Season 22: Last Chance Kitchen

[caitmcg]

I was very impressed with the way Kat pulled that out. She was smart to think of salad, and to gather extra ingredients she could hand-tear. Even never having worked with salt cod, she pulled off a dish that impressed Tom. Would Corwin have done better if he hadn't forgotten the curry paste? Impossible to say, I guess.

[tv echo]

Could You Cook Without Knowing WHAT You're Cooking? | Last Chance Kitchen (S22 E5) | Bravo
Bravo   Apr 10, 2025

 

[CrazyInAlabama]

So, Tom had them do Salt Cod dishes.  

Spoiler

Corwin goes home, Kat continues in LCK

 

[Fukui San]

Forgetting to open the can was a hilarious mistake.  
 

I was definitely thinking it had to be seafood of some type since you didn’t have to cut it. Salt Cod made sense given its history for them.  

[Rammchick]

1 hour ago, Fukui San said:

Forgetting to open the can was a hilarious mistake.  
 

I was definitely thinking it had to be seafood of some type since you didn’t have to cut it. Salt Cod made sense given its history for them.  

I suspect that if he'd gotten that can open, the outcome would've been different.

[ProudMary]

26 minutes ago, Rammchick said:

I suspect that if he'd gotten that can open, the outcome would've been different.

I agree that it would have changed the outcome.

Corwin presented the dish to Tom as salt cod with a "green curry inspired sauce." When presenting, he did not mention that he forgot to open the can of curry paste during prep time. When giving his verdict, Tom specifically said that "the green curry got muted 'cause all you got was thst salt cod flavor." I'm relatively certain that if the curry paste had been added as originally planned, Corwin would have won over Kat's elevated salad. Perhaps if Corwin had just described the sauce as herb based, he might still have won, but Tom was expecting curry and never got it.

[PhoneCop]

I feel like we'll never know for sure what would've happened if Corwin had gotten the curry in; maybe it would've tilted the dish in a different but equally unfavorable way, and it sounded like Kat's salad stood on its own merits and wasn't simply the better of two flawed options.

In any case, sorry to see Corwin go so early, not sad to see Kat continue. At minimum, I thought they'd both outlast Massimo and Paula. 

[Bastet]

Great win for Kat, that I think would have happened even if Corwin had used his can opener.  But I'd have still cheered him had it turn out the other way.   It was a nice match.

I'm here in L.A. and need to check out Kat's food.

[CrazyInAlabama]

Last Chance Kitchen, episode 6 is available on You Tube. 

[buttersister]

Congrats to Katiana, her dish was ambitious and complex. And sorry, much more creative than Kat’s spin on another salad.  Next to stay away from panne cotta and risotto unless you’ve mastered them in less than a half hour, leave off the badly prepared extraneous ingredient seems like a good rule.

[Bastet]

I knew this was a match-up where I was going to be simultaneously bummed and happy no matter who won, as I like them equally, but I did not anticipate the loss being because someone was stupid enough to serve overcooked shrimp.  Like Kat said, it's a rule, she knows better, and this is going to haunt her.

[Pandora]

16 hours ago, buttersister said:

Congrats to Katiana, her dish was ambitious and complex. And sorry, much more creative than Kat’s spin on another salad.  Next to stay away from panne cotta and risotto unless you’ve mastered them in less than a half hour, leave off the badly prepared extraneous ingredient seems like a good rule.

I was really pulling for Kat. Oh, my heartbreak of watching Kat desecrate a firm Top Chef rule, when she should know better than to serve something TOTALLY OPTIONAL TO THE DISH AND BAD TO BOOT, oh, the humanity. Damn. 

I actually enjoyed this episode otherwise, I thought it was well done too. I like respectful competition, and both of them being friendly and practically neighbors was a nice touch. But both clearly were out to eliminate the other too. May the odds ever be in your favor, chefs! 

And the way it was set up to let them play nice or naughty picking each other’s….well, pickles, even one by one so they could respond to each other, and the after-interviews and comments while selecting, awesome. From what I saw, they took a middle road. Nothing either really wanted, a little unpleasant, but ultimately they could work with what they had. Interesting.

TL;DR, Kat is gone, sad. But it was great to watch anyway, very Top Chef-ish to me.

 

[Souris]

I knew Kat was toast when she still used the shrimp.

[CrazyInAlabama]

Episode 7 is up. 

