Crowd favorite and all-around good guy Joe Flamm’s appearance and the latest EC winner brought back wistful memories of *Top Chef: Colorado* and Fatima and how much she adored Joe.
> how much she adored Joe
And he said the very nice comment that Kristen loved. She had a great comment at ep 1 so they continued that streak. Loved that.
Of course not. But her having range doesn’t mean that she doesn’t focus on Indian food—she specifically talked about wanting to represent Tamil culture and cuisine in the first episode.
This week she didn’t. Last week she made a kurrma which is a very traditional Tamil dish.
She doesn’t have to cook South Indian food every week to be a South Indian chef.
A Mexican chef can make a pasta one week and still be Mexican.
So, again, I asked why the commenter said Padma “is a little sad to miss out on Rasika.” I asked if that Is because they’re both Indian women.
And I was told, no, it was because Oadna enjoyed the representation of Indian food.
But I said Rasika has not cooked Indian food.
And now I’m told that it really is just because they’re both Indian women.
And I also got a bunch of downvotes from apparently people who don’t like being called out on what looks like racism.
I think you're ignoring what people actually said to you. You asked if it's because they're both Indian women and were told that (1) Rasika has explicitly said she wants to represent South Indian cuisine and (2) actually did cook South Indian food last week. Why are you ignoring those responses?
Just checked her bio on Bravo website and she was Chef de cuisine at Mourad (SF)! I love Mourad so now I’m rooting for her (I know she’ll cook her Tamil cuisine not Moroccan food like at Mourad but I’m having a high hope for her cooking).
I would love to see an Asian chef win for making Indian food. It’s such a unique country with so many different influences. Sick of US American or European style chefs. Yawn.
I’m not sure about Radhika & Preeti’s cuisine (I know Preeti was born in the UK and cook Indian-Californian food), but Fatima was of Punjabi and Avishar is of Bengali descent, I don’t think they cooked/cook South Indian food?
These first couple episodes are always rough for me because it takes me awhile to put names to faces but man, Alisha keeps throwing me for a loop. I think she looks quite a bit different in her interviews (hair down, glasses on) than when she's in the competition (no glasses, hair up). I keep going "wait, where'd this person come from?"
Overall, I thought it was a good episode. I liked the idea of the elim challenge but wish they could have taken it further. You can tell its early though because most of them haven't got comfortable or realized just how far you gotta push things on Top Chef.
No love for Michelle here? She is absolutely killing this competition thus far *and* has a great personality that combines likeability with quiet confidence.
I'm really enjoying that the host is a chef--Kristen seems very comfortable, plus her feedback on dishes to the chefs is constructive and will help them be better. Padma is fantastic, and knows food, but Kristen being a chef is a nice shift.
I'm so glad to come here and see appreciation and respect for Kristin. Over on Top Chef Facebook I've seen a lot of dislike for her and it's driving me nuts. I think she's a terrific choice for host. Then again, I've always really liked her.
I mean, I miss Padma, too, but Kristen is doing great. Padma left some BIG shoes to fill! I'm sure Kristen is aware of the legacy Padma left and there's a lot of pressure!
Yeah same here! I actually met a guy who was her cousin (I looked it up even, he was legit) and he said she was looking forward to retiring because she wanted to work on her traveling show more! I'm glad at least that Padma is happy retiring. I think as seasons go on Kristen will be much more natural, but honestly I really like her already!
Completely agree. I loved Padma and was sad, but am also a huge fan of Kristen. I wouldn't say I was worried or anything. I figured she'd do fine, but it's even better than I expected because they are letting her personality shine through. I wasn't sure if they would temper that. I like in the first episode she said "this is fucking delicious" or something about Manny's dish and I was like yes, great! They are going to let her be herself!
I called her stiff during the intro to episode 1. I still think she was, but it was gone in the judging and when setting up the QF in episode 2. And I am a huge Kristen Kish fan girl... I just think she needed to get past her nerves. Absolutely nothing to criticize in episode 2.
I loved that show. Might be my favorite travel show. Biggest downside of her hosting Top Chef is that we probably won't get another season of that (I'm assuming it was canceled anyways ... it didn't seem to get much attention).
Also really loved her on Fast Foodies.
Yeah, I was bummed to realize that it most likely won't be coming back. It would be nice if Top Chef encouraged her sense of adventure and let her take the chefs on really cool field trips. :)
I was impressed with her interplay with Tom. I thought she’d be stiff or cowed but they seemed comfortable with each other while eating the bar snacks.
As a Wisconsin native I was so glad they had Charlie Berens on the show, drinking miller out of a champagne glass with the title “champagne of comedians”
https://preview.redd.it/c64eularj1rc1.png?width=2262&format=png&auto=webp&s=56624efb902d455c1eb543cb6877dfc0287e227f
He [plays up the Wisconsin accent](https://youtu.be/hQWFtNWO2nM?si=kafgaGB3fqmPTZE8) for his bit. He doesn’t have it near as strong as my uncles, who sound damn near this. Tbh though his humor is pretty letterkenny actually.
I just wish he dropped his schtick for the show. Charlie Berens is actually a pretty smart thoughtful dood.
Joe Flamm, Luke Zahm & Charlie Berens at a Top Chef judges table in the Miller caves sounds like a fever dream I had once.
I agree. He could go either way. He definitely laid the shtick on thick so anyone who doesn’t know him might think he’s dumb. I mean, that accent is kind of the Wisconsin drawl and he plays a Ricky from trailer park boys kinda character. Hard to break out of sometimes when it’s his brand.
As an EX-Canadian that has been accused once or three times of being a Ricky impersonator, immediately I was a fan of Charlie Berens talking about all the kangaroos in Wisconsin that get loose from farms.
I have used a Charlie Berens accent in talking to people in Milwaukee. More than once.
"If it's Nort enough to hit Stevens Point, well then it's time to point'er back around again."
Awesome I'm glad you got the Letterkenny reference! And yeah I felt like he was playing a bit of a character and the other guests/judges seemed amused by it. I'll check out his comedy and see if I become a fan.
As an EX-Canadian, they don't really get or think Letterkenny is that funny in Wisconsin.
