Alex Vs. America (2022–…): Season 1, Episode 4 - Alex Vs. Noodles - full transcript
[Eric] Alex Guarnaschelli is one of
the best competition cooks in America.
[Alex] I'm an Iron Chef.
I've beaten Bobby Flay
in his own kitchen.
There isn't a Chef who is more
competitive than I am.
Michael Jordan plays basketball.
Serena Williams plays tennis.
Tiger Woods plays golf.
I cook.
Simple as that.
People always want
to know what's next.
This is it.
It's almost impossible
to defeat her, one-on-one.
So, each week, she'll be battling
three of America's best Chefs,
at the same time.
I think, I can beat her.
I need my shot at Alex.
The gauntlet has been
thrown down.
[theme music playing]
[Eric] Chefs will be hand-picked
from across the country.
Each will a mastery
of a specific type of food.
They are all coming here
with one goal.
To beat Alex.
Alex has to go...
Arrivederci.
I'm gonna beat Alex.
Shh. Don't tell her that, yet.
I know, I have a target
on my back,
and I wouldn't have
it any other way.
[director] We are rolling on...
[shutter claps]
These three noodle experts
behind me
are getting ready for a once
in a lifetime battle.
They come from three
different states
and they also learned to cook
noodles in three different countries.
But, they have one thing
in common,
they're all here to be Iron
Chef, Alex Guarnaschelli.
[Alex] The whole country
against me.
I'm gonna need a microphone
for this.
I literally brought a whole new
genre of noodles to New York City.
Can Alex say that?
I eat, breathe, live pasta.
When you're single-mindedly focused
on one thing, nobody can beat you.
I'm not a one-note noodle maker.
Alex may have destroyed
everyone in her path, previously,
but that stops today.
You know, you go to the zoo and you
look at the lion pacing around in the cage,
you look at the puma,
you know, and then, you go
to the butterfly house,
you look at the butterflies
and you say, "You know,
all these animals
are just not the same."
Guess, which one I am?
Now, you guys are pasta experts,
but, Chef Alex is a master
of everything.
So, buckle up. Because,
it's time to meet her.
Iron Chef, Alex Guarnaschelli.
- [Alex] Whoo!
- [Eric] Hey, hey, hey.
[Matthew] Good morning, Chef.
[Simone clapping]
Good morning.
[Eric] Alex, would you like to
know what tonight's theme is?
No, no. I'd just like to stand
around here, staring at everybody.
So, this is all about, noodles.
Oh!
Even though, I'm Italian-American
and my name is Guarnaschelli,
I'm a French trained Chef,
so, noodles, pasta,
not exactly my wheelhouse.
[Eric] These are three of the best
noodle Chefs from across the country.
This, from New York,
is Chef Simone.
She first started making
noodles for her family in China.
New York Times gave Simone's
noodle shop a two-star review,
saying that she made the most
interesting noodle soup in the city.
Wow! Respect.
Let me introduce Chef Matthew
from Cherry Hill, New Jersey.
Matthew has learned to make pasta
in Michelin star restaurants in Italy.
[Matthew] From Parma,
to Bologna, to Verona.
You know, don't stress out
about it. You know, it's okay.
And, lastly, this is Chef
Naima from Los Angeles.
She was raised in Paris and
went to culinary school in France.
A Frenchie. Yes!
[Eric] She prepared pasta
nightly as the chef de cuisine
at Michelin restaurants
in France and the States.
Fancy pants.
All right, Chefs. Here's how
this noodle battle works.
First up, is the survival round.
All of you will be preparing
a noodle dish,
and then, a pair of renowned experts
will be conducting a blind tasting.
The chefs that cook the top
three noodle dishes
will be moving
on to the final round.
But, that fourth Chef, will not.
Even, if that's you, Alex.
And, because the three of you
are here to challenge Alex,
it's up to you to pick
your challenge.
So, under these lids,
are the variables
that would be making
up your challenge.
All right. Let's check it out.
All right.
[Eric] You guys get to pick
what noodles you'll be using.
You have the options of boxed,
fresh,
or the ingredients
to do it yourself.
I think, the first round, we keep
it simple and straightforward.
- I'm picking fresh pasta.
- [Naima] Yeah.
- I agree. Definitely, fresh pasta. It cooks quicker.
- Yeah.
So, you're deciding between
fresh and boxed.
-Oh, it's just fresh. For fresh, yeah.
-Yeah?
- [Eric] All right.
- Smart.
So, now, let's look at,
which protein
is going to be influencing
your flavors?
Whoa! All right.
-[Eric] In front of you, you have
pancetta, -[Matthew] Beautiful.
[Eric] Mexican chorizo
and dried shrimp.
- [Simone] Mmm-hmm.
- [Matthew] Okay.
I'm, kind of, on the fence.
I like the Mexican chorizo
because it's gonna, kind of,
like melt it to the sauce more.
- That might make all of our dish, kind of, similar.
- [Naima] Kind of, the same.
The dried shrimp
is very strong, very--
It's very distinct taste.
- And, it's really hard to, like, work to our advantage.
- Yeah.
That would trip me up.
They'd be really smart
to pick the shrimp.
[Naima] Pancetta is more,
like, neutral.
It's a clean, thick base.
I can do pancetta.
- What are you guys thinking?
- Pancetta.
- [Eric] Why is that?
- It's more neutral.
And, you're giving her
pancetta and fresh pasta?
You know, her last name
is Guarnaschelli.
- [Matthew] Yes.
- [Eric] Okay.
- Pancetta, it is.
- [Matthew] Perfect.
[Naima] I feel like we are
giving this round
to Chef Alex
on a golden platter,
but, it's also giving
me everything
on a golden platter, as well.
So, let's find out what you'll be
making with these two ingredients.
A sauce dish?
Or a broth dish?
- [Matthew] I'm going sauce, already.
- [Simone] We can do sauce.
Yeah. Broth is, like,
takes a little more time.
- So later, we don't know what that time constraint is yet.
- Yep.
- Yeah. Sauce.
- Sauce.
[Matthew and Naima] Sauce.
[Eric] Look at Alex. She can
barely contain her excitement.
Let's move over to the last lid.
Because...
it reveals how much time you'll
be giving yourself and Chef Alex.
You guys get to pick
between one and 60 minutes.
Do not pick one minute.
To me, personally,
I need 40 minutes, at least.
I would say, like,
I'm good with 20.
Oh, no. 20 is definitely
too little.
Chef Alex is pacing around, which,
obviously, means she's getting ready.
- [Matthew] What do you guys want to do?
- I say, we go 45.
- [Matthew] Let's do 45.
- Let's give ourself enough time.
- We're going to do 45.
- [Eric] All right, Chefs.
- [Eric] The table is set.
- [Alex] Smart.
I already regret giving Alex 45
minutes, like, she's a veteran,
she knows what she's doing.
[Eric] So, here's what's
at stake.
The Chef that finishes fourth,
will be leaving the kitchen.
But the Chef who finishes first,
gets to, exclusively, pick all the
ingredients for the next challenge.
I like that.
Even if that's Chef Alex.
So, with that all said,
it's time to start cooking.
Your time starts now.
From years of cooking
on competition shows,
this is the first time I thought,
"Do I have too much time?"
That's when you pile on too
much stuff or you make mistakes.
So, I'm making Tagliatelle
with walnuts, some fresh
herbs, a little bit of radicchio.
I want the pancetta to shine.
Pancetta is
a sensitive creature.
It needs room to breathe.
I'm going to put a chunk in
the blast chiller to freeze it up,
so, I can do thin shavings
on a mandolin when it's colder,
and just do, like, little
frizzled bits of pancetta.
I want some little matchsticks,
so, I have different textures
and shapes of pancetta.
I put a couple chunks through the meat
grinder to get almost like ground beef.
I want the grease
from the pancetta,
to build the base for my sauce.
I didn't see a lot
of people grinding.
[Eric] Chef Alex is taking her
Iron Chef experience,
using the key ingredient,
three multiple ways.
Very, very smart.
[Alex] Question?
Ask me now,
while I'm feeling polite.
Always harder when you have
a blank slate.
I think, the very first idea that
pops in your head, make that.
[Matthew] So, right now, I'm just
going to slice some pancetta up.
Cook it down, make a little
base with that.
'Cause, you know, everything's
better with a little pork.
I'm an ambassador
of Italian cuisine.
Jersey has the most amount of
Italian-Americans than any other state.
Might as well be a region
of Italy.
Gotta do the basic. Maybe,
do a little riff on Amatriciana.
- Beautiful.
- For me, my philosophy,
I don't try to reinvent the
wheel. Let's make a good wheel.
Make a great wheel. Okay.
- You know what I'm saying?
- Yeah, yeah, yeah.
So, how do you feel about going Italian
versus Italian, obviously, with chef Alex?
I'm honored to battle her
in this.
Fusilli Amatriciana, this is
my, like, go-to day off pasta.
It's just three ingredients.
Fresh pasta, pancetta and sauce.
Everybody I've worked with just
say, "You cook like a grandma."
"You cook like a nonna."
And, with pasta, comes centuries
of love from nonna's heart.
It's on, Alex. It's on.
And, you're going down.
[Simone] I'm sure, Chef Alex,
is doing amazing pasta dish.
I'm gonna make an amazing
Chilled Sesame Noodle dish.
Make Chinese-Americans proud.
This sauce is a flavor bomb.
That's how I'm going
to put down Alex.
I'm adding peanut butter
and tahini.
For my acids, I'm adding
black vinegar, rice vinegar.
For some funk, I'm adding hoisin
sauce, oyster sauce and fish sauce.
Because, I'm serving cold
noodles, I'm gonna cook it now.
I'm not Italian,
like everyone else.
So, I gotta make my own thing.
Chef Alex is amazing woman,
amazing chef, amazing mother.
And, I am also the same.
I want to be the Chinese
version of Alex.
- [Eric] Can I go ahead and try the sauce?
- [Simone] Please try.
[Eric] Seasoning is
a little under.
It could use a little bit more--
some zip, a little bit more love to it.
- I'm doing a classic.
- [Eric] Okay.
[Naima] Uh, Linguine and Clams.
- Uh, a Vongole.
- [Eric] Vongole. Okay.
[Naima] Which I know is, kind of,
putting myself up against Chef Alex,
'cause she's Italian.
I'm French.
Adding pancetta, of course,
to it.
- [Eric] So, I put a bread crumb... Nice.
- [Naima] Mmm-hmm.
[Naima] I'm making
a pancetta broth
- to really bring the pancetta flavor through all the way.
- [Eric] Very nice.
- [Naima] Hopefully, that will make it stand out.
- Yeah.
[Naima] I grew up in France.
But, now, that I've
lived here, almost 15 years,
Los Angeles is definitely
home to me.
