Top Chef 5/29/24--"Leave It All on the Table" summary

 

Previously on “Top Chef”: We said “meat raffle” was a thing, which just means for the Quickfire it was random draw for first dibs on proteins. Savannah made corned beef salad and was the winner. Remember that for later. Then we had to do a fish boil, which is where you boil fish on the beach and then throw kerosene on the fire for no reason other than people are drunk on the beach. Danny won, because he took care to make sure the fish cooked in something other than just salted water. Savannah cut herself, and ended up in the bottom, but “we will consider the Quickfire performance” is translating to “doing well in the Quickfire is basically immunity” because no one wanted to send Savannah home. Instead, Soo was sent home for being too disjointed. (click for more)

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Top Chef 5/22/24--"Door County Fish Boil" summary

 

Previously on “Top Chef”: Tom and Gail made the announcement that from now on, your Quickfire performance would be factored into elimination decisions. First, make a dish with cranberries. Somehow no one made dessert. Danny won with sea bass and a good sauce. Laura, Manny, and Amanda were the bottom three. For the Elimination Challenge, the chefs had to cook with Native American ingredients. That means no wheat flour and no cane sugar and no citrus. Overall this went pretty well. Savannah won, because she wanted to make a cake and when it turned out weird she just went with it and it was great. Michelle, Laura, and Amanda were in the bottom. Since Michelle was actually in the top for the Quickfire, the judges decided to send both Laura and Amanda home. (click for more)

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TAR 36, Recap Leg 11, 5/15/24

 

Welcome to Leg 11! Last time, on Finally Something the Gays Aren’t Good At!, 4 teams continued racing through the Dominican Republic. Ricky struggled on the Roadblock, but Leticia domincated, allowing Team NFL to take first place. Amber and Vinny didn’t know what a Hurricane glass looked like, and that led to their elimination. And then there were three: Ricky and Cesar, the dating couple that are superfans of the show and have never placed lower than third on a leg; Rod and Leticia, the married couple that had early success, but Rod’s competitive nature and their love for each other kept them from falling behind; and Juan and Shane, the best friends who found success in their stamina on the megaleg and never looked back. Who will win The Amazing Race 36? (click for more)

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TAR 36, Recap Leg 10, 5/15/24

 

Welcome to Leg 10! Last time, on Maybe We Should Flip Over the Rocks and See If There Are Things on the Back, 5 teams raced to Puerto Plata, Dominican Republic. Ricky and Cesar continued to dominate the competition and finish in first for the sixth time. Rod and Leticia are very good at laying out cacao beans, and leap frog over the other teams. Melissa struggles at the first Roadblock, causing the girls to be eliminated. Who will be eliminated. . . next? (click for more)

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Top Chef 5/15/24--"The Good Land" summary

 

Previously on “Top Chef”: Apparently the way you do Restaurant Wars with an odd number of people is one team just gets an extra person. The smaller team said they were doing Korean and Mexican fusion, which sounds like a perfectly good, cohesive theme. The larger team said “let's be seafood and vegetable forward” which is not cohesive. And Michelle didn't serve the first judges' table properly. But somehow they had the better restaurant? And then Tom was like “oh smoked whitefish is perfect for your regional seafood concept” which is bullshit. That wasn't their concept, the concept was “everyone does their own thing, but just with seafood”. Whatever. Dan won with said smoked whitefish. The Korean/Mexican team I guess had a boring theme? Didn't do a good job with the theme? Who knows. The worst dish was the one the whole team worked on together, so since Kaleena was executive chef she was sent home. (click for more)

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TAR 36, Recap Leg 9, 5/8/24

 

Welcome to Leg 9! Last time, on We Should Have Made That Left Turn at Albuquerque, 6 teams raced to Bridgetown, Barbados. Angie was very successful on the Roadblock, but then disobeyed a race rule which garnered her team a time penalty. Juan and Shane passed four teams at the Detour, landing them in second. Ricky and Cesar took first. Again. And Angie and Danny were eliminated. Who will be eliminated. . . next? (click for more)

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Top Chef 5/8/24--"Restaurant Wars" summary

 

Previously on “Top Chef”: the Quickfire was somehow both an advertisement for dish soap and a flambe challenge. Sure. Then the twist was the top three (Danny, Amanda, and Kevin) had to make a second dish with char. At least when Danny won he got $20,000. Then the Elimination Challenge involved sausage, sausage races, and the ballpark. It was a team challenge but there was no drama about teams or budgets. Head to head battles featuring various sausages. Michelle made etouffee with Polish sausage and won. I thought for sure they would get rid of two of the three people in the bottom, but then they only got rid of Kevin for making risotto that had too much cheese. So how are we doing Restaurant Wars with nine people? (click for more)

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TAR 36, Recap Leg 8, 5/1/24

 

Welcome to Leg 8! Last time, on Let’s Just Scream At Each Other Until We Win, 7 teams raced to Montevideo, Uruguay. Vinny crushed at the Roadblock, but then he and Amber fought for most of the rest of the leg. Danny’s navigation paid off for him and his mom, and it led to a second place finish. Ricky and Cesar returned to the top of the pack, Juan and Shane stumbled due to Juan’s food poisoning, but it’s Sunny and Bizzy who had horrid navigation this week and are eliminated. Who will be eliminated. . . next? (click for more)

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Top Chef 5/1/24--"Sausage Race" summary

 

Previously on “Top Chef”: both Kaleena and Soo returned from Last Chance Kitchen, which is dumb but I guess we can't not have Soo come through because of this dumb gimmick. The Quickfire involved dairy-based desserts, because Wisconsin, and Michelle won. Then the Elimination Challenge told everyone to make “chaos cuisine”. This phrase was so poorly defined that the host straight up admitted she had no idea what was going on. It seemed to be “make something crazy” or possibly “this season is boring please help”. The winner was Danny, because he made stuffed cabbage with scallops. Is this chaotic? Tom implied it seemed calm but was chaotic under the surface. I mean sure, but no one could shut up about how technical it was. Not the same as “chaotic”. Michelle and Rasika were the bottom two, both for what seem to be execution errors. They sort of implied they might send both of them home, but in the end only Rasika was eliminated. (click for more)

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