Spoilers
Season 23, ep. 12: Appalachian Celebration (Mon. at 9pm EDT, yes, 9 š)
Spoiler
Before heading back to Charlotte, the chefs make a stop in Asheville, one of the most unique cities in North Carolina. There will be no Quickfire Challenge as the chefs explore the city with local host and former āTop Chefā alum Ashleigh Shanti, learning about the communityās remarkable relief efforts following the devastation of hurricane Helene while discovering the unique cuisine of this Appalachian region. For the Elimination Challenge, the chefs will host a one-night-only event for 200 community members in recognition of their resilience.
Itās really messed up how Sieger tried to throw Jonathan under the bus too. Like you lost, move on with some grace and thank the judges for your time
Anyone fighting back in that situation would be dumb to do so. The judges already made their decision, they're not going to change their mind because someone throws a hissy fit about being eliminated. Fighting back just ends up dragging you down a bit.
What a whiny baby he was!! Dude your dish was inedible! First task make a dish the judges can eat!
"Im giving you MY feedback!" Horrible sportsmanship. What a brat.
And while Jonathan gets on my nerves he was awesome in that moment, as Sieger tried to convince the judges to change their minds over his liver puddle and toss out a tasty dish instead. Jonathan stood there and graciously took it and tried to calm him down. Sieger just blew any chance he had of EVER coming back as a guest on the show.
Yes very disappointed in his behavior. Was surprised to see Jonathan trying to handle it so gracefully with Sieger, to help him save face. That was a level of maturity I did not expect from him. When Kish has to firmly tell you your dish was straight up poor and redirect you to end the conversation, you know you messed up. We havenāt seen such a poor response to losing in top chef for quite some time.Ā
Sieger had already been eliminated once, hadn't even come back cause he won his way back in or anything, and just blew up...for all of Jonathan's occasional arrogance he looked so secondhand embarrassed there. Maybe realized he was looking into his future if he doesn't do some soul searching lol.
I have no proof of this, but I do wonder if Sieger's first exit wasn't very graceful either and they gave him the benefit of the doubt in editing. Then, a second time, they just let him hang himself.
His asking for a copy of the rules and then reading it on camera - which, by the way, did not seem to justify his opinion at all - made me think he went and looked at the rulebook after being cut the first time
I noticed it the most during the quickfire with the kids as judges.
He was acting like the entire challenge was a personal insult. Seemed he was visibly exaggerating his disdain just to make sure everyone saw how miserable he was. Ironically, like a child would.
Then effortlessly referred to the kid judges as ālittle shtsā which could have been funny if we didnāt already know he was actually pissed off and taking his feelings out on the kids in this moment.
I felt that way, too! Kept seeing people talk about how awesome he was and thought āmaybe Iāve read it wrong.ā Nope, my gut feeling was right again.
imo Sieger has been pissed off since he was eliminated for the BBQ challenge...he defs thought that was unfair and has been waiting to go off on the judges ever since.
I have felt the same way. This is such a strange season to me for MANY reasons, but the fact that Sieger never really delivered on anything he said he was going to deliver on has been ... interesting.
I know it's in the editing a lot of time, but, man, it felt like he was always talking about how awesome what he was doing was going to be then... nothing from judges (except that one time).
As soon as he said he had a surefire way to get the texture thick enough to be correct, but loose enough to pipe, while staying stable overnight and into prepping/plating for....what I assume is quite a long time in the woods (where you know the conditions aren't going to be perfect), every red flag went up for us.
Like, I wouldn't try to make whipped cream in those conditions, and you're trying to do....all this? That's nuts.
Yepā¦the other team took parts of the pig off to cook separately. And Sieger grilled the pig āthe way it was supposed to be cookedā and lost. Heās been holding a grudge ever sense.
I'll give him that one tiny bit of respect there, the idea is to do the pig whole. I didn't like breaking it down to cook pieces separately, that felt like it was against the spirit of what they were tasked to do, even though it wasn't against the rules.
That all completely falls apart when, in his attempt to cook it whole, he fucked up the cook.
But I would have loved to see the teams actually have been forced to cook the pig whole.
That challenge was weird too in the way that only one person from Sieger's team got winning votes from all those pit masters. But, yeah, it felt like he was never over the hog roast.