Coming to L.A., I, totally,
was bathing in pasta,
because I ran one of the best
Italian restaurants in Los Angeles.
Scopa Italian Roots,
just making pasta all day.
I think Chef Alex and I, have a lot of
similarities in our culinary background.
So, I feel like I could
level up and beat her.
Having so much time, the judges are
gonna expect something really spectacular.
It needs to really
be mind-blowing.
It's right there. I'm starting
to get worried,
like, "Oh, God! Maybe, I'm not
doing enough."
- [Eric] Have you dropped the pasta yet?
- I haven't.
[Naima] I'm feeling overwhelmed.
This is very subdued.
Very muddled.
Am I being too mean?
People are gonna hate me.
- 22 minutes left chefs.
- Er, 22.
[Eric] So, the only way to ensure
that this is judged completely fair,
it's to make sure that our judges
don't know who's cooking what.
So, that's why our judges
are not even in this building.
We have the perfect judges
for a noodle competition.
Chef Jet Tila, has set six
culinary world records
and was named the Culinary
Ambassador to Thai cuisine.
And, Chef Evan Funke,
James Beard Award nominee,
whose restaurant, Felix, won
Eater restaurant of the year.
He's regarded as one of the
best pasta makers in the country.
Right now, we're in a noodle
challenge and we needed noodle experts
to come through and school us
a bit on what's going on and--
Not bad choices.
Yes. I think, we got
two of the country's best.
These guys, they need
to be very, very careful
- to not overcook the noodles.
- Right.
I just hope that these guys
really pay attention
- to that toothsomeness, the al dente spectrum.
- Okay.
Knowing Asian noodles, right,
- al dente to me is different.
- [Eric] Yeah.
- [Evan] Very different.
- It's not as resistant to the tooth to me.
- It's more of a bounce, right?
- That's it.
- I'm looking for silky bounce.
- [Eric] Yeah.
[Alex] So, now, I've got
frozen pancetta.
I'm just gonna slice it thin
on the mandolin,
and fry it, to get crispy
little bits.
The whole dish here, is in the sauce
and having the pancetta balanced.
Not too salty, but present.
I'm making a cheese stock
with chunks of cheese and water.
So, that I can add that
to the pasta water
to make a sauce that's
a little more fortified.
The base for the sauce
is just shallots,
garlic, celery and a little
white wine.
[Matthew] What is Alex doing
over there?
I saw brunoise and radicchio.
Is she making a pasta salad?
What's she doing?
What's she doing, Chef?
Chef Alex, what are you making
over there?
Looks like
you're brutalizing something.
What are you brutalizing?
A raddichio?
Yeah.
[Matthew] I'm starting
to get worried.
Like, "Oh, God! I'm doing
something really simple.
Like, maybe, I'm not
doing enough."
You know, this is when
you make mistakes.
You need to stay true
to what you want to do.
Just stay true to who you are
and just do what you do.
Chef Alex, she's old rock,
I'm classical.
I'm gonna try the tomatoes, real fast, because
they don't look like they're from Jersey.
Not Jersey tomatoes.
Typically, at home, I probably
wouldn't use canned tomatoes.
New Jersey's got the best
tomatoes in the country.
We didn't have them. So, I
had to use the second best
and that was the San Marzano's.
How are you, my dear noodle?
Let's see.
Beautiful.
[Eric] Chef Simone, obviously, has worked
her way through some noodles before.
She went ahead and cooked her
noodles and right now she's ice bathing it.
Pretty much shocking it, right, so
she could stop the cooking process.
Pancetta, I'm going
to chop it up,
I want to make Chinese smoked
bacon with wood-ear mushrooms.
Very, very good sake.
Usually, I just add some
cooking wine, but,
since they have sake, will do.
Makes it more fragrant.
I want to... what I'm making.
Chinese food.
Chinese noodles.
[Eric] Seven minutes
left, Chefs.
Remember, your pasta needs
to be cooked, perfectly.
[Alex] Some people like
the tooth on boxed dry pasta.
But, fresh pasta is quick cooking,
more tender and that's fun to work with.
I chose fusilli because it works
great with this pasta sauce.
Now, let's wait for the magic
to happen.
Boom!
[Naima] Important thing with clams,
you don't want to overcook them.
As soon as the shell pops
open, they're ready to go,
turn off the heat.
And, I'm going to chop
this pancetta.
I'm putting pancetta
everywhere it can go in the dish.
It's in the broth, the base
of my sauce.
I'm putting some in my breadcrumbs,
which is going to be the topping.
And then, I'm doing crispy
pancetta sprinkled within the linguine.
It's really going to be, like,
pancetta all day.
I'm going to get
the sauce going.
This is the clam juice.
And then, I'm going
to be adding pancetta broth.
I'm really, really hoping that I'm
not over complicating the whole thing.
[Eric] Three-and-a half
minutes, Chefs.
[Naima] Like, the time definitely
crept up on me, super-fast.
[Eric] Have you dropped
the pasta, yet?
I haven't.
[Eric] Three-and-a half minutes.
Maybe enough time for her
to get it.
But, she has to do it now.
She has to drop that pasta now.
[Naima] With minutes left,
the pasta should be really
in the pan with the sauce.
I'm feeling overwhelmed because I realize
that there's still so much to be done.
The pasta's coming out of
the water and it's super stressful
because it's go time,
once it comes out.
I toss the pasta
in the sauce base,
which has the ground
cooked pancetta.
I cooked the fusilli
about eighty percent away
but I'm finishing the rest
in the pan,
so, I want it to absorb
the flavors of the sauce.
This is the fun part.
She's plating, I'm plating.
Let's get it, boys and ladies,
let's get it.
Whoo!
All right. Let's go.
Let's do this.
The key is to make sure
everyone gets
that beautiful shower
of sesame and peanut sauce.
Sometimes, you make a good dish.
Sometimes, you make
a amazing dish.
That's why I'm going
to beat Alex.
Shh! Don't tell her that, yet.
90 seconds, Chef. 90 seconds.
Like, this might be
a little salty.
I'm a little concerned that I'm
bringing too many elements to the dish.
It's really easy to overthink something
when you do have this amount of time.
One minute left, Chefs.
One minute.
I'm wondering, if, maybe,
I've done too much.
And, now, I'm just worried, I'm not
gonna get everything on the plate in time.
Alex has to go.
Ciao. Ciao bella.
Be gone.
Arrivederci.
I may have gone too simple but,
simple is Italian food, you do it right,
it's the best stuff
in the world.
Chefs, you have 30 seconds left.
I'm definitely surviving.
Alex, you're going down
with this.
I'm playing with so much
texture, flavors, dimensions.
I made pancetta three ways and
I still need to get it on the plate.
Time just, kind of, ran away
from me.
Ten, nine, eight, seven,
six, five, four, three,
two, one. That's it, Chefs.
Jazz hands.
[Simone] I think, it's a winner.
What do you think?
It's not perfect.
My pancetta is not on the plate.
My crispy pancetta isn't.
My beautifully golden pancetta
breadcrumbs aren't.
I, kind of, self-sabotaged
and gave myself too much time,
making me feel,
way too comfortable.
This might send me home
for sure.
All right, chefs. Go ahead and
write down your menu description,
exactly the way you want
it to be read to the judges.
Thank you, guys.
Go wait outside and I'll call
you back when I know what's up.
[Simone] How do you feel?
- [Matthew] I feel great. I--
- [Simone] That was fun.
- So, I think she had in mind--
- So, pretty.
- [Eric] Yeah. To add her--
- [Alex] Oh, no. Come on.
[Eric] Pancetta crumble
with some bread crumbs.
[Alex] Look at all that
beautiful work.
- [Eric] Yep.
- [Alex] I've done that.
[Alex] Fusilli. Such an
interesting choice.
[Eric] This screams New Jersey.
-Oh, my God. This looks amazing.
-That's so good.
- [Alex] This is, literally,
like-- - [Eric] My jam, right here.
- [Erica] Stunning.
- All right, Chef.
It's time for the judges
to come in.
- Goodbye.
- I'll see you in a second.
- This is the part that, like, makes me anxious.
- Yeah.
What do you guys think?
Do you think,
we played into Alex's, uh,
wheelhouse there?
I, kind of, feel, like, I almost, like,
shot myself by, like, overthinking
and having all that time.
45 minutes.
It can lead to some mistakes.
You can overthink, you can
over salt, you can forget things.
And so, it's tricky.
[director] Okay, everyone...
All right. Stand-by
for the judges to come in.
- Whoo!
- Welcome to the set.
Man, this is legit.
Here's what the chefs
were working with.
Fresh pasta, pancetta.
The dish needed to be saucy.
And, they gave themselves
45 minutes to do so.
[Evan] Wow.
-That's crazy. Fresh pasta.
-45 minutes? That's a long time.
That's a long time, yeah.
Let's get the first dish out.
[Jet] All right...
Amatriciana.
[Eric] Fusilli pasta,
cooked in pancetta,
seared with onions and tomatoes.
Parmigiano. Buon appetito.
For me, simplicity is the key
to success.
You want the pasta
to be the star.
[Alex] Matthew, with his tomatoey
fusilli and the big cubes of pancetta,
very New Jersey.
- I think they've nailed the pancetta part.
- Yeah.
- [Eric] Right.
- I don't want it desiccated.
- I want still a little bit of moisture.
- [Eric] Mmm-hmm.
But, that being said, it's definitely
on the softer side of pasta.
It's well balanced.
It's nicely presented.
It's correctly sauced.
It's not overly sauced.
But, I just think the noodles
are a little over.
We'll move on
to the next dish. All right.
- That was good.
- Yeah.
- [Jet] Thanks, sir.
- [Evan] All right.
All right. Mmm.
A little bit of a different
offering from the first one.
They're calling this, Chinese-American
Chilled Sesame Noodles.
Pancetta sauteed
with wood-eared mushrooms,
Szechuan peppercorns,
and a little bit of grapefruit.
[Alex] Simone's noodles
are clearly in her DNA.
And her dish is just completely
on the other end of the globe.
And, I love that.
[Jet] It's a beautiful
dish, like,
- it's hot, it's cold, it's crispy.
- Yep.
[Jet] But, the visuals make
a promise,
- that the flavors don't quite deliver.
- Oh!
And, they all have
to be very distinct
- but all work in concert.
- Right.
And, this is very subdued,
very muddled.
- Szechuan peppercorn is Chinese.
- Mmm-hmm.
- These-- Right?
- I'm not even getting any of that.
I don't know the pancetta
works in there, it's too soft.
I'm going to give a good job
to the noodle cook.
I just wish it had--
It tweaked up more of that
acid and salt and sweet.
All right. Let's go ahead
and move on to the next dish.
