S22.E13: Viva Milano!

[bravofan27]

I am on the fence. I sort of side eyed Lana when, after coming on the show and saying she wanted to be the first African American woman to win top chef, and then, later in a challenge, focused on German food and said her "German dad would be proud" for changing her narrative when the challenge fit. Tristen has been consistent with his narrative of cooking African inspired food (his bio dad is European as well-- Swedish). But I also side-eye him, because he tries to downplay his privilege. His mom is a professor and lawyer, yet he seems to want to come across as someone that had to overcome great adversity. 

It seems forced at this point. It just makes me wonder how genuine he is. 

Edited June 8 by bravofan27

[Norma Desmond]

I was rooting for Schuai and Cesar to reach the Top Chef finale, but only Schuai made it. Bailey, however, proved to be the dark horse, fighting her way from Last Chance Kitchen to the finale - an impressive feat. Her first dish, the cheesy polenta, stood out as the one I’d most want to eat.

I predict Schuai and Tristen will face off for the title. Schuai has really found his groove, and I’m hopeful he’ll pull off an upset and claim the win.

Edited June 8 by Norma Desmond

[bravofan27]

7 minutes ago, Norma Desmond said:

I was rooting for Schuai and Cesar to reach the Top Chef finale, but only Schuai made it. As others noted, an all-male finale seemed unlikely, which might explain the outcome. Bailey, however, proved to be the dark horse, fighting her way from Last Chance Kitchen to the finale - an impressive feat. Her first dish, the cheesy polenta, stood out as the one I’d most want to eat.

I predict Schuai and Tristen will face off for the title. Schuai has really found his groove, and I’m hopeful he’ll pull off an upset and claim the win.

I think Schuai's approach is solid-- take the challenge and try to create something reminiscent of the food he grew up with, borrowing memories of his grandmother's cooking. Tristen has a more academic approach to cooking, taking the challenge and making it into a lesson of sorts of the culinary impact of African culture and a remembrance of the transatlantic slave route.

Bailey, to me, seems her approach is to be quirky. I'm not sure if she can pull off a win, but I am rooting for her. I do think it would serve her to present as though she was taking this seriously and up her professionalism-- she comes off sort of childish and lackadaisical on purpose, which is confusing why she wants to show herself that way in this context. 

[mlp]

11 minutes ago, bravofan27 said:

His mom is a professor and lawyer, yet he [Tristen] seems to want to come across as someone that had to overcome great adversity. 

It seems forced at this point. It just makes me wonder how genuine he is.

Huh.  I had no idea.  Maybe that explains why, although I think he's a great chef, I haven't really warmed up to him.  

I liked Shuai right away and the more we got to "know" him, the more I've liked him.  He's also a great chef and he's a nice, humble guy I'm sure I'd like if I met him in person.  I'm praying that he pulled out the win.

 

[ILuvShibaInus]

Tristan is clearly getting a winner's edit and Shuai to an extent as well. One could say Shuai is coming on strong at the end but he was floundering there for several episodes and only won his first elimination challenge in Episode 10. Tristan has overall more wins with QF/EC challenges and is the more dominant and consistent winner for the season. Bailey's one win was with Tristan and while she won LCK, that's it for her wins. People say it's not cumulative but hmmmm. Her edit is a quirky one as she made it to the finale not because she was first or second and dominated the season but because someone (more than once) made a dish that was just a tad worse than hers in the judges' minds. Not a TC winner edit in my book but YMMV. 

[Bastet]

5 hours ago, bravofan27 said:

It's like Tristen would rather credit his talent to a man than a woman. It just stings sexism to me. 

While, unfortunately, that's not impossible, it could simply be that because his stepdad (who, if his mom was single until he was 17, would be the only father he's ever had, thus him using stepdad and dad interchangeably in referring to him) died during the course of filming, editors chose to highlight the times Tristen talked about him.

1 hour ago, bravofan27 said:

But I also side-eye him, because he tries to downplay his privilege. His mom is a professor and lawyer, yet he seems to want to come across as someone that had to overcome great adversity. 