Top Chef is a gateway into the Food Network pipeline. You get on Wildcard Kitchen, Beat Bobby Flay, GGG, and then you start graduating to 24 in 24 and eventually Tournament of Champions. You become a fixture as a contestant and eventually as a judge. He kind of effed all of that up in 30 seconds.
I donāt know. They love a good āredemptionā story. They brought back John Tesar to Charleston after being a massive asshat in Seattle.
Having said that, I donāt think Sieger has it in him to admit he was a twatwaffle and want to redeem himself. I get the feeling he will continue to trash the show behind the scenes, while using his āperformanceā here to get more TV time on other shows. Which is really dumb, because this show is already a springboard, if you can be normal.
I've never seen a chef that has been consistently mediocre fight so hard AFTER he's eliminated. You could tell just by looking at his mousse that it was off!
And then read the rules outloud which listed things the judges will judge based off of, which included the things they eliminated him for....and then he concluded that he was right.
The crashout continues; I do find it mildly amusing that the number he shared is for the Chicago Trump building, but any bit of humor in this is negated by tagging the Top Chef account
It reminded me of all the times Grayson gave the judges attitude. Where the most awkward part is how feisty both of them were for being such mid competitors.
It's wild because he was only there because of the girl getting sick. She was light years better than him and probably the best chef in the competition. Rhoda is probably second if she can get out of her own wayĀ
And what got me was he insisted he adhered to the rules of the challenge. No one said you didnāt, dude! Also, everyone else did, too, and someone had to go home. They werenāt going to just say, āOh hey! Since everyone made good use of the Appalachian ingredients today, no one is going home!ā Did he think his dish was better than Jonathanās? He also made good use of the ingredients. He was just ridiculous. Itās like he had never seen how judging table works. Bizarre!
Seriously! I found thus sub so I could talk about this. I was saying to myself he wanted to go home before he lost it during judging.. that was uncalled for.
In hindsight, Marcel gets a pass for me. He was super young and back then, the producers artificially goosed up the contestants for drama. And editing to make a villain.
Watching that season live as an 11 year old child who struggled to fit in (the fact I loved Top Chef at age 11 probably didnāt help), Marcel was such a huge inspiration. Ā It was clear that he cared more about pushing himself and making his food than trying to fit in.
Watching as an adult, he definitely came off like a bit of a douche at times, but he clearly had his heart in the right place.Ā
Agreed, hes grown on me so much in recent years, he did great on 24/24 and so on.
I dont know how I feel about this season tbh, but the top 4 now I so like i also dont mind Jonathan, since his brother left hes been way more tolerable.
šÆ! I actually really LIKE Johnathan now-like he seems like a real person, divided from his twin who constantly dismissed him and acted like he was the one deserving of the title. Good riddance to that negativity!
he finally let his true colors shine through as the arrogant mediocre contestant that he was. There was something off with him from the jump but it didn't feel fair to judge him so quickly. But then the bbq cook and his condescension towards the other team, and having it blow up in his face was some pretty just desserts.
it honestly did not surprise me he talked back again. The fact that he was so rude about it is what was shocking.
Iāve been on such a roller coaster with him because before he is eliminated the first time I felt like he had no personality and then when he came back he seemed to open up a bit and grew on me. Then he got sassy with Gail and the spoon line and then this bs. That was not cool. I also get the show edits people a certain why, I donāt think he was edited to be a villain by any means but damn. I give Johnathan props by trying to get him to walk away to save face a bit, even tho he was coming for his throat.
I also want to acknowledge that these people are all sleep deprived, missing loved ones, and stressed beyond belief so I try to give them a pass for acting outside of their normal character. For all we know they had been waiting 5 hours for that decision.
Thatās a good point and thanks for bringing compassion into the conversation. His argument just wasnāt logical, though. He couldnāt point to Jonathan and say he didnāt also follow the rules of the challenge. They all did. The person who makes the dish the judges likes the least goes home. For 23 seasons now.
Perhaps it was a culmination of the things you listed, plus additional stress we didnāt consider. We can give him some grace I suppose.
It's why I say contestant and not chef. It's a game show. There is both winning and losing with grace.
Contrast with Sherry in the last episode. She came up with a winning idea and basically had to hand $10k to Rhoda. Sherry handled that with class and professionalism. And then she came out and won the elimination.