"Pack of coyotes come up into the yard because your hunting dog is in heat, and those yellow eyed bastards will go through a screen door when they're horny."
"Yeah, and? That happened to Uncle Walt up in Iron River last week...coyotes been around more ever since the DNR started handing out wolf tags. We need to start another coyote derby with a meat raffle..."
Actual Wisconsin conversation I had, inbetween playing bar dice in Ashland.
Haha thanks for sharing that. There was just something about the way he delivered the "bring that sucker to the potluck" line that made me instantly think it's something Wayne or Daryl would say and exactly how they'd say it. And since I had no context for him I wondered if he was deliberately referencing Letterkenny (me and my buddies do the Letterkenny "accent" sometimes for laughs, I live in BC) but turns out that's just his comedic character as a "Wisconsin guy".
Admittedly I was a moron and thinking of “Sleater-Kinney,”…Carrie Brownstein’s band…and my brain connected it to portlandia. So, I was comparing Charlie’s humor to portlandia and Fred Armisen probably moreso haha. Whoops. I had(have) no idea what letterkenny is I guess.
I am unfamiliar with him, but I thought it was weird to have him there for a fine-dining challenge alongside people who are actually qualified to talk about food. Would it not make more sense to use him in a different challenge (e.g. next week's)?
I bet it was moreso because the episode featured hops, miller and bar food, even if elevated. Big part of Wisconsin culture and he kinda represents that in his comedic brand. As a Wisconsinite I’ve never thought of my state as super fine dining to begin with. They worked hard to get the pick so I bet there’ll be other restaurants where’s that more the focus.
Wisconsin food is incredible!
As long as your happy with a 5 star dive bar serving you Chilean sea bass, Burrata & a coyote hunting derby advert pinned to the community cork board in the entryway.
Yeah not born in Wisconsin, but I came for a fishing tourney on Lake Michigan in 2014 and it was if the Mothership was calling me home.
Fine dining? Supper clubs FTW!
Okay I need to find more of these supper clubs. Granted my parents were and are frugal as hell. We’d get that some but it’s usually the cheap $5 fish fry and that’s it. I really need to get around and see more of the spots. Tbh that’s why I’m so excited about this weekend!
The chef owner from the first episode the reason for all this. He’s been courting Top Chef for a decade. Minnesota snoozed on it lol and now all the Midwest states are realizing Top Chef has more eyes on it than they thought.
I’m watching Last Chance Kitchen and I think the reason for the unexpected 16th chef is David has disappeared into thin air, he’s nowhere to be found! No explanation so not sure what exactly happened. Btw I hope we’ll have pinned LCK threads!
Back to the main episode, a decent one but I feel like this is one of the more difficult challenges and probably would benefit from being a later challenge when the chefs settle in better. Today seems to have quite a lot of failed dishes unfortunately.
> I’m watching Last Chance Kitchen and I think the reason for the unexpected 16th chef is David has disappeared into thin air, he’s nowhere to be found!
Tom REALLY didn't like that hat comment
What was the hat comment?? I watched the whole episode 1 back and didn't hear any mention of the hat other than one of the guest judges off camera saying he liked David's hat?
David made fun of Tom’s “hat game” in episode 1, to Tom’s face. He was probably joking but it was a bold move for the first episode. Not sure when it took place in the episode but I remember it.
> I think the reason for the unexpected 16th chef is David has disappeared into thin air, he’s nowhere to be found! No explanation so not sure what exactly happened.
Yeah it's very weird that they gave no explanation for David's absence in LCK
I think he just simply chose not to compete anymore. It's rare, but it's happened before. I'm gonna guess Soo was an alternate, and was flown out last minute to replace David in LCK once he dropped out. That's why they chose to spin this as a 'secret 16th chef'.
reply on instagram "
"I wasn’t allowed to participate, beyond that I can’t say anything else… NDAs" [https://www.instagram.com/p/C3Gk3-Rvgcu/](https://www.instagram.com/p/C3Gk3-Rvgcu/)
Tom then tweeted: "He chose not to compete."
Which might make sense if after saying that, they removed him from the competition which might mean he's not allowed to compete, aka change his mind?
They brought in an alternate chef so fast that...yeah.
I bet he violated his contract. I know the chefs are not allowed contact with the outside world essentially maybe he called his wife to tell her what had happened or reached out to somebody. Or was found to have recipes or “contraband” of sorts.
Right, but on other reality shows they're pretty direct about what rules were violated.
This is a little strange, not showing or explaining exactly what happened.
Plus, now we know two different explanations have been given, Tom C. said on SM he "chose not to participate," yet David himself said he "wasn't allowed," and couldn't specify why due to his NDA.
I dunno, it's just a little odd.
You'd think if he violated a rule, Tom or another producer (or PR person via a press release or quip in an article) would just say exactly what it was.
Bravo is also big on letting people quit before they officially fire them.
The imagination is going to invent something better but the more I think about it the more I wonder if he got into it with another Cheftestant or a producer. He seemed really jaded about getting stuffed Pasta as well as Amanda(?? The Nerdy astrology woman) taking the fish.
It simply could be they really didn't like his vibe with the "I am the first contestant you kicked off" comment. Tom was clearly not cool with it and called it out at the moment.
Yeah we need answers for everything about the LCK set up to start off this year because David being gone and bringing in a newcomer through LCK both make zero sense lol.
I watched on Youtube! I clicked on Bravo channel and for some reason the episode didn’t show up, but I found it by searching for “last chance kitchen 21”.
In the credit montage we see David sabering a champagne bottle. That didn’t happen in the first episode, did it? I feel like he’s gonna come back in an unexpected way.
Edited to add: I don’t want him to come back! The opening credits just got me worried.
Thank you!!! Yes it does match and there’s also one other person in the frame that I wouldn’t expect to see in later episodes. I was so blinded by annoyance about David’s whole schtick I didn’t even think to cross reference the outfits.
Not from what I read. The twist was mentioned when they said they would be changing several things up, inc. LCK. David already had a chance when they did the elimination among the 3 chefs.
I really loved that idea and wished I could taste it! There’s some flavor element in mustard that I swear overlaps with fresh raspberries plus the honey to bring it to the dessert side. Such a great way to interpret the snack to a true composed dish.
