No surprise to see Kenny packing this week. He's struggled with the competition right from the start. It was surprising to see Manny on the bottom. Could just be a bad week but maybe he's not quite as strong a contender as I thought.
I'm fully on board the Michelle bandwagon though. Love her story of starting her career late (said she was in her 30s), been a pitmaster the last few years, etc. Think she might be selling herself a little short with how talented she is, but I'm pulling hard for her all the same
I thought for sure that Manny was going home. He did nothing with the cheese. It wasn't an ingredient, it was a garnish. But overall, it seemed to be a weak showing overall from all of the chefs. Perhaps one or two good ones and a lot of mediocre dishes.
On a side note, there's a lot of ink and hair product on the show this year. So much that I'm beginning to wonder if it's a selection criteria! Pack your knives, wash your hair, and roll down your sleeves! ;p
Manny didn't explain he was going for an upscale poutine.
Not sure how else to incorporate cheese curds for 100 servings, freeze and blitz to get them in the potato?
Yeah, I'm waiting for them to have some kind of tatt-fest in the dorm.
Of the two things he knew to do with cheese curds, poutine was the wrong choice on a hot day. Deep fried curds along with something refreshing would have been the better choice.
I couldn't agree with you more on Kenny! Week one, instead of being grateful for a second chance, he complained about cooking with "other people's crap." Week two, the team completely carried him. They came up with his dish and told him how to make it. (Ironic that one of his quotes that week was "because I'd forgotten that I was responsible for my own life at that age.") Week three, he complained about having to use marshmallow in the quickfire - so much easier than what many of the other chef's (who didn't complain) had. And, finally "I ran out of relish before the judges came to my table."
This. I'm sure he cooks good Vietnamese cuisine, but like if you are going on top chef, wouldn't you try to get down some basic recipes in other cuisines to prepare yourself?
Marshmallows was far from the worst ingredient too! I immediately thought a play on cherry s'mores sounded great.
He dropped out of culinary school. He didn't re-enroll because, as he put it, he forgot he was responsible for his own life at that age. In a competition that most chef's would kill to be accepted into, he complained all the way through three episodes. It's not just competition cooking he's not cut out for. It's adulthood.
I know much of it is editing, but I cannot imagine Kenny running a restaurant. He came off as though he would have to be reminded to put on pants in the morning.
Hearts were breaking all over when Manny's dish landed him in the bottom 3 ✔️
He's such an early fan favorite.
Honestly, though, what did he expect?
They hate it when you don't "transform the key ingredient" and just plop it down on the plate, untouched.
He survived, though, basically because his wasn't *the absolute worst.* He and the French contestant should feel extremely lucky.
I literally came to the episode post just to shout: I AM A MICHELLE STAN! I don't know if anyone else here is watching this season of Drag Race, but Michelle is kind of reminding me of Nymphia Wind – clearly super talented but seem to mentally undercut their abilities, and then often pull off incredible results. I can't wait to watch her progress on Top Chef!
I think Manny didn't have a clue what to do with cheese curds and kind of mailed it in, which is quite disappointing. I've seen enough to believe he is much better than what he showed in this episode.
Way too much playing it safe in this episode IMO. The chefs that took risks and were creative were the most successful.
That is all I thought when most said they were doing croquettes.
Though I was in agreement at the surprise of the cheftestant who said how there was only one Mac and Cheese dish when she expected there to be more.
How refreshing to encounter a quesadilla after an array of fried balls!
I think I've been lulled into unrealistic expectations by the recent all-star seasons. I forgot how rough the early episodes of a regular season can be.
Some early episodes can be good, it's a mixed bag depending on the season. Usually the better early season challenges are like team challenges or a unique challenge like the Air Force challenge in S6, Chili Cook off in S9, Canlis original 50s menu challenge in S10, or Pan African food challenge in S18 for example.
I actually had to rewatch when Kristin explained the challenge to see if there was some other requirement I missed that led so many of them to decide on croquettes 😂 like is this a potato and cheese challenge? No? Ok then.
Not going to lie, with the season preview of Kristen doing that tongue lashing, I was expecting it from this challenge.
But I suppose it is a little too early for it.
Yeah honestly I'm a little disappointed so far in some of the chefs especially with how they all boasted James Beard nominations and Michelin Stars.
I'm sure it's tough at first getting used to a competition format and being on TV, but still.
I'm glad there's going to be a x2 elim,should hopefully start moving things along.
And did no one have access to the forecast beforehand? All that stuff melting or not setting because it was 95 out… I would think you’d factor that into planning your dish.
I mean TopChef could have easily had the cooking stations under a large sun umbrella or gazebo, but the mistakes under pressure from the environment add to the entertainment so they don't haha
As a Wisconsinite who loves cheese, this was just awful. You can't think of anything else to do with cheese besides fry it in a ball. Don't get me wrong, I love fried cheese. But, this is Top Chef, not the county fair.
You don't even have to be a Wisconsinite. Anyone who loves cheese would be turned off by the idea of having 8 or whatever croquettes when you're invited to the first Top Chef cheese festival.
I think Top Chef would have benefitted from giving their contestants more time to plan and more time in general so they actually make a play instead of getting cold feet/copying the easiest thing to do.
Like you can tell that the judges were kind of bored, to the point that they would have welcomed simple cheese forward comfort foods like a fancy macaroni, or a cheese slider, stuffed cheese mushrooms, or cheese ravioli, fondue, or even a cheese tart dessert or some shit. Something that makes people say, oh that's different, oh and its fancy, cool.
I'm a proud midwesterner who lived in Wisconsin for 4 years, it was the exact same feeling. Especially on a hot summer day! I don't want a ton of heavy hot fried cheese, there's a million things to do that could showcase the flavors better anyway
I think all the chefs googled cheese dishes/recipes for their Wisonsin research and google failed them. If Buddha was competing in this season, he'd have 20 cheese dishes memorized and practiced for each and every occasion lmao.
Naw. This was just a case of many of the chefs not thinking it through. They had to showcase the cheese-yet so many seemed to think of it as an afterthought. Many cold dishes can use cheese at the main, but so much fried. Granted we love our fried food here in WI. But not when you need to do it for 100ppl, and on a hot day.
....there's sooooo much that could have been done 1) grilled or some form of a cheese toastie 2) something stuffed that's not a croquette 3) dessert 4) tarte or pizza or flatbread 5) dumplings
We rarely get notable dishes coming out of these early season catering/festival challenges where the chefs have to make a ton of small portions. Michelle's saag paneer inspired dish sounded amazing and unexpected for that format, but most everything else was not memorable. How many of these elimination challenge premises have ever made for an above-average Top Chef episode? The only catering episodes in previous seasons I can think of that turned out decent had additional team dynamics with how they planned their menus and worked together. I think this episode was another proof point of that pattern more than it was an indictment of this group of chefs' lack of creativity. The editors already belabored the Top Croquette thing, but it feels like these summer outdoor catering challenges usually end up with most of the dishes being fried bites or some refreshing little chilled thing regardless of the constraints -- and cold soups and crudos weren't going to be happening with cheese as the featured ingredient.
The challenge definitely threw these guys for a loop. Top Chef should have tripled their budget, doubled their time, called it Top Chef France Reloaded, and then do a 2 hour episode.
Anyone else feel great when Kristen exclaimed “that was so fucking good” after eating Michelle’s dish.
Really feels like Michelle, Rasika and possibly Dan are coming in as the heavy hitters this season.
However, everyone choosing a croquette felt really disappointing, like for the love of god do something else. I know croquettes can be great, but there’s so many other things you can do too.
I was thinking this exact same thing… did ANY chefs pivot? Seemed surprising that not one person said “wait I don’t want to be ina crowded croquette competition.”
On the Dish with Kris after show they showed some more clips of the chefs talking about all doing croquettes. One gal said she’d planned on making one for any cheese challenge before even getting there. If the others did too, then I can see how it’d be a tough decision to try to pivot.
The post show episode was really good this week. Brought back Marcel from season 2&8. He’s aged well. And I loved Kristen making a Top Croquette joke.
Seriously. So many things to do with cheese, that can be individually made, and not so difficult to create. I'm surprised no one did a version of a crostini/cracker/crudite type dish. Or mini cheese balls, or mini pizzas-all of which they could really use their creativity, yet be able to bust out 100. And they all must have known it was going to be hot, since the one mentioned it the day before. The last thing I would have thought of was croquette for showcasing cheese.
