Top Chef 4/27/26--"Restaurant Wars" summary

 

Previously on “Top Chef”: the Quickfire was to make a dish that fits into the existing Cracker Barrel menu. I think this is a great challenge, but not when you make everyone get into groups of three and then they have 45 minutes but only one person can cook at a time. Why do we need to only have 15 minutes? Also this is the day after the BBQ challenge where they stayed up all night. Anyways, the twins and Anthony won, mainly because Jonathan made steak smothered in bourbon pan gravy and it did seem exactly like something you could buy at Cracker Barrel. Then everyone had to take a Southern dessert to reinterpret, for the judges and 60 “superfans”, with three hours. Starting immediately, no going to the store, no time in the car to think about what you're doing. The superfans voted on the winner, which was Anthony, for making a twist on apple stack cake. Justin picked out ambrosia salad, which the excellent logic of “this way I don't have to bake a cake”, but then he didn't have enough cream and everything was too cold, so he was eliminated. Kristen called everyone back and said that Restaurant Wars starts right this second, with 36 hours until service. Oh also you must do takeout. Jenn (whose face was pulling and drooping and painful) was sent to the hospital, and they asked her to leave. But she can come back in a future season. Kristen pulled Justin from wherever he was to tell him the news and that he can return if he would like. Justin called Jenn, and then said he couldn't think about competing while she was in the hospital, which is totally fair. Then the episode ends. (click for more)

Last Chance Kitchen: we pretended LCK is filmed at the same time as the episodes, which it is not. If it was, they could have just had Rhoda return. But LCK is filmed in the day or two right before people return to the main show, so they wouldn't have known who was winning. Once Jenn is stable and improving (no stroke, it was a sudden onset of Bell's palsy), Justin is in the mindset to return. Of course by then the regular show has moved on, so he went to LCK and had to make a dish based on random words Tom put on knives in the knife block. “Glamorous alien whipped.” Why did Tom put something like “alien” in there? Who knows. No one really did anything alien but in the pursuit of trying to be glamorous Justin put tuna tartare on his dish, which was not necessary and ruined the texture. So Justin is actually out.

We are having severe weather, and I don't have a garage, so my day is somewhat chaotic. Also, because apparently Bravo is trying to get this show canceled, tonight's episode starts 15 minutes later than usual. So it won't even end until 10, and the preview is only like a minute, because they at least pretended to avoid spoilers. Then some influencer who was there posted a video, which clearly shows Sieger in the kitchen, and then Kristen commented on it but not to say “hey take this down”. I mean we all knew that was the most likely outcome, but still.

The Restaurant Wars teams were chosen by Kristen telling them to pick out their own groups, and Oscar hoping Laurence would include him, but it didn't really happen. The teams are (were) Jenn, Jonathan, Brandon, and Oscar; and Laurence, Anthony, Sherry, and Duyen. There is a sort of plan to put Jenn as executive chef, meaning during service she has the least physically strenuous role, but who knows now.

I know this was a lot, but I feel like it was all important. We're in the Stew Room talking about menus. Oscar says Latin flavors and Southern flavors. Kristen appears to tell them that Jenn is out. No one seems that happy. They offered Justin the spot, and he refused, so here is Sieger. He's stoked to skip LCK, but he's not thrilled it's at Jenn's expense. Oscar is fine with it. The twins fill him in on details: 100 diners, plus takeout. Three courses, two options each course. I believe at least one judge needs to not be in the restaurant but instead be ordering takeout. If you're going to insist they do it, then you have to judge it. Otherwise what is the point. They want to do all Latin flavors (one of the twins is strong there) and then Oscar can be FOH and speak in Spanish and shit. On the other team, Sherry is saying how they all have different styles and they should do like a global thing. I feel like the judges are always mad at a “global” concept because it's not cohesive enough. Laurence says what I just did, which is that “global” is too broad, and they should all have a through-line of Carolina. Sure, that would help. Carolinas as location, and comfort as theme.

