S22.E11: Calgary, Yahoo!

[ProudMary]

Airdate: Thursday, May 22, 2025

Synopsis:

The six remaining chefs set off to Calgary where they are greeted by the judges; making pancakes for 50 diners. The chefs are tasked with creating dishes that feature beef and local berries, hoping to impress a table of culinary tastemakers.

[Bastet]

Every time Massimo talked about his dish, I had "Your mother was a hamster and your father smelt of elderberries" in my head.  Did he use any of those leathers he picked up off the floor?

Shuai making fun of himself for his squeaky "Yahoo!" and inability to survive in the wild made me laugh.  As did - as someone who is not a big beef fan but who loves a grilled ribeye, especially paired with red wine - several at the dining table getting so thoroughly irritated by César hiding the tannic flavor of his berry.

The judges kept emphasizing that the bottom three were good dishes, there wasn't much difference between the top and the bottom, etc., but it was clear to me at the dining table who had the bottoms three, because of how they failed to properly showcase the berry.

I figured, before the episode even started, this was going to be Lana's time to exit, as she has distinguished herself less frequently than the others, but I'm going to miss her -- she has a great attitude (and a great voice and a beautiful face).

Edited May 23 by Bastet

[Tango64]

Tom really puts his face in the plate when he eats. Can he not lift his arms?

[Ancaster]

10 minutes ago, Tango64 said:

Tom really puts his face in the plate when he eats. Can he not lift his arms?

He has the worst table manners ever; it's always grossed me out.

[dleighg]

Kristen's YA HOO scared my cat right off the couch.

My family visited Alberta back in the aughts and in addition to Jasper and Banff we went to the Calgary Stampede. Lots of fun, and the closing "show" with fireworks did showcase Native American culture. There was also a parade highlighted by the two Canadian skaters that there was some kind of controversy about in a recent Olympics. 

I watched the recap of last week and for the life of me couldn't remember what the actual challenge was. Had to look it up. Oh, yeah, four seasons. Totally forgettable.

It became very obvious that not showcasing the individual berry was going to be the downfall of whomever lost. The Native American guest (sorry, terrible with names) was particularly upset about that. 

Amazed that Baily pulled off those crepes-- all I could think was that they were going to be really labor-intensive to cook.

[cameron]

9 hours ago, Bastet said:

Every time Massimo talked about his dish, I had "Your mother was a hamster and your father smelt of elderberries" in my head.  Did he use any of those leathers he picked up off the floor?

Shuai making fun of himself for his squeaky "Yahoo!" and inability to survive in the wild made me laugh.  As did - as someone who is not a big beef fan but who loves a grilled ribeye, especially paired with red wine - several at the dining table getting so thoroughly irritated by César hiding the tannic flavor of his berry.

The judges kept emphasizing that the bottom three were good dishes, there wasn't much difference between the top and the bottom, etc., but it was clear to me at the dining table who had the bottoms three, because of how they failed to properly showcase the berry.

I figured, before the episode even started, this was going to be Lana's time to exit, as she has distinguished herself less frequently than the others, but I'm going to miss her -- she has a great attitude (and a great voice and a beautiful face).

Thought the same thing about Massimo and the leathers that he picked up off the floor.

[Rammchick]

10 hours ago, Ancaster said:

He has the worst table manners ever; it's always grossed me out.

He holds the fork in the weirdest way -- I've never seen anyone else eat like that.

[CrazyInAlabama]

6 hours ago, dleighg said:

Kristen's YA HOO scared my cat right off the couch.

My family visited Alberta back in the aughts and in addition to Jasper and Banff we went to the Calgary Stampede. Lots of fun, and the closing "show" with fireworks did showcase Native American culture. There was also a parade highlighted by the two Canadian skaters that there was some kind of controversy about in a recent Olympics. 

I watched the recap of last week and for the life of me couldn't remember what the actual challenge was. Had to look it up. Oh, yeah, four seasons. Totally forgettable.

It became very obvious that not showcasing the individual berry was going to be the downfall of whomever lost. The Native American guest (sorry, terrible with names) was particularly upset about that. 

Amazed that Baily pulled off those crepes-- all I could think was that they were going to be really labor-intensive to cook.

I really thought Bailey would be knifed because she not only didn't feature the berry, but virtually eliminated it.   I think Lana's mistakes weren't as bad as Bailey ignoring the challenge. 

[cameron]

2 hours ago, Rammchick said:

He holds the fork in the weirdest way -- I've never seen anyone else eat like that.

