Unstable Muffin - top-chef

Top Chef S23E04 - Pick a Side

2026-04-25T00:00:00-07:00

I’m so deeply behind on posting these reactions posts, but I guarantee the reactions are still fresh because I write them down in my notebook as I watch the episode. Writing this post will just be me reliving the episode with you through my notes. Should be fun!

This episode, we recovered from the flop-tastrophe from last week and into another week of the chefs all performing pretty well! We’ve got some awkward cross-promotion in the quick fire, Justin committing fashion crimes, and an elimination challenge brief that just doesn’t make any sense and seems to be judged wildly inconsistently. There’s also a major cooking disaster that the edit desperately tries to make us blame the chef for, but is so clearly not their fault that it comes off incredibly disingenuous. This week, drama is the main course.

Quick Fire

Okay miss try-too-hard. Cheering for the guest judge like a teacher’s pet. Idk if you think you’re being clever but everyone can plainly see you’re sucking up.
I wrote this in my notes: “‘Big Josh fan’ – girl same” but I have no idea what that was supposed to mean. But it feels important, so I’m leaving it in.
They’re talking up Josh wines as if it’s this super exclusive, premium wine, which makes sense since they’re the sponsor for this episode. But my association with Josh wines is watching the same ad fifty billion times on Hulu and seeing it on the cheap end of the Safeway wine aisle, so something’s not matching up here.
SNEEZE-GATE 🚨🚨🚨
Dang, there’s a lot of money flowing this season. Can’t say the chefs don’t deserve it though, so I’m happy about it.
How many different “ways” are there to do cheese? It’s just cheese!
Eggs just don’t seem like a star ingredient to me. Idk how they’re going to make a stand-out dish with eggs. What are you going to do, fry it in truffle oil? Scramble it with a gold leaf?
Justin looks like he’s either bored out of his mind or on the verge of falling asleep. Possibly both.
Okay, the twins have been officially added to the hate-list. Not above Justin, but definitely in the “egregious” tier.
MOCHI-GATE 🚨🚨🚨
Soft scrambled eggs are just undercooked eggs. Fight me.
I want to try Tomme cheese ☹️ It looks and sounds so delicious for some reason. Maybe I’m just hungry.
“You just cook whatever you want and I will pair the wine to your food, instead of the other way around.” – So, the literal exact opposite of this challenge?
Oof, these mochi balls are looking crusty af.
Boo Justin, yay Jennifer