Brandon announces to his team that he's moving to sit next to Sieger so he can eavesdrop on the other team. How will that help you? Sieger doesn't care if he's executive chef or a line cook. He knows executive chef can be a death sentence, but also he doesn't have his own restaurant and he wants one. Anthony has immunity, so Laurence throws him under the bus and Anthony agrees to be executive chef on that team. Sherry is nervous just as a numbers situation, because if they are the worse team only three of them can go home. The other team decides on “Tierra Reina” which is Spanish for “earth queen”. Yeah, sure. Laurence says they have the last two women in the competition and it sounds like they name their restaurant “Carolina Queen”. Eh.

Actual dishes time. Aguachile! Of course! Sweet potatoes. Anthony points out since they have to have takeout, temperature will be an issue. Duyen is going to be FOH, so she needs a dish she can prep ahead of time and someone can assemble. Sherry suggests a ham and cheese gougere, which can all be done ahead of time, I think. Sherry also says panna cotta for dessert, which is probably not as good of an idea as the gougere. Also Cheerwine. The one twin (doesn't matter which one) says they have to communicate “hardcore”.

In the morning they have to shop and they're also making them buy tables and plates and shit. No one ever cares about this. Duyen says “feminine but not Barbie”. She has known she wants to do FOH if she made it this far, because she's organized and she's on top of it. The boys are doing fine, I guess. Whatever. Oscar calls the Mexican supermarket to get I think beef cheek. Since he speaks Spanish he's able to confirm they have it. I think they have $2000 at Whole Foods? And $2500 at a specialty market. Laurence and Sherry are at the Asian market. She is trying to put her ego aside. Laurence keeps yelling her name and she curses and says “It's like my fucking kid!” Heh.

5 hours to prep. Well at least they have real kitchens. Duyen hollers at Oscar that is he front of house? Don't let Dwayne come out! Oscar says oh shit Dwayne's back. Heh. They joke a little. Tierra Reina has Latin dishes using I think Carolina ingredients. Oscar tries a joke but no one laughs. Brandon asks Laurence for one can of Cheerwine, which is a risky move, Laurence clears it with his team first. No one is making both options of a course, so that's something. Anthony says Carolina Queen is “new Southern comfort-style food”. It does look good, although it involves panna cotta. The twins are thrilled to be working together.

Tom Time! He appears with Michael Mina, a chef whose name I feel like I've heard a lot but he doesn't look familiar so maybe I've just heard people talk about him a lot? Laurence is stuck explaining the restaurant to him and Tom. He's making baklava with a sweet potato crème anglaise. How is this Southern comfort? Laurence fumbles for a minute until Tom is like “Southern Greece” and Laurence pounces on this. They have pecans instead of pistachios. Oscar and a twin seem more confident, and mention that their Carolina influence comes in the products, like the rice pudding will have Carolina Gold rice. Tom pointedly asks if it will be green, and Duyen says not to make fun of her. That was pretty good. Then Tom actually goes over to her and asks if she tested a cheese puff before she piped all these trays. Nope. In confessional Duyen says no one has time to test anything, so maybe that is foreshadowing. Tom says bye and they'll see you tomorrow night, which makes zero sense if you are claiming they had to open 36 hours after you gave them the challenge. Then it would be in the morning. Come on guys.

Sieger and Oscar are in the space talking about where to put tables. Anthony is portioning out panna cotta. Sherry is making super strong “welcome tea” that will steep overnight. Duyen didn't get to spend as much time in the dining room as she wanted. It's gonna be a long day tomorrow.

