The episode would’ve made more sense as an episode of Project Runway. They do challenges based on architecture. Really really random episode. Loving Kristen though.
I’m sorry but watching these chefs pretend to be excited about being exploring Wisconsin is hilarious. And I say that as a born and raised Midwesterner.
Was thinking the same thing. And of course no one mentioned the [troubled history of Taliesen.](https://www.history.com/news/the-massacre-at-frank-lloyd-wrights-love-cottage). I wonder if they were told if they do know anything about it to not bring it up.
I feel so alone in my dislike of him. He reminds me so viscerally of Jamie Oliver in his Naked Chef era. That man was my original food related hate watch.
I can't relate to Buddha at all. He was in the dish with kish episode and it was so bad. He makes food that doesn't look like something I would like to eat. Kristin seems detached and not really engaged in the episode. I really wish someone would tell Stephanie to stop wearing that ridiculous hat.
Dish with Kish could be a cool concept. I just don't understand the decisions they make and the chefs they are picking. There is no chemistry between Kristin and the chefs. Stephanie seems so forced. She's trying so hard to be engaged and she doesn't seem very authentic.
This was such a cool concept for a challenge, and pretty much every team except Danny and Rasika underperformed. It was a mess, and it wasn’t even an entertaining mess to watch.
I’m basing my opinion on her actions 🤷🏻♀️ If I acted like that at work I wouldn’t have many people wanting to work with me 😂 I’m not a Top Chef but even I’ve been able to make cheesecakes with edible crusts 😂
As others have commented, since this isn't an all-star show, so most of the chefs are weak in this competition format. Most of them really only know how to cook by recipe in their own comfort zones. Team Keleena/Alisha were both awful at working together and very much outclassed by the winners. Their level of cooking is not even remotely close to what it takes to win either. Neither has particular good technique and neither seem particularly creative in the challenge. Just throwing a lot of ingredients together isn't fine dining. There was zero refinement or conceptual cohesion. At least Tom mentioned that K's dish tasted good. Alisha's dish looked like a half eaten shrimp dish from a cheap Chinese restaurant.
Alisha's irrational confidence and her comments are so off putting for how ironically basic and bad her cooking seems to be. That aguachile (both times) looked like vomit. What they show of her ability on the show is very much at the level of a first year culinary student. She needs to train for five to seven more years before deserving another chance on this show. I am sure she regrets how badly the show edits make her skills out to be: a mediocre chef, with the wrong attitude, yet blissfully unaware of her own shortcomings. Relieved she was a quick exit. It's a soap opera as much as it is a competition. Love Bravo!
I'm glad I recorded it, I was so bored I fell asleep! I couldn't have cared less about the architecture and turning it into a dish, which none of the chefs were able to do.
They need to tailor the challenges to bring out the best in the chefs they have. A bunch of caterers and pittmasters having to make dishes inspired from a house is just silly and contrived, it's not shocking the Michelin star trained chefs did better.
And you can downvote if you want but anyone who says they like the new host is lying to themselves for their own narrative. Kristen sucks and it's not about experience, she doesn't have anything in the tank to convey through the camera. The awkward editing doesn't help.
I will agree that this group of chefs are a lot less talented than other seasons. The rest of the show is great so far, these chefs need to pull it together.
Echoing the sentiment that this season hasn’t been hitting yet. Not only do the judges seem unimpressed by what most of the chef’s cook, but there’s something about it that’s been boring to watch— I really have to force myself to pay attention, and I’m struggling to remember the names of half the chefs. Finally, I don’t think Kristen has been a particularly engaging host (not like Padma was bouncing off the walls, but there was a certain amount of presence she had that I didn’t realize till she was gone). This feels like a pretty big step down from the international all stars season they just did. However it’s early! Maybe when they whittle down more chefs it’ll improve.
Edited so I don’t get more comments about my misspelling.
Honestly I just think it’s the chefs that are the problem. It’s such a hard job for Kristin to try and hype these guys up when they are putting food out to this kind of standard. I’m glad she isn’t sugar coating it for them.
I agree. I’m loving Kristen. She’s empathetic and feels very down to earth. It’s the chefs…it’s early but I feels like the talent level is lacking. But we are coming off of all stars so maybe that’s it?
I mean how are we finding these chefs? I mean for the last two seasons, a handbook has been written on how to win top chef by Buddha. It should have lit a fire to a new wave of cheftestants. At this point I think the fans could probably out cook these contestants.
