right, thank you very much." " I had more expectations from you." " I'll put sparkles." " Let's be clear for a second." " Clear." " Are you guys done?" " Yeah, you need to eat fast." " Can I have yours?" "[laughter]" " You like Grayson's meatballs?" " I like the meatballs." "The lemon zest was a different trick." "I would never have thought to do that." " Yeah, it's nice to see her back." "[laughs]" " Hmm." " Amar's meatballs to end the day." " Absolutely my favorite." "both:" "Yeah." " Carl has some good flavors in here." " Well, I, for one, am really full." " I forget, season to season, how much food there is that first day." " All right, so the critics' scores are in." " Ooh." " Ooh." " So, the tops are Isaac, Amar," "Jeremy, Carl, and Kwame." " All right." " Interesting." " And the bottom is Angelina, Renee, Grayson," "Garret, and Francis." "I think some of these are really fair." " There were a lot in the middle that I thought were better." " I thought Chad should have been up here." " I thought Jason should have been up there too." " Well, we can't, so..." " That's the game." " Amar, loved his meatball." "Is it the winner?" "I don't know." " I thought Isaac gave us a really beautiful, home-style, authentic Louisiana dish." " I thought it was good." "Didn't love it." " I wouldn't put Kwame on the top at all." " Kwame, yeah, no." "Carl did a really great job." " I loved the feta, I loved all the Middle Eastern spices that he used." " Yeah." " There was a lot of depth to that carrot soup." "Jeremy, too, made a very clean, very simple dish, but he executed it beautifully." " I love that little finish in that citron vinegar." " Yeah, the citron vinegar and the cold fish." " Yeah." " Yeah." " Now, the hard part." "We have to decide who goes home." "Frances has immunity and Renee has immunity, so out of Angelina, Garret, and Grayson." " My least favorite dish was Garret's." "That garlic was absolutely burnt and ruined the dish." " I have to agree with Tom." " You guys got a different dish than what we got." "My dish from Garret, the broth was tasty, delicious, my noodles were perfect." " I think that Angelina's dish was the weakest today of those three." "I liked the romesco, it was smoky and deep, but there was just this tiny dollop of it." "The dish itself was sort of forgettable." " What did you think of Grayson?" " I thought it was a good meatball and tomato, but there's a certain amount of ambition that you have to have to--to win here." " Yeah." " And I did not see that ambition." "First impression, re-introducing yourself to us, reintroducing yourself" " Should've came out the gate." " You should really, yeah, come out strong." " All right, then I think we know our answer." "Let's go back to Judges' Table." " I recognized at least 12 or 15 people." " Really." " The head editor of "Zagat" was there, for L.A." "The head editor of "Thrillist" in L.A. was there." " I know every critic in L.A. by face, blah, blah, blah." "Honestly, who cares?" " Not that I know them, but, I know what they look like in case they come into the restaurant." "[man chuckles]" " Hello, chefs." "We'd like to see all of you at Judges' Table." "Thank you." " Thank you." "[nervous laughter]" " Let's do this." "[suspensefulmusic]" "♪♪" " I thought, overall, you guys did really well." "I mean, there were some minor things here and there, but there wasn't a dish that stood out as just being, like, god-awful, and a lot of times, the first round, it happens." "[laughter]" "Overall, I think we're off to a great start." " Amar, Jeremy, Carl." "The three of you had our favorite dishes from the critics' top picks." "Please remain where you are." "The rest of you, please step over to the side." "[dramaticmusic]" "♪♪" " Amar, when you first told us you were making a meatball," "I was a little apprehensive." "We've all eaten a lot of meatballs." "They can be a little plain, a little ordinary." "Um, but yours was anything but ordinary." " It was a crowd pleaser for sure, and, uh, and a job well done, so..." " Thank you, Chef." " Yeah." " Carl, your carrot soup was delicious, and it's easy to be heavy-handed with those spices, especially when you've got something as pure and simple as carrot soup." " It tasted of carrot, but it also tasted of spices, and a couple little garnishes that you added didn't detract at all from the flavors." " Thank you." " And I felt like I was eating at your house." " Oh, that's great." "You can come over anytime." " Okay." " And hang out." " Tom, what did you think of Jeremy's dish?" " You know, one one hand, it was predictable." "You know, raw fish, we've seen it, but this was a really, really good version of the dish." " The beautiful citron vinegar." "It brightened everything up." "It was like a little bit of sunshine that came through the clouds." " I was impressed in how organized your station was." "It's hard to teach that to people that cook." " There were others who should take note of that." "Okay, Emeril?" " The chef who really stood out tonight, for us, really put together a great dish." "Simple, great flavors, very clean." "And that chef is..." "Jeremy." " Thank you." "[applause]" " Congratulations, Jeremy." " Thank you." "To have this win under the belt makes a bold statement to the other chefs here that I'm a force to be reckoned with." "It's huge." "I'm very honored." "Nowthere'saton ofpressure tokeepit up , butI loveit ." "I'm ready for the next