Quickfire Challenge: Team up with a Top Chef Master to create an Asian dish. The cooking is done tag-team style, with each chef getting two turns at the dish and they don't get to talk to one another when switching places. And while people are cooking, Padma and guest judge Emeril are peeking at them through a window? It's all kind of weird. Anyway, the cheftestants are last to go, so they are really in charge of how the dish finishes. Sarah wins for a crab and fish dish that Emeril feels had all of the proper Asian notes, and she gets twenty grand. I don't know why they bothered having a Quickfire this week. It was an interesting challenge but kind of pointless.
Elimination Challenge: Cook a dish and a cocktail for a "Fire and Ice" party, so the dish has to contain both a hot and cold element. There's very little drama in the kitchen, which is nice for the cheftestants but kind of boring to watch (and recap). Here's what they served:
Paul: King crab with lobster broth and lemon snow and his cocktail is "the Pan Am" featuring Kaffir lime, Thai chilies, palm sugar and rum. Tom is really, really mad that Paul put arugula in as a garnish, because he thinks every ingredient should have a purpose. Everyone likes the cocktail, but the soup gets varied reactions.
Sarah: five greens filled pasta with garlic, chili and spiced sformato (like a denser soufflé). Her cocktail is an "Agrumi": gin, kumquats and mango. The judges note that the sformato is semi-frozen, which isn't ideal, but think the pasta is great. They like the cocktail, but don't think it pairs well with the dish.
Lindsay: halibut with fiery celery root salad and tomato ice. The cocktail is "Encendido": vodka, tomato, and horseradish. It's a Bloody Mary. The dish seems to be unevenly seasoned, since Emeril says his is really hot but Tom says that his isn't at all. They all like the tomato ice, and think the cocktail works with the dish but is kind of flat on its own. Tom hates the raw kale, much like he hated the arugula. Tom hates greens.
Ultimately, Lindsay is told to pack her knives and go because the judges feel like her dish wasn't fully thought out in concept (which it kind of wasn't -- she threw the ice in at the last minute).
After Beverly's elimination, the three finalists drink champagne and toast to being in the finals together, which is what they hoped for all along.
Lindsay, Sarah, and Paul drive to Vancouver and play the Name Game with celebrities. Unfortunately, it's edited out of order so unless you know how the game is played, it makes no sense. But they do laugh a lot. Paul interviews that they've all become friends, but they also know that in the kitchen, competition trumps friendship. They arrive at their hotel and don their chef coats. Lindsay interviews that they don't know if they'll be doing a Quickfire or just heading straight into an Elimination challenge.
The cheftestants head to Chinatown and enter a restaurant. Padma congratulates them on making the final three, and then she introduces Emeril, like I thought he was a judge on this season, so why is she introducing him? Weird. Anyway, Padma says that this Quickfire will involve "mashing it up with the masters of Asian cuisine." Three chefs walk in: Anita Lo, Floyd Cardoz, and Takashi Yagahashi. Sarah starts jumping up and down and squealing, and her over-the-top reactions would be SO annoying in real life. Anyway, she knows Takashi from Chicago so that's worthy of jumping and screaming. Relax, lady.
The three cheftestants draw knives to be paired up with a Master. Paul gets Takashi to Sarah's chagrin, Sarah gets Floyd, and Lindsay gets Anita. Paul looks worried and he interviews that even though he has an Asian background, he doesn't like the expectation that he'll win. Padma explains the challenge: work with your partner to create an Asian dish. They will have forty minutes, and have to tag out every ten minutes. The winner gets $20,000, which is no chump change.
They don't get to discuss anything before cooking and the Masters go first. Sarah says that the first ten minutes in the kitchen is generally just organizing your station. Takashi grabs geoduck clams (the ones that looks like giant penises) and hopes that Paul will know what he wants to do. Padma and Emeril are peeking in the kitchen through a little window, which is strange. And Emeril is muttering things while the chefs are inches away from him but pretending they can't hear. Odd. Anita wants to make scallops three ways. Floyd says he feels a lot of pressure because Sarah is relying on him to win, and he wants to make a curry. He sets up his station in a way that he hopes lets Sarah know what he was thinking.
Time to switch! The cheftestants run in and try to figure out what the heck is going on. Lindsay figures out that Anita has deconstructed the scallop, and she's worried that she will do something to embarrass Anita because it's not at all what she had planned. Takashi is telling the others how to prepare the geoduck with mushrooms. Meanwhile, Paul is looking for mushrooms, so he seems to be on the right track, although he's a little concerned that Takashi chose geoduck, since it's "an acquired taste and texture." That's a nice way of saying, "It tastes weird and most people don't like it." Sarah recognizes that Floyd is making a curry, and she doesn't know much about that, so she decides to make a cold crab salad. Cut to Floyd saying that he hopes she only uses the crab legs; she used the whole crab. And...switch! Once out of the kitchen, the cheftestants agree that they all feel like they didn't do anything.