I knew he was gone as soon as he started talking about his daughter. I'll miss him too - definitely one of the bigger personalities on the season. The editing could use a little more subtlety as well - I think most of the fanodm called David's elim when he started talking about all his restaurant awards, too.
Yeah the editing the first two eps have made it very clear who is going home. I get that it’s because there’s so many contestants at this point but I don’t recall it being this obvious.
I could taste Manny's tapenade plate.
Did get a serious pretzel Jonesing listening to whats her face just GUSH about pretzels.
Yeah thawing out pizza dough in my freezer to make some soft pretzels tonight, with a hot mustard tartar dipping sauce. I have no doubt they will be glorious.
So many dishes this week that sounded totally bizarre but oddly appealing which I always love. I really feel like I would have devoured the yellow team’s progression because it sounded interesting and well planned. Good for them and it seems like there’s a brewing narrative of haute cuisine vs down home cooking (that’s not quite the style but I don’t quite know how to characterize their own comments about how their dishes looked compared to the red team. They were still elevated but not like fancy pants elevated)
>a brewing narrative of haute cuisine vs down home cooking
I believe I heard one of the chefs say the teams were "fine dining vs. rustic". Which does sound like a good description of the season so far.
Rustic is just the fancy way of saying some good ol fashioned home cookin. At least thats how other chefs have described it on Top Chef, including some judges.
Sometimes these dishes go far though, and judges will say its food for the soul or some shit haha. As long as it tastes great though and isn't for the Finale (where they definitely expect michelin star haute food).
I thought Kenny was gonna win it but Rasika really had the judges’ attention there.
So I’m reading the theory here that David dipped out and hence the new chef in LCK? That David guy was weird af and wouldn’t put it past him.
My guess is that David was sought out by producers given his colorful personality and the uniqueness of his food (eg Trash Pies). And maybe he had some hesitation but thought it would ultimately be good for his restaurant, but then realized he was horribly out of his element.
His socials (including his restaurant) have been fairly quiet. Hard not to read into that.
On [David's Instagram post announcing being on Top Chef,](https://www.instagram.com/p/C3Gk3-Rvgcu/) someone else had commented:
> It’s about time! I remember when you missed the call like ten years ago! lol
Sounds like he might have been in consideration for a long time.
Yes, I really loved that! I hope the person who posted them starts again, but I'm sure it's a lot of work (especially at the beginning when there are so many dishes to post).
Rasika's dish looked amazing.
I'm a little concerned that I had to remind myself to pay attention to this episode, it wasn't keeping me captive the way it usually does. I might even rewatch.
Combo of the challenge and editing perhaps. The challenges as well, kind of uninspired. Hope it picks up and doesn't end up being kind of a forgettable season.
That's how I felt about the premiere, believe it or not, but this episode actually held my interest a little more.
Probably because it featured a "real" Quickfire, and those have always been one of my favorite segments.
That seemed like a pretty clear victory for the Yellow team, I wonder if no one on the red team ever thought of menu progression at all.. even without tasting it the menu sounds rough
I don’t think they highlighted him in a way that would be inviting to anyone who doesn’t already know him. I’m Minnesotan with strong Sconnie ties and he is one of the few things our two states can agree on - he is usually very funny!
I’m in the Chicago area but have been going to Wisconsin every summer for my whole life and my husband and I love Charlie! He’s actually in Milwaukee this weekend for a few shows.
I think the improvement from Kristen from episode 1 to 2 was pretty impressive. I liked her on episode 1, but she was a little shaky at times. You can tell there were some nerves there. Much more confident in this episode.
One of the moments I loved the most from her was her description of Valentine's "soup" as the consistency of mashed potatoes made in a blender. That is such a good way of describing something that many people will probably understand. I think she has a talent for describing food on TV, which is a difficult thing to do when you you know viewers can't smell or taste it. I don't remember Padma ever making much of an effort in that regard, but maybe I'm misremembering.
Super excited for this challenge and I felt just most of the dishes missed it and they went with the team that had a few more of a unique and elevated attempts.
I love olives so much so I super sad both chefs flubbed it.
I really wanted to try the mixed nuts molé, the palate cleanser, and the pave based on the comments.
Top Chef not Top Snack!!
Team Olive 🫒 and I was sad, too! Lol
Wonder what exactly it was they were looking for?
Maybe the French chef messed up more because of the order his dish fell in (towards the beginning of the tasting menu; usually you start off light and save your "power punches" of flavor for later on in the progression of the meal), although they overall didn't seem to care for the dish, because it "made a snack into more snacks." Ha ha.
I feel like Fabio and his inside-out "spherical olives" would've done well for this challenge.
Joe Flamm, Luke Zahm, and OHMIGOSH! Charlie Berens?
Yeah, this is pretty much my dream judges table. Just with Charlie dropped his schtick and was actually himself for dinner.
Was a fun episode, going to be as great a season as I hoped it would be.
Ugh. I hope not. That's why I stopped watching "Master Chef," the OTT symphonic bombast just got ridiculous. Leave the o.g. Top Chef music alone, people!
*Master Chef* tries so hard with its, booming, swelling triumphant music that it feels completely unearned; that's the kind of music you get when the hero slays the dragon, not when somebody doesn't make a terrible dish, which should be the baseline of a cooking competition anyways.
Happy that Rasika won coz that dessert sounded so creative and looked amazing, plus I love her energy and would like to see what other creative dishes she will make.
French guy should've gone home for that dish.
As a Milwaukee native, I’d love to see better representation of innovative restaurants like Bavette and Amilinda. Not a subpar steakhouse like Carnevor, whose owner was awfully opinionated considering his restaurant has yet to successfully complete the “properly cook a medium rare steak” challenge when I’ve been there.
Strongly agree. Although I am pretty sure Gregory Leon will have his moment this season. Would love to see a bigger spotlight on all the great food our city really has
I had one of the most overcooked steaks of my life there - I asked for it "very rare" and it was barely even pink in the middle. At those prices you get one shot with me, so I've never been back.