 

 

[Bastet]

I think Katiana would have won anyway, due to the texture of her dough and using it two ways, and I wanted her to win, but I said to Henry through the TV, "Dude, don't do it," when he decided at the last second to pour flavored water into his dish that already had a sauce.

[marke34]

 

"Paula cooked well week after week"

Did Tom like ANY of Paula's dishes this season? If so, I don't remember them.

Edited May 2 by marke34

[Bastet]

I would have very much liked to try both dishes, but what Paula made is something closer to what I - a very good home cook, but nothing approaching a chef - would make while Katiana's is something I'd never come up with.  They're both talented, but I think in two different leagues.  I'm happy for Katiana and want her to make it through this second leg of LCK to rejoin the main competition.

[PhoneCop]

Yeah, same. Tristen's dominating this thing like Buddha, so I'm almost taking it as a given that he'll be in the finale (and winning). Of the remaining chefs, I think Katianna's the only one who could make it look like a horse race with him in it.

César's my other pick for an F3, but his execution doesn't always seem to match his creativity. Shuai's light is dimming with each passing week. Massimo's hit or miss. Vinny seems overreliant on his existing repertoire. Lana's largely been riding the middle. And then there's Bailey, who found her mojo in LCK, so I actually wouldn't be surprised if she makes it to the end. 

We shall see...

[carrps]

Good analysis. I think that's pretty accurate.

I don't hate Bailey as much as other people seem to do. Watching her LCK appearances made me think she might be on the spectrum (if that's not, the currently accepted description, please let me know!), and that affects the way she behaves.

And, yeah, Shuai really faded from the first few episodes.

 

[dleighg]

1 minute ago, carrps said:

I don't hate Bailey as much as other people seem to do

I don't hate her at all. I do hate her voice. 

[Rai]

She's grown on me enough that I've gone from being irritated by her to slightly protective about the Bailey-bashing that can happen. Still, I find the other contestants more interesting, so I'm mainly interested that she's still here after bombing so much at first. We stan a hard reset.

[Ancaster]

9 hours ago, Rai said:

She's grown on me enough that I've gone from being irritated by her to slightly protective about the Bailey-bashing that can happen. Still, I find the other contestants more interesting, so I'm mainly interested that she's still here after bombing so much at first. We stan a hard reset.

"We stan a hard reset."  What does this mean?

[Rai]

By that, I mean she was pretty awful at the beginning and got eliminated quickly as a result, but then she turned it around in LCK and came back into the show a much stronger competitor. She took her second chance and is making the most of it, and I definitely respect her resetting herself and going back in with a better focus.

[marke34]

 

[marke34]

 

[Bastet]

I just started watching and had to pause and run back to the computer to say:  The final challenge to determine who gets back in the competition is one in which they have to rely on someone else to cook?  That doesn't feel right!

[CrazyInAlabama]

I didn't like that challenge either.     I also wasn't happy that they have part 1 on Youtube, and Part 2 on Bravo.   So, I know who's going back to the competition.   So next week they'll be back to seven cheftestants?  Or did I miscount again.  

[marke34]

2 minutes ago, CrazyInAlabama said:

I didn't like that challenge either.     I also wasn't happy that they have part 1 on Youtube, and Part 2 on Bravo.   So, I know who's going back to the competition.   So next week they'll be back to seven cheftestants?  Or did I miscount again.  

Both parts of the challenge are on youtube now, and I uploaded both of them on here.  Also, yup, it's back to seven cheftestants after this week.

Edited May 9 by marke34

[CrazyInAlabama]

 

3 minutes ago, marke34 said:

Apparently, both parts of the challenge are on youtube now, and I uploaded both of them on here.  Also, yup, it's back to seven cheftestants after this week.

Thanks for the info.   I'm not patient enough as usual waiting for Part 2 to load.  

I'm just glad the Bravo part 2 didn't have ads through it. 

Edited May 9 by CrazyInAlabama

[Bastet]

Okay, phew, that was just part one of three.  And part two has them doing their own cooking -- I thought it was going to be Take 2, where they had to pick another stand-in, and then only if they got to Take 3 would they get to cook. 

[Salacious Kitty]

Bravo just has a BMW ad at the beginning. No ads during. 

[Bastet]

I'm so bummed about Katiana!  She was my favorite from the beginning, being the one cheftestant whose food I have tasted (it's delicious), and I really wanted to see her back in.

[marke34]

3 minutes ago, Bastet said:

I'm so bummed about Katiana!  She was my favorite from the beginning, being the one cheftestant whose food I have tasted (it's delicious), and I really wanted to see her back in.

