Top Chef
Ep. |
Title |
Air/Pub'l |
Grade |
Author |
| 4-15 Recap |
Watch What Happens: Nothing.Watch What Happens Reunion - This week's challenge: Stomach a big bowl of lukewarm leftovers, under-seasoned chatter and sour Andy Cohen. |
2008.06.18
2008.06.24 |
D | Chuck |
| 4-14 Recap |
Top Chefanie
|
2008.06.11
2008.06.17 |
C+ | Chuck |
| 4-13 Recap |
Pig OutPuerto Rico - The four remaining cheftestants cook some piggy ingredients for a fancy party. |
2008.06.04
2008.06.09 |
B+ | Kim |
| 4-12 Recap |
Beat This MeatHigh Steaks - Sure, Spike can butcher a big rack but a chef needs more than good hands, and he's a hack when it comes to making smart choices. Fortunately, the judges make one and toss his hat out of the ring. |
2008.05.28
2008.06.03 |
A- | Chuck |
| 4-11 Recap |
Mai Buddha SucksRestaurant Wars - After a stint on egg duty, Team Warehouse Kitchen wins the Restaurant Wars over-easy, and Dale gets fried. |
2008.05.21
2008.05.27 |
C+ | Chuck |
| 4-10 Recap |
It's A Sabotage!Serve and Protect - After trying to seduce mighty fine Sam Talbot with their sexy salads, the crew has to make healthy and substantial boxed lunches for Chicago cops. Spike uses his advantage to thwart the competition, but only cheats himself in the end. A phantom burner turner undermines Lisa, and she returns the favor by calling out Andrew for his whole-grain fakery. |
2008.05.14
2008.05.20 |
B- | Chuck |
| 4-9 Recap |
Wedding HellsWedding Wars - It's Top Caterer meets Survivor as the remaining eight cheftestants pull an all-nighter to cater a wedding. Nikki finally gets the boot for parlaying her expertise in Italian food into a refusal to lead her team and, well, crappy Italian food. |
2008.05.07
2008.05.13 |
B | Chuck |
| 4-8 Recap |
Family Dinners with Funny Uncle BenCommon Threads - Antonia totally cheats and uses her experience as a single parent to win both a quickfire and an elimination challenge about stretching a buck and feeding a family. How dare she? |
2008.04.30
2008.05.06 |
B | LuluBates |
| 4-7 Recap |
Flop SweatImprov - After a Second City improv troupe delivers a colorful and emotional Elimination challenge, Jen does it for Zoi with an unintentionally comedic dish of phallic asparagus and gets sent home for erectile dysfunction. |
2008.04.23
2008.05.01 |
B+ | Chuck |
| 4-6 Recap |
Stupid DispleasuresTailgating - Ryan hits the road for his inarticulate -- but very wordy -- approach to tailgating fare, serving bread salad and poached pears (yes, you read that right) to hungry football fans. |
2008.04.16
2008.04.21 |
B- | Chuck |
| 4-5 Recap |
The ElementsThe Elements - Which probably wasn't what Team Earth had in mind, but Zoi would rather talk about how she loves to use seasonings than just shut up and use them. |
2008.04.09
2008.04.15 |
B- | Chuck |
| 4-4 Recap |
Film FoodFilm Food - The cheftestants divide into teams along gender lines and imagine dishes based on their favorite films for a movie-themed dinner party. |
2008.04.02
2008.04.07 |
B | Chuck |
| 4-3 Recap |
Block PartyBlock Party - OK, we get it. If you're transporting food to serve later, choose your menu items carefully. Can we move on, please? |
2008.03.26
2008.04.02 |
C | Chuck |
| 4-2 Recap |
Zoo FoodZoo Food - After grazing at a farmer's market for the Quickfire, a high concept Elimination turns the cheftestants into animals and goes to the birds. Blame-resistant Valerie gets axed for some bad-idea blinis. |
2008.03.20
2008.03.24 |
D | Chuck |
| 4-1 Recap |
Salt For Your Wounds?Anything You Can Cook I Can Cook Better - In which that most elemental of seasonings proves to be the undoing of our first reject, twice in a row. |
