Latest news with #Quickfire
Eater
6 days ago
- Entertainment
- Eater
Houston's ‘Top Chef' Winner Tristen Epps Is Taking His Afro-Caribbean Cuisine on the Road
Tristen Epps was already a rising force in Houston's culinary scene, and now the James Beard semifinalist has even more accolades under his belt. Judges of the reality television cooking competition Top Chef crowned Epps the winner of its 22nd season, Top Chef: Destination Canada , on Thursday, June 12, after an outstanding run that showcased his culinary prowess and deep-rooted passion for Afro-Caribbean cooking. The chef, who's previously worked under acclaimed chef Marcus Samuelsson, wowed the judges with his bold, inventive style, racking up two Quickfire wins and five elimination challenge victories. He also led his team to victory as executive chef during the show's pivotal Restaurant Wars episode, all while coping with personal hardship: His stepfather was critically ill back home. Midway through the season, Epps learned of his stepfather's passing. Rather than stepping away from the competition, he chose to stay, dedicating each dish to his stepfather's memory. Though Episode 10 brought his only real stumble — judges critiqued an imbalance in seasoning — Epps quickly bounced back. In the finale, he cemented his win with a four-course 'Meal of Your Life' menu, a fusion of Ethiopian cuisine and his Trinidadian roots that featured monkfish with baccala mbongo; pollo dorengo with injera shrimp toast; and an oxtail Milanese crepinette. The win is especially significant: In addition to $125,000 in Delta Airlines credit, invitations to some of the biggest food and dining events in the country, and $250,000 cash prize (reportedly the largest prize in Top Chef history), Epps is also the first Black chef to win Top Chef in 15 years. Until recently, the chef kept his victory under wraps while preparing for his next big move: the launch of Buboy, a fine-dining Afro-Caribbean tasting menu restaurant in Houston. Now, Epps is finally free to celebrate — and to reflect. Eater caught up with Epps to talk about his favorite and most challenging moments on Top Chef , and what's next for him professionally as he brings his vision to diners across the country. This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity. Congratulations! How are you feeling? Tristen Epps: I'm still trying to get used to it, but a lot of people are really supportive. What was it like keeping your Top Chef win a secret? I mean, it wasn't so bad. I call the same people every day, like my mom, so she makes it easy to talk about, and then my core group of friends knew I made it. Did you have a strategy going into the competition? My strategy going in was to not make friends and stay focused, try to take it really easy in the beginning, and just try to pace myself for longevity: keep to my point of view, and then, really ramp things up later. It didn't go that way. I ended up liking everybody, and I ended up winning a lot in the beginning. I don't know if it was my competitiveness, but I didn't know how to take it easy — cooking and trying your hardest went hand in hand. But in the end, it was really cool. Like being in Canada, being in Italy — it was such a beautiful experience. Do you have a favorite moment? Being able to tell my mom at the end that I won was a magical moment for me, and also my first individual win. I went in with this point of view of cooking diaspora cuisine, and you know, people are having more success with it, but you never know for yourself, right? My whole point of wanting to do this is to put it out there at a really high level, and when people decide to give you a shot at it, they have a lot of expectations. It's like, 'Impress me or I'm going back to what I know,' so it's nerve-racking. The first day I did my cooking and won, it created this validation for me: 'Okay, this cuisine is enough, and it's enough to do in this format.' That was just an amazing feeling, especially on that platform. What was the most challenging part of the competition? Staying who you are can be challenging. People will think something is all you know or all you can do, and sometimes you just naturally pander to whatever's around you, you try to adapt, and you end up making others feel comfortable so you feel comfortable. I was trying to dictate what I felt and thought onto a plate, inaudibly to the people who don't know me. The mental toll of the competition was probably the biggest challenge. If you're not someone who can be alone or if you're not able to really be comfortable in your thoughts for periods, that can be challenging. You don't have the everyday things you can wind down with, right? There's no scrolling the internet. There's no talking to someone on the phone, and the person you might connect with might be gone the very next day. I'm still really soaking in the moment. I'm still planning on opening BuBoy at some point — finding a building and space that is important and meaningful to me is impactful. But right now, I think I'm just gonna take it on the road a little bit. I'll be announcing more soon about it, and I just want to bring what I'm gonna do to the country. Top Chef was one of, if not the greatest, experiences I've had professionally. It's such a rewarding feeling, even if I