As the judges welcomed the final four cheftestants to Milan, Top Chef’s Season 22 final Quickfire shocked everyone. Any fan of the iconic food television knows that one dish is often the kiss of death in the competition. The cheftestants introduction to Milan required them to tackle risotto.
Season after season, risotto has caused a favorite to plummet or to be sent home. It has been referred to as the risotto curse. From the Seattle season to Wisconsin, time and again, the cheftestants fail at cooking rice. Even Bailey was unsuccessful with her risotto earlier in the Destination Canada season.
When the judges, Tom Colicchio, Kristen Kish, and Gail Simmons introduced the challenge, everyone took a beat. After the break in between leaving Canada and arriving in Italy, everyone practices, predicts, researches, and cooks dish after dish in anticipation of the challenges. If they did their homework, the cheftestants could have seen it coming.
During the introduction of the Quickfire, Kristen commented that Milan is known for its risotto. As seen throughout the Destination Canada season, there has been a strong thread that connects the location and the challenges.
Two elements to this Quickfire highlighted in particular. First, everyone only had 35 minutes, which is a minimal amount of time to give the constant attention to that rice. Also, Tom said that the risotto does not have to be traditional. But, he did note that there will plenty of rice options in the pantry. Having personally seen a Top Chef Quickfire pantry on set, there is no shortage of rice or other ingredients on those shelves.
The four dishes were divided, two had rice and two used vegetables. As each plate was presented to the judges, the rice component was a point of contention. Tom’s first side eye was clear that some form of the risotto curse had struck this episode.
Before the winner was announced, Tom made a clear decree. Simply stated, risotto means rice, literally it means from rice. While people can debate a risotto “technique” for a dish, the reality is that the star starch of the dish should be rice, period, end of statement.
When Tom speaks, the cheftestants need to listen. Those cheftestants who do not heed his warnings, adapt to his critiques, or listen to his advice rarely have success.
Tristan and Bailey were the only ones to use rice as foundation of the dish. Yes, they knew that the dish needed to be “from rice” not rice adjacent.
Learning from her risotto mistake earlier in the season, Bailey stayed in a traditional lane. Although the judges felt that she needed to balance the sourness, the rice was cooked well.
Cesar’s risotto technique dish had lovely flavors. Even though there was rice in the stock, Gail said that the dish did not have the bite of a real risotto. It missed the pleasurable eating experience that people want with this dish.
Shuai had nice flavor, but he had two errors. First, he plated his food too early and it caused the “risotto” to seize up. More importantly, Kristen had an issue with the texture. It was more of a squash side dish than a risotto.
Lastly, Tristen ventured away from a traditional risotto but there was a thread that connected to the authentic dish. From a lovely al dente texture to the flavors, it worked. More importantly, Tom commented that Tristen put himself in the dish.
Since it was clear that the decision would be between Tristen and Bailey, the result followed a common pattern. Tristen won the last Quickfire of Top Chef Season 22.
Will this win be a positive or negative for Tristen and his pursuit of the "Top Chef" title? In Season 21, Dan won the Quickfire in Curacao, but he did not earn the title. Will that trend continue in Italy?
Be sure to watch the finale of Top Chef Season 22 on Thursday, June 12 at 9 p.m. ET/PT on Bravo. Episodes can be streamed the next day on Peacock.