Sunday, March 16, 2025

SEASON #22: TRISTEN.

 EPISODE #1:  Across Canada, We Go!


HOST:  Kristen Kish

JUDGES:  Tom Colicchio,

                  Gail Simmons.

PRIZE:  $250,000 Cash, 

               Delta Sky Miles,

               $125,000 to spend on Delta,

               A feature in Food & Wine Magazine,

                Appearance at Aspen Food & Drink,

                Sponsor a dinner at the James Beard House.

PLACE:  Toronto, Canada.

STAYING AT:  Rosemont Inn.


                               PLAYERS (15)

1.  ANNA ANYA EL-WATTAR  Chef   San Francisco, CALIFORNIA

2.  PAULA ENDARA Ex. Chef             Lexington, KENTUCKY

3.  TRISTEN EPPS    Chef/Owner        Houston, TEXAS

4.  CORWIN HEMMING Private Chef  Brooklyn, NEW YORK

5.  KATIANNA HONG  Chef/Owner     Los Angeles, CALFORNIA

6.  LANA LAGOMARSINI Chef/Owner  Harlem, NEW YORK

7.  HENRY LU                Chef/Owner     Houston, TEXAS

8.  VINCENZO LOSETO Chef de Cusine Napa, CALFORNIA

9.  ZUBAIR MOHAJIR Ex. Chef             Chicago, ILLINOIS

10.  CESAR MURILLO  Ex. Chef            Chicago, ILLINOIS

11.  MASSIMO PIEDIMONTE C/O      Montreal, QUEBEC

12.  BAILEY SULLIVAN Chef de Cusine  Chicago, ILLINOIS

13.  KAT TURNER  Ex. Chef                Los Angeles, CALIFORNIA

14.  SHUAI WANG  Chef/Owner      N. Charleston, S. CAROLINA

15.  MIMI WEISSENBORN  Ex. Chef  Portland, MAINE


QUICKFIRE CHALLENGE:  Grab 1 ingredients & have match with your carmate.  Work in teams of three to create a dish featuring six ingredients. 30 minutes & win $15,000.  

TOP TEAM:  Yellow Team, Green Team, Red Team, 

   WINNER - Yellow Team - won $15,000


ELIMINATION CHALLENGE:  

- chefs from the 5 regions of Canada.:  Nicole, the West, Dale McKay -  the Prairies, Chef David Ziber - Central, Jeremy Charles -the Atlantic region, & Sheila Flaherty representing the North.

- Create a dish using at least three of the regional pantry ingredients 2 hours Cooking at the Casa Madera Restaurant.

JUDGES' TABLE:

TOP 5:  Vinny, Cesar, Anya, Henry, & Shuai.

    WINNER:  Vinny - won the Immunity,

BOTTOM 5:  Paula, Kat, Massimo, Bailey, & Mimi. 

BOTTOM 2:  Mimi & Kat.

ELIMINATED:  Mimi,


EPISODE #2:  Brunch a la Boulud.                         14 Left.


GUEST:  Sarah Levy.

QUICKFIRE CHALLENGE:  Create your own spin Poutine & win $5,000 in 30 minutes. 


 BOTTOM 3:  Henry, Bailey, & Paula.

TOP Massimo, Kat, & Shuai.

   WINNER:  Shuai - won $5,000.


ELIMINATION CHALLENGE:  

GUEST:  Daniel Boulud, Chef & Owner of Cafe Boulud.

Sugar  Shack.


- working in 2 teams of 7.  Must create a bunch menu create a seven-course "sugar-shack" bunch menu featuring maple.  2 hours to cook at Cafe Boulud.


- Kristen met the chefs in the parking garage.  Now, they have $250. to shop at the St. Laurence Food Market, shopping for ingredients for the other team.  Win $35,000.

GREEN TEAM:  Kat, Katianna, Henry, Anya, Massimo, Vinny, & Bailey.

BROWN TEAM:  Lana, Shuai, Cesar, Zubair, Tristen, Paula, & Corwin.   


    JUDGES' TABLE

WINNING TEAM:  Brown Team - won $35,000.

GUEST JUDGES:  Daniel & Sarah.

   WINNER:  Zubair. won Immunity.

LOSING TEAM:  Green Team

BOTTOM 2:  Bailey & Henry

ELIMINATED:  Bailey.