don't feel the full brunt of it right now. I've been walking around Chicago and, you know, different cities since it has aired, and the reception I have gotten has been so amazing. Even walking around with some of my castmates has been so amazing, because people tuned in to see the food they're making and the people they are. I would say this is a lesson to everyone: don't be afraid of who you are, especially cooks. If you are part of a culture, scream it to the rafters. Learn about others, because they're probably connected, talk to as many people as you can from other cultures, and always, always strive to learn more about yourself and where you come from, and how it connects to different people. Food naturally brings us together, so if I can understand more about your culture and food, other than just eating it, I think the world would be much more unified. I think that's kind of the platform that Top Chef gave me. I've shown everyone that I can connect to culture, and I'll also celebrate the hell out of it. See More:
Yahoo
16-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
'Top Chef' judges call out 'ridiculous' Quickfire Challenge that was maybe misplaced in the competition
While Top Chef contestants have impressive culinary skill and sophisticated palates, sometimes on the show they're put into outrageous cooking situation, which was very much the case in this week's Quickfire Challenge. In the dépanneur challenge, the chefs has to make a dish only using items from the Top Chef dépanneur, cooking exclusively with the electrical cooking equipment in the Top Chef pantry and disposable utensils. The challenge was inspired by Top Chef guest, comedian Punkie Johnson, who started cooking in her dressing room on set. But the judges were very aware of how "ridiculous" the challenge was. "The thing I appreciated the most is that all the chefs leaned into the fun, what else are you supposed to do in a scenario like this? Make something that's edible, have a good time," Kristen Kish told Yahoo Canada on the set of Top Chef in Toronto last year. "And really, for the most part, it wasn't the best showing of all the food they made, sure, and I would hope it wouldn't be, ... but they all embraced it, and they all made something. ... Nothing was not edible." "I'm not going to pretend that it wasn't ridiculous. ... But here's the thing, ... as a chef, we're used to eating late night, convenient style. So it might not be the food that we cook, but it's certainly something that we know what it tastes like. It's not like it was something off in a faraway land." But actually, judge Tom Colicchio believed that this is a challenge that was placed at the wrong time in the competition. "This was a challenge we should have done earlier in the season," Colicchio said. "Especially at this point ... where we're factoring in Quickfire and Elimination challenges. "This was a tough one for me. .. I think the challenges should be challenging, but we should always find an avenue where we're going to get a really good [food]. ... Some of these shows where it's like, you've got pasta ... and jelly beans, what does that do? No one would ever do that. ... But I think the biggest problem is they couldn't use a knife." Looking at Season 22 as a whole, Colicchio identified that the chefs are more "consistent" than he's seen in previous seasons of the show. "Sometimes this kitchen, this competition, is not for everyone," he said. "There's been a lot fewer lows and a lot more highs. There have been some extraordinary things, just things that are just out of left field, really good." This week's episode also marked the return of César to the competition after being eliminated last week, but surviving Last Chance Kitchen. "There was a pickle challenge and he had a bread and butter pickle tart, like lemon curd tart, with ice cream. ... It was fantastic. It was sensational," Colicchio highlighted. "But there are times when [the chefs] do something doesn't work." "There's always one or two ingredients that he puts in there that you kind of question sometimes." Looking at mistakes that chefs generally make on the show, Colicchio stressed that sometimes they try to give themselves too many option. "They go and get a bunch of stuff so they have options, the thing about having options is that you don't know which lane to choose, and you're able to go back and forth maybe too much," he said. "I think, go and get a few things, focus and cook. ... It's always that one extra thing that ruins a dish." In this week's Elimination Challenge, the chefs had to create dishes using sustainably grown Montreal rooftop ingredients, and only using the items left over in the Top Chef pantry. The dishes had to transport the judges into one of the four weather seasons. The winning chef was Shuai, who made a "last bowl of hot pot" with squash, sweet potato dumplings, fried enoki mushrooms and mushroom dashi, representing winter. Unfortunately for Vinny, he was eliminated from the competition. He made a lamb dumpling with morel mushroom consommé, enoki mushrooms and english peas, meant to represent spring. Canadian judge Gail Simmons said there was an "aggressiveness" to the consommé that overpowered the dish, and both Simmons and Colicchio were missing the radishes on their plates.