2008.03.12
2008.03.17 |
C | Chuck |
| 3-16 Extra |
It Came Upon A Sniff And SneerTop Chef Holiday Special - The only chestnuts roasting in this episode are CJ's! ...Okay, not really, but any chance to make a nut joke, right? The ghosts of cheftestants past arrive in Chicago to duke it out for twenty grand, and Tiffani is the one screeching, "God bless me and only me!" (Bonus: Ripert dresses up as Santa Claus.) |
2007.12.06
2007.12.12 |
B | Keckler |
| 3-15 Extra |
Relive The Boredom All Over AgainSeason 3 Reunion - As if this season didn't drag on for enough eons, we have now have a reunion to remind us of everything we just saw. It's the Alzheimer's Special! |
2007.10.10
2007.10.15 |
F | Keckler |
| 3-14 Recap |
The Huynh Of A LifetimeSeason 3 Finale, Part II - Hung -- the guy who "grew up eating," the self-proclaimed Certified Professional Asshole, the documented lover of monkey metaphors -- wins Top Chef. |
2007.10.03
2007.10.06 |
A | Keckler |
| 3-13 Recap |
Rocky Mountain HighSeason 3 Finale, Part I - Trout and elk get the better of the Brians and their cowboy hat. |
2007.09.26
2007.09.30 |
B | Keckler |
| 3-12 Recap |
Sara's Told To Cheese OffManhattan Project - After chafing herself raw across two dishes, Sara the Jamaican cheesemaker is sent home. To make cheese, presumably. |
2007.09.19
2007.09.23 |
B- | Keckler |
| 3-11 Recap |
Chopping BroccoliniSnacks On A Plane - Breakfast in bed with Padma leads to the cheftestants cooking for the mile-high club (except they're on the ground and not having sex), and CJ is sent home for serving blackened broccolini. |
2007.09.12
2007.09.18 |
B | Keckler |
| 3-10 Recap |
Hung's 300 Years WarChef Overboard - Hung trips out during the Quickfire and makes an edible diorama using Fruit Loops, but after catering a booze cruise for a new fashion designer, Howie's muddy flavors and grey presentation gets him sent home. |
2007.09.05
2007.09.09 |
A+ | Keckler |
| 3-9 Recap |
Draining The TreSecond Helping - After the second installment of "Restaurant Wars," The Garage changes their name to "Quatre" and wins. Sadly, Tre is sent home after executive cheffing his team to a loss. |
2007.08.22
2007.08.27 |
C- | Keckler |
| 3-8 Recap |
Restaurant StalemateSeason 3 Restaurant Wars - After making burgers in an Immunity-less Quickfire, the remaining cheftestants do the fake restaurant thing, and no one gets sent home. |
2007.08.15
2007.08.20 |
A | Keckler |
| 3-7 Recap |
Cold Stone Chillin'Guilty Pleasures - While working to feed drunk clubbers, Howie proves that he still doesn't know how to spell "team," but it's Sara N. who goes home. |
2007.08.08
2007.08.13 |
B+ | Keckler |
| 3-8 Extra |
Rocco's Got a Brand New Bag: Taste-Testing Bertolli's Skillet Meals for TwoRocco's Got A Brand New Bag: Taste-Testing Bertolli's Skillet Meals For Two - Two coasts, two brands, and two fairly opinionated mouths. Whose Lean Cuisine will reign supreme? |
2007.08.08
2007.08.08 |
N/A | Keckler |
| 3-6 Recap |
OMG, IQF! WTF?Freezer Burn - Man, after this episode, tri-color fusilli will be as popular as an actuary at a conference on the Riemann Hypothesis. Coming out on top of the frozen dinners challenge, Tre and CJ are off to Italy, while poor Joey From New York is back to New York. |
2007.1.001
2007.08.07 |
C- | Keckler |
| 3-5 Extra |
Shit HappensTop Chef 3: Watch What Happens - With Andy Cohen playing the hostess with the mostest, we delve back into the ugly glory of past and present seasons. Mostly, season two, though. |
