Secret Chef (2023–…): Season 1, Episode 10 - Final Menu - full transcript
It's down to the final two chefs and they have to prepare a fancy three-course meal for a very special guest. Who is it? You'll have to watch, we're not going to tell you in the show description. Jeez.
- Previously on Secret Chef...
It was Make Your Own Recipe Day.
- We have to make all three?
There was "one-ingredient
cooking challenge" chaos!
I've got no idea
what I'm gonna do with these carrots.
I made the chefs super happy.
The chef with the highest-rated dish is...
going to be revealed
at the end of the day.
- Cheffy!
At the end, Lanky thought he was toast...
You had the advantage
from the first round,
so you will not be going home.
...but he was safe, and Sydney was burnt.
Are you ready for the finale?
I sure hope so because
Secret Chef starts now.
Today, a chef will be crowned a winner!
- Ooh...
- You know why? 'Cause it's the finale.
Duh. What else do you do in a finale?
You pick a winner.
Ten chefs compete...
through ten levels of cooking challenges,
secretly judging each other
for a $100,000 prize.
This is Secret Chef.
This competition has been building
to this defining moment.
Two chefs made it all the way
through nine levels of culinary tests.
Now, they face each other
in one last challenge.
A final meal.
They'll be judged
by a panel of their peers.
Chefs, please exit your tasting rooms
and go to the lobby.
- Leon, you ready for this, bud?
- Alright, well, this is it.
I can't believe it.
I made it to the finale.
I get an opportunity to win $100,000.
I'ma bring it home.
There's no way I can fold now.
It's me and Chef Donut.
I just know that he's a professional,
and I've got one more fight left.
I'm gonna take him down.
- Yeah.
- Last time, man.
Let's see the journeys
of the two final players.
Lanky came to this competition from Texas.
A cheesemonger by day, bartender by night.
Once here, he was given
the alias Chef Macaron.
Macaron or macaroon?
Everyone else got such
an easy food to pronounce.
For the first challenge,
in a blind tag team,
Chef Macaron and Chef Donut
shared a victory as sweet as their names.
I think we got a contender.
With Monkey Butt in his corner,
he ironed out two wins.
- Gotta dance. I gotta party.
And he was saved from elimination twice.
- We should pick the most talented chef
to enrich the competition.
Chef Macaron,
you had the advantage
from the first round,
so you will not be going home.
Now, Lanky the home cook is in the finale,
facing off against his greatest rival...
Leon!
From the sunny peninsula of Florida,
Leon rose through the ranks
in 12 professional kitchens,
as well as working as a private chef.
Now a secret chef.
- I am Chef Donut.
Chef Donut came into this
competition ready to tear it up.
- Every single review,
this guy loves my food!
His culinary style and expertise
won him an impressive six victories.
- Boom!
That's half a dozen donut champs.
- Today is more of a personal match.
But, he has been stung
by his own competitiveness before.
I gave it everything I had.
All season long, Chef Donut proved
his skill and determination.
Will it be enough to become
our first Secret Chef winner?
The battle is on!
- Yeah.
- Last time, man.
Let's get it, man. Let's go to this lobby.
Let's see what Cheffy gotta say.
Oh...
There's the gang!
Everyone's all dressed and snazzy.
Got their hair done.
I'm looking around, and I'm thinking,
"This home cook has knocked off
so many other contestants."
I feel proud of myself.
- Y'all look great! This is awesome.
- Yes! We're so happy to see you.
Feels like we've got
the band back together,
and I'm excited to see
what's going to happen.
Oh! Cheffy!
- Hiya, chefs!
Hey, Cheffy.
Wowzers! You all clean up so nice!
Thank you.
- It must be the grand finale!
Chef Donut and Chef Macaron,
say hi to the chefs
whose dreams you crushed to get here.
Hey, everyone! What's up?
- Today, you will cook it out
in the final level to see
who will walk away with my $50,000
and the $50,000 matched
by our grand prize sponsor,
HelloFresh.
And your peers are, once again,
your judges.
- Woo-hoo!
- They will rate your food
and decide the winner of Secret Chef.
The eliminated eight are
going to determine the champion?
It's kind of nerve-wracking, but also,
I've had some really good reviews
from the eliminated,
so I know my audience.
I know who to cook for. I feel good.
This is interesting
because everyone has different palates.
If you try to please everyone,
it's gonna be very difficult.
- Chefs, there is another
name card at the table.
- Ooh.
- There is.
- Says "mystery guest."
It's the finale, so maybe it's, like,
a special guest judge.
I don't know, man. Like,
there's always twists on Secret Chef,
so I don't know what's about to happen.
This mystery guest has arrived,
and without him,
none of this would be possible.
He's the man behind the curtain
who's been watching you compete
this entire time.
- Of course, that's where this is going.
It's a little creepy.
He's the mastermind of Secret Chef.
Multi-award-winning chef,
author, and founder of Momofuku,
David Chang!
- This has all been
like a David Chang thing?
- Woo! Man! It's a pleasure, Chef!
Poof...
Incredible. A culinary icon.
- Congratulations to our very first
Secret Chef finalists.
- Thank you.
I thought you guys should've
gone home on the very first day...
...with that kimchi parsnip abomination.
That's crazy that you two were together.
I throw in some kimchi.
Kinda tie this whole thing together.
Oh, my God.
What the.
- Lanky, you should've gone home
just with your knife skills alone.
Oh, I know.
Son of a.
I cut myself.
Damn it!
Not once, but twice.
I haven't cut myself since yet!
- But, listen, guys, you won.
You've grown from your mistakes,
and you've proven me wrong.
And you're the last two standing.
So, without further ado,
it's time for a challenge.
- Hey, Chef Chang!
It's my job to say that!
- That could be your last line, Cheffy.
- Oh! Yeah. I'm just playin'. I just--
You know, Cheffy to chef.
You know, we're peers, right?
You do your thing, Chef.
- This final challenge will test
everything you've learned on Secret Chef.
- For this last challenge,
you're going to create
a delicious three-course meal.
These chefs and Dave
are in charge of the menu.
- Yo, that's crazy.
- You're gonna have to cook a starter,
a main course,
and a dessert for all of us.
- Okay.
- The menu will be delivered
to you in the kitchen.
You will serve each course
as soon as you've completed it.
You have exactly three hours total.
Oh wow.
- Chef Chang, you got this?
- I sure do, Cheffy.
So long, guys.
- Right.
- Best of luck!
Right there, baby.
We in the finale.
- It's the final cook.
My dream is right around the corner.
I've gotta prove to everyone
that I'm a skilled enough home cook
to host my own food travel show.
- My chance to cook for $100,000,
help open my restaurant.
Oh, I'm there.
David Chang's out there?
Literally makes no difference.
I have so much respect for him,
but that does not change
my emotions in this kitchen right now.
- Alright, guys.
Here's the potential menu.
Let's talk it through.
- Okay, let's talk business.
So, for starters,
they can make a cold appetizer,
a soup, or something with eggs.
I do not want eggs.
- No more eggs.
After the first challenge on day one...
...I'm done with eggs.
We had enough eggs.
There is soup, right?
- I don't want soup.
- No, no soup.
- I want cold.
- Think the cold appetizer will work.
- For starters,
we're going with cold appetizer.
- Yes. This is gonna be good.
- Yes.
- Alright, for main course.
- Okay.
Pork, noodles, or fish?
- Fish is more unforgiving,
I think. With cooking.
- Right.
- Pork, gonna be more forgiving, I think.
- Right.
Right, I agree.
- Very.
- But also, I think the hardest decision,
probably, in my opinion,
would be on the noodles.
- Mm.
- The way they incorporate
any protein in that noodle,
I think that'll say a lot.
- Mm-hmm.
They'll probably be losing
their minds over it.
- Main, we're going with noodles.
- Yes.
- And now dessert.
- Yes.
- Three options
are fried, fruit, or chocolate.
Chocolate!
- So, there's no decision here then.
It's chocolate.
- It has to be amazing.
- Final choices here.
Starter, we're going cold appetizer.
- Mm-hmm, mm-hmm.
- For main course, we're gonna do noodles.
For dessert, something chocolate.
Yes.
- I'm expecting solid plates.
There's no excuse.
- They need to be gorgeous, too.
- White glove service.
- Absolutely!
- I want to see someone bring
their A-game for the finale.
They're fighting for $100,000.
I'm kinda salty that I'm not there.
- Well, I'm gonna head out,
so they can start cooking,
and you guys can start tasting.
But, I'll be in and out. Thanks, guys.
- Thank you!
Send in the menus.
Menu. Starters.
My guests want a cold appetizer.
- The main is gonna be a noodle dish.
- For dessert, they want chocolate.
I've got three hours
to send out a three-course meal
for eight eliminated chefs,
Chef Chang, and Chef Leon.
that is 30 plates.
Jesus. Gonna be a battle.
As a home cook,
cooking a three-course meal
for this many people
is something I don't have experience with.
So, I'm so nervous right now.
- This is it.
Having to execute
a three-course dinner,
that's great.
I got that kind of organization
and time management
working in fine dining kitchens.
This may be a tough challenge for Lanky.
Chefs, begin the final challenge
in three, two, one, go!
- Let's get it. Alrighty.
- I'm alright. Let's calm down.
Cook from the heart. Cook smart.
- Alright. Let's go.
- Ooh, scallops. Thank you.
I love you. I'm gonna start with you.
I love cold appetizers, especially raw.
So, I'm making a scallop crudo
with coconut and cilantro sauce.
Even with this last cook,
I'm still playing the game.
My strategy is to focus
on everything I've learned
in all the reviews about
the tastes of the other chefs.
So, my plan is to go
for stellar execution,
big, bold flavors,
and professional-level presentation.
This is kind of East-meets-Tex
with some Asian influences,
and then some of my Texas influences.
Right now, I'm just blanching
basil and cilantro
to make an herb oil.
So, this is just to brighten it up
and to get those colors going.
- Let's get started.
Ladies and gentlemen, welcome
to the Secret Chef finale.
It's about time we watched some magic.
My strategy is I wanna make
delicious food, kind of food I would eat
that I'm very comfortable with.