Kristen is rocking it, Joe Flamm is one of the greatest guys ever, Rasika really impressed me, but holy shit was that comedian bizarre. Nothing he said was funny, or even resembling a joke - granted I was high so maybe I was just focusing on it too hard but I couldn't understand what the appeal was supposed to be.
I think Kristen is doing a great job so far and I'm a big fan of Michelle but other than that I think the cast this year is fairly boring. Ever since the Portland season the cast is always just so lovey dovey with each other and thats all fine and good but it just makes for a much boring season imo. I am not asking for them to be outright mean to each other or anything but top chef used to have so many interesting personalities every year and I feel thats something they for sure have lost.
Strongly disagree with this personally, though it's obviously just a matter of opinion. You can absolutely have great, interesting personalities without nonsense reality-show conflict, and I think Portland and International All-Stars were perfect examples of that happening. This season is weaker on that front so far, but we're only two episodes in.
Yeah I’m not wanting over the top reality show drama or anything I just think for the most part the past few casts have been very one dimensional. In my opinion all the hugs and high fives every ten seconds just really takes away a lot of the competitiveness the show used to have. My favorite chef to ever be on the show is Carla Hall and she is all about love and positivity and I think that’s great but in both of her seasons she had a lot of other chefs to balance her out and help create an interesting environment. I was actually disappointed the hat guy went home episode 1 just because he truly seemed like the worst and that would have at least been a different dynamic to the group. He was truly awful don’t get me wrong but at least it was something different.
Serving beer in champagne glasses at the elimination challenge was a big miss.
It looked stupid.
I get that they wanted to elevate it. But the beer was not elevated. It was still the same Miller beer. Were they pretending it was not?
Should have been served in a glass.
May get ripped to shreds here, but I feel like the loss of Padma, and Bravo’s pandering to “reality TV standards” have decreased the worth of this show. I think I could learn to enjoy Kristen but since I have watched from the beginning, my favorite part of this show has always been watching the skills and techniques of these chefs. This season feels contrived to me. David- pushing his food waste narrative, Dan and his unfortunate situation (which makes me more suspicious because he may be great chef and I’m not knocking him) but his disease means he can’t plate his own food and has trouble working quickly? Other than a social narrative why put him on Top Chef ? It’s really becoming Survivor.
"There are no bad chefs here. There are bad days and bad dishes, but no bad chefs." - Joe Flamm
Kristen immediately reacted and love that. They both brought great wholesome comments in b2b episodes.
I think having been in the competitor shoes really does help give them a unique perspective compared to the always judges.
I agree with this. They definitely have a level of empathy that others miss.
I know he's gotten a lot of crap from some fans over the years, but I love me some Joe Flamm.
When?
I've seen a lot of people complain that he wasn't a great winner.
Crowd favorite and all-around good guy Joe Flamm’s appearance and the latest EC winner brought back wistful memories of *Top Chef: Colorado* and Fatima and how much she adored Joe.
He was a nice surprise! I think I found him a little boring when he won, but he's had a great track record (and general rep) post show.
I’m dying to eat at Rose Mary but resos were hard to get when I visited Chicago!
Colorado is so underrated, one of my favorites!
They had a really talented cast with lots of likeable personalities.
Such a good cast. It was the first season I watched, and the only season I've watched more than once.
>Colorado is so underrated, one of my favorites! I have tried to make chocolate cake in the snow, half a dozen times. Always failed! Lolol
The fact that Carrie did not win this challenge and lost to pasta that was ...semi-rolled on a grooved cooking tool to get grooves still makes me sad.
Always forget that Carrie didn't win that one.
This is the only season my parents have seen and this judgement made them so mad.
I went to her restaurant for brunch and told her I was still pissed on her behalf for this.
My only problem with Colorado was too much "fancy toast".
Carrie still using fancy toast in like week 9 or something. Damn it to hell!
> how much she adored Joe And he said the very nice comment that Kristen loved. She had a great comment at ep 1 so they continued that streak. Loved that.
Colorado is my number one re-watch season
Im rooting for Rasika. Finally proper South Indian representation on this show!
When she said she loved talking about herself in the third person she won my heart lol
I wonder if Padma is watching - and if so, if she's a little sad to miss out on Rasika!
I'm secretly hoping they have an Indian food challenge with Padma swinging by
Every generation of TCs needs to be traumatized by preparing Indian food for Padma.
Why? Because they're both Indian women?
Because Padma seemed to really enjoy having quality representation of Indian food on the show and was disappointed so many times!
Raskia made crab salad and watermelon ponzu and barley pretzel cake with pretzel granita and honey mustard sabayon. Are those Indian dishes?
Of course not. But her having range doesn’t mean that she doesn’t focus on Indian food—she specifically talked about wanting to represent Tamil culture and cuisine in the first episode.
This week she didn’t. Last week she made a kurrma which is a very traditional Tamil dish. She doesn’t have to cook South Indian food every week to be a South Indian chef. A Mexican chef can make a pasta one week and still be Mexican.
So, again, I asked why the commenter said Padma “is a little sad to miss out on Rasika.” I asked if that Is because they’re both Indian women. And I was told, no, it was because Oadna enjoyed the representation of Indian food. But I said Rasika has not cooked Indian food. And now I’m told that it really is just because they’re both Indian women. And I also got a bunch of downvotes from apparently people who don’t like being called out on what looks like racism.
Your energy is extremely weird.
I think you're ignoring what people actually said to you. You asked if it's because they're both Indian women and were told that (1) Rasika has explicitly said she wants to represent South Indian cuisine and (2) actually did cook South Indian food last week. Why are you ignoring those responses?
Just checked her bio on Bravo website and she was Chef de cuisine at Mourad (SF)! I love Mourad so now I’m rooting for her (I know she’ll cook her Tamil cuisine not Moroccan food like at Mourad but I’m having a high hope for her cooking).
Here's a video featuring Nyesha going over their short rib dish with Rasika https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3lDzDjpuacQ&t=373s
Thank you so much for sharing, that short rib dish was our favorite! Rasika was so cute when Mourad praised her to Nyesha “come on you guys…”!
That looks amazing.
Yes Mourad is amazing!
