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I have $100,000
of cold hard cash in this case.
4 chefs get $25,000 each.
If they want to leave this kitchen
with any of the cash,
they have to survive three culinary challenges
and each other.
See this ice pick in my hand?
Ooh!
In a game where sabotage is not only encouraged...
You'll force one chef to build their own fire.
...it's for sale.
$5,000.
10 grand.
ALTON: It's a game we like to call...
[ Laughs ]
..."Cutthroat Kitchen."
-- Captions by VITAC --
Closed Captions provided by Scripps Networks, LLC.
Hi. My name is Mike Brown, and I'm from Minneapolis, Minnesota.
I love being strategic and playful.
And I totally have fun in the kitchen.
Eat your food.
[ Both speaking in a foreign language ]
I'm going to win this competition.
My name is Chris Oh, and I'm from Los Angeles, California.
I basically learned all my cooking through my mom
and through TV, and I've been pretty successful.
Born ready.
I was on a little show called "The Great Food Truck Race"
that we actually won.
I might not know how to make everything, but I know flavors.
I got swag, so I definitely think I'm the front-runner.
I hope you wore your dancing shoes.
I actually brought some cooking shoes.
My name's Emily Hansford, and I'm from Atlanta, Georgia.
I'm pretty quiet. I'm very down to business.
I'm pretty used to being in situations
where I'm the only woman.
Pure beauty and charm got me through this one.
[ Laughs ]
I definitely in my career have put a lot of men in check.
I'm really just trying to prove
that I can hold my own in the kitchen.
My name is Alex Shifman.
I'm an executive chef from Kansas City.
I consider myself very competitive.
I am a classically trained chef.
I have worked in some of the finest kitchens in America,
and I'm here to school everybody.
You a Missouri side or a Kansas side?
Both.
[ Laughter ]
Well, look what we have here -- a quartet of shiny new chefs.
[ Laughs ]
Here's how this competition works.
You're gonna take part in three different culinary challenges.
At the end of each one of those challenges,
one of you is gonna be eliminated.
You're gonna have 60 seconds to shop for all of your ingredients
in our main pantry.
After that, we're gonna have a little auction,
where you will be able to bid
on some wonderful and naughty devices that --
should you win -- you could use to cause your opponents pain,
discomfort, whatever you like.
Of course, you're gonna need some money,
and I happen to have here $100,000 of cold hard cash.
Each of you will receive $25,000,
and that'll be yours to use throughout the competition,
but be very, very careful how you spend this money
because at the end of the day,
one chef will remain standing, and they'll only walk away
with the money they still have left.
So, chefs, let's get started.
Go ahead, there, Chef Mike.
Two bundles. That's $25,000.
There you go.
Having that money in my hand makes me realize
how much I could actually win in this thing.
Two bundles, if you please. Just two.
One, two.
CHEF CHRIS: I had to rub it on my face
'cause it felt so good and smelled so sweet.
Chef Emily, two bundles, ma'am.
Chef Alex, the last are for you, sir.
Enjoy the heft, the feel, the smell of that cash
'cause rest assured most of that money
will be returning to this case
during the course of the competition.
Your first challenge.
I want you to make a perfect plate of French fries --
not just fries on a plate, though.
I want you to elevate my notion of French fries.
Take it someplace it hasn't been before
and a place that only you can take it.
We'll get straight to your 60-second shopping period,
which begins -- let's say -- now.
CHEF CHRIS: So, my plan for this fancy French-fry battle
is a classic poutine --
French-Canadian dish,
which is French fries, gravy, and cheese.
So, I'm grabbing potatoes.
I'm grabbing ground beef.
I'm trying to grab some Asian spices,
just trying to give it my own little twist.
Chefs, these gates will close abruptly in 30 seconds.
CHEF ALEX: I need something to make a sauce.
I grab a little Sriracha for some flavor.
I've got some avocados.
I see some chi-chi bean powder in the corner.
Chi-chi bean is garbanzo beans that have been ground down.
So I got that, just as a backup to make them really fancy.
ALTON: 5, 4, 3, 2, 1.
Well, I know who the problem child's gonna be today, don't I?
[ Laughter ]
So, let's have a look at our first item today, shall we?
A massive pile of creamy mashed potatoes.
Win this auction, and you'll be able to swap out
one chef's entire stash of spuds for these.
CHEF MIKE: I don't want this.
It would suck to get stuck with mashed potatoes
to make French fries.
Who'll give me $500? $500.
Chef Emily's in at $500.
$600.
$600 bid from Chef Chris. Who wants to go $700?
$1,000 bid from Chef Mike.
$2,000.
$2,000 for a big pile of mashed potatoes.
CHEF ALEX: I think I can deal with this.
I'm not gonna bid on it.
ALTON: $2,500.
Do you want to go $2,600?
It's not impossible to make a French fry
out of mashed potatoes, so I think I'm gonna save my money.
Going for $2,500 once. Going for $2,500 twice.
Sold for $2,500 to Chef Mike. Sir, bring me my money.