Otherwise, I could miss the small details.
So, with the appetizer, I decided to make
an asparagus salad
with crispy shallots and basil tomatoes.
Chef Macaron brought it on the semifinals,
so can't sleep on the performance here.
From the get-go,
I have thought that Chef Donut
is my toughest competition.
But I was wrong.
Oh, my God...
Because it's this
mother can opener.
There we go. Alright.
Leon's definitely a pro.
He's won multiple challenges,
and he's got these really good
Southern flavors,
which I friggin' love.
It reminds me of my grandmother.
So, I know what he can do in the kitchen.
Asparagus is looking great.
What are we thinking? Fried asparagus?
Southern cuisine and flavor are
the two most strong-rooted fundamentals
that I have as a chef.
And an asparagus salad
reminds me of
a green bean salad that I love.
But I decide to fry the asparagus.
I think this is a good opportunity
to elevate wonderful soul food.
I feel like this is my competition to win.
- Who do you guys think is gonna win?
Lanky. Leon. Leon.
- The challenges can throw anybody off.
We've been through all the challenges.
- Right.
- Seems 50/50.
- Yeah.
- Leon, it was hype from jump.
Like, just the energy.
- Yeah.
- You can feel like
he's professional for sure.
- He's intense, and I think
that'll show in his food.
- There we go. One more.
Come on, come on, come on.
- What about Lanky?
Does he have professional... He must.
- I think he just loves to cook.
- Based on, like, Lanky vibes,
I don't think you would work in a kitchen,
but you could work in a restaurant.
Be like a food and beverage
director or something like that.
Feel like I'm working at the bar again.
I've been a bartender for 15 years.
I've prepped a lot of limes.
This is all strategy
because the other chefs
have like knife skills,
and my knife skills
gotta be pretty precision
because Chef Chang already called me out.
And, yes, I agree.
My knife skills were not the best
because, well, this is nerve-wracking.
Mm...
Alright! No pressure!
Tucking my fingers in, Chef.
I did not expect this.
I didn't know I was gonna have
any guests in my kitchen today.
You getting hungry, Chef?
Um, time for some chilies.
I couldn't have been, like,
whisking something,
like, making it look easy.
I'm over here just, like,
hovering over my knife board.
Oh.
Chef Chang is gone. Come on, Lanky.
Thin as possible so I'm not
ass-blasting my guests.
- I'ma start assembling the appetizer.
I wanna make sure
I got everything like I want it.
That's not the best bite.
The asparagus is supposed to be
the star of the cold appetizers,
and it sucks.
Little fibrous.
I shouldn't have done fried asparagus
because it's got a horrible mouthfeel.
If I'm thinking it,
I know the judges are gonna be
thinking the same thing.
Damn, man.
I'm hoping I didn't
shoot myself in the foot
because this is just taking
for friggin' ever.
Everything has to be friggin' perfect.
I mean, I'm cooking
the dinner of a lifetime here.
- I don't wanna waste no time.
Time management can make
or break you here,
so I have to pivot very quickly.
I'm going to use this raw asparagus
because you don't get the fibrous nature.
We get the crunch. I'm going with raw.
And luckily, I still have
some raw asparagus.
Good catch there, Leon.
Really good catch.
I just need to make sure
they think it's enough.
And so, I'm actually gonna add
a little more texture.
Crunch. Wow.
Oh, chefs!
Forty-five minutes have gone by.
I'm pretty sure I'm getting
this one out before Lanky.
Awesome. The second I send this,
I'm going into the next course.
Oh...
Chefs, it's time to eat.
The tasting starts now.
What in the hell is that?
"Asparagus salad
with crispy shallots,
coconut cashews, and basil tomatoes."
I like the dressing a lot.
It has a nice acidity. I really like that.
The asparagus is,
like, underwhelming for me.
- Me, too.
- Texture's just weird.
It's raw.
- What is the flavor profile here?
I'm so confused.
The flavors of each
individual thing are nice,
but do they go together is my question.
- Could use edits.
- Oftentimes, Lanky does
a lot of things on the plate,
but they're not cohesive.
- I don't know.
I think I have to see.
We have to see
what the next one is.
- Yeah.
- Is this asparagus?
That's pretty tasty.
I've got a little bit of a knot
in my stomach right now.
I wanna start with a bang.
But, after seeing Leon's dish come out,
I'm feeling really behind.
Garnish is just tedious work.
They're probably gonna wonder,
"If it's raw, what took so long
to get it out?"
I'm freaking out because
I've still got two more courses
I haven't even started.
Oh, my God, okay.
Hurry up. Hurry up. Hurry up. Oh God.
Just get in there! Come on.
Only two hours and ten minutes left.
Come on, Lanky! Hustle! Hustle!
It's the finale.
Welcome back to the Secret Chef finale,
where Leon steams ahead
and Lanky lags behind.
- Golly!
My appetizers go out.
I know that's a beautiful plate of food,
and it looks like a professional did it.
But Leon's already cooking his entrée,
so I need to pick up my pace
so I can focus on my entrée
and the dessert.
Chefs, two hours left.
- Send 'em away.
Hope you enjoy!
What is this? Is this his food?
- I could feel
my butt puckered completely.
Oh, my goodness. I am so nervous.
Up next, we have
"Scallop crudo
with coconut cilantro sauce."
First of all, stunning.
- Wow!
Stunning!
- Presentation wonderful.
- Based on knife skills and technique,
I would be very surprised
if this was Lanky.
- It's pretty good.
It's got a little too much heat for me,
but it's tasty.
- Oh, that's so spicy. I love it.
- I really love that dish.
Just missing like a little bit of salt.
- Yeah.
- I got a flavor from it
that was just really nice.
It's cilantro oil.
That was such a good idea
to do something like that.
- Yeah, like, they went for it.
- Took some risk, yeah.
- I feel like the first dish
was like farm-to-table vibes,
and this is like Michelin vibes.
You know what I mean?
- Yes, yes.
- For sure.
- Alright, now,
I wanna start on my entrée.
Hello, Chef.
Um, what do you think?
That's a long pause.
Cooking for David Chang...
Neat, but also... whoa.
Oh. Bye, Chef...
He didn't say anything about it!
Come on, bro!
- I feel ahead today.
I'm gonna go ahead
and get two pounds of this pasta going.
You don't wanna make pasta,
and then be like,
"Oh, man, I didn't make enough pasta!"
For my entrée, I'm making a linguine pasta
with a roasted garlic cream sauce,
mushrooms, tasso ham, crab,
and parmesan cheese.
It's a familiar noodle dish to me.
It means a lot to me.
At my last restaurant,
I made that dish
every single day for years,
and I'm elevating it today
to show the world
I'm ready to run my own restaurant.
I think I'm gonna win it
with this next dish.
You get this mountain of cheese
right next to you, and you're like,
"Ah!
I got all the cheese in the world!"
- Hell yeah.
- That is a really nice beef tenderloin.
So I can do like
a teriyaki scallion noodles.
I know these noodles are gonna taste good,
but I know the steak is gonna
take it over the top.
Some of my favorite people
to watch are TV chefs,
so my dream is to do that.
So I need to win it all because
who wants to watch a runner-up?
Start getting this done
because they are thicc bois.
Yes, that's what I wanna hear.
Chefs,
only an hour and a half left. That's...
90 minutes!
- Hoo...
- Oh.
While our finalists
battle it out in the kitchen,
David Chang is hosting a
Real Runners-Up of Secret Chef
reunion special.
Who does he think he is, Andy Cohen?
Love the Housewives.
I wanna talk about your experiences
here on Secret Chef.
Anthony and Alexa,
you guys were the first two out.
That must have been a real blow.
It was short and sweet.
- Ah-- Yes. You make the kitchen messy.
- I did do some things,
and they weren't helpful.
- Poonam, what did you think when
you were handed the steam cleaner?
The heat conductor challenge,
I'm still so traumatized.
I literally hit myself with the steamer
on my own head.
- Yeah, you did.
Damn it! I don't even steam my clothes.
- I thought you got the best one.
- What would you have made?
- Do tell.
- Fish!
But that's just me.
- Wish I had done a fish. But fish,
it's a little risky.
- That's crazy.
- David Chang is one of
my favorite people,
probably on this planet.
- I'm gonna come back for
the announcement of the winners.
Thanks, guys.
- Thank you!
But, like, I don't think
anyone could have done a dish
using only my steamer.
- Decent amount of lump crab.
Gonna give that crab a nice, subtle cook.
This is one of the first things I learned
how to make in my career,
so kinda getting back to my roots
and what I enjoy about cooking.
I'm excited. It's the finale.
In the restaurant,
I couldn't put this much crab,
but I want a cream sauce
to be super hardy.
- I'm more nervous about
the eliminated chefs rating my food
because it's their score that counts,
so I've got to please their palates.
From my past reviews,
my critiques have been
to up my flavor profiles.
"Missing seasoning."
"Needs more flavor. Bland."
So, I really like the oil sauce that's
going to be tossed with the noodles.
It might seem simple,
but it packs a lot of flavor.
Smash smash. Hulk smash.
Brings flavor. Onions, garlic.
And I'm gonna fry it all. Yes.
Yes...
Chef Chang?
- Oui, Chef?
- Uh, w-what are you doing in there?
- I'm trying to prove to Poonam
that you can use
a steamer as a steam oven.
- Yeah,
you don't have to cook. It's your show.
- I know!
You know
you can't win the $100,000, right?
- Who says that I can't?
- I say that.
Th-That's my rule.
- Ha, ha. Poonam, ye of little faith.
- Hi!
- Chef!
Hey!
- I wanted to show you that.
- You did it with the steamer?!
- Little under 30 minutes.
Did David Chang just make me
a personal salmon to try?
- Because I saw how triggered
you are by this thing!
I've never made it before like this,
but it's just a Cantonese-style sauce
with Shaoxing wine, some... whatever
leftover stuff you guys had in the fridge.
- Girl!
- Okay, I'm gonna pass it.
Enjoy.
- This is, this is... perfection.
The beautiful garnish on the top.
Those mushrooms.