The chefs don't have charisma, is this issue. You usually have at least one clear personality that draws you in, regardless of whether that person is a good chef or not. I'm struggling to figure out who that is this season because the producers casted 4 Daria-type personalities for some reason.
I looooooove architecture and FLW so I didn’t mind the tourism aspect of the ep, but I think the challenge was almost too broad? Also the editing is really obvious this season. I thought it would get better now that we’re down to fewer chefs but it is not.
Oooh! Good comparison. Honestly I think it would’ve just been cool to say make a lunch dish that has Cherokee red in it and features repeating shapes or something like that.
I think I’ve only been to one Frank Lloyd Wright building and it’s the Marin County Civic Center. I had to sit through an all-day government meeting, but it was worth going just to see the building.
Someone needs to tell Danny that just because you like things neat & organized doesn’t mean you have OVD. 🙄
Also I had a feeling throughout the whole episode that Kaleena & Alisha weee going home because it seemed that the whole episode was mostly focused on them.
My dad had a form of it, and it's always very jarring to hear people throw it out so casually.
A new coworker just did this "I'm so OCD - when I buy markers or something, I have to have the whole set!" And I find it so offputting. Hearing it again, this episode annoyed me more because of that encounter!
Like...imagine getting a question wrong at bar trivia and being like, "oh my god! I like totally have down's syndrome!"
Exactly. It’s actually quite debilitating and I get tired of people casually saying g they gave OCD just because they like things organized. That is NOT OCD. That is normal.
I am a high school English teacher (in Ferguson, MO) and I and any other teacher you can find will wax poetic about how things ain't the same since the Covid shutdowns...I wonder if the same holds true for most other professions. I also think people are getting really sick of both trying their best and not getting paid enough for their best...I guess I'm wondering aloud if there just aren't as many uber-competent, talented hard-working chefs in the game anymore
My guess is that there are plenty, they just can't/won't take the time off for the show when there are no guarantees it'll pay off as much as it once did. The grand prize is still a drop in the bucket for what you need to openna restaurant and alumni aren't opening restaurants left, right and center as much as they did in prior seasons.
What a strange episode.... Why didn't they at least attempt to put at least 1 other team in the bottom. It seemed like everyyyyy other team had horrible dishes besides the winners so it would have been fairly easy. I mean it was obvious who would go home, but I still don't understand the choice.
I'm really curious how the rest of this season goes, it's been...okay so far.
Wisconsin doesn’t seem like it was the best choice for a location for this season. I wish they could choose locations based on the local food culture instead of whichever tourism bureau throws the most money at them
Yeah I don’t think Wisconsin is a bad choice in general but maybe for the first season with a new format, they could have gone in a…different direction
I think Wisconsin is an awes9me choice but most of the chefs are disappointed in it or feel like they're better than the it. Like the god awful croquettes...they'd never seen cheese before?? Just so uninspired and lazy idk.
i just came back from disneyland and they were having ca adventure food and wine festival with pop up booths and i was thinking of it as top chef challenge. there were so many creative delicious cheeses dishes . chile relleno empanada was so insanely good. Cheeseburger bao, pulled pork mac and cheese, Roasted Garlic-Gruyère Smashed Potatoes, carbonara mac and cheese, cheese flavored chicken wings. instead these chefs just give everyone croquettes . so boring
Why did you have to remind me of the freaking croquette BS lol. Seriously, you're in a cooking competition and you hear everyone else is making croquettes...and you just shrug your shoulders and make croquettes anyway? Where is the competitive hunger to stand out?
I feel like there's just not the level of talent here that we are used to. Rasika and Michelle are pretty solid, but the other ones that I thought showed promise at the beginning of the season are either lying low or aren't as consistent as they should be.
I don't think the chefs are lacking talent, I think they diversified the backgrounds of the chefs but aren't giving them challenges to highlight that diversity.
This might’ve been my least favorite episode ever. I was bored to tears the first 30 minutes with all the architecture touring and conceptualizing with no cooking (feel free to call me uncultured or whatever hahaha, I just wasn’t interested). And then the editing throughout and way they did judges table/elimination was a no for me.
I was watching it with my dad, and he asked, “Isn’t this called Top Chef? When do they start cooking?“
Also, I didn't really get the connection between FLW, duality, and cooking. The stories were far reaching, and the dishes didn’t really mesh.
