Latest news with #TomColicchio
Yahoo
09-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
'Top Chef' Season 22: Channelling their inner Tom Cruise, chefs take on 'Mission Impossible' inspired stunts
Top Chef meets Mission Impossible on this week's episode of Season 22. But it all started with a surprise announcement from Tom Colicchio and Gail Simmons, who told the seven remaining chefs that they'll be joining Kristen Kiss for the rest of the Quickfire Challenges, with all three judges considering both the Quickfire and Elimination Challenges to make their final cuts at each upcoming stage of the competition. The judges were joined by Ilona Daniel, chef instructor with The Culinary Institute of Canada, for this week's Quickfire, giving the chefs a lesson on Canada's "food island," referencing Prince Edward Island (P.E.I.), including famed P.E.I. mussels. For the challenge the chefs had to create a dish with P.E.I. mussels in just 20 minutes. There was $10,000 up for grabs for the Quickfire winner, which went to Lana for mussel Italian toast with garlic mussel juice aioli, coppa, mustard, olives and capers. Moving on to the Elimination Challenge, in honour of the upcoming Mission Impossible: The Final Reckoning movie, actor Greg Tarzan Davis explained to the chefs that they had to present the judges with a dish that included a "stunt." But as an added bonus, two advantages were up for grabs. First, the chefs were tasked with completing the CN Tower EdgeWalk, and secondly they had to do the lean forward and lean back stunt over the edge of the building. There was also $10,000 up for grabs for the Elimination Challenge winner. All the chefs completed the EdgeWalk, receiving an addition $75 to buy ingredients. But Lana and Massimo couldn't lean over the edge, leaving the rest of the chefs with 30 additional minutes of cook time. The judges table this week included Binit Pandey, executive chef at Aera, Top Chef Houston and World All Stars winner Buddha Lo, chef and owner of Alo Food Group Patrick Kriss, Vinoteca Pompette chef and co-owner Martine Bauer, and actor Tarzan. The dishes each chef presented, and judges feedback, were as follows: Massimo — Pacific trout en croûte with sauce matelote, fondue de tomates Louis XIII, saffron emulsion — The stunt was the risk of cooking protein inside pastry in a short time — Buddha said it was fantastic and impressive that it was executed in two hours, Patrick echoed Buddha's comments saying that it was a big risk Lana — "Fried fish basket" torchon of fish with cornmeal crumble, cocktail and hot sauce with tartar hollandaise — The stunt was "illusion" and eating all the components together should taste like the fried fish Lana's mom makes — Tarzan said it didn't "hit the mark," Gail said the "fried pile of cornmeal" tasted raw Bailey — "Tiramisu fugazi" crepelle alla norcina — A savoury dish meant to resemble a tiramisu dessert — Patrick thought it was seasoned well and Gail said it was very satisfying, Tom liked the idea of a dish that loosed like dessert César — Arctic char tartare, turmeric custard, fish tuile and romaine lettuce jam — The mission for the judges was to break through the tuile, and the sauce was the "secret weapon" — Buddha identified that the fish was handled nicely, but it needed acidity to cut through the sweetness Vinny — Beef tartare with variations of beets, whipped foie gras and harissa — The judges were given a mission to extract the key through the smoke from under the "lasers" — The dry ice made the dish completely frozen, Tom was able to eat it before it froze and just said each component was "fine," but Buddha was impressed by the story Shuai — Turducken with potatoes and leek, buttered peas and carrots, gravy — Martine said it had a "nice crispy texture," but wanted more vegetables for the portion of the meat on the plate, Patrick, Tarzan and other judges highlighted that they didn't know what the stunt was Tristen — "Chicken impossible" king crab and sausage stuffed chicken wing with crab oil américaine — The judges had to pour the "antidote" on the chicken stuffed with a "virus," with 30 seconds to get the sauce out, otherwise it will be too cold — Patrick highlighted that the dish had a point of the view and the sauce was the best thing they ate all day, Tom highlighted that he couldn't pull off the trick with the sauce before it got too cold The favourite dishes of the day were from Massimo, Bailey and Tristen, with Massimo being named the ultimate winner. César, Lana and Vinny had the least favourite dishes, and César was ultimately eliminated, heading to Last Chance Kitchen.
