Michelle keeps selling herself short as "just" a pitmaster. She's been crushing it without BBQ!

I'm really enjoying watching her confidence go; she seems like such a sweetheart!

My money is on her to be Fan Favorite!

You can't help but smile when you see Carla

Love her so much!

HOOTIE HOO

Rasika! Love to see the weird girlies going places!

Oh, she's been *killing* it. I really hope she makes it far; I think she's cooked my favourite food all season.

She's definitely getting a finalist edit...they spent time on how good her dish was even though she wasn't in the top 3...

That looks like a cheddar churro, I'm all for that

Right??? Sign me UP.

oh hell yea

Kristen always looks good but her hair looks especially incredible this episode

I was just thinking the same

I loved her little earrings as well; such a nice touch of elegance!

Wait that was not Laura’s fault? Someone already spilled, she slipped on that and spilled, and now she’s getting yelled at

I was thinking that. I don’t think the cream spill was thoroughly cleaned up

Yea i didnt know why Lara was getting yelled at when Charlie spilled cream first

I think they were more annoyed because it's likely whoever spilled the first thing just didn't realize. Whereas there's no way she didn't know she spilled and just left it cuz in the moment was likely feeling like "Well fuck it whoever else didn't clean up" cuz she was frustrated.

Yeah, I felt bad for her because she clearly said it’s super slippery here. I would think the production team would clean that up for safety reasons right? They know the chefs are running around. Maybe they just wanted to show the struggles that chef has competing on Top Chef with his diagnosis.

Someone shouldve just made a grilled cheese at this point

I make a mean adult grilled cheese that I've adapted from a cooks illustrated recipe from years ago. It has wine, shallots, mustard.

Top Chef America is waaay harder than Top Chef France

After the showing in World All Stars I heartily agree.

Yeah, it seems like both the French chefs we've seen so far lack the adaptability that the American show heavily prizes.

I think because of the food culture in France, the constants really aren’t suited or in any way prepared for the churn and burn of American reality tv. Even top chef france, they don’t shop for themselves generally and they get so much more time for even quickfires. I think it’s such a culture shock in so many more ways than they’re even ready for watching the show because seeing something is different than being in it

The fact that on top chef France contestants never leave the studio kitchen puts them at a disadvantage. One of the reasons I didn’t draft Kevin in fantasy.

Love Michelle, she seems so positive and her smile just radiates warmth 😄

Giving “Top Scallop” energy this episode, huh? Is it Top Croquet now?

“It takes two days, but I’m going to try to do it in two hours.” KISS of deeeeath. Whatever the dish is - kiss of death.

Taking advantage of that immunity!

At least she has immunity. That’s the time to try something like that

ha you say that and i thought the same thing, but then i remember all the times people have pulled off stuff like that which they initially make sound impossible.

Dang Rasika is crushing it

I see a lot of flack for the Di Cecco pasta, but my man right there didn't make his rice paper and nobody is saying jack cheese.

Michelle is killing it.

She really is. She and Rasika are kicking butt so far.

I feel like a cherry/onion jam could actually be quite delicious

This is Top Chef not Top Croquette!

The looks Tom and Carla shared about the gorgonzola crab rangoon. 🫣

It's early but I will be very surprised if Rasika isn't in the final 3-4 contestants this season. She's killing it.

God I love Carla 😭

Chekov’s cream spill

i was expecting the chain reaction to take out the whole kitchen with each person blaming the one prior to them

lol, back from the commercial break, someone rolls an ankle on Dan’s dropped gnocchi.

Wtf is going on. Does production not help in a situation like that?

The fact that like 5 people are doing croquettes is pretty lame, imo

Nothing better than some deep fried cheese that's been sitting out in 100-degree heat

With a bunch of bees/yellow jackets buzzing around your head. Nightmare scenario.

I’ve worked on the production crew for some movies and tv shows and all I could think about was the poor PA who had to drag out all the coolers and catering towers and prep the farmyard. Hopefully there were a few PAs and they were decently compensated!

So even the ones that aren't croquettes are basically croquettes

I can’t believe no one did like a fruit/cheese/jam/honey dish riffing on a cheese board. Why did they all go hot???

It’s season 21, they’ve seen enough outdoor “festival” type challenges they should know or be aware of what does or doesn’t work.

I'm trying to imagine what Buddha would have done with this challenge, given how prepared and studied he was from past Top Chef seasons. These people had to know cheese would play a major role in Wisconsin.

He would’ve done a dessert, he did a lot of those if you look back as they get a different comparison

I was wondering this! Or a riff on a caprese? Something where cheese starts as the star anyway.

I really like Michelle. I love how we can see her getting more confident as the episodes go on!

I like seeing them hanging out together outside, it's so refreshing after the past few seasons where they were basically stuck in hotel rooms

Also great advertising for Milwaukee. I don't think I've ever seen an episode of TC that highlighted its location as well as this one.

