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However, once the apology to his wife emerges in the form of a 24-hour pancetta Piana that melts over a scallop and is topped with sea urchin sauce, the judges seem pleased. Some of them, anyway. CHOW's Jane Goldman found the scallop too salty, while Los Angeles magazine's Lesley Bargar Suter likens the dish to "makeup sex."
"I think this is one of the sexiest plates of food that I've ever been served," says Ruth Reichl. "Melted pork fat that's hugging the scallop? Apology accepted!"
Cosentino admits that Heffernan's second course, a snap pea flan with prosciutto and morel mushrooms, looks refined. He's concerned. "This one scares me," he says.
The third course is the thank you note, and Cosentino tells the judges how he started cooking offal.
"I've kind of been known as the gut man and I kind of owe that all to my great-grandmother Rosalie Cosentino," he explains. "She came from Naples and when I was a little boy I used to go visit her and I used to run out of the house when I smelled tripe. In fear. And this is my thank you to her for teaching me the magic and the wonders of tripe."
Vegas-based critic John Curtas loves the trippa Napolitana, as it's called.
"This is an absolutely extraordinary dish," says Curtas. "I mean, I can't think of a better thank you to a relative, especially an Italian relative, than this tripe dish."
Heffernan's thank you letter is to his family, who taught him Cape Cod traditions like clamming when he grew up. His dish combines mustard greens with clams and a ragout with branzino and bacon.
Back in the kitchen for the final course, and Heffernan is starting to get cocky, based on nothing at all.
"You guys got big balls, I tell you!" he taunts. "Fried eggs! That's much bigger balls than cote de boeuf!"
In a later interview, he sneers, "Chris has a sausage and a fried egg, which seems very simple for the finale. if people were looking for more complexity, it can be rather tragic."