- Now, I'm getting the Szechuan.
- [Jet] Yeah.
- [Eric] Oh, you got it now?
- It's just a little bit.
- It took a while.
- Thanks, brother.
[Eric] Thank you.
- [Evan] Okay.
- [Jet] All right.
Chefs, what you have
in front of you,
is a Tagliolini with clams and
pancetta broth butter sauce,
blanched with lemon zest
that lightens the dish.
[Evan] They use the pancetta
as the broth?
- And then, just left it out of the dish, altogether?
- [Eric] Correct.
- [Jet] So, yes. Lacking pancetta which is crucial.
- [Eric] Sure, sure.
But, I'm going to say,
best cooked pasta, so far.
Are you saying, the pasta is the
saving grace this far on this plate?
For me, it is.
The clams are very
well presented.
But, it's under seasoned.
It should be a little salt for it
that brings it up to a higher level.
All right. Let's go ahead and
get our last plate out, please.
Am I being too mean?
- [crew] No. No.
- Okay.
No. You're right on time.
People are gonna hate me.
- Thank you. Thank you.
- Oh!
- [Evan] Mmm.
- [Jet] All right.
[Eric] In front of you, Chefs,
you have a Tagliatelle,
with ground pancetta,
radicchio, walnuts,
pancetta batons and pancetta
bits with herbs.
[Evan] Smells great.
Did you say pancetta
three times?
Three times.
[Alex] If you're gonna choose the
simplest ingredients, that's hard.
The restraint in the choices
can sometimes be harder
than when there's too much
to do with not enough time.
For me, this is the best
cooked pasta
- that we've had so far.
- Okay.
It has juiciness, it's got
bounce, it still has the life.
There's a ton of umami. Like,
umami, absolutely, through the roof.
You know, I could use a little
more acid to balance.
But, this is a great pancetta.
- [Eric] Yup.
- [Jet] Crunchy, but, not dried out.
I wish there was more
sauce, though.
Because, sauce feels
like a part of the task.
-[Eric] Yeah. It definitely is.
-I disagree.
I think the condimento that we're
looking at it, makes the pasta the star.
- It's not lacking flavor.
- Right.
I'm just stuck, if this really
qualifies as a sauce.
Okay.
[Evan] So, what are
we doing now?
- So, we're ranking them.
- [Evan and Jet] Oh!
- [Eric] Yeah.
- [Evan] I need a minute.
[Evan] It's really difficult.
[Jet] Aye yai yai!
[crew] All right, Stand-by.
And, rolling.
All right, Chefs. Come back
into the kitchen.
Welcome back.
I know, you're all very antsy to
hear what the judges had to say.
They thought, the dish is made
by Simone and Naima,
were, unfortunately,
the bottom two.
So, the dish that ranks fourth
and, unfortunately, the chef
that's not gonna be with us,
is...
Chef Naima from California.
I'm sorry.
I think you know what--
- Yes. Totally.
- the fault was and what the issue was.
The judges really thought, if
your pancetta landed on the plate,
that, possibly, could rival
the top two spots.
I've made the mistake
you made tonight, many times.
Thanks Chef.
All right. So, obviously,
Simone, that means you're third.
So, clearly, that means, Matthew,
Alex, these two had the top two dishes.
The Chef that made the top
ranked dish is,
-she's done it again. Congratulations, Chef Alex.
-Oh, my God!
- Chef, it's good.
- Thank you.
[Matthew] That was good.
-[Simone] Congratulations.
-Great job, both of you. Thank you.
Congratulations, Chefs.
Obviously, you guys are moving
on to the money round.
Now is your chance
to win some serious cash.
And, to say that you beat
Alex Guarnaschelli.
Any Chefs whose final dish
outranks Alex's, will earn money.
If you rank first,
you win ten grand.
If you rank second and Alex
ranks third, you earn $5,000.
But, if Alex's dish ranks first,
you're both going home
with nothing.
So, this time, you two
hang back,
while, Chef Alex gets to pick
the challenge for the next round.
[Matthew] The first round, we
got to pick. Now, she gets to pick.
A little nervous 'cause
now she has advantage.
Chef, tell me what you think
about these.
So, there's dry pasta.
Or the ingredients
to do it yourself.
DIY.
But...
This dry pasta comes with
a 30 minute cooking round,
DIY pasta 45 minute
cooking round.
The gauntlet has been
thrown down
- and we need to, you know--
- Yes. Absolutely.
- Right?
- [Matthew] Yeah.
Eric. DIY pasta.
- I like it.
- Fresh noodles always better.
Give the people what
they want, Chef. I love it.
[Matthew] I make pasta
day in day out.
Just another day in the office
for me.
What's next is, something sweet.
You have to use one of these
cookies in your dish.
Uh-oh.
So, we have here, Amaretti's.
Sesame cookies.
And, palmiers.
This is too sweet.
This is gonna really
drag us down.
The palmier is awesome
but it tastes too buttery to me.
- We want the sesame.
- [Eric] Okay.
Let's move over to the last lid.
What type of pasta
you'll be making?
Whoo-hoo!
[Eric] Will it be stuffed? Will it
be layered? Or will it be rolled?
I like stuffed or layered
but stuffed freaks me out,
'cause if you cook it
and the stuff oozes out.
I'm gonna go layered.
I'm just trying to think about
layered dishes in Chinese cuisine.
And, I can't think of any.
All right. Your time
starts now.
Oh, God!
Smart. Just went ahead and
took all the eggs and the flour.
So, the chefs have to make
their own pasta.
It's layered and they have to
use sesame cookies, as well.
They have 45 minutes to do so.
I do not envy
these chefs at all.
[Alex] There's a real art to pasta and
I, almost, never make it from scratch.
You say, layered to me
and I think, lasagne.
I get it in my head,
how I see it.
I'm going to make bechamel
and tomato sauce.
There's definitely a risk
of going right at the classic.
But, the bottom line is,
my mother would say,
"Where's the lasagne?"
May she rest in peace.
My mother is always with me.
I made lasagne, Mom.
All right, then.
[Matthew] I'm gonna give the
people what they want, lasagne.
I make fresh pasta,
every day at work.
I do three different doughs,
every morning.
So, I feel comfortable.
And, we have a sesame cookie.
But, I get the idea, why don't we
do sesame cookie pasta dough?
I'm just going to use
it as flour.
I love it.
I'm mixing the dough
and it's not coming together.
I was like, "Oh, my God!"
The cookie has made it too
wet, the moisture is not right.
I'm just gonna make it by
hand, just, like, Nonna did.
I'm just gonna fatto a mano.
I'm gonna do it by hand.
Just doing it old school.
Sometimes, it's, uh, old school
is the right school, you know.
What I'm noticing each round, Chef
Matthew has such a respect for pasta.
The traditions that he grew up
learning. I love to see that from him.
My only knowledge of what
layer is, is lasagne.
That is so far away from the
noodles that I specialize in.
We are all on the same boat but
I'm fish out of water in this round.
Unknown territory.
I'm gonna make
a one-time wrapper.
It's like an egg noodle with a
little bit of rice flour for consistency.
I'm just gonna make a open face,
one time, with layers of eggplant.
And, maitake mushrooms
with sesame cookies.
The day my son was born,
I was literally at home making
wontons for the family.
The water broke,
as I was cooking wontons.
I told my partner,
"Please eat the wontons."
Then, we go to the hospital.
[laughs]
Wontons come first.
Delivering baby, second.
[laughs]
Do you know how annoying
it is to open a bottle of wine?
To make this meat sauce,
I put celery and onions and garlic
and carrots, all through the meat grinder
to have them be a similar
texture and shape as the meat.
Separately, I brown some
ground beef,
and I grind a little bit
of pancetta,
and I brown that
separately, too.
I also have a classic bechamel, which
is just milk, toasted flour and butter.
I think, I might be doing
too much and I'm just worried,
like, "Oh, my God,
I'm not gonna get done."
I went too far
in the rabbit hole now.
It's not much I can cut back
on, so, I'm just sweating it out.
If I burn anything,
or I make a mistake,
I can't go back and make
it again.
I don't have that kind of time
on my hands.
Watch yourself, it's splashing
a little, okay. Be careful.
I need everything I'm making
and that's scary,
so, I can't afford any
mistakes here.
22 minutes left, Chefs.
[Matthew] Our challenge
is fresh pasta, 45 minutes,
sesame cookie, layered.
So, I'm thinking, right now,
an Eggplant Sesame Lasagna.
I decided to fry my eggplant.
This is going to be the fastest
way to get the consistency I wanted.
And then, I'm going to puree it.
I need to work on my tomato
sauce that's going to be the base of it.
So, I'm just going to make
a quick pomodoro.
Alex is the best.
She's awesome. She's, like, you
know what guys, you had it easy,
let's push ourselves.
Let's be chefs over here.
She's right. Push ourselves.
My lasagne sheet, I just
rolled it as thin, as I could.
Oh! Fumble. Fumble.
I'm, basically, building
my sauce, as we go.
First round, I didn't get
a really great result.
This round, I need to try
to create something new.
I'm still gonna stay true
to my Chinese roots,
to the flavors that
I grew up with.
-But, just kick it up. Just a little bit more.
-[Simone] Yeah.
- [Simone] Absolutely.
- All right.
[Eric] This challenge
and ingredients
are, kind of, out of
Chef Simone's wheelhouse.
She's tasking herself to make
a completely new dish.
That's a pretty bold move.
[Simone] It's spicy,
it's hearty, it's salty.
I hope they're ready for it.
Chefs, stay focused. We have
about 10 minutes left.
Why did I say that I would
make this? Why did I say?
That looks delicious.
This is my mother's bechamel,
which is just obscene.
I do love lasagne.
We normally eat
it at Thanksgiving.
Just to give you some idea
of what my roots are.
The appetizer at Thanksgiving
is lasagne.
Just saying.
I want it to get a little bit
of oven time.
So, I spend that time, now,
making a sesame cookie topping
with butter toasted panko and grated
parmesan cheese, because I want that crunch.
Hmm, that needs help.
I'm worried that the topping
is too sweet.
So, I'm just adding more
parmesan cheese.
I'm just concerned that it's going
to pick up with the tomato sauce,
and run to sugar town.
[Eric] Over at Alex's station,
there's a lot of rich and
decadent elements to her dish.
Hopefully, she's gonna make
something to cut through all that richness,
so, it doesn't weigh
the judges down, too much.
Seven minutes left, Chefs.
Seven minutes.
It's so thick.
It's okay.
When I decided to do this
as a profession,
well, I was a little late in the game.
I didn't decide until I was, like, 22.
I was working
on the Jersey shore,
making cheesesteaks and hoagies.
That's where I met my wife.
