Top Chef:All Stars 6/18/20--"Finito!" summary

Previously on “Top Chef”: the final four contestants went to Parma,to explore both parmigiano reggiano and prosciutto de Parma. Then they had to make two courses, using those ingredients. Melissa won, again, because I think she is the one to beat. She made XO sauce with the prosciutto and the judges love her fusions. Stephanie cooked the prosciutto in both her dishes, which she wasn't technically supposed to do, but it turned out delicious so she is also in. Bryan was told his cooking didn't have any heart or soul, which I think really upset him. But his cooking was deemed better than Kevin's, and Kevin was eliminated. (click for more)

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Top Chef:All Stars 6/11/20--"Parma" summary

Previously on “Top Chef”: we pretended the chefs went straight to Italy, even though they were in LA in the summer and it's clearly cold when they're in Italy. The Quickfire was to make aperitivos, which are supposed to be one-handed snacks to have with beer. Stephanie was the only person to make a hand-held item but apparently that was not important and Kevin won. Then everyone had to make dishes to be served with white truffles. This was tricky, because you have to showcase the truffles, which shouldn't be cooked. Melissa won, for making congee and staying true to herself. The bottom chefs all made OK dishes, but didn't showcase the truffle. So since they all failed in the same way, the judges said the judging was difficult. Stephanie served very bitter radicchio, and she knew it was bad but served it anyway. Gregory threw out his back, and made a stew he knew he could execute, but didn't go with white truffles. So even though the judges said his dish was perfectly fine, and Stephanie's dish was bad, Gregory was eliminated. I personally think if they all failed the challenge in the same way, then the person with the worst dish should go home, and from what we saw that was Stephanie. (click for more)

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Top Chef:All Stars 6/4/20--"Lucca" summary

Previously on “Top Chef”: Kevin returned, and the Quickfire was to make two courses of “airline food”, which means it has to fit in the dish (so you could put it in an oven on an airplane) and also it can't be seasonal. Melissa won, so she got to pick out the dish she wanted to make for the Elimination challenge. Everyone went to Michael's Santa Monica, which is a very famous “California cuisine” restaurant. I had never heard of Michael McCarty but everyone else has. The chefs had to reimagine a classic dish from this restaurant, with most of them being 30 years old or older. Melissa won, again, but I would argue that since she picked a dish from last year's menu, updating it was extremely easy. But I'm not mad about her being in the finale. Malarkey had a snafu with serving (which was entirely not his fault), but it really threw him off. He seemed to be quitting, but then everyone told him not to, and then he was eliminated anyway. (click for more)

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Top Chef:All Stars 5/28/20--"Michael's Santa Monica" summary

Previously on “Top Chef”: the Quickfire was a blind taste test to get ingredients for dessert. The more things you guessed correctly, the more possible ingredients, and the more time you had. Melissa won with olive oil cake. Then everyone had to make a kaiseki progressive meal for Olympic athletes. Kaiseki is usually very traditional, we're talking tea ceremony traditional. But this was less traditional. I mean everyone I think tried to make something Japanese but keep to the idea of delicate flavors and presentation. Stephanie won for making panna cotta, presented in lemon rinds. Karen was eliminated (for the second time) for not cooking her duck properly, and not cutting the slices properly either. (click for more)

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Top Chef:All Stars 5/21/20--"Colossal Coliseum Kaiseki" summary

Previously on “Top Chef”: everyone had to go up to a fancy campground to cook brunch for a mom's group. So rich white ladies (they were mostly white, don't act like you didn't see that) pay to get away from their kids for a long weekend. The contestants had to first do a Quickfire with baked beans, which Lee Anne won. Then brunch, but they had to get up early to do prep, instead of the day before. Maximum drama. In the end no one made eggs because everyone who was going to messed up. Bryan won, for making his Bryan fancy food out of whatever was left in the pantry. Lee Anne made two bad dishes, and was finally sent home. There was a tiny bit of drama, where she blamed Bryan for having the oven on steam so her clafoutis got ruined, but he had the oven first and she never checked. So it's not like she set the oven and someone changed it. (click for more)

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Top Chef:All Stars 5/14/20--"Cabin Fever" summary

Previously on “Top Chef”: Restaurant Wars happened, with Gregory and Kevin facing off. Gregory made a Haitian grilled menu, while Kevin's menu revolved around one dish (the country captain) and a ton of side dishes. Even though on paper Kevin's team was stronger, Gregory had smoother service and better food. Kevin's dishes weren't stellar, and the service was not good. Karen is not a server. In the end Kevin agreed the failure was his fault and was eliminated. (click for more)

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Top Chef:All Stars 5/8/20--"Restaurant Wars" summary

Previously on “Top Chef”: Karen came back from Last Chance Kitchen, and then everyone had to make tacos with machetes. Quickfires are so weird sometimes. Almost everyone made fish tacos, except for Stephanie who won with lamb tacos. The Elimination challenge is related to tonight's episode, in that everyone has to pitch their restaurant idea for Restaurant Wars. They need a concept, a type of cuisine and price point, and they should cook at least one dish from the menu. The two winners, Kevin and Gregory, will be the executive chefs of the two restaurants tonight. While Lee Anne again was on the bottom, the judges claimed not to understand what “fine dining but not stuffy service” meant and eliminated Eric. I mean, his food was not executed well, and I get that, but they kept harping on how they didn't get if he wanted family style or fine dining or what. Compare that to how Bryan said he wanted something more casual but made a fine dining dish. They just said “he should stick to fine dining” and moved on. Just blame his food if it's bad, but this whole “what service are you talking about” is silly. (click for more)

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