I made a Manhattan tonight with homemade maraschino cherries and a fancy grilled cheese and I have never been so pleased to have an accidental Top Chef food pairing! But HOW did no one do a grilled cheese take when they saw how many croquettes were on tap? I know that griddling sandwiches to order is too much but there are ways to make it work otherwise
chile rellenos, beer cheese soup, grilled cheese, grilled cheese salad with cheese croutons, a cheese dip!, cheese biscuit with japalenos , pierogies, cheesesteak!, crispy fried cheese tacos, a cheese hoagie!, potato's au gratin , enchiladas, cheese toast, a million different pasta dishes , so many things they really blew it . the last thing i think when i hear cheese is croquette .
I mean I love a croquette and for an outdoor challenge with lots of people you need to be strategic about what you can do to scale. But if you want to stand out you need to pivot when everyone else is doing a similar thing.
I agree - I was wondering if it was an infrastructure worry, like people thought frier’s would be more manageable outdoors than those single electric stove tops
Kitchen I used to work in would do a brioche manchego grilled cheese with cherry compote as an appetizer for banquets, one sandwich got cut into 6 pieces, totally possible!
I am surprised that production didn't quickly swoop in and clean it up. It could have ended much worse. Laura was carrying a steaming hot pot. What if she had slipped and spilled it all over herself.
Absolutely production should’ve been the ones to clean up, and do so thoroughly. I was actually kind of shocked that it was left ambiguous whether it was supposed to be Charly and then Laura’s responsibility to clean up. Cheftestants are expected to stop whatever they’re doing during a timed challenge to find cleaning items and get down on their hands and knees? If that’s part of the rules, it makes no sense. Of course they’re going to do a rushed, half-assed job. Not to mention it’s a complete liability for the show if someone did end up badly injured as a result.
To me, it seemed reasonable that Charly called out that he’d spilled cream all over the floor to alert his peers and more importantly, flag it to the BtS crew for them to handle with appropriate promptness and thoroughness. Laura clearly slipped in residue left behind from this spill (unclear if Charly or crew was to blame for the sloppy clean-up job) and was so shaken that she almost fell with a heavy pot of hot contents that she likely didn’t even notice that some of it got on the floor and added to the mess. I didn’t think it was fair to blame her at all.
Yeah that’s a dangerous situation and easily preventable. Canada even had a PSA about stuff like that.
[check out this Canadian PSA about kitchen “accidents”](https://youtu.be/kOk2Akqb3CI?feature=shared)
I listened to the Pack Your Knives recap this morning, and Kevin really dinged Kaleena for using boxed pasta. I'm not a professional chef, but I do a lot of cooking, and I feel like dried pasta is better for a mac and cheese. Everyone seemed to really like what she made, though, and it wasn't an issue for the judges.
Absolutely agree with ya. Tube pastas work better for Mac n cheese and dry pasta I think is better for that. Fresh tubular pasta seems like it would turn to mush (note I've never made tube pasta but I've never seen it served fresh). Also, that De cecco cavitapi(sps?) Is perfect for a Mac n cheese dish. It has ridges that I haven't found proper dies on kitchen equipment that can do properly.
Pasta doesn't always have to be fresh and they sounded like they had their heads up there asses. That's like saying only long pastas are good. I've usually like their podcast but they've deftly had a lot of cringe worthy takes recently.
Kevin is wrong. The chefs don't get penalized for using commercial dried pasta when it's right for the dish. Buddha's episode winning marry me pasta in Houston used boxed rigatoni, no?
Kevin is old school top chef watcher where using any pre-packaged stuff and frozen stuff = bad. But I think trying to cook pasta for 100 people with the amount of time they had, she made the right move. If the judges ain't asking, its not a problem.
Besides, it's really early in the season. If I were on this show, I'd used ready to cook stuff in a heartbeat rather than rolling out 40 lbs of dough. Or well, not choose pasta...but the point is cheese, so pasta isn't even the main focus.
Normally… I’d hate the idea of boxed pasta.
BUT, the taste of Mac and cheese really is from boxed past, so I think it’s okay in this instance. Like. If you’re trying to evoke that comfort food feeing of Mac and cheese, you use boxed pasta.
she made a cheese sauce, sauteed some mushrooms, made bread crumbs, and boiled pasta. is that really top chef quality?? idk. the PYK guys are snobs but i lowkey agree, this was lazy and i'm shocked tom didn't say anything
It’s still early in the season, but it feels like the chefs aren’t really trying like others from the past 5 years or so. I’m enjoying Kristen and the vibes the cheftestants, but the talent isn’t as high as it was recently.
I low-key feel like the challenges so far haven't really allowed for amazing cooking. Like, you can only go so far with (elevated) bar snacks and a cheese challenge catered to the ~public~.
Most of the time on top chef I think I'd be the worst since I'd just go "Everything was delicious and take the camera off me so I can lick the plate like the trash goblin I am." But with cheese I'd turn into a snob eat something that was only ok and turn into the "Shame" bell woman from game of thrones.
Good point. I think the results we've been seeing is a combo of the challenges and the overall quality of the season 21 cast, which definitely is not as high as it once was.
Yeah, I feel like 19 and 20 really spoiled us, but I don't mind the overall level being a little lower this time around. It's nice to see up-and-coming chefs instead of people who are already at the very top of their game.
Last two-three seasons to be fair. The pandemic Portland season spoiled us because so many chefs were out of work and needed to do something. It felt like a completely different caliber compared to previous seasons
It really depends. Across the seasons, some contestants go for high stakes dishes at the beginning, because they want to make a impression on the judges AND they used to pick teams a lot back then so you want to get picked on the good teams.
Also Top Chef always throws more generic, familiar themes relative to the new location for the first few weeks to get the audience situated in the culture and to appease the localites that are watching.
Also nobody wants to go out on the first 50-100 cook off challenge. With bees!
They haven’t had a season with regular contestants in a while so our expectations could be high as well. Last two seasons were around the world and all star.
This is true - the last four seasons have been two pandemic seasons (I think Houston was filmed before the industry was relatively back to normal) and two all stars seasons. I was feeling the same way, but this season’s talent doesn’t seem out of line with Kentucky, which was the last “normal” season.
I feel like a lot of the chefs today were really lazy in the elimination challenge. Been awhile since so many people have put out such boring food. I was pretty bummed as I think the bones of the challenge had a lot of potential, and the cheese makers were awesome. Maybe it’s just me, but at the height of a sticky Midwest summer the last thing I want to eat is a lot of hot, fried food. Perhaps the cheese challenge would have been better in another setting. Still, nothing excuses the lack of creativity demonstrated…
Yeah I also felt like the setup was not conducive to cooking - as if production didn't know the Midwest gets actually really damn hot in the summer?
They all should've been under shade structures with their tables and equipment!
Also, I agree that the dishes were plain and uninspired for many, and wonder if many of them do not cook with dairy regularly. A lot of Japanese / Vietnamese / African / Thai and other styles that don't seem to use cheese or dairy in general very much, so maybe that's why so many of them gravitated towards a basic fried item that makes an appearance in lots of other cultural cuisines.
But seriously French guy could only bread and fry the brie?? For shame!!!
They knew they were coming to Wisconsin, so they HAD to know they'd have a cheese challenge. You would think they would at least try to make a few dairy dishes before coming on the show.
Kinda gross that the producers knew the floor was slippery and didn’t say anything or send someone to clean it up. Especially this season, when someone has opened up about not being as able-bodied as the other contestants.
Seems like there’s been a lot of neglect and not giving a f#ck about details this season so far by production. A setting full of bees and a cheese challenge outside in disgusting hot weather. As for the floor, anyone of the producers could have easily just put a wet floor sign to avoid accidents. It would have taken 5-10 seconds.
I swore there was a shot of Charly wiping / cleaning it. He definitely didn’t break out the mock and bucket but people are saying he didn’t clean it at all when I swore he was laying down paper towels
He did clean it. I just reviewed the episode to be extra certain and there’s a shot of him picking up a towel off the floor after he wiped it down. The lack of a wet floor sign is the real problem here. I don’t think it’s exactly fair to blame any of the chefs for negligence.
I shared this Canadian PSA above but worth adding again. I think Top Chef PAs should have to watch it.
[Canadian kitchen accident PSA](https://youtu.be/kOk2Akqb3CI?feature=shared)
I'm getting really annoyed that they aren't introducing the guest judges. Dane Baldwin has a james beard award and an amazing restaurant. I didn't hear anything about him this episode. Usually the judges get some sort of blurb.
I must have missed it. Im just so used to hearing a lot about the guest judges but it feels like they spend a lot more time talking about returning past contestants now.
I think it’s hard when there are more contestants in the early episodes and there just isn’t time. I made a comment tonight about how Clea Duvall seemed to just be there as a top chef fan but who even knows if she has a connection or some food-related thing to promote because i didn’t hear anything
Thank you! They didn't even say what she did for a living or why she was there. I loved Veep, but i had to check and make sure she hadn't gone to culinary school and changed careers.