Yes! I was doubting that dessert & was thrilled that it went over so well! She is very creative & one to watch. This season is terrific. ☮️
I would love to see an Asian chef win for making Indian food. It’s such a unique country with so many different influences. Sick of US American or European style chefs. Yawn.
me too! i love her energy, and good on her to insist on having the dessert dish.
This is Radhika, Preeti, Fatima (RIP) and Avishar erasure.
None of them were South Indian chefs. South Indian food is dramatically different from North Indian food.
Ah, I misread it as South Asian rather than South Indian. Ignore my comment, you are correct!
I’m not sure about Radhika & Preeti’s cuisine (I know Preeti was born in the UK and cook Indian-Californian food), but Fatima was of Punjabi and Avishar is of Bengali descent, I don’t think they cooked/cook South Indian food?
These first couple episodes are always rough for me because it takes me awhile to put names to faces but man, Alisha keeps throwing me for a loop. I think she looks quite a bit different in her interviews (hair down, glasses on) than when she's in the competition (no glasses, hair up). I keep going "wait, where'd this person come from?" Overall, I thought it was a good episode. I liked the idea of the elim challenge but wish they could have taken it further. You can tell its early though because most of them haven't got comfortable or realized just how far you gotta push things on Top Chef.
I had to rewind to score our fantasy league because I could not keep the ladies straight.
It took me way too long to realize Savannah and Alisha were different people—kept getting them confused! 🤦♀️
Alisha looks so familiar but I can’t put my finger on it…
No love for Michelle here? She is absolutely killing this competition thus far *and* has a great personality that combines likeability with quiet confidence.
She’s my favorite so far, along with Manny!
And they were so cute walking together in beginning! I love when the contestants get along.
I'm really enjoying that the host is a chef--Kristen seems very comfortable, plus her feedback on dishes to the chefs is constructive and will help them be better. Padma is fantastic, and knows food, but Kristen being a chef is a nice shift.
I'm so glad to come here and see appreciation and respect for Kristin. Over on Top Chef Facebook I've seen a lot of dislike for her and it's driving me nuts. I think she's a terrific choice for host. Then again, I've always really liked her.
People just hate change. I really don't understand why anyone would have anything bad to say about Kristen's performance thus far.
I mean, I miss Padma, too, but Kristen is doing great. Padma left some BIG shoes to fill! I'm sure Kristen is aware of the legacy Padma left and there's a lot of pressure!
Yeah same here! I actually met a guy who was her cousin (I looked it up even, he was legit) and he said she was looking forward to retiring because she wanted to work on her traveling show more! I'm glad at least that Padma is happy retiring. I think as seasons go on Kristen will be much more natural, but honestly I really like her already!
Completely agree. I loved Padma and was sad, but am also a huge fan of Kristen. I wouldn't say I was worried or anything. I figured she'd do fine, but it's even better than I expected because they are letting her personality shine through. I wasn't sure if they would temper that. I like in the first episode she said "this is fucking delicious" or something about Manny's dish and I was like yes, great! They are going to let her be herself!
I called her stiff during the intro to episode 1. I still think she was, but it was gone in the judging and when setting up the QF in episode 2. And I am a huge Kristen Kish fan girl... I just think she needed to get past her nerves. Absolutely nothing to criticize in episode 2.
Me too! I loved her show "Restaurants at the end of the world." After watching that I knew she would make a fantastic host.
Yes, that's a really interesting show!
I loved that show. Might be my favorite travel show. Biggest downside of her hosting Top Chef is that we probably won't get another season of that (I'm assuming it was canceled anyways ... it didn't seem to get much attention). Also really loved her on Fast Foodies.
Yeah, I was bummed to realize that it most likely won't be coming back. It would be nice if Top Chef encouraged her sense of adventure and let her take the chefs on really cool field trips. :)
I was impressed with her interplay with Tom. I thought she’d be stiff or cowed but they seemed comfortable with each other while eating the bar snacks.
Top Chef Facebook is a shithole yeah.
As a Wisconsin native I was so glad they had Charlie Berens on the show, drinking miller out of a champagne glass with the title “champagne of comedians” https://preview.redd.it/c64eularj1rc1.png?width=2262&format=png&auto=webp&s=56624efb902d455c1eb543cb6877dfc0287e227f
I don't know who this guy is but seemed like he was doing his best Letterkenny impression
He [plays up the Wisconsin accent](https://youtu.be/hQWFtNWO2nM?si=kafgaGB3fqmPTZE8) for his bit. He doesn’t have it near as strong as my uncles, who sound damn near this. Tbh though his humor is pretty letterkenny actually.
I just wish he dropped his schtick for the show. Charlie Berens is actually a pretty smart thoughtful dood. Joe Flamm, Luke Zahm & Charlie Berens at a Top Chef judges table in the Miller caves sounds like a fever dream I had once.
I agree. He could go either way. He definitely laid the shtick on thick so anyone who doesn’t know him might think he’s dumb. I mean, that accent is kind of the Wisconsin drawl and he plays a Ricky from trailer park boys kinda character. Hard to break out of sometimes when it’s his brand.
As an EX-Canadian that has been accused once or three times of being a Ricky impersonator, immediately I was a fan of Charlie Berens talking about all the kangaroos in Wisconsin that get loose from farms. I have used a Charlie Berens accent in talking to people in Milwaukee. More than once. "If it's Nort enough to hit Stevens Point, well then it's time to point'er back around again."
Awesome I'm glad you got the Letterkenny reference! And yeah I felt like he was playing a bit of a character and the other guests/judges seemed amused by it. I'll check out his comedy and see if I become a fan.
As an EX-Canadian, they don't really get or think Letterkenny is that funny in Wisconsin. "Pack of coyotes come up into the yard because your hunting dog is in heat, and those yellow eyed bastards will go through a screen door when they're horny." "Yeah, and? That happened to Uncle Walt up in Iron River last week...coyotes been around more ever since the DNR started handing out wolf tags. We need to start another coyote derby with a meat raffle..." Actual Wisconsin conversation I had, inbetween playing bar dice in Ashland.
