Top Chef

Previously on Top Chef...

Oh! We got a fire.

- This is a monster of a barbecue.

- Foil! Brisket! You're on the ground!

- It's going to be like sex in the mouth.

Oh.

You guys are on your own.

- No. No. We got it, please.

I'm pissed off. We were a team.

She bailed out. I can go faster without her.

- I understand what you're saying to me.

- Does anybody find the white team's ribs are really salty?

The ribs were so salty, it was really inedible.

- Chris C., please pack your knives and go.

Eight chefs remain,

all hoping to win a feature in Food & Wine magazine,

a showcase at the annual Food & Wine classic in Aspen,

$125,000 furnished by Healthy Choice,

to bring their culinary dreams to life.

And the title of Top Chef.

== sync by elderman ==

We walk into the Palm Door.

The space is absolutely empty.

We are not in a kitchen.

I have a feeling I know what our next challenge will be.

- Hey, chefs. - Good morning.

Good morning.

- Some of the best chefs we've had

have packed their knives

after this next elimination challenge.

Chefs, it's restaurant wars.

Whoo!

For the first time,

restaurant wars will be a battle of the sexes.

- Oh, ho! - Wow.

Couldn't see that one coming.

- Yes. - It's going to be boys

and girls fighting it out on the playground.

I think the girls are a strong group,

but I definitely think the male chefs have more talent.

Oh, God.

- Sarah knows flavor, there's no doubt about it.

But, we all know her weakness is barbecuing out in the sun.

- Let's rock this thing, all right?

Let's do it.

- I feel great about boy versus girl.

The only person I'm worried about is Beverly.

I've worked with Beverly on team challenges before

and she was a wreck.

- Each team will take over the Palm Door for one night.

- Wow. - It's up to you

to build a restaurant from the ground up.

- Chefs, I really want to see a complete concept.

From name to design to menu, each element should be in sync

with one another. - And then

you'll each be dining in the other team's restaurant.

- Oh. - One team

will cook and serve tomorrow, and then the other team,

the day after that.

I'll flip a coin.

If it's heads, ladies,

you'll cook tomorrow night.

If it's tails, boys will be up first.

It is tails.

- Boys, that means you're up tomorrow night.

Yeah--bam, bam, bam.

- Chefs, we want to see a three-course menu,

with two choices in each course,

for 100 guests. Each team

must designate somebody to run front of the house.

And each team member must be responsible

for at least one dish.

- Each team will have five hours to cook

and decorate their restaurant before service begins.

- Five hours? Tom and Emeril

will also be joining us at dinner.

You'll have 45 minutes now to menu plan.

And $7,500 to spend for design at Sur La Table

and Garden Ridge.

- Good luck, guys. Work together.

- Thank you. - Thank you.

- Let's go. - The most important thing

is that we come up with our concept.

- You going to do front? - I can do front.

- Let's do that. - I'm going to run this thing

like a well-oiled machine.

Front of the house is a job that no chef wants to do.

We're chefs, we cook.

But I have a little bit more experience

because I own my own restaurant.

So it's something that's natural to me.

And I can put on a smile, just like anyone.

- I have a name. - What is it?

- Canteen? - Sure.

- What does it have to do with the food, though?

- A canteen is a communal place to eat.

- Who's going to be in front of the house?

I would say you. - Okay.

- Lindsay will be awesome in the front.

She's opened many restaurants for Michelle Bernstein.

She'll be able to stay calm under pressure.

- All right, so are we going to do front tables?

Is that our concept?

- It could be very elegant too. You know what I mean?

- It can't be overly complicated, elegant food.

It really has to be streamlined.

- So rustic? - Absolutely rustic.

We come up with a restaurant concept

that is ingredient-driven,

organic, with a homey feel.

- And you have like a name or something that--

- um-- - well, I was thinking,

like, Bushel.

The word bushel has always had a lot of importance in my life.

My grandparents having a farm, we sold peaches

by the bushel and by the half bushel.

- I like the name Half Bushel. - Yeah, I think it's cute.

- I do like that, definitely.

- You know what's great is cracker jack ice cream.

- We could make cracker Jack ice cream very easily.

- If you're doing Cracker Jack, I can do Almond Joy.

- Oh, that's perfect. Do Almond Joy.

- That's hot. One of the appetizers

that I was thinking of was, like, a Thai-style lettuce cup.

- If you're comfortable with it, I'm comfortable with it.

What about for entrees?

Sous vide salmon's really easy.

It's that really soft texture.

So we've got two apps, two entrees, and dessert.

I'm happy with them.

- I have a dessert. It's cham torte.

- Like pavlova, right? - Yeah.

- Bev, I need you to take over a dish.

- I could do braised lamb rib, which is really good.

- Do they have lamb ribs, though?

I doubt it.

- What about just like roasted beets?

Some goat cheese? - They're on every menu,

though--beets, beets, beets, beets, beets.

- I definitely feel a little overpowered

by the other women chefs.

They are not really listening to what I have to say.

And I think that I have valid input.

I could do a really nice plate of short ribs.

- Do we want to do short ribs again?

- Why not, she's good at it.

- I got to have a dish, I'm sorry.

- That's not what I'm saying, Bev.

- We got some shopping to do. Let's go.

Let's grab some carts, guys.

- Like, we're looking for, like, a runner.

- What do you think about these, Paul?

That's cool, I like that.

- We're looking to pick up artwork.

We're also looking for something to divide the space up.

It's very large and we want to make it

as intimate as possible.

Hello. How're you doing?

Hey, how are you?

- Like, this is one minimalistic and clean than this is.

- Okay. - On a plate.

- The decor that we're looking for

is warm and inviting.

It's going to be tranquil.

This is for decoration? - Yeah.

Perfect, thank you.

What a great shopping spree.

You guys have fresh crab meat?

- Halibut is beautiful. I got 30 pounds.

- For the caponata, I might just do an eggplant puree.

Three minutes!

- But why are you doing eggplant?

- I just got it. I grabbed it in case.

- Okay. - So this is for you, right?

That's for m-me?

I feel bad for Bev.

I don't think the girls really like her.

But, at the end of the day, we all have to stay focused

and remember what we're here for, and that's to win.

- You need all of those limes? Three bags?

Um, two bags.

- The girl chefs are getting a little catty with each other.

- Oh, no, no, no, no, no. - Oh.

- Don't pull anything out of my cart, please. Thank you.

- I don't know if they're going to be able

to push that all aside and work together as a group.

I really feel like the boys' team is less argumentative.

We're getting along well.

Boys rule-- girls are just going to lose.

Thank you.

- What are we doing for the pick up?

- I've got a little bit of a delay tonight.

- My wine is warmer than my meal.

- I need you to come now. Drop the water.

- It's turning into chaos real fast.

When we get there,

it's going to take 30 minutes for us to unpack.

- Okay. - Make sure to do a line-up,

like, 15 minutes before.

- At least 30 minutes. There's a lot to go over.