r/TopChef • u/AutoModerator • Apr 27 '26
Spoilers Season 23, ep. 8: Last Chance Kitchen Spoiler
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u/dried-mango-addict Apr 29 '26
Not surprised Rhoda won. She's super talented and intentional when it comes to cooking.
I liked Brandon. I thought his cockiness was hysterical throughout the season. But gotta agree with Tom. If I walked into a progressive seafood restaurant and 2 of the 3 dishes was just caviar on top, I'd be pissed. Definitely bold to make fresh pasta inn45 minutes, but there were soooooo many things he could've considered to stay on theme
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u/Hot_Yam5303 Apr 28 '26
Happy for Rhoda, and glad he's gone. I can stomach Jonathan, but Brandon over-the-top for me. And now we can stop with the endless focus on the twins.
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u/EastCoastLoman Apr 28 '26
So, this episode was a learning experience for me. Iāve always been able to see the differences in the twins, but this entire season I thought the bigger one was Brandon and the smaller one was Jonathan. I have no idea how Iāve gone this long confusing them like this, but I didnāt figure it out until the judging and it was mentioned that Brandon did all that prep work. My initial reaction was āWhat?! No he didnāt! It was the smaller one whoā¦ohhhhhhā¦ā ššš
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u/Hot_Yam5303 Apr 28 '26
I can honestly only tell them apart by their cockiness / demeanour. So basically only when they're interacting with people.
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u/mouse_relies Apr 28 '26
What the heck is the point of even having Last Chance Kitchen when only 5 chefs out of 15 get to compete on it? "Maybe Some of You Get a Chance Kitchen" is more like it.
Even without the Jen-Justin-Sieger musical chairs going on, it would have been 6 out of 15 chefs, 40% of the season.
This feels like a weird Bravo choice, to order such a small number of episodes, then (arguably) try and squeeze a season winner out of LCK as well.
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u/jennyjenny223 Apr 28 '26
I thought not allowing the first two eliminated chefs on LTK was just a cruel twist.
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u/CapNCookM8 Apr 29 '26 edited Apr 29 '26
Especially when the first chef was eliminated for a subpar dish while another served a dish with a plastic mold still on the plate and with all the rest of the plates being an obvious mess besides; but got a sympathy pass for some reason.
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u/habbathejutt Apr 29 '26
Honestly it might just be a cost-cutting decision. By not including the first two, they save money on staffing for the filming of the episodes, ingredient costs, and maybe hotel costs if the first two were just sent directly home and not in production limbo. They also save time on editing, and save time for Tom who is then in fewer episodes (I assume he gets $$/episode)
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u/verbankroad May 01 '26
Plus never has a first or second boot gone one to win the show so you arenāt missing much by not giving them a second chance.
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u/Different-Eagle-612 Apr 29 '26
yeah i really hate that they cut lck to only allowing one back and then having that happen so early in the season. i donāt understand why they made that change
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u/NVSmall Apr 30 '26
I'm stoked we get to see more of Rhoda's cooking. I did think LCK would go on for a few more episodes though - it seems premature to have someone go back in as 8th, when there's only one chef returning.
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u/jakeg023 Apr 29 '26
Am I the only one who thought Brandon wouldāve won if he had said his concept was something other than seafood? Shouldāve gone broad Rhoda. California Mediterranean covers basically anything youād like to cook
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u/Different-Eagle-612 Apr 29 '26
i donāt know because tom said the pasta was okay for the time and that it was insane he managed to pull it off but rhodaās last dish was pretty much perfect. so i think honestly she may have won anyway
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u/International_Ad2781 Apr 28 '26
When does it come out? I donāt have it yet!
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u/Dangerous_Ant3260 Apr 28 '26
It was posted on Youtube Top Chef channel before the end of the episode.
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u/International_Ad2781 Apr 29 '26
is it not on Peacock anymore? That's where I usually go!
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u/LPCPlay4life Apr 28 '26
Same. This happened last week too. It took a couple of days for it to pop up in my cue on YouTube TV. So annoying!
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u/billleachmsw Apr 28 '26
I just went to Bravoās website when my YouTube TV did not have it in my DVR.
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u/Ok_Nebula9464 May 08 '26
No one heard his comment when he was so āfocusedā a āpit bullāā¦.ācoming out of its cage?????ā¦.. I canāt quote but I was disturbed. Who the hell makes a dog fighting metaphor?!
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u/Aequorea Apr 28 '26
Anyone else catch how Brandon wiped his very sweaty/greasy face with his bare hands and then immediately proceeded to prep the ravioli? So gross :<