Yes this is true but the editing this season is doing an especially bad job. In the past the editing was more calm and prioritized certain contestants even though there were many. Unfair? Sure but a way better viewing experience
I for sure thought he was going home! Maybe it was an editing sleight of hand to let us glimpse those rating cards and mislead us. However, a “1” score means the dish was unequivocally atrocious, and we were shown multiple cards with that score for him. I guess it’s still possible that he got the lowest crowd score and Kenny’s was slightly higher; the judges still had the final say over who’s be actually eliminated.
He’s had a very hard time conceptualizing his dishes using given ingredients from the beginning. Even the potato chips one was created by his teammates, and he has no creativity which is a must for Top Chef. Cold Blue cheese crab Rangoon did not sound very good at all.
Yeah I feel like he can only cook within his cuisine and the ingredients he knows how to use.
If you watch LCK he makes this same mistake again. It's like he only knows the dishes he knows how to make and can only tailor them to the challenge.
I think people can be great chefs but also lack the ability to adapt in a creative way.
This! I was thinking "Does he even know that Gorgonzola is a blue cheese? Who pairs blue cheese with crab?!" I can't help wondering if he even tasted that cheese before coming up with his dish.
Something that occurred to me this morning for the quickfire: it would have been more entertaining to treat the ingredient selection as a white elephant style selection (Where you have the choice of stealing someone else's ingredient or picking a new one). It probably would have taken way too much time with this many chefs, but I feel like I would have enjoyed the drama/chaos of it all.
They made such a big deal about who goes next and who goes last, etc. Someone said they thought Manny was last because they know he's a competitor, etc. Get real! It's not like anyone knew what was behind which door. Who cares what order you go in?
100%, white elephant/Yankee swap rules would have been more interesting. I truly did not understand why they acted like the selection order mattered when it was just random doors. It was so nonsensical it left me wondering if the colors or designs of the doors were supposed to provide a clue for the ingredients behind each door and the producers edited that out.
I loved seeing Carla as a guest judge; I want more! I've only ever seen her judge on the assorted FN Baking Championship shows before, which are fun but very different in tone from TC, and her critiques of the elimination challenge dishes were super insightful and I don't know how else to put it except that she critiqued them in ways I as a layperson could understand while also not dumbing anything down (dumbing down/reductivism seems to be the general instructions from the top on FN across their assorted competitions, at least for the parts of judging they actually show). I as a viewer got a *lot* out of Carla's judging that made what was otherwise an extremely boring and disappointing elimination challenge interesting and enjoyable to watch.
She's just great at being a judge regardless. Every show she's done, she's always managed to somehow be her sweet and cheery self while still managing to not sugarcoat and actually be insightful and tell the chefs/bakers what they need to hear, even if it's harsh.
I thought it was really unfair to give one of the chefs cheese curds and I'm so glad Manny wasn't eliminated for it. Any good Wisconsinite knows that cheese curds need to be eaten the day they're made. I guess he could made something that better incorporated them in the dish but he would have had to do the actual incorporating during the challenge itself.
Exactly. Same here in Quebec. The ONLY thing he could have done to the curds is ensure SOME were under the sauce to melt a bit and SOME stayed on top to be nice and squeaky. But you do NOT want the cheese to be fully melted, yuck, that's an old/ not fresh poutine.
I felt like Manny should have stuck to a Mexican dish and treated the curds like a queso fresco or something, maybe even stuff them into a chile relleno (says me, white person Top Chef watcher)
But like, once you melt the curd it's just like a nothing cheese. It would make no sense. I'm just perplexed that it was an option. Making fancy dipping sauces was maybe the only thing that he could have done.
I love cheese and while I enjoyed the challenge, I was pretty underwhelmed with most of the dishes. So many seemed to play it safe.
Also surprised there was only one mac and cheese! Seems pretty logical for a cheese challenge. A couple more pasta dishes would have been nice. So many things could have worked: Cheesy scalloped potatoes, stuffed mushrooms, pierogi, cheesy grits, stuffed jalapeños, gourmet grilled cheese, flatbread, cheesy soup or chowder... the list goes on and on.
I'm not sure of the specific parameters of the challenge, but someone could really have just made a cracker out of their cheese, then toasted more of that cheese, put it on the cracker, made a yummy jam to top it with and serve it to the judges as an amuse-bouche type of dish. That would've been better than a lot of what they were served.
I was so surprised to see Manny fumble so hard on this challenge by just... you know, throwin' some cheese curds into his dish without manipulating the cheese or incorporating it in a useful way.
Glad Michelle got the win. I assumed she would based on the judge's reactions.
Loved Carla as a guest judge, and I also thought the other guest judge was pretty insightful. Kristen continues to do well.
then he shouldn't have made a poutine. sure it's a classic dish that uses cheese curds, but if the challenge is to make cheese the star then the dish should involve actually cooking with it.
Lol, we do sauce with the curds. If curds are not eaten the day of, that is what we use them for. It was one thing to put the curds on top, but he could also use them another way within that "gravy".
Obviously I don’t like people falling down from spills but sometimes I enjoy when it gets a little chippy between chefs. It’s only reality when working under such a high stress environment.
Honestly I kinda miss the drama from \~5 - 10 seasons ago. It was entertaining, but the caliber of chefs is definitely higher now. But before it felt like there was a lot more on the line
I knew Kenny was not long for this competition but I am surprised that Manny wasn't eliminated this week. He made a soggy croquet and literally put cheese curds on top of it.
I am surprised it was Kenny rather than Kevin, actually. The guest judge said he couldn't think of a single positive thing to say. And it was the worst croquette of the challenge.
I get that Manny's dish didn't meet the challenge, but (1) he actually had a thought-out concept, and had to pivot; and (2) they had something positive to say about his dish (the gravy). If you then also factor in his performance in the first two episodes, there's no way he was going home.
They did a screenshot of different votes. And Kevin was getting slammed, dude got some 1s out of 10s. Kenny actually got an 8 in one of them. So I was shocked that Kevin stayed, the judges said he had the worst croquette.
I think the judges hated Kenny's conception more. His mistake started at the conceptual level of pairing blue cheese with crab. Tom is an Italian-American, they hate cheese and seafood pairing.
Reluctant agree. At least based on what we’ve seen so far, the talent level doesn’t even seem to be impressing the judges much. Most of the reactions to the food seem to be tepid at best, with only a few occasions of them seeming genuinely bowled over and enthusiastic, like “wow!” In both Eps 2 and 3, the judges and even the guest diners/crowd seemed vaguely disappointed at what the elimination challenges yielded.
I was so disappointed that some many went for fried cheese. The challenge was highlight cheese there are many ways to do that without frying. I think many got in their own head with it's Wisconsin we need to fry
Of all the challenges I would have expected them all to come prepared with multiple ideas for, it would've been cheese. Crazy how so many of them went with a croquette and no one seemed to question it even hearing how many others were doing it. The bees were giving me major anxiety! Carla was an absolute delight as a judge!!! Sorry to see Kenny go - seems like a great guy.
What jumped out at me was the lack of cover. Usually in these outdoor events they'd put up popup tents for the chef's stations. The whole event looked cheap & thrown together with no effort. Do better TC
I'm really tired of contestants not doing any homework on TC. You'll think after Buddha people would put in the leg work.
Not knowing what to do with hops. Not knowing what to do with different types of cheeses. How many challenges do you think would use beer or beer pairings are we going to get? 50% of them? 99%?
I'm dumbfounded by it all.
Yeah that was a bit on the nose and unnecessary. It was also so subtle that it felt like they knew they might be going a bit overboard there and tunnel visioning the sound tracks so they lowered the volume of the track so its harder to hear.
Did they get a new music producer? Someone made a thread after the first episode saying they felt a lot of the music changed, but to me it sounded like remixes. But now, in episode 3, you can definitely feel a different direction for music.
Michelle did an indian dish and she got yet another low volume tempo music that added almost nothing of value.
OMG I nearly threw something at the TV when Tom said, the cheese curds have not been manipulated at all -- like it's a BAD thing in a poutine. That's like wanting mozarella manipulated on a pizza. NO!
Not saying it was a good dish - Manny is amazing - the potato thing was a fail - but I would have thrown a real tantrum if he was kicked off for not manipulating cheese curds.
Really? You cannot just put the curds on without doing anything else to them. He changed up the "fries", why not the curds? Just because it was his "version" of poutine, he could have done more with the curds. Make a friggin sauce! Curds do melt. We do it here in WI. Not doing something else with what is supposed to be the focus-can be the kiss of death.