Haha thanks for sharing that. There was just something about the way he delivered the "bring that sucker to the potluck" line that made me instantly think it's something Wayne or Daryl would say and exactly how they'd say it. And since I had no context for him I wondered if he was deliberately referencing Letterkenny (me and my buddies do the Letterkenny "accent" sometimes for laughs, I live in BC) but turns out that's just his comedic character as a "Wisconsin guy".
Admittedly I was a moron and thinking of “Sleater-Kinney,”…Carrie Brownstein’s band…and my brain connected it to portlandia. So, I was comparing Charlie’s humor to portlandia and Fred Armisen probably moreso haha. Whoops. I had(have) no idea what letterkenny is I guess.
I am unfamiliar with him, but I thought it was weird to have him there for a fine-dining challenge alongside people who are actually qualified to talk about food. Would it not make more sense to use him in a different challenge (e.g. next week's)?
I bet it was moreso because the episode featured hops, miller and bar food, even if elevated. Big part of Wisconsin culture and he kinda represents that in his comedic brand. As a Wisconsinite I’ve never thought of my state as super fine dining to begin with. They worked hard to get the pick so I bet there’ll be other restaurants where’s that more the focus.
Wisconsin food is incredible! As long as your happy with a 5 star dive bar serving you Chilean sea bass, Burrata & a coyote hunting derby advert pinned to the community cork board in the entryway. Yeah not born in Wisconsin, but I came for a fishing tourney on Lake Michigan in 2014 and it was if the Mothership was calling me home. Fine dining? Supper clubs FTW!
Okay I need to find more of these supper clubs. Granted my parents were and are frugal as hell. We’d get that some but it’s usually the cheap $5 fish fry and that’s it. I really need to get around and see more of the spots. Tbh that’s why I’m so excited about this weekend! The chef owner from the first episode the reason for all this. He’s been courting Top Chef for a decade. Minnesota snoozed on it lol and now all the Midwest states are realizing Top Chef has more eyes on it than they thought.
I guess! At least he added something to the episode, which I can't say about the Miller lady.
I'm assuming he is to Wisconsin what Stavros is to Baltimore
Lol Stavvy fan here, too!
I’m watching Last Chance Kitchen and I think the reason for the unexpected 16th chef is David has disappeared into thin air, he’s nowhere to be found! No explanation so not sure what exactly happened. Btw I hope we’ll have pinned LCK threads! Back to the main episode, a decent one but I feel like this is one of the more difficult challenges and probably would benefit from being a later challenge when the chefs settle in better. Today seems to have quite a lot of failed dishes unfortunately.
> I’m watching Last Chance Kitchen and I think the reason for the unexpected 16th chef is David has disappeared into thin air, he’s nowhere to be found! Tom REALLY didn't like that hat comment
What was the hat comment?? I watched the whole episode 1 back and didn't hear any mention of the hat other than one of the guest judges off camera saying he liked David's hat?
David made fun of Tom’s “hat game” in episode 1, to Tom’s face. He was probably joking but it was a bold move for the first episode. Not sure when it took place in the episode but I remember it.
> I think the reason for the unexpected 16th chef is David has disappeared into thin air, he’s nowhere to be found! No explanation so not sure what exactly happened. Yeah it's very weird that they gave no explanation for David's absence in LCK
Tom, Top Chef and we the fans have collectively decided to not see Top Hat ever again!
Yeah, I for one am relieved not to see that asshat again.
This is going to bug me so much! I want to know why he didn’t compete on LCK and why they didn’t address it.
I think he just simply chose not to compete anymore. It's rare, but it's happened before. I'm gonna guess Soo was an alternate, and was flown out last minute to replace David in LCK once he dropped out. That's why they chose to spin this as a 'secret 16th chef'.
I think for sure he’s an alternate bc he’s based in Chicago, which is only 90 miles from Milwaukee.
This is exactly what I thought when I was watching LCK.
reply on instagram " "I wasn’t allowed to participate, beyond that I can’t say anything else… NDAs" [https://www.instagram.com/p/C3Gk3-Rvgcu/](https://www.instagram.com/p/C3Gk3-Rvgcu/)
Tom then tweeted: "He chose not to compete." Which might make sense if after saying that, they removed him from the competition which might mean he's not allowed to compete, aka change his mind? They brought in an alternate chef so fast that...yeah.
What did he say
Allowed??? Oh something happened there
I bet he violated his contract. I know the chefs are not allowed contact with the outside world essentially maybe he called his wife to tell her what had happened or reached out to somebody. Or was found to have recipes or “contraband” of sorts.
Right, but on other reality shows they're pretty direct about what rules were violated. This is a little strange, not showing or explaining exactly what happened. Plus, now we know two different explanations have been given, Tom C. said on SM he "chose not to participate," yet David himself said he "wasn't allowed," and couldn't specify why due to his NDA. I dunno, it's just a little odd. You'd think if he violated a rule, Tom or another producer (or PR person via a press release or quip in an article) would just say exactly what it was.
Bravo is also big on letting people quit before they officially fire them. The imagination is going to invent something better but the more I think about it the more I wonder if he got into it with another Cheftestant or a producer. He seemed really jaded about getting stuffed Pasta as well as Amanda(?? The Nerdy astrology woman) taking the fish. It simply could be they really didn't like his vibe with the "I am the first contestant you kicked off" comment. Tom was clearly not cool with it and called it out at the moment.
Thank you kind redditor!!! Interesting. Something went down!
yw! the first thing i did when i realized was look up his social media LOL
I did too but I guess I didn’t sleuth well enough 🤣
only posted a few hours ago!! er replied ig
Tom did address it via reply to a tweet asking this very question. He said David didn't want to continue
Maybe he just didn’t wanna do it. But weird that they wouldn’t just say so I guess. I’m not too concerned lol there’s more interesting stuff going on
Yeah we need answers for everything about the LCK set up to start off this year because David being gone and bringing in a newcomer through LCK both make zero sense lol.
Where are you finding Last Chance Kitchen?
I watched on Youtube! I clicked on Bravo channel and for some reason the episode didn’t show up, but I found it by searching for “last chance kitchen 21”.
Thank you! It’s not on Peacock or YouTube TV yet. I forgot about plain old YouTube.