challenge, man." " Angelina..." "Garret... and Grayson... please swap places with Jeremy, Carl, and Amar." "[chefs whispering]" "The three of you had our least favorite dishes from the critics' bottom picks." " Angelina, when we got to the table, you talked about how you're all about ingredients, and great ingredients." "What was it about those parsnips that sort of spoke to you that you wanted to use them?" " I just wanted something different, so," "I definitely took the safety route with doing something sweet with a vegetable, but I do feel like my flavors were there." " Your food was seasoned well." "It didn't necessarily feel like a unique dish." " Right." " This isn't always about doing something that's so original it has to be outrageous, but you gotta give us all a sense that you're pushing a little bit, yeah." " Pushing the envelope a little bit." " Yeah." " Right." " You know, I think Garret did something pretty interesting today." "It worked for me." "There's gonna be a little bit different opinions at this table." " I think there's reasons for that, yeah." " I loved the concept of your dish." " It could have been good except for the burned garlic." " I think I failed to provide the due vigilance to kind of execute that dish with consistency, so you and Gail ate a completely different dish than Tom and Padma." " Consistency means everything." " Grayson." "I know it can't feel good to stand where you are right now." " I don't know, I'm sorry you didn't enjoy my meatballs." " Whoa, whoa, whoa." " Let's be clear a second." " Grayson, hold on." " 20 critics voted you here." " Mm-hmm." " There was nothing about your dish that made it interesting, that gave us a point of view that could be just yours, otherwise it just, it felt like it could've come from 70 different" " Any Italian..." " Any Italian restaurant" " Place in New York City." "Got it." " All right, I'm gonna cut through the bullsh**, okay, and just, like, be straight." "I had more expectations from you." " I'll put sparkles." " The carrot soup was really simple." " Yeah, there were--you can do simple and still be exciting." "I just don't know if you hit that balance." " Mm-hmm." " You know, on "Top Chef," no one wants to be the first one out, but one of you will have to go home." " We all need to just step it up." " Good morning, chefs." "We warned you these first few days were going to be intense." " Holy sh**." "if you think this is crowded, 17 chefs in one kitchen, trying to stand out, think about all the thousands of restaurants that are in this country and the hundreds of thousands of chefs out there right now cooking." "Think about the ones that you hear about, and you read about, and you know about." "They stand out for a reason." "They stand out because they have great technique, they can take something very simple and make it exciting, and they're telling their own story." "All those things together are gonna win this competition, and all those things make your restaurant stand out from a very crowded field." "Just a piece of advice." "It's terrible to be the first one leaving the competition, but there's always a first, um..." "Padma?" " Garret." " Ouch." " Please pack your knives and go." " Thank you very much, chefs." " Garret, listen, it was a more exciting dish, but it was the only one that was a real mistake." " I understand." " Yeah." " Thanks, guys." " Good meeting you, man." " Thanks, guys." "Good luck to everybody." "Keep it up for D.C., okay?" " Yeah." "I camein thecompetition thinkingthatIwas  going to be a strong contender, so it's humbling thatI 'moutthisearly." "Sh**." "At no point did I feel like I was outgunned." "Istilldon'tfeelthat way,  butthecompetition is fierce, and doesn't take too much to send you home." " Oh, my God." " What a day." " Winner, winner, winner, chicken dinner." " Jeremy, salud." " Thanks, brother." " Yes, congratulations." " And here's one for Garret, too." "For Garret." " A little, tiny thing sends you home." " Burnt garlic." " I wanted to treat this like a vacation, but now that I'm really starting to settle in with the idea that this is a competition, it's more difficult than I thought it would be." " We all need to just step it up." "On every challenge." " I can push the envelope, I just choose to cook how I cooked." "The judges weren't thrilled about just having a meatball, but that's how" "I like to cook." "I'm gonna stay true to myself." "Okay, guys, let's...go home." " Cheers to that." " Wake up, sunshine." " How's it going, buddy?" "Morning." " Good morning, how are you?" " I'm great." " Um, guys." " What is that?" " What's that?" " Here we go." " "Please meet me on the roof."" " What?" "all:" "Oh!" " Padma." " All right, you guys." "You wanna roll?" " Let's do it." " Let's go." "[suspensefuldrummusic]" "♪♪" " We warned you these first few days were going to be intense." "We want you to get to know Los Angeles just a little bit better." "For your next elimination challenge, you will be opening four pop-ups across the city...today." " Oh, wow." " Wow." " Holy sh**." "Tomorrownight,the  "TopChef"premierecontinues." " Hot, hot." "Hot, hot." " Persian food." "What do I know about it?" "Nothing, I know nothing about Persian food." " Let's make sure that we stop what we're doing, we're ready." " Phillip is being bossy." " I just don't get Mexico in this dish at all." " Are you Korean?" "Do you make Korean wings?" " Girl's never fried a chicken wing before." "[laughing]"