I got a personal dish
from David Chang, y'all!
I could eat that every day.
David, if you're listening,
can you please send me the recipe
so I can actually do this at home?
I'm buying the steamer.
Chefs, one hour remains.
- Ow, ow, ow. Ah!
Alrighty. The pasta sauce
is nearing completion,
and I have to make sure that
everybody gets a good amount
of every single component.
God. God.
The sauce is getting thick already.
It's not really a great sign
because the quantities of sauce
are just slightly off.
The proteins absorbed
a lot of the cream sauce.
Decent amount of lump crab.
The sauce is the biggest part
in the presentation of this dish.
If there's not enough sauce,
this could be a complete failure.
Oh God.
No way.
This is not gonna be enough.
Oh, my God, no.
Welcome back,
where Leon is at a loss for his sauce.
Good luck, Leon.
- Damn, I just wish
I had more cream sauce!
The thicker it gets,
the less sauce I have to distribute.
So, immediately, my mind goes to,
how can I stretch this sauce?
I'll put a little more cream.
It's not really thick like I want,
but I feel like the flavors are there.
Alright, let's go.
- Alright, hurry up.
Pick up the pace, Lank.
- Definitely wanted more
of a saucy-style dish,
but I like what I got in terms of flavor.
For the last dish,
chocolates, baby.
Oh, chefs.
The first entrée is ready to be tasted.
It's a linguine pasta.
Why is there more parmesan than my pasta?
I do like that much parmesan.
Let's do shots. Shots of parmesan.
But also, tasso ham,
mushrooms, crab. Pick a lane.
Yeah, there are a lot of toppings.
I think this is Lanky
because it's not self-edited.
I'm so interested to see who made this
because I don't know who this is.
- I like that.
The balance of, like, cream
and the spices and the mushrooms.
It was a good flavor, you know?
- I love the spiciness, the creaminess.
It's like cozy. It's comforting.
- It is comforting.
- I agree. It tasted good. It had flavor,
but it needed more sauce
to bring everything together.
- That's pretty tasty,
but I think my entrée is better.
Once again, I am behind Chef Donut,
but I'm just cooking
those steaks to perfection.
- I haven't even had
my opponent's next dish.
So, like, are they ready?
Is the entrée there?
Where's the dessert?
You know, I'm like home stretch.
I'm ready to go.
Y'all gotta be kidding me.
Having David Chang
staring at you silently
while eating your food
that you cooked for a finale
of his cooking competition
is just crazy.
You just sittin' there, and you're like,
"Alright, my man. Like,
"when you gonna go?
Okay, you still there?
"Alright, I'm gonna just keep cooking.
"Alright, you still looking at me.
Alright, that's cool. No.
Alright. No. Yep, still there.
Alright, fine. I'ma just keep moving."
Got $100,000 on the line.
I ain't got time to talk, David Chang.
- I'm gonna plate these noodles
while the steaks are resting.
It's a noodle dish,
so I don't want it to look
like home cooking.
You just take the spatula
with the little ridges on it
and just toss it in there.
I want to make sure that everyone knows
when they look and taste my dish,
that this must have been made
by a professional chef.
Chef Leon, I hope you fear me.
I'm coming for ya...
This is incredible.
Chefs, your second entrée is served.
Ooh!
We have "beef teriyaki
with scallion noodles."
Yeah, it looks pretty good.
I think it's interesting to use a soba.
Yeah.
The noodles were
a little greasy in my opinion,
but super flavorful. I love the sauce.
I agree. I'm getting green onion.
I'm getting garlic,
which is probably why I love it.
No, there's no flavor! I need spice.
Do you think this could have been Lanky?
I'm feeling this might be Leon.
- Noodles are under-seasoned.
Steak is delicious.
The beef is amazing.
I would eat that steak any day.
- But, the steak is carrying the noodles!
- Yes.
- I know, and this is a noodle dish.
JAZMIN:- These entrées are both
pretty equal in my mind.
It's really neck-and-neck,
in my opinion.
- Entrée's gone.
Now, I have to focus on my dessert.
So my plan is to make an orange curd
with a chocolate shell
and a five-spice meringue.
And this is where I am not
comfortable whatsoever.
Don't make desserts. Don't like them.
I'm a home chef. I cook for me!
- I'm gonna make a chocolate shortcake,
but it's gonna be with brûléed bananas.
I chose this dessert
because I want this as a redemption.
During the TV dinner challenge,
I made a shortcake using puff pastry,
and everybody called it horrible.
- But it's not shortcake.
- Ah! I don't like that.
- False advertising.
- "Shortcake not good at all."
They were like, "This is not a shortcake.
This is awful.
What is this?" Um...
Called my mama ugly.
So, I'm not gonna listen to anybody else.
I'm gonna do exactly what I believe in.
I think I got enough time.
Chefs, 30 minutes remain.
- Golly.
Oh, my God, this is exhausting.
At the cheese shop I work at,
the boss man loves making lemon curd.
He whips it up.
He, you know, takes his time.
Just takes time.
I'm gonna try to do just
a little bit quicker of a version.
Gelatin powder.
It'll act as a quick thickener.
Let's get this science going.
I'm just gonna keep my fingers
crossed that it works.
We got caramel. We got chocolate gravy.
Phew! Okay. Chocolate should be fun.
I haven't had
a single dessert in this competition.
- Well, I wanna be wowed for chocolate.
- No, they better nail the chocolate.
- I'm having an expectation at this point
to see some really beautiful food.
- Mm-hmm.
- I'm all about taste and execution
at this point.
- Yeah, that's true.
It's about the execution of it.
And this is $100,000.
- There's a lot riding on it.
- Cook your heart out or go home.
One last taste.
Make sure we're good here.
Beautiful.
Chefs, you've got
15 minutes left. I'd get moving.
- Fifteen minutes to go? No way!
I've never made
this dessert before, and here I am,
in the final cook,
and I'm trying to make this work.
Come on, need you to thicken.
I need this to thicken.
Oh, my God!
This curd is just not thickening.
That is not what I'm looking for.
They're just gonna have like
an orange, eggy, butter soup,
and that's no good.
I won't get any points for that.
This is the most important
dessert of my life.
I don't have time to baby this thing.
Chefs, 10 minutes remain.
- This is getting crazy.
- Oh, my God. Okay.
If this doesn't thicken, I'm screwed.
I'm really worried about that now.
I wasn't worried earlier.
Now, I'm really worried.
What am I gonna do?
- Uh, I don't know. Panic?
- Oh!
Sometimes, a chef needs to improvise.
Oh! Good thing we tested
this three episodes ago, right?
- This is not thickening up.
So, as a backup plan,
I gotta think of something quick
to make for dessert.
What can I make that's gonna be
quick and edible,
and that I can kind of use
what I've already made?
Because I don't have time
to start fresh with anything.
I see French bread back there, so I think
I can make, like, a dessert crostini?
I don't even know if I have time
to make meringue,
so I'm gonna switch that, too.
It's not gonna be a meringue.
It's gonna be a whipped cream.
I'm taking a huge risk with this dessert.
Some people might not think
it's even a dessert at all,
but it is now.
Because I just made it up, didn't I?
I thought that orange curd
would've been really great.
It was gonna look really pretty,
but it's just not happening.
So, I'm gonna stick with something
that I know,
which is how to make toast.
So, you know,
I came all the way to Secret Chef
to make toast.
Chefs, five minutes remain.
- Y'all gotta be kidding me!
- Got dang it!
I'm brûléeing the bananas,
and with just enough time left.
Do I wanna--
They're just big bananas.
Oh, my God. This is supposed to be
a quick and easy brûlée,
but these bananas are huge.
And even when you brûlée the top,
you still got this much raw banana.
Sorry, wood cutting board.
Oh, my God, there may not be enough time.
Ah...
Lanky, you got this.
You've been in this situation before
with less time to go,
and you don't have that much left.
It's crunch time.
I'm running out of time.
I've gotta get the dessert on the plate.
I do like that.
Just gotta give it some orange.
I'm not going to make it.
There's too much going on
in the last minutes of this competition.
But, at the same time,
there's $100,000 on the line.
I gotta deliver.
Next thing, next thing, next thing, next--
Sugar, sugar, sugar, sugar, sugar!
Chefs, one minute left.
Go, go, go, go, go.
Alright, there's that.
- Keep going. Keep going. Keep going.
- I gotta win this thing.
I didn't come all this way
to come in second place.
Go, go, go, go, go!
Just enough time left.
I'm about to get pretty choked up
right now.
I just plated my last damn dish.
Five, four,
three, two, one.
Time is up.
The challenge has ended.
- That's hella hard.
- Ah!
I'm not super proud of that dessert.
But overall,
I'm thinking I did a pretty good job.
I'm so proud of myself.
I mean, 30 plates just went out.
That's incredible.
Yeah, baby!
- I'm hella proud, man.
It's over. Three hours,
cooking three courses.
I did it.
I made it to this point, and I did it.
I think I'm about to win $100,000.
Ah...
- The ball's outta my court now.
Okay, chefs,
desserts are ready to be tasted.
Hoo hoo hoo hoo hoo!
For dessert,
"chocolate orange crostini
with a five-spice whipped cream."
- It smells like Christmas! Like orange--
- Yeah, that's the five-spice.
- That's a delicious whip.
This is a strange dessert,
but it tastes good. I like it.
- I like it a lot.
- It's very, very, very simple.
It's $100,000.
Are you kidding me?
They didn't show any skill. You took
whipped cream. Anyone can do that.
The chocolate also seems gritty.
- And that's the problem.
- Flavor's there, but it's just
the technique was not it.
Do you think this could have been Leon?
- I think this is Lanky
because there's no measurements involved.
I'm so interested to see who made this.
- One last taste.
All three of my dishes were stronger.
So for the dessert,
"chocolate brûlée banana shortcake."
- It looks beautiful, in my opinion.
- There's no brûlée.
The banana's definitely brûléed.
A little bit. It's not consistent.
They didn't have that full torch on it.
- That chocolate mousse? That was so good.
- So good.
- The mousse is bussin'.
- Mm-hmm.
- This is absolutely incredible.
