Who Has The Inside Track to the Top Chef Season 21 Title?
With only six chefs remaining, we size up the field
There’s been some consistent chatter among my circle of Top Chef fanatics, a group that includes a few television professionals, that the median Season 21 contestant is either less talented, less dynamic or less … something. My response has been what it’s always been: I can assess a cheftestant’s game -- their concepts, their execution, their swag -- but I can’t taste the food. Yet I do believe that coming off Season 20’s All-Star field last spring that brought together a global field of outright ballers, this season’s roster of chefs hearkens back to the late-aughts/early-teens era of the show, where young (read: flawed) chefs brimming with aspiration learn to manage their imperfections to impress an intimidating table of luminaries. This is one reason why we’ve seen fewer home-run dishes, more B+ work and a good number of clunkers.
With the field now whittled down to six chefs, that conversation becomes less relevant. Laura’s elimination last week marked the last of the you-just-have-to-outrun-the-bear chefs. Every remaining chef has won at least one elimination challenge, with the exception of Soo, who has finished in the top in two of his four contests. (Side note: Of the 10 eliminated chefs, only one won an elimination challenge -- Rasika, twice. I smell a return appearance in an upcoming season).
As we head to the Wisconsin Fish Boil, the state of the field is strong in Milwaukee. But who ya got?