Previously on “Top Chef”: in our finale location of...Tuscon...everyone went to the country's oldest Mexican restaurant to make something with carne seca. Evelyn appeared to have the advantage, but Sarah won by being creative. Evelyn is familiar with these ingredients but that means she has to work extra hard to not play it safe. The Elimination challenge asks chefs to make two dishes (one must be sweet) using both cactus and chiltepin, a type of chili pepper. Evelyn won by not playing it safe, but also knowing how to highlight the ingredients. Damarr had some technical failures and was sent home. (click for more)
OK I got everything sorted out (finally) and I apologize for how late this is. But let's do this.
We have a recap of how each of the finalists got here. They're all very talented. Honestly I would be fine with any of them winning. Not like some other seasons where there's a finalist who shouldn't win, you know? Like I've said before, this is what happens when you cast for talent and not drama. You get excitement from hoping people can finish their dishes in time, or wondering if their weird risk will pay off. I mean, you hope they don't run out of time EVERY week, if you know what I'm saying.
So of course you get a sous chef to help you. Padma says all their former competitors are “on standby” and will fly out if chosen. Wait they didn't even fly them all out? You gotta pick someone and they have to get on the red-eye? That seems cheap. Sarah calls up Robert to ask him to come out. Evelyn calls Jo who is thrilled that Evelyn is in the finale. Buddha, for some unfathomable reason, calls Jackson. Who told them he lost his sense of taste right before he was eliminated. You know what, though, now that I think about it, wasn't Buddha the person he was always asking to taste things? He for sure had some skills. Maybe Buddha's logic is that he has great techniques and then Buddha can double check the seasonings.
In the morning everyone heads to meet Padma and Tom at a historic courthouse. Padma says something about historic decisions and Tom has to jump in and ask if they get it, you know, courthouse, judges, etc. Yeah we get it. As always the final challenge is to make a four course “progressive” meal for the judges, including Stephanie Izzard and Eric Ripert. Tom claims this is the first time they've asked the contestants who they want to be their sous chefs, which simply isn't true? They always get to pick? I mean, they draw knives for choosing order but it's not like they are assigned. Come on, Tom. Everyone showed up. Jackson claims his sense of taste is back to like 70-80%. Padma was too shady for asking that but I appreciate it. $1500 to shop at local markets, 5 hours to prep today, and 2.5 hours tomorrow.
Sarah is thinking “a hunter-gatherer menu that feels like Michigan in the desert”. Evelyn wants to show how her food has changed while she's been competing. Buddha is thinking family: his brother, his mom and dad, and a tribute to America for the final course. Sarah starts talking about how she brought some miso from home, so she can talk about food waste or whatever. Also to ask Robert to make pasta. Oh and acorn cake that sounds cool. Evelyn talks about sour and “cooking from memory”. She's making desserts too. Buddha gets emotional when he brings up his dad, who just passed away. And pumpkin pie for the final course. You know Buddha has had this menu planned out since he got cast on this show. Someone who studied Restaurant Wars has planned his finale menu for ages. Jackson's slightly jealous he's not in the finale but he's impressed with Buddha's menu.
Shopping is shopping. Everyone talks about their menus and it's the usual, except for Sarah. Sarah babbles something about she wants her meal to feel like some cowpokes were out in the desert and found a Michelin-star restaurant and also Eric Ripert is there. Evelyn in the car says she and Buddha have been consistent. Sarah is not as consistent but she's great when she's on. Buddha wants his dishes to look like the Bocuse D'or. He also wants lobster tails but they only have frozen so it's a risk.
Out on the ranch they get started on working. Also there is the usual producer-prompted questions. Buddha's menu (a rough outline): hamachi with caviar, lobster laksa, Mongolian lamb, and pumpkin pie mille-feuille. Sounds pretty good. A mille-feuille is a Napolean, layers of puff pastry and cream. Evelyn has a LOT of chilis. Evelyn's menu: scallop crudo, crystal dumplings in broth, goat curry mole, and bunuelos with panna cotta. I am wincing at the panna cotta but maybe it'll be fine? A big risk on this show. Sarah's menu (hilariously she's been asking what people are making but they edit it like no one asked her, she just started talking): venison tartare with focaccia, squash tortellini with three sisters salad (that's corn, beans, and squash), rabbit ballotine with a different salad, and acorn cake with smoked buttermilk ice cream. Very Native American. Ballotine seems like a roulade, so meat wrapped around stuff. She's yelling about rabbits a lot.
