Top Chef superfans are likely familiar with the brilliant work of Vince Mancini. For the better part of the last decade, the always-funny Top Chef Power Rankings have been a staple of the culinary competition’s coverage. On this episode, Mancini of The #Content Report, By Vince Mancini Substack joins Tom Haberstroh to digest all things Season 21: Wisconsin. We take stock in the competition so far; evaluate the stylings of Kristen Kish vs. Padma Lakshmi; the stunning elimination of Episode 5;...

After weeks of more restrictive team challenges and hyper-specific assignments, the chefs get a chance to stretch their legs in an open-ended elimination challenge whose directive was … Chaos! fter all the chaos settled, two of the leading chefs found themselves on the chopping block with the threat that both might be sent packing.  Laura has emerged as a passive villain, while Savannah continues to build confidence, and Manny underwhelms after his strong start of the season, which seems...

Tom and Kevin discuss how much team competition is too much team competition on Top Chef, as the chefs again split up into two teams to come up with a progressive, 5-course meal befitting of a vintage supper club. The producers inject an edgy dose of conflict into the show when the the teams are restricted to just over $20 per diner, and chefs jockey over assignments. One chef emerges as an unwitting villain on the Green Team, while the Purple Team endures the Great Pineapple Shortage of...

Buddha dropped by to dish with Tom and Kevin about his time on set, who actually served the best dish of the week, getting to watch Kristen Kish at work in her rookie season, and whom he’d name White House chef should he ever occupy the Oval Office. 👇Hear the full episode right now on the Pack Your Knives Substack👇 Subscribe to the new PYK Substack! https://www.packyourknives.com/ Rate PYK 5 Stars on Apple or Spotify Follow PYK on Twitter: @packknives & Instagram: @packyourknives COUNT...

For all Tom and Kevin know, Wisconsin native Frank Lloyd Wright’s career might have been fueled by Pop-Tarts and Spaghetti O’s. But some of the architectural luminary’s best work can be found just a couple of blocks from where the Top Chef 21 chefs scavenge the aisle of the Whole Foods for their ingredients. This week, those chefs were asked to pay homage to Wright in a team challenge that stumped more than a few of them. The upside is some heightened tension in the kitchen and some incisive...

This week's PYK Premium guest is Carly Levitz, the delightful queen of Top Chef data science. Carly joins the show to talk about her (recent) obsession with Top Chef and how she watches every episode through the lens of a data nerd (we say this with utmost affection). Kevin and Tom ask her some burning questions about the value of immunity, the Top Chef GOAT debate and regional evolution in Top Chef history.  The Seattleite shares her all-time favorite cooking hacks from Top Chef and gives us...

Tom & Kevin aren’t huge fans of hidden doors or cheese croquettes, but they love getting to the bottom of a good mystery -- like who’s to blame over the slippery floor this week in the Top Chef kitchen. This week’s Cheese Elimination Challenge didn’t produce any instant classics. One nice “nice fried ball” — as Gail Simmons artfully called the procession of croquettes — after another. Though the episode didn’t produce any or memorable dishes, it did what an early episode is supposed to...

In the annals of Top Chef lore, Joe Flamm is a legend. He clawed his way back through Last Chance Kitchen to win Season 15 with his combination of rustic Adriatic fare and technical savvy. If you find yourself anywhere in the vicinity of Chicago, treat yourself to the Croatian goodness that is Rose Mary in Fulton Market. Joe joins Tom and Kevin to chat about his experience sitting at the judges’ table in Episode 2. How good was Laura’s hops-infused rice pudding and Rasika’s pretzel-barley...

It’s a Pack Your Knives’ tradition like no other: The annual Top Chef fantasy draft.  Team Tom has deployed its scouting and data analytics departments to scour the field of cheftestants for the sure bets and hidden gems. Since Kevin got a glimpse of the field of remaining chefs at a mid-season challenge, Pack Your Knives’ Chef’s Table founding members aggregated their draft boards and chose on Team Kevin’s behalf. As always, producer Anthony Mayes is at the podium for the...

Brew City wastes no time throwing its first beer-focused challenge at the Season 21 field. Nobody seems excited about cooking with hops in the Quickfire challenge, but the chefs who go sweet win favor with guest judge, Top Chef champion, and Friend of PYK, Joe Flamm. The chefs then split into teams to prepare a progressive dinner in the historic Miller Caves of dishes inspired by salty bar snacks — which Tom and Kevin rank. The team with more fine-dining, tweezer-head chefs struggles against...

It’s a Pack Your Knives’ tradition like no other: The annual Top Chef fantasy draft.  Team Tom has deployed its scouting and data analytics departments to scour the field of cheftestants for the sure bets and hidden gems. Since Kevin got a glimpse of the field of remaining chefs at a mid-season challenge, Pack Your Knives’ Chef’s Table founding members aggregated their draft boards and chose on Team Kevin’s behalf. As always, producer Anthony Mayes is at the podium for the proceedings.  👇Hear...