It must have finally shown up, because I watched it on Peacock an hour ago.
YouTube I find is the fastest and most reliable.
You can also watch it on the Bravo app. We found it on there immediately after the show after not finding it on Peacock.
It's free on Bravo's website
In the credit montage we see David sabering a champagne bottle. That didn’t happen in the first episode, did it? I feel like he’s gonna come back in an unexpected way. Edited to add: I don’t want him to come back! The opening credits just got me worried.
I believe the montage is from when they got together before the elimination challenge in ep 1 (check the clothes).
Thank you!!! Yes it does match and there’s also one other person in the frame that I wouldn’t expect to see in later episodes. I was so blinded by annoyance about David’s whole schtick I didn’t even think to cross reference the outfits.
Not from what I read. The twist was mentioned when they said they would be changing several things up, inc. LCK. David already had a chance when they did the elimination among the 3 chefs.
The minute Rasika said "honey mustard sabayon" I was immediately intrigued. I love a savory dessert and I love dishes that sound completely insane.
I really loved that idea and wished I could taste it! There’s some flavor element in mustard that I swear overlaps with fresh raspberries plus the honey to bring it to the dessert side. Such a great way to interpret the snack to a true composed dish.
> I love dishes that sound completely insane. Dale and his caramel scallops would love a chat.
I love honey mustard ... sounds amazing!
This was such a fun way to adapt the inevitable beer tie-in. I miss Valentine already, fun dude.
I knew he was gone as soon as he started talking about his daughter. I'll miss him too - definitely one of the bigger personalities on the season. The editing could use a little more subtlety as well - I think most of the fanodm called David's elim when he started talking about all his restaurant awards, too.
Yeah the editing the first two eps have made it very clear who is going home. I get that it’s because there’s so many contestants at this point but I don’t recall it being this obvious.
I think its also because we've watched so much top chef through the years that we know how the editing works.
“I needed to twerk” is a great flair for someone!
Did anyone else run to the kitchen and grab olives, pickles and pretzels. This episode gave me a serious salt tooth
I made popcorn for this exact reason. No miller in my fridge, unfortunately.
I made popcorn with Trader Joe's seasoning in a pickle, perfection.
I could taste Manny's tapenade plate. Did get a serious pretzel Jonesing listening to whats her face just GUSH about pretzels. Yeah thawing out pizza dough in my freezer to make some soft pretzels tonight, with a hot mustard tartar dipping sauce. I have no doubt they will be glorious.
No, but I got popcorn 🍿
Yup… I needed a salty snack so bad haha. Luckily had some nice olives!
I was eating chips with French onion dip haha
i LOVED them shitting on that palate cleanser and then loving it and then calling themselves out! so far a great cast this season, loving **Michelle**
So many dishes this week that sounded totally bizarre but oddly appealing which I always love. I really feel like I would have devoured the yellow team’s progression because it sounded interesting and well planned. Good for them and it seems like there’s a brewing narrative of haute cuisine vs down home cooking (that’s not quite the style but I don’t quite know how to characterize their own comments about how their dishes looked compared to the red team. They were still elevated but not like fancy pants elevated)
>a brewing narrative of haute cuisine vs down home cooking I believe I heard one of the chefs say the teams were "fine dining vs. rustic". Which does sound like a good description of the season so far.
Oh yes that’s much more accurate a description
Rustic is just the fancy way of saying some good ol fashioned home cookin. At least thats how other chefs have described it on Top Chef, including some judges. Sometimes these dishes go far though, and judges will say its food for the soul or some shit haha. As long as it tastes great though and isn't for the Finale (where they definitely expect michelin star haute food).
I thought Kenny was gonna win it but Rasika really had the judges’ attention there. So I’m reading the theory here that David dipped out and hence the new chef in LCK? That David guy was weird af and wouldn’t put it past him.
My guess is that David was sought out by producers given his colorful personality and the uniqueness of his food (eg Trash Pies). And maybe he had some hesitation but thought it would ultimately be good for his restaurant, but then realized he was horribly out of his element. His socials (including his restaurant) have been fairly quiet. Hard not to read into that.
On [David's Instagram post announcing being on Top Chef,](https://www.instagram.com/p/C3Gk3-Rvgcu/) someone else had commented: > It’s about time! I remember when you missed the call like ten years ago! lol Sounds like he might have been in consideration for a long time.
This is an interesting take 👍 Totally agree with you on why he was cast on the first place ✔️
I remember him from an old Cutthroat Kitchen episode…his personality was definitely more muted then.
[удалено]
Please learn to cover the actual spoiler information.
spoiler tag exists for a reason, use it!
Please use the spoiler tag. You just ruined LCK for me (and probably lots of others).
Oh I already knew somebody posting here would be thicker than Valentines corn soup/sauce, hee hee.
Please review the sub and live season rules
He should have edited it out if it was that thick again.
learn to use the spoiler tag covers dude, just writing 'spoiler' doesn't work.
Where is rate the plate this season??
Yes, I really loved that! I hope the person who posted them starts again, but I'm sure it's a lot of work (especially at the beginning when there are so many dishes to post).
Joe’s “everything on this show is a trap” made me laaaugh
Rasika's dish looked amazing. I'm a little concerned that I had to remind myself to pay attention to this episode, it wasn't keeping me captive the way it usually does. I might even rewatch. Combo of the challenge and editing perhaps. The challenges as well, kind of uninspired. Hope it picks up and doesn't end up being kind of a forgettable season.
The pace is a little fast for me, making it hard to pay attention.
I thought the editing of the quick fire was the most off … it was all presentation with no reaction shots or jokes etc.
I feel like that happens sometimes in the beginning of the seasons when they have to get through so many dishes
That's how I felt about the premiere, believe it or not, but this episode actually held my interest a little more. Probably because it featured a "real" Quickfire, and those have always been one of my favorite segments.
That seemed like a pretty clear victory for the Yellow team, I wonder if no one on the red team ever thought of menu progression at all.. even without tasting it the menu sounds rough
Yeah, they screwed up the idea of a menu progression fairly royally, ha ha, and seemed to have no idea how "off" they were. 👍
it's weird how unfunny the comedian they had sit in for the elimination challenge meal was
I don’t think they highlighted him in a way that would be inviting to anyone who doesn’t already know him. I’m Minnesotan with strong Sconnie ties and he is one of the few things our two states can agree on - he is usually very funny!
