This story contains spoilers about episode 7 of “Top Chef.” Read more of our “Top Chef: Wisconsin” coverage here.
Coming off of the high of last week’s “Chaos Cuisine” episode – which featured surprises such as the return of a previously eliminated chef and a bonus 16th cheftestant – “Top Chef” took things in a more low-brow direction with episode 7. Last week, you may remember, Rasika was eliminated, which left 10 cheftestants. Going into this episode, we’re sure of only two things – there will be challenges and there will be at least one elimination.
Here are the biggest takeaways:
It’s time to pick your Milwaukee favorites for the year!
1. We learn a little more about cheftestant Soo Ahn, who battled his way through “Last Chance Kitchen” to join the group competing on “Top Chef.” He’s a former professional golfer and was shown practice putting inside a hotel room with fellow cheftestant Dan Jacobs. At 27, he decided to retire and now works as the executive chef of Adalina in Chicago. “The challenges are tough, just keep it simple. Visualize it,” Dan said, holding his club. “Just like putting,” Soo finished.
2. The Quickfire Challenge seems especially quick. Host Kristen Kish and guest judge Bryan Voltaggio – a “Top Chef” and “Top Chef Masters” alum – asked the cheftestants to create a dish using the flambe technique. The three chefs who made the best dish – and they were Danny, Amanda and Kevin – were told they needed to cook again, this time to make a dish with the “perfect char” in 20 minutes. Danny – who is definitely leaning into frontrunner material – made the winning dish: charred grilled branzino with charred poblano puree and charred avocado.
3. This will likely be the only time you ever see the Milwaukee Brewers Racing Sausages on a reality cooking show. Indeed, all five sausages took a jog through the studio to help explain the episode’s pivotal Elimination Challenge. The cheftestants were told they would be competing in a “Top Chef” Sausage Race. Kish explained it: “Five head-to-head innings with each inning featuring a different sausage. Every member of the team will be responsible for one dish. The Racing Sausages will race. Whatever order the sausages come in will be the order in which you present your dishes.” The cheftestants broke off into two teams – Yellow and Blue.
4. The Racing Sausage Challenge features an “esteemed panel” of 15 judges and takes place on American Family Field. For each inning, the votes were to be tallied and the chef who scored the most votes would score one run for their team. “Whichever team wins the most innings will obviously be the wiener of the challenge,” said Voltaggio. Groan. One chef would be named MVP while one or two chefs who lost their head-to-head would be eliminated. Also, Kish announced that immunity would “no longer be on the table for Elimination Challenges.” The cheftestants were given two hours to prep and cook in the Am Fam Field kitchen. With each team composed of five cheftestants, that neatly lined with the five Racings Sausages: Brat, Polish, Italian, Chorizo and Hot Dog. Honestly, this was all sounding more and more convoluted to me. But anyway, we had Team Yellow and Team Blue. Yellow consisted of Kaleena, Danny, Laura, Amanda and Michelle. Team Blue: Dan, Manny, Kevin, Savannah and Soo. Each cheftestant picked a different sausage for their dish.
5. The “esteemed panel” are seated at a dais right set up on the Am Fam playing field. They include the cast judges (Gail Simmons and Tom Colicchio), host Kish, retired Milwaukee Brewer Ryan Braun, local restaurateurs and chefs (Karen Bell of Bavette, Barkha Daily of The Cheel, Greg Leon of Amilinda) and actress Brittany Snow, whose claim to fame is starring in a movie called Pitch Perfect.
6. The cheftestants play ball.
*The First Inning: Hog Dog. Soo’s corn dog with wasabi and jalapeno mayo beat Danny’s bacon-wrapped hot dog with braised cabbage. “”Both dishes were really incredible,” said former “Top Chef” Voltaggio. “This is really hard, guys.”
*Second Inning: Polish Sausage: Michelle’s etouffee with grits prevailed over Savannah’s pierogi with fennel and apple salad. “Far superior to ballpark food, just an explosion of flavors,” said Braun of Michelle’s dish.
*Third Inning: Italian. Kaleena’s potato gnocchi with Calabrian chile ragu beat Kevin’s risotto with roasted parmesan emulsion. But said, guest judge Brittany Snow, “I think it’s a good risotto, but I don’t know any better.” The praise for Kaleena’s dish: “The craftsmanship really showed when you rolled these gnocchi. They’re really perfect,” said guest judge Jesus Gonzalez of Zocalo Food Park.
*Fourth Inning: Chorizo. Manny wins with chorizo and cheese tetela – though Laura had a fan in Tom Colicchio because she made her own chorizo. “Can we vote for both?” said Amar Santana, a guest judge and past “Top Chef” cheftestant. Of Manny’s dish judge Gail Simmons said, “Every element layered beautifully. Tom Colicchio: “These are both fantastic dishes. Keep cooking like this.”
*Fifth Inning: Bratwurst. Amanda won nearly unanimously with her rye and caraway spaetzle, caramelized onion with beer mustard sauce and crispy sauerkraut. Her opponent, Dan, made a potato pancake with charred cabbage, mustard, sauerkraut and mustard butter. It wasn’t his best showing, by any stretch. “Amanda’s dish was just a little more cohesive and the caraway in it was just outstanding,” said guest judge Greg Leon.
7. Following a 2-2 Tie, Team Yellow wins the game. And the guest judge panel does “The Wave.”
8. The judges have a decision to make. “I’m going to let everyone in on a little secret. I don’t really eat sausage,” said Brittany Snow. OK. Without further ado, though, Michelle is named MVP for her dish, which was the judges’ favorite of the competition. Three cheftestants land at the bottom: Kevin, Savannah and Dan. “At this point every little thing counts,” said Tom Colicchio. Of Kevin’s dish, Amar Santana said, “All that cheese and the foam, you couldn’t taste the sausage.” “Both chefs made a similar mistake. They didn’t use the sausage well,” said Tom Colicchio. But “if I look at those three, I have a hard time sending Savannah home,” he added. Kristen Kish on Dan’s dish: It was “unimaginative.” “He just didn’t try hard enough,” Santana said of Dan. Said Simmons: “Is Dan’s lack of imagination and lack of work more or less of an issue than Kevin’s. Or did they both make dishes flawed enough to get them both eliminated?”
9. One person is asked to pack their knives and go. And it was… Kevin. But he gets another go at it in “Last Chance Kitchen,” which puts him up against a formidable opponent – Rasika.
10. Next week? “Restaurant Wars,” which is another team challenge. The remaining cheftestants are split into teams and have to create a pop-up restaurant in a short amount of time.