I didn't know any of this about Tristen's background, but I've never seen him try to downplay economic privilege, just talk about racial disparity in the profession overall and particularly within televised culinary competitions (which reach a much broader audience) and how he'd like to win this not only for himself but for all the Black chefs/cooks (and viewers who are potential chefs/cooks) who don't often enough see people who look like them.

[snarts]

9 hours ago, bravofan27 said:

But I also side-eye him, because he tries to downplay his privilege. His mom is a professor and lawyer, yet he seems to want to come across as someone that had to overcome great adversity. 

It seems forced at this point. It just makes me wonder how genuine he is. 

Tristan is multiracial & he's passionate about Afro-Caribbean cuisine. When has he ever claimed to be poor or disadvantaged?

His mother being a professor/attorney doesn't negate his ethnicity. Nor would it affect his experiences in the culinary world. He's likely struggled feeling as if he fits in that world due to his racial background & desire to cook Afro-Caribbean cuisine. What's not genuine about that? 

Hated seeing Blais in the preview. Where are the Voltaggios?? 

Edited June 8 by snarts

[Yeah No]

1 hour ago, snarts said:

Tristan is multiracial & he's passionate about Afro-Caribbean cuisine. When has he ever claimed to be poor or disadvantaged?

His mother being a professor/attorney doesn't negate his ethnicity. Nor would it affect his experiences in the culinary world. He's likely struggled feeling as if he fits in that world due to his racial background & desire to cook Afro-Caribbean cuisine. What's not genuine about that? 

Hated seeing Blais in the preview. Where are the Voltaggios?? 

I 've had a hard time warming up to Tristen and tend to see him as having a big ego and a chip on his shoulder. I have never once thought he was trying to appear like he's coming from a poor or disadvantaged background. I never knew what his background was until reading this episode thread, but I have to say it doesn't surprise me at all that he comes from some means and accomplished parents. I feel like he has a bit of that superiority complex attitude I don't really like in chefs, especially male chefs, and I would struggle to find anything "genuine" about that despite his racial background. He definitely doesn't have the humble attitude of Shuai or Bailey. 

I can't deny that he's an excellent chef, though, although I'm not even sold that he's better overall than the other two despite his success in this competition. I think he's probably pretty competitive and knows how to win. Meanwhile I feel like Shuai and Bailey are still there more on merit, not even so much strategy. Although it is obvious that both have learned how to strategize as the competition has progressed. And for that reason I am pulling for either Shuai or Bailey to win.

[Norma Desmond]

9 hours ago, ILuvShibaInus said:

Tristan is clearly getting a winner's edit

He is. I'm almost certain he's going to win this season. Still, I'm rooting for Schuai against all odds.

The only time a Top Chef winner felt truly out of left field was Nick Elmi beating the incredible Nina Compton. That loss still hurts. My jaw dropped when they announced him as the winner.

[Ellee]

Regarding Tristan …. I’ve always seen a man that wants to represent his family and colleagues to the best of his abilities.  Go, Tristan!  Shuai the same way … his smile and demeanor pulls you in even closer. 
 

I’m embarrassed to say I haven’t watched this season closely enough to talk about the others.  
 

 

[dgpolo]

I took a quick look at Wikipedia and found that there have been 5 seasons with an all male finale, 3 of those were seasons with only two people in the finale. There were 3 seasons with all females finales and all were two people, one of which was Kristen's. There have been 15! male winners and that means 6 female winners, 3 of which came from the F/F finales of course. They really should do blind tasting, I think. Seasons 6, 7, and 8 all had male finales. The last all male finale was season 13, the last all female finale was season 16.

[bravofan27]

1 hour ago, snarts said:

Tristan is multiracial & he's passionate about Afro-Caribbean cuisine. When has he ever claimed to be poor or disadvantaged?

His mother being a professor/attorney doesn't negate his ethnicity. Nor would it affect his experiences in the culinary world. He's likely struggled feeling as if he fits in that world due to his racial background & desire to cook Afro-Caribbean cuisine. What's not genuine about that? 

 

The bolded part is a big assumption. Has he ever said that? (Rhetorical question). 