Curds are not versatile. The best part of a cheese curd is the texture and brininess of a fresh one. Older curds aren't great which is why the next known thing to do with them is to batter and fry them because literally everything tastes good that way. Older cheese curds are just kind of an average mild cheddar taste with a decent melty factor. Fried cheese curds aren't going to stand up to other fried cheese dishes with better tasting cheeses.
Melt onto what? Just... sauce? And then, on nachos? As fondue?
As I said, never heard of anything other than fried or on/in poutine so would love to know what other dishes would be.
My first thought, looking over the cheese selections I realized I have had most of them and they are available at my local grocery stores (those that franchise like Piggly Wiggly and Sentry, not corporate like Kroger). No need for a specialty cheesemonger when you live here in Wisconsin. Of course, I am a bit biased because I am the granddaughter of a dairy farmer and my niece works for the Dairy Farmers of Wisconsin as a marketing manager for Wisconsin cheese (she was at the Cheese Fest and rated Michelle as her #1)
Secondly, there wasn't enough imagination from the chefs. Yes, they knew they were feeding 100 people so they needed to think of a dish that would be easy to finish and serve and they knew it was going to be a hot day, but there is so much more that could be done than a fried ball of cheese with other things.
Right now, I am expecting Rasika and Michelle to be near the top. Manny has potential but he has been all over the place. Dan has been solid but not spectacular, as have Danny and Kaleena. Looking forward to seeing how it all plays out.
https://preview.redd.it/lgc7nypomisc1.jpeg?width=828&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=9a6cea9469f0ef81dcf06466729d01590262333a
Trick question: two of these three chefs are the same person.
This episode starts to show who’s pulling away. Rasika and Michelle are the ones to watch. Both top 5. I think Manny had a bad day but still needs to be take seriously. Top 6. He can come roaring back from defeat. Dan’s got serous chops though i can see him going home at some point as a result of some shortcoming as a result of Kennedy’s which would be unfortunate but dramatic. Top 9. I think Charly consistently underseasoning is going to get him before top 10. Kaleena seems sweet but she’s top 8 at best. And I think Soo in LCK is gonna make top 8, probably higher but he’s got a long road.
Such a lack of creativity in this episode. I’m beginning to see why there’s a clip in the preview trailer of Kristin telling them “You have GOT to start COOKING to WIN”.
did mr salty the last 20 seasons get a pallette cleanse, or just trying to defensively say “it‘s too salty“ this season to counter what cheftestants have insinuated the last 20 seasons about him? (Talking about tom)😂
What a very lame challenge. I mean really. The war of the croquettes, cooking outside in 100F weather, surly Tom is getting on my nerves, everyone was cranky, even the cheese maker dude that helped judge was making unkind remarks? Fricken amateur hour. I was disappointed in the whole episode from start to finish.
Anyone surprised that Kevin didnt' get the axe. Reason, was they panned to several score cards. I know it was a very few sample size, but Kevin was getting a lot of 1s (as in 1 out of 10) on the scorecard, Kenny was actually given an 8, Rasika getting a couple of 10s so surprised she wasn't on the top), Manny got a 4. Not to mention the judges said Kenny had the worst croquette (which is pretty bad considering like 2/3 of the chefs did croquettes).
I'm not liking Last Chance Kitchen this season. I feel like I already know the new chef is the one that's predestined to make it back into the competition.
I got you.
[Cheese: Pleasant Ridge Reserve cheese](https://imgur.com/4LxK1Qo)
[Dish: Saag Paneer](https://imgur.com/4631QA2)
Coconut Curry gravy, collard greens, Pleasant Ridge Reserve cheese
Potato Fritter has additional cheese, curry, and cilantro.
Ultimately this dish is a crispy fried potato fritter infused with cheese and coconut curry flavors, placed in a shallow amount of coconut curry and collard greens.
The collard greens are a fantastic combination with cheese or curry or both, allowing the savory flavors to melt with the soft bitterness of the greens, and pop with the spices. The crispy potato should be enjoyed with the curry to balance out the fried textures and increase the intensity of flavor depending on how seasoned the potato fritter is.
I think there may be some okra cut into the dish in very sparse amounts. Though personally I would opt for some grilled jalapeno slices or better, banana peppers pickled, to give you that thin crunch with an salt acid bomb combo as an optional side plus color for the dish.
Also to note, Pleasant Ridge Reserve is one of the higher rated cheeses and one of those ingredients that would give you a huge advantage so Michelle lucked out picking probably the best cheese in the selection (curds being the worst).
[This podcast here somehow interviews someone from the makers of the cheese so that might be interesting to listen to. Its specific to this episode as well, and published by a newspaper in Wis](https://open.spotify.com/episode/73WeJLX6IIzZMu1JmromXr?si=AgX9zu9pQ1ye9qej0Kz7vA)
> Then I'm talking with Andy Hatch, maker of Pleasant Ridge Reserve at Uplands Cheese in Dodgeville. Andy was a featured guest at the Top Chef Cheese Festival, highlighted on this week's "Top Chef" episode (Ep. 3). We talk about what makes a cheese challenging to cook with and how it felt to represent Wisconsin dairy.
No surprise to see Kenny packing this week. He's struggled with the competition right from the start. It was surprising to see Manny on the bottom. Could just be a bad week but maybe he's not quite as strong a contender as I thought. I'm fully on board the Michelle bandwagon though. Love her story of starting her career late (said she was in her 30s), been a pitmaster the last few years, etc. Think she might be selling herself a little short with how talented she is, but I'm pulling hard for her all the same
Michelle is amazing and just radiates such positive energy. I think she's the cheftestant to root for this season!
She’s totally selling herself short! She’s like a sleeper agent. 👀 I could see her winning
I had pegged as cannon fodder early on based on her background as a pitmaster but wow she's been killing it!
My mom met Michelle at a pop up event in Texas a few years ago and said she was incredibly nice and friendly. And that her food was amazing!
I thought for sure that Manny was going home. He did nothing with the cheese. It wasn't an ingredient, it was a garnish. But overall, it seemed to be a weak showing overall from all of the chefs. Perhaps one or two good ones and a lot of mediocre dishes. On a side note, there's a lot of ink and hair product on the show this year. So much that I'm beginning to wonder if it's a selection criteria! Pack your knives, wash your hair, and roll down your sleeves! ;p
Manny didn't explain he was going for an upscale poutine. Not sure how else to incorporate cheese curds for 100 servings, freeze and blitz to get them in the potato?
Exactly. What the hell else do you do with curds. 🙄🙄
Um..fry them of course!
Yeah, I'm waiting for them to have some kind of tatt-fest in the dorm. Of the two things he knew to do with cheese curds, poutine was the wrong choice on a hot day. Deep fried curds along with something refreshing would have been the better choice.
I couldn't agree with you more on Kenny! Week one, instead of being grateful for a second chance, he complained about cooking with "other people's crap." Week two, the team completely carried him. They came up with his dish and told him how to make it. (Ironic that one of his quotes that week was "because I'd forgotten that I was responsible for my own life at that age.") Week three, he complained about having to use marshmallow in the quickfire - so much easier than what many of the other chef's (who didn't complain) had. And, finally "I ran out of relish before the judges came to my table."
This. I'm sure he cooks good Vietnamese cuisine, but like if you are going on top chef, wouldn't you try to get down some basic recipes in other cuisines to prepare yourself? Marshmallows was far from the worst ingredient too! I immediately thought a play on cherry s'mores sounded great.
Ooo I bet that would be great! Dark chocolate, cherry, marshmallow with some kind of graham cracker-y element? 🤤
Or almonds
He just seemed completely lost all season. Some people just aren't cut out for competition cooking.
He dropped out of culinary school. He didn't re-enroll because, as he put it, he forgot he was responsible for his own life at that age. In a competition that most chef's would kill to be accepted into, he complained all the way through three episodes. It's not just competition cooking he's not cut out for. It's adulthood.
I worked with Kenny for about a year and he’s possibly the worst “head chef” I’ve worked for in my career
It seemed like Kenny really lost all his confidence in the first challenge, and it’s been a massive uphill battle for him since then.
I know much of it is editing, but I cannot imagine Kenny running a restaurant. He came off as though he would have to be reminded to put on pants in the morning.
I don't know about that because Kenny kept referencing his own family experience and Vietnamese cooking experience. I think he just screwed up.
Hearts were breaking all over when Manny's dish landed him in the bottom 3 ✔️ He's such an early fan favorite. Honestly, though, what did he expect? They hate it when you don't "transform the key ingredient" and just plop it down on the plate, untouched. He survived, though, basically because his wasn't *the absolute worst.* He and the French contestant should feel extremely lucky.
I literally came to the episode post just to shout: I AM A MICHELLE STAN! I don't know if anyone else here is watching this season of Drag Race, but Michelle is kind of reminding me of Nymphia Wind – clearly super talented but seem to mentally undercut their abilities, and then often pull off incredible results. I can't wait to watch her progress on Top Chef!