Elimination Challenge

“There’s no catch” Kristen says, looking slyly at the camera. She’s in her villain era and the chefs know it lol
I don’t understand this “make a side dish a main dish” nonsense. What even is the difference between a main dish an a side dish? The show never explains. Jonathan even said “you can’t just make a bigger plate of collard greens and throw a protein on it and call it a day” which is exactly what I would have done if given this challenge, but then nobody ever explains what you should do instead.
CABBAGE-GATE 🚨🚨🚨 Where’s the brotherly love now, twins?!?
What is this okra play? Seems unwise to me. Literally two of the judges have openly said they don’t like it. Why would you take that on, they’re literally giving you an out.
It’s never easy on Top Chef. Of course you’re also serving an entire diner full of guests. For some reason.
I must admit, I don’t understand the staggered service here. You get ninety minutes to cook for the judges, and then ninety more to cook for the rest of the restaurant? What’s the incentive to not phone it in for the restaurant cook? The judges have already tried your food, you’re not going to get docked points if your food tastes like crap to the rest of the diners. This one doesn’t make sense to me.
Jonathan hates turkeys? HE’S A TURKEY RACIST??? He loses Thanksgiving privileges. Get him out of here.
“Main Dish Energy” is very funny, ngl 😆
“Maybe I can fool Tom into thinking he likes okra” – Stop. You can’t fool Tom. You’re embarrassing yourself.
Did anyone else see Brittany just drop some greens on the grocery store floor, and then just pick them back up again and put them in her cart??? Where is my fainting couch, I think I caught the vapors.
SHE’S NOT YOUR BABY?!?!?!?!?!?
The little video messages between Sherry and her son are so sweet ❤️ Sometimes the “messages from home” segment can feel really forced and awkward, but these are really organic and really bring the viewers into the world of the chefs. I really like it. It highlights the sacrifices the chefs have to make to be on this show, and makes the whole competition feel that much more real and the stakes that much higher.
WHAT?!? DAISY DUKES?!?! WHY?!? WHY ARE YOU CUTTING THEM WHILE YOU’RE WEARING THEM?!?! WHY IS THIS HAPPENING. WHY ARE THE PRODUCERS LETTING THIS HAPPEN
This is teleporting me back to the shaved head incident from season 1.
Bacon milk? Who’s out here milking bacon? Someone call PETA.
What is this cooking lamp thing? It’s freaking me out
Justin is half-Indian, whole-idiot.
Justin was not bullied enough through middle school and high school, and it shows. Society should have never let these booty shorts happen on him.
Justin is a horse confirmed? (This is way too many bullet points about Justin; it is becoming right on the verge of cyber-bullying)
NO STEAM-GATE 🚨🚨🚨
Genuinely, what do you do in this situation though? The ovens are supposed to be pre-heated before the chefs start cooking, so it’s obvious that Brittany thought the steamer would be on already when she put in her food. But clearly it wasn’t on, whether that was an oversight or technical restriction (I have no idea how a steamer works, but maybe it can’t be turned on before it’s used for some reason) so it doesn’t really feel like this flub is the fault of Brittany’s which makes it all the more tragic that her dish is essentially ruined because of it.
Is it me or is the fashion off the charts this season? That’s not something I typically notice but every time somebody’s not in a chef’s coat (besides Justin’s ridiculous shorts) I’m like “damn that’s a sharp outfit”
“Justin’s [dish] is a little lackluster” – That’s because Justin is lackluster.
“Scallion Cream” sounds horrendous, I’m sorry. What is it, whipped cream with scallions in it? Eugh.
Brittany PUSH!!!
It feels insulting to be judged and then turn around and have to cook some more for some other nobodies that won’t affect your score at all.
WHERE IS THE POT LICKER??? I see the fritter but WHERE’S THE POT LICKER
Honestly, Tristan whispering “never admit that” when she was talking about her cooking woes really irked me. She had some disasters when creating her dish, and hiding them from the judges will only make them think that the dish she served was the way she intended to serve it, which is not at all the case. Plus, why lie to the judges? That will only make them mad at you trying and failing to lie to them, or them eventually figuring out you lied and they hold that against you. It’s just a bad idea all around, and makes me majorly cringe that Tristan implied that you should lie to them. The only thing I would have done differently from Brittany is being upfront that the cooking instrument that you thought was on was not on, but I feel like I remember in past seasons Tom responding to that with “why didn’t you double check then” which really just skirts around the whole issue of production supposed to be having those machines turned on and pre-heating already. This feels like a massive run-on sentence but I will not be editing it.
There’s that frickin’ bacon cream again. Why are people making savory whipped creams? LEAVE IT ALONE!!!
Is Duyen the new frontrunner???
Duyen: “hmm. cool.” lol what a way to react to someone saying they thought their dish was great. She new he flopped
Sieger looks like such a douchebag in every era. Every single one of his childhood photos, he looked like the quintessential douchebag of that decade lol Including this one! I might add
There is nothing more cringe-y than somebody complimenting themselves on how they look.
Fromager D’Affinois is the most pretentious sounding ingredient I’ve ever heard. And I’ve watched 23 seasons of Top Chef.
At this point in the episode I made a note that I was literally falling asleep as I watched, so the quality of the remaining reactions may falter. I don’t know if they’ll get shorter or exponentially more unhinged. Let’s find out together.
Pause for the Voss glamour shot. Not in any way distracting from the episode flow at all.
Kinda peeved that the okra gamble paid off. But that feels like a personal grudge.
SHE ONLY HAD TWENTY MINUTES TO COMPLETELY REINVENT AND RECOOK HER ENTIRE DISH!!! STOP BLAMING BRITTANY FOR THIS!!! “Didn’t know how to pivot” my ass
oh no :( poor brittany
I feel like she could do really well in Last Chance Kitchen. She can build her confidence there.

