Top Chef 5/1/25--"Restaurant Wars" summary

 

Previously on “Top Chef”: instead of the dumb Quickfire where you had “one pot meals” but you could wash the pot between ingredients, we had a different way to advertise the dish detergent sponsor. Everyone got a dirty dish and had to make that dish. It was dumb but less obnoxious than stretching the definition of “one pot meal”. Henry won by making oatmeal dumplings with glutinous rice. Then everyone had to make pizza because of reasons. The contestants were supposed to be “controversial” but I don't think they cared that much about it. Tristen won by making anchovy ranch, and Tom pretended he did not understand the concept of ranch dressing. The bottom three all made bad pizzas in the sense that they were soggy or the crust was not good. Henry was trying to save money and only bought one bag of flour, so he had to use rice for his crust and the judges said it wasn't pizza. So Henry was eliminated. (click for more)

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TAR 37, Recap Leg 9, 4/30/25

 

Welcome to Leg 9! Last time, on The Greatest Comeback Story Ever, 6 teams continued racing through Bulgaria. Alyssa and Josiah went for the Express Pass, which required them to walk on hot coals. Carson and Jack were able to make up a 90 minute delay while Han and Holden struggled. Brett and Mark finished first, while Melinda and Erika were eliminated. Who will be eliminated. . . next? (click for more)

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TAR 37, Recap Leg 8, 4/23/25

 

Welcome to Leg 8! Last time, on Driving Three Hours in the Wrong Direction Is Preferrable to Searching a Haystack, 7 teams raced from for the first time to Bulgaria and encountered self-driving for the first time in the race. The Gaymers drove themselves three hours south instead of east, bouncing them from first to worst. Jonathan and Ana parked wrong and got themselves caught in a ditch. Melinda and Erika rightly U-turned the brothers, who U-Turned the siblings, and then got stuck looking in a haystack for a bracelet while the Gaymers caught up and passed them. And Nick and Mike were eliminated at the Detour. Who will be eliminated. . . next? (click for more)

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Top Chef 4/24/25--"You Wanna Pizza Me?" summary

 

Previously on “Top Chef”: A dumb Quickfire which at least confined the product placement to the Quickfire so we didn't have to deal with Chipotle in the main challenge. Tristen didn't make Mexican but a rice bowl thing so he won. The Elimination challenge was to make a progressive tasting menu revolving around pickles, and also in teams. Massimo won because he's extra of course. Shuai accidentally threw away a bunch of Henry's garnishes and pickles, so Henry had to scramble. He and Shuai both ended up in the bottom, and there was some discourse online that Shuai should have quit, but they ended up eliminating Katianna instead for weird cucumber seed pudding. But it did seem for a minute like they'd get rid of Henry for not enough pickle flavor. (click for more)

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TAR 37, Recap Leg 7, 4/16/25

 

Welcome to Leg 7! Last time, on I’ll Have High Tea With The Hot French Pastry Chef Anytime, 8 teams raced from Indonesia to Dubai. Teams jumped out of airplanes, and the Gaymers took the Fast Forward to land in first place. In the meantime, The Jeffs decided not to take a certain train, which landed them in a footrace with the Brothers to the mat, which Nick and Mike won, so Pops and Jeff were eliminated. Who will be eliminated. . . next? (click for more)

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Top Chef 4/17/25--"Pickle Me This" summary

 

Previously on “Top Chef”: Bailey returned from Last Chance Kitchen, and then contestants were paired up to learn dishes from various ethnic restaurants. Then they were supposed to put their own spin on things and serve a food festival. Bailey and Tristen won, by making olive caramel or something. Bailey almost lectured everyone else on being true to themselves but settled for kissing up to the guest judge. Kat and Corwin, two strong competitors, wanted to get salt cod but couldn't find it and used regular cod instead. They ended up making soggy fritters and were eliminated. (click for more)

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Top Chef 4/10/25--"Line Cook for a Day" summary

 

Previously on “Top Chef”: we had “trivia” questions for everyone, but they were just to get ingredients to force people to use. Corwin won, which was whatever. I liked Kat making a fried Nutella sandwich. The Elimination challenge was to take “iconic Canadian desserts”, deconstruct them, and make savory dishes. The two with the easiest time, in my opinion, got what is basically figgy pudding, and promptly used all the spices to make Afro-Caribbean food. Tristen made lamb fat madeleines and won. Zubair overcooked his duck and then was sent home. (click for more)

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