Actually looked normal to me with the exception that he is left handed.  Definitely two different styles of utensil holding because of different regions of the country (more european vs american style was shown).

[ProudMary]

1 hour ago, CrazyInAlabama said:

I really thought Bailey would be knifed because she not only didn't feature the berry, but virtually eliminated it.   I think Lana's mistakes weren't as bad as Bailey ignoring the challenge. 

You're not wrong, IMO, but Bailey was on top in the Quickfire, while Lana was on the bottom. I think that's why Bailey advanced and Lana was PYKAGd. 😥 

I honestly thought Bailey was a goner when they were at the market and she bought the pomegranate juice. There were two required ingredients: Calgary beef and the specific berry each chef was assigned. She was deliberately attempting to manipulate the flavor of that particular berry. Also, brûléed bleu cheese sounds pretty gross to me, not to mention another unnecessary addition to the dish. 

César also manipulated the flavor profile of his berry by adding sugar, when it would have paired better with the beef had he left it alone.

Lana was the only bottom three chef who kept it simple and allowed the true flavors to come through. I wonder if she might have advanced if her beef hadn't been overrested? I'll miss her.

[rhofmovalley]

Welp, Bailey will likely be in the final unless the producers are fine with having an all male finale. 

[Lovecat]

19 minutes ago, ProudMary said:

Lana was the only bottom three chef who kept it simple and allowed the true flavors to come through. I wonder if she might have advanced if her beef hadn't been overrested? I'll miss her.

Her potato thingy was also pretty hammered, so I doubt it.

2 minutes ago, rhofmovalley said:

Welp, Bailey will likely be in the final unless the producers are fine with having an all male finale. 

History tells us that they're TOTALLY fine with having an all male finale.

[ProudMary]

3 minutes ago, rhofmovalley said:

Welp, Bailey will likely be in the final unless the producers are fine with having an all male finale. 

Yes, I thought of that, too. If it's a close call on who's at the bottom, that might just give her an edge, although Tom always says they judge only on the caliber of the plate in front of them. 

[Rammchick]

1 hour ago, cameron said:

Actually looked normal to me with the exception that he is left handed.  Definitely two different styles of utensil holding because of different regions of the country (more european vs american style was shown).

It's not just that he's left handed.  He holds it more like a pencil than a fork.

[cameron]

1 hour ago, Rammchick said:

It's not just that he's left handed.  He holds it more like a pencil than a fork.

That's how some of us hold our forks.  Never thought it was odd.

[mlp]

2 hours ago, rhofmovalley said:

Welp, Bailey will likely be in the final unless the producers are fine with having an all male finale. 

Gender should have absolutely nothing to do with judgments about food but I do think that it influences some producers who worry about being accused of sexism or whatever.  The only way I want to see Bailey in the finals is if one of the men submits a dish that is clearly inferior to hers.

[meep.meep]

2 hours ago, rhofmovalley said:

Welp, Bailey will likely be in the final unless the producers are fine with having an all male finale. 

I sure hope that all the contestants will be judged on how they cook, not on some fairness quotient.  That's been the way it's worked in the past.  

Tom seems to hold his utensils vertically - other judges and contestants have remarked on it in previous seasons.

So here they had a whole country to visit and they've gone to Toronto and Calgary.  Way to show off the place!  They traveled further in Wisconsin than in Canada.

[GiandujaPie]

So they are not even going to make it to Vancouver? I thought they were going to go all around Canada. Why have the finale in Milan? I would have preferred if every few episodes they moved to a different province/region in Canada. So many possibilities and could have given all of us Americans a chance to see different parts of Canada that we normally don't see. What a let down. 

[DEL901]

46 minutes ago, GiandujaPie said:

So they are not even going to make it to Vancouver? I thought they were going to go all around Canada. Why have the finale in Milan? I would have preferred if every few episodes they moved to a different province/region in Canada. So many possibilities and could have given all of us Americans a chance to see different parts of Canada that we normally don't see. What a let down. 

It also explains why the Montreal guest judges were so salty last week.  Montreal is even more a foody location than Toronto.  But I guess since they film Top Chef Canada in Toronto, they could just use the same sets… cheaper that way.

[kirklandia]

1 hour ago, meep.meep said:

 

So here they had a whole country to visit and they've gone to Toronto and Calgary.  Way to show off the place! 