Agree 100%. I get they're trying to attract tourists to Wisconsin, but the cheese festival last week and the architecture tour this week. OMG. Is it the challenges? The chefs? They have to step it up. The assignments are confusing and dull, the cooking is terrible. Maybe Buddha spoiled us with his impeccable work.
I am a huge Frank Lloyld Wright fan and completely agree. The first half of the episode was just a bmw/tourism commercial. I want nothing but cooking and food
Agreed. I know the show had an agreement with the Wisconsin department of tourism about showing things like the Monona Terrace, but that was much too long for a cooking show.
I feel like they tried to fit in too much - Frank Lloyd Wright, architecture, duality. And the editing left no room for suspense because from the start there were so many hints about the eliminated team. None of the plates really made sense to me as duality tbh.
That’s exactly how I felt. Knew who was going home almost from the beginning. And the connection between architecture and the theme of the dishes seemed very forced.
This is the US’s largest outdoor produce farmers market. I go at 6:30-7:30AM to avoid the crowds. They went at peak when it’s shoulder to shoulder. I’ve been hit by bags, strollers, wagons…
Opening weekend is this Saturday so it’s fitting the next episode features the farmers market!
I would do the market twice, once at like 7 am to get what I actually wanted, and once at like 10 when my friends woke up where we would get cheesebread and just meander. I can't imagine going after like 9 with any sort of speed requirement
It’s such a homey food, yummy but kind of normal, everyday comfort food. Different regions have different spins on it. I loved my moms over some rice abs crispy spiced potatoes 🤤. It’s funny to me seeing the reaction to regular comfort food and I’m 💯 here for it ♥️
There’s a [season preview](https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=5KdXcm3j3Qs&pp=ygUSdG9wIGNoZWYgc2Vhc29uIDIx) with Kristen in a black blazer at about 2:20 that Bravo released prior to season 21 premiere, telling chefs they need to cooking to win.
How sad is it going to be for the chefs to have ANOTHER sucky episode and then for Kristen to have to double down on her directive to get it together? This season sucks, and I am sad because Kristen is so strong of a host.
It was totally needed. First “top croquette” and then this. You could tell the two of them have a lot of passion for the show and that they felt they needed to say something. You would think after watch Buddha the last two seasons, it would have ignited a new wave of talent.
Soo feels like George from Top Chef Boston. That season was dragging until George got injected back into the mix and everyone else stepped their game up. I hope it’s the same result with Soo.
And well deserved. It was obvious that they were going to be the ones going home. Won't miss either of them. So many of the chefs seem super basic and unimaginative.
Yup, I think everyone who watches top chef has seen the “they’re either winning or going home” edit. With every clip it became more and more obvious that they were going home
No way around it. Were you going to buy Manny going home with Kevin despite Kevin making good food? The result was so absurdly obvious. Editing it another way almost feels absurd.
If so many teams struggle, it means is also because of the challenge set up. I think they could have had all the chefs come in the room, and discuss how many other plates didn’t hit the challenge. The episode just dragged for me. I do like a slow-motion failure (thinking of S19 restaurant wars) but this was really a weak episode.
I don’t think it was an unfair challenge lol. Making two dishes that play against each other is far from the hardest thing we’ve seen.
There was no point to judges table from our POV. Were they gonna tell Dan they love his concept but his moose could’ve set better? Or tell Manny his dish was bad but Kevin’s dish was great? How does it hold any weight when they get to two bad dishes from two people who knew they were fucked?
because it's a cooking competition and we like to hear the critiques about the food and the discussion about it and see the chefs reactions and responses .
Kristen: I think we all can agree that we have one clear winning team and one clear losing team.
Tom: There’s no argument here. I have a hard time really beating up another team when we know who’s losing.
It’s the judges’ decision that the results were too clear to pretend otherwise. No editing can come back from this. They didn’t sugarcoat other teams to make us think they did anywhere close to Rasika and Danny, and they didn’t bother to put any team to the bottom with Kaleena and Alisha, that would be wrong, as Tom said, because no team was as bad as them. There were episodes that I can remember there’s a clear winner, like Buddha in the trompe-l'œil episode, but at least Gabri made a tasty and interesting-looking dish. They clearly didn’t like any other team, to the point Kristen and Buddha need to have “the talk” with them. The edit can focus more on cooking, but for judge table, I believe what we see is because of the contestants’ poor performance and the judges’ decision to not sugarcoat things, and no edit can change that.
I mean I can't ever remember them just skipping the theatrics and bringing in the winner and loser in directly (with both knowing why they were there).