CHEF MIKE: Winning the mashed potatoes
is a serious relief for me
because I know that now I don't have to cook with them.
Now the true question is -- who does?
I look at Alex's basket, and I'm like, "You know what?
Without potatoes, I think he's the most"...
[ Sighs ]
Thank you, sir.
You're welcome.
[ Laughter ]
ALTON: So, let's get to our second item, shall we?
That is a beautiful array of salt.
Purchase this item, and you will earn
the exclusive right to use salt in a French-fry challenge.
CHEF EMILY: When it comes to making French fries,
salt's extremely important.
Seasoning your food is the most important part of cooking.
$1,500.
I got $1,500 for the salt.
$2,000.
$2,000 for all the salt in Cutthroat Kitchen.
CHEF CHRIS: I'm not bidding because I got soy sauce,
I got mayo, I got stuff that's got salt in it already.
$3,400.
Chef Emily's in for $3,400.
You guys apparently have never had French fries!
I know that I can make good French fries
without the salt 'cause I have salt in other ingredients.
$3,500.
I got my $3,600.
Who wants to go $3,700? $3,700?
CHEF ALEX: I really want the salt,
but I don't want to lose too much money, so I stop bidding.
Going once for $3,600.
Going twice for $3,600.
Sold for $3,600.
Chef, bring me my money.
You may take all of these salts and use them exclusively.
Yes.
All you really have to do to win this one is not screw up.
[ Laughs ]
ALTON: We've got one more auction item to go.
Let's take a look at what it is.
Natural peanut butter,
salad dressing, and sun-dried tomatoes.
What do they have in common, kids?
They all contain oil.
Win this auction and force one chef
to harvest all of their cooking oil from these items.
Oh, and don't worry.
I've got plenty of extras down here,
and I should probably mention
that whoever gets stuck with this
is not going to have access to the deep fryer.
How do you make French fries without oil?!
$1,000.
ALTON: $1,000 to Chef Alex.
Being from the south, we use peanut oil a lot,
so if I get stuck with it,
I can figure out a way to use it.
$1,100.
I got $1,100 bid from Chef Mike.
$1,300 to Chef Alex.
Currently the high bid.
I don't even know where to begin how to fry a French fry
using peanut butter or salad dressing.
$1,800 to Chef Chris.
Ooh, Chef Alex sets his money down.
CHEF ALEX: I stopped bidding on this item
because I already have mashed potatoes.
I don't think it's gonna come to me.
Going once for $1,800 to Chef Chris.
Going twice.
Sold to Chef Chris for 1,800 measly dollars.
Come on over.
What a steal, what a steal.
All right, so here's what I want you to do.
Take this entire tray
and deliver this to the chef of your choice.
You got it.
[ Laughs ]
My mama raised me right, but this is a competition.
You got to pull out all the stops.
What goes good with mashed potatoes
other than some peanut butter?
CHEF ALEX: Seriously?
I don't even have a real potato on my station.
Thanks, Chef Chris.
ALTON: The challenge is French fries.
You have got 30 minutes, and that cooking time begins now.
CHEF ALEX: Going into this cook, I can't use salt,
I don't even have a potato, and I don't get a deep-fat fryer.
How's that peanut butter doing over there, brother?
You can't have French fries unless it's fried,
so I am going to separate the oil out of the dressing,
put it in a cast-iron,
and hopefully use that as my deep-fat fryer.
I know what I'm gonna make, so I'm grabbing a pot.
I'm putting my chicken stock on.
I've got to get my chi-chi bean flour cooking on the stovetop.
Come on, boil, man.
I'm going to throw in a couple scoops of mashed potatoes,
and I'm gonna sell it as a garbanzo-bean French fry.
To say that I have an uphill battle in front of me
is an understatement.
Chef Emily took my salt.
Pretty happy about it.
What do you got going over there?
My plan is to do a sweet-potato fry with a gastrique of sorts.
The first thing I do is cut my bacon
and get it on the stove to have it start rendering,
and then I run back over and get my sweet potatoes started.
So, I peel that and cut it into French fries
so I can have it blanched in the fryer.
Once my fries have blanched,
I throw them in the blast cooler so they can chill down,
and I plan on deep frying them again
at a higher temperature so the outside gets really crispy.
How's it going, Chef Chris?
You liking not having any salt?
I am Asian, so I got soy sauce.
I got salt in the mayo, so I'll be okay.
My game plan going into this is French fries,
gravy, and cheese, so I start blanching the fries.
I start browning the meat.
I'm just here doing my thing -- calm, cool, and collected.
I think you're in trouble, bro.
CHEF MIKE: I cut my potatoes, get them in the fryer.
I'm kind of thinking, like, make good French fries
and then give the judge a buffet of sauces.
Chefs, 10 minutes of your time's already gone forever.
CHEF MIKE: I'm gonna make, like, some sort of chorizo sauce,
and then I know that I want to put bacon on
'cause I'm gonna use that as the main salt content
of my French fries.
Cooking meat, brother.
I don't have any protein, except for my egg,
and I don't have any potatoes.