Might have to cross Calgary off the list, if the secessionists have their way.

https://www.seattletimes.com/nation-world/the-texas-of-canada-plans-a-long-shot-bid-to-secede/

[ProudMary]

26 minutes ago, GiandujaPie said:

So they are not even going to make it to Vancouver? I thought they were going to go all around Canada. Why have the finale in Milan? I would have preferred if every few episodes they moved to a different province/region in Canada. So many possibilities and could have given all of us Americans a chance to see different parts of Canada that we normally don't see. What a let down. 

Yes to all of this. ^

The way the season was promoted originally made it seem as if they would be going to various locations within Canada. Some of the spoilery sites indicated that the show had filmed in Toronto, Montreal, Prince Edward Island and Calgary. That turned out to be only minimally true. For the episode where the chefs had to cook PEI mussels, we got a few shots of the way mussels are cultivated on Prince Edward Island. For the "Dep" episode, where they had to cook using ingredients from the rooftop gardens of Montreal, we got some footage of said gardens. I expected them to be visiting those locations!

As to the finale, I think it's an insult to Canada! Why can't the finale be in a Canadian city? Vancouver would be an obvious choice. Top Chef has filmed in British Columbia before, as the Texas season (Ugh!) had its finale filmed at Whistler, but Vancouver would be fresh. What, they have to go to Europe or Asia for a finale for it to be special?

Truthfully, of Italian cities, Milan isn't the first one you think of for food. It's known for banking and fashion. (I'm not saying you can't get a great meal in Milan!)

[caitmcg]

4 minutes ago, ProudMary said:

The way the season was promoted originally made it seem as if they would be going to various locations within Canada

And before the two episodes in Calgary (this and next week), all they had outside Toronto was a two-hour road trip to Niagara on the Lake and Niagara Falls.

[DEL901]

7 minutes ago, kirklandia said:

Might have to cross Calgary off the list, if the secessionists have their way.

https://www.seattletimes.com/nation-world/the-texas-of-canada-plans-a-long-shot-bid-to-secede/

It is a very long shot to secede.  They have to abide by treaty agreements with our Indigenous people and they are against succession and have oversight of over 2/3s of the province.  It is all talk to get a “better deal” with the feds, IMO.

[bravofan27]

Berries and beef sound delicious. It wasn't clear, but I don't think they needed to buy the beef or berries, so a much easier challenge IMO. I also liked that they didn't focus a challenge on the sponsor, but from history of the Calgary Stampede. It allowed more camera time to get to know the chefs. Who would have ever thought Lana staged for Kristen back in the day? And Kristen didn't even remember. 

The chefs were really going "at it" with their beef and berry jokes and innuendos. I wonder what it's like working in a kitchen of steak house. EEKS.

From Lana, "I like a big cut steak. I like a big boy."

From Massimo, "Hopefully, I'm going to have a very fat tenderloin, Amen?" to which Lana says, "Amen, brother"

From Shuai: "The berries are tart to braise the beef, OOH! I'm so sweaty."

It was cringy. There were more.

 

 

 

 

 

 

19 hours ago, Ancaster said:

He has the worst table manners ever; it's always grossed me out.

I know people that do that. They smell everything before they eat it. It is gross and compulsive. 

5 hours ago, ProudMary said:

 

I honestly thought Bailey was a goner when they were at the market and she bought the pomegranate juice.

Yes, pomegranates aren't even grown in Canada. Bad move. Especially since the most prolific producer is India-- Just eeks all around. It can come off as a microaggression or ignorance. 

[MartyQui]

My ears perked up when Lana talked about Kristen’s restaurant, Menton.  That was Barbara Lynch’s baby, Kristen was executive chef for maybe a year?  It was a beautiful restaurant and a victim of the pandemic and Barbara Lynch’s personal problems.

[Quilt Fairy]

1 hour ago, ProudMary said:

The way the season was promoted originally made it seem as if they would be going to various locations within Canada. Some of the spoilery sites indicated that the show had filmed in Toronto, Montreal, Prince Edward Island and Calgary. That turned out to be only minimally true. For the episode where the chefs had to cook PEI mussels, we got a few shots of the way mussels are cultivated on Prince Edward Island. For the "Dep" episode, where they had to cook using ingredients from the rooftop gardens of Montreal, we got some footage of said gardens. I expected them to be visiting those locations!

I think everyone did.  I remember some of the Top Chef Canada posters were thrilled and were saying "TC Canada never goes outside Toronto, this will be nice, this will be different."  Hah!

[mlp]

15 minutes ago, Quilt Fairy said:

TC Canada never goes outside Toronto, this will be nice, this will be different."  Hah!