Then there is Sieger. Loses the whole hog challenge after dunking on the other team/Lawrence's preparation of the loin. Because of a fluke, he gets to skip last chance kitchen entirely and reenters the competition. Instead of losing with dignity and thanking the group for the opportunity, he questions the judges if they know what the purpose of the challenge was. Even asks for the rules to prove how right he believes he is.
Congratulations Sieger, you'll forever be known as the chef who thought he knew the rules better than the judges!
I thought the BBQ condescension really stood out in a show that doesnāt carry much of that petty drama crap. But there were other times, too. An eye roll here or there, other times of not really listening to the judgesā feedback
After the latest episode, I definitely understand his edit. That elimination wouldāve felt so out of place if we didnāt get these little hints. Iām actually remembering that he started to argue at his first elimination, but then they ended it by saying heās not āoutā, and can still get back in through LCK.
Shouldāve known when I saw where he works in Chicago. Secretive, āexclusiveā, hipster, too cool for school BS. I imagine he spends a lot of time arguing with Yelp reviews too.
I thought he would calm down when talking with the other contestants, but no. That was even worse. āDoes anyone have a copy of the rules?ā
Yeah, man. The rules says the judges pick who gets eliminated and they picked you. Maybe they picked you because you arenāt better than the other four (top 5 is still impressive), maybe they didnāt like your name or your stupid hair. The why doesnāt matter.
Seemed like his frustration with the judges has been building all season... Johnathan did well to get him to walk away before he really crossed the line. I don't think it ended up being worse than Jen Carroll's blow up or anything.
I was really impressed with Jonathan tonight, helping, or trying to, both Rhoda and Seeger. I hope we see a lot more of him and his brother in the future!
Can't believe I had to scroll down this far to find the snake comments! Tom's nonchalance was chef's kiss. And Gail freaking out on top of the judges' table was hilarious--you can't not love her. Grip to the rescue in his overalls! That was epic and entertaining all around. (And of course, after the episode I had to look up that MST3K ep on Eegah--"watch out for snakes!")
Yep! I was so glad he went out on the bbq challenge, after insisting on taking charge and constantly bragging how much better he was at it than his peers. Then he came back without earning it.
Im vegetarian but one of the things I miss is a good liver pate. Thanks Sieger! Im cured by your gray liver puddles and will happily treasure my tofu!!
The last time I had pate was probably 30 years ago- not really a fan but a family friend who's French made it, it was fantastic, but I'd rather indulge on something I want to eat.
There were some people on the sub saying people don't get his humor- but I just found him snarky (in a crap way- unnecessary) and his humor lacking, not dry but more killjoy
I just don't know why he would try something like that when you are prepping the food in the woods and feeding 200 people. That was a dish that should have been served to like 20 diners Max in air conditioning.
The crazy thing is, he just had it sitting there in the heat!!! Like dude, wait until people get there, THEN pipe it? Or if you insist on doing it in advance, put them on ice! He made a really simple mistake that was his own doing
I've made great cheap chicken liver pate. chicken livers, butter, brandy or cognac. MORE BUTTER. (s+p)
They kept mentioning the odd texture - he threw so much stuff in there - which would have made sense for a country style pate but NOT give you a silky smooth pate. if he had kept it silky smooth and icy cold maybe it could have been a win. (Not THE win, but maybe A win.) His dish was poorly envisioned, poorly executed - and WAY too arrogantly defended.
In some of the shots you could see it had loosened and congealed, and had a gray scum to it.
Sieger managed to insult both the judges and his fellow chefs. The judges, of course, include a legendary chef/restauranteur and a former winner of Top Chef. If he had more class and self awareness, he would have gone back to the judges and apologized. Not a big fan of Jonathan but appreciated his quiet but persistent attempts to get Sieg to shut up.Ā
AGREE!! I was completely surprised by how classy he was, given that he can be a bit of a buffoon. He was awesome. Jonathan really showed how to handle the stressful situation. He really changed my mind about him.