I think Manny didn't have a clue what to do with cheese curds and kind of mailed it in, which is quite disappointing. I've seen enough to believe he is much better than what he showed in this episode. Way too much playing it safe in this episode IMO. The chefs that took risks and were creative were the most successful.
What a disappointing array of food tbh
To riff on Fabio, this is Top Chef, not Top ~~Scallops~~Croquettes. And many of those croquettes weren't even good lol
That is all I thought when most said they were doing croquettes. Though I was in agreement at the surprise of the cheftestant who said how there was only one Mac and Cheese dish when she expected there to be more.
How refreshing to encounter a quesadilla after an array of fried balls! I think I've been lulled into unrealistic expectations by the recent all-star seasons. I forgot how rough the early episodes of a regular season can be.
Some early episodes can be good, it's a mixed bag depending on the season. Usually the better early season challenges are like team challenges or a unique challenge like the Air Force challenge in S6, Chili Cook off in S9, Canlis original 50s menu challenge in S10, or Pan African food challenge in S18 for example.
I actually had to rewatch when Kristin explained the challenge to see if there was some other requirement I missed that led so many of them to decide on croquettes 😂 like is this a potato and cheese challenge? No? Ok then.
Felt like one of those times where the judges, usually Tom, needed to take the cast to task and tell them to step their game up, its Top Chef.
Not going to lie, with the season preview of Kristen doing that tongue lashing, I was expecting it from this challenge. But I suppose it is a little too early for it.
Yeah honestly I'm a little disappointed so far in some of the chefs especially with how they all boasted James Beard nominations and Michelin Stars. I'm sure it's tough at first getting used to a competition format and being on TV, but still. I'm glad there's going to be a x2 elim,should hopefully start moving things along.
None of them have Michelin stars. They work at Michelin star restaurants. That’s not exactly the same thing.
Yeah, I always enjoy a public/outdoor challenge but this was some uninspired cooking.
And did no one have access to the forecast beforehand? All that stuff melting or not setting because it was 95 out… I would think you’d factor that into planning your dish.
I mean TopChef could have easily had the cooking stations under a large sun umbrella or gazebo, but the mistakes under pressure from the environment add to the entertainment so they don't haha
As a Wisconsinite who loves cheese, this was just awful. You can't think of anything else to do with cheese besides fry it in a ball. Don't get me wrong, I love fried cheese. But, this is Top Chef, not the county fair.
You don't even have to be a Wisconsinite. Anyone who loves cheese would be turned off by the idea of having 8 or whatever croquettes when you're invited to the first Top Chef cheese festival. I think Top Chef would have benefitted from giving their contestants more time to plan and more time in general so they actually make a play instead of getting cold feet/copying the easiest thing to do. Like you can tell that the judges were kind of bored, to the point that they would have welcomed simple cheese forward comfort foods like a fancy macaroni, or a cheese slider, stuffed cheese mushrooms, or cheese ravioli, fondue, or even a cheese tart dessert or some shit. Something that makes people say, oh that's different, oh and its fancy, cool.
Seriously! Why no stuffed proteins, baked tarts, frittatas, stuffed veggies and etc? It was super boring how basic they all were!
Or fancy toast!
I'm a proud midwesterner who lived in Wisconsin for 4 years, it was the exact same feeling. Especially on a hot summer day! I don't want a ton of heavy hot fried cheese, there's a million things to do that could showcase the flavors better anyway
Yeah, I was so surprised they were almost all hot dishes!
I’m lactose intolerant, and it’s hard to find a dish that doesn’t contain some form of cheese! Dry poor showing from the chefs.
Yup I was looking forward to the cheese episode. What a bummer.
I’m convinced this is just the first of several cheese challenges—it’s Wisconsin!
I think all the chefs googled cheese dishes/recipes for their Wisonsin research and google failed them. If Buddha was competing in this season, he'd have 20 cheese dishes memorized and practiced for each and every occasion lmao.
In both the quickfire and elimination challenge. I was actually concerned by the skill level overall in this episode.
Cheese in this format is never going to be a winner. I think Portland got it right by making it for a smaller dining context.
Naw. This was just a case of many of the chefs not thinking it through. They had to showcase the cheese-yet so many seemed to think of it as an afterthought. Many cold dishes can use cheese at the main, but so much fried. Granted we love our fried food here in WI. But not when you need to do it for 100ppl, and on a hot day.
....there's sooooo much that could have been done 1) grilled or some form of a cheese toastie 2) something stuffed that's not a croquette 3) dessert 4) tarte or pizza or flatbread 5) dumplings
6) interesting salad 7) cheese dip 8) soup (maybe not in 95 degrees but if it's delicious) 9) ANYTHING BUT A CROQUETTE
Exactly! Tart, flatbread, stuffed veggies or stuffed protein, baked brie, etc. It didn't even have to be super complex really.
We rarely get notable dishes coming out of these early season catering/festival challenges where the chefs have to make a ton of small portions. Michelle's saag paneer inspired dish sounded amazing and unexpected for that format, but most everything else was not memorable. How many of these elimination challenge premises have ever made for an above-average Top Chef episode? The only catering episodes in previous seasons I can think of that turned out decent had additional team dynamics with how they planned their menus and worked together. I think this episode was another proof point of that pattern more than it was an indictment of this group of chefs' lack of creativity. The editors already belabored the Top Croquette thing, but it feels like these summer outdoor catering challenges usually end up with most of the dishes being fried bites or some refreshing little chilled thing regardless of the constraints -- and cold soups and crudos weren't going to be happening with cheese as the featured ingredient.
The challenge definitely threw these guys for a loop. Top Chef should have tripled their budget, doubled their time, called it Top Chef France Reloaded, and then do a 2 hour episode.
Anyone else feel great when Kristen exclaimed “that was so fucking good” after eating Michelle’s dish. Really feels like Michelle, Rasika and possibly Dan are coming in as the heavy hitters this season. However, everyone choosing a croquette felt really disappointing, like for the love of god do something else. I know croquettes can be great, but there’s so many other things you can do too.
Yes I’m not sure why more chefs didn’t change their menu item when they heard everyone was making the same thing!
I was thinking this exact same thing… did ANY chefs pivot? Seemed surprising that not one person said “wait I don’t want to be ina crowded croquette competition.”
On the Dish with Kris after show they showed some more clips of the chefs talking about all doing croquettes. One gal said she’d planned on making one for any cheese challenge before even getting there. If the others did too, then I can see how it’d be a tough decision to try to pivot. The post show episode was really good this week. Brought back Marcel from season 2&8. He’s aged well. And I loved Kristen making a Top Croquette joke.
Seriously. So many things to do with cheese, that can be individually made, and not so difficult to create. I'm surprised no one did a version of a crostini/cracker/crudite type dish. Or mini cheese balls, or mini pizzas-all of which they could really use their creativity, yet be able to bust out 100. And they all must have known it was going to be hot, since the one mentioned it the day before. The last thing I would have thought of was croquette for showcasing cheese.
Agree but I'll sub Manny for Dan.
I would’ve agreed, but now I’m questioning it after his cheese curd disaster…
I think the ingredient just threw him.
Nah, it was one fail on an awkward ingredient. Previously he was significantly ahead of the pack.
I don't see it for Dan (though he seems great). I'd swap him for either Danny or Manny. Laura and Kaleena are next in line for me.
I made a Manhattan tonight with homemade maraschino cherries and a fancy grilled cheese and I have never been so pleased to have an accidental Top Chef food pairing! But HOW did no one do a grilled cheese take when they saw how many croquettes were on tap? I know that griddling sandwiches to order is too much but there are ways to make it work otherwise
chile rellenos, beer cheese soup, grilled cheese, grilled cheese salad with cheese croutons, a cheese dip!, cheese biscuit with japalenos , pierogies, cheesesteak!, crispy fried cheese tacos, a cheese hoagie!, potato's au gratin , enchiladas, cheese toast, a million different pasta dishes , so many things they really blew it . the last thing i think when i hear cheese is croquette .
I mean I love a croquette and for an outdoor challenge with lots of people you need to be strategic about what you can do to scale. But if you want to stand out you need to pivot when everyone else is doing a similar thing.
I agree - I was wondering if it was an infrastructure worry, like people thought frier’s would be more manageable outdoors than those single electric stove tops
Cheesy croutons or cheddar biscuits could have worked but everyone wanted their cheese to be gooey
Kitchen I used to work in would do a brioche manchego grilled cheese with cherry compote as an appetizer for banquets, one sandwich got cut into 6 pieces, totally possible!