Top Chef S23E03 - True Colors

2026-03-29T00:00:00-07:00

It’s episode three, and the gloves are coming off. We were riding high last episode, but everything that goes up must come down. We had a deeply unappetizing quick fire, and barely anyone met the brief for the elimination challenge. The judges are fed slop and are mad about it. Jennifer has fallen out of a tree prior to filming and now has to compete with an injury. It’s a flop-fest for the ages, and I’m living.

Quick Fire

“You poor thing.” – She is not a wounded animal, Justin. Have some freaking empathy for your wife.
Shout out to Rhoda killing it 👏👏👏
These brothers are gay af. Hiding their cooking show like it’s some sort of deep rooted shame. I don’t care if they have wives, we know the truth.
Livermush? Really? Talk about an unappetizing challenge. And I wouldn’t call it “iconic”; I’ve never heard of it.
One of my favorite moments from this episode is Emeril Lagousky being shocked at how much money the winner of the Quick Fire will win lol He’s been on Top Chef since 2009, so he knows how much previous winners walked home with 😆
SCRAPPLE?!? That’s not real. You cannot convince me that’s real.
NO, NOT JENNIFER 😩😩😩
Justin is totally unbothered by his wife’s condition. He is continuing to cook unperturbed.
Why is there a monopoly on wins this season? Laurence winning both quick fires are Rhoda winning both elimination challenges?

If you ate a “liver spread” growing up, I think that qualifies as child abuse.
“I hope you all de-liver!” – That was a weak-ass pun. Up your pun game, people.
Nana is failing again. 🤦‍♂️
“I got stuff on the plate 😃” – Never change, Nana. Never change.
What is everyone laughing at? There was no joke.
At least Laurence’s reign of terror is over for the Quick Fire.

