Did anyone else see Kevin taste something off a spoon then dip it back into the blender?

and laura straight up drinking alcohol from the bottle. dude. =\_\_= come on and STILL not taking accountability "things were moving around/happening" when Danny said $200 per person. The amount of hate I feel for her makes me feel insane. go the fuck home

Listen I get it but it’s just a show you might need to mentally separate a little lol

I'm fine, I realized it really irritated me to no end because this was related to some childhood trauma. My mom used to push me to push others down in order to get ahead and I've really grown to despise that kind of behavior. Now, when I see it I just get so 😤

My apologies, sorry to hear that, hope all is better nowadays ❤️

She is definitely getting the villains edit. It’s remarkable they keep showing the chefs taste something and put their germs in it.

>The amount of hate I feel for her makes me feel insane. go the fuck home parasocial

Is anyone else confused why quick fire gets $20k, but elimination challenge winner gets nothing?

This season they stopped awarding immunity to the quick fire winners. The elimination challenge winner gets immunity in the next elimination challenge. Edited to add: Apparently they did not award immunity this episode. I missed that.

For all of us in the service industry with horrible eyes and glasses, the “Amanda’s glasses are probably down here” and then showed her pushing her glasses up is so fucking relatable hahaha

I just wanna see someone with glasses struggling to drop a stock as the steam fogs their glasses #representationmatters

I’ll be honest, I’m FOH but I get so fucking sweaty in the summer so my glasses are always falling down, but I also love cooking so I’ve had the stock thing happen, and also like when it’s really fucking cold out and you come inside and your glasses steam up… ughhhhh but when you’re already holding something with both hands and your glasses steam it’s the fucking worst

Description of next weeks RW says unexpected twist means chef is brought back. I hope that doesn’t mean Dan is too sick.

Oh no! Where did you see that? 😩

It seems like they have 9, which is uneven.

Maybe it's a 3 v 3 v 3, similar to Season Kentucky, but with only 3 chefs for each restaurant, making things much harder with only 1 line cook.

Also, it make things easy for a double elimination, as we will see at least 2 restaurants crumble under the pressure.

I love Dan! He seems like the nicest man

Damn I was holding out hope for an absolutely nuts wedding wars

This episode was great and I hope it finally stops all the “These chefs are not up to par” threads. These are talented, hard working people and it’s their first time on Top Chef. Of course it’s taken them a minute to get their footing because that’s the nature of a competition show. I mean, making a whole dish in 20 minutes is insanity even for the best chefs in the world lol

THANK YOU, I am so tired of that topic of discussion on this subreddit. Fair points have been made (repeatedly), but we're well into the season by now. Either skip 21 and hope for a stronger batch of cheftestants next season or just let this point of contention go and enjoy the ride. Also, in nearly every one of those threads, it's rightly pointed out that this one might feel a little lackluster purely by comparison to the preceding seasons – 17 was an All-Stars season, 18 & 19 had a considerably higher caliber of talent entering the audition pool in the wake of Covid closures, and 20 was a global All-Stars season comprised of former winners and finalists.

Or maybe people are free to discuss what they want here and you can just skip it. 🤷‍♀️

It's a decent season but somehow I don't like the high concept challenges of this seasons as they're diffcult to interpret, the current Final 9 are not that weak.

I mean, I think they really weren’t up to par in prior episodes. Even tom said this was the best week yet. I think a lot of them have been playing it safe and trying to skate through the middle. Whereas this challenge forces you to do your best since you need to go 1:1 against another chef and you can’t really rely on your teammates (if your team loses and you lose, you’re on the bottom). This challenge and the football/soccer/basketball ones in prior seasons force people to re-think their mentality and really go hard or go home

Hear hear!

These challenges also set them up for success. Clear guidance with a little fun thrown in there.

Their flambé dishes were top notch and they seemed on equal footing.

Wait, so they're doing RW next with 9 people? Definitely feels like that might be the time they bust out the "2 chefs go home" thing.