Hey, I got mashed potatoes, so we're all good.
You got mashed potatoes, man, so you're good to go.
So, I've got these mashed potatoes.
I grab a couple scoops, throw them in there.
I cook my chi-chi bean flour down all the way.
I've got it nice and thick.
My only concern is whether or not I have enough time
to cool it down, slice it, and fry it.
So, I get it in the blast chiller.
Now we're rolling.
Chefs, pay close attention.
Win this auction and for the remainder of the challenge,
you can force one chef to keep at least one hand
on anything they want to cook.
If they're using the fryer,
they got to have their hand on the fryer basket.
If they want to walk away,
they got to take whatever's cooking
off of the heat while they're gone.
With my no potatoes, with my no deep-fat fryer,
I can't handle anything else at this point.
You haven't seen anything yet, baby.
Win this auction and for the remainder of the challenge,
you can force one chef to keep at least one hand
on anything they want to cook.
Now, I'm a bad, bad man.
Who's gonna give me $500
just to see another human have to do this?
$500 bid from Chef Mike.
$600.
Chef Emily's gonna give me $600.
$1,000.
CHEF CHRIS: I'm just so focused on putting out a good dish
that I just let the other chefs
kind of battle it out for themselves.
$1,100.
I'm bidding on this purely just to drive it up.
I could definitely deal with this,
even though I don't want to.
$2,500!
$2,500.
Chef Alex is finally really thinking it through.
I am not losing this auction, no matter what.
Going once for $2,500. Going twice.
Sold to Chef Alex for $2,500.
ALTON: Sir, I am taking my money.
You decide who you're going to curse
with this horrible, horrible affliction.
Let's go Chef Mike, please.
Chef Mike.
CHEF MIKE: Not cooking anything
without my hand being stuck to it
is definitely a pain in the ***.
So, all I can think in my head is figure out
exactly what kind of sauces I want to make.
Everything outside of that is what's gonna get difficult.
Boom. Boop.
I figured that a caper sauce would be great.
A mustard sauce would be great.
I'm trying to figure out how to add salt to everything here
How's that going?
Good thing I grabbed the capers and the olives.
And I got some mashed potatoes. Oh, wait.
CHEF ALEX: Ha!
It's all right.
I got next round to get you, too.
Whoa!
[ Speaking indistinctly, high-pitched ]
We'll see if you get to the next round, huh?
I'm making my two sauces,
and I realize that my avocado mousse
is completely under-seasoned,
so I scoop underneath my salad dressing.
It's gonna add some sort of salt to my avocado mousse.
I've got my sun-dried tomatoes.
It's got oil, and I've got eggs.
I've got a sun-dried tomato aioli.
So, I need to get my garbanzo French fries cut
and start frying them off, and we're good to go.
How you all doing over there?
CHEF EMILY: Living the dream.
All right.
CHEF EMILY: I'm making the gastrique,
and it's equal parts maple syrup and apple-cider vinegar
and I'm reducing them to form kind of a syrup.
I'm trying to kind of play off sweet potatoes at Thanksgiving,
where you have sweet potatoes and maple syrup.
Once I fry my fries,
I decide to use this black-pepper salt
and it tastes like a combination of black pepper and salt
and I felt like that'd be a nice way
to enhance the flavor of the fries.
ALTON: Three minutes!
I'm holding the fryer.
Oh, I know you are.
CHEF MIKE: I need to drop my French fries to get them crispy,
but I have to hold on
to anything that's actually working.
Fry, baby, fry!
Thank you.
I've made my version of a poutine --
green onion, rice-wine vinegar, mayo, sour cream.
My food's cooking like it should be.
Everything's tasting like it should be,
so I'm pretty confident right now.
My hand is off, but they are out.
I understand. I'm standing right here.
CHEF MIKE: So, as I'm plating,
I take the word "fancy" pretty literally,
and I set it up as, like, a little sauce buffet.
I got to come over here and check on this mashed action.
Beautiful garbanzo-beaned French fries.
CHEF ALEX: Finally got color on my chi-chi fries.
They haven't dissolved and disintegrated into moosh.
I grab my plates, plate my avocado mousse.
I'm very confident in what I've made.
15 seconds. No pressure.
I'm feeling really good about where I'm at.
My fries are ready. My sauce is done.
I think everything's gonna taste great and be well-balanced.
5, 4, 3, 2, 1.
Time's up. Challenge over. Back away from your board.
Excellent, excellent.
Chefs, I want you to say hello
to your judge for the day -- Antonia Lofaso.
She is a co-owner/executive chef of Black Market Liquor Bar here
in Los Angeles.
She cares about one thing. What is it?
What's on your plate.
So, save us the sob story of the horrors you've had to endure.
[ Laughter ]
Chef, the challenge is French fries.
I can pretty much eat my weight in French fries.
I could eat your weight in French fries.
Well, let's start with a smaller amount, shall we?
Come on.
Chef Mike, please tell Antonia about your French fries.
We have ourselves a little French-fry tasting buffet here.
CHEF LOFASO: Okay.