It's a solid like combination.
The chocolate with the buttery biscuit,
the banana.
Lanky did a banana
in one of the competitions.
- I'm honestly thinking this is Lanky.
- Yeah, this is Lanky.
- That's good.
He may have got me on dessert,
but that's okay,
because I think my entrée
and appetizer were better.
Chefs, please head
to your tasting rooms one last time.
Adios, muchachos.
- It's been so long.
- Okay.
While their fates hang in the balance,
the finalists get some face time
with Chef Chang.
This is the hardest thing I've ever done.
Only in my wildest dreams
did I ever think I could actually do this.
Oh, my God.
Well...
- Take a seat, man.
Come around on this side.
- And now, this is mind-blowing.
We get to have a chat
with Chef David Chang.
How cool is that?
- First of all,
I was feeling for you guys
because we're throwing challenges at you
left and right, and they're crazy.
We tried our best to come up
with very difficult challenges.
You did a good job.
Those were very difficult challenges.
I haven't sweat this much
in a long time!
- Yeah, I gotta talk to whoever
had the idea of the gumbo challenge.
Chefs,
it's time to write your final review
for this competition.
Please rate each course,
assessing the taste,
execution, and presentation.
- See, I think this being the finale,
I'm gonna be a little more...
difficult for everybody.
- Let's just talk about the finale.
The last thing you just made.
In terms of the pasta, the noodles,
for me,
your dish had a lot going on.
And that, to me, is like what
you wanted to make at home, you know?
But then, you have to ask yourself,
is that competition worthy?
- Mm-hmm.
- What was your game plan coming in?
- I wanted to cook food I liked.
Because if you win cooking your food,
there's no better feeling.
So, I feel like I had a game plan
that kinda played to the judges,
but also wanted to cook food
I just wanted to cook.
- So, this is from one chef.
Asparagus, linguine...
That's crazy. And the shortcake.
- Was not very cohesive.
I mean, it's rustic...
It just, there was a lot going on.
The asparagus salad with crispy shallots,
coconut cashews, and basil tomatoes.
- It's like I ate the whole entire plate,
so that tells you something.
The linguine pasta
with roasted garlic cream sauce,
tasso ham, mushrooms,
crab, and parmesan cheese.
- It had personality and character.
- And then, finally,
we have a chocolate brûlée
banana shortcake.
- That tasted amazing.
That was like really, really tasty.
- How about yourself, Lanky?
What was your game plan coming in?
- I went into this, purely thinking,
go big or go home.
On your dish,
I thought that the meat
was cooked really well,
but it wasn't a meat course.
- Yeah.
- And your noodles,
I probably would have not chosen soba
because they're extremely delicate.
- Yeah.
And they're gonna sorta break apart.
I'll be honest here, guys.
I never would have come up
with the kinds of dishes
that your desserts look like.
They were rough, man.
Easy for me to say.
I'm not in your shoes.
I'm coming up with this
on the fly.
- We've got our crudo,
the beef teriyaki,
and the chocolate orange crostini.
- A menu from who I believe is Leon,
aka Chef Donut.
We started with a scallop crudo,
which was absolutely stunning.
It's super elegant.
I feel like I could've ordered this
and eaten this at a restaurant.
- For the main, rather than it
being a noodle-forward dish,
the main is beef teriyaki with noodles.
The challenge was noodles.
I don't wanna rate this so poorly
because I feel like the concept was there.
And the last one
is the chocolate orange crostini
with the five-spice whipped cream.
I think this was a really great idea,
but the execution today
was honestly terrible.
- I know you guys gave your best effort.
- Definitely a learning experience.
- Yeah, I wouldn't trade it
for anything in the world.
- It's wild that this is the finale.
I voted based on the season finale,
and there being $100,000 on the line.
I wanted to see people
bring it up a notch,
but I have no idea what to expect.
- Oof. I feel for both
my friends right now.
This is a tough day.
- And may the best chef win...
- Alright, guys.
You ready to bring in
your voting chef peers?
- Yep. Let's bring--
- Bring 'em in.
- Let's bring out the old gang.
This is it.
There's $100,000 on the line.
To say that there's butterflies
in my tummy
might be underselling that.
I left my kitchen with so much confidence,
but David gave us the positives,
but also gave us the negatives.
So, I'm losing a little bit of confidence.
I'm thinking maybe I didn't
walk away with this thing.
You look good.
Thank you.
Although it was an unbelievable moment
to get to this point
in my professional career
where I have David Chang eating my food,
after the feedback that I got,
I'm feeling rough. If it's enough,
I win. If it's not...
that's gonna be a hard one.
- Oh. Hi, guys!
Hello!
- Thank y'all.
- You guys did so good!
- Go, Cheffy! Go, Cheffy!
Wow! Hiya, chefs!
Hiya, Chef Chang.
- What's up, Cheffy?
- What an insane final challenge.
But, the most insane part is yet to come
because it's time to find out
what these eight voting chefs
really thought of the menus.
- Chefs, normally,
you would be reading
your reviews in private.
But since it's the finale,
we're gonna have your chef peers
read them to you right now.
- No more secrets!
Hoo hoo hoo hoo hoo hoo hoo hoo hoo!
Oh, my God!
- Yo, someone up here
about to see who pops off!
I'm okay with this.
I will say it to your face,
I'll say it behind your back.
But, usually, when I say things,
there's no one dangling $100,000
in front of someone else's face.
Chefs, the eliminated chefs
still have no idea
who made each menu,
so please do not react.
We're going to do this
in order of course,
starting with the appetizers.
- Wow.
This is the first time
we're hearing reviews out loud.
Normally, we're just in our tasting rooms,
on our couch, or pacing, or in our chair,
and it's a little easier to do
when you're by yourself.
- First up, the asparagus salad
and the scallop crudo.
- Chef Kumquat, let's hear what you have
to say about the asparagus salad.
- "Asparagus salad.
Your starter was disjointed.
Individual flavors, though, were tasty."
- "Your starter seems like...
"everything-but-the-kitchen-sink salad.
Tasted great, though."
- Blueberry, what about your thoughts
about the scallop crudo?
- "I really love that dish.
Think just missing
like a little bit of salt on the scallop."
Yeah.
- "Honestly, in my opinion,
this was the best dish today.
The only thing missing was
salt and acidity to cut the heat."
- Wow. That is a load off
because already, I'm thinking,
"Well, if she thinks that way,
I'm hoping the majority think that way."
I probably lost dessert,
so now, it's all gonna be on this entrée.
- Alright, now we're moving on to
the beef teriyaki with scallion noodles,
and the linguine pasta
with garlic cream sauce.
- "I think the entrée was amazing.
I would have loved the noodles
to be the star, and with some more sauce."
- Chef Arugula, what did you
have to say about the linguine?
- "Your entrée was a tasty dish overall,
"but it was too many components,
and I think you needed to dial it back."
- "I love the creaminess and the spice."
- I feel okay. I don't feel great,
but I don't feel like it's
the worst dish out of the group.
- And finally, the desserts.
The chocolate brûlée banana shortcake,
and then the chocolate orange crostini
with five-spice whipped cream.
- Couscous?
- "Your dessert had the perfect level
"of sweetness between the three sauces.
Crust on the brûlée
should have shined more."
- What about the chocolate crostini?
- "The dessert was very disappointing.
All the components
were lacking technique."
- She's not wrong. Hearing her review,
I just wanna melt.
Just like that chocolate sauce.
Well, actually, I wanna melt better
than that chocolate sauce
because even that wasn't great.
- Thank you for reading your reviews.
- And don't hate us.
- Ah, we could never hate you guys.
Y'all are the best.
- Chef Chang, are you ready
to hear the results of the ratings?
- Let's do this.
- Here we are, waiting for the verdict.
Oh, my God, this is it!
Someone's gonna win $100,000!
Now, I'm freaking out.
- And the Secret Chef winner is...
- And the Secret Chef winner is...
Dramatic music.
Before we reveal the winner...
Oh, my God...
Lanky and Leon,
if you want to say something
to your fellow chefs, now is the time.
- Oh!
- Go ahead. Start, buddy.
- Alright.
This experience has been
unlike anything I have ever imagined.
I've learned how to be a better chef
from every single one of you.
I just wanna say thank you so much.
- Good work, Chef.
- Yeah!
- Well, lemme tell you
a little bit about myself.
All you know is I'm from Texas,
where I am a home cook.
- Wh-What?
Oh, my God, was I wrong.
- For about 15 years,
I've been cooking in my home
for friends, family, whatnot.
By day, I'm a cheesemonger,
and by night, I'm a bartender.
- I knew it! I knew!
That's why we're friends, buddy!
- It's been a blast, learning from
everyone, having the camaraderie.
No matter what the outcome,
if you shoot for the moon and miss,
you land among the stars.
- Amen.
- Aw.
- We love you guys.
Good job, Lanky.
- Okay.
I have all the ratings,
and a winner has been chosen.
I'm going to announce the winner
based on the menu they created.
When you hear your menu,
do not react
until I ask you to step forward.
Alright, like...
here we go!
$100,000 about to be announced.
- Why am I nervous?
- Oh, lordy.
- The highest-rated menu was...
Scallop crudo,
beef teriyaki with noodles,
chocolate orange crostini.
Whichever chef created that,
please step forward.
What...
- Congratulations, Chef Macaron.
You have won Secret Chef!
Aw, Lanky!
Yeah, I'm pretty proud.
I just won Secret Chef!
Home Cook Lanky. This guy.
This guy!
I got something
special for you, man.
What!?
Oh, my God.
Chef Macaron. Lanky. Congratulations.
Dude. Awesome work.
- Thank you, Chef.
You got this and $100,000.
- Aw, congratulations, Chef Macaron!
- Thanks, Cheffy!
- We're gonna brush this one off
and keep going.
And it's been a great experience.
I've learned a lot.
Sorry, Syd. I'll get to you.
Man, you cooked your ass off.
- Appreciate it.
A wild journey from him.
He played the game.
Absolutely,
a huge congratulations to Lanky.
This is Chef Donut signing off.
Oh, man. This means the world to me.
Ten contestants.