So now the chyron says “5 hours until restaurants open”, whatever that means. People have painted and hung artwork for them. Also I think they had flowers so someone has assembled bud vases for the tables or whatever. Now the chyron says “cook time: 4 hours” so I don't know. Oscar is determined not to leave his team any extra work. Strictly what they have agreed on, which is Brandon rolling barbacoa in collard greens. Sherry seems to be working on Duyen's dish. Jonathan has not done prep work in a long time. Oscar and Duyen go out to set up tables and train staff. Duyen has a diagram of the dining room drawn out for the servers. Oscar seems to have selected the host by asking who is the best? The host seems to be in charge of everyone else. Lots of last minute prep. Brandon wants his dessert to be pre-plated to make it easy and so he can execute the rest of the menu. Jonathan says they can prep during service, and Brandon and Sherry give him shit about how if their line cooks say that, they get sent home.

Anthony tells the servers he is going to fire everything as courses go out, so they do not need to tell him to fire courses. I am sure this is how regular servers work, but there is a very high chance these are cater waiters and they do not even understand table numbers and seat positions. It is just not something they have to deal with. To contrast, Sieger is saying he wants the servers to “fire to us” after they clear a course. Anthony is going with a 10 minute gap, while Sieger says 5-7. Not sure which is best, just putting it here for foreshadowing. Anthony is firing 10 minutes after the plates go out, while Sieger is asking his servers to I guess request firing 5-7 minutes after they clear plates. There is more but it's like “hand the tickets directly to chef” and “we're not going to screw up table numbers right?” Duyen tastes her dish, and asks the mustard seeds stay in the mix for a few more minutes, and then leave to get changed. Sherry says she's doing other people's prep, and she's got at least one component in everyone's dish so she'll be the one scolded.

Oscar tells his servers to tell takeout people it will be 45 minutes until they can get their food. Duyen says serve the women first. Jonathan asks his brother to help with “knifework”, which turns out to be a lot of vegetable garnishes, it looks like. Brandon is pissed and immediately is not interested in joking, like he usually is. He bitches that Jonathan needs to start working and quit talking. But then he asks Sherry if she feels ready, and replies like “I wish I could say the same for my brother.” Now it's just petty. Jonathan does admit in confessional he fucked up.

Time for service. Duyen is pleased with herself because she's in her element. Once again they have seated everyone all at once, or at least that is what this overhead shot would like you to believe. Anthony has the phone by him “on the expo”, I guess the expiditor station. The other team is having the host take orders and run them back to the kitchen. The judges arrive to Carolina Queen, and are seated right away and served Sherry's fizzy sweet tea with turmeric and yuzu. Seems to go well? They think the menu feels “very Carolina”.

Sherry: she-crab cake with she-crab bisque. The crab cake has coconut milk instead of mayo as a binder. Duyen: cheese puff with country ham, comte and sauce mornay. Comte is a kind of cheese. Sherry has good pickles and the coconut lightened it. Duyen has liquid pimento cheese, which makes a mess, but they don't seem to mind. Tom spies Duyen talking to every table, which pleases him. Back in the kitchen, the phone rings and Anthony has to come back and take an order. He says they are firing four or five tables at a time, but also need to make perfect dishes for the judges. Tierra Reina feels they are moving smoothly and that if Oscar isn't back here, then everything is fine.

The second course for the judges comes out quickly enough no one makes a comment. Anthony: red rice with smoked oysters, pickled okra, crab roe, and Bearnaise. Laurence: crispy pork belly with collard greens, fried scallion corn bread, and pickles. The skin on the pork belly is hard to cut. Kristen is not offended to just pick it up with her hands. Tom at least admits it's cooked well, and the greens are tasty. Not particularly risky but a good dish. Maybe the skin is too crunchy or chewy or something. Anthony's rice is overcooked, and Gail says there's too much sauce plus too much okra. So everyone is taking forkfuls and coming up with strings like a cheese pull, only it's just...okra slime. They don't know if it's on purpose.