And, she's, like, "I'm not going to
marry you if you make cheesesteaks."
She's the one who pushed
me to become a chef.
So, all this, I owe to her.
I feel a little--
A little stressed.
A little stressed.
Alex won the last round.
In this round, I'm bringing it.
I'm bringing it, Alex.
[Simone] Layering noodles, it's
not so much of a Chinese thing.
But, you just make something
non-traditional because that's what I do.
It's, like, my thing.
I'm going to stir-fry the sesame
cookies with the mushroom
- because I think that goes well together.
- [Eric] Okay.
-And, that's, like, kind of,
part of the layer, -[Eric] All right.
That I'm going to achieve.
I want to saute the maitake
in a wok
because I want to get
the water out of the maitake,
so that I can put the cookies
in and it wouldn't get soggy.
Lots of sesame cookies.
Five minutes left, Chefs.
Five minutes.
[Alex] Insane, how hot this is.
[Matthew] I smell something.
Oh!
So, I go back to check
on my lasagne.
Oh, [bleep].
Oh, Matthew.
[Matthew] It's on broil.
I didn't know it was on broil.
Uh-oh. Uh-oh.
-Uh-oh.
-Is your oven too hot? Or what's the deal man, like--
[Matthew] It was on broil.
I didn't know.
Oh, yeah. That would
definitely be it.
-That will do it. That will do it.
-I'm definitely extra...
That's why you make
extra sheets.
This isn't going how I planned.
I take one layer off and put
another layer on.
So, now, two look good.
One's a little over.
So, I just cut the burnt
top piece.
It's gonna be fine.
The best part of this one
is the burnt edge.
[Simone] Now, it's assembly.
I have a few concerns about, if the judges
are going to be able to cut through it.
Or it would slide everywhere.
[Eric] 90 seconds, Chefs.
90 seconds.
[Alex] Ow! [bleep].
I just burnt my finger.
I make mistakes all the time.
I burn myself, I cut something,
I overcook something.
It's Alex versus
Alex, sometimes.
It's not that bad. Just that one
little corner, it's a little too dark,
not the end of the world.
I don't know.
This might actually work.
Since it has to be layered,
I'm just gonna do
as many layers as I can.
I'm doing sauce, eggplant,
maitake, noodles.
Sauce, eggplant,
maitake, noodles.
I gotta make a noodle come
back. I'm here to win this.
[Eric] Chefs you have
thirty seconds left.
[Alex] I think, it turned
out pretty well.
I wish it was a little less
drippy and saucy.
I just blanket the whole top
with the sesame cookies,
so, there's no saying,
"Did you use it?"
When you look down,
it's a cookie field.
[Matthew] Oh, my gosh!
She's going down.
It's going down.
[Eric] 15 seconds, Chef.
Come on, Chefs.
[Alex] This is so hot.
[Eric] Ten, nine, eight, seven,
six, five, four, three,
two, one. That's it, Chefs.
[Matthew] Whoo!
- Yeah.
- [Eric] That's it, guys.
[Eric] That's it.
[Alex] Definitely.
And, I'm not planning
on doing it ever again.
[grunts]
How did you do?
Oh, my God. Looks better
than mine.
[Simone] No, yours is great.
All right, Chefs. It's time
to head out of the kitchen.
I'll call you back when we,
uh, find out who won this thing.
He had his broiler on and he
ended up, kind of, burning the top of it.
-Did he peel it off? 'Cause I've done that.
-[Eric] He did.
Oh, my God!
- [Alex] She made dumpling wrappers from scratch?
- [Eric] Yep.
Wow! Three totally different
points of view.
It's going to be interesting.
- But, you know what that means, Chef?
- Take a hike.
Got to send you out.
[Matthew] It was intense.
I'm not going to lie.
That was like night and day from the
first challenge to the second challenge.
What could go wrong,
just went wrong.
It was a real struggle.
[Alex] It's been a pretty
intense competition.
It's anyone's game, here.
It's like Vegas.
There was some serious, serious
cooking going on in the second round.
So, the Chefs had to make their
own pasta in a layered format.
They had to use sesame cookies.
And, they had 45 minutes.
I'm interested to see
what happens.
Let's go on and bring
the first dish out.
[Alex] Matthew made
a lasagne, too.
So, it'll be lasagne against
lasagne. Let's see how that goes.
I think, he used eggplant.
So, very different from mine.
You have lasagne here. The
dough is filled with sesame cookie.
The filling is eggplant,
ricotta, pecorino.
For the sauce, it's sesame
cookie, san marzano,
basil and garlic.
[Jet] That is beautiful.
Nail's layered to me.
It looks like it took more
than 45 minutes.
Clearly, you're impressed
with the time.
Mmm-hmm.
- I'm really enjoying the pasta mouthfeel.
- Yeah.
[Jet] This char, at first,
looked like an accident.
And, now, as I'm eating it, it
creates another layer of flavor,
and I actually enjoy it.
[Evan] I think, it's a little bit
thick. But, I think, it's pretty close.
- But, I'm actually wanting a little bit more salt.
- Mmm-hmm.
[Evan] Because the cookies
are a little sweet.
But, I enjoyed it.
We'll move on to the next dish.
Wow, though.
- Whoo!
- Whoo!
- Gratin.
- Okay.
I bit off more than I can chew.
Did I do too much? We'll see.
[Eric] In front of you, Chefs,
you have a layered fresh pasta
with bechamel, beef and pork
tomato sauce,
and a sesame seed cookie panko
with baked parmesan topping.
It looks fatty.
Yeah. I could smell the butter
and cheese.
Yeah. You can see
the delicate nature,
and the thinness of the pasta,
right off the bat.
- [Evan] Texture.
- Mmm.
Wow!
That's in, like, flavor town,
right now.
- Yo, I'm in flavor nirvana right now.
- [Eric laughs]
- Man!
- [Evan] Whoever this is,
took that 45 minutes,
- and used it very, very well.
- [Jet] Yeah.
I'm actually really
enjoying this
but I'm going to say, I wouldn't
be able to eat this whole thing.
No way, bro. I'm already full.
- It's two bites.
- I will say on the negative side.
Yeah. I mean, I'm loaded.
I'm three bites in. I don't
think, I've ever said this.
- It's too much.
- Wow.
Execution per item ingredient
is amazing,
but, it's-- it's too rich.
- Executed very well.
- Let's talk a bit about the use of the sesame cookies.
[Evan] It's so out
of the blue ingredient.
But as a topping, it's--
It's nice.
It's a little sweet,
but it's nice.
All right, Chefs. We'll move
on to the next dish.
- Dude, look at that!
- [Eric and Evan laughing]
- Can you put this in a box?
- [Eric laughs]
[Jet] And, I'll eat just a little
few bites over the next few days.
[Evan] This looks wild, man.
[Alex] Simone made an
open-faced dumpling with eggplant.
I would never have thought
to do that.
I mean, if you put me in there
for two years and I came back,
I still wouldn't have made
that, which is great.
So, Chefs, the dish that
you have in front of you
is titled,
"Yu Xiang Eggplants."
It's stirred fry maitake with sesame
cookies and a layered wonton wrapper.
So, wonton wrapper,
does that play?
It's just supposed
to be homemade, though. Right?
Correct. The Chef made
it from scratch.
All right. Okay. Then, yes.
It plays.
- Totally, plays.
- [Jet laughs]
[Jet] I like the interplay
between perfectly cut eggplant,
pasta, eggplant, pasta
and then filling.
- Satisfies the layers.
- It plays. Yeah.
The flavors are really bright
and really robust and delicious.
But, I'm not feeling the pasta.
It's under. And, on top
of that, it's quite spicy.
I think, they could have
played the cookies a little less.
I didn't read a lot
of the cookies in there.
Well, did you not get, like,
these... Well, check this out.
- No. You got bigger pieces
than I did. [laughs] - [Jet laughs]
Yeah. Well, thank you, Chefs.
It's time to go ahead
and rank them.
I have no idea, if I won or not.
We did three radically
different things.
[Eric] Judges, I'd like to
introduce you to the Chefs.
From New Jersey, Chef Matthew.
From New York City, Chef Simone.
And, also from New York,
Chef Alex.
Hi.
Some big hitters out there.
I'm pretty sure, you know
who they are.
But, I'm still going
to introduce you.
His acclaimed noodle dishes are
featured in his best-selling cookbook,
101 Asian Dishes You Need
to Cook Before You Die.
Jet Tila.
- Nice to meet you, Chef.
- That's right.
And, this is the James Beard
nominated Chef,
and regarded as one of the
best pasta makers in the country,
Chef Evan Funke.
Matthew, you look starstruck.
What's going on, man?
I made pasta by hand
the last competition,
so, you know, I got the
godfather right here, you know.
Thank you, so much.
[Eric] Well judges, Chef Simone
made the eggplant wonton.
It's a beautifully, kind of,
rich dish
but Asian noodles
shouldn't be toothsome.
Yeah. I felt the same.
And, for me, it's just a little bit
too heavy-handed on the spice.
[Eric] The eggplant lasagne
was made by Chef Matthew.
The lasagne, for me, spoke
the-- of the traditional lasagne.
It was a touch thick for me.
I wanted a little more
fat, though.
I wanted a little more
mouth feel.
[Eric] That means, Chef Alex
made the layered gratin.
I knew it.
The gratin was
immediately comforting.
It was layered.
It had texture.
The pasta was very well made.
[Jet] But, it was just too rich.
I don't know, if I could have
eaten the whole thing.
Now Chefs, remember, these guys
ate the food without knowing who's here.
So, the food just spoke
for itself.
So, the Chef, whose dish
was ranked third,
is...
I'm sorry, Simone.
I guessed it.
- Chef, great job.
- I had a great experience.
It was an honor
to have you here.
[Simone] It's been an honor.
Thank you.
So, judges, coincidentally,
these were the same two Chefs,
who were on top
in the first round, as well.
Hmm.
- You again.
- We are doing the same dance.
But, in the end, it came down
to how that layered pasta ate.
So, the judges ranked them
and the winning dish is...
Congratulations, Chef Alex.
You've done it again.
You've done it again.
Thank you.
[judges clapping]
Good job, Chef.
[Eric] Chef Matthew, sorry
man. Honestly, valiant effort.
- All right.
- I really do wish that you continue to make pasta.
And continue to go down
the path that you are,
'cause you clearly have talent.
Of course, that's what I do.
-Take care, man. Appreciate it.
-Thank you.
- Hug it up, man.
- [all laughing]
Chef Alex, you did it again,
you did it again.
- Thank you.
- [Eric] Congratulations [cheering and clapping]
- [Jet] Amazing, amazing work.
- Thank you.
You were, uh!
- Thank you.
- That was awesome.
Thank you, thank you, thank you.
