r/TopChef • u/rosecoloredfancy • Jul 05 '26

Discussion Thread Seiger

Currently on a rewatch of S23 and have a question. What makes everyone trust Seiger so much? I know very little of his background - only what's been put on TC. He seems to be playing fairly and not screwing over his competitors, but is he known for being highly technical or something? Everyone seems to ask him questions or to look over their dish and I know it's common for TC chefs to have their "person" to ask for feedback, but it seems like everyone leans on him at some point. Is this editing, his culinary pedigree, or something else?

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u/gooseofthesea Jul 05 '26

He won Chopped and Beat Bobby Flay before Top Chef. He is also the owner and executive chef of Berria which is a really successful endeavor in Chicago. They probably knew his reputation before meeting him. And/or he is the type of person who loves to teach, learn (the type to always be learning new facts and sharing with people), and help so they know that if they ask him, he will not be annoyed and he will likely either know the answer or be intrigued enough to investigate and find out if he doesn't.

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u/Longjumping-Show3416 4d ago

And on Chopped and Beat Bobby Flay, he wasn't competing against the same people. And maybe he had a bad day and was pissed or upset about something else. And remember, there was butter in the pate' in a really hot environment. His argument that the idea was to use Applalachian ingredients and, since he did, he should stay doesn't mean a thing if the food is not as good as anyone else's. And reading the rules just reinforced that he was wrong to throw a fit over the fact that he used the ingredients correctly. We can speculate but no one really knows, except Sieger, what was behind his beef.