Top Chef Recap: All-Star Chefs Return for a Battle of the Seafood Boil

Buddha Lo is twofold A top chef winner, executive chef at Hūso in New York and brand ambassador for Saratoga Spring Water. He shares his thoughts after each episode of Top Chef Season 21, which takes place in Wisconsin, offering a unique perspective as a former chef.

Warning: This article contains spoilers.

We’re in episode 10 — the final stretch — and that’s where the mental fatigue sets in. As the chefs said, they can work long days/weeks in the kitchen and not be as tired as they are now.

Yes, chefs cook, but only a small part of their time A top chef is really cooking. Quickfires usually last 30 minutes, and eliminations only take about 2-6 hours, with each separate day. So, in kitchen terms, this is an easy job, but chefs spend most of their time thinking about the dishes, the challenges, the outcomes. I saw the chefs struggle with mental fatigue in both of their seasons just as the challenges got tougher.

Manuel “Manny” Barella Lopez, Michelle Wallace, Savannah Miller, Soo Ahn, Danny Garcia, Daniel Jacobs.

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QUICKFIRE CHALLENGE

It all started with a meat raffle. Guest judge Art Smith drew ping pong balls with the names of the chefs, and as each chef was named, they chose their proteins. The ingredients ranged from Wagyu beef to canned meat.

Most chefs chose fresh protein until Savannah took a risk and chose canned corned beef instead of lamb chops. She went in with a high-risk, high-reward mentality and that’s what the judges want to see in the final six. The judges love chefs who pull off low-ingredient dishes over high-end ones when the challenge sets your limits.

Savannah Miller.

David Moir/Bravo

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Manny, who found himself at the bottom, chose Wagyu ribeye, an ingredient that needs very little to be exceptional, so he limited himself from the start. Savannah and Soo (who had preserved seasoned meat) had to really make amazing dishes to make their ingredients shine. They did, and both were rewarded for it.

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Jeremy Ford, Justin Sutherland, Sara Bradley, Mei Lin, Shota Nakajima, Gregory Gourdet.

David Moir/Bravo

ELIMINATION CHALLENGE

The Elimination challenge brought six top chefs – Gregory Gourdet, Shota Nakajima, Mei Lin, Sara Bradley, Justin Sutherland and Jeremy Ford – to cook fish on the beach for 100 guests. I’ve never cooked seafood before and I can’t wait to finally eat it too, just not in New York!

Dan made an honest statement that I agree with: something as delicate as fish should not be cooked, period.

Door County Fish Boil.

David Moir/Bravo

In a twist, the top chefs did the shopping for the contestants. Even in a season with a lot of twists and turns, I felt this wasn’t the right challenge for something like that. The chefs were already under the pressure of intense physically demanding conditions to carry out the cooking of fish for 100 people on the beach.

Most of the chefs in this challenge chose flavored soups, which sounded delicious. I’d make something Southeast Asian like tom yum or penang laksa to cook, and serve the stock with the fish, which would be important, because it’s hard to infuse a lot of flavor into the fish when it’s only been cooking for eight minutes. Also, I would brine my fish just like Danny did, which was a smart move.

Danny Garcia.

David Moir/Bravo

WHO WON

Michelle, Danny and Dan were the first three chefs. Gail said that Michelle’s cooking was the perfect summer story, and Art felt that the flavor of the smoked sausage smothered in her potatoes was excellent. Kristen praised Danny’s carrot salad as “phenomenal” and Art said he would dream about it. Tom thought that using broth for his fish to give it flavor was a good idea. Art declared Danny the winner and said he “killed him”. Tom said Danny was the unanimous choice of the all-star judges as best dish.

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WHO HE LOST

The bottom three dishes were from Savannah, Manny and Soo. Savannah stabbed herself while filleting her fish with a brand new knife. It looked worrisome and obviously mentally freaked her out. Fortunately, she won Quickfire, who saved her.

Manny decided to cook fish which I felt was the least creative of the six chefs and Mei Lin felt the same way because she got the ingredients she hoped would push him but in the end Manny just played it safe. It worked in his favor and saved him from elimination, but he “definitely” won’t win A top chef. I find it interesting that Manny had the bottom Quickfire and the bottom Elimination challenge but was not eliminated in this episode. He reminds me a lot of my friend El Gato (Gabri Rodriguez from Top Chef: World All-Stars).

Soo Ahn.

David Moir/Bravo

Soo’s dish was confusing and I agree with the judges who called it potluck. It sounded like nothing was going together or connected. Soo will have to fight his way back Kitchen of the last chance — again!

A top chef airs Wednesdays at 9pm ET on Bravo.

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Source: HIS Education