The 3 of them go to a theater and watch their personal “highlights” on 3 big screens. Padma and Tom walk out on the stage after their highlight reels, and tell them that in the final round, the cheftestants are asked to plan a four-course meal for the judges. BUT only two will get to serve all of their dishes. One chef will be eliminated after a taste of the first course.
Tom tells the chefs they’ve all tapped into the emotional side of cooking and tells them to keep doing what got them to the finale.
Of course, they get help from previous cheftestants - they draw knives to see who picks first, and it’s Kelsey, then Eric, then Sara. Kelsey chooses Brandon and Nini, Eric picks Justin and Michelle, and Sara chooses Eddie and “the Portuguese guy” (David). Kelsey’s theme is summer in the South, Eric’s is Africa to the states via the transatlantic slave trade, and Sara aims to put dishes out that reminds her of family trips to South Carolina.
They have 30 minutes to plan their menus, 3 hours to shop, and a total of 6 hours to prepare (4 hours today, 2 hours tomorrow) BUT - 2 hours into prep time, they have to serve their first course to the judges.
Sara Bradley
Dish: Chili prawns with boiled peanuts (and a homemade XO sauce)
Tom really likes the chili prawns, as she developed a lot of flavors for a cold dish, but he thinks it needs something herbal.
Kelsey Barnard Clark
Dish: Cornbread and buttermilk
Kelsey calls this a buttermilk soup. It has fruit and pickles and boiled peanuts, and she brought her grandmother’s cast iron cornbread pan for good luck. The first batch was too salty, says Nini, but the second batch comes out perfectly crispy outside and tender inside.
Eric Adjepong
Dish: Jerk steak tartare with honey gel (and fried lotus roots)
Eric ends up wanting the lotus root to be cut more thickly, which Michelle thinks could be a problem in them browning before they get crispy.
Sure enough, it’s Eric who is asked to PYKAG. Tom asked how long the beef was marinated - which usually means the texture wasn’t up to par, but in this case, it seems to be that Eric and Justin kept adding more jerk paste to the tartare mix, and that was his undoing. The jerk paste overwhelmed the beef. He won’t be making the rest of his dishes for the judges. Disappointed, because I think he had some of the most interesting dishes this season.
So it’s Kelsey and Sara in the Finale.
Back to prepping. Afterwards, the two of them go off for dinner at Aji in the MGM Grand Macau. The next day, they continue putting the final touches on their dishes, while Alvin Leung of Bo Innovation, chef and restaurateur Alexander Smalls, Melanie Hansche of Food & Wine , chef May Chow, chef Dan Hong, and chef Mitsuharu Tsumara of Aji join the judges at the table.
Kelsey serves her entire meal first.
First course: cornbread and buttermilk with crawfish, boiled peanuts, cucumber, and watermelon
She added crawfish (her “special ordered ingredient”), and the judges really liked her entire dish, having “nailed” the cornbread and the overall delicateness of the dish.
Second course: French oysters, vichyssoise, Chinese chives, pickled green tomato, and cheese straw
Nilou praised her back-to-back “delicate dishes”, and Mitsuharu Tsumara said it’s one of the best things he’s eaten all year.
Third course: Soft shell crab and field peas with a pistou sauce
Kelsey had problems with this dish, and wished she had made it the second course, as following it with the Oyster Vichyssoise would have been better. Sure enough, Tom realizes the crab isn’t fresh (nor is it crispy), and Mitsuharu confirms they cannot get fresh soft-shell crabs in Macau. She knows this wasn’t a top quality dish, so she’ll have to wow them with her final course - dessert.
Fourth course: Peach cobbler
This is a drop-dead gorgeous dish - Padma says “This is just a beautiful love letter to peaches and cream." All of the judges really liked it.
OK, Sara’s up.
First course: Chili prawns with boiled peanuts
Tom likes this even better than yesterday’s version, as the shrimp are perfectly cooked.
Second course: Braised bacon with razor clams, baby corn, and pickled peaches
The bacon she bought is WAY saltier than what she’s used to, but Nilou thinks the peaches cut through the salt. Tom (yet again!) thinks it’s screaming for herbs.
Third course: Roast duck with black-eyed peas and pickled beets
Sara grew up hating black-eyed peas and beets, but she’s grown to love them. The duck was perfectly cooked, and the judges were wowed.
Fourth course: Ribeye steak with dirty rice, shiitake broth, and maitake mushroom confit
Sara chose not to go with a dessert. She knows she can’t compete with Kelsey in that arena, so she goes with a dish inspired by her mother’s dirty rice made with chicken livers and ground beef. It was a deconstructed with a slice of perfectly cooked steak with lots of mushrooms. Nilou didn’t miss dessert.
The judges gives feedback on dishes - Tom tells Kelsey he’ll remember her for her first course; Nilou gives Sara props for her shrimp dish. Once alone, the judges talk, and based on the questioning of whether Kelsey had enough progression in her dishes, I think she’s out. But they also agree that three of her dishes were almost perfect.
So they choose Kelsey as Top Chef. I 'm glad. I think she told who she was throughout the entire season (and I still think Sara should have gone home for her boxed waffle mix!).
And we’re done for another season!