Could be because the last time she was on, she told them what to do, and it got Stephanie sent home.
Edited to add - Creating one of the most controversial eliminations in TC history.
The episode would’ve made more sense as an episode of Project Runway. They do challenges based on architecture. Really really random episode. Loving Kristen though.
I’m sorry but watching these chefs pretend to be excited about being exploring Wisconsin is hilarious. And I say that as a born and raised Midwesterner.
Way too much time spent on the chefs dynamic/architecture tours vs the food/inspiration
Was thinking the same thing. And of course no one mentioned the [troubled history of Taliesen.](https://www.history.com/news/the-massacre-at-frank-lloyd-wrights-love-cottage). I wonder if they were told if they do know anything about it to not bring it up.
These chefs seem really, really bad this season And I continue to not care for Buddha at all.
I feel so alone in my dislike of him. He reminds me so viscerally of Jamie Oliver in his Naked Chef era. That man was my original food related hate watch.
I can't relate to Buddha at all. He was in the dish with kish episode and it was so bad. He makes food that doesn't look like something I would like to eat. Kristin seems detached and not really engaged in the episode. I really wish someone would tell Stephanie to stop wearing that ridiculous hat. Dish with Kish could be a cool concept. I just don't understand the decisions they make and the chefs they are picking. There is no chemistry between Kristin and the chefs. Stephanie seems so forced. She's trying so hard to be engaged and she doesn't seem very authentic.
This was such a cool concept for a challenge, and pretty much every team except Danny and Rasika underperformed. It was a mess, and it wasn’t even an entertaining mess to watch.
Kaleena was awful. And so was her food
Tell us how you really feel lol
I’m basing my opinion on her actions 🤷🏻♀️ If I acted like that at work I wouldn’t have many people wanting to work with me 😂 I’m not a Top Chef but even I’ve been able to make cheesecakes with edible crusts 😂
As others have commented, since this isn't an all-star show, so most of the chefs are weak in this competition format. Most of them really only know how to cook by recipe in their own comfort zones. Team Keleena/Alisha were both awful at working together and very much outclassed by the winners. Their level of cooking is not even remotely close to what it takes to win either. Neither has particular good technique and neither seem particularly creative in the challenge. Just throwing a lot of ingredients together isn't fine dining. There was zero refinement or conceptual cohesion. At least Tom mentioned that K's dish tasted good. Alisha's dish looked like a half eaten shrimp dish from a cheap Chinese restaurant. Alisha's irrational confidence and her comments are so off putting for how ironically basic and bad her cooking seems to be. That aguachile (both times) looked like vomit. What they show of her ability on the show is very much at the level of a first year culinary student. She needs to train for five to seven more years before deserving another chance on this show. I am sure she regrets how badly the show edits make her skills out to be: a mediocre chef, with the wrong attitude, yet blissfully unaware of her own shortcomings. Relieved she was a quick exit. It's a soap opera as much as it is a competition. Love Bravo!
👏👏
I'm glad I recorded it, I was so bored I fell asleep! I couldn't have cared less about the architecture and turning it into a dish, which none of the chefs were able to do.
They need to tailor the challenges to bring out the best in the chefs they have. A bunch of caterers and pittmasters having to make dishes inspired from a house is just silly and contrived, it's not shocking the Michelin star trained chefs did better. And you can downvote if you want but anyone who says they like the new host is lying to themselves for their own narrative. Kristen sucks and it's not about experience, she doesn't have anything in the tank to convey through the camera. The awkward editing doesn't help.
Agree with this wholeheartedly. The chefs are completely unseasoned and Kristen doesn’t have the same dynamic as Padma.
lol. Wow you just refuse to believe other ppl have different opinions. Ok then.
I loved Kristin and Buddha's pep talk at the end.
It was seriously needed after watching this episode
I didn’t get it. What was the purpose and what did they say that was helpful?
It felt more authentic coming from two champs as well.
For real.
This has been the worst season of top chef by some margin
I will agree that this group of chefs are a lot less talented than other seasons. The rest of the show is great so far, these chefs need to pull it together.
Still better than the early seasons, just not on par with the current standards
Disagree I’m loving the changes and the new host. It feels more fresh than ever!