Tierra Reina is delivering food to the wrong tables and having it returned. Yikes. On the other hand, Gail and Kristen are noticing Carolina Queen is very calm but no one is eating. As in, not very many tables have food. Duyen tries to tell the kitchen this but Anthony kind of blows her off like, yes we know. Duyen answers the takeout phone but can't find a pen to take the order. People are waiting around for tables, which I know is partially because they're behind, but I think also there might be some camping so as to be in the restaurant when the judges are there so you maybe can be on TV.

Kristen tries to get Duyen to spill the beans on how stressed the kitchen is, but she says everyone is still happy and they are just making sure they take care of you guys! Nice. Sherry: “PB & J”: peanut panna cotta, compressed fruits, oat crumble and Cheerwine gel. Laurence: pecan baklava with bourbon maple syrup and sweet potato crème anglaise. He calls it “ode to pie culture”. Sherry's dessert is nostalgic, but they do like it. Laurence had a good idea but the execution needs tweaking. Maybe a layer of sweet potato actually in the baklava. But Tom thinks it's been very hospitable, lots of Southern hospitality, and good for the first night. Duyen manages to be walking by as they leave to say goodbye.

Sieger is pissed because the servers aren't putting position numbers so he “can't sell the food”. OK couldn't you go just ask who had what when you bring the food out? I get that's not fine dining but still. Then he complains in confessional that he's having to correct table numbers. I thought table numbers and position numbers weren't the same thing? The twins are getting food out pretty quickly, but the tickets are a disaster. And this means turnover is not happening when it should.

The judges arrive and they do like the décor. Oscar has jokes. Tom hates the corny jokes but everyone laughs at Tom so that's fun. This restaurant is also full, but no one has food here either and there are people waiting. I think when they were talking about how no one had food at Carolina Queen there was an empty table being turned behind them. But here it looks like maybe they haven't turned any tables? I'd say it was because people were camping to see the judges arrive, but we also know the kitchen is backed up because for some reason these waiters don't understand the tickets. Did Duyen teach her servers better or something?

Tom legit gets up to see if there's a backup at Carolina Queen. He just appears in the doorway and starts asking people how long they've been waiting. Seems like the longest is maybe 15 minutes and everyone was served their fizzy tea so they've got drinks. When he returns, everyone agrees that's not that bad, and then Kristen reveals the judges have been sitting there for 30 minutes with no food. Yikes. The takeout order from Carolina Queen we made a big deal of filming returns and says they didn't get their pecan baklava or any silverware. See this is why at least one judge should have ordered takeout to see what was up. Duyen knows these details are really important.

Kristen straight up is like “Oscar! Where's our food!” which is why I like her. Oscar promises to bring it right out, which seems suspicious but sure. It appears to take another 10 minutes, so 40 minutes from when they were seated to when they got the first course. Sieger: Carolina Ruby sweet potato tostada with crema and salsa negra. Jonathan: snapper aguachile with plantain chip. Sieger's dish is not bad, but Kristen would like a sauce or something. Gail doesn't like the presentation, it's too messy. The aguachile is refreshing. Outside some random takeout people are filming themselves eating, and the aguachile has gotten soggy and the juice is everywhere. Not easy to eat.

Oscar is doing almost as much pep talk and bossing the twins as Sieger is. Nothing rude, just a lot of like “OK we're on our last two reservations, let's keep it moving, don't slow down”, blah blah. Jonathan: cod pescado a la veracruzana with stewed tomatoes, castelvetrano olives, and capers. Oscar: tongue and cheek barbacoa with duo of salsas. It is a black hockey puck, the meat wrapped in collards. He answers a question of Gail's and says Brandon helped with this dish a lot. The cod is a good dish, cooked well. Oscar's dish is worth the wait. Kristen says it's sophisticated in a way Oscar has not been. Tom says that these entrees are better than Carolina Queen, and if Tierra Reina ends up winning, Duyen was amazing and Anthony had the worst dish but is immune.