Sweet potato fries and also regular russet fries
that are accompanied with a little bit of olive and bacon.
And then I have five different sauces here for you.
I like the addition of the olive and the bacon.
The fries are not over-seasoned.
They're perfectly seasoned.
They just have a good amount of seasoning to them.
Are you laughing at me?
Just making sure.
I love the sauces, but I have to say,
the texture of the fries are a little soft.
I'm not getting that crispness
that I really enjoy with a French fry.
Well, thank you.
Chef Chris, tell her about your fries.
Well, it's hand-cut fries.
Then we have some seasoned ground beef in it.
Then we have a green-onion crema, some taleggio cheese.
So, please enjoy.
All around, I really like the flavors.
I love the crema.
I almost wish there was more of it on there, to be honest.
Right.
Poutine can be so rich with the meat and the gravy
that something refreshing like acid
would've just taken it right over the top.
Right. Thank you so much.
Thank you, Chef. Let's move on down the line, ma'am.
CHEF CHRIS: Chef Antonia loves the dish.
I'm definitely moving on.
Chef Emily, Chef Lofaso.
Tell her all about your fancy fries.
I have sweet potato fries here with some scallions,
and then I made maple-syrup, apple-cider gastrique
with a little bit of bacon.
Fries are perfect.
Thank you.
Little under-seasoned.
And the sauce -- I love the idea of maple and bacon.
Here, this sauce is a little too sweet for me.
Okay.
Thank you, Chef. Let's move on.
CHEF MIKE: Are you kidding me?
Like, you're the only person who had salt.
[ Laughs ]
Chef Alex, tell her about your fries.
CHEF ALEX: What I have here is a chi-chi bean and potato fry
with a sun-dried tomato sauce and then an avocado mousse.
Really love the fries.
The bean in it just makes it a little bit lighter,
not as dense.
All in all, I thoroughly enjoy these.
The sauces, not so much.
This one almost doesn't belong.
I just wish that there were better sauces for these fries
because these are really great fries.
Thank you.
Antonia, step this way, would you?
CHEF EMILY: She didn't like any of his sides,
so I feel like I still have a chance.
Antonia, I've got one too many chefs here.
I can only take three into the next round.
Someone's getting cut, and you're doing it.
I'm going with the chef
whose flavors were just a little out of whack.
And that chef is...
I've got one too many chefs here.
I can only take three into the next round.
Someone's getting cut, and you're doing it.
I do need to eliminate one of you.
And that chef is...
...Chef Emily. I'm sorry.
It was just too much sweet, not enough salt.
Chef Emily, so sorry.
I'm going to need that $21,400 back.
Great to have you here, though, ma'am.
Very much. Thank you.
I under-seasoned like an idiot when I had all the salt,
so I think it's justified that I go.
Gentlemen, congratulations.
You survived the first round of "Cutthroat Kitchen."
Your challenge --
you're gonna have 30 minutes to make a kebab plate,
however you happen to interpret that.
CHEF CHRIS: I mean, when I think kebab,
I think barbecue, and what are Koreans best at?
Barbecue.
Your 60-second shopping time begins now.
CHEF ALEX: I'm thinking Mediterranean -- lamb.
That's the first thing I grab.
I need some tomatoes
for something a little fresh on the plate,
along with those Kalamata olives.
ALTON: Chefs, you have 30 seconds.
CHEF MIKE: I'm gonna make a kebab plate
that has kind of an Asian influence to it,
so I grab vegetables, proteins, spices --
anything I can grab off that Asian shelf
I think is gonna help me make the best kebab possible.
4, 3, 2, 1.
ALTON: So, let's dig right in to our first auction item.
A basket of delicious-looking vegetables.
Win this auction and you can force one of your competitors
to give up their skewers and make them out of these.
It's not really a fair trade, is it?
CHEF ALEX: You think I'm gonna have time to whittle a skewer?
I don't think so.
$1,000.
$1,000 from Chef Alex.
$1,600.
I got a $1,600.
CHEF CHRIS: These guys are spending money
like it's going out of style.
If you don't have money at the end,
you're not gonna win this competition.
$2,000.
My $2,000.
ALTON: I'm happy. Going once for $2,000.
Going twice for $2,000.
Sold for $2,000 to Chef Alex.
Bring me my money.
Right here.
There you are.
Now I want you to take this basket of vegetables
and give some very serious thought
to who you're going to be gifting that to.
CHEF ALEX: Knowing that Chef Mike came from Minnesota,
he probably has some whittling experience in his toolbox, so...
Chef Chris.
Ohh.
CHEF MIKE: Oh, dirty.
CHEF ALEX: You can do it.
[ Laughs ]
I mean, you sort of have to, right?
Guess I do.
So, gentlemen, let's see what we have up
for our second item for bidding.
A bunch of sticks!
[ Laughter ]
No way.
ALTON: Win this auction and you can force one chef
to build their own fire,
do all of their cooking with this wood
on this specially designed camp stove.
Yep, it's basically a grill.