The Kristen Kish Era of Top Chef has arrived! Top Chef Season 21 is here, and Tom and Kevin like the new look. This 'inverted' premiere episode has immunity up for grabs in the Elimination Challenge at the beginning, while a Quickfire cook-off has the loser packing their knives. Tom digs the 5-chef divisional battles, each with their own judges' table. Kevin believes that soup is a 'high-floor, low-ceiling' challenge, while a stuffed pasta challenge is designed to kick a chef's ass. Tom and...

Pack Your Knives is back. And better than ever. On the Season 21 preview, we discuss the new host, new rules and bring in PYK’s Wisconsin correspondent and Milwaukee-native C.J. Krawczyk to give the scouting report on the host city. Tom and Kevin also offer their 3 cheftestants to watch as we launch a new chapter in PYK.  Subscribe to the new PYK Substack: https://www.packyourknives.com/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Pack Your Knives has big news for the upcoming season… Find out more at https://www.packyourknives.com/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Padma, Buddha and the f'ing liver. In a jam-packed episode of Pack Your Knives, Tom and Kevin recap the contentious Season 20 finale, bid farewell to Padma Lakshmi and launch a campaign for her replacement. Also joining the show are Buddha Lo and Sara Bradley taking us behind the scenes on the finale and this World All-Stars season. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Our love for this season continues to grow like mushrooms on cow dung. Tom and Kevin recap the infamous Wall Challenge and the mushroom elimination challenge ahead of next week's finale. While reeling from a cheftestant's elimination, Tom shocks the world with a blockbuster trade offer ahead of the final episode. Will Kevin accept? It could swing the entire fantasy season. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Breaking news: Tom and Kevin went to a Top Chef dinner in Los Angeles at Craft this week! The Pack Your Knives crew not only got to meet Tom Colicchio and Gail Simmons, but also the Restaurant Wars winning team and taste their five-course meal. We recap both the night, the Last Chance Kitchen finale and another banger of an episode of Top Chef as the contestants head off to Paris.  Tom H also goes through the archives and researches whether any cheftestant has won four challenges in a row....

ESPN's Mina Kimes drops by Pack Your Knives for a recap of the Beef Wellington episode. Kevin, Mina and Tom wrap themselves up in the drama, investigate the mystical origins of the Beef Wellington and discuss the double-elimination choices by the judges. Plus, we gawk at a particular chef during a "candid" moment while Kevin offers a scouting report on the Kimpton hotels across the country. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

With Restaurant Wars in the rearview mirror, Tom and Kevin digest the smoked fish and thali challenges of this week's episode and interview Top Chef producer Thi Nguyen. As one of the brains behind the show, Nguyen shares what it's like to work on Top Chef over the years and why they call her the "police" of the competition. She debunks some myths and pulls back the curtain on the impact of Queen Elizabeth's passing on the production. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit...

It's Restaurant Wars!!! Or is it? Tom and Kevin air their grievances about the unconventional Restaurant Wars episode and wonder what happened behind the scenes. They rank their favorite dishes and designate the roles that we never got to see. Kevin's squad has an up-and-down performance while Tom's team hums along.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Sixty-eight teams enter the NCAA Tournament, but only one walks away victorious. With 99% of the field heading home without a trophy, how do athletes and teams cope with defeat? In this episode of the LG Transparent Conversations series, The Next Chapter discusses how the road home from the Big Dance® can be a pivotal, even defining, moment for many student-athletes. Prim Siripipat and the panel explores the letdown athletes experience following the postseason and how the complicated...

This episode The Next Chapter continues the LG Electronics Transparent Conversation series, Prim and LG recorded live from Fan Fest during the Men’s Final Four Championships in Houston, Texas. Joined by LCSW and founder of AthMindset, Lisa Bonta Sumii, Senior Forward for the Indiana Hoosiers, Trayce Jackson-Davis and Houston Cougar Freshman Forward, Jarace Walker to discuss the road to March Madness. The Final Four® is the ultimate stage for college basketball. In this episode of the LG...

With Restaurant Wars around the corner, Tom and Kevin get their engines rev'd with the incredible Fast X mise en place elimination challenge. Then, Team Haberstroh and Team Arnovitz, each with four cheftestants remaining, fill in the roles of their hypothetical Resturant Wars team. Who's the No. 1 prospect for executive chef? Front of house? Tom and Kevin hash it out and recap LCK. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Kevin and Tom get their hands dirty with the Gaggan Anand episode of Top Chef: World All-Stars and take stock of the competition as we near ever closer to the Restaurant Wars mark. Cheftestant Dale Mackay of Saskatchewan fame joins the show to talk about his rollercoaster ride on Top Chef, daily life as a triathlete in reality-television isolation and the difference of this particular season vs. Top Chef Canada. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices