Top Chef 6/5/25--"Viva Milano!" summary

 

Previously on “Top Chef”: No Quickfire, but some time to forage in the woods for foods to make one last Canadian dish. Shuai won, because he is great at taking the ingredients he's given and matching them to his own style. Even though Bailey didn't cook her beans properly, everyone decided she did a better job than Massimo. I did see some people assuming Massimo didn't fulfill the challenge, but he did. He just foraged wild mustard and the judges told him that was too boring. Honestly it felt like they decided he wasn't moving on and they just came up with something. He met the challenge so they had to come up with “we wanted you to forage but not mustard”. (click for more)

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Top Chef 5/29/25--"Foraged in Fire" summary

 

Previously on “Top Chef”: everyone went to Calgary so we can justify the “Canada” label. The Quickfire was a pancake breakfast, which was cute but too many people made cornmeal hoecakes. Shuai won because he is surpassing Tristen as the frontrunner. Then everyone had to make beef and berries, because of the Calgary Stampede. The editing leaned heavily on Tristen's “narrative” and insistence on making pemmican because otherwise how is he going to honor anything. But Massimo “cooked from the heart” or whatever so he won. I need him to understand “umeboshi” is a specific thing and not a technique. In general people who tried to cover up their berries were in the bottom, but because Bailey did well in the Quickfire and Cesar and Lana did not, Lana went home. (click for more)

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Top Chef 5/22/25--"Calgary, Yahoo!" summary

 

Previously on “Top Chef”: Cesar returned from Last Chance Kitchen, and immediately won the Quickfire. Both challenges were about Montreal, but they didn't even leave the Top Chef Kitchen to go to Whole Foods. They made a fake bodega with everything labeled in French, and everyone had to make something from convenience store foods, which is what Cesar won. The Elimination challenge was about rooftop gardens and seasons. Shuai won by making hot pot and having a personal story about it. There's a side plot about Tristen cooking with “narrative” and Massimo not, or being soulless or whatever. Which is why he didn't win, I guess. Cesar did poorly in the Elimination challenge but the judges told him that since he won the Quickfire, he was safe. Vinny ended up being eliminated for making “aggressive” consomme and not putting garnish on all of the plates. (click for more)

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TAR 37, Recap Leg 12, 5/15/25

 

Welcome to Leg 12! Last time, on I Should Just Yell At My Wife The Whole Time, 4 teams raced from Strasbourg to Porto. Carson and Jack, who got to be knights for a day, finished first, and Han and Holden kept their relationship strong and finished second. A misstep by Alyssa and Josiah at the train station put them on the same train as Jonathan and Ana, who passed them to finish third, and Alyssa and Josiah were eliminated. And then there were three: Carson and Jack, the gay Dungeons and Dragon streamers and best friends who have come back from being over an hour behind all the other teams and have four first place legs under their belts; Han and Holden, the siblings that have never won a leg, but their good natured sibling relationship always keeps them in the game; and Jonathan and Ana, the married couple who always seem to be in an argument, but have finished first on three legs and are generally strong at finishing tasks. Who will win The Amazing Race 37? (click for more)

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TAR 37, Recap Leg 11, 5/14/25

 

Welcome to Leg 11! Last time, on We Can’t Be The Only Ones Who Are Lost, 5 teams raced from Naples to Strasbourg. Han and Holden, who were saved by non-elimination in Naples still struggled, but ultimately it was husbands Brett and Mark, who in fact were the only ones who got lost, were eliminated. Who will be eliminated. . . next? (click for more)

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Top Chef 5/15/25--"From Dep Till Dawn" summary

 

Previously on “Top Chef”: the Quickfire involved mussels, which wasn't that bad actually, but it was time for Tom and Gail to appear and start tasting Quickfires and “factor” the Quickfires into Elimination performance. Which just means that if you do well at the Quickfire you have immunity. Case in point, the Elimination challenge. There was a very dumb tie-in to the new Mission: Impossible movie, and some stunts, and making a dish with “a stunt”. It ended up just like the “chaos” challenge where the challenge is so poorly defined that no one follows it. Massimo won because he made salmon en croute and you can't look at it before you serve it? But a risk is not a stunt? Whatever, then Cesar went home for weird flavors. But Lana won the Quickfire and she was in the bottom, but immediately safe. And Vinny froze his tartare into a solid block, which no one could eat, but he was in the top for the Quickfire so he survived. (click for more)

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Top Chef 5/8/25--"Cooking on the Edge" summary

 

Previously on “Top Chef”: it was Restaurant Wars. Teams were completely selected with random draw. The Nonna restaurant side was very behind on prep, so all their food suffered and Paula, who was executive chef, did a ton of extra work. On the other side, Phora discovered Tristen's dad had passed away, and they rallied around him. Tristen won, while Paula was sent home. (click for more)

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