Spoiler alert! This story reveals the elimination from Top Chef’s “Foraged in Fire” episode that aired May 29. Episodes can be streamed with a Peacock subscription if you’re not caught up.
Top Chef: Destination Canada is quickly coming to a conclusion on the 2025 TV schedule, as the four remaining contestants fired up their final meals in the Great White North before this week’s episode will see them in Milan, Italy. Watching Season 22 has been fun, and while it’s baffling that some mistakes from past seasons continue, there is one specific aspect of the competition that has been missing recently. “Foraged in Fire,” however, was a return to form.
As the Top 5 chef-testants — Tristen Epps, Cesar Murillo, Massimo Piedimonte, Bailey Sullivan and Shuai Wang — rushed around their outdoor workstations to prepare meals from the goods they’d foraged in lieu of a Quickfire Challenge, judge Tom Colicchio made his way around the group and inquired about their dishes.
Why haven’t we seen him doing this all season? I love watching the esteemed chef bothering the contestants with questions as they dash around trying to continue their cook while still being respectful to the man whose hands hold their fate.
His unreadable expressions and patronizing smile (seen above as he talked to Shuai Wang earlier this season) must drive the chefs crazy, but I love getting his thoughts on the dishes as they progress, especially when he breaks down for the audience where each chef stands, what might go wrong and what we need to be looking for. As he said in “Foraged in Fire”:
This is a great challenge. I think it really tests a certain skill level, and sometimes great dishes come out of that. Hopefully that happens today.
His smile always makes me think there’s a lot going on in his head that he’s not saying out loud, and honestly, I live for it.
We definitely used to see Tom Colicchio do this more often than we have this season or even over the past couple, so what has changed? For one, Colicchio has his companion miniseries Last Chance Kitchen — where eliminated contestants compete for a chance to return to the main competition — so a lot of that beautiful snark still exists there.
On Top Chef, meanwhile, it seems that relatively new host Kristen Kish has really been given the reins, as she’s able to provide insight not only as a judge but as a former contestant (and winner) of the show.
In the end of the May 29 episode, Tom Colicchio’s prediction was correct — the remaining chefs rose to the challenge and served dishes that were worthy of this point in the competition. When elimination time came, Kristen Kish was audibly emotional behind her sunglasses, and she admitted it was hard to say:
Massimo, please pack your knives and go.
So which of the remaining four — Tristen Epps, Cesar Murillo, Bailey Sullivan and Shuai Wang — will find victory in Italy? More importantly, will we get more of that great Tom Colicchio commentary in the main show now that Last Chance Kitchen has ended for the season?
We don’t have to wait long to find out. Fix yourself a snack, then tune in as Top Chef continues at 9 p.m. ET Thursday, June 5, on Bravo and streaming the next day on Peacock.
You must confirm your public display name before commenting
Please logout and then login again, you will then be prompted to enter your display name.