- [Evan] Great job. Well done.
- [Alex] Oh, Thank you so much.
the best competition cooks in America.
[Alex] I'm an Iron Chef.
I've beaten Bobby Flay
in his own kitchen.
There isn't a Chef who is more
competitive than I am.
Michael Jordan plays basketball.
Serena Williams plays tennis.
Tiger Woods plays golf.
I cook.
Simple as that.
People always want
to know what's next.
This is it.
It's almost impossible
to defeat her, one-on-one.
So, each week, she'll be battling
three of America's best Chefs,
at the same time.
I think, I can beat her.
I need my shot at Alex.
The gauntlet has been
thrown down.
[theme music playing]
[Eric] Chefs will be hand-picked
from across the country.
Each will a mastery
of a specific type of food.
They are all coming here
with one goal.
To beat Alex.
Alex has to go...
Arrivederci.
I'm gonna beat Alex.
Shh. Don't tell her that, yet.
I know, I have a target
on my back,
and I wouldn't have
it any other way.
[director] We are rolling on...
[shutter claps]
These three noodle experts
behind me
are getting ready for a once
in a lifetime battle.
They come from three
different states
and they also learned to cook
noodles in three different countries.
But, they have one thing
in common,
they're all here to be Iron
Chef, Alex Guarnaschelli.
[Alex] The whole country
against me.
I'm gonna need a microphone
for this.
I literally brought a whole new
genre of noodles to New York City.
Can Alex say that?
I eat, breathe, live pasta.
When you're single-mindedly focused
on one thing, nobody can beat you.
I'm not a one-note noodle maker.
Alex may have destroyed
everyone in her path, previously,
but that stops today.
You know, you go to the zoo and you
look at the lion pacing around in the cage,
you look at the puma,
you know, and then, you go
to the butterfly house,
you look at the butterflies
and you say, "You know,
all these animals
are just not the same."
Guess, which one I am?
Now, you guys are pasta experts,
but, Chef Alex is a master
of everything.
So, buckle up. Because,
it's time to meet her.
Iron Chef, Alex Guarnaschelli.
- [Alex] Whoo!
- [Eric] Hey, hey, hey.
[Matthew] Good morning, Chef.
[Simone clapping]
Good morning.
[Eric] Alex, would you like to
know what tonight's theme is?
No, no. I'd just like to stand
around here, staring at everybody.
So, this is all about, noodles.
Oh!
Even though, I'm Italian-American
and my name is Guarnaschelli,
I'm a French trained Chef,
so, noodles, pasta,
not exactly my wheelhouse.
[Eric] These are three of the best
noodle Chefs from across the country.
This, from New York,
is Chef Simone.
She first started making
noodles for her family in China.
New York Times gave Simone's
noodle shop a two-star review,
saying that she made the most
interesting noodle soup in the city.
Wow! Respect.
Let me introduce Chef Matthew
from Cherry Hill, New Jersey.
Matthew has learned to make pasta
in Michelin star restaurants in Italy.
[Matthew] From Parma,
to Bologna, to Verona.
You know, don't stress out
about it. You know, it's okay.
And, lastly, this is Chef
Naima from Los Angeles.
She was raised in Paris and
went to culinary school in France.
A Frenchie. Yes!
[Eric] She prepared pasta
nightly as the chef de cuisine
at Michelin restaurants
in France and the States.
Fancy pants.
All right, Chefs. Here's how
this noodle battle works.
First up, is the survival round.
All of you will be preparing
a noodle dish,
and then, a pair of renowned experts
will be conducting a blind tasting.
The chefs that cook the top
three noodle dishes
will be moving
on to the final round.
But, that fourth Chef, will not.
Even, if that's you, Alex.
And, because the three of you
are here to challenge Alex,
it's up to you to pick
your challenge.
So, under these lids,
are the variables
that would be making
up your challenge.
All right. Let's check it out.
All right.
[Eric] You guys get to pick
what noodles you'll be using.
You have the options of boxed,
fresh,
or the ingredients
to do it yourself.
I think, the first round, we keep
it simple and straightforward.
- I'm picking fresh pasta.
- [Naima] Yeah.
- I agree. Definitely, fresh pasta. It cooks quicker.
- Yeah.
So, you're deciding between
fresh and boxed.
-Oh, it's just fresh. For fresh, yeah.
-Yeah?
- [Eric] All right.
- Smart.
So, now, let's look at,
which protein
is going to be influencing
your flavors?
Whoa! All right.
-[Eric] In front of you, you have
pancetta, -[Matthew] Beautiful.
[Eric] Mexican chorizo
and dried shrimp.
- [Simone] Mmm-hmm.
- [Matthew] Okay.
I'm, kind of, on the fence.
I like the Mexican chorizo
because it's gonna, kind of,
like melt it to the sauce more.
- That might make all of our dish, kind of, similar.
- [Naima] Kind of, the same.
The dried shrimp
is very strong, very--
It's very distinct taste.
- And, it's really hard to, like, work to our advantage.
- Yeah.
That would trip me up.
They'd be really smart
to pick the shrimp.
[Naima] Pancetta is more,
like, neutral.
It's a clean, thick base.
I can do pancetta.
- What are you guys thinking?
- Pancetta.
- [Eric] Why is that?
- It's more neutral.
And, you're giving her
pancetta and fresh pasta?
You know, her last name
is Guarnaschelli.
- [Matthew] Yes.
- [Eric] Okay.
- Pancetta, it is.
- [Matthew] Perfect.
[Naima] I feel like we are
giving this round
to Chef Alex
on a golden platter,
but, it's also giving
me everything
on a golden platter, as well.
So, let's find out what you'll be
making with these two ingredients.
A sauce dish?
Or a broth dish?
- [Matthew] I'm going sauce, already.
- [Simone] We can do sauce.
Yeah. Broth is, like,
takes a little more time.
- So later, we don't know what that time constraint is yet.
- Yep.
- Yeah. Sauce.
- Sauce.
[Matthew and Naima] Sauce.
[Eric] Look at Alex. She can
barely contain her excitement.
Let's move over to the last lid.
Because...
it reveals how much time you'll
be giving yourself and Chef Alex.
You guys get to pick
between one and 60 minutes.
Do not pick one minute.
To me, personally,
I need 40 minutes, at least.
I would say, like,
I'm good with 20.
Oh, no. 20 is definitely
too little.
Chef Alex is pacing around, which,
obviously, means she's getting ready.
- [Matthew] What do you guys want to do?
- I say, we go 45.
- [Matthew] Let's do 45.
- Let's give ourself enough time.
- We're going to do 45.
- [Eric] All right, Chefs.
- [Eric] The table is set.
- [Alex] Smart.
I already regret giving Alex 45
minutes, like, she's a veteran,
she knows what she's doing.
[Eric] So, here's what's
at stake.
The Chef that finishes fourth,
will be leaving the kitchen.
But the Chef who finishes first,
gets to, exclusively, pick all the
ingredients for the next challenge.
I like that.
Even if that's Chef Alex.
So, with that all said,
it's time to start cooking.
Your time starts now.
From years of cooking
on competition shows,
this is the first time I thought,
"Do I have too much time?"
That's when you pile on too
much stuff or you make mistakes.
So, I'm making Tagliatelle
with walnuts, some fresh
herbs, a little bit of radicchio.
I want the pancetta to shine.
Pancetta is
a sensitive creature.
It needs room to breathe.
I'm going to put a chunk in
the blast chiller to freeze it up,
so, I can do thin shavings
on a mandolin when it's colder,
and just do, like, little
frizzled bits of pancetta.
I want some little matchsticks,
so, I have different textures
and shapes of pancetta.
I put a couple chunks through the meat
grinder to get almost like ground beef.
I want the grease
from the pancetta,
to build the base for my sauce.
I didn't see a lot
of people grinding.
[Eric] Chef Alex is taking her
Iron Chef experience,
using the key ingredient,
three multiple ways.
Very, very smart.
[Alex] Question?
Ask me now,
while I'm feeling polite.
Always harder when you have
a blank slate.
I think, the very first idea that
pops in your head, make that.
[Matthew] So, right now, I'm just
going to slice some pancetta up.
Cook it down, make a little
base with that.
'Cause, you know, everything's
better with a little pork.
I'm an ambassador
of Italian cuisine.
Jersey has the most amount of
Italian-Americans than any other state.
Might as well be a region
of Italy.
Gotta do the basic. Maybe,
do a little riff on Amatriciana.
- Beautiful.
- For me, my philosophy,
I don't try to reinvent the
wheel. Let's make a good wheel.
Make a great wheel. Okay.
- You know what I'm saying?
- Yeah, yeah, yeah.
So, how do you feel about going Italian
versus Italian, obviously, with chef Alex?
I'm honored to battle her
in this.
Fusilli Amatriciana, this is
my, like, go-to day off pasta.
It's just three ingredients.
Fresh pasta, pancetta and sauce.
Everybody I've worked with just
say, "You cook like a grandma."
"You cook like a nonna."
And, with pasta, comes centuries
of love from nonna's heart.
It's on, Alex. It's on.
And, you're going down.
[Simone] I'm sure, Chef Alex,
is doing amazing pasta dish.
I'm gonna make an amazing
Chilled Sesame Noodle dish.
Make Chinese-Americans proud.
This sauce is a flavor bomb.
That's how I'm going
to put down Alex.
I'm adding peanut butter
and tahini.
For my acids, I'm adding
black vinegar, rice vinegar.
For some funk, I'm adding hoisin
sauce, oyster sauce and fish sauce.
Because, I'm serving cold
noodles, I'm gonna cook it now.
I'm not Italian,
like everyone else.
So, I gotta make my own thing.
Chef Alex is amazing woman,
amazing chef, amazing mother.
And, I am also the same.
I want to be the Chinese
version of Alex.
- [Eric] Can I go ahead and try the sauce?
- [Simone] Please try.
[Eric] Seasoning is
a little under.
It could use a little bit more--
some zip, a little bit more love to it.
- I'm doing a classic.
- [Eric] Okay.
[Naima] Uh, Linguine and Clams.
- Uh, a Vongole.
- [Eric] Vongole. Okay.
[Naima] Which I know is, kind of,
putting myself up against Chef Alex,
'cause she's Italian.
I'm French.
Adding pancetta, of course,
to it.
- [Eric] So, I put a bread crumb... Nice.
- [Naima] Mmm-hmm.
[Naima] I'm making
a pancetta broth
- to really bring the pancetta flavor through all the way.
- [Eric] Very nice.
- [Naima] Hopefully, that will make it stand out.
- Yeah.
[Naima] I grew up in France.
But, now, that I've
lived here, almost 15 years,
Los Angeles is definitely
home to me.