Tristen was off my radar for the most part until he made the comments about wanting to top Massimo so badly and how bothered he was by his Italian and French cooking rhetoric. 

I'm not going to schedule a therapy session to talk through where my feels about Tristen and his genuiness manifested-- it's not that serious. LOL. 

 

[carrps]

Carlos???

Heh, there are way too many seasons of Top Chef for my aging brain to handle. 🤪

[Norma Desmond]

I also have no idea who Carlos is.

[bravofan27]

9 minutes ago, Norma Desmond said:

I also have no idea who Carlos is.

I think they meant Ceasar. 

[LBC Me]

On 6/6/2025 at 9:46 AM, Rai said:

[snip]

I would've been okay with an all-dude finale -- which there have been plenty of on this show -- and I'm okay with Bailey in the finales as well. But I would like to see more blind tasting from the judges on this show, I think, and see if the women contestants do better than expected or not. If there's one thing I have to give credit to with Food Network and Tournament of Champions, it's their blind tasting and judgments. I really do think it levels the playing field in a refreshing way.

[snip]

I understand your desire for blind tasting, but at this point in the competition, I think the 'blind' judges would be able to guess who prepared what based on the ingredients used, i.e., César with Latin flavors and a tortilla, Tristen with Caribbean/ West African flavors, Shuai with Asian flavors(?), and Bailey with unexpected flavors.  I'm obviously generalizing here, but the judges know these chefs.  Blind tasting in the early and middle stages, maybe.

And ENOUGH with separating the chefs as men and women.  Who f**king cares?  And I'm a woman.  Let's stick to good, better, best.

Edited June 12 by LBC Me
Spelling counts!

[DEL901]

48 minutes ago, LBC Me said:

And ENOUGH with separating the chefs as men and women.  Who f**king cares?  And I'm a woman.  Let's stick to good, better, best.

Have you ever heard of the show Tournament of Champions?  32 chefs.  Equal gender representation.  Six seasons.  Blind judging… judges don’t even know who is in the competition.  Six female winners.  In fact, not one man has ever made the finals.  So, yeah.  Blind judging.

[marybennet]

I can’t take Tournament of Champions seriously until they get rid of the horrific belt. 
 

 

[jpgr]

1 hour ago, DEL901 said:

Have you ever heard of the show Tournament of Champions?  32 chefs.  Equal gender representation.  Six seasons.  Blind judging… judges don’t even know who is in the competition.  Six female winners.  In fact, not one man has ever made the finals.  So, yeah.  Blind judging.

Except that Top Chef is also about more than just the cooking. It's seeing how they work as a team, how they handle adverse conditions and think on their feet. With only blind judging, how do you have Restaurant Wars or any team or pair challenge?

[cameron]

5 hours ago, Yeah No said:

I 've had a hard time warming up to Tristen and tend to see him as having a big ego and a chip on his shoulder. I have never once thought he was trying to appear like he's coming from a poor or disadvantaged background. I never knew what his background was until reading this episode thread, but I have to say it doesn't surprise me at all that he comes from some means and accomplished parents. I feel like he has a bit of that superiority complex attitude I don't really like in chefs, especially male chefs, and I would struggle to find anything "genuine" about that despite his racial background. He definitely doesn't have the humble attitude of Shuai or Bailey. 

I can't deny that he's an excellent chef, though, although I'm not even sold that he's better overall than the other two despite his success in this competition. I think he's probably pretty competitive and knows how to win. Meanwhile I feel like Shuai and Bailey are still there more on merit, not even so much strategy. Although it is obvious that both have learned how to strategize as the competition has progressed. And for that reason I am pulling for either Shuai or Bailey to win.

Agreed about the chip on his shoulder.  I'm tired of his playing the race issue card so much.

[LBC Me]

1 hour ago, DEL901 said:

Have you ever heard of the show Tournament of Champions?  32 chefs.  Equal gender representation.  Six seasons.  Blind judging… judges don’t even know who is in the competition.  Six female winners.  In fact, not one man has ever made the finals.  So, yeah.  Blind judging.

No, I haven't, but as this is a Top Chef forum, I don't give a shit about Tournament of Champions, which is an entirely different production (unless Chef Tom is the producer of ToC as well...).