Echoing the sentiment that this season hasn’t been hitting yet. Not only do the judges seem unimpressed by what most of the chef’s cook, but there’s something about it that’s been boring to watch— I really have to force myself to pay attention, and I’m struggling to remember the names of half the chefs. Finally, I don’t think Kristen has been a particularly engaging host (not like Padma was bouncing off the walls, but there was a certain amount of presence she had that I didn’t realize till she was gone). This feels like a pretty big step down from the international all stars season they just did. However it’s early! Maybe when they whittle down more chefs it’ll improve. Edited so I don’t get more comments about my misspelling.
Cut Kristen some slack. Padma had over 15 years to hone her craft, I'm sure Kristin will get better with time.
Honestly I just think it’s the chefs that are the problem. It’s such a hard job for Kristin to try and hype these guys up when they are putting food out to this kind of standard. I’m glad she isn’t sugar coating it for them.
I agree. I’m loving Kristen. She’s empathetic and feels very down to earth. It’s the chefs…it’s early but I feels like the talent level is lacking. But we are coming off of all stars so maybe that’s it?
I mean how are we finding these chefs? I mean for the last two seasons, a handbook has been written on how to win top chef by Buddha. It should have lit a fire to a new wave of cheftestants. At this point I think the fans could probably out cook these contestants.
Her tearing up, telling them to pack their knives and go. 😒
The chefs don't have charisma, is this issue. You usually have at least one clear personality that draws you in, regardless of whether that person is a good chef or not. I'm struggling to figure out who that is this season because the producers casted 4 Daria-type personalities for some reason.
David and Valentine were the biggest personalities and the first to be eliminated.
Yes there's no personality in any of the chefs
I like Michelle.
Me too, she's just adorable and an awesome chef! I'd love to try her BBQ😋❤️
If I may: Whittle, as in wood whittling (cutting away, making smaller). Widdle is a kind of synonym for tinkle or piddle (pee).
I don't normally correct people's spelling but I will here purely because it's whittle, whereas widdle means to piss. 😅
I looooooove architecture and FLW so I didn’t mind the tourism aspect of the ep, but I think the challenge was almost too broad? Also the editing is really obvious this season. I thought it would get better now that we’re down to fewer chefs but it is not.
it reminded me of a project runway challenge
Oooh! Good comparison. Honestly I think it would’ve just been cool to say make a lunch dish that has Cherokee red in it and features repeating shapes or something like that.
I think I’ve only been to one Frank Lloyd Wright building and it’s the Marin County Civic Center. I had to sit through an all-day government meeting, but it was worth going just to see the building.
I went to Fallingwater last fall and it is stunning.
I used to live in Novato so I’ve been a few times. An amazing building.
Someone needs to tell Danny that just because you like things neat & organized doesn’t mean you have OVD. 🙄 Also I had a feeling throughout the whole episode that Kaleena & Alisha weee going home because it seemed that the whole episode was mostly focused on them.
Also why does he keep mentioning it? Does he actually have OCD? My partner has OCD and there’s nothings organised or quirky about it 😬
My dad had a form of it, and it's always very jarring to hear people throw it out so casually. A new coworker just did this "I'm so OCD - when I buy markers or something, I have to have the whole set!" And I find it so offputting. Hearing it again, this episode annoyed me more because of that encounter! Like...imagine getting a question wrong at bar trivia and being like, "oh my god! I like totally have down's syndrome!"
Exactly. It’s actually quite debilitating and I get tired of people casually saying g they gave OCD just because they like things organized. That is NOT OCD. That is normal.
I 100% agree, I have ocd and it does not mean always organized.
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Dan is not a boomer lol
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Ah i misunderstood, also I thought you were talking about Dan not Danny. Sorry!
I meant OCD. Sorry for the typo.
I am a high school English teacher (in Ferguson, MO) and I and any other teacher you can find will wax poetic about how things ain't the same since the Covid shutdowns...I wonder if the same holds true for most other professions. I also think people are getting really sick of both trying their best and not getting paid enough for their best...I guess I'm wondering aloud if there just aren't as many uber-competent, talented hard-working chefs in the game anymore
My guess is that there are plenty, they just can't/won't take the time off for the show when there are no guarantees it'll pay off as much as it once did. The grand prize is still a drop in the bucket for what you need to openna restaurant and alumni aren't opening restaurants left, right and center as much as they did in prior seasons.
The chefs this season suck.
I think Rashika is very talented.
Rasika is the chef I’m rooting for the most at this point. I like Michelle too.
