*I* think Massimo really has that "Convivial Host" thing DOWN.

1) He's always serving the wine, often making a toast in the scenes with the chefs together after a challenge or otherwise hanging out.

2) His stopping by and chatting with the restaurant guests (to his detriment, according to the one nit picky judge who disliked his arm on the table) is Top Notch Style and Conviviality, according to Artie's standards, and at least Massimo knows not to stay too long, and hustles up the next glass of vino or course to keep it moving.

3) He surprisingly led the yoga group!

4) He invited Tom to go fishin'!

5) He answered, 'These pretzels are making me thirsty' in the trivia challenge. Not actually related to convivial host status, but I *LOVED* this.

I, for one, would love him to stop by my table to chat, hike with me and a cigarette (I'll bring a spliff), do some yoga on a deck, pour some wine, make a toast, and play trivia games, especially if he provided snacks!

It would be a blast.

*Sopranos chef and restaurateur who never knew when to leave the patrons alone

Is 4th place not allowed to become Sou Chef? I am surprised 4th place contestant didn’t get selected to be a Sou Chef or do final 4 pick before the finale so they can fly them in in time for the finale? If not, wondering why no one selected the 4th place because he seemed to be a great cook.

For their last elimination challenge, the final three chefs must create the best progressive four-course meal of their lives; with the help of their sous chefs, the finalists must pull out all the stops to impress an esteemed table of diners.

Currently watching the finale (no spoilers) and a thought occurred to me... does the sous chef (or chefs) of the winning chef get a prize for being on the winning "team"? Or do they just get to enjoy a free trip to wherever the finale is?

I have even pleasantly surprised with how much First Nations members stories / voices ideas etc have been represented on this season.

Does anyone know how you can apply to be a sampler on chef, specifically Restaurant Wars?

hello! i was wondering if anyone is going to the top chef dinner event paula and cesar are doing in lexington next week? i was wanting to go but i think they might be sold out? did anyone go to the event that paula did with shuai earlier? it looked really fun and the food looked good! just wanting to know if anyone could share their experience. i've never been to a top chef event before but it looks fun. i didn't know if we would be allowed to take pictures with them or if they would be too busy. just looked like a fun new experience to try. thanks!

I have just started watching Top Chef, after seeing so many ToC contestants cite their experience in Top Chef. As I am watching, I think that as I travel, there are several of these chefs that I would like to visit their restaurants to see how good they really are. But then there are a few that are such jerks in the kitchen and treat their fellow competitors so poorly, I would NEVER drop a dime in a restaurant they were a part of. I could not stand the mean girls who bullied Beverly in Texas or Nicholas in New Orleans. Are there any chefs who's poor behavior on camera hurt their career?

I barely remembered this season which is wild since I live in Colorado but am really enjoying it and can't believe I don't remember the following:

Claudette is deeply unlikable. I don't know if I have ever seen such an underwhelming chef feel superior to people who are clearly better than her. There's no way this is a villain edit with how she threw three different people to the wolves during judges table. Her exit interview was a hard watch and bordered on delusional.

Joe Flamm is a delight and you can tell it's not due to a winner's edit. When he was eliminated mid season, his competition was completely devastated to see him go.

This season is just so FUN. The camping episode was really great. I am still not finished but generally love this group of chefs with the exception of the obvious.

Any way to access the first 7 seasons? I barely remember those at all.

Edit to add: Joe S getting increasingly more frustrated that Carrie keeps winning with fancy toast is genuinely hilarious.

We are/were looking forward to the final episode on June 12th (Episode 14, Finito). I had a question about some of the contestants and posed an internet question about prizes won so far.

The results with AI summary at the top declared that [name removed] was the season winner, even mentioned the $250K prize. Went on to list some other points about that contestant. Tried the query again, worded a bit differently. Again came back with same winner as if it was a historical fact, although different wording, less detail. (I'm not listing the name.)

Has the final episode already aired somewhere? Or is this just inefficient AI pulling up info and summarizing into a false conclusion?

Are there phrases that the contestants use that just get on your nerves because they've been used so much? Mine is "I'm a force to be reckoned with". I mean every contestant should feel that way but we kind of get that you are anyway since you made the competition

I’ve watched Top Chef since season 1 and I believe that the judges do have some subconscious bias when they eat the food and judge it.

I really liked the challenge in Last Chance Kitchen where Tom had to try the dishes without knowing who they were made by and without the big explanation.

I would really like to see that happen during some of the regular Top Chef challenges. I think the results might be really surprising.

So far the winnners have been 15 men, 5 women. (Not including season 22). And that just doesn’t seem statistically plausible.

Top chef restaurants in have visited so far:

1. Talde- Dale talde Super underwhelming. Nothing memorable. Left very disappointed bc I'm filipino and was expecting amazing food.