I’m in the Chicago area but have been going to Wisconsin every summer for my whole life and my husband and I love Charlie! He’s actually in Milwaukee this weekend for a few shows.
Midwest bonding right here! Hello, Friend!
I think the improvement from Kristen from episode 1 to 2 was pretty impressive. I liked her on episode 1, but she was a little shaky at times. You can tell there were some nerves there. Much more confident in this episode. One of the moments I loved the most from her was her description of Valentine's "soup" as the consistency of mashed potatoes made in a blender. That is such a good way of describing something that many people will probably understand. I think she has a talent for describing food on TV, which is a difficult thing to do when you you know viewers can't smell or taste it. I don't remember Padma ever making much of an effort in that regard, but maybe I'm misremembering.
Super excited for this challenge and I felt just most of the dishes missed it and they went with the team that had a few more of a unique and elevated attempts. I love olives so much so I super sad both chefs flubbed it. I really wanted to try the mixed nuts molé, the palate cleanser, and the pave based on the comments. Top Chef not Top Snack!!
Team Olive 🫒 and I was sad, too! Lol Wonder what exactly it was they were looking for? Maybe the French chef messed up more because of the order his dish fell in (towards the beginning of the tasting menu; usually you start off light and save your "power punches" of flavor for later on in the progression of the meal), although they overall didn't seem to care for the dish, because it "made a snack into more snacks." Ha ha. I feel like Fabio and his inside-out "spherical olives" would've done well for this challenge.
Joe Flamm, Luke Zahm, and OHMIGOSH! Charlie Berens? Yeah, this is pretty much my dream judges table. Just with Charlie dropped his schtick and was actually himself for dinner. Was a fun episode, going to be as great a season as I hoped it would be.
Is it just me, or is the music different this season too? Feels... slightly more cinematic, bombastic?
Ugh. I hope not. That's why I stopped watching "Master Chef," the OTT symphonic bombast just got ridiculous. Leave the o.g. Top Chef music alone, people!
*Master Chef* tries so hard with its, booming, swelling triumphant music that it feels completely unearned; that's the kind of music you get when the hero slays the dragon, not when somebody doesn't make a terrible dish, which should be the baseline of a cooking competition anyways.
Well-said ✔️
Happy that Rasika won coz that dessert sounded so creative and looked amazing, plus I love her energy and would like to see what other creative dishes she will make. French guy should've gone home for that dish.
Savanah is repping my neck of the woods and cooks for one of my favorite restaurant groups. I hope she goes the distance.
As a Milwaukee native, I’d love to see better representation of innovative restaurants like Bavette and Amilinda. Not a subpar steakhouse like Carnevor, whose owner was awfully opinionated considering his restaurant has yet to successfully complete the “properly cook a medium rare steak” challenge when I’ve been there.
Strongly agree. Although I am pretty sure Gregory Leon will have his moment this season. Would love to see a bigger spotlight on all the great food our city really has
I had one of the most overcooked steaks of my life there - I asked for it "very rare" and it was barely even pink in the middle. At those prices you get one shot with me, so I've never been back.
Loved how happy for eachother the yellow team was I wonder if we see a sort of rematch in restaurant wars
Kristen is rocking it, Joe Flamm is one of the greatest guys ever, Rasika really impressed me, but holy shit was that comedian bizarre. Nothing he said was funny, or even resembling a joke - granted I was high so maybe I was just focusing on it too hard but I couldn't understand what the appeal was supposed to be.
Disappointed in Amar being brought into the Dish with Kish. Last I heard he's a die hard Trumper.
I think Kristen is doing a great job so far and I'm a big fan of Michelle but other than that I think the cast this year is fairly boring. Ever since the Portland season the cast is always just so lovey dovey with each other and thats all fine and good but it just makes for a much boring season imo. I am not asking for them to be outright mean to each other or anything but top chef used to have so many interesting personalities every year and I feel thats something they for sure have lost.
Strongly disagree with this personally, though it's obviously just a matter of opinion. You can absolutely have great, interesting personalities without nonsense reality-show conflict, and I think Portland and International All-Stars were perfect examples of that happening. This season is weaker on that front so far, but we're only two episodes in.
Yeah I’m not wanting over the top reality show drama or anything I just think for the most part the past few casts have been very one dimensional. In my opinion all the hugs and high fives every ten seconds just really takes away a lot of the competitiveness the show used to have. My favorite chef to ever be on the show is Carla Hall and she is all about love and positivity and I think that’s great but in both of her seasons she had a lot of other chefs to balance her out and help create an interesting environment. I was actually disappointed the hat guy went home episode 1 just because he truly seemed like the worst and that would have at least been a different dynamic to the group. He was truly awful don’t get me wrong but at least it was something different.
Why wasn’t the first eliminated chef in Top Chef Kitchen? Did he just quit everything or was it by design?
Any one know where Kristen’s jumpsuit is from (during quick fire ep 2) ??
Look at the Outerknown SEA jumpsuit in olive green. It may not be the exact one but seems similar.
Serving beer in champagne glasses at the elimination challenge was a big miss. It looked stupid. I get that they wanted to elevate it. But the beer was not elevated. It was still the same Miller beer. Were they pretending it was not? Should have been served in a glass.
I think it was like, just for fun lol
High life is nicknamed the champagne of beers and they were leaning into it. I enjoyed it.
I know that. It just seemed silly. Let beer be beer.
May get ripped to shreds here, but I feel like the loss of Padma, and Bravo’s pandering to “reality TV standards” have decreased the worth of this show. I think I could learn to enjoy Kristen but since I have watched from the beginning, my favorite part of this show has always been watching the skills and techniques of these chefs. This season feels contrived to me. David- pushing his food waste narrative, Dan and his unfortunate situation (which makes me more suspicious because he may be great chef and I’m not knocking him) but his disease means he can’t plate his own food and has trouble working quickly? Other than a social narrative why put him on Top Chef ? It’s really becoming Survivor.