EPISODE #3:  Best Served Cold. 

GUEST UDGE:  Dwight Smith, Privat Chef.

QUICKFIRE CHALLENGE:  Jamaican Patty.  Create your own version of Jamaican Pie.  Win $10,000

RESULTS:

BOTTOM:  Kat, Massimo, & Cesar.

TOP:  Katianna, Zubair, & Shuai.

    WINNER:  Katianna won the $10.000.


ELIMINATION CHALLENGE:  

GUEST:  Natalie Spooner, Hockey Player.


- Create a dish that serve cold, inspired by a hockey word.  


JUDGES' TABLE:

TOP #3:    Tristen, Katianna, & Corwin.

       WINNER:  Katianna -won Immunity.

BOTTOM 3:  Anna, Paula, & Massimo 

   ELIMINATED:  Anna.


EPISODE #4:  Top Chef Trivia.                            12 Left.

GUEST JUDGE:  Michael Cera, Amy Schinder, & Mattera Roach.

QUICKFIRE CHALLENGE:  Trivia. 15 questions - most in 15 minutes win 30 minutes to cook, 2nd place 20 minutes & 3rd place 15 minutes to cook.

GREEN TEAM - 30 minutes, PURPLE TEAM: 20 minutes & YELLOW TEAM:  15 minutes.


- create a dish including 3 ingredients from the trivia answer of your team - win $10,000.  

RESULTS:    

BOTTOM #3:  Henry, Massimo, & Tristen.

TOP #3:  Kat, Shuai, & Corwin.

   WINNER:  Corwin.


ELIMINATION CHALLENGE:  6 desserts from Canada will serve as the inspiration create a savory dish inspired by an iconic Canadian dessert.  

JUDGES' TABLE:

TOP 3:  Tristen, Corwin & Kat.

  WINNER:  Tristen.

BOTTOM 3:  Shuai, Henry, & Zubair.

   ELIMINATED:  Zubair.


EPISODE #5:  Line Cook for a Day.                       11 Left

Kristen & Gail visited the chefs right after the judging in the chef's lounge explaining what they will be doing tomorrow:  going to Toronto where different cuisine is:  Picking  knives to determine where they going.

HENRY & SHUAI - cuisine - Filipino,

LANA & VINNY -  Indian, 

MASSIMO & PAULA - Caribbean,


BAILY & TRISTEN - Greek (both have immunity),

CORWIN & KAT - Portuguese,

CESAR & KATIANNA - Thai.



ELIMINATION CHALLENGE:  Double Elimination.  Create an dish inspired by your time on the line in teams of two .Serving at Bentwood Community Center.  

WON THE LAST KTCHEN:  Bailey.

GUEST JUDGE:  Sara Bradley, Chef/Proprietor of Freight House.

JUDGES' TABLE:  

BLUE( Cesar & Katianna) & PURPLE (Bailey & Tristen) TEAMS:  Favorite Dishes.  

  WINNER:  Purple Team - Bailey & Tristen.

SAFE:  YELLOW  ( Paula & Massimino), & GREEN(Henry & Shuai) TEAMS 

BOTTOM TEAMS:  Orange(Corwin & Kat) & & Red(Vinny & Lana) Teams:  

ELIMINATED:  Kat & Corwin.


EPISODE #6:  Pickle Me This.                             10 Left

                                CHIPOTLE


QUICKFIRE CHALLENGE:  

GUEST JUDGES:  Susur Lee & Jet Bent-Lee

-30 minutes Create an upscale dish from the ingredients of what you order from lunch..

BOTTOM -  Vinny, Henry, Shuai.

TOP 3:  Massimo, Cesar, & Paula, Tristen.

     WINNER:  Tristen won $10,000


ELIMINATION CHALLENGE:  Pickle.


- GUEST JUDGE:  Danny Garcia, Winner Top Chef - Wisconsin.

- work in 2 teams of 5.  Creating a 5 -course progressive pickle menu.  Include: cornichons, full sour pickles, dill pickles, spicy pickles & bread and butter pickles.  

PURPLE TEAM:  Bailey, Lana, Paula, Vinny, & Massimo.

GREEN TEAM:  Tristen, Katianna, Shuai, Cesar, & Henry.


