- Tonight, Emily enters
"Last Chance Kitchen."
There you go!
Can she cook with confidence and pull out a win?
- I'll trade you salt and pepper for your greens.
[laughs]
- Or will Jamie continue his run?
- I'm sorry, Chef, this is the only time
I'll sweat all over your food, I promise.
- This is "Last Chance Kitchen."
Brought to you by Hidden Valley Ranch.
[dramatic music]
♪ ♪
- This entire competition,
I've put forth everything I've got.
And I'm gonna put my all into whatever I have to make
in "Last Chance Kitchen."
There's no other option.
- Hey, Emily, welcome to "Last Chance Kitchen."
- Thank you. - How is it, like, every day
being evaluated by the judges?
- Tough. - Did you learn anything
from the feedback?
- Yeah.
If I come on "Top Chef" again,
I'm gonna really step it up.
- You do have a chance to compete again right now.
- Yes, I do.
- Any idea who you're gonna go up against?
- Maybe Katsuji. - Katsuji? Let's see.
♪ ♪
- So we meet again.
- [laughs]
♪ ♪
- So are you surprised to see Jamie here?
- No. I mean--
- She was expecting you, Katsuji.
- I know, like-- with the mommy outfit?
- Mommy jeans, come on. - Mommy jeans, mommy shirt.
- Ugh. Whatever.
He just likes to stir the pot,
and honestly, hear himself talk.
- So Emily, you had a tough time this season.
You seemed to second guess yourself.
- A little bit.
It's nothing like I ever expected...
- All right. - To be on judgment every day,
it's--it's tough.
There were some struggles with the heat.
Um, it wasn't the most fabulous dish
to do on a 90-degree day.
But I liked my dish.
- There was a little bit of sugar missing from your dessert.
♪ ♪
Emily, if you're gonna make your dessert, make it sweet.
Just make a decision and make it sweet.
- As a chef, thinking on your feet is about confidence.
and no experience teaches you that more than "Top Chef."
So this challenge will test just that.
♪ ♪
You're gonna have 45 seconds to shop in the pantry.
♪ ♪
- Whew!
- [laughs] - Oh!
- And you can only choose what you can carry.
And Jamie, you cannot use that apron.
- [laughs] - Choose well.
And be decisive. You can do this.
- Such an amazing pep talk before I go in there,
I don't know.
- After time is up, you'll have 20 minutes
to create a dish using the ingredients that you chose.
♪ ♪
You have 45 seconds to shop in the pantry.
And your time starts...
now.
- Come on, guys. - Go, go, go!
- Whoo, whoo!
[exciting music]
- 45 seconds is not a lot of time to shop.
And it appears Jamie and I are running for
very similar items.
- Get all the butter! - Get salt!
- Sweep the leg, Jamie!
- I do hear in the background, "Don't forget salt."
- ♪ Ole, ole, ole, ole ♪ - 12 seconds, 12 seconds.
all: Ten, nine, eight, seven, six...
- Grab something!
all: Four, three, two, one.
- No, no, no, non no! - Aah!
- Yeah, no, put it back, put it back, put it back.
- Oh, I got it before! - Put it back.
- Time goes a lot faster when you're in the kitchen
than in real life.
Son of a bitch.
I got all the ingredients I wanted
and totally forgot, uh, salt.
And oil. [chuckles]
- Chefs, it looks like you have your hands full.
You have everything you need? - [mumbles]
- Well the pantry's closing now.
[all jeering]
Your time starts now.
♪ ♪
- Jamie, you got some salt?
- [laughs]
- Emily has salt and oil.
- But, I mean, he has-- - Jamie does not.
- Emily, did you get salt?
- Yes, sir. - You gonna let me use it?
- I already have two deli cups for you, sir.
- Oh, yeah!
- Jamie's a team player.
And I'd like to believe that I am, as well.
- Jamie, you did give up your immunity.
You might have to share some salt.
- Already on it. - There you go.
- Hey, guys, listen, you can't share ingredients.
[all jeering]
- Thanks, Tom.
- Jamie gave up his immunity
and ended up saving me from going home,
so I'm not happy Jamie forgot salt and pepper.
