Knife Fight

In the season premiere, Mike Isabella of Washington, D.C.'s famed Graffiato restaurant collides with the toast of Ft. Worth's culinary scene, Tim Love. The chef have one hour to butcher and prepare at least two dishes from a whole pig--and the loser has to take a tequila shot out of his opponents shoe! In the end, it comes down to two masterful dishes: Tim's savory crepinette and Mike's perfectly textured spatzle. Can Ilan Hall and his guests possibly choose a winner? Bottom's up!

Staten Island native Freddy Vargas specializes in rustic Italian cuisine at his Beverly Hills restaurant Scarpetta. His competition is foraging expert Justin Wills from Restaurant Beck in Depoe Bay, Oregon. Old World challenges the new school in a one-hour contest for cooking glory. While special ingredient wild arugula plays to Justin's strengths, will his choice to pressure cook the oxtail be his undoing? See if he can braise the meat in time and claim victory!

Big Texan and two-time James Beard nominee Chris Shephard leaves his kitchen at Underbelly in Houston to challenge Hudson House chef Brooke Williamson on her home turf! Under the close scrutiny of the judges and their significant others, how will the duo handle special ingredients bottarga, mustard frills and live Alaskan king crab! Brooke goes for big flavor while Chris gets experimental. Will the risk pay off, or will things go better for the crab?

Former minor league pitcher and chef at the Wallace in L.A. fights for home field advantage against Hollywood's Johnny Zone of La Poubelle. The chefs seem pretty confident with special ingredients aji (a Japanese mackerel) and coconuts, but host Ilan Hall throws them a curve with cardoons, a bitter plant from the thistle family. Johnny goes bold and chooses to prepare the vegetable raw while Michael stays tradition. See if Johnny's home run cut scores well with the judges and sends him back to the showers!

Friends of 15 years face off! Italian wunderkind Sal Marino of Il Grano and La Bottega in Santa Monica challenges old friend and former "Knife Fight" just Mark Peel. After the closure of his restaurant Campanile last year, Mark is hungry to redeem himself on the L.A. culinary scene. To get it done, he'll have to use English peas and tendrils, sea snails and venison better than his seasoned opponent. See if they remain friends after the decision!

Sweetbreads sounds much tastier than cow thymus--but make no mistake! Two of Los Angeles' finest chefs will make the exotic cut of beef sing! Acabar's Kevin Luzande and City Tavern's Jessica Christensen match wits for city bragging rights and a big knife in another great episode. See who makes the best of special ingredients lentils and beer to take their meat to the next level and who will be drowning their sorrows after their one hour is up!

Legendary Portland chef Vitaly Paley volunteers two of his most accomplished pupils for an unforgettable slugfest at The Gorbals! Imperial's Benjamin Bettinger unleashes a bacon-wrapped rabbit roulade that might be the knockout blow, but Paley Place's Patrick McKee counters with a one-two rabbit tartare and loin combo that evens things up. It all comes down to their pig ear dishes! Did they leave the ears in the pressure cooker long enough?

Who will draw first blood? Southern Californians Tin Vuong of Abigaile and Perry Cheung of Phorage engage in a spirited battle with an Asian flavor. Both chefs seem confident using tea and Satsuki rice--but will either falter with the third special ingredient? See who can make vampires drool with their pig blood dishes! We have everything from delicious custard to breakfast omelets to fried chicken in this one.

"Top Chef" alum Kevin Gillespie of Atlanta's Gunshow draws local underdog Eric Park of the Black Hogg gastropub in a super-close fight to the finish! See where their imagination takes them with special ingredients Angry Orchard hard cider, live scallops and pigs' feet. And speaking of feet, host Ilan Hall makes Eric wear a walking boot to match Kevin's and level the playing field. Will celebrity judge Brett Gurewitz get a kick out of the dishes that our chefs trot out there?

It's the Battle of New Orleans! Commander's Palace chef Tory McPhail takes on his former employee Sue Zemanick of Ivy to settle a years-old score. Sue hasn't forgotten getting fired by her former mentor or getting beat out by him for the James Beard Award in 2013. Is she willing to play dirty to turn the tides in her favor? The two chefs churn out seven delicious plates using special ingredients pastis, bison and conch! See who takes home the big knife in this classic grudge match!

We have a tag team match! Portland chefs John Gorham and Kasey Mills of Toro Bravo bring their exotic flavors to The Gorbals to face off against locals David Lentz and Kris Longley from The Hungry Cat. This episode's special ingredients include live sea cucumber, quail and dragonfruit! With three very distinct flavors on the menu, teamwork will be key to pulling out a victory. And between the quail's tiny bones and the sea cucumber's slimy skin, even working together might not save them from a colossal mistake!