Yahoo
14-03-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
'Top Chef: Destination Canada' Episode 1 recap: Best bites and dish that was 'elevated hospital food'
Top Chef is back, but this time things look slightly different, with the show moving to Canada for Season 22, Top Chef: Destination Canada. Host Kristen Kish, head judge Tom Colicchio, and Canadian judge Gail Simmons are guiding the 15 contestants on a Canadian culinary journey, with stops in Toronto, Calgary, Montreal and Prince Edward Island. For the first episode, all the chefs travelled to Toronto. Fourteen of the chefs are based in the U.S., while one chef is Canadian, Massimo Piedimonte from Montreal, chef and owner of Cabaret l'Enfer. "If I fail, I don't think I'll be able to go back home, " Massimo says, referencing his position as the only Canadian chef in the competition. Before the chefs get into the Quickfire Challenge, Kristen explained that, just like last season, no immunity will be given for winning these challenges. Instead, they have the opportunity to win Quickfire Cash. The winner of each elimination round will get immunity for the next elimination the first Quickfire of the season, the chefs had to go into the Top Chef pantry and select one item. Once they returned, they were paired in groups of three, based who they shared a car with to the competition. Then the chef's were tasked with making a dish using each person's ingredient, plus three ingredients selected by the judges — tomatoes, clams and chives. The winning group received $15,000, $5,000 each. While many teams worked smoothly there were some differing opinions. On the Red team, which included Vincenzo "Vinny", Lana and Paula, Vinny had the idea to serve the corn and clam chowder using an apple as the bowl, but Lana and Paula were skeptical about the idea. Additionally, Anya was feeling left out on the Blue team, with Zubair and Bailey creating, as Anya described, a "Chicago clique." But hen it came to the final dishes, all the groups did quite well. 'I get grumpy when the food's not so good, I'm not grump right now. I'm really happy," head judge Tom said. But the winner ended up being Team Yellow, Mimi, César and Katianna, who made an apple and fennel soup with clams, corn and chorizo relish. Moving on to the elimination challenge, things got a bit more heated. Five special guest chefs were introduced, each representing one of the five regions of Canada. Sheila Flaherty for the North, Jeremy Chales for the Atlantic region, David Zilber representing the Central region, Dale MacKay for the Prairies, and Nicole Gomes representing the West. Each chef revealed a selection of six ingredients that represent their respective regions: West: Pacific salmon, salt spring island lamb, red fire wheat, foraged mushrooms, hazelnuts, plums Prairies: Ribeye, walleye, red lentils, sour cherries, tomatoes, cold pressed canola oil Central: Rainbow trout, peaches, corn, ice wine, pea shoots, pork Atlantic: Cod, dulse seaweed, potatoes, snow crab, blueberries, screech rum North: Beets, carrots, crowberries, turbot, arctic char, oats Because the Yellow team won the Quickfire Challenge, they got the first shot to select which region's ingredients they'll work with for the elimination challenge. They chose Central and selected to Purple to go next, and they chose the Prairies. The Red team then chose West, Blue team chose North, leaving the Green team with the Atlantic ingredients. The chefs were given two hours to cook and serve their dishes as Casa Madera restaurant, in the 1 Hotel in Toronto, but there was an added catch. This was an individual challenge, meaning that even though each team has access to the same ingredients list, their teammates are actually their competition. One chef in each group will be at the top of the pack, while the chefs with the worst dish on their respective teams will be up for elimination. After the chefs got shopping with their $250 budget and 30-minute time crunch, and started cooking, some chefs struggled. Kat didn't have enough time to put all her components on the plate, and Mimi raced