So now the Masters are back in the kitchen. Takashi sees that Paul made a dashi, so he plans to use it for a dressing/sauce. Anita loves the Chinese sausages that Lindsay sautéed. Floyd is psyched that Sarah seemed to get exactly what he wanted her to do, so I guess she didn't screw up the crabs. Then Floyd ribs Takashi for taking all of the pantry ingredients to his station, and reminds him that he doesn't get to keep the money if he wins. And... switch!
The cheftestants are in the kitchen for their final round. Lindsay feels like Anita did a great job showing her what needed to be done, but she's intimidated to actually finish the dish. Paul knows exactly what to do, since Takashi's already done most of it. He decides to add some Thai chile to the dish, because he knows that Padma likes spice. Except Paul realizes, as they finish plating, that he may have added too many chiles. Oops. Everyone finishes plating and brings the dishes out for judging.
Padma asks the cheftestants how they felt about the competition, and Paul says that it was an honor to work with these Masters. She asks the same question about the Masters and Anita says that it was a lot of adrenaline, and Floyd thinks it was fun. Takashi wanted to text Paul instructions. And now it's time to eat. Lindsay and Anita made scallop two ways: bok choy and chili, fried roe with sausage and water chestnut. Anita had intended three different preparations with a slightly different mix of ingredients. Emeril thinks the water chestnuts are great and Padma likes the flavors. Sarah and Floyd made pan-seared cod with coconut curry, crab salad with clementines and amaranth. Emeril thinks it's really interesting and Floyd says that she did exactly what he wanted. Paul and Takashi made mirugai sashimi with yuzu dashi, fried white fish, scallions, and chili. Takashi says it's pretty much what he intended, and he wanted to let the ingredients shine. Padma says that she and Emeril both like a lot of chile, but that was almost too much.
Judging! Emeril thought they all worked together and made good food. Lindsay cooked her proteins well but the sauce was somewhat overpowering. Padma liked Sarah's use of amaranth, and Emeril loved the sauce but thought it could have used more acid. Padma thought Paul made a brave dish, and Emeril commends him for using geoduck, but it had a little too much chile. Emeril compliments all three dishes again, but says that the winner is Sarah and Floyd. Sarah interviews that she's won $30,000 in Canada alone after winning no money in Texas, and she hopes this will help her push through to the finals.
Elimination Challenge! Padma explains that they'll be combining the heat of Texas with the chill of Whistler. They're throwing a "Fire and Ice" party, which means they have to create a dish and a cocktail with both a hot and a cold element to serve one hundred fifty people. Emeril reminds them to show off their skills, because chili with a scoop of sour cream won't cut it. That would be really good, though. I have to stop recapping this show when I'm hungry. Lindsay interviews that heat could mean spice or it could mean temperature, and it's open to interpretation. Paul interviews that his mind is racing through dishes he's made in the past that might fit into this challenge.
Shopping! Lindsay interviews that she's struggling with her concept, because she's not sure if she should set something on fire and have something frozen, which would be a very literal interpretation. Paul's plan is to do something visually stunning that looks cold but tastes hot. Well, that's frustratingly non-specific. How will he do that? Magic? Maybe Paul is a wizard. That would explain so much about this season. Actually, it wouldn't explain anything, but it would at least make the season slightly more interesting. Sarah wants to make baked pasta, which is her warmth, but cool it off with a frozen ginger mousse. She knows that it'll be a risk, because she's never made it before. Lindsay buys halibut, which she knows is kind of boring, but she feels confident in her ability to cook it. Paul buys some essential oils to infuse in clear ice and snow. Lindsay notes that Sarah and Paul are doing snow and frozen things, which Lindsay feels like is gimmicky. But it also meets the specifics of the challenge, no?
Sarah, Lindsay, and Paul meet for dinner or possibly just drinks. Sarah explains that her mom let her drop out of high school to go to culinary school. That explains a lot about Sarah's emotional maturity or lack thereof. The three of them discuss how worried they are about their ability to finish dishes for a hundred and fifty people. Yeah, shouldn't they be doing that challenge where they bring back past cheftestants to serve as sous chefs?