Coming to L.A., I, totally,
was bathing in pasta,
because I ran one of the best
Italian restaurants in Los Angeles.
Scopa Italian Roots,
just making pasta all day.
I think Chef Alex and I, have a lot of
similarities in our culinary background.
So, I feel like I could
level up and beat her.
Having so much time, the judges are
gonna expect something really spectacular.
It needs to really
be mind-blowing.
It's right there. I'm starting
to get worried,
like, "Oh, God! Maybe, I'm not
doing enough."
- [Eric] Have you dropped the pasta yet?
- I haven't.
[Naima] I'm feeling overwhelmed.
This is very subdued.
Very muddled.
Am I being too mean?
People are gonna hate me.
- 22 minutes left chefs.
- Er, 22.
[Eric] So, the only way to ensure
that this is judged completely fair,
it's to make sure that our judges
don't know who's cooking what.
So, that's why our judges
are not even in this building.
We have the perfect judges
for a noodle competition.
Chef Jet Tila, has set six
culinary world records
and was named the Culinary
Ambassador to Thai cuisine.
And, Chef Evan Funke,
James Beard Award nominee,
whose restaurant, Felix, won
Eater restaurant of the year.
He's regarded as one of the
best pasta makers in the country.
Right now, we're in a noodle
challenge and we needed noodle experts
to come through and school us
a bit on what's going on and--
Not bad choices.
Yes. I think, we got
two of the country's best.
These guys, they need
to be very, very careful
- to not overcook the noodles.
- Right.
I just hope that these guys
really pay attention
- to that toothsomeness, the al dente spectrum.
- Okay.
Knowing Asian noodles, right,
- al dente to me is different.
- [Eric] Yeah.
- [Evan] Very different.
- It's not as resistant to the tooth to me.
- It's more of a bounce, right?
- That's it.
- I'm looking for silky bounce.
- [Eric] Yeah.
[Alex] So, now, I've got
frozen pancetta.
I'm just gonna slice it thin
on the mandolin,
and fry it, to get crispy
little bits.
The whole dish here, is in the sauce
and having the pancetta balanced.
Not too salty, but present.
I'm making a cheese stock
with chunks of cheese and water.
So, that I can add that
to the pasta water
to make a sauce that's
a little more fortified.
The base for the sauce
is just shallots,
garlic, celery and a little
white wine.
[Matthew] What is Alex doing
over there?
I saw brunoise and radicchio.
Is she making a pasta salad?
What's she doing?
What's she doing, Chef?
Chef Alex, what are you making
over there?
Looks like
you're brutalizing something.
What are you brutalizing?
A raddichio?
Yeah.
[Matthew] I'm starting
to get worried.
Like, "Oh, God! I'm doing
something really simple.
Like, maybe, I'm not
doing enough."
You know, this is when
you make mistakes.
You need to stay true
to what you want to do.
Just stay true to who you are
and just do what you do.
Chef Alex, she's old rock,
I'm classical.
I'm gonna try the tomatoes, real fast, because
they don't look like they're from Jersey.
Not Jersey tomatoes.
Typically, at home, I probably
wouldn't use canned tomatoes.
New Jersey's got the best
tomatoes in the country.
We didn't have them. So, I
had to use the second best
and that was the San Marzano's.
How are you, my dear noodle?
Let's see.
Beautiful.
[Eric] Chef Simone, obviously, has worked
her way through some noodles before.
She went ahead and cooked her
noodles and right now she's ice bathing it.
Pretty much shocking it, right, so
she could stop the cooking process.
Pancetta, I'm going
to chop it up,
I want to make Chinese smoked
bacon with wood-ear mushrooms.
Very, very good sake.
Usually, I just add some
cooking wine, but,
since they have sake, will do.
Makes it more fragrant.
I want to... what I'm making.
Chinese food.
Chinese noodles.
[Eric] Seven minutes
left, Chefs.
Remember, your pasta needs
to be cooked, perfectly.
[Alex] Some people like
the tooth on boxed dry pasta.
But, fresh pasta is quick cooking,
more tender and that's fun to work with.
I chose fusilli because it works
great with this pasta sauce.
Now, let's wait for the magic
to happen.
Boom!
[Naima] Important thing with clams,
you don't want to overcook them.
As soon as the shell pops
open, they're ready to go,
turn off the heat.
And, I'm going to chop
this pancetta.
I'm putting pancetta
everywhere it can go in the dish.
It's in the broth, the base
of my sauce.
I'm putting some in my breadcrumbs,
which is going to be the topping.
And then, I'm doing crispy
pancetta sprinkled within the linguine.
It's really going to be, like,
pancetta all day.
I'm going to get
the sauce going.
This is the clam juice.
And then, I'm going
to be adding pancetta broth.
I'm really, really hoping that I'm
not over complicating the whole thing.
[Eric] Three-and-a half
minutes, Chefs.
[Naima] Like, the time definitely
crept up on me, super-fast.
[Eric] Have you dropped
the pasta, yet?
I haven't.
[Eric] Three-and-a half minutes.
Maybe enough time for her
to get it.
But, she has to do it now.
She has to drop that pasta now.
[Naima] With minutes left,
the pasta should be really
in the pan with the sauce.
I'm feeling overwhelmed because I realize
that there's still so much to be done.
The pasta's coming out of
the water and it's super stressful
because it's go time,
once it comes out.
I toss the pasta
in the sauce base,
which has the ground
cooked pancetta.
I cooked the fusilli
about eighty percent away
but I'm finishing the rest
in the pan,
so, I want it to absorb
the flavors of the sauce.
This is the fun part.
She's plating, I'm plating.
Let's get it, boys and ladies,
let's get it.
Whoo!
All right. Let's go.
Let's do this.
The key is to make sure
everyone gets
that beautiful shower
of sesame and peanut sauce.
Sometimes, you make a good dish.
Sometimes, you make
a amazing dish.
That's why I'm going
to beat Alex.
Shh! Don't tell her that, yet.
90 seconds, Chef. 90 seconds.
Like, this might be
a little salty.
I'm a little concerned that I'm
bringing too many elements to the dish.
It's really easy to overthink something
when you do have this amount of time.
One minute left, Chefs.
One minute.
I'm wondering, if, maybe,
I've done too much.
And, now, I'm just worried, I'm not
gonna get everything on the plate in time.
Alex has to go.
Ciao. Ciao bella.
Be gone.
Arrivederci.
I may have gone too simple but,
simple is Italian food, you do it right,
it's the best stuff
in the world.
Chefs, you have 30 seconds left.
I'm definitely surviving.
Alex, you're going down
with this.
I'm playing with so much
texture, flavors, dimensions.
I made pancetta three ways and
I still need to get it on the plate.
Time just, kind of, ran away
from me.
Ten, nine, eight, seven,
six, five, four, three,
two, one. That's it, Chefs.
Jazz hands.
[Simone] I think, it's a winner.
What do you think?
It's not perfect.
My pancetta is not on the plate.
My crispy pancetta isn't.
My beautifully golden pancetta
breadcrumbs aren't.
I, kind of, self-sabotaged
and gave myself too much time,
making me feel,
way too comfortable.
This might send me home
for sure.
All right, chefs. Go ahead and
write down your menu description,
exactly the way you want
it to be read to the judges.
Thank you, guys.
Go wait outside and I'll call
you back when I know what's up.
[Simone] How do you feel?
- [Matthew] I feel great. I--
- [Simone] That was fun.
- So, I think she had in mind--
- So, pretty.
- [Eric] Yeah. To add her--
- [Alex] Oh, no. Come on.
[Eric] Pancetta crumble
with some bread crumbs.
[Alex] Look at all that
beautiful work.
- [Eric] Yep.
- [Alex] I've done that.
[Alex] Fusilli. Such an
interesting choice.
[Eric] This screams New Jersey.
-Oh, my God. This looks amazing.
-That's so good.
- [Alex] This is, literally,
like-- - [Eric] My jam, right here.
- [Erica] Stunning.
- All right, Chef.
It's time for the judges
to come in.
- Goodbye.
- I'll see you in a second.
- This is the part that, like, makes me anxious.
- Yeah.
What do you guys think?
Do you think,
we played into Alex's, uh,
wheelhouse there?
I, kind of, feel, like, I almost, like,
shot myself by, like, overthinking
and having all that time.
45 minutes.
It can lead to some mistakes.
You can overthink, you can
over salt, you can forget things.
And so, it's tricky.
[director] Okay, everyone...
All right. Stand-by
for the judges to come in.
- Whoo!
- Welcome to the set.
Man, this is legit.
Here's what the chefs
were working with.
Fresh pasta, pancetta.
The dish needed to be saucy.
And, they gave themselves
45 minutes to do so.
[Evan] Wow.
-That's crazy. Fresh pasta.
-45 minutes? That's a long time.
That's a long time, yeah.
Let's get the first dish out.
[Jet] All right...
Amatriciana.
[Eric] Fusilli pasta,
cooked in pancetta,
seared with onions and tomatoes.
Parmigiano. Buon appetito.
For me, simplicity is the key
to success.
You want the pasta
to be the star.
[Alex] Matthew, with his tomatoey
fusilli and the big cubes of pancetta,
very New Jersey.
- I think they've nailed the pancetta part.
- Yeah.
- [Eric] Right.
- I don't want it desiccated.
- I want still a little bit of moisture.
- [Eric] Mmm-hmm.
But, that being said, it's definitely
on the softer side of pasta.
It's well balanced.
It's nicely presented.
It's correctly sauced.
It's not overly sauced.
But, I just think the noodles
are a little over.
We'll move on
to the next dish. All right.
- That was good.
- Yeah.
- [Jet] Thanks, sir.
- [Evan] All right.
All right. Mmm.
A little bit of a different
offering from the first one.
They're calling this, Chinese-American
Chilled Sesame Noodles.
Pancetta sauteed
with wood-eared mushrooms,
Szechuan peppercorns,
and a little bit of grapefruit.
[Alex] Simone's noodles
are clearly in her DNA.
And her dish is just completely
on the other end of the globe.
And, I love that.
[Jet] It's a beautiful
dish, like,
- it's hot, it's cold, it's crispy.
- Yep.
[Jet] But, the visuals make
a promise,
- that the flavors don't quite deliver.
- Oh!
And, they all have
to be very distinct
- but all work in concert.
- Right.
And, this is very subdued,
very muddled.
- Szechuan peppercorn is Chinese.
- Mmm-hmm.
- These-- Right?
- I'm not even getting any of that.
I don't know the pancetta
works in there, it's too soft.
I'm going to give a good job
to the noodle cook.
I just wish it had--
It tweaked up more of that
acid and salt and sweet.
All right. Let's go ahead
and move on to the next dish.
- Now, I'm getting the Szechuan.
- [Jet] Yeah.