Tom Time! Also Stephanie and Eric Ripert. Buddha laughs nervously that he learned the first dish from Eric himself (via the internet). Lots of technique. Stephanie says she'll just have to wait and see it all together. Sarah's misos are all from her friends, who take produce that's about to spoil and make miso out of it to reduce food waste. Evelyn explains that “crystal dumplings” are the kind of dumplings that have a translucent dough. She and Sarah joke about goat. Tom tells everyone when they're done, say goodbye to your sous chefs, “saddle up”, and meet him out somewhere. Sarah immediately yells about riding horses and she hopes they're riding horses so she can see Evelyn ride a horse. Damn.
So they ARE riding horses. Evelyn has never ridden before, but Sarah knows what she's doing. It's gorgeous out there, and they get to where they're going and there's Stephanie, Eric, Tom, Gail, and Padma all cooking. I love this new trend of the night before the finale, the judges cook for the finalists and everyone hangs out. Buddha tells the judges about how his father passed away two days before he got the call to come on the show. They all talk about how the show changed them. Gail says they support them no matter what happens and who wins.
The sous chefs come back for the day of service. Sarah puts her rabbit in the sous vide so it can cook while she does everything else. Everyone is working frantically as usual. Sarah is going to make the buttermilk for the final course from the butter she's making in the first course. That sounds pretty cool. Evelyn tells Jo she's going to show her how to do dumplings so she (Evelyn) can take care of a bunch of other stuff. Jo's never made them before but she's game for it. Buddha of course has too many things happening with each course. Sarah's rabbit isn't as cooked as she wants so she's throwing them in the oven and hoping.
The judges arrive to the outdoor dining area. First course time. Evelyn: scallop crudo with prickly pear and citrus broth, sweet potato and crispy quinoa. She says that she “cooks from memory” and this menu is about her culinary journey through school and her trip to Thailand. Buddha: hamachi with sauce vin jaune, caviar, apple and sweet potato bees. There are bee-shaped tuiles and the apple is in rolls and it looks very fun. Vin jaune is a type of yellow wine similar to sherry but not fortified. This is Buddha's dish for his brother. Sarah: venison and beef heart tartare with sourdough miso and smoked butter. She talks about food waste but not about hunter-gatherers or Michigan. Evelyn's dish was light and a great first course, but the scallops are underseasoned. Buddha's dish is amazing and people are saying flawless. Sarah fit the environment but is also underseasoned. The miso is powerful and there's not enough of it.
Evelyn: crystal dumplings with shrimp and corn, corn broth, hoja santa oil and crispy garlic. Hoja santa is related to black pepper. Buddha: penang laksa with cannelloni lobster, king crab and carrot butterfly tuile. The lobster is rolled in a pasta sheet with holes cut out of it, and something else is rolled in thin strips of squash, and another tuile. This is the dish for his mother. Sarah: squash dumpling with corn husk broth, miso, huitlacoche puree and three sisters salad. The corn husks are from the first course somehow? Huitlacoche is a corn fungus. Sarah's corn dish is a smart idea but it's confusing. The flavors fight with each other. Evelyn's dumplings are simple and restrained, and they love them. Buddha is once again pretty flawless. It's elaborate but it tastes great. It's also a little bit of a show off but it's the finale.
Evelyn worries about serving goat to Stephanie. Sarah's rabbit isn't consistent. Evelyn: braised goat with curry mole, nopales and spiced squash seeds. Buddha: Mongolian lamb with eggplant puree, asparagus, miso roasted eggplant, squash blossom, and eggplant tuile leaves. This is the dish for his dad. Sarah: rabbit ballotine with apricot, chestnut and herb salad. Buddha's lamb was perfectly cooked, but they really love the eggplant. Evelyn cooked the goat well but it needs more flavor. It's a great marriage of curry and mole, except Padma doesn't agree with everyone else. Sarah's dish has a lot happening, but it's unevenly cooked. There seems to be more salad than rabbit, but it does have some personality.