JUDGES' TABLE:

BOTTOM 3:  Green Shuai, Katianna, & Henry.

ELIMINATED:  Katianna.


EPISODE #7:  You Wanna Pizza Me? 

                    DIRTY DISHES 

GUEST JUDGE:  Eden Grinshpan, Host of Top Chef - Canada

QUICKFIRE CHALLENGE :  Create a dish based on the tough stain left behind.  30 minutes & $10,000. 

RESULTS:

BOTTOM:  Paula, Bailey, & Cesar.

TOP 3:  Massimo, Henry, & Tristen.

    WINNER:  Henry.


                       PIZZA PARTY

ELIMINATION CHALLENGE:  

GUEST JUDGE:  Wyle Dufresne, & Spike Mendelsohn.

- Create a pizza that pushes the limit for a pizza party.  Serving at Niagara on the Lake.  


-  The Chef visited Niagara Falls.


                                  JUDGES' TABLE

TOP 3:  Vinny, Kristen & Shuai.

     WINNER:  Tristen.

BOTTOM #3: Henry, Paula, & Cesar.

ELIMINATED:  Henry.


EPISODE #8:  Restaurant Wars.                    8 Left.

Start at the chef's hotel when a note arrives: Grab  your knives meet me at the Warehouse Venue.  

ELIMINATION CHALLENGE:  


GUEST JUDGES:  Nina Compton & Janet Zuccarini.

RESTAURANT WARS:  Work in two teams to create a restaurant concept with a 3-course a la carte menu.  PRIZE:  $40,000  

TEAM #1:  Nonna Pinon:  Paula, Shauai, Bailey, & Cesar.  

TEAM #2:  Phlora + Phauna:  Tristen, Massimo, Lana, & Vinny.  

- Tristen get an emergency call from home from mother - his stepfather has a stroke & now in an coma.  He passed away.

JUDGES' TABLE:

Phlora + Phauna - FAVORITE.  - won the $40,000.  

    WINNER CHEF:  Tristen.

ELIMINATED:  Paula.


EPISODE #9:  Cooking on the Edge.              7 Left.

At the kitchen is:  Tom & Gail.  They will be judging the rest of the Quickfires.  

                               MUSSELS

QUICKFIRE CHALLENGE:  


GUEST JUDGE:  Ilona Daniel, Chef Instructor of The Culinary of Canada.  Prince Edward Island.  

- In 20 minutes - win $10,000, Cook a mussel dish w/o using white wine.

   TOP:  Lana, Vinny, Tristen, & Shuai.

       WINNER:  Lana won the $10,000.


ELIMINATION CHALLENGE:  movie, Mission Impossible.  

- do two stunts to earn 2 advantages.  By braving the edge walk of CN Tower & lean forward & back.  All did the walk but Massimo, Lana could not do the lean.  


LEAN BACK:  Bailey, Cesar, Shuai, Tristen & Vinny get 30 minute advantage.  

WALK:  all.  earn $75.00 in shopping toward specialty shop.

GUEST JUDGES:  Greg Tarzan Davis, Binit Pandey, Buddha Lo, Patrick Kriss,  Martine Bauer.

- Create a dish that feature a stunt & win $10,000.  

- Cooking at the Thewell.  

      JUDGES' TABLE:

TOP 3:    Tristen, Bailey, & Massimo.

      WINNER:  Massimo - won $10,000 & 2 tickets to the movie.

BOTTOM:  Lana, Vinny, & Cesar.

ELIMINATED:  Cesar.


EPISODE #10:  From Dep till Dawn.                     6 Left.

                  Depanneur

New Winner Last Chance Kitchen:   Cesar                           7 Left.

- Semifinals is in Calgary, Alberta.

QUICKFIRE CHALLENGE:  

GUEST JUDGE:  Punkie Johnson, Comedian.

- Create a dish only using items found in the depanneur (convenient store) 30 minutes & win $10,000.  


TOP:  Massimo, Cesar, Shuai

         WINNER:  Cesar.

WORST:  Bailey, Vinny, Lana, & Tristen.

   

ELIMINATION CHALLENGE:  

GUESTS:  Antonio Park, Chef & Owner of Park Restaurant - Montreal,   Fred Morin, Creative Director of Joe Beef Group,

                  Fisun Ercan, Ex. Chef of Bika Farm & Cuisine.

