The highly anticipated premiere of Top Chef Season 22 took place on March 13, 2025, kicking off an exciting culinary competition across various regions of Canada. Titled “Across Canada, We Go!”, this inaugural episode showcased 15 talented cheftestants, all vying for the coveted title. Upon their arrival in Toronto, contestants faced their first daunting challenge, leading to unexpected reactions.
“I wasn’t expecting to see a knife block so soon. I thought I was going to get a little settled before I started having to fear for my life,”remarked contestant Tristen Epps.
This season’s victor will walk away with an impressive prize package valued at over $250,000, which includes a $125,000 flight credit with Delta Air Lines, a feature in Food and Wine magazine, and an opportunity to showcase their culinary skills at the prestigious Food and Wine Classic in Aspen. Furthermore, the winner will have the opportunity to headline an exclusive dinner at the renowned James Beard House in New York, as well as present at the James Beard Restaurant and Chef Awards in Chicago. Before they can dream of these rewards, however, each contestant must demonstrate their culinary prowess through a series of challenging tasks.
Exciting Quickfire Challenge Begins Season 22
The thrilling season opener kicked off with a team-based Quickfire Challenge. Each chef was tasked with randomly selecting an ingredient from the pantry, without any prior knowledge of the challenge’s specifics. Once they were grouped into five teams, the contestants discovered they needed to create dishes utilizing their chosen ingredients, along with mandatory additions of tomatoes, chives, and clams — as announced by esteemed judges Kristen Kish, Gail Simmons, and Tom Colicchio.
The team configurations and their respective ingredients were as follows:
- Purple Team: Kat Turner, Henry Lu, Corwin Hemming (Ingredients: corn, Fresno chile)
- Yellow Team: César Murillo, Mimi Weissenborn, Katianna Hong (Ingredients: apple, fennel)
- Red Team: Paula Endara, Lana Lagomarsini, Vincenzo “Vinny”Loseto (Ingredients: portobello mushroom, corn)
- Green Team: Tristen Epps, Shuai Wang, Massimo Piedimonte (Ingredients: bok choy, king oyster mushroom)
- Blue Team: Anya El-Wattar, Zubair Mohajir, Bailey Sullivan (Ingredients: cabbage)
The competition fostered varying dynamics among the teams. Anya notably pointed out a “Chicago clique”forming within her group, while other teams faced creative disagreements. Notable discussions arose in the red team, where Vinny sparked a debate over the presentation of their dish, suggesting they serve it in a hollowed-out apple. After some initial resistance, Lana conceded:
“OK, Vinny, you got this one.”
Ultimately, the yellow team triumphed in this speedy challenge, with César, Mimi, and Katianna earning a prize of $15,000 for their inventive apple and fennel soup, complemented by clams, corn, and chorizo relish. The trio received high praise from Tom Colicchio, who expressed satisfaction, stating:
“I get grumpy when the food’s not so good. I’m not grumpy right now. I’m really happy.”
Elimination Challenge: A Culinary Journey Through Canada
During the Elimination Challenge, contestants were presented with the task of designing dishes inspired by Canada’s diverse five regions, with the guidance of guest chefs representing each geographic area. The teams selected their regions and worked autonomously, divided as follows:
- Central Region: César, Mimi, Katianna
- Prairie Region: Kat, Henry, Corwin
- Western Region: Paula, Lana, Vinny
- North Region: Anya, Zubair, Bailey
- Atlantic Region: Tristen, Shuai, Massimo
Challenges arose around time management, with Mimi encountering difficulties with her potatoes, resulting in a gummy puree that caught the attention of guest judge David Zilber.
“It tasted like elevated hospital food,”he remarked.
Kat struggled with her dish presentation due to her experimentation with a smoker, while Tristen faced setbacks with a missing curry sauce but received favorable feedback from Tom. At the judges’ table, Vinny, César, Anya, Henry, and Shuai were commended for their culinary creations, with Vinny’s confit salmon securing him immunity for the subsequent round.
Despite critical remarks aimed at Mimi and Kat, it was ultimately Mimi who faced elimination. Reflecting candidly on her performance, she admitted:
“Fundamentally I had a lot of executional flaws, a little bit of a landslide in the failure direction.”
As she prepares for her journey into the Last Chance Kitchen, Mimi remains hopeful for a chance to reclaim her position later in the competition.
Don’t miss the next riveting episode of Top Chef, airing every Thursday on Bravo.