I've read that all the places TC goes have to pay for the privilege of hosting somehow and it can be quite expensive for them.  Maybe Toronto and Calgary were the only cities willing to pony up.  I have no idea - just speculating.

[Souris]

I swear I saw Massimo pick up a fruit leather off the floor and put it on a plate. Yegads!! (Not Yahoo!)

I feel like the editors are setting up a finale showdown between Tristen and Massimo.

I already feel like there was more a sense of place in Calgary than the rest of the season combined. I am still so bitterly disappointed by how little of Canada we saw.

I was intrigued by the berry Lana had, as they described it as an elongated blueberry. Interesting story about her trying out for Kristen and not getting asked back. Kristen clearly didn't remember her. I liked Lana a lot but it never seemed to come together for her.

Shuai sure has had a surge. He was also quite funny this episode.

Bruléed bleu cheese sounds godawful. Of course, I think bleu cheese is godawful.

No, Kristen, this has not been a very, very, very good season.

[Quilt Fairy]

1 hour ago, mlp said:

I've read that all the places TC goes have to pay for the privilege of hosting somehow and it can be quite expensive for them.  Maybe Toronto and Calgary were the only cities willing to pony up.  I have no idea - just speculating.

Tom's made that very clear, and it's why many US cities are not in the running to host TC.  The issue is how the season was promoted vs the reality. 

[dleighg]

5 hours ago, bravofan27 said:

Who would have ever thought Lana staged for Kristen back in the day? And Kristen didn't even remember. 

it sounded like it lasted just two days :) 

[carrps]

Well, I'm certainly never ever going to eat in a restaurant run by Massimo. Picking up food from the floor and putting it back on a plate??? And he did this right in front of the cameras. What does he do when he's not being filmed?

 

[marybennet]

I think the fruit leather fell parchment side down, for what that’s worth 

[Colorado David]

ah guys now i cant help but notice how tom so leans into his plate when he eats, yall have cursed me. i wonder maybe he smelling the different components together? other wise ya i see no advantage nor reason for this. no one else i saw was doing that, not gail, not kristen, not the guests. 

ya massimo should have tossed that one leather, that's a big no no regardless of how it landed. shades of the 5 second rule. 

re cesar's dish - there's no way he can know that this group wanted to get that tartness factor, i too would've worried it was too tart. you don't want the judges making a scrunched up sour face. 

ah lana i will miss you, you were enjoyable and pleasant. 

[jackjill89]

I don't think it's been a bad season, although I always enjoy Top Chef. I think the problem with billing it Destination Canada is that Canada is a very large country and logistically, they can't be packing up and moving across a country with so many wonderful places to showcase in one season. That's why we typically have one city or state usually featured. Toronto is a big TV/movie location. It was probably very attractive money-wise to shoot most of it there. I agree they should have kept the finale in Canada, that would have helped with the theme.

I really enjoyed the first episode with the regional cooking ingredients. 

[CrazyInAlabama]

Trailer for the rest of Calgary. 

Edited May 25 by CrazyInAlabama

[Norma Desmond]

Yay for my boy Massimo winning. I knew he had it in the bag it when Gail said his dish was a showstopper.

Lana is a doll, but her packing her knives and going was pretty expected, even though Bailey's dish sounded worse to me - sugar on top of blue cheese? Ew (and I love blue cheese).

I am cautiously excited about the finale being a Tristen x Massimo showdown, but I am fairly sure Tristen will win in the end.

[Irlandesa]

6 hours ago, jackjill89 said:

don't think it's been a bad season, although I always enjoy Top Chef. I think the problem with billing it Destination Canada is that Canada is a very large country and logistically, they can't be packing up and moving across a country with so many wonderful places to showcase in one season. That's why we typically have one city or state usually featured.

I brought this up last season and I think it probably applies to this season as well.  I was reading an article about the places they visited in WI and it was asked why they didn't visit Door County or Green Bay.  The answer was that they had a limit (75 miles, I think) of how far they could travel from their main location other than the semi-final and finale trip. 

[Colorado David]

11 hours ago, Norma Desmond said:

Lana is a doll, but her packing her knives and going was pretty expected, even though Bailey's dish sounded worse to me - sugar on top of blue cheese? Ew (and I love blue cheese).

 

agreed, blue cheese is always tricky as you generally dont know which judges like it or dont. seems like that is a love or hate ingredient. and definitely not combined with sugar, GROSS. (i too am good with blue cheese in moderation.)

agree thinking tristan pulls this one off. 