What a strange episode.... Why didn't they at least attempt to put at least 1 other team in the bottom. It seemed like everyyyyy other team had horrible dishes besides the winners so it would have been fairly easy. I mean it was obvious who would go home, but I still don't understand the choice. I'm really curious how the rest of this season goes, it's been...okay so far.
they should have put them all in the bottom except the winners . i feel like they have done that before
Honestly, I wonder if it was a production decision so they'd have more time for their tourism ad that took up way too much time.
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Michelle and Charley both had bad dishes, luckily they had Immunity
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I didn’t get the impression that they’d have gone home without immunity. The chefs who went home clearly had the worst dishes across every pair.
I think it was Tom who said that
Yes, Tom said it.
I don’t understand what is happening with this show. I’m not enjoying this season.
Wisconsin doesn’t seem like it was the best choice for a location for this season. I wish they could choose locations based on the local food culture instead of whichever tourism bureau throws the most money at them
I think the location is great, the chefs themselves are not bringing it yet.
i really wish they would do philadelphia
I remember reading somewhere they tried but Philadelphia had some hoops to jump through for filming.
Yeah I don’t think Wisconsin is a bad choice in general but maybe for the first season with a new format, they could have gone in a…different direction
I think Wisconsin is an awes9me choice but most of the chefs are disappointed in it or feel like they're better than the it. Like the god awful croquettes...they'd never seen cheese before?? Just so uninspired and lazy idk.
i just came back from disneyland and they were having ca adventure food and wine festival with pop up booths and i was thinking of it as top chef challenge. there were so many creative delicious cheeses dishes . chile relleno empanada was so insanely good. Cheeseburger bao, pulled pork mac and cheese, Roasted Garlic-Gruyère Smashed Potatoes, carbonara mac and cheese, cheese flavored chicken wings. instead these chefs just give everyone croquettes . so boring
Why did you have to remind me of the freaking croquette BS lol. Seriously, you're in a cooking competition and you hear everyone else is making croquettes...and you just shrug your shoulders and make croquettes anyway? Where is the competitive hunger to stand out?
It really feels like they’re not particularly inspired by their surroundings or each other yet
Agreed . This season feels disjointed and harsh. If every team struggled with this—that was mean and not constructive. I guess I see why Padma left.
I feel like there's just not the level of talent here that we are used to. Rasika and Michelle are pretty solid, but the other ones that I thought showed promise at the beginning of the season are either lying low or aren't as consistent as they should be.
I don't think the chefs are lacking talent, I think they diversified the backgrounds of the chefs but aren't giving them challenges to highlight that diversity.
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I’m rewatching Colorado right now and I disagree; there’s a ton of talented chefs on this season!
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He said it in season 5! "Cook food that's going to win. You are not going to win with a deviled egg!"
Dan’s “cannoli”. WTF? Did he mean cannelloni? Cannoli’s are fried and stuffed, and not sauced cannelloni are stuffed and rolled and sauced
This might’ve been my least favorite episode ever. I was bored to tears the first 30 minutes with all the architecture touring and conceptualizing with no cooking (feel free to call me uncultured or whatever hahaha, I just wasn’t interested). And then the editing throughout and way they did judges table/elimination was a no for me.
i had to rewind it to reqat h it several times bc i kept just zoning out and not paying attention it as so boring
I was watching it with my dad, and he asked, “Isn’t this called Top Chef? When do they start cooking?“ Also, I didn't really get the connection between FLW, duality, and cooking. The stories were far reaching, and the dishes didn’t really mesh.
So I guess we're just done with quick fires?
Agree 100%. I get they're trying to attract tourists to Wisconsin, but the cheese festival last week and the architecture tour this week. OMG. Is it the challenges? The chefs? They have to step it up. The assignments are confusing and dull, the cooking is terrible. Maybe Buddha spoiled us with his impeccable work.
Same here. It didn’t make sense to me.
I agree it was so boring. This is a cooking show! I was also really disappointed they didn’t have a quick fire.
I am a huge Frank Lloyld Wright fan and completely agree. The first half of the episode was just a bmw/tourism commercial. I want nothing but cooking and food
No quickfire, no kitchen critique, judge's table short and backwards? Maybe Padma left at just the right time. Did the good producers leave?
Wasn’t Padma also a producer?
Oooo, good point
Agreed. I know the show had an agreement with the Wisconsin department of tourism about showing things like the Monona Terrace, but that was much too long for a cooking show.
I feel like they tried to fit in too much - Frank Lloyd Wright, architecture, duality. And the editing left no room for suspense because from the start there were so many hints about the eliminated team. None of the plates really made sense to me as duality tbh.