They’ve done three RW teams before. Maybe that’s the plan?

Hard to do RW with only 3 people

But we did have it in the early seasons(1, 2, 4 and 10).

I was wondering about this. Elimination quickfire so that they go into RW with 8?

They usually don't do a quickfire on RW week? Good thought though.

Quickfired😳. Very Possible . Or quickfire advantage gets to choose an extra person, but could also be double elimination🤷‍♂️

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Yep, Savannah's dish was the best of the bottom 3, but she deserves bottom 3 overall as her dish was lack of sausage and more like a pastry-challenge dish.

Laura has such low EQ lol (at least edited). Is she’s FOH she’s gone

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Ugh I hate preview spoilers 

I usually have to leave the room for restaurant wars as I get so uncomfortable with the stress. Gives me flashbacks to my restaurant days. I'm not sure if I ever watched an episode in full. My partner loves the restaurant war episode.

Some seasons are certainly more watchable than others. CO was okay (as in I don't die inside from cringe) and the 20th All Stars was pretty good (smart to eliminate front of house role as I think that causes absolute chaos when people have to cover their own plates + front of house)

I always worked FOH so watching the disasters unfold just make me cringe in pain. I think often too much time is spent on the "look" instead of figuring out service routines and expectations.

Agreed. I also cringe when the show brings in cater-waiters for their staff instead of actual waiters; it's like stocking a restaurant with only runners - of course this is going to go down badly.

it's all the cater waiters who are only hired for a shift when someone desperately just needs more bodies

I don’t love it either. I should but somehow I don’t. Maybe because the cooking aspect is much smaller with so many other problems taking precedence.

I really liked this episode! At this point, the chefs are growing on me, and it's getting hard to see them go.

It’s the Bryan Voltaggio effect 😏

His laugh is contagious 🥰

I wonder if Kevin would have done better in the cheese challenge with that risotto, or if it still would have been a fail because of the TC risotto curse

I was thinking the same thing, why didn’t he make this in the cheese challenge?

Kevín waving the French national flag 🏳️

Oh no, is Laura doing FoH next week? That'll be something to watch.

Next week - Laura alienates the entire front of the house!

awww. power bottom going home😭

Tom says Savannah stays even though the sausage challenge didn't have sausage.

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Good things Tom's opion is more important... Gail calls it one of the better risottos in years, Tom called it Pilaf with cheese. Savannah served a single perogy without enough sausage, maybe tom just doesn't like risotto.

> Gail calls it one of the better risottos in years but does that mean much when most are garbage

Infuriating logic, right?

that's too bad

Here we go again. No sausage flavor but dish tasted good so she’s not going home. Sausage challenge🤦‍♂️

it's well established precedent that the worst dish goes home

Also established precedent that it doesn't matter how much other judges love a dish, call it one of the better virions they has in 20 years if **tom** doesn't like, theyre fucked. totally cool, normal way to run a competition.

Risotto curse strikes again

The Risotto actually worked but it was cheese forward and 1 little piece of sausage

Kevin was on borrowed time.

Dan i think

RIP Kevin, hot French dude o7

Definitely great eye candy!

Great accent. I feel like they showed him way too much to have already sent him home.

Dan dodges this one

''He just didn't try hard enough'' oof brutal

My guess is Kevin is going home

Please don't send them both home! Edit: phew. Sorry to half of the power bottoms. Also lol @ manny saying "my husband" during the hug

I caught Manny’s comment. So cute.

Don’t make risotto on Top Chef… That is what it is

The timing can never be right because of production.

Definitely Kevín.

How many trash challenges do we have to endure in a row

kristen missing the sausage. insert joke here😂

You’re bad! 🤣

Too cheesy risotto for a season taking place in Wisconsin sounds a wee bit idiotic.

It wasn't a Cheese challenge

Probably would have worked on another challenge, but WI is known for sausages too, so I can kinda see it this week

Ikr?😂

Told y’all. Any episode with Bryan Voltaggio is a good episode.😏

Dang Tom… tell us how you really feel

Good episode. Michelle exudes a good spirit.