CHEF CHRIS: Having this barbecue grill
as your only heat source is gonna be big trouble.
This would be a nightmare for me.
$600.
1,000 bucks. 1,000 bucks.
$1,500.
I've got a $1,600 bid from Chef Chris.
Who's gonna give me $1,800?
I've got my $1,800 back.
I look at the money in my hands,
and I'm like, "I can do things on a grill if I have to."
$1,900 from Chef Chris.
Who wants to go for the big $2,000?
I think I can get stuck with this.
I'm gonna save my money on this one.
Going once for $1,900.
Going twice for $1,900.
Sold to Chef Chris for $1,900.
Bring me my money.
Yeah, I'm getting a bargain today.
Nice doing business with you.
Take that. Take this.
Be careful. It's heavy.
Gift this to the appropriate challenger.
If I got to whittle, you got to light.
[ Laughs ]
Here you go.
Don't let the wood hit you on the way out.
Oh, my gosh.
This is great.
CHEF CHRIS: He shouldn't have given me
those skewers of vegetables.
Karma sucks.
ALTON: Let's take a look at our third item, shall we?
Cans of sloppy-joe sandwich mix.
If you win this item,
you can swap out all of one of your opponent's proteins
for the contents of these cans.
I can't cook sloppy joes over a wood-fire grill.
$2,000.
$2,000.
At this point, he just doesn't want to use
the cans of sloppy-joe meat mixture.
$2,100.
$3,000.
$3,000. $3,100? $3,100?
Are you just out of this? You don't care, do you?
I don't want to go home for canned sloppy joe,
but I'm not gonna spend too much on this item.
I mean, it's a tough decision.
$4,000.
Whoo!
$4,100? Will you go $4,100?
CHEF MIKE: Four G's for two cans of sloppy joe?
You can have it.
Sold for $4,000 to Chef Alex.
Bring me my money.
I needed that.
Take this tray with these cans,
deliver them unto your intended victim,
and bring me back all their proteins.
I didn't even consider eating this stuff during college,
so I don't know how I'm gonna make a kebab out of this.
It's like a ketchup-based sauce with like D-grade meat in it.
It's, like, the worst-case scenario.
I know exactly what I'm about to do.
Take this tray with these cans,
deliver them unto your intended victim,
and bring me back all their proteins.
That's for you, sir.
CHEF MIKE: Oh, well, thank you.
This is great.
It's my favorite sloppy-joe mix right here.
I should've kept bidding 'cause I would've totally had him
by making him make sloppy joes on a grill,
but I chickened out again because I got cheap.
I got cheap. I shouldn't have been so cheap.
In case you have forgotten in all the excitement,
I'm looking for a kebab plate.
Make it delicious, make it yours,
and make it in 30 minutes.
That time begins now.
Let's get this done.
Can you make me some sloppy joes?
We're making some sloppy joes, big boy!
Sloppy Mike!
I mean, this round's bananas.
I mean, I got to whittle away some skewers.
Captain Moustache has got to deal
with some sloppy joe in a can.
Chef Alex -- he's got to start a fire with some chopsticks.
This is gonna get wild.
I'm gonna go
for a non-traditional sloppy-joe kebab.
[ Laughs ]
Good luck with that down there.
I'm actually gonna kind of turn it into like a vegetable kebab,
and then make the meat something more of like a side dish.
I'm gonna somehow try to embrace this sloppy joe
and turn it into some sort of, like, chili
because I think that's gonna taste better.
So, I get it in a pot and I put it on the grill
and I just let it slow roll while I prep my veggies.
You making some sloppy joes over there or what, buddy?
I'm making some kebabs.
CHEF ALEX: First thing I'm doing
is throwing the lamb into the meat grinder,
throw a little fresh-crushed garlic.
I slice open my pork sausage, throw that into the ground lamb,
crack open a couple eggs,
a little bit of panko to bind all that meat together,
and I've got my kebab in the first few minutes.
CHEF CHRIS: Alex over here didn't realize
that a carrot makes a perfect skewer, brother.
And it's biodegradable.
CHEF CHRIS: So, I'm gonna give my own twist on the kebab plate,
give it a little Korean twist with some spices on the meat,
making my own puffy taco shell,
cool it down with a nice, cold slaw,
and use these carrots so they kind of resemble a skewer.
Got my top-secret weapon -- Korean chili paste, brother.
I smell fire.
You're smelling paper towel.
[ Laughter ]
As I'm working to get my fire going, I start on my salads.
I'm gonna make a grilled artichoke-and-mushroom salad.
Then I've got my tomato, some olives, shallots,
throw in a little lemon juice, extra *** olive oil,
and we've got a light salad to counteract my heavy kebab meat.
That wiggles funny.
[ Laughs ]
It's the best.
I'm very curious
as to how you're gonna get this on a kebab.
That's actually not even the plan.
At this point, my kebabs are totally together.
Everything's seasoned the way I want it to be.
My chili's starting to come around.
I put a little sambal in there,
and then I just took all the extra vegetables I had,
chopped it up, and chucked them in there, as well.