Portland's Master Butcher Adam Sappington meets Kansas City's James Beard award winning chef Michael Smith in an epic pasta-beef battle. With a kitchen filled with surprises and semolina flour and a solid quarter of a cow, one can only imagine the possible outcomes. Will the known pasta expert be able to keep up with the expert butcher and his saw? Find out whose dishes will take home the winner's knife.

Season 1 winner Ricardo Zarate returns to the kitchen to defend his reign against Los Angeles area Fig restaurant Executive Chef Ray Garcia in a super-close battle for the title. With octopus, alpaca and high-quality mangalitsa pork fat as the night's special ingredients, there's no telling what will happen. With 1 hour on the clock and 2 dishes on the line, will either of them be able to pull off a 3rd dish and the win for the night?

Let it rain! Seattle chef Jason Wilson from Crush and good friend Greg Denton of Portland's Ox match wits in a battle of Northwest titans! Jason is a 2010 James Beard Award winner while his protege Greg recently got knocked out in the semifinals. Is redemption on the menu? See who prepares juniper berries, chicken gizzards and Conger eel best in the tightest competition in the show's history.

It's a southern showdown! Best friends Kelly English of Memphis and Tandy Wilson of Nashville compete in an all-out battle. On top of this episode's special ingredients goose, beef tendon and heirloom carrots, the duo have placed a special wager on the chopping block. Find out who will be taking home the winner's knife--and their facial hair.

When renowned San Francisco chef Traci Des Jardins visits L.A., she stays with uber-talented Border Grill chef Mary Sue Milliken. Watch things get awkward as the two close friends battle it out for one night at The Gorbals! On the menu are yucca, skate wing and whole pheasant. Will Traci's Nicoise flavors overcome Mary Sue's Latin cuisine? Find out who goes home a champion in another tight race!

It's Nor Cal vs. So Cal when Santa Barbara's Jason Paluska and Oakland's Kyle Itani duke it out for the ultimate prizes, bragging rights and the big knife. With this episode's special ingredients cilantro, collard greens and live halibut, it's anyone's game. Will a last minute frying oil delivery be enough to help Kyle's Japanese-s tyle dishes win over the judges and beat out Tex-Mex lover Jason? Find out!

Two Bay Area titans face off in the Battle of San Francisco! Locanda Osteria chef Anthony Strong challenges his hero and 2014 James Beard Award winner Charles Phan. Faced with the task of combining burrata and either flying fish or monkfish, can the two chefs overcome one of cooking's biggest faux pas and prepare a winning dish? Charles brings his Vietnamese-French flavors against Anthony's pasta-making expertise in a super-close battle!

We hope they know how to cook lamb! Harold Moore from Commerce in New York City and Kevin Nashan from St. Louis restaurant Sidney Street Cafe butcher and prepare the whole animal. Things get hairy when Harold mistakes sugar for salt and Kevin cuts himself. Who can recover and best season their meat with a wealth of mint varieties? It's a nail-biter at The Gorbals in another classic episode!

It's a two-on-two Los Angeles Mexican cuisine battle when chefs Gilberto Cetina and Daniel Elkins battle it out against Ricardo Diaz and Tony Alcazar for not one, but two winner's knives. The LA Times celebrated pairs are handed gooseberries, calf's liver and cactus. But with a special 3-dish minimum, will both teams be able to live up to their reputations? Find out!

It's a battle of the young guns when Top Chef top 5 finalist Brian Huskey dukes it out against sous chef Mei Lin. With this episode's special ingredients silkie chicken, aloe vera and taro root, these up-and-coming chefs have a difficult road to victory ahead. Find out which of these rising stars' dishes will rise to the top and take home the winner's knife.

It's a battle of the Rocky Mountains when Colorado chefs Steve Redzikowski and Kelly Liken battle head-to-head for bragging rights in the Centennial state. With this episode's special ingredients of beef heart, wild dandelion greens and Santa Barbara spot prawns, it's a surf and turf war! Will both chefs be able to pull off 3 solid dishes, or will one chef's last minute injury cost him or her a victory? Find out!

La Petite Grocery owner Justin Devillier travels from New Orleans to challenge The Churchill executive chef Michael Bryant on his home turf! Tonight every dish will have a variety of egg in it--from the funky flavor of 1,000-year-old egg to salty caviar and super-rich emu eggs. Who can play up their disparate flavors best and win the judges' favor? Both men enter confident--see who exits with egg on his face!

In the season finale, best friends and New York Austrian cuisine chefs, Edi Frauneder and Wolfgang Ban duke it out for bragging rights, the winner's knife and a special wager--loser gets a shaved head. With the episode's special ingredients beef cheeks, romanesco cauliflower and crickets, it's bound to be a battle almost too close to call.