Spoiler alert! This story includes spoilers for the Top Chef Season 22 episode that aired May 1. The series is available to stream with a Peacock subscription if you need to catch up.
Only eight chefs remained when Top Chef: Destination Canada resumed its run on the 2025 TV schedule Wednesday, and everyone knew what that meant: Restaurant Wars. I’m a longtime fan of this Bravo cooking competition, and for as long as I can remember, this has been one of the most anticipated challenges of every season. It boggles my mind, then, why one specific mistake continues to get made. This season’s offender? Shuai Wang.
Front of house is such a hard position to be in on Restaurant Wars. You often don’t get to fully oversee the cooking and/or plating of your dish, and you’re not only the face the judges most associate with the restaurant, but you’re kind of in charge of the whole vibe. If you ask for FOH, you'd better know what you’re doing. Shuai was quick to volunteer for the job, so I thought he did. Anyone watching Top Chef Season 22, however, knew that wasn’t true when he said during service:
I never know when to talk to the judges. It’s, like, being rude if they’re talking and I go say hello. It’s quite confusing.
It’s really not confusing. Anybody who’s watched even one episode of Restaurant Wars should know you have to give the judges attention early and often. You must begin wining and dining them the second they enter your establishment. Meanwhile, Shuai (pictured below) watched forlornly as he sent a server to explain their eatery’s name and concept to the very people who would be deciding if he remained in the competition or not.
Why does this keep happening? Just last season, we saw Michelle Wallace get criticized for waiting to greet her VIP guests and then rarely being seen at their table. In Season 19, Jackson Kalb was eliminated earlier than expected after failing to greet the judges when they walked in, then neglecting them throughout the evening, despite socializing with other diners. And that’s just from two recent seasons!
Massimo Piedimonte may have been a bit heavy-handed in his FOH duties (see him lurking below as the judges try to privately discuss what they’ve just eaten), but at least they saw his face and had drinks in hand before even sitting down to eat.
Maybe Shuai got flustered when he wasn’t able to start prepping his shrimp early enough, but he dropped the ball when it came to being present with the judges and in explaining their restaurant’s family-style concept to the servers. In the end, it wasn’t bad enough to get him eliminated (sorry Paula Endara), but I just can’t understand why, 22 seasons in, anyone would volunteer for this position and not know how important it is to give the judges plenty of attention.
Top Chef continues to be one of those shows that makes you hungry just thinking about it, and Restaurant Wars will be a season highlight for as long as the show’s on the air. I just hope future contestants understand what they’re signing up for if they volunteer to be front of house!
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