Next thought process I have is, I want to put eggs on the plate.
Eggs and chili and vegetables -- I think they all make sense.
They all taste good together,
and sell it as, like, a breakfast dish.
Chef Alex, I think you've got ignition.
Oh, we're getting close, guys.
Fire's going.
So I'm putting the kebabs on,
trying to make sure they don't get too dark,
and then what happens?
I've got too much fire now.
The flame is going high.
I've got to get this meat cooked, and it's way too hot.
Whoo! You on fire over there, bro.
That's the sound of food cooking.
I never really thought of soot
as an acceptable flavoring before, but --
Oh, she'll like it.
Oh, she will, will see?
"Oh, she'll like it."
Wood's flammable.
CHEF ALEX: Yes.
I just want to point...
Thank you.
Two minutes!
CHEF MIKE: I know that I'm kind of taking a risk
making sunny-side-up egg.
I kind of want them to steal the show.
ALTON: I don't see a skewer over here.
I don't even see anything that passes as a skewer.
So, there's a minute left, and I got to plate.
I put my puffy taco shell on the plates.
I put my meat down, skewered it with this long carrot.
I'm pretty happy at this point
'cause I took a kebab plate and turned it into a taco,
and who doesn't love tacos?
It's like a party in your mouth.
ALTON: 5, 4, 3, 2, 1.
Time's up. Challenge over.
Walk away from the board.
Antonia returns.
Madam, how are you?
Good. How are you?
Well, the subject of this challenge -- kebab plate.
You know, I love food on a stick.
Let's proceed.
I had sloppy-joe mix to work with,
so I'm hoping that she's focusing
on the execution of what I did.
So, Chef Mike, please tell her about your kebab dish.
This is the breakfast kebab.
Comes with a little side dish of chili,
three sunny-side up eggs, and roasted vegetables.
All the food individually I actually think is done well.
The vegetables are cooked well. They're seasoned well.
Your eggs are cooked nicely.
And the chili is well-seasoned,
and it's got a nice texture to it.
Together as a plate, which matters,
it's very disjointed
and conceptually, I think, is just off.
Thank you.
Let's move on down the line, ma'am.
I guess it was confusing for her.
But I look over at Chef Chris' plate,
and I might have this in the bag
because he made a taco with a carrot.
[ Laughs ]
Chef Chris, please tell Antonia about your kebab plate.
Of course.
This is what I call the spicy Korean puffy-taco kebab.
Just pinch it, grab the meat, take out the skewer of carrot.
One bite, handheld, party in your mouth.
I feel like it's more of a taco than it is a kebab,
and you just happened to, like, stick the carrot into it,
and you're like, "Now you have a kebab."
[ Laughs ]
But it's a really delicious plate of food.
Thank you so much.
I think she liked the dish,
but she told me that it wasn't a kebab plate,
so I might be going home.
Chef Alex, please tell Antonia about your kebab plate.
CHEF ALEX: What I have here is a traditional kebab plate --
lamb-and-pork charred kebab;
grilled artichoke heart-and-mushroom salad;
fresh tomato, shallot, and Kalamata-olive salad;
and some grilled pita to go along with the theme.
The meat is a little underseasoned.
But it's nice and soft,
not dry by any stretch, which is nice.
The freshness of the artichokes are really, really nice.
I think, in general, you took it very literal.
That's what I did.
For me, it seems a little safe.
Okay. Thank you very much.
CHEF MIKE: Alex had some pretty hard-core charred kebabs,
but in this competition, it's in Judge Antonia's hand.
ALTON: Which one of these chefs
will not be headed into the final round?
Who's it gonna be?
The chef I'm going to eliminate is...
ALTON: One of these chefs
will not be headed into the final round.
Who's it gonna be?
The chef I'm going to eliminate is...
...Chef Mike.
The elements together just were very disjointed and didn't work.
Chef Mike, so sad to see you go,
but I'm afraid I'm going to need that cash back in the case.
[ Sighs ]
Sorry, sir.
Well-played.
Nice to meet you.
CHEF MIKE: I wanted to win this thing.
I wanted to show people what I could do.
I wanted to show them that I could create beautiful food
that tastes right, and I felt like I did that.
It just wasn't quite what they wanted.
I tried my hardest.
Chefs, congratulations on making it to this,
the final round of "Cutthroat Kitchen."
ALTON: One of you is gonna be walking away with some cash.
One of you is gonna be walking away with nothing.
CHEF ALEX: Going into the final round against Chef Chris,
I just keep thinking about the oil he gave me in Round 1, man.
I overcame, I won.
Now it's his head on a plate.
This time, things are gonna be a little bit different.
I'm going to assign the dish.
You're going to have the standard 60 seconds to shop.
But then I'm gonna skip the auction,
go directly into the cooking phase,
and then, when you're cooking,
I'll auction off some lovely items
that I'm sure you'll be very, very interested in, indeed.
CHEF CHRIS: I'm in the finals, but game's not over yet.
I'm a trained chef,
but I'm gonna do whatever it takes
to win this final and, you know,
prove to myself that I can be successful.