against the clock to cook pork, while also overcooking mashed potatoes. Additionally, Tristen didn't have enough time to include the curry he made for his dish. Here's how the feedback for each chef went: Lana — Seared salmon with dawadawa cream, lamb fat-roasted mushrooms and hazelnut gremolata — Well cooked with great texture Vinny — Confit salmon with miso-hazelnut butter mushrooms and consommé — Perfectly cooked, a subtle dish full of flavour and power Paula — Grilled lamb with mushroom mole, hazelnut pipián and plum salsa macha — Mole lacked spice, Kristen's lamb is "severely" undercooked while Gail's was overcooked Kat — Pan-fried walleye, wild rice with tomatoes and smoked sour cherries — Didn't get everything on every plate, but good flavour in the rice and Gail thought cherries were the best part (if you had them on the plate) Henry — Ribeye tartare with toasted lentil aioli, sour cherry chimichurri, cumin and lentil cracker and egg yolk custard — "Juicy" tartar with the choice of ribeye, the cracker had good flavour Corwin — Grilled ribeye, red lentil purée with tomatoes and sour cherries — Cook was good on the beef, but a disjointed dish with the purée César — Corn butter poached trout, grilled radicchio with corn and pea shoot dressing — Good balance, appealing pocket the trout was cooked in Mimi — Grilled pork loin and potato purée with corn beurre monté and peach relish — Dry, beige pork and muddy potatoes that look like they were made from powder, and David said it looked and tasted like "elevated hospital food" Katianna — Pork loin katsu with miso, corn and pea shoot gravy and kimchi peaches — Peaches were one of the best bites Tom had all day, but didn't love the gravy, but Kristen thought the gravy was the best part Tristen — Poached cos with snow crab and dulse mousse, butter pached snow crab with potato and dulse crumble — Cod was cooked perfectly, great pop of coriander, and Tom thought the curry (that was missing) would have maybe overpowered the dish Shuai — Steamed cod with braised daikon, snow crab and egg drop sauce and crispy dulse — "Beautiful" cook to the cod, crab and daikon were the perfect compliment, very cohesive Massimo — Cod "en écailles" with buerre blanc and smoked dulse — "Tonge and cheek" use of potatoes as scales on the fish, cod wasn't overcooked, but not cooked as well as his competitors Anya — Ukha with arctic char, potatoes, beet caviar and rye cracked — Great connection to Russian cuisine, "fantastic sourness" to the soup, but the cracker wasn't a favourite Zubair — Meen moilee wit turbot, beet and crowberry achar — Ratio was off, fish was overpowered Bailey — Carrot risotto with confit arctic char and pickled beets — Gail said it wasn't the worst risotto she's had on the show, but "not good" Shuai, Vinny, Henry, César and Anya were selected as the best in their respective groups, with Vinny winning the challenge. Mimi and Kat were in the bottom, with Mimi eliminated, getting sent to Last Chance Kitchen for one more chance to stay in the competition. In terms of how Top Chef decides who's on the show, part of the process is to ensure that there are chefs from different geographic locations and who specialize in different cuisines, but recommendations can play a big part in getting someone on the show. "We don't want to have all the chefs coming from [Los Angeles] and New York, trying to spread it out around the country," showrunner Doneen Arquines told Yahoo Canada during a set visit in Toronto last year. "Then also the style of cuisine, so that we're not seeing 15 of the same kinds of cuisine together. So this season we had everything from Russian to Trinidadian to Jamaican." "Then also a lot of recommendations. A lot of the chefs that are on the show these days are recommended to us by chefs that Tom and Gail and Kristen, our casting department, has met over the years, or that we've worked with. So it's really a lot of word of mouth, and then there's so many Top Chef alumni as well who have come across great chefs. And every once in a while ... people will send me Instagram pages for people."