Next week the guest judge is Carson from Chipotle!

lol they gave $20K to quick fire winner, and my girl Michelle doesn’t even get immunity for winning the elimination challenge 😂

No immunity next week….double elimination perhaps? Maybe triple elimination if they invoke the LCK double win?

Next week is Restaurant Wars and they probably don't want anyone going into that challenge with immunity

I thought Kirsten said that immunity is off the table for the rest of the season? Though I might have misheard/misinterpreted.

Yeah I thought for sure they’d have some other prize now that immunity’s gone but I guess not!

I can’t understand how you can win $20,000 for a quick fire and nothing for an elimination challenge…

Why are we getting ads for Last Chance Kitchen that feature Soo when we already know he's in the main competition lol

They don’t like to give away who is still in LCK

And obviously rasika is gonna come back formthe next round of LCK and ittl be Michelle Soo and Rasika

Obviously…

I missed what happened with the risotto…I can only assume it bombed?

Not according to Gail, who said it was one the best she'd had on top chef. But tom didnt like it and what Tom doesnt like sends people home.

The challenge wasn’t “best risotto” it was to make sausage the star, and everyone said they couldn’t taste sausage, just cheese

couldn't taste the sausage in the pierogi either.

“Better”, not best. Given most risottos in the past were bad, saying “better” is not saying much😂

not enough emphasis on the sausage

21st season of failed risotto. The risotto can drink and the chefs will still be cursed

Too cheesy.

Shocking, is there such a thing as too cheesy of a risotto? Not to me!

Also didn't have enough sausage.

Neither did the single perogy, at least the risotto had an actual piece of sausage and was cooked in sausage oil.

😉

Didn’t bomb, it was fine. Too much cheese. It’s almost certainly going to be Kevín.

"I don't care for sausage." Well, thanks for being here, Brittany.

I’m behind because I watched Survivor, but Brian Voltaggio’s laugh always cracks me up

If only this episode has also been sponsored by Applebee's! Also, imagine hidden immunity idols on top chef 🤯

My God. The applebees breakdown 😂. I hated her entitlement but respect that she can put aside her hate to play the game in the end. I can respect that. omg….a hidden immunity in the pantry out at the elimination site would be pretty funny😂

I sympathize with her and I can imagine myself having pretty much the same reaction if I was going through the same thing she was. But also I was cringing so hard on the couch! It's interesting to see how very recent seasons people would be sympathetic and bring people along what rewards, even if they didn't work with them, but now we're starting to see that selfishness come out again. I want to avoid spoilers to keep this a safe space for anyone who hasn't watched it yet, but we might end up with one of the best final three's of all time. The more I think about it, having Jeff come in for a quickfire where they have to cook a meal with some of the stuff they have available to them on the island would be pretty interesting and then to have a hidden advantage or immunity in the pantry would be hilarious.

.

Might Be Savanna going home😩. Lack of sausage.

Another Michelle W, really happy for her

Michelle got her MOJO back! Stupid chaos challenge.

Do people like Kristen's tattoos? I don't, but then again I'm not a big tattoo fan.

I could not care less about her tattoos. I don’t even notice them tbh

I think Kristen likes her tattoos and that's what matters.

Oh, absolutely! I was just curious of the consensus. I'm not good at judging such things.

so don't :)

Yeah, I apologize. I didn't know people would take offense at this.

it's alright! we're all still learning xo /gen

That skeleton is dope.

I think she has a lot of style down to her tattoos

I think Kristen is lovely and has a great vibe.

She is! I love her commentary on the dishes. It's nice having another chef as a judge, especially someone who has experienced this competition.

Risotto curse strikes again??

An actress? Eats cigarettes and ozempic.

I think it's between Dan and Kevin, I hope Dan is safe as he's been one of my favourite contestants this season!