Desserts come quickly. Sieger: “cremeuxso” with crema catalana and benne cracker. There are mole chiles in the cremeux. Brandon: arroz con leche with Cheerwine cherry jelly. Sieger's dish tastes fine but Tom argues it's not a dessert. The textures are off. The plating is like, a scoop of cremeux and broken cracker pieces. Gail says the rice in the arroz con leche is not cooked consistently. The gel is fine, but you can't have rice pudding with big clumps of uncooked rice.

Kristen says they're going to find out how the takeout orders went. I still think they should have had a judge eat the takeout, but at least we're going to care about how it went. Oh and there are comment cards for everyone. Everyone manages to finish. Gail says it's better than many years. True, I guess they could have screwed up worse.

Judges' Table. Tom says everyone did a great job, clear concepts, mostly good food. How was takeout service? Anthony says it was “fun” and he's gonna just use that word. Everyone laughs. Kristen asks if he knew some takeout orders were missing items, and Duyen steps in and says yes, they were fixed quickly. Sieger says he didn't hear anything about missing items on their side, and there doesn't seem to be any orders missing anything. But the aguachile was messy and the plantain chip got soggy. And the rice pudding wasn't great. Tierra Reina had no idea the judges were there for 40 minutes before the first course. The tostada was dry but a good concept, and Jonathan nailed the aguachile. Brandon's snapper was perfect, and they all loved Oscar's dish. Brandon put the Cheerwine gel on top of the pudding, and then there were like 5 pieces so you ate them immediately and had plain rice pudding after. He tells the story about how they don't like raisins in rice pudding, so their nanny would put them on top so they could pick them off, so the five pieces was on purpose. We know it wasn't cooked right. Sieger wanted them to scoop his dessert. But the plating wasn't great.

Duyen's cheese puffs were great, and then Tom interrupts to praise Duyen's FOH work. Michael Mina says both she and Oscar felt like they were the owners of the restaurants. Sherry's crab cake was light and fresh. Anthony's rice was not even, although it tasted good. Gail complains about the “goo” pull and how this took away from the “red rice” that the dish was supposed to be. The pork belly skin on Laurence's dish was tough but the rest of his dish was great. And his baklava could have had more sweet potato.

Kristen says it's a fine line between winner and loser, so they aren't going to announce it yet. Overall, the first course was pretty even. They all agree Tierra Reina had better entrees, but worse desserts. Carolina Queen screwed up some takeout orders, and Gail asks how much that should factor in. Tierra Reina had accurate orders but the dishes didn't work for takeout. Duyen helped Carolina Queen have a far better experience. They can't believe they waited 40 minutes and no one knew. Anthony had the worst dish, but he's immune. Tom says he's lucky. Laurence's pork belly was safe and probably boring. He's in the Stew Room using logic to realize Anthony is immune, Duyen was amazing, and they loved Sherry's crab cake. Oscar's dish was so amazing there's no way they'd send him home, and Jonathan's cod and aguachile were very good. Michael Mina asks why the executive chef would take both an appetizer and a dessert, and the line cook only take a dessert. Gail is like “fucking EXACTLY” (although she doesn't curse) (Gail is classy). No one explains why this is bad. Brandon didn't cook the rice properly and then thought it was fine. Like he wasn't mortified. Brandon only made one thing, and they are sure he helped out, but his dish wasn't very impressive. Sieger made two dishes, but they were both sort of mid. Tom says Sieger should have forced Brandon to do both desserts, because he has pastry experience. Hmm. I guess I could see that, but generally no one gets that bossy outside of service.

This was very close, but the winning team is Carolina Queen. Everyone is relieved. The prize was “epic”, according to Kristen last week, and it is. Each of them won a trip for two to Universal Orlando Resorts' theme parks, and a meet-and-greet with the culinary team. I guess for the parks? The individual winner is Duyen, which is not surprising. She says “Dwayne all up in this bitch!” and then Tom tells her she doesn't have immunity because “it's all over”. You could have warned them about that last week. Tierra Reina was good, but someone didn't pull their weight and that's Brandon. He made one dish and it was probably the weakest dish. It's time for the finale of Last Chance Kitchen, right now. Oh, so after tonight, no more LCK? Huh. It's so early for someone to return, but sure. Tom puts on his chef's coat and then everyone else leaves.