- [Eric] Oh, you got it now?
- It's just a little bit.
- It took a while.
- Thanks, brother.
[Eric] Thank you.
- [Evan] Okay.
- [Jet] All right.
Chefs, what you have
in front of you,
is a Tagliolini with clams and
pancetta broth butter sauce,
blanched with lemon zest
that lightens the dish.
[Evan] They use the pancetta
as the broth?
- And then, just left it out of the dish, altogether?
- [Eric] Correct.
- [Jet] So, yes. Lacking pancetta which is crucial.
- [Eric] Sure, sure.
But, I'm going to say,
best cooked pasta, so far.
Are you saying, the pasta is the
saving grace this far on this plate?
For me, it is.
The clams are very
well presented.
But, it's under seasoned.
It should be a little salt for it
that brings it up to a higher level.
All right. Let's go ahead and
get our last plate out, please.
Am I being too mean?
- [crew] No. No.
- Okay.
No. You're right on time.
People are gonna hate me.
- Thank you. Thank you.
- Oh!
- [Evan] Mmm.
- [Jet] All right.
[Eric] In front of you, Chefs,
you have a Tagliatelle,
with ground pancetta,
radicchio, walnuts,
pancetta batons and pancetta
bits with herbs.
[Evan] Smells great.
Did you say pancetta
three times?
Three times.
[Alex] If you're gonna choose the
simplest ingredients, that's hard.
The restraint in the choices
can sometimes be harder
than when there's too much
to do with not enough time.
For me, this is the best
cooked pasta
- that we've had so far.
- Okay.
It has juiciness, it's got
bounce, it still has the life.
There's a ton of umami. Like,
umami, absolutely, through the roof.
You know, I could use a little
more acid to balance.
But, this is a great pancetta.
- [Eric] Yup.
- [Jet] Crunchy, but, not dried out.
I wish there was more
sauce, though.
Because, sauce feels
like a part of the task.
-[Eric] Yeah. It definitely is.
-I disagree.
I think the condimento that we're
looking at it, makes the pasta the star.
- It's not lacking flavor.
- Right.
I'm just stuck, if this really
qualifies as a sauce.
Okay.
[Evan] So, what are
we doing now?
- So, we're ranking them.
- [Evan and Jet] Oh!
- [Eric] Yeah.
- [Evan] I need a minute.
[Evan] It's really difficult.
[Jet] Aye yai yai!
[crew] All right, Stand-by.
And, rolling.
All right, Chefs. Come back
into the kitchen.
Welcome back.
I know, you're all very antsy to
hear what the judges had to say.
They thought, the dish is made
by Simone and Naima,
were, unfortunately,
the bottom two.
So, the dish that ranks fourth
and, unfortunately, the chef
that's not gonna be with us,
is...
Chef Naima from California.
I'm sorry.
I think you know what--
- Yes. Totally.
- the fault was and what the issue was.
The judges really thought, if
your pancetta landed on the plate,
that, possibly, could rival
the top two spots.
I've made the mistake
you made tonight, many times.
Thanks Chef.
All right. So, obviously,
Simone, that means you're third.
So, clearly, that means, Matthew,
Alex, these two had the top two dishes.
The Chef that made the top
ranked dish is,
-she's done it again. Congratulations, Chef Alex.
-Oh, my God!
- Chef, it's good.
- Thank you.
[Matthew] That was good.
-[Simone] Congratulations.
-Great job, both of you. Thank you.
Congratulations, Chefs.
Obviously, you guys are moving
on to the money round.
Now is your chance
to win some serious cash.
And, to say that you beat
Alex Guarnaschelli.
Any Chefs whose final dish
outranks Alex's, will earn money.
If you rank first,
you win ten grand.
If you rank second and Alex
ranks third, you earn $5,000.
But, if Alex's dish ranks first,
you're both going home
with nothing.
So, this time, you two
hang back,
while, Chef Alex gets to pick
the challenge for the next round.
[Matthew] The first round, we
got to pick. Now, she gets to pick.
A little nervous 'cause
now she has advantage.
Chef, tell me what you think
about these.
So, there's dry pasta.
Or the ingredients
to do it yourself.
DIY.
But...
This dry pasta comes with
a 30 minute cooking round,
DIY pasta 45 minute
cooking round.
The gauntlet has been
thrown down
- and we need to, you know--
- Yes. Absolutely.
- Right?
- [Matthew] Yeah.
Eric. DIY pasta.
- I like it.
- Fresh noodles always better.
Give the people what
they want, Chef. I love it.
[Matthew] I make pasta
day in day out.
Just another day in the office
for me.
What's next is, something sweet.
You have to use one of these
cookies in your dish.
Uh-oh.
So, we have here, Amaretti's.
Sesame cookies.
And, palmiers.
This is too sweet.
This is gonna really
drag us down.
The palmier is awesome
but it tastes too buttery to me.
- We want the sesame.
- [Eric] Okay.
Let's move over to the last lid.
What type of pasta
you'll be making?
Whoo-hoo!
[Eric] Will it be stuffed? Will it
be layered? Or will it be rolled?
I like stuffed or layered
but stuffed freaks me out,
'cause if you cook it
and the stuff oozes out.
I'm gonna go layered.
I'm just trying to think about
layered dishes in Chinese cuisine.
And, I can't think of any.
All right. Your time
starts now.
Oh, God!
Smart. Just went ahead and
took all the eggs and the flour.
So, the chefs have to make
their own pasta.
It's layered and they have to
use sesame cookies, as well.
They have 45 minutes to do so.
I do not envy
these chefs at all.
[Alex] There's a real art to pasta and
I, almost, never make it from scratch.
You say, layered to me
and I think, lasagne.
I get it in my head,
how I see it.
I'm going to make bechamel
and tomato sauce.
There's definitely a risk
of going right at the classic.
But, the bottom line is,
my mother would say,
"Where's the lasagne?"
May she rest in peace.
My mother is always with me.
I made lasagne, Mom.
All right, then.
[Matthew] I'm gonna give the
people what they want, lasagne.
I make fresh pasta,
every day at work.
I do three different doughs,
every morning.
So, I feel comfortable.
And, we have a sesame cookie.
But, I get the idea, why don't we
do sesame cookie pasta dough?
I'm just going to use
it as flour.
I love it.
I'm mixing the dough
and it's not coming together.
I was like, "Oh, my God!"
The cookie has made it too
wet, the moisture is not right.
I'm just gonna make it by
hand, just, like, Nonna did.
I'm just gonna fatto a mano.
I'm gonna do it by hand.
Just doing it old school.
Sometimes, it's, uh, old school
is the right school, you know.
What I'm noticing each round, Chef
Matthew has such a respect for pasta.
The traditions that he grew up
learning. I love to see that from him.
My only knowledge of what
layer is, is lasagne.
That is so far away from the
noodles that I specialize in.
We are all on the same boat but
I'm fish out of water in this round.
Unknown territory.
I'm gonna make
a one-time wrapper.
It's like an egg noodle with a
little bit of rice flour for consistency.
I'm just gonna make a open face,
one time, with layers of eggplant.
And, maitake mushrooms
with sesame cookies.
The day my son was born,
I was literally at home making
wontons for the family.
The water broke,
as I was cooking wontons.
I told my partner,
"Please eat the wontons."
Then, we go to the hospital.
[laughs]
Wontons come first.
Delivering baby, second.
[laughs]
Do you know how annoying
it is to open a bottle of wine?
To make this meat sauce,
I put celery and onions and garlic
and carrots, all through the meat grinder
to have them be a similar
texture and shape as the meat.
Separately, I brown some
ground beef,
and I grind a little bit
of pancetta,
and I brown that
separately, too.
I also have a classic bechamel, which
is just milk, toasted flour and butter.
I think, I might be doing
too much and I'm just worried,
like, "Oh, my God,
I'm not gonna get done."
I went too far
in the rabbit hole now.
It's not much I can cut back
on, so, I'm just sweating it out.
If I burn anything,
or I make a mistake,
I can't go back and make
it again.
I don't have that kind of time
on my hands.
Watch yourself, it's splashing
a little, okay. Be careful.
I need everything I'm making
and that's scary,
so, I can't afford any
mistakes here.
22 minutes left, Chefs.
[Matthew] Our challenge
is fresh pasta, 45 minutes,
sesame cookie, layered.
So, I'm thinking, right now,
an Eggplant Sesame Lasagna.
I decided to fry my eggplant.
This is going to be the fastest
way to get the consistency I wanted.
And then, I'm going to puree it.
I need to work on my tomato
sauce that's going to be the base of it.
So, I'm just going to make
a quick pomodoro.
Alex is the best.
She's awesome. She's, like, you
know what guys, you had it easy,
let's push ourselves.
Let's be chefs over here.
She's right. Push ourselves.
My lasagne sheet, I just
rolled it as thin, as I could.
Oh! Fumble. Fumble.
I'm, basically, building
my sauce, as we go.
First round, I didn't get
a really great result.
This round, I need to try
to create something new.
I'm still gonna stay true
to my Chinese roots,
to the flavors that
I grew up with.
-But, just kick it up. Just a little bit more.
-[Simone] Yeah.
- [Simone] Absolutely.
- All right.
[Eric] This challenge
and ingredients
are, kind of, out of
Chef Simone's wheelhouse.
She's tasking herself to make
a completely new dish.
That's a pretty bold move.
[Simone] It's spicy,
it's hearty, it's salty.
I hope they're ready for it.
Chefs, stay focused. We have
about 10 minutes left.
Why did I say that I would
make this? Why did I say?
That looks delicious.
This is my mother's bechamel,
which is just obscene.
I do love lasagne.
We normally eat
it at Thanksgiving.
Just to give you some idea
of what my roots are.
The appetizer at Thanksgiving
is lasagne.
Just saying.
I want it to get a little bit
of oven time.
So, I spend that time, now,
making a sesame cookie topping
with butter toasted panko and grated
parmesan cheese, because I want that crunch.
Hmm, that needs help.
I'm worried that the topping
is too sweet.
So, I'm just adding more
parmesan cheese.
I'm just concerned that it's going
to pick up with the tomato sauce,
and run to sugar town.
[Eric] Over at Alex's station,
there's a lot of rich and
decadent elements to her dish.
Hopefully, she's gonna make
something to cut through all that richness,
so, it doesn't weigh
the judges down, too much.
Seven minutes left, Chefs.
Seven minutes.
It's so thick.
It's okay.
When I decided to do this
as a profession,
well, I was a little late in the game.
I didn't decide until I was, like, 22.
I was working
on the Jersey shore,
making cheesesteaks and hoagies.
That's where I met my wife.
And, she's, like, "I'm not going to
marry you if you make cheesesteaks."
She's the one who pushed
me to become a chef.