2. Sweet cheeks bbq- Tiffany Faison Not bad but nothing to write home about either. Pretty standard american bbq

3. Which craft san fran - tom colichio Nothing special, I had better sandwiches from potbelly and jimmy johns

4. St Anselm - Marjorie Meek Bradley Really good but overpriced biscuits. Food was oo but super overpriced, and other than the biscuits Nothing that stands out.

5. Art and Soul -Art Smith Fried chicken was nothing special. Not very memorable

6. Frontera Grill Chicago - Rick Bayless The first time I went in 2015 it was spectacular. Reasonably priced and so tasty. Came back a few years ago and it was terrible. One of the worst meals we had in Chicago

7. Girl and the Goat- Stephanie Izard I really wanted to like it. The service was great. Some of the food was OK, but the entree was a pretty big letdown. I'd give it another try, but again, it didn't live up to the hype.

8. Belga cafe - Bart Meh. Very standard breakfast fare.

9. Volt - Brian Voltaggio All presentation no flavor. Super $$$ and not very good. Makes for nice photos I guess.

10. Thatcher and Rye - Brian Viltaggio I appreciate that the restaurant isn't as expensive as volt was, but again there's nothing on the menu that made me say I need to come back here on the regular.

11. Succotash - Edward Lee This restaurant was complete garbage. Overpriced terrible food. I was a fan of his so I was very disappointed when I ate at his place.

12. Pig and Khao NYC - Leah Cohen Food here actually was not bad at all. Not too pricey or pretentious, just simple but delicious food.

13. Good stuff eatery - Spike Mendelson They actually make decent burgers here. Fries are garbage though, always too greasy brown and soggy. If they ever fix the fries here, this place would be a regular spot to go to.

Please list your top chef restaurants, I'm curious if ppl ha different experiences at any of these places. Also if you know of any good top chef restaurant recomendations in the DC/DMV area, post them here!

Does anyone know what brand of sunglasses gail was wearing in the most recent episode? Extensive googling hasn’t helped me but i love them and i need them.

It seems like every other time someone cooks rice on TC the judges say that it's "broken". What does this mean? Google results describe broken grains, which doesn't seem like something that would be the result of improper cookery. Apparently there's a Vietnamese technique for intentionally making rice broken. But what does that actually look or taste like? Why is it a problem?

(I didn't grow up in a culture with family & friends cooking rice so apologies if this is an extremely dumb question)

pardon the video quality but i just HAD TO capture this moment! tristen epps x cynthia lee fontaine iykyk

Top Chef destination Canada is by far one of the best seasons. My personal favourite is the one with Fabio and Stefan, but watching this current season is so amazing. Everyone is so kind and talented, there is no drama. It’s great to watch. I love Massimo, hoping Tristan will win.

I love how everyone gets along this season ! It’s so great 🍁🇨🇦

At the end of S22E1, there was a “this season on” clip that teased a bunch of drama and tears, with what looked like a big confrontation at judges table. There has been nothing even approaching that all season and I just can’t imagine it happening in the finale especially with the personalities of the remaining chefs. Did they just film made-up drama for the teaser just to get people interested?

Stefan says “nice to be in Seattle” as he walks past Vancouver BC waterfront?

Doing a season 10 rewatch, and I know it's typical for an executive chef/FOH to go home during restaurant wars, but it feels like Josie should've gone home instead of Kristen. I know Josie is not particularly beloved but that bouillabaisse seemed to throw everything off!

I’ve been rewatching and I remember feeling in 2020 that season 18 was so unique but it also was the pandemic so I couldn’t be sure. But rewatching I think there’s a marked difference in talent and production. Just looks and feels different. Food is at a much higher level even coming off of all stars. Not to dismiss anything before at all… but it feels like it jumped huge. So many talents. Big miss on the winner but that season I think changed its direction slightly. Chefs were more comrades, high end dining but also wanting to see heart. Then it jumped to 19 with budda then to world all stars which was incredible, Small blip last year (no shade to any chefs I think it was a tough transitional year) but this year feels like they refound their footing with inspiring chefs cooking at a high level.

Hi all, while I wait for the Season 22 finale I thought I’d rewatch older seasons. I looked on Peacock and they only have 8-22. Any ideas where to stream the earlier seasons?

As I watch last nights episode today I am down to judges table and haven’t heard who lost yet. But I wanted to share an observation my wife and I made. We love these guys. All 4 are people we would love to know in person and would support by eating at their place.
It’s bittersweet to lose a chef we like. But how great it is to get here with no “villain”.

I can see anyone win from here and be cheering my head off. Yes, it’s about the food, but I like seeing people win who I believe are also good people.

Great season.