Elimination Challenge

Edible garment challenge when???
I love a competitor that immediately chooses to ignore the brief and do something else. That always works out for them, definitely.
I actually love this challenge! It’s like if Instagram food had to taste good.
My poor Jennifer ☹️
Justin seems annoyed that his injured wife is calling him, and it’s up to the other contestants to fill her in on what the challenge is. Are we sure he even likes his wife???
“Psychedelic ceviche. We’re going acid trip.” – More drugs. This season is obsessed with drugs.
Nana? Not good with time management skills? Say it isn’t so.
I love Oscar’s minigame at the checkout register! I feel like it should be integrated into the show somehow.
Justin was bad at school? No wonder he’s dumb af
Black pork? There’s a reason nobody has ever heard of that.
Whole Foods does not sell chlorophyll. Where is he getting these potions and tinctures?
None of the jokes this episode are funny. If the chefs are this unfunny we should just edit it all out at this point.
BAO-GATE 🚨🚨🚨
What is activated charcoal? Which begs the question, what is unactivated charcoal? How does one activate charcoal?
We all know Jennifer’s dough is not going to rise tomorrow.
Matching pajamas? Face masks? Mean Girls.
He’s finger painting
STUFFING-GATE 🚨🚨🚨
Love Brittany ❤️
Why is there so much grunting this episode?!?
Nana & cooking everything twice; name a more iconic duo. I’ll wait.
“Take your time. Food is good.” – Girl you don’t have time, that’s your problem!
CHINESE ROCK BAND?!?!?!? Badass alert. 🚨🚨🚨
SABOTAGE?!?
oh no, nana :/
She only gets so many changes, though.
“She stresses me out” –Aaron
“It’s not the first time. 😐” – Ouch.
Brandon is trying his best to salvage the situation, but what is there to really say when the chef puts themself into this position over and over and over again.
That pork looks shat upon
That mole looks beautiful 😍
“Hopefully it’s edible” – I’ll take “Things You Shouldn’t Say to the Judges When Presenting Your Dish” for 600, Alex.
Isn’t mole something you eat with something else? Like a tortilla or something? It looks like they have to eat it like a soup, which doesn’t sound appealing.
If Nana gets a free pass because Jennifer has to leave the competition due to her injury, I’m gonna freak out. Not like a cute little freak out, like FREAK. OUT.
The color lady is correct, unfortunately.
I demand Jennifer come back for another season.
“This is my cochinita pork” – What did he just call me?
“Bao. Bao bao bao. Bao bao bao. Bao bao.” – …what.
Oh, I suppose the chlorophyll may have been provided to the contestants for this particular challenge. That makes sense.
That is a beautiful scallop.
COLOR-GATE 🚨🚨🚨
“That thing is white as white can be” – Wow, they’re talking about me 🤩
“Very hot! And I’m not talking about the pot!” – Heck yes, Sherry can GET IT!
What the actual heck, is that a pot of bloody fingers?!?
“It looks like an ice cream sandwich and puked up code slaw.” –Aaron (And I can’t disagree with him)
“Lamb and clams” needs to die a horrific death. It’s like if Surf ‘n’ turf had an uglier, stupider sister.
She KISSED it on the grill?!? Is that sanitary?!?!?
“Every single thing tasted really good.” – Did it though?
Last week everyone did so well, and this week everyone is flopping. Like, MAJOR flop-ageddon.
“Don’t say that please” 😬
OVERTHINKING-GATE 🚨🚨🚨
oh no, Tom is getting grumpy ☹️
What on earth was Oscar’s movie reference? That made literally no sense.
“Rhoda’s dish looks like an oil spill” –Aaron
“That might be the least colorful ceviche I’ve ever seen in my life” – Savage. Accurate, but savage.
“Gray parsnip” is my new favorite insult.
The judges want blood, and I want to see them have it.
Laurence has to stop winning. Somebody stop him.
They want to talk to EVERYONE ELSE?!? Hot diggity.
Eliminate them all.
It was flaccid.
NANA HAS DIED
That was abrupt.
She’s going to fail miserably in Last Chance Kitchen. She can’t time anything, and that’s a major component of LCK.

Top Chef S23E02 - Puckerbutt

2026-03-23T00:00:00-07:00

We’re back with another episode of Top Chef. Things are heating up (literally and figuratively) and personalities are starting to clash. The bonds that were once so tightly knit are starting to fray in the heat of the kitchen. (I’m going full cliché, deal with it.) Favorites are beginning to emerge from the pack, while others are starting to feel like they’re running out of runway. The editing has gone avant-garde, for some reason. Despite my best efforts, Justin is still here. Let’s jump into it.

Quick Fire

Could you imagine growing up on a psychedelic milk farm? Feels like the premise of a horror game.
They’re COMMITTED to elevating the gelato experience. COMMITTED!!!
I still HATE the married couple. *retch*
Please don’t call the other contestants “babe”. It’s making everyone uncomfortable. Now is not the time to try out your gay friends’ slang. This is not allyship; it is appropriation.
Guys, he feels good about it. Time doesn’t matter because he feels GOOD about it.
If there’s anything I’ve learned from watching 22 seasons of Top Chef, it’s that a lingering shot of the grill means there’s gonna be some drama later. Mark my words.
Okay, I’m about to say something controversial. Yes, I still hate the couple. ~But~… Jennifer (the wife) is starting to grow on me a little bit? She seems cool. I KNOW I KNOW PLEASE PUT THE PITCHFORKS DOWN I’M SOR–
Called it. That pork tenderloin is TOAST (pun abso-freaking-lutely intended)
NO STOP IT WITH THE “my boo 😘” AUTOMATIC DISQUALIFICATION, CUE THE SNIPERS
HE DJS?!?!?!?!?
The pork was too thick =(
RAW PORK-GATE 🚨🚨🚨
“I plated up!” – God I love Nana so much, she’s a fighter and I will die for her. SHE BETTER MAKE IT FAR, DON’T LET ME DOWN NANA
I don’t think I understand what a “garnish” is, because I thought it was a little inedible thing that sat on the side of the plate to make it prettier. But these people are calling entire components of the dish “garnish” and I am severely confused. Parsley is a garnish, not a custom made coffee-chili pickle that contains the highlight ingredient of your dish.
“Oh, gelato in the sauce? 🤨” – When will these people learn to FOLLOW THE BRIEF!!!
“Mostarda” sounds like a slur