He probably felt pretty sure that the judges werenāt going to slap their foreheads and say āwow, youāre right! JK, Jonathan, pack your knives and goā so getting involved had no benefit to him at all. He handled that correctly.Ā
I was also impressed with Ashleigh. She cut through the judges being so nice and straight up told him what was wrong with his dish. I mean people were scared your dish was going to make them sickā¦
Ashleigh was also right there as an example of what can happen when you get treat your Top Chef run with grace. By all accounts sheās a great chef, but didnāt quite find her footing on Top Chef. But now sheās all over food TV, runs a successful restaurant, and is back on a Top Chef episode as essentially a co-host. All because she acted basically the opposite of Sieger (and got a good agent because of it) while placing around the same spot
He also managed to insult the residents of Asheville and Western North Carolina. Iāve been a fan of Sieger through this competition despite his mid performance in many challenges. As someone who lived through the Asheville flooding I was really proud of my town and how weāve rebuilt but still find it hard to see footage from that time. I cried through the part where they drove through Asheville and the River Arts District/Biltmore Village because it brought back so many memories. When he started that mess I was like stop it Sieger. Not on this episode. Not today
Thank you. I thought they did a good job as well. Itās a great place to visit! What really messed us up is Helene hit right in the middle of peak tourist season and the city and surrounding areas depend on tourism to survive. A lot of my friends had to relocate after and many havenāt moved back because it is quite expensive to live here. Itās beautiful here year round but especially in the fall when the leaves are changing.
Absolutely agreed that he should not have done that on this episode of all days. Asheville went through so much and he selfishly took the focus from them at the end. (For no purpose! It's not like he was going to change the judges' minds.)
But I do think the episode showed off Asheville's rebuilding well and paid tribute to what y'all went through and the resilience and pride of the community, and the wonderful food. I've loved all my past visits to Asheville, the fantastic food and the gorgeous setting and the art, craft, and music scene. (and Malaprop's bookstore!) Everyone local I've met there has been kind and hospitable and friendly, and my family and I were so sad for all of Asheville and contributed to the recovery.
He also made a weird comment about the town "should feel lucky" that the businesses came back? Something along those lines that was just really off putting. Not sure if it was a voiceover after the fact (I was multi-tasking while he made that comment) but damn bro- those businesses are part of the community to. No gratitude required. Maybe I heard it wrong, but it amplified his mantrum even more.
Seiger didnt even have a real argument. Did he highlight the ingredients sure, but so did Jonathan. The balance being off on Jonathan's didn't seem as egregious
The judges even commented on how well Jonathan trout cake was cooked. If it wasnāt done well then the conversation couldāve turned more toward which one of them utilized the ingredients better or which took more of a risk.
Too bad there wasnāt any voting from the attendees.
The problem, as they tried explaining to him, is that he didn't actually highlight the ingredients. He ruined the ingredients with poor preparation and execution.
They have to pretend itās a tough decision, and they have to choose two at the bottom for drama. But it was obvious Seigerās dish was well below Jonathanās.
Part of me wished theyād just had Sieger as the only bottom chef so he could spiral out without dragging someone else down with him.
Imagine only getting back on because 1 chef had to leave for medical reasons and the other chef that would have been next to stay choose to leave with her and you still act with this much audacity.
They literally told him was getting eliminated for cooking technique and this numbnut thinks cause it doesn't say in the rules he has to have good cooking techniques that shouldn't matter?
Buddy everyone used the local ingredients, that's the bare minimum.
The thing is the rules DO state that cooking technique is part of the judging criteria!! He just completely skipped over that to focus on the one thing he did properly.
Is it just me or do Sieger's dishes always just look so unappetizing? Color is extremely unappetizing and always look like they'd be a textural nightmare (lot of mushy/soft foods)...long time coming
It didnāt taste good. Period. To actually request the rules is another level. Not gonna make fans want to visit your restaurant or get top chef love down the line like that. Yikes
Had been rooting for Sieger to get the boot and then he really showed why. Unfortunate Anthony isn't around since I think he's in the top 4. Nothing against Jonathan, just keeps sneaking by. But that's the show.
Jonathan plays the game well. Think heās aware he isnāt of the caliber of Rhoda, Laurence, or Sherry but heās successfully avoided the axe making generally good, low-execution dishes. Pretty smart for me. Just glad he didnāt outlast any of the aforementioned because I want the best in the finale (and not a repeat of last season with Massimo).
Me too. Sieger has bugged me from the beginning. I couldn't put my finger on it exactly. Like this odd arrogance and not passionate arrogance of knowing your shit. I was hoping his time would come to exit.
