-
An arena full of fans
tasted Michelle's failure.
- Oh, sorry.
- Can she rebound from a culinary airball?
Or will David block her shot at the finale.
- I'm trying not to panic.
- This is "Last Chance Kitchen."
Brought to you by Hidden Valley Ranch.
♪♪♪
- I'm coming into "Last Chance Kitchen"
ready for war,
and I want to pick off my competition one by one.
- Hey, Michelle. - Hello.
- Hoping for the rebound today? - Yes, I'm ready.
- David's the only thing standing in your way
of making it into the finale of "Last Chance Kitchen."
- All right, David.
- Even though I love Michelle to death as a person,
and I know she's a talented chef.
she's going down. I have to take her out.
- Michelle, were you surprised you were eliminated?
- Yes.
[crowd cheers]
- Think it's good. - Looks good, looks good.
- The problem I have with the ribs is that
just the way they were cooked.
They just ate a little wet.
- Yeah.
- Listen, we had a lot of fun in the arena,
but I certainly wasn't a fan of what you made.
So, I'm gonna give you another chance to show me
your best game day dish.
♪♪♪
- Ah...look, our friends are here.
- Hi.
- Is that 30 seconds or 30 minutes?
Chef, you've outdone yourself.
- We have any basketball fans here?
Okay, good. I love that basketball
is such a fast paced game.
But it wasn't always the case.
It wasn't until the introduction of the shot clock
that really sped the game up.
Each team gets possession of the ball
for a limited amount of time,
before they have to shoot.
So chefs, for your challenge today,
Just like on the court
you'll only have possession for 30 seconds at a time
of something that you're really gonna need.
It's a knife.
- Oh!
- [laughs]
- It is the only knife allowed in the kitchen today.
So you can leave your knife rolls with me.
- Okay.
- Using someone else's knife is like,
kissing your sister.
It's really weird to begin with.
And then having it for only 30 seconds at a time.
It's like, instant fear.
The referee is over here.
he'll keep track of who has possession.
when your 30 seconds are up,
you have to turn over possession of that knife.
David, you're the king of the kitchen,
you get to choose.
You want possession first or second?
- I'll take second.
- He'll take second. - I'll start on D.
- You'll start on D. [chuckles]
To show that I'm still a team player
I'm gonna pass you a little assist here.
You may not always have a knife.
But you'll have an entire suite of Hidden Valley Ranch
at your fingertips,
to help your flavor game a little bit.
- Okay.
- You have 30 seconds on the shot clock.
You have 30 minutes on the clock
And your jump ball starts now.
- Come on, guys. - Woo!
- You okay? - Yeah, I'm fine.
- Pom poms.
- Oh, sorry.
- Go Michelle!
- I hope she doesn't make pasta.
- Why?
- 'Cause it's 30 minutes.
Michelle, what are you making?
- I'm making pasta.
- Of course. - Aw.
- Definitely I think
that making pasta is really risky.
I'm trying not to panic.
If I can make pasta in 30 minutes,
I know I'll be able to impress Tom with that.
- She's gonna vacuum the pasta so it rests it right away.
- That's her secret weapon.
- What's he got? - He's making a meatball.
- Oh! - Woo!
- There's nothing that says game day to me
like a meatball parm.
I wanna do a mediterranean meatball
with pomegranate tomato sauce,
lavash cracker,
and a goat cheese, hidden valley ranch mousse.
- So far no one's used a knife.
- I know. - Smart.
- What you gonna put with your pasta, Michelle?
- Like a really quick style bolognese.
- What kind of ranch are you gonna use?
- Something with some spice.
- I'm gonna use it as like, my finisher in a sauce.
For me, chili totally screams game day
and chili is basically a lot like bolognese.
Who's turn is it to use the knife?
- You're up. - It's yours.
- Can't touch it yet.
- I know, I won't touch it.
- Don't do it. - Wait until it goes to zero.
- We won't blow the horn on you.
- Three, two, one.
- Beep. [air horn blows]
- Brian!
- Come on. [laughter]
- That pushed like tense sweat down the side of my face.
- Five, four, three,
two, one!
- I'm not doing that ever again.
- Please don't
- Aw, it's all meaty.
- Sorry!
- It's okay, I'm going to cut meat.
- Seventeen seconds with that knife.
- Seven seconds!
- Cut it and put it down right away.
- Three, two, one.
- Good job. - Thanks.
I kind of feel like my thought process
is interrupted every 30 seconds.
- Whoah!
- Definitely throwing me off my game a little bit.
- Three, two, one.
- Watch those fingertips.
- Three, two, one.
- Four, three, two, one.
- Such a gentlemen. - What a guy.
- Five, four, three, two, one.
- Aw, thank you.
- You guys are so cute.
- You're not the only nice guy around here, David.
- She just wants the fan favorite vote.
[laughter]
Twenty minutes left, guys.
- Three, two, one. - Drop it right away, David.
- Whoah. - You almost got horned.
- The real challenge is.
getting over how annoyed you get
that you're not able to complete tasks.
Oh, [bleep].
You're already fighting the 30 minute clock.
And now you're fighting a 30 second shot clock.
- Fifteen seconds. - I heard.
I always put milk soaked italian bread in my meatball.