Elimination Challenge

I cannot believe they’re allowed to say “pucker butt” on national television. This has to be an oversight.
No spice fam represent! Thank you Jassi, I see you. Except, you know, I’m almost offensively white so nobody questions it when I order -1 out of 5 spiciness. But regardless, it’s nice to see my spice-intolerance represented on a culinary show.
I do like the concept of this challenge a lot, where each dish has to be spicier than the last. It really forces the competitors to work together at each step of the competition from menu creation to execution to plating to make sure each dish is spicier than the last. It’d be so incredibly easy for a dish to get way too spicy, and then you have to choose between having a dish out of order or to ramp up the rest of the dishes spiciness at the last second, risking getting too spicy or throwing the dish out of balance. There’s a lot to think about in this one and I don’t think the editing does it justice.
Surprise twin appearance! I don’t blame him; I, too, combine them into a single person when they’re not on screen together. There’s simply nothing to differentiate them yet.
This editing is so over the top lol I don’t hate it but it’s so out of left field for Top Chef. I can’t tell if they’re trying to court the TikTok generation with some loony edits, or if they’re just trying out a looser, less serious editing style for this season. I guess only time will tell which one they’re going for and if it works or not.
Why is this episode so drug heavy??? First the psychedelic milk farm, and now pepper induced hallucinations! What’s next, a Quick Fire challenge with marijuana???
What on earth is she crab soup?? Has feminism finally gone too far? It’s just a crab, why you gotta gender it? Did you ever think it could be they/them crab soup? Of course not. You only think of yourself.
GROCERY PRICE-GATE 🚨🚨🚨
Red team is totally going to run out of ingredients. They’re all kumbaya about sharing ingredients now but when they’re in the kitchen fighting over the last arugula they’re not going to be so Mother Theresa about it.
Guest appearance by my husband when Justin was totally unbothered during grocery price-gate: “Sounds like somebody has kids”
The music supervisor is really popping off this episode with that sick transition between classical and rock music. Emmy material.
“Emulsion” is such a sexless word. You can’t say it without really deflating the entire room.
Somebody just called “spicy boy Oscar” sexy and I want to vomit. What is wrong with these sickos?
Chicken wings, Justin? This man is such a child.
Motherly = bully? Lol
RESPICE-GATE 🚨🚨🚨
“I’m not going to re-season it again 😤” – How very motherly of her
Tom Colicchio is immortal and you can’t change my mind about it.
“I don’t sous vide often, but … I don’t want to just sear any fish.” – I’m calling it: this is going to be one of the most fucked up fish we’ve ever seen.
I do not understand the critique where they call something “boring but delicious”. What are you going for here? Was it bad or was it good?
Jassi is just so happy to be here and I love that for him lol
Please stop saying “butt pucker” I’m begging you 😭😭😭
Everyone is doing so well! I love to see it. It’s always a good episode when the judges have to nitpick between the top and the bottom because everyone did so well.
Oh, I get it. This is just Top Chef Hot Ones.
Did I call it or did I call it?! THE FISH IS NOT COOKED PROPERLY! STOP SABOTAGING YOURSELF NANA!!!
“This is where you start sucking in the air” – Really? This episode is the Yucky Words Hall of Fame. They’re going to start describing dishes as moist.
I don’t know how many more ways I can say this, but Justin is the worst.
They just described Justin’s dish as “flabby” which I think describes his personality as well.
Elimination prediction: Bye bye Jassi
Although Nana has to stop fucking up because thin ice doesn’t even begin to describe what she’s skating on.