[LBC Me]

16 hours ago, bravofan27 said:

[snip]

Tristen has been consistent with his narrative of cooking African inspired food (his bio dad is European as well-- Swedish). But I also side-eye him, because he tries to downplay his privilege. His mom is a professor and lawyer, yet he seems to want to come across as someone that had to overcome great adversity. 

It seems forced at this point. It just makes me wonder how genuine he is. 

His mom may be a professor and lawyer NOW, but the information I've seen on various websites shows that, during Tristen's youth, he traveled the globe with his "active military mother."  She married Tristen's stepfather when Tristen was about 14.

I think he's very genuine and I agree with others that his stepfather was very much front and center in Tristen's mind after his stepfather's death, during Restaurant Wars, no less.  I like him very much, as he seems very humble and sincere to me.

See ya in the finals, and may the BEST chef win with the BEST dishes (because everything else is fly shit).

Edited June 8 by LBC Me

[dleighg]

5 hours ago, carrps said:

Carlos???

Heh, there are way too many seasons of Top Chef for my aging brain to handle. 🤪

That's what I thought too. He apparently was on THIS season!  https://www.bravotv.com/people/carlos-gaytan

I must be going senile. But at least I'm not alone :) 

[dleighg]

oh totally wrong. Google you led me astray. He WAS ages ago

Carlos Gaytán, a Mexican chef, is best known for being a contestant on season 11 of Bravo's "Top Chef" and for his Michelin-starred restaurant, Mexique, which he later closed. He's also known for his restaurant Tzuco in Chicago and HA\' in Playa del Carmen, Mexico. Additionally, he's the Founder of the Culinary Institute by Southwest University and serves as President of Bocuse d'Or Mexico. 

[Colorado David]

4 hours ago, LBC Me said:

And ENOUGH with separating the chefs as men and women.  Who f**king cares?  And I'm a woman.  Let's stick to good, better, best.

exactly this. i dont see the chefs as a particular gender or whatever they wanna identify as, and while i appreciate their culture i don't see them as particularly this as well.  i try to look thru the drama and just see the food they present and whether its good or not. i have zero idea what the chefs detials are in the restaurants i eat in, and i am fine with that. if i like your plate, so be it. if i don't and you wish to hear my criticism, i can offer that but i wont ram it down your throat, as your vision of the plate may differ from mine and odds are it will.

Edited June 8 by Colorado David
typos

[catrice2]

11 hours ago, snarts said:

Tristan is multiracial & he's passionate about Afro-Caribbean cuisine. When has he ever claimed to be poor or disadvantaged?

His mother being a professor/attorney doesn't negate his ethnicity. Nor would it affect his experiences in the culinary world. He's likely struggled feeling as if he fits in that world due to his racial background & desire to cook Afro-Caribbean cuisine. What's not genuine about that? 

Hated seeing Blais in the preview. Where are the Voltaggios?? 

Just me chiming in to agree.  It is strange to think that just because his mom has a certain profession that means he could not have faced adversity, financial or otherwise.  Maybe I need to watch the entire episodes because all I have gathered from him is that he feels his type of cuisine is not well represented in the industry and maybe on television and he wants to show that it is delicious food?  The same with Massimo wanting to talk about and showcase his Italian food knowledge

I also don't understand why it is hard to recognize when someone is acknowledging all of their heritage/culture?   If it was relevant to mention being AA at some point but also that they are something else, what is the issue?  The Lana comment was curious. 

I also don't understand why he should have to dumb himself down or play down his knowledge if he is confident in himself?   

 It is also safe to say that being a Lawyer or a professor doesn't mean that they were living a great life. I have a friend who is a doctor and her husband a well paid professional, but they had a ton of student loans and both had parents that required a lot of care and financial assistance.  They were not living a flashy lifestyle but money was tight.  Education does not necessarily pay well, just like law enforcement or being an attorney unless you have a successful firm or work for one. 

You never know what people are going through from the outside, and I never try to count other people's money. 