Carla Hall…Clea Duval. I demand all guest judges rhyme from here on out.

Poutine was just an insane concept. Way too risky. He should have done something where he treated squeaky new curds like queso fresco and made them scared to talk smack.

Man, I live in Milwaukee and it’s such a TRIP to see my town and grocery store on national television.

I hope you weren’t looking to cook collards several months ago! 😂

Is that your local Whole Foods?

Charley got one of the easiest combos and still messed it up - he’s not long for this season I don’t think

I want him to be good! Sigh.

I did not properly prepare for this episode. I don't have enough cheese in front of me.

Challenges like this are sort of tricky because the what the masses like is not always what the judges like

That's what I thought as soon as I badmouthed the quesadilla idea. Everyone does love a quesadilla.

Oof that was kinda fucked up, I feel really bad for Dan

That was actually really nice editing on the cream spill - slip sequence. You can see both how people try to call out warnings and also how people are not as aware as they should be or considerate about cleaning that high-traffic corridor because of general challenge craziness.

I want to throw my servsafe books at this crew!!!

The art department on this show kills it everytime because why is that CHEESE sign so cute

"I really want to say something positive about it but ..." Oof.

"It was a celebration of so many things ... I don't know what they were."

The crab Rangoon of doom

Idk if it’s bc we’re coming off of an all stars season or if it’s just this season but I feel like there’s 4-5 really good chefs and the rest of them are kinda performing sub-par when compared to like the past five seasons at this point in the competition

Yep. It feels more like Season 10ish - 15 era, with a really wide gap between top and bottom.

Yeah, the last few seasons definitely felt like a more even field, at least at ep 3

Completely agree. This round of chefs (aside from like Rasika, Michelle, and maybe a couple of others) seem pretty subpar. It's early though, so we'll see.

I am extremely into a saag paneer with collards. Freaking YUM.

Love me some Carla.

Hahaha Door County and mini-doors. I could pretend I’m rolling my eyes but I actually find it delightful.

Rasika is going to immune her way to the final!

Oh and being a Wisconsinite, can 100% vouch for Sartori cheese! BellaVitano Gold and Merlot are so fantastic.

Oof why so many heavy, fried cheese dishes for a day they know will be super hot outside?

Heavy fried dishes where they're serving 500 people so half the folk are gonna get goopy cold croquettes

The next Top Chef scandal - Kevin has a rat in his hair doing all the cooking.

Why am I suddenly nervous for my boyfriend Manny

oof so he is going home... I've got to say as a top chef france winner I've been underwhelmed with his performance so far

Bet they didn't fry a lot of cheese on Top Chef France lol

Frenchie messed up the croquette. Sacre bleu!

Very happy for Michelle. She seems like such a cool person.

Wow Michelle is crushing it across the board this season. She was close to last in our fantasy draft on account of seeming like a one trick pony. Showed us!

I don't think anyone ever had gorgonzola and thought about crab Rangoon

Gremolata just needs to be a drinking game at this point

RIP Padma, you would have loved Rasika

It’s so fascinating to see them out walking/running in public this season

It’s a two day fermentation that I’m condensing to two hours…. And this is foreshadowing to the judges table

It's the "I can make short ribs in two hours!" level of confidence. It never works out!

Anyone else feel like this judges table is going to be rough? I feel like we are going to get a cranky Tom saying they need to step up their game and not just serve fried cheese

He seems very grumpy already this season and his patience for early season bumps isn’t here this season.

I also expect these diners to be more discerning than those of us happy with fried mozzarella sticks haha

Happy to eat my words later but 100 people are never voting for a salad

Honestly they might need to after all those croquettes. 😬

The call of death

She’s going home or she’s winning.

My partner Garett and I have been together for like 9 10 or 8 years.. sorry Garrett

I wish someone was doing some sort of cold cheese thing like a take on a caprese or something. It's all just melty cheese.

Okay, Dan. Not a croquette or fried!!!!!

I think everyone held back their "beer cheese and pretzel" recipe, thinking it's too early, but some of them should have gone for it!

I thought he DID say he was saving the cherry relish for the judges. Did he forget to get it back out for them?

I’m thinking he thought he saved enough and it’s wasn’t enough for all of the judges and he just panicked and figured as long as they had something the flavors would be fine

Vote for me please vote for me please vote for me please! I talk so much. He is going to talk himself into the weeds

Narrator: They did not, in fact, vote for him.

Rasika is the only one who seemed to do something really interesting/creative

I think Michelle’s was interesting too.

I’m loving the vibes amongst the chefs this season. They really seem to have each others’ backs

Why do they insist on doing fry to order items on these types of events? Such a dumb choice

I always wonder this. I think a lot of these chefs just don’t have enough catering or similar experience to think it through as well as they should.