Top Chef S23E01 - Carolina Roots

2026-03-22T00:00:00-07:00

Welcome to the personal section of my blog, where I write about things I care about with zero regard for facts or feelings. We’re kicking it off with a series I’ve decided to call Top Chef Reactions. No recaps, no analysis, just a real-time, unfiltered stream of consciousness from the dark recesses of my brain as words and pictures flash in front of my face. We’re starting with the currently airing season 23. There is drama. There is heartbreak. There’s somebody I want to hit over the head with a crudités. Let’s get into it.

Quick Fire

“I’m not here to play patty cake!” – Well thank god somebody said it. I was starting to think everyone was here to play patty cake. Could you imagine? A season of all patty cakes? Disgusting.
Has it been too long since I’ve watched Top Chef or does there seem to be an unusually high amount of unearned confidence in this season’s cast? So many people are sure they’re gonna win. Like, relax. You’re all going to fail soon enough.
“Five star, five diamond [restaurant]” – Okay, hold on, record scratch. Five star five diamond? I don’t think we’re talking about Michelin stars anymore, because I think those only go up to three. Are you just bragging about your restaurant’s particularly good Yelp rating? And don’t piss me off with this “five diamond” bull crap. You’re just making stuff up now.
Hate the couple already. Annoyance meter is through the roof.
I just feel like I need to address the elephant in the room: Kristen is a baddie and Gail still makes me question my sexuality. There is no reason these women need to go so hard and yet here we are. Bravo continues to bless us with women who eat (literally) and leave no crumbs (figuratively).
Some challenges on Top Chef can be quite heavy handed and (dare I say it) a little forced, but I really love the twist for this first Quick Fire. Not having a real clock and having to time your cook based on cars racing around the track is a great way to test the chefs’ ability to stay flexible with timing. I’m not sure if they were given a rough estimate of how much time it would take, but I hope they weren’t and had to speed up and/or slow down based on how much they over/underestimated the speed of the cars. I’ve always preferred these types of “time twist” challenges to come later in the season once the contestants have gotten accustomed to the time crunch, but for the first Quick Fire right out of the gate, this was pretty fun to watch.
Of course Justin, the dunce of the season, falls immediately as soon as the game begins. Incredibly on brand.
The YouTube chef is incredibly awkward on camera. Maybe I can give him the benefit of the doubt and assume the producers got one of the worst clips they could find of him, but dang. For someone who’s job it is to be charismatic on camera, he made me cringe so hard I folded in on myself.
HUSH PUPPY-GATE!!! HUSH PUPPIES ARE TOO SHRIMPY!!! 🚨🚨🚨
HUSH PUPPY-GATE UPDATE: Flour has saved the hush puppies. We have narrowly avoided our first Top Chef disaster.
I am deeply confused on why they can’t plate until the final lap. That seems like producer shenanigans to me, trying to force timing drama on the contestants when it doesn’t need to be there.
KALE-GATE!!! KALE-GATE!!! WE ARE MISSING KALE ON SOME PLATES!!! 🚨🚨🚨
RAW FISH-GATE!!! RAW FISH-GATE!!! WE HAVE RAW FISH AT THE JUDGE’S TABLE!!! 🚨🚨🚨
Oh look, Justin is on the losing team. Raise your hand if you’re surprised. Oh look! No hands.