Next week: we finally go to Greenville, South Carolina. “the ultimate dinner party”, but your money has to cover both Quickfire and Elimination dishes. Is that why LCK is ending? So they don't have to do it in a new location?

Last Chance Kitchen: It's Rhoda vs. Brandon to get back in the competition. Wait wait wait wait. Are we implying this episode of LCK is taking place immediately? As in, within 24 hours of Brandon's elimination? Has it even been two days for Justin to change his mind and go back to LCK? Barely. Anyway, Brandon is salty he left before his brother because he knows he's a better chef than Jonathan. He knows it's gonna be Rhoda. Rhoda did not know this was the last battle. Tom roasts Brandon for only making one dessert and it wasn't even good. Tom says he probably expected more from himself, and Brandon is stone-faced. Tom even comments on it. Anyway, Tom is sure Rhoda would have loved to compete in Restaurant Wars, so he would love to grant that wish. Brandon is making an excellent confused face. The challenge is to come up with a concept and three courses in 45 minutes. You can serve each dish as it's ready. Oh and each course should be a single bite. There it is. Three bites to get back into the competition.

Rhoda is going “California Mediterranean”, lots of produce and fresh flavors. First course vegetables, second course seafood, third course duck. Brandon says Carolina but seafood focused. He's very confident, and he says his brother could win but he knows he's the better chef. Very cocky. He mixes pasta dough and then puts it in a vacuum bag so it hydrates faster. Interesting. He says everyone always fucks up pasta so he's gonna do it. Rhoda is making a hearty salad. Brandon hollers at Rhoda about how she's doing and she's like, I will talk to you later. She also starts her duck so she can cook it slowly. It's been 15 minutes, but she's making sure it's right.

Brandon gets up there first. Scallop crudo taco with apple, fennel, and yuzu. Rhoda: roasted carrot salad with goat cheese and pistachio aillade. Those both sound good. Brandon is working on a hushpuppy, and Rhoda has scallops with romesco sauce. Rhoda asks how he's doing, and Brandon is like “great” and she says “not too great though?” Silence. She tells the peanut gallery it's serious when Brandon won't even shittalk you. Heh.

Brandon: hushpuppy with trout roe and Debouillet sausage aioli. Rhoda: seared scallop with grilled leeks and romesco sauce. It is not spelled “leaks”, Bravo, get your shit together for the love of GOD. Rhoda works on her duck, and she says she can't rush it. Brandon is making raviolos, and he has like 12 minutes to roll out everything. He flails a little bit, and the peanut gallery tells him to slow down. He's like, no way, I'm not here to play patty-cake. There's a perfect pause, and then Justin says he doesn't mind patty-cake, it's not the worst game. Heh. Rhoda worries that maybe she's not doing enough if Brandon is making pasta.

They both go up with seconds to spare. Brandon: quail egg raviolo with ricotta, country ham, and caviar. Rhoda: roasted duck breast with grilled radicchio and grape jus. Tom says both first courses were good introductions to the concept, and good dishes. Brandon's hushpuppy was a little underdone in the center, but otherwise a good dish. Rhoda cooked her scallop well but the romesco sauce was slightly underseasoned. Tom doesn't know how Brandon pulled out pasta. It wasn't the best but considering the restrictions it seems to have impressed Tom. Rhoda's duck is perfectly cooked. Progression is important. One of them did a better job at the concept and dishes that fit the concept, and that's Rhoda. Oh, you're going to tell us who won? OK. She's so happy she's in tears. Tom says Brandon sold him a seafood concept and then there were no fish dishes. Oof. He says he just got outcooked.