Everyone's dessert is beautiful. Evelyn: bunuelo with cajeta panna cotta, cardamom cream, pitaya and persimmon. I think pitaya is dragonfruit, and cajeta is Mexican caramel. Buddha: pumpkin pie mille-feuille with pumpkin custard crème chantilly, maple caramel, pumpkin spice cake and pumpkin leaves. Sarah: acorn cake with buttermilk ice cream and calypso bean miso caramel. Evelyn's bunuelo is delicious and the panna cotta even turned out. Buddha's dessert is amazing and they are so entranced by the leaf tuiles. Tom wants more maple caramel. Sarah's cake is warm and comforting. It's a personal dish and they can tell. Everyone really brought themselves to their meals.
Judges' Table. They got three different meals and they were all personal. We're starting with Sarah. She wanted to start with protein in a raw form. Gail loved the food waste conversation. It was thoughtful first course but it needed more seasoning. Buddha brings up being inspired by Eric again. It's the kind of dish you carry around for decades. A great dish with great technique. Flawless. Evelyn wanted inspiration from where they are. She balanced her broth really well but the scallops need a little more salt. But it's simple and it made them smile.
Second course. Sarah liked how firm the pasta was, to compare to the softness of everything else. It was thick, but also the rest of the dish was very busy. Tom says a pasta dish should be more simple. The broth was beautiful, but the huitlicoche muddled it. Buddha made a beautiful laksa and everything else just accented it. Gail says something about the salmon roe being too much? It's so minor. Evelyn has really lightened her cooking over the season, and the dumplings were lovely.
Sarah's rabbit was a lot of work, but the cooking was uneven. She carried her narrative but I'm not sure she can recover from undercooked protein. Buddha's dish was delicious but Tom makes up some criticism about it being “cleaned up” too much? Whatever Tom. Evelyn made a bold sauce and she cooked the goat well, but the goat wasn't cooked in the sauce so that's something the judges were really missing.
Sarah's cake was comforting and moist, and miso caramel is an amazing combo. Buddha's leaves really impressed everyone, and the maple caramel was a nice surprise. More maple caramel, says Tom. Evelyn's bunuelo was so great they can't stop talking about it. The panna cotta is a tiny bit too firm but the flavor was wonderful.
Sarah's first course was ambitious but it falls a little short. Evelyn's dish was lovely but no one could compare to Buddha. Padma says it could stand next to “oysters and pearls” which is a reference to The French Laundry. Oysters and Pearls is a sabayon of pearl tapioca with beau soleil oysters and white sturgeon caviar. It is always on the menu at both The French Laundry and Thomas Keller's other restaurant Per Se. That's the level Padma is putting Buddha at.
Second course. Sarah's dish had delicious components but it was very busy. Evelyn's dumplings were really well done. Buddha's dish was beautiful but Eric thought it felt like the 80s.
Third course. Evelyn's goat was cooked well but because she didn't cook it in the sauce it suffered a little bit. Sarah's desire to use the whole animal is admirable but there was too much salad and the cook was so uneven. Buddha's dish is far from the inspiration but Gail thinks it is flawless.
Fourth course. Stephanie says it's the strongest course from everyone. Evelyn's dessert was something everyone really liked. The panna cotta was a little too firm, but Eric says it's not a deal breaker. Buddha made something beautiful. Tom wanted less cake and more caramel. Sarah's cake was better. Overall everyone thinks it was flawless.
Sarah's ideas were there but her execution was off. Buddha had the best techniques, but Evelyn showed them how she blends Asian and Mexican flavors.
Tom says that they've really realized what's important in what they do: it's connections to everyone. If they're the future of the industry, the industry is in good hands. Buddha wins! I mean they were really struggling to find bad things to say. He's dreamed of this for a very long time. He says to Padma he wishes his dad was here. Aww. Gail says he would be proud. He calls his brother and mom to tell them he won. His mom says “I know you did it for him. You make us proud. That is all we wish for.” Buddha is immediately crying and so am I.
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