Brian was on that 24 hour show so maybe he was not available.  I don't know if either of them participated in Guy's tournament because I missed it this year, but maybe the filming was a conflict. I think I saw Michael on one of Kristen's videos about plating the food. 

Edited June 9 by catrice2

[catrice2]

18 hours ago, Bastet said:

While, unfortunately, that's not impossible, it could simply be that because his stepdad (who, if his mom was single until he was 17, would be the only father he's ever had, thus him using stepdad and dad interchangeably in referring to him) died during the course of filming, editors chose to highlight the times Tristen talked about him.

I didn't know any of this about Tristen's background, but I've never seen him try to downplay economic privilege, just talk about racial disparity in the profession overall and particularly within televised culinary competitions (which reach a much broader audience) and how he'd like to win this not only for himself but for all the Black chefs/cooks (and viewers who are potential chefs/cooks) who don't often enough see people who look like them.

Thank you for acknowledging this is a tv show, edited for drama and to elicit certain feelings about different people or push different narratives for entertainment purposes! 

 Due to the circumstances I have no doubt editing had a lot to do with highlighting Tristen's step father or he just talked about him more because he was ill.  It could also be he didn't have the greatest relationship with his mother...who knows?  Maybe his step dad was more supportive of his ambition to cook so that stands out more to him. 

Tristen is also not the first contestant on this show or in this industry that has spoken about the issues in the culinary industry, and those speaking out were not all Black.  This is not new, and even Top Chef itself has tried to highlight more ethnic foods and bring in a more diverse set of judges. 

I wonder if it is just me that watches the show and never really thinks about these people or their lives, unless they have a restaurant I want to try in my city or a city I am visiting. Their motives, psyche, relationships, bad behaviors etc just don't affect my life. 🙂 Sometimes it is fun to speculate about small things, but making assumptions about their entire existence and motivation is a lot! 

I need to work on acknowledging, however, that for other viewers they are more invested and both choices are ok. 

[bravofan27]

4 hours ago, jpgr said:

Except that Top Chef is also about more than just the cooking. It's seeing how they work as a team, how they handle adverse conditions and think on their feet. With only blind judging, how do you have Restaurant Wars or any team or pair challenge?

I don't think blind tasting would work on this show, because part of their decisions on who wins and loses is based on the chefs' defense and explanation of their dishes. Plus, it's fun when the judges ask the chefs to explain why or what they were thinking when they did this or that, and it provides more depth and interest in their journeys and styles and whatever. 

[DEL901]

4 hours ago, LBC Me said:

No, I haven't, but as this is a Top Chef forum, I don't give a shit about Tournament of Champions, which is an entirely different production (unless Chef Tom is the producer of ToC as well...).

My point wasn’t that this show should do blind judging, it was about there can be gender bias and how in one show, blind judging inadvertently showed just how much that happens.

That said, this is a very different show and the relationship with the judging team is very central to the process.

[Rai]

10 hours ago, Norma Desmond said:

The only time a Top Chef winner felt truly out of left field was Nick Elmi beating the incredible Nina Compton. That loss still hurts. My jaw dropped when they announced him as the winner.

Nina was robbed! Still stings.

[caitmcg]

3 hours ago, catrice2 said:

I also don't understand why it is hard to recognize when someone is acknowledging all of their heritage/culture?   If it was relevant to mention being AA at some point but also that they are something else, what is the issue?  The Lana comment was curious. 

Agreed. The biracial people I know with a Black parent all identify as Black; doesn't mean they're disavowing the background of the other parent. So I don't really see how Lana mentioning the German heritage of her father while previously identifying as a Black woman is "changing her narrative."

Edited June 9 by caitmcg

[Irlandesa]

5 hours ago, jpgr said:

Except that Top Chef is also about more than just the cooking. It's seeing how they work as a team, how they handle adverse conditions and think on their feet. With only blind judging, how do you have Restaurant Wars or any team or pair challenge?

The only judging I can think of where something other than the food is considered is with Restaurant Wars.  And that's one time they come closest to blind judging since the chefs don't present their dish.  It's up to the FOH to do that.

Even the team challenges usually boil down to the food.

They could basically do that the rest of the time if they wanted, and had Kristin present the dishes.