Time to cook! Sarah interviews that Lindsay and Paul second-guess themselves a lot, but even though she's making a dish she's never made before, she's totally confident. She's also an egg-cracking machine. She's seriously cracking two eggs at a time, one in each hand. That impresses me. Everyone is sharing ingredients and equipment, like normal adults would. It's sad that behavior is so rare on this or any reality show. Paul is cracking up lobsters (like cracking their shells, not telling them jokes) to make a lobster stock. Sarah is working on making pasta from scratch, mixing it by hand, and she's worried she'll run out of time. Lindsay is busy grating tomato to make tomato water; she admits that she's grated her hands and knuckles a few times, so I hope the judges like an infusion of Lindsay's blood in their drinks. Gross. Sarah interviews that she feels like Lindsay's Bloody Mary drink is playing it safe and not unique enough. We shall see.
Tom comes in to talk to the cheftestants. Paul explains that he's making a bouillabaisse and plans to have ice and snow in the dish, and then pour the broth over it tableside so that it all melts together. Tom wonders what happened to Paul in the Quickfire and Paul says that Lindsay and Sarah just made better dishes. Paul is the best. No excuses. No false bravado. Just admits that his dish wasn't the best. Lindsay explains her dish to Tom, and it seems like a lot of random elements that don't necessarily go together. Tom asks her about her disastrous halibut dish during Restaurant Wars, and Lindsay actually doesn't throw Beverly under the bus for once. Sarah is making cannelloni topped with a spiced mousse or sformata that will melt onto the hot pasta and make the sauce. Or so she hopes.
One hour until service. All three of them agree that they're in the weeds, and they wish they were given sous chefs to help them out. Well, the staff arrives to help them out, and it includes bartenders and cocktail servers. Sarah's cocktail has a ton of citrus and she hopes it will be a palate cleanser. Paul makes a Thai chile foam to put on top of his cocktail that will look like snow. Sarah explains that she's making a mousse and freezing it on the anti-griddle, which is, as the name suggests, a griddle that makes things cold instead of cooking them. Except that her mousse gets too frozen and Sarah is worried that her dish won't come together properly. Sarah tastes Lindsay's food and says it seems good. Lindsay interviews that she needs to focus on her food and not their friendship, though.
Time's up and Paul wishes he had another hour. The judges arrive and the food is being served in an open-air pavilion so it's freezing out. The judges also joke about how there's no secret Last Last Chance Kitchen, so this is it for the chefs. Emeril wonders if maybe Beverly is hiding under the table. She probably totally is. Would you really be that surprised to see Bev on the edges of the crowd, running into people and pillars and apologizing?
Paul is first to serve, and he interviews that he's really not feeling his dish so he's worried. But it's time to serve, so the food goes out. His dish is King crab with lobster broth and lemon snow and his cocktail is "the Pan Am" featuring Kaffir lime, Thai chilies, palm sugar, and rum. The judges note that they have varying amounts of snow on their dish. I thought the broth was supposed to be poured tableside? I guess Paul ditched that idea due to logistics. The cheftestants also don't get to explain their dishes to the judges like they usually do. Tom is REALLY mad that Paul included a piece of arugula as a garnish; he argues that if you're going to use arugula, it should have a purpose in the dish as a whole. Tom likes the cocktail, although he thinks it's a little sweet. Padma wants it to have more heat and Emeril reminds her that they scolded Paul for adding too much heat to his dish in the Quickfire, so he might be gun-shy. The guest judge says that the flavors were all great but pouring the hot broth over all the garnishes made everything meld into a warm soup. Wasn't that kind of the point?
Sarah is plating her dish in the kitchen. She informs the wait staff that they need to make sure that people are eating the pasta and the mousse in one bite, because the mousse is the sauce. I feel like if you have to give people instructions on how to eat your dish, it's not totally successful no matter how good it tastes. five greens filled pasta with garlic, chili, and spiced sformato (like a denser soufflé). Her cocktail is an "Agrumi": gin, kumquats, and mango. The sformato is just sitting on top of the pasta like a granola bar; it's not melting at all. Gail asks if it's supposed to be so frozen, and Tom says that it was supposed to melt, but the flavors are great. Gail likes the cocktail but doesn't think it goes well with the dish. Tom agrees that it was really meant for a summer day, not a freezing cold winter day.
Lindsay is really trying to show off tomatoes in her dish. However, she has concerns that her dish doesn't fit the "Fire and Ice" theme so she adds a spoonful of tomato ice on the side. Yet another element that doesn't seem to go with the rest of the food. She hopes that the judges see that she pushed herself but stayed true to her style at the same time. The judges are served her dish: halibut with fiery celery root salad and tomato ice. The cocktail is "Encendido": vodka, tomato, and horseradish. It's really just a Bloody Mary. Gail thinks the salad is really fiery but Tom doesn't think so. Tom also hates the raw kale in the dish, because it's bitter. Gail can't say enough good things about the tomato ice but at the end of the day, it's flavored ice, right? Emeril thinks the cocktail is good with the dish, but on it's own, it's kind of boring. The guest judge thinks the halibut is perfectly cooked and well seasoned.
