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brought to you by Hidden Valley Ranch.
♪♪♪
- There's just one more obstacle
between me and the competition,
and it's Brother, and I have to make sure
I do whatever it takes to get back in.
♪♪♪
- I cannot believe that we're about to go
into this last round of "Last Chance Kitchen."
My nerves are like-- they're here.
They're in my throat. They're just kinda like--
I got butterflies and I'm antsy,
and I just want to start cooking.
- Hey, Chefs. Notice anything a little
different about the place?
- Yeah. - I just thought we'd give you
a little more room to work.
- Are they-- are they gonna get help?
- In the last round, both of you had the best dishes
to go along with your concept.
I need to see a fully-realized menu,
three-course meal.
One course must be a remake of the dish
that you just made me yesterday, in the last round.
I gave you some feedback.
I want to see how you can take that
and give me a better dish,
plus two more original dishes
that'll round out the concept.
But these dishes should really inform that concept.
You'll have one hour to serve all three courses.
Your first course lands at the 30-minute mark,
the second course lands at the 45-minute mark,
and the last course ends at the 1-hour mark.
- [ bleep ]. Like, I have to get this done
by myself in an hour.
- Chefs, it's much more than cooking,
it's much more than being creative.
You have to be a leader, so I'll give you some help.
There are a few sous chefs that are gonna arrive soon.
They have no idea what's going on.
And listen, since you have all this help,
I think you need to make enough dishes to serve not only me,
but my friends over here.
It's time to draw knives.
One by one, you'll each select five helpers.
Nini, how about you go first?
- Michelle. - Michelle.
- Brian. We're gonna get help.
Problem is, I don't know who any of these people are.
I have no idea what their skill sets are.
I have no idea if they're even gonna like me.
Do they even want me here?
- David.
- Eddie.
- Justin. - Oh, wow.
- Sara.
- Eric.
- Kelsey.
- Brandon.
- Adrienne.
Okay. Nini, because you know these chefs,
you think that gives you an advantage?
- I think so but...[ sighs ] you never know.
- You never know? - You never know.
- How do you feel about this, Brother?
You don't know these people at all.
- I don't, but, you know,
to quote you, "'Chef' means 'chief,'"
so you gotta be able to lead a team no matter who they are.
- Nini, is there anyone on that team
that maybe you didn't want to work with?
- No. [ laughter ]
[ all laughing ]
- I'm not buying it.
[ laughter ]
You smiled at the first two pulls,
and you came up to another one and went, "Hmm, okay."
- I was just eliminated,
and Justin pointed the finger at me.
I felt like he threw me under the bus.
I have to figure out, like, what tasks do I give
to each person, playing on their strengths,
and, like, whether or not I trust them.
- This is gonna be a big test, I think,
because you kind of took a bit of a back seat
and I think that's why you lost. You weren't assertive enough.
You didn't drive the training,
and then when things got bad,
maybe the communication went down, so you have to be
strong, lead, and communicate.
You're just zoned in. You're just--
- I play this role every day, Chef.
- Okay. - [ chuckles ]
- You have an hour on the clock,
30 minutes before the first course falls.
Your sous chefs will be arriving in 10 minutes.
And your time starts now.
- Let's go guys. - Whoo!
- Come on, Nini!
- The clock starts, and I'm gone.
♪♪♪
- This is crazy. Is the sous chef
just gonna walk in? - Yeah.
- Five people is a lot to manage.
I already have a list of things I need to do in my brain,
and then now I have to divide it all
and then make sure it all gets done.
Brandon, tomatoes.
David, pork.
Justin, fried shrimp.
I want to make sure I divide everything
right from the get-go and have everyone at a station.
- Little mini prep lists already.
- That's impressive. - That's really good.
♪♪♪
- Shrimp, lemongrass, mint, pork.
♪♪♪
- Brother disappeared. Oh, he's right there.
- Brother needed all that 30 minutes
to create that jalapeño popper the first time,
so I'm sure he's feeling a little pressure of--
- But he's done it 20 times.
- Oh ho ho ho!
- Are you delegating sauces or parts of dishes?
- Uh, all the meats, yeah.
- Two different approaches. I like it.
- Yeah.
♪♪♪
- Hey, guys! - What the [ bleep ] is this?
- "Last Chance Kitchen," bitches!
[ applause ]
- What is happening right now?
♪♪♪
- Never knowing what's gonna happen
in the "Top Chef" kitchen,
you need to be ready for anything.
- What up, y'all?
♪♪♪
- But I don't expect to see Brother and Nini
running around like crazy.
And it's just like, "Oh, man.
We are in the middle of 'Last Chance Kitchen.'"
- Nini and Brother are battling it out
right now to get back into the competition.
Today. - I see eliminated chefs
from our season,
I'm seeing chefs from seasons past.