I'm more disappointed that I can't share it with him.
It's tough not to cook with salt and pepper.
- 18 minutes, guys.
♪ ♪
- Emily, you got this, you know?
He has no salt. - [laughs]
- Only his sweat. - He's got heart, though.
He's like Rudy, man.
- All right, so we're gonna extract flavor without salt.
I definitely have the base for a really solid dish.
My fear right now is that, uh,
I don't have salt.
You know, salt's kind of the ingredient that brings flavors
out of anything you're cooking with,
so right now, I'm just trying to figure out
in my head how to best extract flavor from these ingredients.
- So what're you making, Jamie?
- I'm gonna do a little watermelon and tomato salad.
- What're you dressing it with? - Uh...
- Watermelons? - Watermelon.
[laughter]
- Why don't you grab some oil from the fryer
and let it cool down?
- Hey, that's not a bad idea, man.
- There you go.
- That's actually pretty smart.
- I'm part of MENSA. You know what's MENSA?
- No, you're not part of MENSA. - You're part of NAMBLA.
- No, MENSA. [laughter]
- What you making, Emily?
- Looks like it's gonna be some charred corn
and tomato of some sort.
- 13 minutes!
♪ ♪
- Keep the rind, keep the--brother, keep the rind.
- Naw, I already got some in there.
I'm gonna build a puree with some watermelon rind.
And the rind had a nice kind of tart, little bit of
acidic quality to it, so that goes into the blender.
- Emily, what do you have?
You got some tomato and some corn, little radish--
- Tomato, corn.
Nobody told me that I needed a wine opener
to get my oil open.
- Oh, man.
- [grunting] I got it. - You got it?
- Maybe. - There you go.
That's what I would do. There you go.
So, you know, Jamie doesn't have
salt or pepper or oil.
He kind of put you at a big advantage.
Don't you think? - Yeah.
- You're kind of making the same thing.
He's making what looks like a watermelon tomato salad.
And you're making a...
- I think I might try and make gazpacho.
♪ ♪
This idea is coming off the top of my head.
Tomatoes are delicious right now,
and I'm thinking that gazpacho could be a good route.
- So Jamie. - Yeah?
- What'd you do--you forgot oil and you forgot salt?
- I did, that 45 seconds goes by quick, you know what I mean?
- Sure does.
- But, uh, hoping that this rind's got
a little bit of acidity in it.
So I'm hoping that that'll, you know,
bring a little bit of acid to it.
- Ten minutes, guys.
- In my country, we sweat a lot on the food.
[laughter] And it--it makes it salty.
- I am about to start sweating all over it,
so, Chef, if I sweat over my plate,
will you still eat it?
- I might have to.
[laughter]
- I would not like to eat that at all.
Ugh.
- Dab some tomatoes on your forehead.
[laughter]
- How you doing, Emily?
- Let's just say I bagged the gazpacho idea.
I didn't think I could get the tomato chilled down
in time to make a nice gazpacho,
so I changed up my game plan.
- She got to add some salt, pepper, or oil.
- The good news is, these tomatoes are super ripe.
So they're wicked-- they're really tasty.
I make a really nice, bitter arugula puree.
That's gonna add some peppery-ness.
I got some really nice radishes.
That's gonna add some texture.
And then the watermelon, luckily, is beautiful.
And the tomatoes are great,
so it's just a matter of combining them on the plate
to balance the dish out.
♪ ♪
- It smells good. Like, I can smell the watermelon
and the arugula.
- It's fresh, it's vibrant. - Yeah.
- It's gonna go down to, like, seasoning.
- What're you making, Jamie?
- It's a little cilantro and watermelon puree.
♪ ♪
- For the record, I was gonna share my salt and pepper.
- I heard you. - [laughs]
- Two minutes.
♪ ♪
- Every dish I cook is a test of why I belong in the competition.
I don't know whether I'd be able to pull it off,
but I feel like my dish is solid.
And I'm not ready to leave yet.
♪ ♪
- So what did you end up making, Emily?
- [scoffs] - What do you mean...[scoffs]?
Emily?
- I'm making a tomato salad, Katsuji.
- You don't sound that excited.
♪ ♪
- Just do you, you'll be good.