Twenty-plus challenges.
And now, there's only one chef left,
and it's me... Yeah!
Woo!
Chef Macaron signing off.
- Cheffy out.
It was Make Your Own Recipe Day.
- We have to make all three?
There was "one-ingredient
cooking challenge" chaos!
I've got no idea
what I'm gonna do with these carrots.
I made the chefs super happy.
The chef with the highest-rated dish is...
going to be revealed
at the end of the day.
- Cheffy!
At the end, Lanky thought he was toast...
You had the advantage
from the first round,
so you will not be going home.
...but he was safe, and Sydney was burnt.
Are you ready for the finale?
I sure hope so because
Secret Chef starts now.
Today, a chef will be crowned a winner!
- Ooh...
- You know why? 'Cause it's the finale.
Duh. What else do you do in a finale?
You pick a winner.
Ten chefs compete...
through ten levels of cooking challenges,
secretly judging each other
for a $100,000 prize.
This is Secret Chef.
This competition has been building
to this defining moment.
Two chefs made it all the way
through nine levels of culinary tests.
Now, they face each other
in one last challenge.
A final meal.
They'll be judged
by a panel of their peers.
Chefs, please exit your tasting rooms
and go to the lobby.
- Leon, you ready for this, bud?
- Alright, well, this is it.
I can't believe it.
I made it to the finale.
I get an opportunity to win $100,000.
I'ma bring it home.
There's no way I can fold now.
It's me and Chef Donut.
I just know that he's a professional,
and I've got one more fight left.
I'm gonna take him down.
- Yeah.
- Last time, man.
Let's see the journeys
of the two final players.
Lanky came to this competition from Texas.
A cheesemonger by day, bartender by night.
Once here, he was given
the alias Chef Macaron.
Macaron or macaroon?
Everyone else got such
an easy food to pronounce.
For the first challenge,
in a blind tag team,
Chef Macaron and Chef Donut
shared a victory as sweet as their names.
I think we got a contender.
With Monkey Butt in his corner,
he ironed out two wins.
- Gotta dance. I gotta party.
And he was saved from elimination twice.
- We should pick the most talented chef
to enrich the competition.
Chef Macaron,
you had the advantage
from the first round,
so you will not be going home.
Now, Lanky the home cook is in the finale,
facing off against his greatest rival...
Leon!
From the sunny peninsula of Florida,
Leon rose through the ranks
in 12 professional kitchens,
as well as working as a private chef.
Now a secret chef.
- I am Chef Donut.
Chef Donut came into this
competition ready to tear it up.
- Every single review,
this guy loves my food!
His culinary style and expertise
won him an impressive six victories.
- Boom!
That's half a dozen donut champs.
- Today is more of a personal match.
But, he has been stung
by his own competitiveness before.
I gave it everything I had.
All season long, Chef Donut proved
his skill and determination.
Will it be enough to become
our first Secret Chef winner?
The battle is on!
- Yeah.
- Last time, man.
Let's get it, man. Let's go to this lobby.
Let's see what Cheffy gotta say.
Oh...
There's the gang!
Everyone's all dressed and snazzy.
Got their hair done.
I'm looking around, and I'm thinking,
"This home cook has knocked off
so many other contestants."
I feel proud of myself.
- Y'all look great! This is awesome.
- Yes! We're so happy to see you.
Feels like we've got
the band back together,
and I'm excited to see
what's going to happen.
Oh! Cheffy!
- Hiya, chefs!
Hey, Cheffy.
Wowzers! You all clean up so nice!
Thank you.
- It must be the grand finale!
Chef Donut and Chef Macaron,
say hi to the chefs
whose dreams you crushed to get here.
Hey, everyone! What's up?
- Today, you will cook it out
in the final level to see
who will walk away with my $50,000
and the $50,000 matched
by our grand prize sponsor,
HelloFresh.
And your peers are, once again,
your judges.
- Woo-hoo!
- They will rate your food
and decide the winner of Secret Chef.
The eliminated eight are
going to determine the champion?
It's kind of nerve-wracking, but also,
I've had some really good reviews
from the eliminated,
so I know my audience.
I know who to cook for. I feel good.
This is interesting
because everyone has different palates.
If you try to please everyone,
it's gonna be very difficult.
- Chefs, there is another
name card at the table.
- Ooh.
- There is.
- Says "mystery guest."
It's the finale, so maybe it's, like,
a special guest judge.
I don't know, man. Like,
there's always twists on Secret Chef,
so I don't know what's about to happen.
This mystery guest has arrived,
and without him,
none of this would be possible.
He's the man behind the curtain
who's been watching you compete
this entire time.
- Of course, that's where this is going.
It's a little creepy.
He's the mastermind of Secret Chef.
Multi-award-winning chef,
author, and founder of Momofuku,
David Chang!
- This has all been
like a David Chang thing?
- Woo! Man! It's a pleasure, Chef!
Poof...
Incredible. A culinary icon.
- Congratulations to our very first
Secret Chef finalists.
- Thank you.
I thought you guys should've
gone home on the very first day...
...with that kimchi parsnip abomination.
That's crazy that you two were together.
I throw in some kimchi.
Kinda tie this whole thing together.
Oh, my God.
What the.
- Lanky, you should've gone home
just with your knife skills alone.
Oh, I know.
Son of a.
I cut myself.
Damn it!
Not once, but twice.
I haven't cut myself since yet!
- But, listen, guys, you won.
You've grown from your mistakes,
and you've proven me wrong.
And you're the last two standing.
So, without further ado,
it's time for a challenge.
- Hey, Chef Chang!
It's my job to say that!
- That could be your last line, Cheffy.
- Oh! Yeah. I'm just playin'. I just--
You know, Cheffy to chef.
You know, we're peers, right?
You do your thing, Chef.
- This final challenge will test
everything you've learned on Secret Chef.
- For this last challenge,
you're going to create
a delicious three-course meal.
These chefs and Dave
are in charge of the menu.
- Yo, that's crazy.
- You're gonna have to cook a starter,
a main course,
and a dessert for all of us.
- Okay.
- The menu will be delivered
to you in the kitchen.
You will serve each course
as soon as you've completed it.
You have exactly three hours total.
Oh wow.
- Chef Chang, you got this?
- I sure do, Cheffy.
So long, guys.
- Right.
- Best of luck!
Right there, baby.
We in the finale.
- It's the final cook.
My dream is right around the corner.
I've gotta prove to everyone
that I'm a skilled enough home cook
to host my own food travel show.
- My chance to cook for $100,000,
help open my restaurant.
Oh, I'm there.
David Chang's out there?
Literally makes no difference.
I have so much respect for him,
but that does not change
my emotions in this kitchen right now.
- Alright, guys.
Here's the potential menu.
Let's talk it through.
- Okay, let's talk business.
So, for starters,
they can make a cold appetizer,
a soup, or something with eggs.
I do not want eggs.
- No more eggs.
After the first challenge on day one...
...I'm done with eggs.
We had enough eggs.
There is soup, right?
- I don't want soup.
- No, no soup.
- I want cold.
- Think the cold appetizer will work.
- For starters,
we're going with cold appetizer.
- Yes. This is gonna be good.
- Yes.
- Alright, for main course.
- Okay.
Pork, noodles, or fish?
- Fish is more unforgiving,
I think. With cooking.
- Right.
- Pork, gonna be more forgiving, I think.
- Right.
Right, I agree.
- Very.
- But also, I think the hardest decision,
probably, in my opinion,
would be on the noodles.
- Mm.
- The way they incorporate
any protein in that noodle,
I think that'll say a lot.
- Mm-hmm.
They'll probably be losing
their minds over it.
- Main, we're going with noodles.
- Yes.
- And now dessert.
- Yes.
- Three options
are fried, fruit, or chocolate.
Chocolate!
- So, there's no decision here then.
It's chocolate.
- It has to be amazing.
- Final choices here.
Starter, we're going cold appetizer.
- Mm-hmm, mm-hmm.
- For main course, we're gonna do noodles.
For dessert, something chocolate.
Yes.
- I'm expecting solid plates.
There's no excuse.
- They need to be gorgeous, too.
- White glove service.
- Absolutely!
- I want to see someone bring
their A-game for the finale.
They're fighting for $100,000.
I'm kinda salty that I'm not there.
- Well, I'm gonna head out,
so they can start cooking,
and you guys can start tasting.
But, I'll be in and out. Thanks, guys.
- Thank you!
Send in the menus.
Menu. Starters.
My guests want a cold appetizer.
- The main is gonna be a noodle dish.
- For dessert, they want chocolate.
I've got three hours
to send out a three-course meal
for eight eliminated chefs,
Chef Chang, and Chef Leon.
that is 30 plates.
Jesus. Gonna be a battle.
As a home cook,
cooking a three-course meal
for this many people
is something I don't have experience with.
So, I'm so nervous right now.
- This is it.
Having to execute
a three-course dinner,
that's great.
I got that kind of organization
and time management
working in fine dining kitchens.
This may be a tough challenge for Lanky.
Chefs, begin the final challenge
in three, two, one, go!
- Let's get it. Alrighty.
- I'm alright. Let's calm down.
Cook from the heart. Cook smart.
- Alright. Let's go.
- Ooh, scallops. Thank you.
I love you. I'm gonna start with you.
I love cold appetizers, especially raw.
So, I'm making a scallop crudo
with coconut and cilantro sauce.
Even with this last cook,
I'm still playing the game.
My strategy is to focus
on everything I've learned
in all the reviews about
the tastes of the other chefs.
So, my plan is to go
for stellar execution,
big, bold flavors,
and professional-level presentation.
This is kind of East-meets-Tex
with some Asian influences,
and then some of my Texas influences.
Right now, I'm just blanching
basil and cilantro
to make an herb oil.
So, this is just to brighten it up
and to get those colors going.
- Let's get started.
Ladies and gentlemen, welcome
to the Secret Chef finale.
It's about time we watched some magic.
My strategy is I wanna make
delicious food, kind of food I would eat
that I'm very comfortable with.
Otherwise, I could miss the small details.
So, with the appetizer, I decided to make
an asparagus salad
with crispy shallots and basil tomatoes.