I really didn't want to watch this, because 2 of my final 3 picks were battling it out, but if I had to choose one of the 2 to come back in, I wanted Cesar back more, because I really admired his creativity.  I'm glad he won, and has the chance to battle it out with Tristen in the finale, but it sucks that Katianna had to be cut to do that.

Edited May 9 by marke34

[CrazyInAlabama]

13 hours ago, Salacious Kitty said:

Bravo just has a BMW ad at the beginning. No ads during. 

My Spectrum On Demand is chock full of ads, I'm just glad I didn't have to watch it that way. 

[caitmcg]

Katianna has been on such a roll in LCK (and Tom said her winning dishes there are the best things she's cooked in the whole competition) that I was a bit surprised at the outcome. I'm glad Cesar bounced back to his early promise. though, because he really seemed to stumble the last few challenges in the main show.

[PhoneCop]

Well, hell. As soon as César was knocked out, I knew it'd end in tears, since I wanted to see him and Katianna in the finale with Tristen. Good thing there's nobody I really dislike* left, but I'm not sure who my backup third option is. Lana got a QF win; maybe she's finally finding her groove.

*Unless I count Bailey's voice as a separate entity.

Thought it was odd they're bringing back the LCK winner at F7, but I suppose the show's never been consistent about when that person returns; Kristen herself came back at F7. So much for my conspiracy-minded notion that they're doing it now so as not to risk losing both César and Katianna to LCK.

[ProudMary]

I thought the Ep. 9 Elimination Challenge was gimmicky, and they continued it here in LCK, with the "stunt double" thing. 😏 All four chefs involved handled it well, though.

I gasped when Tom said César was going through. I thought sure he was going to choose Katianna, but if there's one thing that Tom has been consistent with for 22 seasons, it's seasoning. The man likes his salt! As soon as he said "the soup needs a little more seasoning," I started to change my prediction. Always add just a little more salt, people! 🧂

I honestly didn't have a favorite here. I like both chefs, but if anyone had even the slightest chance to beat Tristen for the TC title, I might have placed a small wager on Katianna. César may very well make it to the finale, but I can't see him winning over Tristen.

[kirklandia]

There was one thing I really liked about that weird stunt double/sous chef challenge.  

The stunt double couldn't speak, and thankfully Katianna picked Kat. Blessed relief.  Her constant commentary from the sidelines in every episode was working my last nerve. I suppose that's why they keep the eliminated chefs  in the peanut gallery, to serve as cheerleaders. But Kat seemed to be grabbing all of the spotlight.

I am also bugged by all of the calling back and forth among the chefs while they're working  - what are you going to make, how is it going, what are you working on now…

I guess the producers are responsible for these annoying distractions. And our perceptions of the chefs are in the hands of the editors .
 

Edited May 10 by kirklandia

[dleighg]

8 hours ago, kirklandia said:

I am also bugged by all of the calling back and forth among the chefs while they're working  - what are you going to make, how is it going, what are you working on now…

I guess the producers are responsible for these annoying distractions.

In no world would I believe that the chefs do this by choice. I guess if they weren't made to do it, we'd have less info about their plans, but it certainly seems fake.

[tv echo]

The only issue I've ever had with Last Chance Kitchen is that Tom is the sole judge and he does not blind taste test.  So he can determine who goes through and who goes home. And we'll never know if there were other factors at play.

Edited May 10 by tv echo

[carrps]

Yes, and it's all based on Tom's particular tastes.

 

[Salacious Kitty]

1 hour ago, carrps said:

Yes, and it's all based on Tom's particular tastes.

 

Needs more seasoning...

[Souris]

Super bummed Katianna isn't returning to the competition.

[Mellowyellow]

Is this the end of LCK or will they bring others back too until the very end?

[Salacious Kitty]

1 hour ago, Mellowyellow said:

Is this the end of LCK or will they bring others back too until the very end?

This was the last episode. 

[Mellowyellow]

I adore Cesar (seriously he just seems so sweet and endearing) but I’m worried he’ll shoot himself in the foot with some weird dish again! I feel like Katiana would be less likely to make poor decisions. I like them both and would have loved to have both in the final!

[Ancaster]

On 5/10/2025 at 9:35 AM, carrps said:

Yes, and it's all based on Tom's particular tastes.

 

Despite however many times Tom Colicchio says it, seasoning does not mean salt.