04-04-2025
'Top Chef' recap: 'Jeopardy!' champs Mattea Roach and Amy Schneider, actor Michael Cera, join show
Michael Cera made a visit to the Top Chef kitchen for this week's episode, along with two iconic Jeopardy! champions, Mattea Roach and Amy Schneider. So as you imagine, with 12 remaining chefs on Top Chef Season 22, with the contestants still in Toronto, the Quickfire Challenge was trivia-related.
As Kristen Kish announced, the Quickfire Challenge involved a trivia game to determine cook times for the chefs. Split into three teams, there were 15 questions total that the Top Chef competitors had to answer. If one team did not know the answer, another team could buzz in to answer instead.
The team with the most correct answers got 30 minutes to cook, then 20 minutes for the second place team, and only 15 minutes for the team that answered the least number of questions correctly.
The questions ranged from, "what is one of the most suggestive vegetable emojis?" To, "what fatty piece of protein also translates to bull in Spanish?"
The green team, César, Corwin, Shuai and Vincenzo "Vinny," were quick winners, getting eight questions correct before any other time could even get one point. The purple team, Massimo, Zubair, Paula and Lana, came in second place. Leaving Katianna, Henry, Kat and Tristen in last place.
For the second part of the challenge, each team had to create a dish with at least three of the ingredients from their team's trivia answers. But it was judged as an individual challenge for $10,000 in Quickfire Quick Cash.
Green team ingredients:
Shiso
Ginger
Eggplant
Lamb
Scallops
Chili crisp
Nectarines
Panko
Purple team ingredients:
Fennel
Toro
Pretzels
Curry
Yellow team ingredients:
Battered
Rice
Sandwich
Corwin won the challenge with seared scallop with chili crisp and ginger beurre blanc, shrimp paste, yuzu and shiso. This win brought his total winnings to $15,000.
For the Elimination Challenge, a table of "iconic" Canadian desserts was wheeled into the Top Chef kitchen. The chefs had to incorporate these items into their dishes. Specifically, they had to deconstruct the desserts to make a savoury dish.
There were six dessert and 12 chef, meaning they had to draw knives to work in pairs.
Team pairings for the Elimination Challenge:
Tristen and Corwin, Figgy Duff
Zubair and Henry, Butter Tarts
Paula and Kat, Nanaimo Bars
Shuai and Katianna, Jam Jams
Vinny and Lana, Potato Chocolate Cake
Massimo and César, Date Squares
They had 30 minutes and $100 to shop at the St. Lawrence Market for ingreidents, and two hours to cook the next day at Casa Loma.
In addition to Michael Cera, co-owner of Roselle Desserts, Stephanie Duong, and Lenore Johnson, owner of Lenjo Bakes and The Shed, joined Kristen Kish, Tom Colicchio and Gail Simmons at the judges table.
The biggest disaster of the competition was that Henry didn't put his sauce on one plate, which went to Gail.
The dish from each chef and the feedback from the judges went as follows:
Kat — Nanaimo duck breast with mustard custard, duck skin and walnut Nanaimo crumble and soy cacao ganache — Stephanie said the dish "screamed" Nanaimo bar and Tom applauded the decision to take the skin off the duck and make the crumble with the skin
Paula — Cacao-rubbed braised pork belly with coconut vanilla vinaigrette roasted beets and chocolate graham cracker — Michael said he didn't really taste the cacao
Vinny — Roasted Yukon potatoes with chocolate miso glaze and caviar vin blanc — Michael loved that potatoes were the star, but Lenore thought the chocolate could have been more "forward" in the dish
Lana — Cacao gnocchi with cacao-braised lamb and pickled shallots — Stephanie said the dish was "a bit of a miss" and felt "heavy"
César — Lamb tartare with date and shallot purée, roasted carrot purée and buñuelo — Lenore enjoyed the texture of the tartare, Michael highlighted that it had a bit of sweetness to it that he enjoyed
Massimo — Lamb tartare with ras el hanout crisp, date jam, harissa and ras el hanout yogurt — Gail liked the idea of the dish and said the yogurt was "beautiful," Michael said he had a hard time tasting the date and Lenore said the texture of the tartare was "mushy"
Corwin — Jerk marinated friend chicken with miso raisin bbq sauce and cabbage slaw — Lenore said the all spice and the ginger came through really well, Stephanie said the chicken was "tender" and "succulent"
Tristen — Pepperpot with braised lamb, lamb fat madeleine and pickled grapes — Stephanie wanted to ask Tristen for the recipe for the madeleines, and Michael and Tom applauded the way the lamb was cooked
Katianna — Rye porridge with molasses glazed mushrooms, raspberry and bacon confit — Tom said the porridge was "slimy" but Lenore liked the use of the raspberry
Shuai — Tsukune with raspberry pepper jelly, tare, chilled napa and hot mustard — Gail said she didn't love the texture of the meatball, Tom said there was nothing that reminded him of a cookie and Kristen said the tare was overwhelming
Henry — Seared duck breast with brown sugar corn syrup glaze, mushroom crumb, jus and parsnip purée — Lenore wasn't sure the dish read butter tart, even though all the elements were present, Stephanie said her duck was undercooked and Gail never got the sauce
Zubair — Seared duck with sheermal, pecan and cashew korma — Stephanie appreciated the aesthetics, but said the components were a "miss," Gail said the duck was overcooked, over-rested and "almost impossible to chew," and Kristen said the wheat berries were hard
Kat, Tristen and Corwin had the judges favourite dishes of the Elimination Challenge, but ultimately Tristen was named the winner, meaning he has immunity in the next elimination challenge.
Henry, Zubair and Shuai had the least favourite dishes of the challenge, with the judges having a bit of a debate about whose dish was actually cooked the worst, leading to Zubair being eliminated, heading to Last Chance Kitchen.
But Tom quickly made the announcement that Last Chance Kitchen was starting immediately, with Zubair having to put his skills up against Bailey. And we'll find out who returns to the competition in next week's episode.