Boston Globe
25-03-2025
- Entertainment
- Boston Globe
A very Canadian season of ‘Top Chef' has unexpected political undertones
All this must've made perfect sense last summer when the season was filmed. Yet here we are a seismic election and several tumultuous months later, watching 'Top Chef' accidentally provide a strong showcase for what makes our northern neighbor its own distinct entity. 'Top Chef: Destination Canada' premiered March 13 in a kitchen decked out in red maple leaf motifs and murals honoring indigenous Canadian art. There, a beaming Simmons and her judging compatriots (chefs Tom Colicchio and former chef de cuisine at Menton, Two weeks in, it's clear the season's leaning hard into its locale. That first Quickfire allowed six ingredients to mimic Toronto's nickname of 'The 6ix' (so called for its six districts). The premiere's elimination challenge featured several powerhouse Canadian chefs offering up special ingredients native to five distinct regions of the country. (I didn't know what a 'crowberry' was before this episode, and now I must taste one ASAP.) In this pre-tariff world, there was no need to provide an asterisk on Canadian pride. Advertisement The second episode doubled down even more. ' As a diehard 'Top Chef' fan, I've loved this season's passion and regional specificity. Still, it's undeniably hard to forget the political context it stumbled into through absolutely no fault of its own. 'Top Chef' didn't mean to become a goodwill ambassador. Nonetheless, its thoughtful attention to what makes Canada unique highlights the absurdity of American politicians forcing such an unnecessary rivalry.
Yahoo
09-03-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
'Top Chef' Season 22 trailer: Ultimate culinary showdown heads to Canada
The Emmy, James Beard, and Critics Choice Award-winning show, produced by Magical Elves, Top Chef, heads to Canada for Season 22, where 15 rising star chefs compete in the ultimate culinary competition. The season's host is Kristen Kish, working alongside head judge Tom Colicchio and judge Gail Simmons, who is Canadian. The winner will take home the $250,000 grand prize, provided by Saratoga Spring Water, the official water of Top Chef; Delta SkyMiles Diamond Medallion Status, and a $125,000 flight credit to spend on travel with Delta Air Lines. They will also get a feature in Food & Wine magazine and an appearance at the Food & Wine Classic in Aspen. Additionally, for the first time in the show's history, the Season 22 winner will headline their own dinner at the James Beard House in New York and will have the opportunity to present at The James Beard Restaurant and Chef Awards in Chicago. There is also $150,000 up for grabs throughout the competition through Quickfire Challenges and Elimination Challenges. The Season 22 contestants are: ● Anna 'Anya' El-Watter – San Francisco, CA ● Paula Endara – Lexington, KY ● Tristen Epps – Houston, TX ● Corwin Hemming – Brooklyn, NY ● Katianna Hong – Los Angeles, CA ● Lana Lagomarsini – Harlem, NY ● Henry Lu – Houston, TX ● Vincenzo Loseto – St. Helena, CA ● Zubair Mohjir – Chicago, IL ● César Murillo – Chicago, IL ● Massimo Piedimonte – Montreal, QC ● Bailey Sullivan – Chicago, IL ● Kat Turner – Los Angeles, CA ● Shuai Wang – North Charleston, SC ● Mimi Weissenborn – Portland, ME Yeah, this is beautiful. So how are you guys enjoying your time on Top Chef? Yeah. Top Chef is back. Let's go. 15 rising star chefs have come to Canada. To compete in the ultimate culinary showdown, poutine, poutine. I've never eaten so much poutine before. Yes, girl, they're here to fight for the biggest prize ever. Over half a million dollars up for grabs. A lot of dough on the line, right? I was nominated for rising chef of the Year. Uh, Indian household is kind of like Talladega Nights. If you're not first you are last. I was the only female chef in cuisine of a 3 Michelin star in the US. I can fry chicken and I can make a torsion of foie gras. My job's not done until I win Top Chef. Beautiful. A lot of love in this dish. It gives you these little pops of like brightness. I love the heart behind it to execute something like that is unbelievable at this stage of the competition. I get grumpy when the food's not so good. I'm not grumpy right now. Nailed it. You want to hang out with me? Is this thing moving? We opened please welcome today's guest judge, Michael Cera. Hi Huy Johnson, what's up y'all? Daniel, already they're dropping the D bomb. What the laser. Shall we do a triple axel? I'm gonna do what you guys are doing since I'm a guest. Glad we got to come to another part of Canada. It's gorgeous. Two torches better than 1. Let's hope that doesn't leave you in a pickle. Hey. You know, at some point we all decided that we wanted to be chefs. I am I missing one? Oh my God. And it's long hours, but it's all worth it. I sweating my ass off. Something burning, hovering. Let me do my thing. Don't bother me. I have a little bit of an ego. The Top Chef kitchen is not the place to work out your baggage. Flex you, don't flex other people's accomplishments. The next top chef is. Can I compete? Yes, go, Tom.