So, for your final challenge, you're gonna love this.
[ Sighs ] Chocolate chip cookies.
CHEF CHRIS: I've never made cookies in the past.
When I asked my mom for cookies,
growing up, she gave me a bowl of kimchi.
Let us get down to business.
Again, 60 seconds, and that time begins...now.
CHEF ALEX: I need chocolate, I need flour,
I need eggs, I need baking soda, and there's two boxes.
I put both of them in my basket.
Now I know Chef Chris is gonna have a hard time
making a cookie.
ALTON: You got 30 seconds.
CHEF CHRIS: I'm grabbing everything
like it's a fire sale.
I've got flour, sugar, milk, butter, black chocolate chips,
white chocolate chips, purple-polka-dot chips.
I mean, I'm throwing everything at this point.
3...2...1.
And your cooking time begins now!
Whew.
Chef Chris and myself are completely different
in our style of cooking.
He's more outside of the box, where I'm more traditional,
so I'm just gonna outwit and outsmart him to win this thing.
Hey, Chefs.
If you would take a look up this way,
I've got an interesting item up for bid.
This is a candy dispenser.
It's got all kinds of chocolate and a bunch of stuff in it.
And here's a couple of rolls of pennies.
If you purchase this item,
you can swap out all of your competitor's chocolate for this.
And it's a terrible thing to do to another human being,
but they're gonna have to use these pennies
to get everything they want for their cookies out of here.
CHEF CHRIS: I got money to spend and I'm in the finals,
and I'm gonna win 'cause I got more money.
Who'll give me $500 for the candy dispenser?
You'll go $1,000.
Very well. I've got a high $1,000 bid.
Do I get $3,000, Chef Chris?
I got 3 G's.
Do I get $3,100?
$3,100!
$3,100. Do I hear $3,200? $3,200?
I got $3,200.
Do I get $3,300?
CHEF ALEX: I do not want this item,
but at the same time, I want to go home with money.
Going once for $3,200.
Going twice for $3,200.
Sold for $3,200 to Chef Chris.
And, yes, Chef Alex is already throwing out that dough
'cause it's got chocolate chips in it.
Here you go, sir.
I'll deliver that right to the end of your station.
Right there are the pennies.
Make sure he gets those.
And I will take the money.
Merry Christmas!
Thank you.
Bam. I get the gumball machine.
Get those pennies open, bro?
Haven't even started it,
but there's more chocolate for you, sir.
How are you gonna get chocolate chips
without chocolate chips, bro?
Before I got this gumball machine, I had my dough done.
Now I've got to sit on the ground,
putting pennies, one by one, into a machine.
[ Gumball machine cranking ]
I see like seven pieces of candy in there.
That's right now, Mr. Brown.
Don't you worry about me. We're all good.
I want you to suffer for your cheapness
for the fact that you could have paid for that
and given it to Chef Chris, but you chose not to...
...'cause you're greedy.
Greedy.
I dropped another one on the ground.
This is not cool.
CHEF CHRIS: So, the first time during the whole competition,
I'm frazzled, I'm sweating, I'm covered in flour,
I'm freaking out, trying to make a cookie.
I'm throwing flour, eggs, milk, into the bowl, and mixing away.
Hey, Chefs, listen up!
Here he goes again.
A little item I've got for sale here -- cookie-dough ice cream.
Whoo!
If you win this, you can make your opponent
take this cookie-dough ice cream,
pick out all the bits of cookie dough,
and incorporate it into their cookies.
It's gonna take quite awhile.
CHEF ALEX: I'm thinking about all the sabotages
Chef Chris gave me in this competition.
He is going down.
$2,500!
ALTON: $2,500, Chef Alex is gonna give me
for the cookie-dough ice cream.
Will you go $2,600, Chef?
Will you go $2,600?
At this point, this cookie-dough ice cream
can't make anything worse,
so screw it, I'm just gonna take it.
Sold for $2,500 to Chef Alex.
Here's your ice cream, sir.
You may deliver that yourself to your favorite opponent.
I'm going to take my money.
Here you go, Chef Chris.
ALTON: So, Chef Chris, you've got to get every bit
of cookie dough out of those containers
and integrate them into your cookies.
CHEF CHRIS: When I get the ice cream,
I decide to put it on the stovetop, heat it up,
and strain it all out,
and all I have left is cookie dough.
How you doing over there, Chef Chris?
I'm doing just fine.
It's like gold. It's like mining for gold.
ALTON: 14 minutes.
I'm gonna have nightmares about that gumball machine,
just so everyone knows.
Does it bring back some childhood memories?
I can't make a chocolate chip cookie
with not that much chocolate in it.
So what I'm gonna do is scoop out my dough
and place my precious few pieces of candy-colored chocolate
into my dough.
Look at this lovely piece of chocolate chip cookie dough.
Oh!
My cookie dough is ready to go.
I throw in the rest of the cookie dough from the ice cream,
throw a bunch of chocolate chips in it,
and I think I got chocolate chip cookie dough.
