- The holiday season has arrived, and the chef'testants have a lot to be thankful for. And this year it's not just family these cooks must impress; but also six-time Grammy Award-winning rock band, Foo Fighters, as they join the band for a tour stop in Rochester, New York.—Anonymous
- At the apartment, the Europeans engage in bro-love, Ariane resolves to get better and Richard talks, once again, about Team Rainbow.
Quickfire Challenge Padma wishes them a happy Thanksgiving and introduces them to Grant Achatz, of Alinea restaurant in Chicago, a James Beard-award winning super chef at the forefront of molecular gastronomy.
Padma says chefs need to roll with the punches. They draw knives with odd numbers - 188, etc. The number refers to a page in the Top Chef book. They'll have an hour, using whatever they can find in the kitchen, to put their own spin on the dish.
They start working and then Padma comes in and tells them they've changed their minds - they want soup instead.
They have 50 minutes to use the same ingredients and make soup.
Leah has tuna tartare, which doesn't translate well. She has to use white asparagus for the base, and she hates, hates, hates white asparagus. Jamie loves making soups and gets to work on a deconstructed falafel. Richard runs out of time for putting limes on his soup.
Eatin' time. Stefan had a scallop and shrimp burger and made a bisque. Ariane had a rack of lamb and she diced it with some other stuff. Grant says the lamb is a little overcooked. Danny's ham and egg soup is a hit. Grant thinks Richard's really needs acid. Melissa makes a kind of Italian wedding soup and Grant doesn't like it. Fabio made mushroom and asparagus soup and Grant finds it flat. Carla made a shrimp, tomato and corriander soup which Grant likes very much. Leah's white asparagus goes over well. Grant says Jamie's was a great representation.
Overall, Grant was impressed by Jamie, Leah and Danny. The winner is Leah, who gets immunity.
The elimination challenge is to make Thanksgiving dinner for some very special people. They'll be cooking in teams. Leah gets to pick her team.
They get a message from the client: the Foo Fighters, who are huge fans of the show. Dave Grohl asks for a feast for their crew and Padma has their rider with likes and dislikes. They'll be traveling to their next performance site. Their entourage includes 60 people, including 18 vegetarians. The winning team gets to watch the concert, the losers get to clean up.
They pull up to Blue Cross Arena in Rochester. They're taken to the kitchen. It's outside. There are no refrigerators, ovens and they have only one burner each. They'll be cooking in microwaves and toaster ovens. They regroup.
Ariane is going to cook the turkey for her team, who doesn't have a lot of faith in her. They have an hour to shop and $1,200 to spend.
Team Sexy Pants includes Fabio, Hosea, Leah, Radhika, Melissa, Jamie and Stefan.
Team Cougar includes Jeff (who has taken the lead), Alex, Eugene, Daniel, Jeff, Ariane and Richard. (Alex says Ariane is their mascot, luckily, that makes her smile.)
They have three hours to cook. Eugene builds a smoker, using a chafing dish and charcoal.
Team Cougar is making turkey, roasted potatoes, sweet potatoes, pork roast, mac and cheese, pumpkin parfait, peach cobbler and banana s'mores (the Foos love frozen bananas and chocolate).
Stefan irritates his his team by being bossy. Team Sexy Pants is making turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, gravy, side salads, pumpkin tiramisu and fruit crisp.
Jeff says he's taken on a lot of work and Ariane's entire team keeps checking on her.
With 40 minutes to service, it starts raining. Teams start setting up tents. Fabio freaks that it's raining in his tiramisu. Carla says the un-chosen team wants to prove they should have been picked by Leah.
The judges arrive with the Foos. The chefs mostly remain calm. Except for Richard, who refers to Tom as "hottie, gay, bear icon" Colicchio.
Dave Grohl faux-whines that he has to play that night after eating the mass quantities of food. They don't like the figs in the stuffing. They love the mac and cheese with bacon. Can't go wrong with bacon, but the mashed potatoes weren't quite cooked. Eugene's smoked pork is a hit. Tom tells the Foos that Ariane was on the chopping block the last two times, but has redeemed herself with the turkey.
Time for Team Sexy Pants. Bass player Nate Mendel raves over the vegan stuffing, his favorite from either team. Grohl likes the yams because they burnt the marshmallows, the proper way to serve marshmallows.
Dessert time. The Cougars worry that theirs have cooled. Tom is impressed the Italian guy knew to use pumpkin in his tiramisu. Sexy Pants' desserts go over well. On the other hand, Jeff's mousse/parfait with some sort of pumpkin foam is referred to as a "barf-ait." The Cougars "floundered" on the desserts.
The Foos are split on their favorites. Daniel is rarin' to go to the concert, with both his part hat and underpants on, he says.
The Foos says it was close, but the winner is: Sexy Pants. Daniels underpants won't be partying.
They go to the concert. The loser Cougars can hear the music as they clean up downstairs.
Later that night, time for Judges' Table. (Danny flips off the winners when they come home woo-ing about the concert.)
Jeff says they're surprised they lost. Alex says they didn't assign a leader but one emerged: Jeff. Tom says Jeff looks "pissed" they lost. He says he's upset and wouldn't trade anyone on his team. Tom, perhaps taking pity, says that it was very close.
Gail spares Ariane and tells her her turkey was "perfect." Ariane is a happy cougar. Tom thought Jeff's spoon bread was dry. Danny's potatoes were undercooked. He says he threw his roasted potatoes in the microwave because they weren't browning and added them to the mashed.
Tom says dessert set the teams apart. Jeff's pumpkin mousse with berries is knocked as are Richard's s'mores. Gail suggest the vanilla cream was a mistake and that the band thought it looked like "spit on the plate."
Grant says it comes down to the people who made desserts and Tom says they should consider Daniel, too. Tom says Carla's was OK and Gail agrees hers was the least offensive. Across the board, Jeff's weren't good but Tom admires that he became a natural leader. Grant said if he were picking a team he'd pick Jeff. Grant's least favorite dish were the s'mores because they didn't taste good and conceptually were a mess.
In the stew room, Danny eats a peanut butter sandwich and drops some on the floor. Jamie calls him disgusting.
Verdict time. Tom compliments Eugene and sends both him and Alex away. Carla's wasn't great, but she can go. Ariane's turkey was excellent. Redeemed, she gets a round of applause back in the stew room.
Jeff, Richard and Danny are left.
The knife packer is: Richard. (No more open Colicchio fawning, awww.)
Through tears, Richard says his good-byes. "I think I took this challenge with both guns ablazin'. I'm just looking forward to getting to go home and to keep learning and keep growing and getting better." He's tried for three seasons to get there. "I'm going to try to hold my head up high and know that I competed with the best. Just for getting here, I know my family's going to be proud of me."
Next week: The Today show. Ariane saying she's ready to show these kids how it's done, make way for the "old lady." A host spitting someone's food out. Fabio wondering if someone's throwing him under the bus. Gail telling someone raw egg on live TV, not a good combo.
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