Now that they're done, the cheftestants talk about how worried they were that they wouldn't finish. Meanwhile, the guests talk about how all of the dishes were really good and heartfelt. The judges discuss how difficult the challenge was and Tom says he doesn't know right now which way he's going to vote.
The cheftestants sit in the makeshift Stew Room and dissect the challenge. Lindsay notes that it's the first time that they weren't allowed to explain their dishes to the judges. Paul just keeps running over the many ways in which his dish could have gone wrong. Before he can worry himself into an anxiety attack, Padma shows up and asks to see all of them in front of the judges.
Judges' Table. The cheftestants walk in to face Padma, Tom, Gail, and Emeril. Paul starts by saying that he wanted to hit the required concept while also giving a lot of shellfish flavor. He hoped that his ice and Pernod looked like snow. Emeril says that he hit the concept spot on, and his cocktail was good too. Padma thinks it could have been a bit more spicy. Tom liked the idea and the broth but had issues with the arugula. Paul says it was supposed to add fresh greens and peppery flavor. Tom felt it was an afterthought, and should have been better incorporated. Padma asks why he belongs in the finale. Paul says that he wants to cook the best meal that he can for the judges, and he also jokes that he can't go back to Texas if he loses Top Chef: Texas.
Gail asks Sarah about the concept behind her dish. Sarah says that the baked pasta was the heat, and she thought about putting ice cream on pasta, which she recognizes as crazy, so she made it into a mousse. Gail says that the pasta was beautiful, but the mousse was so frozen that it was hard to eat together. Tom thinks her dish was brave, and he could tell that she went out of her comfort zone. Emeril says that her cocktail reminded him of the hot days in Texas. Padma wants to know why she thinks she should go on to the finale. Sarah says that food has a place and a memory for her, and she wants to tell that story in the finale.
Gail thinks Lindsay's elements of her dish worked well together. Lindsay says that the warmth of the soup represented fire, and then she made the tomato ice. Tom thought her sauce overpowered the fish a bit. Emeril thinks the fish was cooked perfectly, but her cocktail separated a bit. Tom thinks her dish worked with her drink the best. Padma asks why she belongs in the finale. Lindsay says she has more to show, because she's learned about herself as a chef. Padma tells them all to be proud and get the fuck out. Well, she's nicer about it, but she does tell them to leave.
Back in the Stew Room (which looks like a Stew Train Compartment), Sarah says that they all just needed to make one tweak that they would have caught in a normal kitchen. Paul didn't use enough Thai chiles because he was scared, Lindsay used a whole jar of spicy paste, and Sarah's mousse got too cold.
Padma thinks Paul's dish was great, and Gail liked that he took the challenge to heart, and she also liked the cocktail. Padma thought the dish was lukewarm, so she lost the contrast between hot and cold. Tom loved the concept but can't stop harping on the piece of arugula. Look, Paul's not going home for misplaced arugula. Can we just drop it?
Emeril liked Sarah's cocktail the best. Tom thought her dish was creative, and Padma thought the cannelloni was beautiful. Gail is still mad that she couldn't cut through the frozen mousse. Tom can't get mad, because Sarah was taking a chance and trying to stay true to the challenge, but Gail points out that she meant it to be a sauce on the cannelloni and it wasn't.
Tom thought Lindsay had a cool dish with a hot fish, and had a theme of tomatoes. Emeril thought the fish was cooked well but didn't have enough spice to qualify as hot. Gail felt the seasoning made it taste like it was cooked on an open fire. Tom counters that the dish wasn't interesting, but Gail doesn't think she made any mistakes. Tom thought the drink was a mistake, but Gail says you have to judge it as a whole, because the food and the drink were meant to go together. Despite all their arguing, they can agree that all three dishes were great, and they can also agree on who should go home.
The Weird Interstitial is as boring as the rest of the episode, and features the cheftestants whining some more about what they should have done differently.
Finally, we get to find out who's going home. I think I fell asleep like three times during this episode. I like that they all get along and are proficient chefs, but damn it makes for boring television. Anyway, Tom is going to run down their problems. Paul used arugula. Sarah's mousse was frozen. Lindsay's concept was boring. So who's not going to the finale? Sarah. Just kidding! Padma did a fakeout and told Sarah that she was going to the finale. So Sarah gets to leave and we KNOW Paul's not going home, so let's just get right to it. Lindsay is told to pack her knives and go and she says tightly, "It's been an awesome opportunity." She goes back and hugs Sarah, and I'd feel a lot sadder for them if they weren't so terrible earlier in the season. Paul is moving on to the finale, and he's also the winner of this challenge, so he gets a trip to Costa Rica. Aw, Paul. Watching him win week will be the only thing that will keep me going. It's finally the finale week! Hooray!