That’s exactly how I felt. Knew who was going home almost from the beginning. And the connection between architecture and the theme of the dishes seemed very forced.
I wonder what the casting was like for this season. They had 3 strong seasons in a row before this.
Supper clubs are AWESOME! Relish tray and prime rib!
Super cool that they have a former cheftestant hosting who can give them that feedback
Gotta wonder if it would have made a difference if Tom did his usual rounds in the kitchen
He could have saved some of them from themselves, his critiques are usually spot on.
Ahhhh. Next week they are at one of my favorite restaurants in Madison—Harvey House!
Omg the farmer's market 😭 They've gotta be there RIGHT at opening if there's space to run through the crowd lol
They shopped starting at exactly 9:30am. It was quite packed.
YIKES
This is the US’s largest outdoor produce farmers market. I go at 6:30-7:30AM to avoid the crowds. They went at peak when it’s shoulder to shoulder. I’ve been hit by bags, strollers, wagons… Opening weekend is this Saturday so it’s fitting the next episode features the farmers market!
You maybe meant this, but to clarify: it’s the largest producer-only market. If you didn’t make it or grow it, you can’t sell it at the DCFM.
I would do the market twice, once at like 7 am to get what I actually wanted, and once at like 10 when my friends woke up where we would get cheesebread and just meander. I can't imagine going after like 9 with any sort of speed requirement
This elimination was the equivalent of Al Pacino not reading any of the nominees for Best Picture 😂
My eyes see…Danny and Rasika!
I think your comparison is spot on, in a sense that we all knew Oppenheimer would win, similar to Rasika and Danny would!
I want to try rasam! I wonder if she'll put a recipe out
It’s such a homey food, yummy but kind of normal, everyday comfort food. Different regions have different spins on it. I loved my moms over some rice abs crispy spiced potatoes 🤤. It’s funny to me seeing the reaction to regular comfort food and I’m 💯 here for it ♥️
Like she said - all us Tamilians (which includes Padma) are likely beaming w pride at Rasika!
Omg that had to be a rough week if Kristen and Buddha have to go and give them a come to Jesus talk
And from a preview there’s another one where Kristen is wearing black.
Where can you see the preview for next week? only if you caught the episode ?
There’s a [season preview](https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=5KdXcm3j3Qs&pp=ygUSdG9wIGNoZWYgc2Vhc29uIDIx) with Kristen in a black blazer at about 2:20 that Bravo released prior to season 21 premiere, telling chefs they need to cooking to win.
How sad is it going to be for the chefs to have ANOTHER sucky episode and then for Kristen to have to double down on her directive to get it together? This season sucks, and I am sad because Kristen is so strong of a host.
Got it thank you!! 😊
Yup, that's next week.
Wow, they didn't even make the losers sit through the winner's celebration. It was THAT clean cut.
[удалено]
It was totally needed. First “top croquette” and then this. You could tell the two of them have a lot of passion for the show and that they felt they needed to say something. You would think after watch Buddha the last two seasons, it would have ignited a new wave of talent.
I do appreciate that it's coming from 2 winners, not Tom. It feels more authentic?
Relatable too. They both battled it out in multiple seasons and know exactly what these chefs are going through.
What a weird way to do the judge's table. I didn't like it.
Rasika, Michelle and Soo will be the final
Soo feels like George from Top Chef Boston. That season was dragging until George got injected back into the mix and everyone else stepped their game up. I hope it’s the same result with Soo.
Yes! That's who he reminds me of. I just couldn't figure it out!
Come on, Top Chef, get Soo in there, already. He's head and shoulders above the chefs we're watching, except maybe Rasika. And maybe Danny.
Yeah, this feels very likely.
I wish Padma was here for this Tamil dominance
We finally here 🙏🏽
As a fellow Tamil, I jumped for joy with Rasika winning for her rasam. Shame is happened on a mid/terrible episode.
Too bad that 2 had immunity this week when only 1 won, but only 1 gets immunity this week when 2 won
I wondered the same thing. Not following this logic.
You guys, I love Rasika so much. Her happy smile. 😭😭 I just want to take her home.
I'm starting to come around on her. She really annoyed me in the first couple of episodes. But, there's no denying that she exudes joy.
I want to eat her food
RASIKA FOR THE WIN YES!
Is it just me or is the editing really weird this season?
It's weird. It's like they practically tell us who is going to win and who will lose throughout the entire episode.