That isn't this show, but I don't think it'd be impossible.

[HappyDancex2]

The fact that we are talking about this at this point in the season shows how bad the casting and overall production was this season.  I hope it’s an anomaly.  I still can’t describe what exactly is wrong in the editing and storytelling of this season but this just doesn’t feel like the same show.  I want a redo for Canada!

[bravofan27]

5 hours ago, LBC Me said:

His mom may be a professor and lawyer NOW, but the information I've seen on various websites shows that, during Tristen's youth, he traveled the globe with his "active military mother."  She married Tristen's stepfather when Tristen was about 14.

Tristen's mom has been a lawyer since 1987. She was a JAG, or a military lawyer and military judge. She's been a lawyer her entire career in the military and since Tristen was a baby or toddler. She was in law school before Tristen was even born. 

Edited June 9 by bravofan27

[Yeah No]

2 minutes ago, bravofan27 said:

Tristen's mom has been a lawyer since 1987. She was a JAG, or a military lawyer and military judge. She's been a lawyer her entire career in the military and since Tristen was very young.

Thank you. I don't think it's fair to assume that all Black people are equally as disadvantaged or experience equal discrimination. I went to school with quite a few Black people whose parents were better educated than mine and and had more money too. One of them became pretty famous - Neil DeGrasse Tyson. Granted, Neil was not immune to racial prejudice but there can be no argument that his talent got him recognized and took him far despite that. And this is not commonly known, but Neil is of mixed race too - His mother is of Puerto Rican descent. I see Tristen as a similar example. Meanwhile, despite my talents I never got the recognition and support I should have so I never ascended anywhere near those heights in my career. So it's not as we might expect in every case.

And BTW I think Neil has a big ego too, LOL. 😉 Next year will be our 50th HS reunion. He comes to every one!

[meep.meep]

22 hours ago, DEL901 said:

Have you ever heard of the show Tournament of Champions?  32 chefs.  Equal gender representation.  Six seasons.  Blind judging… judges don’t even know who is in the competition.  Six female winners.  In fact, not one man has ever made the finals.  So, yeah.  Blind judging.

I think this show could use more blind judging.  But this is not TOC in its basic approach, except for the QuickFires and Last Chance Kitchen.  In the elimination challenges the chefs are always given enough time to do real cooking - develop sauces, layers of flavor, etc. that are missing when you only have 30 minutes.  They rarely use deep fat fryers for example when those are a TOC staple.

They have never explained how much the guest judge opinions count in the end.  These are the people who are truly judging blind.

And I think Tristan is a great guy to have in the finale.

[AriAu]

Quote

The fact that we are talking about this at this point in the season shows how bad the casting and overall production was this season.  I hope it’s an anomaly.  I still can’t describe what exactly is wrong in the editing and storytelling of this season but this just doesn’t feel like the same show.  I want a redo for Canada!

I have been watching since Miami (Season 3) and I have never been less invested in the cheftestants than I have been this year....Maybe Washington DC with Kevin as a winner. I know we dont get to taste the food and Tom has been very complimentary, but I just havent been bowled over by the creativity or skills they have shown. Cesar seems like a perfectly nice person and obviously a high quality chef, but his dishes were not exactly inspired for the penultimate episode...but then again so were Bailey's. Bottom line is that I had historically always watched the episodes on Thursday night, but I have ended up watching over the weekend this year  since I found I didn't really care.

I may be prejudiced because I live in Chicago and I have never heard anyone tell me that I had to go to North Pond to eat Cesar's food....and Monteverde still touts Sarah G's food and not Bailey's.

 

[albarino]

On 6/9/2025 at 11:18 AM, meep.meep said:

They have never explained how much the guest judge opinions count in the end.  These are the people who are truly judging blind.

Interesting!  I just finished watching tihs episode and had to scratch my head when the first two to the finals were determined by the group vote.  Okay, fair enough....However, when determining the last chef for the finals, they kicked the olympians out and determined it by????  Why did they change the judging criteria in this particular case?  I swear, I am side eyeing this season......