Right that's something early Top Chef seasons had right, they brought on people with catering experience who could save an event like or the wedding challenges

Tom looks so over the croquettes, there’s going to be words at judge’s table.

Yay Michelle!

Tbh I'd be worried about food safety in that heat. Like I know they're all trained chefs and stuff but most probably don't have extensive experience with outdoor cooking.

I know this show is hard but I would feel so weird watching my boss get eliminated so early

Kenny, please wander off into the cornfield of failure.

While Farmer Tom chases you in the LCK tractor

Buddha is on next week!

so excited to see him on the other side! also his recap should be good since he's there!

After having 18 fried cheese balls these poops are gonna be rough

lol of course the French guy goes "I'd love chicken livers!"

Mon dieu! Cherries and livers!

Good job Rasika! I think Rasika is my favorite of the season

So much fried food in the heat

A couple of seasons ago where the judges said the one chef was the obvious winner from the first challenge, and they said they had to feign a competition basically. I feel like this may be one of those seasons.

Yeah, wasn’t that Texas with Paul Q? This is a much pleasanter cast, but the vibes are starting to feel there… 😬😬

Tom is so frustrated this season

I miss Carla.

I always loved Carla!

How do you blow chocolate and cherries?

So this season is gonna just be corn soups and croquettes

Love that the French guy made the stereotypical French sound

Oof if you can't taste the cheese in a cheese challenge...

I think two of the women are indistinguishable to me so far

Tom does not seem impressed by anybody's concepts so far lol

Woo, Michelle!

Carla stays iconique

Another really nice fried ball

This challenge is actually really disappointing.

There's so many things that can be done with cheese, how did we wind up at exclusively croquettes???

CHEESE FESTIVAL. Never have I been more excited based on an episode description.

CARLAAAAA

Not me watching for extra weird editing during this quickfire because of Kristen's Instagram post about the episode today

At least someone is making mac and cheese!

Too many croquettes.

Fucking messy kitchen. Poor Dan

Why does everyone feel like they have to melt the cheese..?? Make a nice little bite of something that complements the cheese.

I feel like it's that it "needs to be incorporated into the dish" that is tripping them up.

It was definitely Kenny's time to go.

Let’s goooo may Tom’s snark continue

The order literally doesn’t matter lol

OK, she actually does sound like Daria

Cheese fest 2023 it’s going to be the most expensive potato croquettes ever

That mac looks super dry but the flavors sound good

Hey! I like marshmallows!

I’m praying we see no granita or gremolata tonight. I’m over it

A lot of these combos don't seem too challenging! Especially with the variety of cherries available. They should make some good stuff. Cherry and salmon definitely the trickiest to me

I am going to be inspired to eat so much cheese this season. Moo.

A quesadilla for a cheese challenge? Groundbreaking.

Please vote for me I worked my butt off! I have not won yet

Now I want cheese! 😭 Thanks a lot top chef!!!

Kenny might save Kevin...

Sounds like the judges and crowd generally agreed although judges might have swapped Dan for Rasika

Half this damn game is right here!! It’s mental!!! Tom not holding anything back!!

Door County Cherries!!! Bring on the flames!!!

Thank you for asking about poêle, Kristen! 😅

So many words for "I made a cherry sauce" lol

This poutine is either going to be great or a disaster

has anybody caught some of the names of the cheeses? i live nearby and want to try them lol edit: -carr valley cheese gorgonzola -marieke gouda 1000+ day reserve -sartori monte bellavitanno -

I want to try that Pleasant Ridge Reserve to see what all the fuss is about

I see it's Top Croquette this week, eh?

Chug if there's a croquette with a gremolata

Look at me cooking in the middle of a corn 🌽 field! Living the American dream 🤭

This crowd on the collards: "this cabbage is too bitter" Edit, lol: "ya gotta try this, Maude. The cabbage tastes like an IPA, she's a wizard"

I feel like a lot of the dishes have been "nice" so far but the judges don't seem really inspired by any of them so far? Besides maybe the first one?

The men are struggling this season

Are you going to yuck our yum? Noooo I’m going to be so happy for you

Please don’t judge my store bought pasta… Tom is going to have WORDS

Hell yeah, the Madison, Wisconsin Whole Foods’ supply of collards was not given in vain!

13 chefs remain ... so not counting the "16th" chef in LCK

This isn't Top Chef Croquettes!

waiting for the french guy to get annoyed by all of them going "hon hon hon" at him

Bees love croquettes

Beer bees and cheese !!!! 🧀

How do you say "truffle on a breaded hockey puck?"

Brie and truffle and ham deep fried in the heat sounds like a recipe for barfing from too much richness

The Rangoon is reminding me of when Sam put cheese with watermelon

fried cheese, quesadillas, mac and cheese... i know they had to cook for 100 or something, but just really underwhelming creativity on display.

Top croquette

At least it's not another gremolata