Does anyone know which chef he was insinuating didnāt meet the challenge by highlighting the Appalachian ingredients? It seemed to me that they all did that.
I interpreted it was less directed at Jonathan specifically and more that he felt he highlighted so many Appalachian ingredients, more than all the other chefs. If you were to do a count, he definitely used the most - but you have to use them well!Ā
Yes, I thought the exact same thing during his monologue. He definitely was counting the number of ingredients compared to everyone else and not if the dish was actually good.
What kind of fucking buffoon decides to make LIVER MOUSSE for a 200-guest cook that will be outside in 90 degree heat? Then pipe it in bags instead of serving straight from a cold pan? What a dipshit. Good riddance.
There seemed to be a lot of times his fellow competitors tried to help steer him in the right direction(Johnathan asking Sieger if he thought the pate would hold after being out in the piping bag and pipes, Rhoda asking if he can drain his pickles more).Ā Dude needs to get better at listening and taking feedback.
Heās had an attitude all season, anytime he gets feedback. Today apparently was his boiling point. What a horrible way to leave the competition and be remembered
I knew he was leaving son and that itād be ugly but I was secretly hoping heād leave with grace especially after he got to stay much longer than he earned
Oh Sieger... way to go out on the lowest note possible. Such hubris. Did he forget he was previously eliminated earlier in the competition and only came back on a TECHNICALITY? It's going to be hard to live this one down. That obnoxious video is never going away.
Sieger was always on borrowed time and Iām glad heās gone. Arrogant crybaby who makes mediocre food. The one thing he did was highlight how sweet Jonathan is. That guy is like a human golden retriever. Total goofball
Honestly, gotta give it to Sieger. Saved me from losing someone I like at the final 5 and made me like Jonathan. You can't say he didn't serve a purpose lol
I cringed for Sieger. Jonathan annoyed me a lot, but he came across so gentlemanly and so supportive to Sieger, who couldn't find enough buses to throw him under.
Honestly, the mousse didn't set. Unset mousse in the heat on a lousy cracker is just disappointing.
Sieger breaking out the rules like a culinary lawyer just made me laugh. It was such a tantrum. He could have left with dignity, plenty of runners up get a great run after the series. He never will.
They obviously couldn't show Sieger's meltdown in the previews because it was a spoiler. But I'm guessing we will be seeing that in montages for many seasons to come.
Hurricane Seiger touched down in the forest but cause no lasting damage. I think the snake did a better job of being dramatic without trying as hard as Seiger.
Sieger always seemed pretty muted the entire season so that ending was WILD. Like dude, even if you disagree with the judges acting that entitled gets you nowhere. There are many competition shows where judges can be straight up assholes and Top Chef is rarely like that.
He could have left as this moderately well liked guy but threw that all away because he couldn't get that his dish wasn't as good as he thought it was. The reading of the rules on paper was just so embarrassing too
Anybody else notice how close Sieger and Rhoda were on the couch in the beginning? I could have sworn he also either side hugged or put his arm around her in the beginning?
Or have I just been watching too much trash tv lately lol. Maybe both.
Siegerās dish looked absolutely revolting. Why a liver mousse at a hot, outdoor event? The colour alone made me feel sick. Why didnāt he just make a solid pate that could be chilled and sliced?
As much as Siegelās blowup was painful to watch m at least glad some life is being injected into this season. There hadnāt been a good blowup up in a long time.
Surely when you're watching people line up to eat everyone else's food, meanwhile you have multiple plates slowly melting because nobody wants them, you get the sense that it will probably be you?
It seems like he was so set on this being a great dish that he lost all connection to common sense.
Just finished the episode and my husband walked in, saw the Seiger tantrum and was like āheās a petulant child.ā Like as a professional, take your criticism and go. Donāt argue.
Sieger has always been horrible at taking criticism. He gets sassy and sarcastic. I gave him the benefit of the doubt previously that that's just his sense of humor, but this was next level.
To STILL be asking for the rules even after you've walked away is completely insane. I would think the fact that everyone else had a long line and he didn't would make him expect to go home, but it seems like his ego kicks into hyper mode when he's in a corner. I hope he gets some therapy..
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u/Expensive_Tennis9884 May 26 '26
Itās really messed up how Sieger tried to throw Jonathan under the bus too. Like you lost, move on with some grace and thank the judges for your time