[Bastet]

38 minutes ago, albarino said:

However, when determining the last chef for the finals, they kicked the olympians out and determined it by????  Why did they change the judging criteria in this particular case?

I liked it, that no non-chefs had a vote in determining the final slot.

[Norma Desmond]

On 6/9/2025 at 7:28 PM, AriAu said:

have been watching since Miami (Season 3) and I have never been less invested in the cheftestants than I have been this year....

I actually like the cheftestants on this current season so much more than those from the previous one. Last season was a slog to watch. The entire group was completely forgettable and underwhelming.

[Mellowyellow]

3 hours ago, Norma Desmond said:

I actually like the cheftestants on this current season so much more than those from the previous one. Last season was a slog to watch. The entire group was completely forgettable and underwhelming.

Completely agree with you!!! I was introducing my son to top chef last year and he was perplexed as to why people on a cooking show could not cook better. I kept having to defend the show and telling him that his favourites on Bobby’s Triple Threat and Food Network all graduated from Top Chef 🤣

[albarino]

17 hours ago, Bastet said:

liked it, that no non-chefs had a vote in determining the final slot.

Serious question, why?  Taste buds not refined enough? The Olympians would not have understood the competition aspects of Top Chef?

[dleighg]

Perhaps I'm wrong, but I don't think they *ever* let the hoi polloi make the ultimate decisions on elimination (for example those big crowd feeds where people have "tickets" to vote).

[Deskisamess]

It's funny, I only half watch the show while doing other things, but the athletes "helping" the chef's was so awkward and weird. Then at the judge's table, it was doubly weird.

I've loved Kristen since she was a contestant on TC. And I've always liked Tom. Gail is ok, she's just there, like the napkins.

[catrice2]

How do they choose the sous chefs now? Did they ask them who they wanted if they made it that far, draw knives or what?

[bravofan27]

Kristen was cutting her teeth on the WI season. Previous seasons, if the chef's didn't perform up to par or seemed to cut corners regarding technique or whatever, they were harshly criticized at judging, which IMO, made them shape up and perform better the next go. Tom and his kitchen visits? Brutal, but meant to amp up the pressure and sniff out poor technique or vision. Padma was extra with her harsh comments and wrinkled face when she didn't like something. They gave chefs lots of feedback in the past which clearly stated their expectations for performance.

WI seemed lackluster, IMO, because they sort of gave it to Kristen, and she was so overjoyed to be there, I think that influenced the chefs in what they did. I recall at one point, Tom was so unimpressed, that Kristen was sent in to tell the chefs they all need to do better. And I think, if memory serves, they did. 

[ProudMary]

1 hour ago, catrice2 said:

How do they choose the sous chefs now? Did they ask them who they wanted if they made it that far, draw knives or what?

If you head over to the Spoiler thread, I embedded the BravoTV YouTube Sneak Peek for the finale, which will answer your question. 

[Tango64]

16 hours ago, bravofan27 said:

Tom and his kitchen visits? Brutal, but meant to amp up the pressure and sniff out poor technique or vision. Padma was extra with her harsh comments and wrinkled face when she didn't like something. They gave chefs lots of feedback in the past which clearly stated their expectations for performance.

We need more of that. It seems like they've gotten softer and it's rare to hear a blunt, useful criticism. It's not entertaining to see the judges avoid confrontation, and ultimately it's not good for the chefs' performance.

[Bastet]

On 6/11/2025 at 9:01 AM, albarino said:

Serious question, why?  Taste buds not refined enough? The Olympians would not have understood the competition aspects of Top Chef?

They're just voting on what tasted best to them.  The final decision should be made by professional chefs who also understand technique, food science, etc.

[albarino]

6 hours ago, Bastet said:

The final decision should be made by professional chefs who also understand technique, food science, etc.

Yes, but since this is a food tasting competition, their votes should also be based on taste, no?

I've watched since Katie Lee hosted the first season of Top Chef  but am a newbie on this particular board. I mostly spend time with the Real Housewives.  If I may offer my credentials, I've lived in Europe and visited other continents so I hope my observations aren't impertinent to the board.  

You have a particular following.  I respect that.

Edited June 14 by albarino