♪ ♪
- She could salt Jamie's dish,
and then that wouldn't be sharing ingredients.
- So if she runs through the kitchen
and throws some salt up in the air and slips?
[laughter]
- Quickly, throw that salt in the air, I'm gonna catch it.
I'll trade you salt and pepper for your greens.
- [laughs]
- Come on, guys. - Come on, go!
- I'm sorry, Chef, this is the only time
I'll sweat all over your food, I promise.
- Don't put too much.
- Emily, make a dish for yourself and taste it.
♪ ♪
- One minute.
- I have not been this nervous
for any of the other challenges.
It feels intense, oddly exciting,
and I know that this is not my time to go home.
[dramatic music]
all: Five, four,
three, two, one.
- Time's up. - Whoo-hoo!
- Happy New Year!
♪ ♪
- Hey, Jamie. - Hey there, Chef.
- So what'd you pull off?
- So I managed to pull off
a watermelon and heirloom tomato salad
with a little bit of arugula puree
and some fresh radish.
- I got to say, it looks good. - Thanks.
- I dressed it with a little bit of cilantro
that I pureed with, uh, watermelon, watermelon rind,
and a couple tomatoes.
♪ ♪
- Why'd you forget the salt? - Uh...
- Did you assume it was here?
- Yeah, I mean, I kind of thought
there was salt, but then I remembered there wasn't,
and I kind of went back for it
and it was too late at that point.
- Okay. Great, thanks, Jamie.
- Thanks.
♪ ♪
- Hey, Emily. - Hi, Chef.
- So we asked what you made, you didn't seem too confident.
- I made a charred tomato and corn vinaigrette
with heirloom tomato salad
and some fresh corn and fresh radish.
♪ ♪
- So you guys had almost the exact same ingredients?
- Yeah. - Almost.
And the vinaigrette's what--it's a warm vinaigrette?
- Yes. - Why'd you choose to do that?
- I was gonna make gazpacho,
and then I realized I probably wasn't gonna
get it cold in time, so I went for a little
warm and chilled tomato
and a little bit of warm vinaigrette.
♪ ♪
- Thanks.
♪ ♪
Chefs, when we try to put dishes together,
um, we try to use flavors that are either complimentary,
or things that actually are a contrast.
And, you know, when it all kind of comes together,
it all works and it hits all the areas in your mouth,
and you have a really successful dish.
Both of these dishes were lacking in a few things.
Jamie, there was a lack of salt, and you didn't have acid,
but I think you compensated really well.
You managed to get some bitter notes in there
and some peppery notes from the arugula and then the radish.
But it was flat because there was no salt.
Emily, you had the salt, you had the acid,
you put together a nice vinaigrette,
but then you did something with temperature
that was kind of strange-- you had a warm vinaigrette
against the-- this cold tomato.
And it didn't work really well.
And so the dishes were both out of balance
for very different reasons.
A lot of times, I look at a dish
and I'll say, "Well, what would I go and eat again?"
♪ ♪
Jamie's.
[applause]
- Whoo!
- Good job. - Thanks.
- Emily, you almost did it again--indecisiveness.
You wanted to make gazpacho,
and then you changed in the middle of it.
But I really enjoyed watching you cook,
and maybe one day you'll get another chance,
come back here again, but I know you're--
you're doing some great stuff down here,
so, uh, keep up the good work.
- Thank you. - Thanks.
- This experience has been a wild ride.
I'm going to take all of these experiences in
and really can't wait to get back into my kitchen
and apply some of the things I've learned here.
- Jamie, that's three in a row. - I feel like I'm on a roll.
- Well, you're on the longest streak so far.
You have three more to go to get back into the competition.
But it's only gonna get tougher from here.
Any of those six that you'd want to see?
- I don't want to see any of 'em.
- You don't want to see any of them?
- Nope, but I'll be ready any of them.
- Great, few more to go. We'll see you next week.
Thanks. - Thanks, Chef.
[cheers and applause]
[laughing and grunting]
Another one bites the dust, you know?
That's how I roll.
In the kitchen, I'm a gangster, like, watch out.
No oil, no salt, no problem.
♪ ♪