- Create a dish using sustainably grown ingredients, based on one of Montreal's four seasons.  

   JUDGES' TABLE

    TOP #3:  Massimo, Shuai, & Bailey.  

            WINNER:  Shuai - going to Semi-Finals & advantage

BOTTOM #4:       Kristen, Lana, Vinny & Cesar.

     ELIMINATED:  Vinny.


EPISODE #11:  Calgary, Yahoo!    6 Left.

Leaving Toronto for Calgary.  


GUEST JUDGE:  Connie DeSousa, Chef/Owner of Charcut. 

QUICKFIRE CHALLENGE:  45 minutes to create your own pancake breakfast.  Hand held pancake - no silverwares used.  Win $10,000  


RESULTS:

TOP 3:  Bailey, Shuani, Tristen.

      WINNER:  Shuai.

BOTTOM:  Cesar, Massimo, & Lana.


ELIMINATION CHALLENGE:  

GUEST JUDGE:  Denia Baltzer, Chef/Owner Creative Cuisine.

- Beef & Berries.  Create a dish that incorporates beef and berries.  


COOKING AT:  Rouge.  

             JUDGES' TABLE

TOP #3:  Massimo, Shuai, & Tristen. 

          WINNER:  Massimo.

BOTTOM #3:  Cesar, Lana, & Bailey.

ELIMINATED:  Lana.


EPISODE #12:  Foraged in Fire.         5 Left.

A mystery tote bag found in the chefs' hotel room:  gloves.  They think they are going foraging.  Quarry Lake in Canmore.


No Quickfire Challenge.

FINAL ELIMINATION CHALLENGE in Canada:  Search high & low.

GUEST JUDGE:  Brenda Holder, Cree Knowledge Keeper & 

     Tracey Little, Chef & Owner of Sauvage Master Forager.  

- Create a dish using foraged ingredients.  Serving at: Jumping Pound Ranch  cook outside on open flames.  


                                 JUDGES TABLE

WINNER:  Shuai - won $10,000  - going to Milan.

SAFE:  Tristen & Cesar moving on to Milan.

BOTTOM:  Massimo & Bailey.

ELIMINATED:  Massimo.


EPISODE #13:  Viva Milano.    4 left.

   FINAL 4:  Bailey, Cesar, Tristen, & Shuai.



QUICKFIRE CHALLENGE:  Rice & Polenta are King is Risotto. In 35 minutes Create a Risotto dish.  Win $15,000. 


 RESULTS:

- Bailey's dish was okay,

- Cesar's dish was beautiful & season okay,

- Tristen was a bit on the salty side,

- Shuai's dish was okay.

     WINNNER:  Tristen.


ELIMINATION CHALLENGE:  2026 The Olympics - Winter.  Cook in a three part head-to-head tournament featuring Milan and Cortina ingredients.   

GUESTS:  Elana Meyers Taylor, 5x Medalist Bobsled,

  Red Gerard, US. Gold Medalist Snowboarding,

  Declan Farmer, 3x US Paralympic Gold Medalist Sled Hockey,

  Oksana Masters, 19x US Paralympic Medalists in many sports.

FIRST DISH:  Polenta.  

      RESULTS:

Shuai - 5 votes.

Bailey - 2

Cesar - 1 &

Tristen- 1 vote also.

    WINNNER:  Shuai in the finale.

SECOND DISH:  30 minutes to create a beet dish.

     RESULTS:

Tristen - 6

Cesar - 3

Bailey - 0. 

    WINNER:  Tristen going to Finale.

THIRD & FINAL DISH:  Gorgonzola Dish.  Bailey vs. Cesar.

  WINNER:  Bailey.


EPISODE #14:  Finito.           3 Left.

          FINAL 3:  Tristen, Bailey, & Shuai.

FINAL ELIMINATION CHALLENGE:  Make the best 4-course progressive meal of their life.  

CHOOSE SOUS CHEFS:  Bailey choose Lana,

       Shuai choose Paula,

       Tristen choose Zubair.


JUDGES' TABLES:

GUEST JUDGE:  Claire Smith, 3x Michelin Star.


    THE WINNER IS:  TRISTEN. (the 2nd time a Black had won).


























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