So, all this, I owe to her.
I feel a little--
A little stressed.
A little stressed.
Alex won the last round.
In this round, I'm bringing it.
I'm bringing it, Alex.
[Simone] Layering noodles, it's
not so much of a Chinese thing.
But, you just make something
non-traditional because that's what I do.
It's, like, my thing.
I'm going to stir-fry the sesame
cookies with the mushroom
- because I think that goes well together.
- [Eric] Okay.
-And, that's, like, kind of,
part of the layer, -[Eric] All right.
That I'm going to achieve.
I want to saute the maitake
in a wok
because I want to get
the water out of the maitake,
so that I can put the cookies
in and it wouldn't get soggy.
Lots of sesame cookies.
Five minutes left, Chefs.
Five minutes.
[Alex] Insane, how hot this is.
[Matthew] I smell something.
Oh!
So, I go back to check
on my lasagne.
Oh, [bleep].
Oh, Matthew.
[Matthew] It's on broil.
I didn't know it was on broil.
Uh-oh. Uh-oh.
-Uh-oh.
-Is your oven too hot? Or what's the deal man, like--
[Matthew] It was on broil.
I didn't know.
Oh, yeah. That would
definitely be it.
-That will do it. That will do it.
-I'm definitely extra...
That's why you make
extra sheets.
This isn't going how I planned.
I take one layer off and put
another layer on.
So, now, two look good.
One's a little over.
So, I just cut the burnt
top piece.
It's gonna be fine.
The best part of this one
is the burnt edge.
[Simone] Now, it's assembly.
I have a few concerns about, if the judges
are going to be able to cut through it.
Or it would slide everywhere.
[Eric] 90 seconds, Chefs.
90 seconds.
[Alex] Ow! [bleep].
I just burnt my finger.
I make mistakes all the time.
I burn myself, I cut something,
I overcook something.
It's Alex versus
Alex, sometimes.
It's not that bad. Just that one
little corner, it's a little too dark,
not the end of the world.
I don't know.
This might actually work.
Since it has to be layered,
I'm just gonna do
as many layers as I can.
I'm doing sauce, eggplant,
maitake, noodles.
Sauce, eggplant,
maitake, noodles.
I gotta make a noodle come
back. I'm here to win this.
[Eric] Chefs you have
thirty seconds left.
[Alex] I think, it turned
out pretty well.
I wish it was a little less
drippy and saucy.
I just blanket the whole top
with the sesame cookies,
so, there's no saying,
"Did you use it?"
When you look down,
it's a cookie field.
[Matthew] Oh, my gosh!
She's going down.
It's going down.
[Eric] 15 seconds, Chef.
Come on, Chefs.
[Alex] This is so hot.
[Eric] Ten, nine, eight, seven,
six, five, four, three,
two, one. That's it, Chefs.
[Matthew] Whoo!
- Yeah.
- [Eric] That's it, guys.
[Eric] That's it.
[Alex] Definitely.
And, I'm not planning
on doing it ever again.
[grunts]
How did you do?
Oh, my God. Looks better
than mine.
[Simone] No, yours is great.
All right, Chefs. It's time
to head out of the kitchen.
I'll call you back when we,
uh, find out who won this thing.
He had his broiler on and he
ended up, kind of, burning the top of it.
-Did he peel it off? 'Cause I've done that.
-[Eric] He did.
Oh, my God!
- [Alex] She made dumpling wrappers from scratch?
- [Eric] Yep.
Wow! Three totally different
points of view.
It's going to be interesting.
- But, you know what that means, Chef?
- Take a hike.
Got to send you out.
[Matthew] It was intense.
I'm not going to lie.
That was like night and day from the
first challenge to the second challenge.
What could go wrong,
just went wrong.
It was a real struggle.
[Alex] It's been a pretty
intense competition.
It's anyone's game, here.
It's like Vegas.
There was some serious, serious
cooking going on in the second round.
So, the Chefs had to make their
own pasta in a layered format.
They had to use sesame cookies.
And, they had 45 minutes.
I'm interested to see
what happens.
Let's go on and bring
the first dish out.
[Alex] Matthew made
a lasagne, too.
So, it'll be lasagne against
lasagne. Let's see how that goes.
I think, he used eggplant.
So, very different from mine.
You have lasagne here. The
dough is filled with sesame cookie.
The filling is eggplant,
ricotta, pecorino.
For the sauce, it's sesame
cookie, san marzano,
basil and garlic.
[Jet] That is beautiful.
Nail's layered to me.
It looks like it took more
than 45 minutes.
Clearly, you're impressed
with the time.
Mmm-hmm.
- I'm really enjoying the pasta mouthfeel.
- Yeah.
[Jet] This char, at first,
looked like an accident.
And, now, as I'm eating it, it
creates another layer of flavor,
and I actually enjoy it.
[Evan] I think, it's a little bit
thick. But, I think, it's pretty close.
- But, I'm actually wanting a little bit more salt.
- Mmm-hmm.
[Evan] Because the cookies
are a little sweet.
But, I enjoyed it.
We'll move on to the next dish.
Wow, though.
- Whoo!
- Whoo!
- Gratin.
- Okay.
I bit off more than I can chew.
Did I do too much? We'll see.
[Eric] In front of you, Chefs,
you have a layered fresh pasta
with bechamel, beef and pork
tomato sauce,
and a sesame seed cookie panko
with baked parmesan topping.
It looks fatty.
Yeah. I could smell the butter
and cheese.
Yeah. You can see
the delicate nature,
and the thinness of the pasta,
right off the bat.
- [Evan] Texture.
- Mmm.
Wow!
That's in, like, flavor town,
right now.
- Yo, I'm in flavor nirvana right now.
- [Eric laughs]
- Man!
- [Evan] Whoever this is,
took that 45 minutes,
- and used it very, very well.
- [Jet] Yeah.
I'm actually really
enjoying this
but I'm going to say, I wouldn't
be able to eat this whole thing.
No way, bro. I'm already full.
- It's two bites.
- I will say on the negative side.
Yeah. I mean, I'm loaded.
I'm three bites in. I don't
think, I've ever said this.
- It's too much.
- Wow.
Execution per item ingredient
is amazing,
but, it's-- it's too rich.
- Executed very well.
- Let's talk a bit about the use of the sesame cookies.
[Evan] It's so out
of the blue ingredient.
But as a topping, it's--
It's nice.
It's a little sweet,
but it's nice.
All right, Chefs. We'll move
on to the next dish.
- Dude, look at that!
- [Eric and Evan laughing]
- Can you put this in a box?
- [Eric laughs]
[Jet] And, I'll eat just a little
few bites over the next few days.
[Evan] This looks wild, man.
[Alex] Simone made an
open-faced dumpling with eggplant.
I would never have thought
to do that.
I mean, if you put me in there
for two years and I came back,
I still wouldn't have made
that, which is great.
So, Chefs, the dish that
you have in front of you
is titled,
"Yu Xiang Eggplants."
It's stirred fry maitake with sesame
cookies and a layered wonton wrapper.
So, wonton wrapper,
does that play?
It's just supposed
to be homemade, though. Right?
Correct. The Chef made
it from scratch.
All right. Okay. Then, yes.
It plays.
- Totally, plays.
- [Jet laughs]
[Jet] I like the interplay
between perfectly cut eggplant,
pasta, eggplant, pasta
and then filling.
- Satisfies the layers.
- It plays. Yeah.
The flavors are really bright
and really robust and delicious.
But, I'm not feeling the pasta.
It's under. And, on top
of that, it's quite spicy.
I think, they could have
played the cookies a little less.
I didn't read a lot
of the cookies in there.
Well, did you not get, like,
these... Well, check this out.
- No. You got bigger pieces
than I did. [laughs] - [Jet laughs]
Yeah. Well, thank you, Chefs.
It's time to go ahead
and rank them.
I have no idea, if I won or not.
We did three radically
different things.
[Eric] Judges, I'd like to
introduce you to the Chefs.
From New Jersey, Chef Matthew.
From New York City, Chef Simone.
And, also from New York,
Chef Alex.
Hi.
Some big hitters out there.
I'm pretty sure, you know
who they are.
But, I'm still going
to introduce you.
His acclaimed noodle dishes are
featured in his best-selling cookbook,
101 Asian Dishes You Need
to Cook Before You Die.
Jet Tila.
- Nice to meet you, Chef.
- That's right.
And, this is the James Beard
nominated Chef,
and regarded as one of the
best pasta makers in the country,
Chef Evan Funke.
Matthew, you look starstruck.
What's going on, man?
I made pasta by hand
the last competition,
so, you know, I got the
godfather right here, you know.
Thank you, so much.
[Eric] Well judges, Chef Simone
made the eggplant wonton.
It's a beautifully, kind of,
rich dish
but Asian noodles
shouldn't be toothsome.
Yeah. I felt the same.
And, for me, it's just a little bit
too heavy-handed on the spice.
[Eric] The eggplant lasagne
was made by Chef Matthew.
The lasagne, for me, spoke
the-- of the traditional lasagne.
It was a touch thick for me.
I wanted a little more
fat, though.
I wanted a little more
mouth feel.
[Eric] That means, Chef Alex
made the layered gratin.
I knew it.
The gratin was
immediately comforting.
It was layered.
It had texture.
The pasta was very well made.
[Jet] But, it was just too rich.
I don't know, if I could have
eaten the whole thing.
Now Chefs, remember, these guys
ate the food without knowing who's here.
So, the food just spoke
for itself.
So, the Chef, whose dish
was ranked third,
is...
I'm sorry, Simone.
I guessed it.
- Chef, great job.
- I had a great experience.
It was an honor
to have you here.
[Simone] It's been an honor.
Thank you.
So, judges, coincidentally,
these were the same two Chefs,
who were on top
in the first round, as well.
Hmm.
- You again.
- We are doing the same dance.
But, in the end, it came down
to how that layered pasta ate.
So, the judges ranked them
and the winning dish is...
Congratulations, Chef Alex.
You've done it again.
You've done it again.
Thank you.
[judges clapping]
Good job, Chef.
[Eric] Chef Matthew, sorry
man. Honestly, valiant effort.
- All right.
- I really do wish that you continue to make pasta.
And continue to go down
the path that you are,
'cause you clearly have talent.
Of course, that's what I do.
-Take care, man. Appreciate it.
-Thank you.
- Hug it up, man.
- [all laughing]
Chef Alex, you did it again,
you did it again.
- Thank you.
- [Eric] Congratulations [cheering and clapping]
- [Jet] Amazing, amazing work.
- Thank you.
You were, uh!
- Thank you.
- That was awesome.
Thank you, thank you, thank you.
- [Evan] Great job. Well done.
- [Alex] Oh, Thank you so much.