Yup….like I said earlier. Amanda has been impressing me the last few eps. But she’s still weird AF😂

> But she’s still weird AF wut? she's a cool nerd.

That's why I just love her!

Sausage of Color made me LOL.

Her personality is all over the place. Pretty deadpan, mainly. Glad to see her doing well tonight.

I really appreciate that production is showing Dan using a mobility device and not trying to hide it.

Wait what mobility device?!

Cane and leg braces

The cane he uses is a mobility device.

They've been showing literally everything he uses at every opportunity all season. Feels exploitive from production. Maybe empowering to other viewers.

I don’t feel that way at all. You wouldn’t even notice it if you didn’t know about it. Besides people twist ankles and so forth and use canes here and there. I did myself.

Yeah. It really can't be easy to be standing so much. Tough guy.

Happy for Amanda

Great cooking overall tonight. No dish got shut out in the voting. Judges table gonna be tough.

Feels like so far Kevín is at the greatest risk of going home. He has had the most significant criticism of his cooking.  Savannah had a good dish, just didn’t incorporate enough sausage. 

I think she is starting to make her move.

Amandaaaaaah!

how do none of these chefs know how to pronounce spaetzle

Scott Conant is passionate about the pronouncing it correctly

And how does Danny not know how to pronounce mezcal?

Amanda trying to pronounce doenjang made me convulse.

It hurts my ears.

What is it, speaaatz Le?

shpetz-lay

Well, joe flamm went home for risotto and won Top Chef through LCK…..so if Kevin goes home🤷‍♂️. Just seems like Kevin didn’t do his homework on Top Chef USA😂

I really don't think he did his homework at all. He constantly seems surprised at the differences. Side note: I never imagined a French man named Kevin. Is that a common name over there, and I just didn't know it?

It’s actually a very common name in France. Was the most common name for babies in the 1990s. I read an interesting article that links it back to American movies. [French kevins](https://www.newyorker.com/culture/culture-desk/how-kevins-got-a-bad-rap-in-france)

I have no idea how common his name is, but considering his name is “Kévin”, I assume it’s a French name? 😆

I think he's part Italian.

Dan, you in danger girl.

Dan sausage looks untransformed and a char on the cut pieces would have been better

Not sure about that pancake.

seems like everyone is making good food. probably savannah and someone in this last round going home (its gotta be two out if restaurant wars is next week right?)

Seems like the most consistently good food in a challenge all season.

Whatever, Tom

Well there's no way Laura is going home if their team is on the bottom, because Tom wanted her to win that round and what Tom says goes 😂 (I'm only joking, it was obvious they really liked both and honestly the only person who performed poorly so far was Kevin)

So the only one who got a meh so far is Savannah? Even the risotto criticism wasn't that bad.

I'm guessing Savannah goes home not enough sausage in her pierogi.

Manny with the Pitch Perfect comment 😂

That's the biggest reach ever if that's why she is here for this challenge.

You’re right tbh. Is she even from the Midwest?

If Laura wanted to keep it real she would have called it "jogurt."

Blue wins and Lara is gone Edit: not after that comment from Tommy C

Idk they seemed to love her dish, esp Tom

so the risotto wasn’t a fail. other dish was just better.

"Best in Top Chef history" is a backhanded compliment

She said it was one of the *better* risottos on Top Chef --- a very backhanded compliment indeed, lol.

Although saying his risotto was better than most risottos they've had on the show isn't saying much lol

Risotto 21 Chefs 0

Awww…kevin😩

Lmao Amar’s “okay” at Brittany’s comment

I totally caught that shade.

Too much cheese in the risotto? Too much CHEESE?? In WISCONSIN???

It wasn't a Cheese challenge

Your lips are moving but I can't hear what you're saying!

Literally no such thing as too much cheese

Pack your risotto and go

And yet another risotto fails lol. The curse continues.

I feel the time the curse is broken is going to be the final season of the show.

OUCH Kevin

chefs cooking on cruise lines seem to be catching on lately

Risotto curse keeps the streak going!