CHEF ALEX: I'm looking at Chef Chris' cookies.
They're not cookies.
How can you make cookies without baking soda?
It's gonna get him eliminated.
ALTON: 5 minutes!
Time is starting to clock down.
I'm waiting for the last minute to pull my cookies out.
I've got some vanilla extract.
I'm gonna class it up a little bit and make a vanilla milk.
Just to bring it up a notch,
I've got sugar, so I make a caramel sauce.
It looks like they're all becoming one cookie.
Chef Chris' cookies are all just oozing together...
Yes, Chef, I see.
...into a giant kind of sheet of cookie dough.
I see it.
I mean, I only got a couple minutes left at this point.
My cookies don't look like they're cooking very well.
I don't know what to do, so I just figured,
"Hey, everybody loves doughnuts,
"everybody loves chocolate chip cookies,
"so why not just take the batter
and deep fry it like a doughnut?"
Just in case those cookies don't bake, always go to the deep fry.
CHEF ALEX: [ Laughs ]
ALTON: One minute!
You must be really worried about those cookies
to keep making other stuff to cover up
for your being worried about the cookies.
CHEF CHRIS: I got less than a minute left,
and what I decided to do
is just grind up some almonds and coconut,
pour some milk in there, and have a nice almond-coconut milk.
Need some milk?
Oh, I forgot, you already made some.
Gentlemen, you have 15 seconds!
Come out. [ Grunts ]
ALTON: 10...9...8...7...6...5... 4...3...2...1, time's up.
Put the cookies down and walk away.
Damn!
CHEF ALEX: I don't have that much chocolate
in my chocolate chip cookies.
But you know what? They're still cookies.
I look over at Chef Chris.
That doesn't even resemble a cookie.
I'm gonna go home
or take this title with this deep-fried cookie.
Nice to see you again, ma'am.
How do you like chocolate chip cookies?
CHEF LOFASO: [ Laughs ]
Is this a trick question?
I'm a big fan of the chocolate chip cookie.
ALTON: Gentlemen, please bring
your chocolate chip cookie interpretations
up to Chef Lofaso.
CHEF CHRIS: I'm so nervous.
I've never been so nervous in my life.
I'm literally swinging for the fences at this point.
CHEF ALEX: I'm very confident in my dish.
I've got a chocolate chip cookie plate.
Chef Chris went outside of the box.
He's got a fried dough ball.
Think in the box, bro.
Chef Alex, please tell Chef Lofaso what you've done here.
I have a honey-roasted peanut-and-chocolate chip cookie
with a caramel drizzle and a chilled vanilla milk.
There's definitely, like,
a nice flaky, buttery texture to the cookie.
I like the milk on the side.
That -- You know, we love cookies and milk.
When I think about sort of like a warm,
soft chocolate chip cookie, this is close to it.
There's a lot of cookie and not a lot of the chocolate.
I almost wish that there was a little more of the candy in it.
I feel like that maybe could have helped a little bit.
I think I've got a pretty strong chance of winning.
The question is, does she like his fried piece of dough?
Chef Chris, please tell Chef Lofaso
about your chocolate chip cookie.
So, I call this Not Your Mama's Chocolate Chip Cookie.
[ Laughs ]
It's a chocolate chip cookie fritter...
Mm-hmm.
...topped with some coconut and some almond,
and the coconut-almond-infused milk.
Okay, great.
This is definitely not a cookie in the traditional sense,
but it does have all the elements of a cookie.
I do love the outside of it.
It's got kind of that crisp, buttery texture to it.
The inside is moist.
I do wish there was a lot more chocolate in it,
but I wish there were chocolate, actually, in both dishes.
But, all in all, a great version of a cookie.
CHEF CHRIS: She said it actually tastes good.
Chef Alex is a great competitor and a great chef.
At this point, it's a toss-up.
I don't know who's gonna win this.
So, Antonia, before, you know, we go tuck you into bed,
I've got one more chore for you.
ALTON: Which one of these fine chefs
gets to walk out of here with a fistful of cash?
CHEF LOFASO: This was a really, really hard decision.
I need to go with the dish that I just want more of.
And that chef is...
...Chef Chris.
Congratulations.
Unfortunately, Chef Alex,
that means I'm gonna need $14,000 back in the case.
Sorry.
You fought hard, sir...
...and cooked well.
Thank you very much. Pleasure.
I walked away from $14,000 today because I was too cheap,
as Alton likes to point out, on bidding on a gumball machine.
Lesson learned, Alton, lesson learned.
Whoo!
I didn't think you were gonna pull it off.
CHEF LOFASO: So comforting. [ Laughs ]
I'm telling him the truth.
Come, Chef. Yes, take your --
Whew.
You don't get any more. You've had enough today.
CHEF CHRIS: Probably one of the happiest moments in my life.
I mean, I think this validates that I can do this
and I can have fun doing it and be successful at it.
You can't get the smile off my face.
Thank you so much!
Whoo-hoo!
ALTON: Hungry for more "Cutthroat Kitchen"? Go to...