Chef Macaron brought it on the semifinals,
so can't sleep on the performance here.
From the get-go,
I have thought that Chef Donut
is my toughest competition.
But I was wrong.
Oh, my God...
Because it's this
mother can opener.
There we go. Alright.
Leon's definitely a pro.
He's won multiple challenges,
and he's got these really good
Southern flavors,
which I friggin' love.
It reminds me of my grandmother.
So, I know what he can do in the kitchen.
Asparagus is looking great.
What are we thinking? Fried asparagus?
Southern cuisine and flavor are
the two most strong-rooted fundamentals
that I have as a chef.
And an asparagus salad
reminds me of
a green bean salad that I love.
But I decide to fry the asparagus.
I think this is a good opportunity
to elevate wonderful soul food.
I feel like this is my competition to win.
- Who do you guys think is gonna win?
Lanky. Leon. Leon.
- The challenges can throw anybody off.
We've been through all the challenges.
- Right.
- Seems 50/50.
- Yeah.
- Leon, it was hype from jump.
Like, just the energy.
- Yeah.
- You can feel like
he's professional for sure.
- He's intense, and I think
that'll show in his food.
- There we go. One more.
Come on, come on, come on.
- What about Lanky?
Does he have professional... He must.
- I think he just loves to cook.
- Based on, like, Lanky vibes,
I don't think you would work in a kitchen,
but you could work in a restaurant.
Be like a food and beverage
director or something like that.
Feel like I'm working at the bar again.
I've been a bartender for 15 years.
I've prepped a lot of limes.
This is all strategy
because the other chefs
have like knife skills,
and my knife skills
gotta be pretty precision
because Chef Chang already called me out.
And, yes, I agree.
My knife skills were not the best
because, well, this is nerve-wracking.
Mm...
Alright! No pressure!
Tucking my fingers in, Chef.
I did not expect this.
I didn't know I was gonna have
any guests in my kitchen today.
You getting hungry, Chef?
Um, time for some chilies.
I couldn't have been, like,
whisking something,
like, making it look easy.
I'm over here just, like,
hovering over my knife board.
Oh.
Chef Chang is gone. Come on, Lanky.
Thin as possible so I'm not
ass-blasting my guests.
- I'ma start assembling the appetizer.
I wanna make sure
I got everything like I want it.
That's not the best bite.
The asparagus is supposed to be
the star of the cold appetizers,
and it sucks.
Little fibrous.
I shouldn't have done fried asparagus
because it's got a horrible mouthfeel.
If I'm thinking it,
I know the judges are gonna be
thinking the same thing.
Damn, man.
I'm hoping I didn't
shoot myself in the foot
because this is just taking
for friggin' ever.
Everything has to be friggin' perfect.
I mean, I'm cooking
the dinner of a lifetime here.
- I don't wanna waste no time.
Time management can make
or break you here,
so I have to pivot very quickly.
I'm going to use this raw asparagus
because you don't get the fibrous nature.
We get the crunch. I'm going with raw.
And luckily, I still have
some raw asparagus.
Good catch there, Leon.
Really good catch.
I just need to make sure
they think it's enough.
And so, I'm actually gonna add
a little more texture.
Crunch. Wow.
Oh, chefs!
Forty-five minutes have gone by.
I'm pretty sure I'm getting
this one out before Lanky.
Awesome. The second I send this,
I'm going into the next course.
Oh...
Chefs, it's time to eat.
The tasting starts now.
What in the hell is that?
"Asparagus salad
with crispy shallots,
coconut cashews, and basil tomatoes."
I like the dressing a lot.
It has a nice acidity. I really like that.
The asparagus is,
like, underwhelming for me.
- Me, too.
- Texture's just weird.
It's raw.
- What is the flavor profile here?
I'm so confused.
The flavors of each
individual thing are nice,
but do they go together is my question.
- Could use edits.
- Oftentimes, Lanky does
a lot of things on the plate,
but they're not cohesive.
- I don't know.
I think I have to see.
We have to see
what the next one is.
- Yeah.
- Is this asparagus?
That's pretty tasty.
I've got a little bit of a knot
in my stomach right now.
I wanna start with a bang.
But, after seeing Leon's dish come out,
I'm feeling really behind.
Garnish is just tedious work.
They're probably gonna wonder,
"If it's raw, what took so long
to get it out?"
I'm freaking out because
I've still got two more courses
I haven't even started.
Oh, my God, okay.
Hurry up. Hurry up. Hurry up. Oh God.
Just get in there! Come on.
Only two hours and ten minutes left.
Come on, Lanky! Hustle! Hustle!
It's the finale.
Welcome back to the Secret Chef finale,
where Leon steams ahead
and Lanky lags behind.
- Golly!
My appetizers go out.
I know that's a beautiful plate of food,
and it looks like a professional did it.
But Leon's already cooking his entrée,
so I need to pick up my pace
so I can focus on my entrée
and the dessert.
Chefs, two hours left.
- Send 'em away.
Hope you enjoy!
What is this? Is this his food?
- I could feel
my butt puckered completely.
Oh, my goodness. I am so nervous.
Up next, we have
"Scallop crudo
with coconut cilantro sauce."
First of all, stunning.
- Wow!
Stunning!
- Presentation wonderful.
- Based on knife skills and technique,
I would be very surprised
if this was Lanky.
- It's pretty good.
It's got a little too much heat for me,
but it's tasty.
- Oh, that's so spicy. I love it.
- I really love that dish.
Just missing like a little bit of salt.
- Yeah.
- I got a flavor from it
that was just really nice.
It's cilantro oil.
That was such a good idea
to do something like that.
- Yeah, like, they went for it.
- Took some risk, yeah.
- I feel like the first dish
was like farm-to-table vibes,
and this is like Michelin vibes.
You know what I mean?
- Yes, yes.
- For sure.
- Alright, now,
I wanna start on my entrée.
Hello, Chef.
Um, what do you think?
That's a long pause.
Cooking for David Chang...
Neat, but also... whoa.
Oh. Bye, Chef...
He didn't say anything about it!
Come on, bro!
- I feel ahead today.
I'm gonna go ahead
and get two pounds of this pasta going.
You don't wanna make pasta,
and then be like,
"Oh, man, I didn't make enough pasta!"
For my entrée, I'm making a linguine pasta
with a roasted garlic cream sauce,
mushrooms, tasso ham, crab,
and parmesan cheese.
It's a familiar noodle dish to me.
It means a lot to me.
At my last restaurant,
I made that dish
every single day for years,
and I'm elevating it today
to show the world
I'm ready to run my own restaurant.
I think I'm gonna win it
with this next dish.
You get this mountain of cheese
right next to you, and you're like,
"Ah!
I got all the cheese in the world!"
- Hell yeah.
- That is a really nice beef tenderloin.
So I can do like
a teriyaki scallion noodles.
I know these noodles are gonna taste good,
but I know the steak is gonna
take it over the top.
Some of my favorite people
to watch are TV chefs,
so my dream is to do that.
So I need to win it all because
who wants to watch a runner-up?
Start getting this done
because they are thicc bois.
Yes, that's what I wanna hear.
Chefs,
only an hour and a half left. That's...
90 minutes!
- Hoo...
- Oh.
While our finalists
battle it out in the kitchen,
David Chang is hosting a
Real Runners-Up of Secret Chef
reunion special.
Who does he think he is, Andy Cohen?
Love the Housewives.
I wanna talk about your experiences
here on Secret Chef.
Anthony and Alexa,
you guys were the first two out.
That must have been a real blow.
It was short and sweet.
- Ah-- Yes. You make the kitchen messy.
- I did do some things,
and they weren't helpful.
- Poonam, what did you think when
you were handed the steam cleaner?
The heat conductor challenge,
I'm still so traumatized.
I literally hit myself with the steamer
on my own head.
- Yeah, you did.
Damn it! I don't even steam my clothes.
- I thought you got the best one.
- What would you have made?
- Do tell.
- Fish!
But that's just me.
- Wish I had done a fish. But fish,
it's a little risky.
- That's crazy.
- David Chang is one of
my favorite people,
probably on this planet.
- I'm gonna come back for
the announcement of the winners.
Thanks, guys.
- Thank you!
But, like, I don't think
anyone could have done a dish
using only my steamer.
- Decent amount of lump crab.
Gonna give that crab a nice, subtle cook.
This is one of the first things I learned
how to make in my career,
so kinda getting back to my roots
and what I enjoy about cooking.
I'm excited. It's the finale.
In the restaurant,
I couldn't put this much crab,
but I want a cream sauce
to be super hardy.
- I'm more nervous about
the eliminated chefs rating my food
because it's their score that counts,
so I've got to please their palates.
From my past reviews,
my critiques have been
to up my flavor profiles.
"Missing seasoning."
"Needs more flavor. Bland."
So, I really like the oil sauce that's
going to be tossed with the noodles.
It might seem simple,
but it packs a lot of flavor.
Smash smash. Hulk smash.
Brings flavor. Onions, garlic.
And I'm gonna fry it all. Yes.
Yes...
Chef Chang?
- Oui, Chef?
- Uh, w-what are you doing in there?
- I'm trying to prove to Poonam
that you can use
a steamer as a steam oven.
- Yeah,
you don't have to cook. It's your show.
- I know!
You know
you can't win the $100,000, right?
- Who says that I can't?
- I say that.
Th-That's my rule.
- Ha, ha. Poonam, ye of little faith.
- Hi!
- Chef!
Hey!
- I wanted to show you that.
- You did it with the steamer?!
- Little under 30 minutes.
Did David Chang just make me
a personal salmon to try?
- Because I saw how triggered
you are by this thing!
I've never made it before like this,
but it's just a Cantonese-style sauce
with Shaoxing wine, some... whatever
leftover stuff you guys had in the fridge.
- Girl!
- Okay, I'm gonna pass it.
Enjoy.
- This is, this is... perfection.
The beautiful garnish on the top.
Those mushrooms.
I got a personal dish
from David Chang, y'all!
I could eat that every day.
David, if you're listening,
can you please send me the recipe
so I can actually do this at home?
I'm buying the steamer.