2007.07.25
2007.07.29 |
F | Keckler |
| 3-5 Recap |
'Cuz She's Lia-ving On A Jet PlaneLatin Lunch - Hung strings himself up in a frozen pie crust Quickfire, but due to losing a Latin-loving lunch, it's Lia who packs up her troubles in her old kit bag. |
2007.07.18
2007.07.22 |
A | Keckler |
| 3-4 Recap |
Eating On The DoleCooking By Numbers - It's the first team challenge of the season, during which powdered gelatin rears its ugly head again, and Camille is sent calmly on her placid way. |
2007.07.11
2007.07.16 |
C+ | Keckler |
| 3-3 Recap |
God Save The Hot DishFamily Favorites - In an effort to tempt Elks away from high-cholesterol foods, the cheftestants are forced to remake such cafeteria classics as stuffed cabbage rolls, fish sticks, and tuna casserole. |
2007.06.27
2007.07.02 |
B+ | Keckler |
| 3-2 Recap |
Bye, Bye BirdsongSunny Delights - Sandee is sent packing, Howie and Joey From New York engage in a Battle of the Bulges, and Hung is turning out to be a pretty sweet guy. |
2007.06.20
2007.06.25 |
B+ | Keckler |
| 3-1 Recap |
Tastes Like ChickenFirst Impressions - The season begins anew with fifteen cheftestants competing for all the junk that goes along with being Top Chef. Before we even get to know him, Clay from Mississippi is sent home. |
2007.06.13
2007.06.17 |
A+ | Keckler |
| 3-1 Extra |
A Very Special Episode of Top Chef4-Star All Star - The best of Season One (minus Lee Anne) faces off against the dubious best of Season Two, all in the name of charity. |
2007.06.06
2007.06.10 |
A | Keckler |
| 2-13 Recap |
So Long, And Thanks For All The FishSeason 2 Finale, Part II - Marcel misplaces his fish, and loses. Ted Ilan makes pinworms on toast, and wins. |
2007.01.31
2007.02.01 |
B+ | Keckler |
| 2-12 Recap |
The Poke's On YouSeason 2 Finale, Part I - Chef Alan Wong officiates this first half of the Hawaii finale, which throws Sam and Elia back to the sea and keeps Marcel and Ted Ilan for the second half. |
2007.01.24
2007.01.29 |
B | Keckler |
| 2-11 Recap |
Scalps and ScallopsSense And Sensuality - Elia and Ted Ilan shave their heads. Cliff tries to shave Marcel's head but gets sent home for being a brute instead. The food was not even an issue. |
2007.01.17
2007.01.22 |
N/A | Keckler |
| 2-10 Recap |
Foaming at the MouthUnhappy Customers - Marcel raps and before being sent home, Mike references Charlotte's Web. Will wonders never cease? |
2007.01.10
2007.01.15 |
B- | Keckler |
| 2-9 Recap |
Hate the Sin, Love the DinnerSeven - The hating of Marcel reaches a boiling point, and Sam loses it, while Ilan becomes an unhinged bully. But it's petty Betty who cooks up sloppy soup and goes home. |
2007.01.03
2007.01.08 |
B | Miss Alli |
| 2-8 Recap |
Mia the MartyrHoliday Spirit - Mia throws herself on her paring knife to keep Elia in the competition. |
2006.12.13
2006.12.18 |
A | Keckler |
| 2-7 Recap |
Surfin' So SorryThe Raw And The Cooked - Breaking fast for some hungry surfers has Elia riding high and Frank dead in the water. |
2006.12.06
2006.12.10 |
B | Keckler |
| 2-6 Recap |
What the Turducken?!Thanksgiving - It's time for a midsummer night's Thanksgiving, and Carlos' salad-eating days are over. |
2006.11.22
2006.11.27 |
A | Keckler |
| 2-5 Recap |
Ain't it Offal, Mabel?Social Service - After playing around with pancreas, organ meat, and Social Hollywood's leftovers, Josie and Marisa are sacrificed on the altar of pig's blood. |
2006.11.15
2006.11.19 |
C+ | Keckler |
| 2-4 Recap |
Cheaters Seem to ProsperLess Is More - With a vending machine Quickfire and a sticky children-based Elimination, it's almost as if we never left season one! No one is sent home, but Betty should have been. |