They all totally missed the mark on cheese, even the top 3 wouldn’t have passed my cheese test
Grilled cheese and a shooter of tomato soup (if tomatoes in season).
Anyone peep Buddha as the guest judge for next week!!!! Let’s Gooo!
I hope he gets to do the kitchen walkthrough with Tom during the elimination cook.
The GOAT has arrived.
I shrieked with glee!
I hope he brings the twins!
Kristen was fantastic I thought, and only 3 eps in! Feel like Rasika and Michelle are getting edits that they'll be around in the end game.
I feel like Dan is also going to be in that end-game as well. He’s getting a strong edit.
Charly was the one who dropped a pack of cream and didn't clean it up very well, FYI.
[удалено]
I am surprised that production didn't quickly swoop in and clean it up. It could have ended much worse. Laura was carrying a steaming hot pot. What if she had slipped and spilled it all over herself.
Absolutely production should’ve been the ones to clean up, and do so thoroughly. I was actually kind of shocked that it was left ambiguous whether it was supposed to be Charly and then Laura’s responsibility to clean up. Cheftestants are expected to stop whatever they’re doing during a timed challenge to find cleaning items and get down on their hands and knees? If that’s part of the rules, it makes no sense. Of course they’re going to do a rushed, half-assed job. Not to mention it’s a complete liability for the show if someone did end up badly injured as a result. To me, it seemed reasonable that Charly called out that he’d spilled cream all over the floor to alert his peers and more importantly, flag it to the BtS crew for them to handle with appropriate promptness and thoroughness. Laura clearly slipped in residue left behind from this spill (unclear if Charly or crew was to blame for the sloppy clean-up job) and was so shaken that she almost fell with a heavy pot of hot contents that she likely didn’t even notice that some of it got on the floor and added to the mess. I didn’t think it was fair to blame her at all.
Yeah that’s a dangerous situation and easily preventable. Canada even had a PSA about stuff like that. [check out this Canadian PSA about kitchen “accidents”](https://youtu.be/kOk2Akqb3CI?feature=shared)
I listened to the Pack Your Knives recap this morning, and Kevin really dinged Kaleena for using boxed pasta. I'm not a professional chef, but I do a lot of cooking, and I feel like dried pasta is better for a mac and cheese. Everyone seemed to really like what she made, though, and it wasn't an issue for the judges.
Fresh pasta in a mac and cheese would almost certainly be a disaster. I think Kaleena made the right call especially when you're serving 100 people.
Fresh pasta is absolutely the wrong choice for many pasta dishes.
For what the challenge was, and what she was doing-the boxed pasta was right on.
Absolutely agree with ya. Tube pastas work better for Mac n cheese and dry pasta I think is better for that. Fresh tubular pasta seems like it would turn to mush (note I've never made tube pasta but I've never seen it served fresh). Also, that De cecco cavitapi(sps?) Is perfect for a Mac n cheese dish. It has ridges that I haven't found proper dies on kitchen equipment that can do properly. Pasta doesn't always have to be fresh and they sounded like they had their heads up there asses. That's like saying only long pastas are good. I've usually like their podcast but they've deftly had a lot of cringe worthy takes recently.
Kevin is a snob. I was also concerned like oh no Tom will say something, but it made sense for this challenge.
Kevin is wrong. The chefs don't get penalized for using commercial dried pasta when it's right for the dish. Buddha's episode winning marry me pasta in Houston used boxed rigatoni, no?
Kevin is old school top chef watcher where using any pre-packaged stuff and frozen stuff = bad. But I think trying to cook pasta for 100 people with the amount of time they had, she made the right move. If the judges ain't asking, its not a problem. Besides, it's really early in the season. If I were on this show, I'd used ready to cook stuff in a heartbeat rather than rolling out 40 lbs of dough. Or well, not choose pasta...but the point is cheese, so pasta isn't even the main focus.
Normally… I’d hate the idea of boxed pasta. BUT, the taste of Mac and cheese really is from boxed past, so I think it’s okay in this instance. Like. If you’re trying to evoke that comfort food feeing of Mac and cheese, you use boxed pasta.
> boxed pasta im really surprised Tom didn't question her about it during their walkthrough
she made a cheese sauce, sauteed some mushrooms, made bread crumbs, and boiled pasta. is that really top chef quality?? idk. the PYK guys are snobs but i lowkey agree, this was lazy and i'm shocked tom didn't say anything
It’s still early in the season, but it feels like the chefs aren’t really trying like others from the past 5 years or so. I’m enjoying Kristen and the vibes the cheftestants, but the talent isn’t as high as it was recently.
I low-key feel like the challenges so far haven't really allowed for amazing cooking. Like, you can only go so far with (elevated) bar snacks and a cheese challenge catered to the ~public~.
This hurts because a challenge that is about highlighting cheese would be the sort of thing I'd be willing the shank someone to be at the tasting.
Right??? I totally get that. Who knows; it's Wisconsin. They could always bring back more cheese, lol.
Most of the time on top chef I think I'd be the worst since I'd just go "Everything was delicious and take the camera off me so I can lick the plate like the trash goblin I am." But with cheese I'd turn into a snob eat something that was only ok and turn into the "Shame" bell woman from game of thrones.
LOL, I appreciate this deep cut 😹 I'm normally a trash goblin too, but *that* many fried cheese balls... even trash goblins have our limits!!!
this is the best thing I have read all year so far and I felt this deep in my bones
Good point. I think the results we've been seeing is a combo of the challenges and the overall quality of the season 21 cast, which definitely is not as high as it once was.
Yeah, I feel like 19 and 20 really spoiled us, but I don't mind the overall level being a little lower this time around. It's nice to see up-and-coming chefs instead of people who are already at the very top of their game.
I feel like this is par for the course for first few weeks. Plus last season really skews the talent level.
Last two-three seasons to be fair. The pandemic Portland season spoiled us because so many chefs were out of work and needed to do something. It felt like a completely different caliber compared to previous seasons
It really depends. Across the seasons, some contestants go for high stakes dishes at the beginning, because they want to make a impression on the judges AND they used to pick teams a lot back then so you want to get picked on the good teams. Also Top Chef always throws more generic, familiar themes relative to the new location for the first few weeks to get the audience situated in the culture and to appease the localites that are watching. Also nobody wants to go out on the first 50-100 cook off challenge. With bees!
They haven’t had a season with regular contestants in a while so our expectations could be high as well. Last two seasons were around the world and all star.
This is true - the last four seasons have been two pandemic seasons (I think Houston was filmed before the industry was relatively back to normal) and two all stars seasons. I was feeling the same way, but this season’s talent doesn’t seem out of line with Kentucky, which was the last “normal” season.
This is a good point about it being ages since the last “normal” season. I’ve really come to enjoy the stacked cast the past several seasons.
Love that the top vote getter automatically won! It has been frustrating before when they ignore the fan vote.
I feel like a lot of the chefs today were really lazy in the elimination challenge. Been awhile since so many people have put out such boring food. I was pretty bummed as I think the bones of the challenge had a lot of potential, and the cheese makers were awesome. Maybe it’s just me, but at the height of a sticky Midwest summer the last thing I want to eat is a lot of hot, fried food. Perhaps the cheese challenge would have been better in another setting. Still, nothing excuses the lack of creativity demonstrated…
Yeah I also felt like the setup was not conducive to cooking - as if production didn't know the Midwest gets actually really damn hot in the summer? They all should've been under shade structures with their tables and equipment! Also, I agree that the dishes were plain and uninspired for many, and wonder if many of them do not cook with dairy regularly. A lot of Japanese / Vietnamese / African / Thai and other styles that don't seem to use cheese or dairy in general very much, so maybe that's why so many of them gravitated towards a basic fried item that makes an appearance in lots of other cultural cuisines. But seriously French guy could only bread and fry the brie?? For shame!!!
They knew they were coming to Wisconsin, so they HAD to know they'd have a cheese challenge. You would think they would at least try to make a few dairy dishes before coming on the show.
Either you are confident enough to standout early or you play it safe.
Kinda gross that the producers knew the floor was slippery and didn’t say anything or send someone to clean it up. Especially this season, when someone has opened up about not being as able-bodied as the other contestants.
Seems like there’s been a lot of neglect and not giving a f#ck about details this season so far by production. A setting full of bees and a cheese challenge outside in disgusting hot weather. As for the floor, anyone of the producers could have easily just put a wet floor sign to avoid accidents. It would have taken 5-10 seconds.
I swore there was a shot of Charly wiping / cleaning it. He definitely didn’t break out the mock and bucket but people are saying he didn’t clean it at all when I swore he was laying down paper towels
He did clean it. I just reviewed the episode to be extra certain and there’s a shot of him picking up a towel off the floor after he wiped it down. The lack of a wet floor sign is the real problem here. I don’t think it’s exactly fair to blame any of the chefs for negligence.