What I would traditionally do
is run it through with my knife.
But I'm so frustrated right now,
with how often I have to pick up and put down the knife
that I'm just gonna use my hands to break it up.
- David's just, he's over the knife.
- He's just tearing things.
- Three, two, one...
- Whoah! - Sorry.
- Having fun with this?
- This is fun.
- Game day pasta?
- Yeah, chili, pasta salad.
- So what kind of pasta are you making?
- These are little ears.
- Orecchiette. - Orecchiette.
I usually have a butter knife for this, Chef.
- Ha ha.
- You like this technique? - Yeah.
- It's all about the roll. - Looks good.
Okay - Hey, Chef.
- David, what do you got? - So...
- A little ground meat. - LIttle ground meat.
When I think Sundays, I think meatballs.
I'm from Jersey after all, so. - I hear ya.
- Going a little Middle Eastern.
Little pomegranate, tomato with pine nuts.
and then there's gonna be a little goat cheese,
Hidden Valley Ranch puree as well.
- Okay.
- I'm trying to get a lavash.
- A lavash. - Lavash.
- Trying to, anyway. - Okay.
So do you need a knife anymore at this point?
Or are you done? - I think I'm done.
- Oh, okay.
I need to get this lavash bread rolled.
and in the wood-burning oven.
- Seven and a half minutes. - Perfect.
You've made bread in seven minutes, right?
I may seem like a hot mess, but this is like,
world record lavash bread making right now.
- How are you feeling, Michelle?
- My water's not boiling,
so I'm kinda freaking out.
It's like the first thing I put on.
- I'm sorry. - [whimpers]
- To get sent home for pasta
would literally break my heart.
Get my water to boil.
Just praying to all the pasta gods right now
that this water boils in the next 30 seconds.
How can I make this boil faster?
- Two minutes, chefs. Two minutes.
- I want my dish to be really smokey.
- Nothing like bolognese with a little ranch.
- Almost there, please boil faster.
- How's it looking, David?
- Looks good.
I took on a lot of challenges
I think I've pushed the envelope
with what I can get done.
And I'm really happy with this dish.
I'm feeling Steph Curry with the shot right now.
- Thirty seconds!
[cheers]
- Ten, nine...
- Oh, David gets the knife! He gets the knife.
Five, four, three...
- It's over. - Two, one!
- Times up. - Woo!
- Oh my God.
- Good job, guys.
♪♪♪
- Hey Michelle, - Hi, Chef.
- So, game day chili? - Yeah.
I made a handmade orecchiette
with a chili ragu and sweet peppers.
I wanted the same flavors as chili.
In the style of a bolognese or ragu.
So I put the ranch dressing at the end.
Try and like, richen it up.
- How was it with the knife going back and forth.
- That was really challenging.
- Fun? - No, not fun.
- It looked like you were having fun.
- It looked like fun, yeah.
- All right, thanks. - Thank you.
- Hey David. - Hi, Chef.
How was that? You look like
you're sweating a little bit.
- Got a goat cheese,
Hidden Valley Ranch mousse. Some meatball,
and a lavash cracker. That'll be the bread.
- So how was it going back and forth with the knife.
- It was fun at first, you know.
And seeing Michelle across-- she's a tough competitor,
So it was fun.
- Great, thanks. - Thank you, Chef.
♪♪♪
- Well, chefs, that was fast-paced.
That was great.
Listen, there is a lot on the line here,
because whoever wins,
you have one more challenge,
and then you're back into the competition.
And I know you guys have come really far,
and you're both dying to get back in.
These dishes were both really great game day dishes.
And considering that you only had a knife
for half the time,
it was a really amazing amount of work that you got done.
I love how you both worked the Hidden Valley Ranches
into the dish.
Michelle, you made a chili.
I like the way it works
with the bacon and ranch flavor in there
It gave it some smoke.
You got some freshness from the peas.
Your pasta was really great.
Comment that I had was that it got a little oily.
David,
I love that you got lavash made.
Your goat cheese mouse, actually, I liked a lot.
It was like a separate dip you could use with the lavash.
What I got, and I don't know
if the knife was part of the problem here.
But as I was biting into the meatballs.
I got a big chunk of what I think is challah.
So, these are both good dishes,
but they're both a little off.
With that said, I have to say, the winner...
you're one step away from getting back in there.
Michelle.
David, thank you. - Thank you, Chef.
Leaving "Top Chef" it's bittersweet for sure.
It's unfulfilled 100%.
But, right now, I feel grateful.
I'm grateful for the people I've met,
the relationships I've formed.
And I'm excited about what's ahead.
- So, Michelle, that was really impressive.
Making pasta, making the chili, and getting that done
in 30 minutes, it was really great.
Ready for one more? - I'm so ready, let's do it.
- Ready? - Let's go. Feels amazing.
I've felt more confident that I ever have.
And closer than I ever have to winning "Top Chef"
- Is there somebody you want to beat?
- It would be kinda nice to have
a little one on one with Sara.
- A little one on one with Sara?
- Woo! - All right.
Well, we'll see. - Okay.
- See you next week, thanks. - You too.
- Woo! - Yay!
- You're going to win.
- Thank you cheerleaders.