2006.11.08
2006.11.10 |
B- | Keckler |
| 2-3 Recap |
TGI Top ChefFood For The People - After she reads him the quiet riot act, Marcel turns Blazing Eyes on Betty and tries to freak her out during the Sell Bravo's Soul to TGI Friday's Elimination Challenge. Also, Padmadala hikes up her shorts a little more and shows her world to us. But first, Marcel grosses LA kids out with his Cobb Salad ice cream. |
2006.1.001
2006.11.04 |
B+ | Keckler |
| 2-2 Recap |
LycheegateEastern Promise - Sushi, Ming Tsai, team challenges, and "shoplifted" lychees. Marisa unwittingly challenges Tiffani to a bitchface-off, and Otto is sent home. |
2006.10.25
2006.10.28 |
A+ | Keckler |
| 2-1 Recap |
Food, Fire, and Frog LegsInto The Fire - Marcel has ridiculous hair, Suyai is sent home, and we all learn how to flambe |
2006.10.18
2006.10.23 |
B- | Keckler |
| 1-11 Recap |
Leggo My EgoVegas Finale, Part II - Harold wins, and Tiffani LOSES! |
2006.05.24
2006.10.16 |
A+ | Keckler |
| 1-10 Recap |
A Minor ExclusionVegas Finale, Part I - The toques come off in Vegas as Harold, Tiffani, and Dave put it all on the lineâ¦for room service! They cook for high rollers, poker players, and acrobats, and Dave, by virtue of forgetting a dish, is sent home. Amazingly, he doesn't even cry. |
2006.05.17
2006.10.10 |
A | Keckler |
| 1-10 Extra |
Scenes From A Top Chef ReunionSeason 1 Reunion - The cheftestants gather to drink, cry, apologize, fart, and rhyme. |
2006.05.10
2006.10.08 |
A | Keckler |
| 1-9 Recap |
Truffle PigsNapa's Finest - Using expensive wine and expensive fungal growths, the cheftestants prepare dishes for the chefs of Napa Valley. |
2006.05.02
2006.10.04 |
A- | Keckler |
| 1-8 Recap |
The Cake Mix ControversyWedding Bell Blues - Stephen is decanted and found to be corked. |
2006.04.25
2006.09.25 |
B+ | Keckler |
| 1-7 Recap |
I'm Not Your Bitch, BitchSeason 1 Restaurant Wars - After the cheftestants team up for dueling restaurant "concepts," Dave gets off his famous quote, and Miguel is sent home. |
2006.04.19
2006.09.19 |
B+ | Keckler |
| 1-6 Recap |
Snake EyesGuess Who's Coming To Dinner? - Ted Allen shows up for dinner and tasks the cheftestants with a dinner party in celebration of him. Andrea and her colon are sent home. Again. |
2006.04.12
2006.09.06 |
B+ | Keckler |
| 1-5 Recap |
Jicama Dickama DockBlind Confusion - The cheftestants sell street food in the Mission, but when Lisa forgets some seriously important jicama, she is sent home. |
2006.04.05
2006.08.20 |
B | Keckler |
| 1-4 Recap |
Nuke it Up A NotchFood On The Fly - Nine TV dinners go into the microwave and one chef gets fried. |
2006.03.29
2006.08.13 |
A | Keckler |
| 1-3 Recap |
Gone Fishhookin'Nasty Delights - Dividing into two teams, the cheftestants come up with a way to make children eat and enjoy monkfish. |
2006.03.22
2006.08.02 |
B | Keckler |
| 1-2 Recap |
Bye Bye, TurdieFood Of Love - Stephen's fruity pretentiousness gets him immunity in the Quickfire, Miguel wins the sexy desserts Elimination Challenge, and Andrea gets flushed. |
2006.03.15
2006.07.30 |
C | Keckler |
| 1-1 Recap |
Who Deserves To Be Here?Who Deserves To Be Here - Ken sticks his long, dirty finger in Hubert Keller's sauce and even in San Francisco, that's not a good thing. |
2006.03.08
2006.07.12 |
C | Keckler |
Finale - Yoda-wearing, unflappable Chicago native Stephanie Izard becomes the first female Top Chef, while Lisa shocks everyone by outperforming Richard. And by not being a total bitch.