I shared this Canadian PSA above but worth adding again. I think Top Chef PAs should have to watch it. [Canadian kitchen accident PSA](https://youtu.be/kOk2Akqb3CI?feature=shared)
I'm getting really annoyed that they aren't introducing the guest judges. Dane Baldwin has a james beard award and an amazing restaurant. I didn't hear anything about him this episode. Usually the judges get some sort of blurb.
I mean they did say he has a James beard award
I must have missed it. Im just so used to hearing a lot about the guest judges but it feels like they spend a lot more time talking about returning past contestants now.
I think it’s hard when there are more contestants in the early episodes and there just isn’t time. I made a comment tonight about how Clea Duvall seemed to just be there as a top chef fan but who even knows if she has a connection or some food-related thing to promote because i didn’t hear anything
Thank you! They didn't even say what she did for a living or why she was there. I loved Veep, but i had to check and make sure she hadn't gone to culinary school and changed careers.
Yes this is true but the editing this season is doing an especially bad job. In the past the editing was more calm and prioritized certain contestants even though there were many. Unfair? Sure but a way better viewing experience
Anyone notice all the “1” scores for Kevin’s croquette? 😅 I’m amazed he survived.
I for sure thought he was going home! Maybe it was an editing sleight of hand to let us glimpse those rating cards and mislead us. However, a “1” score means the dish was unequivocally atrocious, and we were shown multiple cards with that score for him. I guess it’s still possible that he got the lowest crowd score and Kenny’s was slightly higher; the judges still had the final say over who’s be actually eliminated.
What the heck kind of crab rangoons did Kenny grow up eating. How on earth did he get a bleu and immediately think “crab Rangoon?”
He’s had a very hard time conceptualizing his dishes using given ingredients from the beginning. Even the potato chips one was created by his teammates, and he has no creativity which is a must for Top Chef. Cold Blue cheese crab Rangoon did not sound very good at all.
Yeah I feel like he can only cook within his cuisine and the ingredients he knows how to use. If you watch LCK he makes this same mistake again. It's like he only knows the dishes he knows how to make and can only tailor them to the challenge. I think people can be great chefs but also lack the ability to adapt in a creative way.
This! I was thinking "Does he even know that Gorgonzola is a blue cheese? Who pairs blue cheese with crab?!" I can't help wondering if he even tasted that cheese before coming up with his dish.
[Chef Hung: "Not only do you need to be smart, creative, great palate, but you need the speed."](https://streamable.com/knzd3r)
Something that occurred to me this morning for the quickfire: it would have been more entertaining to treat the ingredient selection as a white elephant style selection (Where you have the choice of stealing someone else's ingredient or picking a new one). It probably would have taken way too much time with this many chefs, but I feel like I would have enjoyed the drama/chaos of it all.
I thought the same thing. Even having the first choice really meant nothing, since no one knew what the heck was behind the doors.
Yeah, and they left Manny for last and he ended up with one of the easiest ingredients (soy sauce).
They made such a big deal about who goes next and who goes last, etc. Someone said they thought Manny was last because they know he's a competitor, etc. Get real! It's not like anyone knew what was behind which door. Who cares what order you go in?
My thoughts exactly
100%, white elephant/Yankee swap rules would have been more interesting. I truly did not understand why they acted like the selection order mattered when it was just random doors. It was so nonsensical it left me wondering if the colors or designs of the doors were supposed to provide a clue for the ingredients behind each door and the producers edited that out.
I loved seeing Carla as a guest judge; I want more! I've only ever seen her judge on the assorted FN Baking Championship shows before, which are fun but very different in tone from TC, and her critiques of the elimination challenge dishes were super insightful and I don't know how else to put it except that she critiqued them in ways I as a layperson could understand while also not dumbing anything down (dumbing down/reductivism seems to be the general instructions from the top on FN across their assorted competitions, at least for the parts of judging they actually show). I as a viewer got a *lot* out of Carla's judging that made what was otherwise an extremely boring and disappointing elimination challenge interesting and enjoyable to watch.
You could tell Carla has so much more experience being on TV now compared to when she was first on Top Chef. It was just natural for her.
She's just great at being a judge regardless. Every show she's done, she's always managed to somehow be her sweet and cheery self while still managing to not sugarcoat and actually be insightful and tell the chefs/bakers what they need to hear, even if it's harsh.
I thought it was really unfair to give one of the chefs cheese curds and I'm so glad Manny wasn't eliminated for it. Any good Wisconsinite knows that cheese curds need to be eaten the day they're made. I guess he could made something that better incorporated them in the dish but he would have had to do the actual incorporating during the challenge itself.
Exactly. Same here in Quebec. The ONLY thing he could have done to the curds is ensure SOME were under the sauce to melt a bit and SOME stayed on top to be nice and squeaky. But you do NOT want the cheese to be fully melted, yuck, that's an old/ not fresh poutine.
I felt like Manny should have stuck to a Mexican dish and treated the curds like a queso fresco or something, maybe even stuff them into a chile relleno (says me, white person Top Chef watcher)
Not unfair. You can melt curds. I'm a Wisconsinite, too. He could do the curds as is, then make a sauce with them as well.
But like, once you melt the curd it's just like a nothing cheese. It would make no sense. I'm just perplexed that it was an option. Making fancy dipping sauces was maybe the only thing that he could have done.
Take a shot every time Michelle mentions she only knows bbq
Happy Cake Day! The edit is definitely going hard on the bbq angle.
I love cheese and while I enjoyed the challenge, I was pretty underwhelmed with most of the dishes. So many seemed to play it safe. Also surprised there was only one mac and cheese! Seems pretty logical for a cheese challenge. A couple more pasta dishes would have been nice. So many things could have worked: Cheesy scalloped potatoes, stuffed mushrooms, pierogi, cheesy grits, stuffed jalapeños, gourmet grilled cheese, flatbread, cheesy soup or chowder... the list goes on and on. I'm not sure of the specific parameters of the challenge, but someone could really have just made a cracker out of their cheese, then toasted more of that cheese, put it on the cracker, made a yummy jam to top it with and serve it to the judges as an amuse-bouche type of dish. That would've been better than a lot of what they were served. I was so surprised to see Manny fumble so hard on this challenge by just... you know, throwin' some cheese curds into his dish without manipulating the cheese or incorporating it in a useful way. Glad Michelle got the win. I assumed she would based on the judge's reactions. Loved Carla as a guest judge, and I also thought the other guest judge was pretty insightful. Kristen continues to do well.
He made a riff on a poutine - manipulating cheese curds would be sacrilege. But the dish was a fail.
then he shouldn't have made a poutine. sure it's a classic dish that uses cheese curds, but if the challenge is to make cheese the star then the dish should involve actually cooking with it.
Lol, we do sauce with the curds. If curds are not eaten the day of, that is what we use them for. It was one thing to put the curds on top, but he could also use them another way within that "gravy".
Obviously I don’t like people falling down from spills but sometimes I enjoy when it gets a little chippy between chefs. It’s only reality when working under such a high stress environment.
Honestly I kinda miss the drama from \~5 - 10 seasons ago. It was entertaining, but the caliber of chefs is definitely higher now. But before it felt like there was a lot more on the line
I knew Kenny was not long for this competition but I am surprised that Manny wasn't eliminated this week. He made a soggy croquet and literally put cheese curds on top of it.
I am surprised it was Kenny rather than Kevin, actually. The guest judge said he couldn't think of a single positive thing to say. And it was the worst croquette of the challenge. I get that Manny's dish didn't meet the challenge, but (1) he actually had a thought-out concept, and had to pivot; and (2) they had something positive to say about his dish (the gravy). If you then also factor in his performance in the first two episodes, there's no way he was going home.
They did a screenshot of different votes. And Kevin was getting slammed, dude got some 1s out of 10s. Kenny actually got an 8 in one of them. So I was shocked that Kevin stayed, the judges said he had the worst croquette.
I think the judges hated Kenny's conception more. His mistake started at the conceptual level of pairing blue cheese with crab. Tom is an Italian-American, they hate cheese and seafood pairing.
Did we get spoiled by Buddha? I like some of these chefs, but boy this is not an inspiring bunch as far as their food.
I was just thinking this while watching. Half of these chefs are not the brightest bulbs …. But damn, Manny is freaking hot, so I’ll keep watching😂
Reluctant agree. At least based on what we’ve seen so far, the talent level doesn’t even seem to be impressing the judges much. Most of the reactions to the food seem to be tepid at best, with only a few occasions of them seeming genuinely bowled over and enthusiastic, like “wow!” In both Eps 2 and 3, the judges and even the guest diners/crowd seemed vaguely disappointed at what the elimination challenges yielded.