[carrps]

I've had more than one dessert with sweetened blue cheese, and they were delicious. I think Bailey just overestimated the portion. That was a big thick chunk of blue cheese. Maybe if it was just small pieces sprinkled?

[jcbrown]

Agreed--I make a sort of bruschetta on occasion with toasted bread broiled with gorgonzola and honey on it and it is fantastic.

[caitmcg]

I believe Bailey said she was using gorgonzola dolce, which has a sweeter, nuttier flavor than the stronger blue cheeses, so it probably lends itself well to that. I think a real problem with her dish was balance. She added the bruléed cheese to her beef dish, at the same time she tamped down the flavor of the berry she was supposed to be highlighting.

[heatherchandler]

I don’t know if Cesar has what it takes to beat everyone but he may take it all the way.  He is really talented.  He does have some swings and misses, that would be his downfall.

Tristen has been consistently good, Massimo has had a stumble or two.  
 

I keep thinking of Cesar’s pancake with the grilled tomato on it, I could go for that right now.  

Edited Tuesday at 06:06 PM by heatherchandler

[Thumper]

I dread Massimo in Milan.  I feel like he plays up the Italian way too much. 

[Tango64]

Though I snarked hard on Tom putting his face in the plate, now I’m wondering if he does that to smell the dish. The aroma of a dish is a huge part of understanding the flavors and appreciating the complexity, so maybe that’s what he’s doing. I often pause to smell the food before I eat it, but I usually smell the forkful rather than leaning into the plate. 

[Yeah No]

11 hours ago, Thumper said:

I dread Massimo in Milan.  I feel like he plays up the Italian way too much. 

How so, can you give examples? Because that's his culture. I don't see anything specific about this online except one article that said he was the child of Italian immigrants, so he may be closer to his heritage for a reason. Also, speaking as someone with Canadian relatives of Italian descent he reminds me of some of them in some ways.

6 hours ago, Tango64 said:

Though I snarked hard on Tom putting his face in the plate, now I’m wondering if he does that to smell the dish. The aroma of a dish is a huge part of understanding the flavors and appreciating the complexity, so maybe that’s what he’s doing. I often pause to smell the food before I eat it, but I usually smell the forkful rather than leaning into the plate. 

Yes, Tom approaches food tasting the way some people approach wine tasting.

[The Solution]

17 hours ago, Thumper said:

I dread Massimo in Milan.  I feel like he plays up the Italian way too much. 

Massimo is pretty cool. What I dread is Bailey the Poseur remaking on how cute Milan is and making something Eyetalian like only she can. Gag me with a spoon.

[BlackberryJam]

I wish we’d seen more of Canada as well, but nothing is going to make me stop loving Top Chef. I would be fine with a Shuai, Massimo, Tristen final. Or swap out Massimo for Cesar. In liked Lana, but her food didn’t excite me. Bailey doesn’t annoy me as much as she seems to annoy others, but again, I’m just not excited about her food.

I am still having food fantasies about Anchovy Ranch and I don’t even like ranch dressing. 

[rhofmovalley]

I just get a sense of "look at me!!!" from Massimo. I get that chefs have to have egos to some extent, but I feel like Massimo wants and seeks attention. 

I don't necessarily buy that the sour face we see from Massimo on camera is actually a reaction to someone else getting praised. Editing can be misleading, after all. I'm basing my impression of him from his "talking head" segments and his behavior in the house and the stew room.

And I'm not saying he isn't a good cook. I find his personality off-putting but I don't have to like the chef who's cooking my food. 

I like Cesar's personality as it's been presented on the show. Someone who comes across as humble and softer spoken will always be my preference over a loud attention seeker.

One thing I'll say for Massimo, he definitely doesn't lack self confidence!

[cameron]

On 5/25/2025 at 1:37 AM, Irlandesa said:

I brought this up last season and I think it probably applies to this season as well.  I was reading an article about the places they visited in WI and it was asked why they didn't visit Door County or Green Bay.  The answer was that they had a limit (75 miles, I think) of how far they could travel from their main location other than the semi-final and finale trip. 

Thought they went to one of the infamous "fish boils" in Door County.

[caitmcg]

2 hours ago, cameron said:

Thought they went to one of the infamous "fish boils" in Door County.

They had someone demonstrate a typical fish boil, then they created their own to serve a bunch of people. It was done out of doors, but they didn't actually travel to Door County, I don't think.