This is crazy. - They're in the middle
of a mini "Restaurant Wars."
They're doing three courses
to correspond with their concept.
It's not "Restaurant Wars unless they have a team, right?
♪♪♪
You're their help. Michelle, David, Justin,
Eric, and Brandon, you're on Nini's team.
Brian, Kelsey, Eddie, Sara, and Adrienne,
you're on Brother's team.
You're gonna really want to help them win
because the winning team will have an advantage
in the next elimination challenge.
Go talk to your chefs, find out what they want.
[ cheers and applause ]
- Your names are on the paper.
I will tell you guys what you need to do.
Your cutting boards are under the table.
My concept is Mekong Delta meets Mississippi Delta.
Justin, I want you to fry shrimp.
Brandon, you're gonna do a lot of knife work.
- Done. - Yo, Nini's boss lady.
- Yeah, she's crushing.
- All right, so, we're gonna do
a concept called Sun Blossom,
a cross between Southwest and Japanese.
First two, on the end, we're gonna do scallops.
- Okay. - Cumin dusted.
We're gonna pan-sear 'em, nice caramelization.
- Okay. - These two right here--
sorry, I'll learn names after we win.
- Apple pico. - Apple pico,
soy ginger butter, togarashi spice,
and then an achiote grilled tuna.
The last one we're gonna do is a tempura jalapeño popper.
Me and you will do that one.
I'm really just staging my team in pairs of two,
and keeping Eddie with me.
I've already made the tempura batter,
getting ready to do the cheese.
- We talking tempura? We talking cornmeal batter?
Do you want 'em straight, fried dry?
- Just like po'boy. - Like a po'boy.
- Think po'boy shrimp. For my first course,
I'm making a po'boy-style chili glazed shrimp.
Justin is frying my shrimp.
I'm giving him one job, and it's to fry shrimp.
- Nini, tail off or tail on?
- Tail on. - On, heard.
- I don't know if I'd want to go against Nini...
- Nini and Asian flavors? - ...with Asian flavors,
'cause she's got that on lockdown.
- If I don't win, I'm gonna haunt you guys in my nightgown.
- If you don't win, I'll wear your muumuu around the house.
- How you doing today? - I'm good, and yourself?
[ chuckles ] - Not exactly
what I was expecting, obviously.
- Didn't expect to be back here a year later.
Tom gave me some feedback and said
that he would like to see a little more Japanese
into this tempura jalapeño popper.
And instead of doing the onion
and the jalapeño pickled in just the distilled,
I'm gonna do cucumbers and carrots
done in rice wine, rice wine vinegar,
and a little bit of soy sauce.
- I was so happy to walk in and see her there.
We're getting this far.
We had to go to Judges' Table, speak our truths,
and as far as I'm concerned, there was no hard feelings.
I think what happened in "Restaurant Wars" was a fluke,
and we're seeing the real Nini again,
and we don't need no strangers in our house.
I'm frying one shrimp for you to taste and let me know
if you want me to go higher on seasoning.
- Got it. - It's funny that Justin
is also on our team.
I know that, towards the end of "Restaurant Wars,"
there was some animosity, but this is redemption.
We're gonna get Nini back in the competition.
- Chef, it's hot. Give me the go-ahead and I'll finish.
Otherwise, let me know if you want more spice.
- I want more batter, so maybe we could dip it
in some egg wash. - Egg wash, heard.
- So you guys having fun this season?
- [ chuckles ] Do you remember last season?
- [ laughs ] - Have you forgot already?
I have PTSD.
♪♪♪
[ pounds loudly ]
- Throw that in the blast chiller, far left.
- I think you need to make sure there's not
too much of the liquid. To me, it's a touch salty.
- Yeah. I think add a little bit more corn and tomato.
- One minute, Chef, all that cheese out.
We're gonna scoop it, tempura batter it.
It's gonna go down in the deep fryer.
- Nini, final product. I got four minutes
if I need to re-go. I think they look beautiful.
- No, that's perfect.
♪♪♪
- One minute, Chefs. One minute.
- All right, you want to help me plate three to a plate?
- Let's go, guys! - Whoo!
[ applause ]
- Come on, Nini! - A little bit more, Chef.
Jesus. Right. Go with that, Chef?
Yeah? - Yeah.
- Five, four, three,
two, one!
[ cheers and applause ]
♪♪♪
- Nini, what did you make? - I have a po'boy-style
fried shrimp with a fish sauce chili glaze.
- The shrimp is awesome. - Shrimp is excellent.
- Nini, what'd you do for the batter?
- Flour, egg wash, and then dredge.
- The breading is a little dry,
but the flavors are really right, great starter.
And Brother, you made your popper again,
but how did you make it different?