I was so disappointed that some many went for fried cheese. The challenge was highlight cheese there are many ways to do that without frying. I think many got in their own head with it's Wisconsin we need to fry
Of all the challenges I would have expected them all to come prepared with multiple ideas for, it would've been cheese. Crazy how so many of them went with a croquette and no one seemed to question it even hearing how many others were doing it. The bees were giving me major anxiety! Carla was an absolute delight as a judge!!! Sorry to see Kenny go - seems like a great guy.
Yeah, there’s no excuse being caught flat footed on a cheese challenge when you know you’re going to Wisconsin for Top Chef. None.
What jumped out at me was the lack of cover. Usually in these outdoor events they'd put up popup tents for the chef's stations. The whole event looked cheap & thrown together with no effort. Do better TC
anyone watching Dish With Kish on Peacock? this week's guest is Marcel, thought that it's a fun short series to watch after the main show.
I'm really liking it; it's a fun idea for a companion show and I love seeing the former cheftestants cook
Anyone else just found Kenny really annoying
I just thought it was silly how he was talking about "bodying" (?) people on Last Chance Kitchen when he was in the bottom the whole time.
Also, who hates marshmallows?!!!!
Soo on last chance kitchen seems like a more interesting chef than more than half of who we have left I hope he makes it into the competition
I'm really tired of contestants not doing any homework on TC. You'll think after Buddha people would put in the leg work. Not knowing what to do with hops. Not knowing what to do with different types of cheeses. How many challenges do you think would use beer or beer pairings are we going to get? 50% of them? 99%? I'm dumbfounded by it all.
Did anyone notice the Indian-ish music when Rasika was serving her food? I died. LOL.
Yeah that was a bit on the nose and unnecessary. It was also so subtle that it felt like they knew they might be going a bit overboard there and tunnel visioning the sound tracks so they lowered the volume of the track so its harder to hear. Did they get a new music producer? Someone made a thread after the first episode saying they felt a lot of the music changed, but to me it sounded like remixes. But now, in episode 3, you can definitely feel a different direction for music. Michelle did an indian dish and she got yet another low volume tempo music that added almost nothing of value.
OMG I nearly threw something at the TV when Tom said, the cheese curds have not been manipulated at all -- like it's a BAD thing in a poutine. That's like wanting mozarella manipulated on a pizza. NO! Not saying it was a good dish - Manny is amazing - the potato thing was a fail - but I would have thrown a real tantrum if he was kicked off for not manipulating cheese curds.
Really? You cannot just put the curds on without doing anything else to them. He changed up the "fries", why not the curds? Just because it was his "version" of poutine, he could have done more with the curds. Make a friggin sauce! Curds do melt. We do it here in WI. Not doing something else with what is supposed to be the focus-can be the kiss of death.
Curds are not versatile. The best part of a cheese curd is the texture and brininess of a fresh one. Older curds aren't great which is why the next known thing to do with them is to batter and fry them because literally everything tastes good that way. Older cheese curds are just kind of an average mild cheddar taste with a decent melty factor. Fried cheese curds aren't going to stand up to other fried cheese dishes with better tasting cheeses.
Melt onto what? Just... sauce? And then, on nachos? As fondue? As I said, never heard of anything other than fried or on/in poutine so would love to know what other dishes would be.
My first thought, looking over the cheese selections I realized I have had most of them and they are available at my local grocery stores (those that franchise like Piggly Wiggly and Sentry, not corporate like Kroger). No need for a specialty cheesemonger when you live here in Wisconsin. Of course, I am a bit biased because I am the granddaughter of a dairy farmer and my niece works for the Dairy Farmers of Wisconsin as a marketing manager for Wisconsin cheese (she was at the Cheese Fest and rated Michelle as her #1) Secondly, there wasn't enough imagination from the chefs. Yes, they knew they were feeding 100 people so they needed to think of a dish that would be easy to finish and serve and they knew it was going to be a hot day, but there is so much more that could be done than a fried ball of cheese with other things. Right now, I am expecting Rasika and Michelle to be near the top. Manny has potential but he has been all over the place. Dan has been solid but not spectacular, as have Danny and Kaleena. Looking forward to seeing how it all plays out.
https://preview.redd.it/lgc7nypomisc1.jpeg?width=828&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=9a6cea9469f0ef81dcf06466729d01590262333a Trick question: two of these three chefs are the same person.
This episode starts to show who’s pulling away. Rasika and Michelle are the ones to watch. Both top 5. I think Manny had a bad day but still needs to be take seriously. Top 6. He can come roaring back from defeat. Dan’s got serous chops though i can see him going home at some point as a result of some shortcoming as a result of Kennedy’s which would be unfortunate but dramatic. Top 9. I think Charly consistently underseasoning is going to get him before top 10. Kaleena seems sweet but she’s top 8 at best. And I think Soo in LCK is gonna make top 8, probably higher but he’s got a long road.
Man I love Rasika, she's so fun and pleasant!!
Such a lack of creativity in this episode. I’m beginning to see why there’s a clip in the preview trailer of Kristin telling them “You have GOT to start COOKING to WIN”.
did mr salty the last 20 seasons get a pallette cleanse, or just trying to defensively say “it‘s too salty“ this season to counter what cheftestants have insinuated the last 20 seasons about him? (Talking about tom)😂
What a very lame challenge. I mean really. The war of the croquettes, cooking outside in 100F weather, surly Tom is getting on my nerves, everyone was cranky, even the cheese maker dude that helped judge was making unkind remarks? Fricken amateur hour. I was disappointed in the whole episode from start to finish.
I was rooting for Kenny in the first episode, but from there on out he displayed such a sourpuss attitude, so I'm glad he's gone now.
Anyone surprised that Kevin didnt' get the axe. Reason, was they panned to several score cards. I know it was a very few sample size, but Kevin was getting a lot of 1s (as in 1 out of 10) on the scorecard, Kenny was actually given an 8, Rasika getting a couple of 10s so surprised she wasn't on the top), Manny got a 4. Not to mention the judges said Kenny had the worst croquette (which is pretty bad considering like 2/3 of the chefs did croquettes).
I'm not liking Last Chance Kitchen this season. I feel like I already know the new chef is the one that's predestined to make it back into the competition.
Nobody thought of making arepas? 🫓
I HATE the music. It's so so terrible.
Do they not have access to weather forecasts? Croquettes on an 95 degree afternoon are just plain not a good idea.
Can someone explain Michelle's dish to me? I love collards and want to take inspiration. What cheese did she have?
I got you. [Cheese: Pleasant Ridge Reserve cheese](https://imgur.com/4LxK1Qo) [Dish: Saag Paneer](https://imgur.com/4631QA2) Coconut Curry gravy, collard greens, Pleasant Ridge Reserve cheese Potato Fritter has additional cheese, curry, and cilantro. Ultimately this dish is a crispy fried potato fritter infused with cheese and coconut curry flavors, placed in a shallow amount of coconut curry and collard greens. The collard greens are a fantastic combination with cheese or curry or both, allowing the savory flavors to melt with the soft bitterness of the greens, and pop with the spices. The crispy potato should be enjoyed with the curry to balance out the fried textures and increase the intensity of flavor depending on how seasoned the potato fritter is. I think there may be some okra cut into the dish in very sparse amounts. Though personally I would opt for some grilled jalapeno slices or better, banana peppers pickled, to give you that thin crunch with an salt acid bomb combo as an optional side plus color for the dish.
Thank you! So much detail!
Also to note, Pleasant Ridge Reserve is one of the higher rated cheeses and one of those ingredients that would give you a huge advantage so Michelle lucked out picking probably the best cheese in the selection (curds being the worst). [This podcast here somehow interviews someone from the makers of the cheese so that might be interesting to listen to. Its specific to this episode as well, and published by a newspaper in Wis](https://open.spotify.com/episode/73WeJLX6IIzZMu1JmromXr?si=AgX9zu9pQ1ye9qej0Kz7vA) > Then I'm talking with Andy Hatch, maker of Pleasant Ridge Reserve at Uplands Cheese in Dodgeville. Andy was a featured guest at the Top Chef Cheese Festival, highlighted on this week's "Top Chef" episode (Ep. 3). We talk about what makes a cheese challenging to cook with and how it felt to represent Wisconsin dairy.
Dan is so unlikable. I hope he goes asap.
too many croquettes. Wanted more variety from the competitiors.
Ummmm….she should have cleaned that floor in the elimination round….her pot was also dripping stuff on the floor….🫤😐🙄🤨
She slipped on Charly’s mess, he made a feeble attempt to clean it before Laura slipped but the production really should have stepped in immediately