Top Chef

Top Chef can’t go to Kentucky without taking a turn at fried chicken. Chef Art Smith guests judges a secret herbs and spices blind taste test ahead of the Quickfire fry-off. After the finger licking goodness, the Chefs turn their attention to another Kentucky legend, the Louisville Lip, boxer and philanthropist Muhammad Ali. Using his memorable fights as inspiration, the Chefs must make a progressive meal for a charity benefit at the Muhammad Ali Center for donors, the judges, and special guest Laila Ali.

All season the chefs have been growing gardens at their Kentucky estate. Tom ambushes the sleeping chefs and challenges them to reap what they sowed and make a dish focused on their garden harvest. Then, for the last elimination challenge in Kentucky, the chefs head to Keeneland, a thoroughbred horse auction house, to bid on luxury ingredients for dishes to show gratitude to their culinary mentors. Chefs Bryan Voltaggio, Gavin Kaysen, JD Fratzke, Kim Alter, David Posey and Chris Coombs join the judges to see how far the Chefs have come and who deserves to go to Macau for the finals.

The final five chefs travel to the Chinese territory of Macau for the remaining battles of the competition. Judge Graham Elliot, who has a restaurant in Macau, introduces the Chefs to the local market full of fascinating ingredients and challenges them to a Quickfire highlighting unique Macanese proteins. Then, the chefs throw a party celebrating Chinese New Year. Since it is the Year of the Pig, the dishes must feature pork products and be delicious enough to impress Hong Kong's super chef Jowett Yu along with Tom, Padma and Graham.

The day has come when the final four chefs must cook with the world's smelliest fruit durian. This infamous fruit is a delicacy in Macau, but will Padma and guest judge, James Beard Award winner Abe Conlon be able to stomach their creations for the season's last Quickfire? Then, the chefs get a tutorial in the traditional cuisine of Macau, a fusion of Chinese and Portuguese flavors, and are joined by their family members from back home. For the elimination challenge, the chefs are tasked with blending their own heritage with Chinese flavors in order to impress their love ones and the judges, in order to earn their spot in the finale.

It’s the final showdown and the top three chefs must create the best four course meal of their lives. And if the pressure isn't already high enough, Tom reveals in a twisted turn of events only two chefs will get the chance to serve their full menu. The internationally star-studded table of diners includes Deputy Editor of FOOD & WINE Magazine Melanie Hansche, acclaimed chefs Mitsuharu Tsumura, Alexander Smalls, Dan Hong, May Chow, and Alvin Leung, along with Tom, Padma, Nilou and Graham. In one of the most competitive contests of artistry and skill, only one chef will emerge victorious and be named Top Chef.

Fifteen of the competition's fiercest challengers return to face-off in the toughest season yet! A mise-en-place challenge set at the historic Griffith Observatory in Los Angeles kicks off the intense battle, where the Chefs immediately size each other up to see how everyone has progressed since last competing. Then, the first elimination challenge takes the Chefs to the beach to cook a seafood meal -- however, their only heat source will be fire. No electricity, no special appliances. Back to basics. It's going to be a true slug-match to see who has the skills and who has the drive to take the one thing that has eluded them all... the title of Top Chef! Padma Lakshmi, Tom Colicchio, and Gail Simmons return as judges and joining them as the first guest judge of the season is legendary Chef, Jeremiah Tower. Marcus Samuelsson, Nancy Silverton, Michael Cimarusti, Josiah Citrin, Suzanne Goin, Caroline Styne share the table for the high-powered, high-stress beach-side meal.

This week the chefs honor the late, great Pulitzer-Prize winning food critic Jonathan Gold. Using Gold's last guide list, the chefs fan out all over Los Angeles to sample the unique taquerias, food trucks, mom-and-pop cafes, upscale eateries and ethnic cuisine only found in the City of Angels. Drawing inspiration from this one-in-a-lifetime culinary odyssey, the chefs create dishes to serve 200 of Jonathan Gold's friends, family, and restaurateurs that he loved at the iconic Union Station. Noted food writer and personal friend of Jonathan Gold, Ruth Reichl serves as guest judge alongside Padma, Tom and Gail.

Comedic superstars Ali Wong and Randall Park swing by the Top Chef kitchen for a Quickfire Challenge tasking the chefs to make the wackiest fried rice they can. Then, the chefs head to the famed Getty Museum to seek inspiration from one of four historical art movements to create a masterpiece on their plate. Guest Judge Ludo Lefebvre joins Tom, Padma and Gail, as well as guest diners Chefs Ray Garcia, Sara Hymanson, Sarah Kramer and Craig Thornton.

Kelly Clarkson drops into the Top Chef kitchen for a Quickfire based on her new movie, Trolls: World Tour, where the chefs are tasked with combining colorful ingredients from six different musical 'lands' to make one delicious dish. For the Elimination Challenge, the chefs are split into two teams to create a cohesive, progressive vegetarian meal for Padma, Tom, Gail and James Beard nominated guest judge Jeremy Fox. The catch is they won't know what ingredients they'll be working with until the morning of the challenge when they shop exclusively at the Santa Monica Farmers Market.

In the Quickfire, it's a true test of communication as the chefs play a game of telephone with their loved ones as they try to reproduce the dish their family member is currently eating at a nearby restaurant. Then, the chefs are tasked with creating a signature product that they will bottle, use on a dish and sell at a food festival. They may get help from their visiting loved ones, but for one chef, the help won't save them from being sent home. Celebrity Chef Nancy Silverton is the guest judge joining Tom, Padma and Gail.

Padma gets a real rise out of the chefs when she tasks them to make a Quickfire dish without any All-Purpose flour. Instead chefs must work with alternative flours from Blue Corn and Buckwheat to Coconut and Hazelnut. James Beard Award-Winning Chef Chris Bianco serves as the guest judge for the Quickfire Challenge. Then, the chefs are whisked off to the famous Walt Disney Concert Hall to meet legendary conductor Gustavo Dudamel who is about to celebrate the LA Philharmonic's 100th anniversary. The Maestro inspires the chefs to treat their flavor profiles like musical instruments, each providing a counterbalance to the other. For the Elimination Challenge, the chefs serve Dudamel and members of the LA Philharmonic at award-winning Otium restaurant along with Padma, Tom, Gail and Guest Judge, Bocuse d'Or finalist Timothy Hollingsworth.