Transcript for:
Judging Insights from Cooking Competition

Next up, judging the hot appetizer, the three Michelin star phenomenon from the restaurant, ADRIFT, please welcome David Myers. [cheers and applause] - So great to be back. - Welcome back. - Hello, guys. - How you doing, Chef? <i> - David Myers is the real deal, man.</i> I remember him from a earlier challenge. He's going to be a tough cookie. - Dafne, please. - For your second course, you have a huevo raviolo stuffed with ricotta, a little bit of cacio e pepe. And then the finishing sauce is brown butter and crispy prosciutto. - This is absolutely beautiful. I love the presentation. I mean, this takes guts. - Chef, dig in, please. - Oh, that's what I wanted to see. I wanted to see that yolk just break so beautifully like that. That is how it should be right there. - That's the money shot. Hey, good job. - This is wild, really. - So good. - Great start. - Alex, describe your dish for Chef David. - This is a prawn fritter with jalapenos and garlic and some caviar and chives. I tried to make a really fancy hush puppy. - Well, let me tell you something, Alex. This is without a doubt, the fanciest hush puppy I have ever seen. - Thank you. - But I'm missing a little bit of that strong prawn flavor that I really want to have with this. It's still excellent. <i> - I knew it. He's tough.</i> My nerves are on fire at this point. - Alejandro, please describe your dish to Chef. - I made a uni pasta. It's uni butter, uni cream, glazed the uni, bruleed it. Then I made a furikake over top of it for that crunch in textures. - Well, definitely decadent. But for me, the crowning part of this is where it's just a little bit of that torch on the uni. And then uni on uni on uni. It really works Alejandro. - Thank you. - Chef, now the tricky part. For Alejandro, out of 10. - I'm giving you a nine, man. That was just beautiful. - Yay, let's go, Alejandro. - Dafne. - Dafne, you just crushed me right off the bat. You have a 10. - A 10. - And Alex? - Alex, I'm giving you an eight. - Thank you, Chef. Appreciate it. Damn it. - It's going to be tight. - The amazing David Myers. Good to see you. I'll see you soon. - God bless. - Thank you, Chef. - Take care. Be safe. - Thank you. - Now tonight, judging round number three, she is the genius behind Girl & the Goat, Stephanie Izard. [cheers and applause] - Good to see you. - Awesome to see her again. She's a hard judge to please. - Welcome back to "Hell's Kitchen." - Thank you. I remember some of those dishes. - I didn't even get a point for my dish. - I'm going to do a point for Mindy and zero for Alejandro. <i> - But this time, the flavors are on-point.</i> I know I'm going to kill it. - Alejandro, please describe the dish. - This is pretty much home-style cooking. And the chicken's just been simply roasted on the skin side down. I did seared baby squash and then glazed, served with black truffle potato puree. - So I admire that you just sort of went down home and just kind of kept it really simple. But when you do that though, it's very important that every single thing is seasoned properly. - Yeah, absolutely. I'm feeling very confident. But at the same time, I'm a little nervous. <i> Anything can happen.</i> <i> And any good chef could go home.</i> <i> [suspenseful music]</i> <i> ♪ ♪</i> <i> narrator: It's the third round</i> <i> of a very tight final challenge.</i> <i> And Alejandro has presented his chicken entree.</i> - The chicken is cooked beautifully. It's super moist. The skin is crispy. It has great seasoning on it. And I can eat a bowl of those potatoes. - Awesome, thank you. - Nice job. - Thank you. - Alex, describe for Chef. Thank you. - So you have a breast on the left. It's got mayonnaise, a little like a honey mustard. And on the right, you have a buttermilk brined fried chicken with a hot pepper jelly. - The seasoning on this side is so great. And then when you get to this side of the plate, you lose it a little bit. So if you had gone with just one, I think you could have been a little bit more successful. - Thank you, Chef. - Well done. OK, Dafne, please describe your dish to Chef. Thank you. - This is my take on a classic Italian chicken puttanesca with a tableside pour, a San Marzano saffron and Calabrian chili. - I love that you took such a simple dish that can be so casual and you really brought it up for a restaurant setting. Great dish. - Thank you, Chef. - Chef, let's start the scoring. Out of 10 for Dafne first, please. <i> ♪ ♪</i> - I'm going to go with nine. - A nine, wow. - Thank you, Chef. - And Alejandro. - Yeah, I mean your seasoning's spot-on. We're going to go with a nine. - Nine, wow. - Thank you. - Alex next, please, Chef? - Just because of the duo, I think we're going to go with an eight. - Thank you, Chef. Two more dishes to go, Dafne's in the lead. - Great job. Thank you. - Thank you. <i> - Alejandro and I are tied.</i> - They're tied. - Not feeling too comfortable. - Judging round number four, she is a Michelin star chef. Please welcome Nancy Silverton. [cheers and applause] - Hi, Chef. <i> Nancy Silverton is a legend.</i> This is an honor. - Always a joy to see you. - I'm starving. - You're star-- [laughter] Alex, please describe to Chef. - So I've made a Carolina Gold rice congee and then a miso-cured salmon with kimchi mayonnaise on top. - Visually, what do you think? - It is sexy. It's colorful. It seems like it all belongs there. And it's delicious. - Thank you, Chef. - Well done. - Appreciate it. - Thank you. - Way to go, Alex. - Dafne, please describe your dish to Chef. Thank you. - This is a potato-crusted halibut with a champagne beurre blanc. - Hell yeah. - And caviar to finish it off. - Fish is cooked beautifully. I mean, I think everything is just done with elegance. - Thank you, Chef. - Please, Alejandro. - Oh. - So we have a sea bream that's been cooked on the skin side down the entire time. And then I have a Thai green curry with king trumpet mushrooms cooked in lots of brown butter. - Ooh! - It's a hard job. But somebody's got to do it, right? Do any of you need jobs, by the way? - Yes, Chef. - Depends on how this goes. - Really, really delicious. - So, Chef. Now for the hard part. Alejandro's dish first. - I think that one gets a 10. - A 10, wow. - Dafne's halibut, Chef. - I think it's another 10. I mean, it's a 10. - Another 10, wow. - Ah, thank you, Chef. - And Alex, Chef? - Can I give another-- I mean, is that all right? - Absolutely. - It's a 10. - You get a 10. You get a 10. You get a 10. Everybody gets a 10. - Thank you so much. Still tied. <i> Me and you, Alejandro.</i> It's going to come down to the wire on this one. - Now judging the fifth and final round, this chef is a powerhouse and a Michelin star chef. Please welcome Curtis Stone. [cheers and applause] - Curtis Stone is iconic, iconic. He's about to judge my last dish? Oh, my God. - Let's start off with Dafne. Describe your dish. - So this is a Wagyu New York steak with a little bit of salsify puree. And then to finish it off, I did an Amarone wine jus. - I mean, your Wagyu is cooked perfectly. It really is beautifully cooked. The only thing that lets you down is your puree. It just needs a little more seasoning. - Yes, Chef. - Alex, please describe your dish to Chef. - Chef, we have a pan-seared New York strip in a nice farrotto. And then I folded in some charred cabbage and Parmesan cheese as well. - This steak's cooked immaculately. I love the farro. The mushrooms bring earthiness to it. - Thank you, Chef. - Very good. Good job. Final dish, young man. Sell it. - So this is a dukkah-crusted American Wagyu strip. On the bottom is a Calabrian Chile yogurt, fried shallots, and then just a simple herb salad. - Chef, how was that? - This is a wonderfully cooked steak. - Thank you, Chef. - It should be hero of the dish and you've made it that. Well done. - Thank you, Chef.