- So I changed the tsukemono.
Instead of pickled jalapeño and pickled onion,
I changed it to a soy and sesame pickled cucumber
and carrot.
- You know, Brother, I don't know if the pickles
are pickled enough. I mean, they're really slight.
You had more acid yesterday.
I'm still struggling to get more Japanese in there.
I'm still getting more Southwest.
Get back to it.
- You want that sauce on the side so bad,
because then you just sit there, and you wouldn't care
that the breading was a little--
- I'd still care if the breading was bready,
but yeah, but it would help.
- Chef, what are you doing for the second course?
- Cumin-dusted scallops,
yuzu guacamole,
toasted nori and kumquat gastrique.
Tom says he wants more Japanese in my next few dishes,
and I'm not worried about that at all.
I've got some curveballs he didn't expect from me.
- All right, we're gonna do pork chop.
- Heard, grill the pork chops.
- I'm making a lemongrass grilled pork chop
with corn and tomato salad.
- How's our salad? I like it.
- Good. I made this yesterday,
and he wanted more herbs, more spice.
Do you think I should put more sambal, more chili?
- Maybe, um...I don't.
- Today I am the chef, and it's really hard
because I feel like I'm at a constant battle
of always second-guessing myself.
- Plenty of time, marinade's working.
Yuzu guacamole.
- How you doing, Brother? - I'm awesome.
- David, how long do I have on that pork?
- It's gonna go to the wire, Chef.
- This grill is not rippin'. - No, I know.
The pork is not cooking fast enough,
and I started to panic a little bit on the inside.
- Here.
- Pretty ----ing good. - Thanks.
- All right, Chefs, 10 minutes till next course!
- We got scallops working? - Scallops working!
- Gorgeous scallops, Chef. - Thank you.
- Let's see if there's any puffed cereal, puffed rice,
something we can use to accent those scallops really nice.
I try to keep it straightforward so we can execute.
- Yeah, yeah, simple is good.
- "Last Chance Kitchen," you can't jack around.
- Would you rather have Brother back in or Nini?
- I mean, I want Nini back in my room,
and I want her back braiding my hair.
I really had a thought process of like,
"Well, I could just over-spice something,
and then Nini gets to be in my room again."
But I'm too competitive at the end of the day.
I gotta win. [ chuckles ]
- One minute, Chefs. One minute.
- One minute? [ cheers and applause ]
- How's it taste? - It's, like, somehow dry.
- Then use this one. We have plenty of pork.
Use what you like. This dish is gonna get
Nini back in the competition. I tasted it.
It's sexy. You're getting back on.
- Five, four, three,
two, one!
[ cheers and applause ]
♪♪♪
- So Chefs, what did you make?
- So here I have a lemongrass pork chop
with a corn and tomato salad.
- So Nini, what changes did you make?
- I tried to put more heat into my salad,
as well as herbs,
and used a thicker pork chop,
and then I had David grill it.
- The spice is there, but it's not overpowering.
Herbaceous notes are there.
You have a good play between acid and sweet.
- Thank you, Chef. - I did a cumin-dusted scallop,
with a yuzu guacamole, toasted nori and kumquat.
- Brother, the dish is nicely balanced.
There's a great texture, right amount of acid,
ton of flavor. Nice work.
- Thank you, Chef. I've competed week after week
to get back into the competition.
I'm so close. - Go ahead, go back.
- We need some help on this bananas Foster sauce, please.
- So if you had to choose between these two...
- I would go with Brother's dish.
- I was worried about the plain puffed rice,
but actually I thought it was awesome on the dish.
It was so good on there. - It needed the texture.
- It's great, 'cause I mean, literally he did nothing
- but take it out of a box. - Yeah.
- I think Nini's dish needed just a little bit more.
- It was sour. - Yeah, absolutely.
- It was like tamarind or something like that, yeah.
- So I just want to, like, lightly cook these.
When someone tells me to make a three-course meal
that showcases our concept, I automatically think
appetizer, entrée, dessert.
That's just how my brain works. This is the meal
that could get me back into the game.
- Chef, for the tuna, how would you like it cooked?
Like, barely cooked? - Yeah, nice seared rare.
- Seared rare. Seared rare, Eddie.
- It's important for me to finish this round strong,
'cause I know Chef Nini is doing a dessert,
and if that dessert is bomb like I expect it to be,
this dish has to be on point.
- We gotta keep Brother out of our house.
- Keep him out of the house. - Whose house is this?
- My house!
- If I don't deliver this dish
to the level that I know I can,
I'm gonna lose another "Last Chance Kitchen"
finale round, and I--I can't go through that again.
You gotta take it, Chef. I'm not gonna give it to you.
- I didn't expect you to.
- Five, four,
three, two...
- To find out who makes it back into the competition,