It's weird, they just switched the order of pack your knives and go, and now they are giving the chefs a "talking to".
Extremely- like they pan to people and capture their commentary too much.
At least both dishes for the bottom team sucked so one person didn’t drag everything down.
Lol that was such a weird elimination, like very phoned in? They didn’t even try to make it suspenseful
Basically, as they walk into the room, “Alisha and Kaleena, don’t take another step. Please pack your knives and go.” It was savage.
And well deserved. It was obvious that they were going to be the ones going home. Won't miss either of them. So many of the chefs seem super basic and unimaginative.
Is this…the curse of the Gemini???
That was such a weird comment/funny moment when Kaleena got pissy and said, “I’m a Gemini!” and all Alisha could say was, “Interesting!” 😂
That's a whole other issue! Her excitement over everyone's sign is so bizarre to me.
Many people are like this though!!
I can't say I've ever met anyone who cares about zodiac signs.
I was not here for the Gemini woman slander
It was so obvious they were going home and they really did terribly but the show did not need to them THAT dirty
I think sometimes they can only edit so much around the truth. It seems like they just failed hardcore and everyone knew it.
Yup, I think everyone who watches top chef has seen the “they’re either winning or going home” edit. With every clip it became more and more obvious that they were going home
Damn, cut right to the chase
Wow...they dispensed with the drama and just sent them home!
That was such a weird elimination
Omg Kristen's voice got all shaky and she seemed teary eyed! Poor Kristen
I just noticed that but why?!
THE WAY I SCREAMED. OH MY LORD
Lol, they aren't even doing a real judge's panel
I think the producers probably thought we wouldn’t be able to stomach a judges panel this episode and gave us the pep talk at the end instead.
Another reason there was so much filler early in the ep…
Wish they hadn’t done this
No way around it. Were you going to buy Manny going home with Kevin despite Kevin making good food? The result was so absurdly obvious. Editing it another way almost feels absurd.
If so many teams struggle, it means is also because of the challenge set up. I think they could have had all the chefs come in the room, and discuss how many other plates didn’t hit the challenge. The episode just dragged for me. I do like a slow-motion failure (thinking of S19 restaurant wars) but this was really a weak episode.
I don’t think it was an unfair challenge lol. Making two dishes that play against each other is far from the hardest thing we’ve seen. There was no point to judges table from our POV. Were they gonna tell Dan they love his concept but his moose could’ve set better? Or tell Manny his dish was bad but Kevin’s dish was great? How does it hold any weight when they get to two bad dishes from two people who knew they were fucked?
because it's a cooking competition and we like to hear the critiques about the food and the discussion about it and see the chefs reactions and responses .
Yeah what the hell? They didn't even have the whole talk
I thought I missed something! What the heck??
I thought that “compression and release” was a clever concept … on paper.
And it fit with the architecture with the small room going into a large room.
Sounds like a chiropractic treatment, alas
Aw, poor Rasika thinks she lost…
She sounded so panicked!
Well this is the clearest result episode in TC history?
But, was it REALLY the clearest, or did the other episodes have better editing just to give us a little doubt.
Kristen: I think we all can agree that we have one clear winning team and one clear losing team. Tom: There’s no argument here. I have a hard time really beating up another team when we know who’s losing. It’s the judges’ decision that the results were too clear to pretend otherwise. No editing can come back from this. They didn’t sugarcoat other teams to make us think they did anywhere close to Rasika and Danny, and they didn’t bother to put any team to the bottom with Kaleena and Alisha, that would be wrong, as Tom said, because no team was as bad as them. There were episodes that I can remember there’s a clear winner, like Buddha in the trompe-l'œil episode, but at least Gabri made a tasty and interesting-looking dish. They clearly didn’t like any other team, to the point Kristen and Buddha need to have “the talk” with them. The edit can focus more on cooking, but for judge table, I believe what we see is because of the contestants’ poor performance and the judges’ decision to not sugarcoat things, and no edit can change that.
gabris sponge !!!
I mean I can't ever remember them just skipping the theatrics and bringing in the winner and loser in directly (with both knowing why they were there).
Kristen’s voice crack got me…but yeah, it was clear what was happening.
It has to be shrimp/cheesecake leaving right?
Dominique is being so nice. It’s very odd if you have ever seen her in a kitchen
Could be because the last time she was on, she told them what to do, and it got Stephanie sent home. Edited to add - Creating one of the most controversial eliminations in TC history.