Chefs, one hour remains.
- Ow, ow, ow. Ah!
Alrighty. The pasta sauce
is nearing completion,
and I have to make sure that
everybody gets a good amount
of every single component.
God. God.
The sauce is getting thick already.
It's not really a great sign
because the quantities of sauce
are just slightly off.
The proteins absorbed
a lot of the cream sauce.
Decent amount of lump crab.
The sauce is the biggest part
in the presentation of this dish.
If there's not enough sauce,
this could be a complete failure.
Oh God.
No way.
This is not gonna be enough.
Oh, my God, no.
Welcome back,
where Leon is at a loss for his sauce.
Good luck, Leon.
- Damn, I just wish
I had more cream sauce!
The thicker it gets,
the less sauce I have to distribute.
So, immediately, my mind goes to,
how can I stretch this sauce?
I'll put a little more cream.
It's not really thick like I want,
but I feel like the flavors are there.
Alright, let's go.
- Alright, hurry up.
Pick up the pace, Lank.
- Definitely wanted more
of a saucy-style dish,
but I like what I got in terms of flavor.
For the last dish,
chocolates, baby.
Oh, chefs.
The first entrée is ready to be tasted.
It's a linguine pasta.
Why is there more parmesan than my pasta?
I do like that much parmesan.
Let's do shots. Shots of parmesan.
But also, tasso ham,
mushrooms, crab. Pick a lane.
Yeah, there are a lot of toppings.
I think this is Lanky
because it's not self-edited.
I'm so interested to see who made this
because I don't know who this is.
- I like that.
The balance of, like, cream
and the spices and the mushrooms.
It was a good flavor, you know?
- I love the spiciness, the creaminess.
It's like cozy. It's comforting.
- It is comforting.
- I agree. It tasted good. It had flavor,
but it needed more sauce
to bring everything together.
- That's pretty tasty,
but I think my entrée is better.
Once again, I am behind Chef Donut,
but I'm just cooking
those steaks to perfection.
- I haven't even had
my opponent's next dish.
So, like, are they ready?
Is the entrée there?
Where's the dessert?
You know, I'm like home stretch.
I'm ready to go.
Y'all gotta be kidding me.
Having David Chang
staring at you silently
while eating your food
that you cooked for a finale
of his cooking competition
is just crazy.
You just sittin' there, and you're like,
"Alright, my man. Like,
"when you gonna go?
Okay, you still there?
"Alright, I'm gonna just keep cooking.
"Alright, you still looking at me.
Alright, that's cool. No.
Alright. No. Yep, still there.
Alright, fine. I'ma just keep moving."
Got $100,000 on the line.
I ain't got time to talk, David Chang.
- I'm gonna plate these noodles
while the steaks are resting.
It's a noodle dish,
so I don't want it to look
like home cooking.
You just take the spatula
with the little ridges on it
and just toss it in there.
I want to make sure that everyone knows
when they look and taste my dish,
that this must have been made
by a professional chef.
Chef Leon, I hope you fear me.
I'm coming for ya...
This is incredible.
Chefs, your second entrée is served.
Ooh!
We have "beef teriyaki
with scallion noodles."
Yeah, it looks pretty good.
I think it's interesting to use a soba.
Yeah.
The noodles were
a little greasy in my opinion,
but super flavorful. I love the sauce.
I agree. I'm getting green onion.
I'm getting garlic,
which is probably why I love it.
No, there's no flavor! I need spice.
Do you think this could have been Lanky?
I'm feeling this might be Leon.
- Noodles are under-seasoned.
Steak is delicious.
The beef is amazing.
I would eat that steak any day.
- But, the steak is carrying the noodles!
- Yes.
- I know, and this is a noodle dish.
JAZMIN:- These entrées are both
pretty equal in my mind.
It's really neck-and-neck,
in my opinion.
- Entrée's gone.
Now, I have to focus on my dessert.
So my plan is to make an orange curd
with a chocolate shell
and a five-spice meringue.
And this is where I am not
comfortable whatsoever.
Don't make desserts. Don't like them.
I'm a home chef. I cook for me!
- I'm gonna make a chocolate shortcake,
but it's gonna be with brûléed bananas.
I chose this dessert
because I want this as a redemption.
During the TV dinner challenge,
I made a shortcake using puff pastry,
and everybody called it horrible.
- But it's not shortcake.
- Ah! I don't like that.
- False advertising.
- "Shortcake not good at all."
They were like, "This is not a shortcake.
This is awful.
What is this?" Um...
Called my mama ugly.
So, I'm not gonna listen to anybody else.
I'm gonna do exactly what I believe in.
I think I got enough time.
Chefs, 30 minutes remain.
- Golly.
Oh, my God, this is exhausting.
At the cheese shop I work at,
the boss man loves making lemon curd.
He whips it up.
He, you know, takes his time.
Just takes time.
I'm gonna try to do just
a little bit quicker of a version.
Gelatin powder.
It'll act as a quick thickener.
Let's get this science going.
I'm just gonna keep my fingers
crossed that it works.
We got caramel. We got chocolate gravy.
Phew! Okay. Chocolate should be fun.
I haven't had
a single dessert in this competition.
- Well, I wanna be wowed for chocolate.
- No, they better nail the chocolate.
- I'm having an expectation at this point
to see some really beautiful food.
- Mm-hmm.
- I'm all about taste and execution
at this point.
- Yeah, that's true.
It's about the execution of it.
And this is $100,000.
- There's a lot riding on it.
- Cook your heart out or go home.
One last taste.
Make sure we're good here.
Beautiful.
Chefs, you've got
15 minutes left. I'd get moving.
- Fifteen minutes to go? No way!
I've never made
this dessert before, and here I am,
in the final cook,
and I'm trying to make this work.
Come on, need you to thicken.
I need this to thicken.
Oh, my God!
This curd is just not thickening.
That is not what I'm looking for.
They're just gonna have like
an orange, eggy, butter soup,
and that's no good.
I won't get any points for that.
This is the most important
dessert of my life.
I don't have time to baby this thing.
Chefs, 10 minutes remain.
- This is getting crazy.
- Oh, my God. Okay.
If this doesn't thicken, I'm screwed.
I'm really worried about that now.
I wasn't worried earlier.
Now, I'm really worried.
What am I gonna do?
- Uh, I don't know. Panic?
- Oh!
Sometimes, a chef needs to improvise.
Oh! Good thing we tested
this three episodes ago, right?
- This is not thickening up.
So, as a backup plan,
I gotta think of something quick
to make for dessert.
What can I make that's gonna be
quick and edible,
and that I can kind of use
what I've already made?
Because I don't have time
to start fresh with anything.
I see French bread back there, so I think
I can make, like, a dessert crostini?
I don't even know if I have time
to make meringue,
so I'm gonna switch that, too.
It's not gonna be a meringue.
It's gonna be a whipped cream.
I'm taking a huge risk with this dessert.
Some people might not think
it's even a dessert at all,
but it is now.
Because I just made it up, didn't I?
I thought that orange curd
would've been really great.
It was gonna look really pretty,
but it's just not happening.
So, I'm gonna stick with something
that I know,
which is how to make toast.
So, you know,
I came all the way to Secret Chef
to make toast.
Chefs, five minutes remain.
- Y'all gotta be kidding me!
- Got dang it!
I'm brûléeing the bananas,
and with just enough time left.
Do I wanna--
They're just big bananas.
Oh, my God. This is supposed to be
a quick and easy brûlée,
but these bananas are huge.
And even when you brûlée the top,
you still got this much raw banana.
Sorry, wood cutting board.
Oh, my God, there may not be enough time.
Ah...
Lanky, you got this.
You've been in this situation before
with less time to go,
and you don't have that much left.
It's crunch time.
I'm running out of time.
I've gotta get the dessert on the plate.
I do like that.
Just gotta give it some orange.
I'm not going to make it.
There's too much going on
in the last minutes of this competition.
But, at the same time,
there's $100,000 on the line.
I gotta deliver.
Next thing, next thing, next thing, next--
Sugar, sugar, sugar, sugar, sugar!
Chefs, one minute left.
Go, go, go, go, go.
Alright, there's that.
- Keep going. Keep going. Keep going.
- I gotta win this thing.
I didn't come all this way
to come in second place.
Go, go, go, go, go!
Just enough time left.
I'm about to get pretty choked up
right now.
I just plated my last damn dish.
Five, four,
three, two, one.
Time is up.
The challenge has ended.
- That's hella hard.
- Ah!
I'm not super proud of that dessert.
But overall,
I'm thinking I did a pretty good job.
I'm so proud of myself.
I mean, 30 plates just went out.
That's incredible.
Yeah, baby!
- I'm hella proud, man.
It's over. Three hours,
cooking three courses.
I did it.
I made it to this point, and I did it.
I think I'm about to win $100,000.
Ah...
- The ball's outta my court now.
Okay, chefs,
desserts are ready to be tasted.
Hoo hoo hoo hoo hoo!
For dessert,
"chocolate orange crostini
with a five-spice whipped cream."
- It smells like Christmas! Like orange--
- Yeah, that's the five-spice.
- That's a delicious whip.
This is a strange dessert,
but it tastes good. I like it.
- I like it a lot.
- It's very, very, very simple.
It's $100,000.
Are you kidding me?
They didn't show any skill. You took
whipped cream. Anyone can do that.
The chocolate also seems gritty.
- And that's the problem.
- Flavor's there, but it's just
the technique was not it.
Do you think this could have been Leon?
- I think this is Lanky
because there's no measurements involved.
I'm so interested to see who made this.
- One last taste.
All three of my dishes were stronger.
So for the dessert,
"chocolate brûlée banana shortcake."
- It looks beautiful, in my opinion.
- There's no brûlée.
The banana's definitely brûléed.
A little bit. It's not consistent.
They didn't have that full torch on it.
- That chocolate mousse? That was so good.
- So good.
- The mousse is bussin'.
- Mm-hmm.
- This is absolutely incredible.
It's a solid like combination.
The chocolate with the buttery biscuit,
the banana.
Lanky did a banana
in one of the competitions.
- I'm honestly thinking this is Lanky.