Elimination Challenge

Ugh, I hate sweet potatoes. Truly THE disappointment of the potato family. Let’s get this over with.
ONE HOUR?!? That’s….not enough time to do anything! I can’t even get all the ingredients out of my cupboard to prep for dinner in an hour! Is this the fast food season of Top Chef? Make it make sense.
Also, what’s up with this no-Last-Chance-Kitchen-for-the-first-two-eliminated-chefs business? They need two eliminated chefs to compete, so does that mean no Last Chance Kitchen until episode 4? Why do they suddenly hate Last Chance Kitchen so much? Is Tom Colicchio tired? Get him a co-host! There are solutions to these problems people! WE WANT LAST CHANCE KITCHEN
Okay so there’s definitely some relationship issues going on with Justin and Jennifer? Justin is saying she “won’t let him put a ring on it” and Jennifer is saying “I’d say yes if he proposed”? This is either some crazy editing or there is major trouble for these “life partners” ahead. I cannot wait for this to explode on live television. Either way, they’re still pissing me off.
I still think it’s crazy that these chefs are let loose in a public Whole Foods on a time limit with random civilians just trying to buy groceries for their families. Laurence literally body slammed a random lady with his cart. Let the people shop in peace! They didn’t ask to have a reality competition thrust upon them on a random Tuesday afternoon! At least close down the store for an hour or something. It seems extreme.
My gosh, these people are cutting and chopping potatoes with reckless abandon. PLEASE DON’T CUT YOUR HANDS OFF 😭😭😭
BLOW TORCH BITCH COMING THROUGH ANYBODY GOT A BLOWTORCH??? 🔥🔥🔥
YAAAAAS Nana with the 30 minutes dance! More of this please
THE OVEN WAS NEVER ON-GATE!!! THE OVEN WAS NEVER ON 🚨🚨🚨
The judges power-walking to the restaurant as a group was one of the hottest things I’ve ever seen. It’s doing to me what The Fast and the Furious franchise probably does for straight men.
Ice cream? When it’s a thousand degrees out? Bold. Reckless, but bold.
I finally looked up what ~~herbs de Provence~~ was, only to find out it’s just pretentious Italian seasoning.
TIME-GATE TIME-GATE TIME-GATE 🚨🚨🚨
OH NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
She didn’t finish on time ☹️
Babes, relax. It’s just a TV show. Take some deep breaths.
Okay, look. I’m going to be real with you. One of the main reasons I love reality competition shows is to watch people have complete mental breakdowns on my TV. It’s why I love The Traitors. But I give huge props to Nana for having her freak-out moment, and then pulling herself together and presenting her dish to the judges. The show is designed to make you fail. It’s designed to be a pressure cooker of stress and emotions, with cameras everywhere looking for the cracks to begin to show in your facade. Many a chef has had a major blow-out on Top Chef. It’s part of the game. But Nana really rallied herself, with the support of Kristen and the other chefs, and did her best to present her dish, flaws and all. She didn’t give up and she didn’t shrink away. And that’s what I will eventually remember her for. Not the mistakes, but how she pulled through and came out a better person and chef. It’s made me really like her and want to root for her for the rest of the show.
Who’s out here inventing new potatoes? We have enough potatoes. Leave the potatoes alone.
“It was just a crazy-brazy kind of dish” – Automatic elimination.
BOTH of the twins in the top? Stop torturing me.
I really hate Justin on a deep, personal level.
She’s serving under-cooked pork? Couldn’t that literally kill people? Girl microwave it or something, my god.
PORK-GATE PORK-GATE 🚨🚨🚨
Medium-rare? Girl, be serious.
I ❤️ Rhoda
What the hell is cane vinegar?
I ❤️ Duyen
YAY ROHDA ❤️❤️❤️
Still mad about no Last Chance Kitchen. Budget cuts? There’s like a thousand spin-offs of Top Chef, you can afford two episodes of LCK.
Sad for Day ☹️ It’s hard to see her go, especially when I don’t think she did particularly awful for a first episode. But when it comes right down to it, none of her components were really successful or even necessarily good, so the decision seems justified.