Episode 12: Give Me Your Huddled Masses[]
Premiere: March 2, 2011 The chefs head to Ellis Island where they are tasked with creating a dish based on their heritage.
- Quickfire Challenge: The chefs must create a dish using ingredients found in a ferry snack bar, during a trip from Manhattan to Ellis Island.
- Top: Carla, Casey, Jennifer
- Bottom: Jamie, Dale L.
- WINNER: Carla (Orange and Papaya Salad with Carrot and Rosemary Juice)
- Elimination Challenge: The chefs must create a dish inspired by their ancestry and prepare a meal for one of their family members and the judges.
- WINNER: Jamie (Braised Veal, Rapini Leaf, and Fava Bean Risotto). She wins a Toyota Highlander Hybrid.
- ELIMINATED: None (Tom Colicchio later explained in his blog that the quality of the food from the five chefs was so high and consistent that, even had they picked at small details, the judges could not have found a reason to send one of the chefs home.)[4]
- Guest Judge: Dan Barber (Quickfire and Elimination Challenges)