- Yeah, this is Lanky.
- That's good.
He may have got me on dessert,
but that's okay,
because I think my entrée
and appetizer were better.
Chefs, please head
to your tasting rooms one last time.
Adios, muchachos.
- It's been so long.
- Okay.
While their fates hang in the balance,
the finalists get some face time
with Chef Chang.
This is the hardest thing I've ever done.
Only in my wildest dreams
did I ever think I could actually do this.
Oh, my God.
Well...
- Take a seat, man.
Come around on this side.
- And now, this is mind-blowing.
We get to have a chat
with Chef David Chang.
How cool is that?
- First of all,
I was feeling for you guys
because we're throwing challenges at you
left and right, and they're crazy.
We tried our best to come up
with very difficult challenges.
You did a good job.
Those were very difficult challenges.
I haven't sweat this much
in a long time!
- Yeah, I gotta talk to whoever
had the idea of the gumbo challenge.
Chefs,
it's time to write your final review
for this competition.
Please rate each course,
assessing the taste,
execution, and presentation.
- See, I think this being the finale,
I'm gonna be a little more...
difficult for everybody.
- Let's just talk about the finale.
The last thing you just made.
In terms of the pasta, the noodles,
for me,
your dish had a lot going on.
And that, to me, is like what
you wanted to make at home, you know?
But then, you have to ask yourself,
is that competition worthy?
- Mm-hmm.
- What was your game plan coming in?
- I wanted to cook food I liked.
Because if you win cooking your food,
there's no better feeling.
So, I feel like I had a game plan
that kinda played to the judges,
but also wanted to cook food
I just wanted to cook.
- So, this is from one chef.
Asparagus, linguine...
That's crazy. And the shortcake.
- Was not very cohesive.
I mean, it's rustic...
It just, there was a lot going on.
The asparagus salad with crispy shallots,
coconut cashews, and basil tomatoes.
- It's like I ate the whole entire plate,
so that tells you something.
The linguine pasta
with roasted garlic cream sauce,
tasso ham, mushrooms,
crab, and parmesan cheese.
- It had personality and character.
- And then, finally,
we have a chocolate brûlée
banana shortcake.
- That tasted amazing.
That was like really, really tasty.
- How about yourself, Lanky?
What was your game plan coming in?
- I went into this, purely thinking,
go big or go home.
On your dish,
I thought that the meat
was cooked really well,
but it wasn't a meat course.
- Yeah.
- And your noodles,
I probably would have not chosen soba
because they're extremely delicate.
- Yeah.
And they're gonna sorta break apart.
I'll be honest here, guys.
I never would have come up
with the kinds of dishes
that your desserts look like.
They were rough, man.
Easy for me to say.
I'm not in your shoes.
I'm coming up with this
on the fly.
- We've got our crudo,
the beef teriyaki,
and the chocolate orange crostini.
- A menu from who I believe is Leon,
aka Chef Donut.
We started with a scallop crudo,
which was absolutely stunning.
It's super elegant.
I feel like I could've ordered this
and eaten this at a restaurant.
- For the main, rather than it
being a noodle-forward dish,
the main is beef teriyaki with noodles.
The challenge was noodles.
I don't wanna rate this so poorly
because I feel like the concept was there.
And the last one
is the chocolate orange crostini
with the five-spice whipped cream.
I think this was a really great idea,
but the execution today
was honestly terrible.
- I know you guys gave your best effort.
- Definitely a learning experience.
- Yeah, I wouldn't trade it
for anything in the world.
- It's wild that this is the finale.
I voted based on the season finale,
and there being $100,000 on the line.
I wanted to see people
bring it up a notch,
but I have no idea what to expect.
- Oof. I feel for both
my friends right now.
This is a tough day.
- And may the best chef win...
- Alright, guys.
You ready to bring in
your voting chef peers?
- Yep. Let's bring--
- Bring 'em in.
- Let's bring out the old gang.
This is it.
There's $100,000 on the line.
To say that there's butterflies
in my tummy
might be underselling that.
I left my kitchen with so much confidence,
but David gave us the positives,
but also gave us the negatives.
So, I'm losing a little bit of confidence.
I'm thinking maybe I didn't
walk away with this thing.
You look good.
Thank you.
Although it was an unbelievable moment
to get to this point
in my professional career
where I have David Chang eating my food,
after the feedback that I got,
I'm feeling rough. If it's enough,
I win. If it's not...
that's gonna be a hard one.
- Oh. Hi, guys!
Hello!
- Thank y'all.
- You guys did so good!
- Go, Cheffy! Go, Cheffy!
Wow! Hiya, chefs!
Hiya, Chef Chang.
- What's up, Cheffy?
- What an insane final challenge.
But, the most insane part is yet to come
because it's time to find out
what these eight voting chefs
really thought of the menus.
- Chefs, normally,
you would be reading
your reviews in private.
But since it's the finale,
we're gonna have your chef peers
read them to you right now.
- No more secrets!
Hoo hoo hoo hoo hoo hoo hoo hoo hoo!
Oh, my God!
- Yo, someone up here
about to see who pops off!
I'm okay with this.
I will say it to your face,
I'll say it behind your back.
But, usually, when I say things,
there's no one dangling $100,000
in front of someone else's face.
Chefs, the eliminated chefs
still have no idea
who made each menu,
so please do not react.
We're going to do this
in order of course,
starting with the appetizers.
- Wow.
This is the first time
we're hearing reviews out loud.
Normally, we're just in our tasting rooms,
on our couch, or pacing, or in our chair,
and it's a little easier to do
when you're by yourself.
- First up, the asparagus salad
and the scallop crudo.
- Chef Kumquat, let's hear what you have
to say about the asparagus salad.
- "Asparagus salad.
Your starter was disjointed.
Individual flavors, though, were tasty."
- "Your starter seems like...
"everything-but-the-kitchen-sink salad.
Tasted great, though."
- Blueberry, what about your thoughts
about the scallop crudo?
- "I really love that dish.
Think just missing
like a little bit of salt on the scallop."
Yeah.
- "Honestly, in my opinion,
this was the best dish today.
The only thing missing was
salt and acidity to cut the heat."
- Wow. That is a load off
because already, I'm thinking,
"Well, if she thinks that way,
I'm hoping the majority think that way."
I probably lost dessert,
so now, it's all gonna be on this entrée.
- Alright, now we're moving on to
the beef teriyaki with scallion noodles,
and the linguine pasta
with garlic cream sauce.
- "I think the entrée was amazing.
I would have loved the noodles
to be the star, and with some more sauce."
- Chef Arugula, what did you
have to say about the linguine?
- "Your entrée was a tasty dish overall,
"but it was too many components,
and I think you needed to dial it back."
- "I love the creaminess and the spice."
- I feel okay. I don't feel great,
but I don't feel like it's
the worst dish out of the group.
- And finally, the desserts.
The chocolate brûlée banana shortcake,
and then the chocolate orange crostini
with five-spice whipped cream.
- Couscous?
- "Your dessert had the perfect level
"of sweetness between the three sauces.
Crust on the brûlée
should have shined more."
- What about the chocolate crostini?
- "The dessert was very disappointing.
All the components
were lacking technique."
- She's not wrong. Hearing her review,
I just wanna melt.
Just like that chocolate sauce.
Well, actually, I wanna melt better
than that chocolate sauce
because even that wasn't great.
- Thank you for reading your reviews.
- And don't hate us.
- Ah, we could never hate you guys.
Y'all are the best.
- Chef Chang, are you ready
to hear the results of the ratings?
- Let's do this.
- Here we are, waiting for the verdict.
Oh, my God, this is it!
Someone's gonna win $100,000!
Now, I'm freaking out.
- And the Secret Chef winner is...
- And the Secret Chef winner is...
Dramatic music.
Before we reveal the winner...
Oh, my God...
Lanky and Leon,
if you want to say something
to your fellow chefs, now is the time.
- Oh!
- Go ahead. Start, buddy.
- Alright.
This experience has been
unlike anything I have ever imagined.
I've learned how to be a better chef
from every single one of you.
I just wanna say thank you so much.
- Good work, Chef.
- Yeah!
- Well, lemme tell you
a little bit about myself.
All you know is I'm from Texas,
where I am a home cook.
- Wh-What?
Oh, my God, was I wrong.
- For about 15 years,
I've been cooking in my home
for friends, family, whatnot.
By day, I'm a cheesemonger,
and by night, I'm a bartender.
- I knew it! I knew!
That's why we're friends, buddy!
- It's been a blast, learning from
everyone, having the camaraderie.
No matter what the outcome,
if you shoot for the moon and miss,
you land among the stars.
- Amen.
- Aw.
- We love you guys.
Good job, Lanky.
- Okay.
I have all the ratings,
and a winner has been chosen.
I'm going to announce the winner
based on the menu they created.
When you hear your menu,
do not react
until I ask you to step forward.
Alright, like...
here we go!
$100,000 about to be announced.
- Why am I nervous?
- Oh, lordy.
- The highest-rated menu was...
Scallop crudo,
beef teriyaki with noodles,
chocolate orange crostini.
Whichever chef created that,
please step forward.
What...
- Congratulations, Chef Macaron.
You have won Secret Chef!
Aw, Lanky!
Yeah, I'm pretty proud.
I just won Secret Chef!
Home Cook Lanky. This guy.
This guy!
I got something
special for you, man.
What!?
Oh, my God.
Chef Macaron. Lanky. Congratulations.
Dude. Awesome work.
- Thank you, Chef.
You got this and $100,000.
- Aw, congratulations, Chef Macaron!
- Thanks, Cheffy!
- We're gonna brush this one off
and keep going.
And it's been a great experience.
I've learned a lot.
Sorry, Syd. I'll get to you.
Man, you cooked your ass off.
- Appreciate it.
A wild journey from him.
He played the game.
Absolutely,
a huge congratulations to Lanky.
This is Chef Donut signing off.
Oh, man. This means the world to me.
Ten contestants.
Twenty-plus challenges.
And now, there's only one chef left,
and it's me... Yeah!
Woo!
Chef Macaron signing off.
- Cheffy out.