Top Chef: Wisconsin episode 11: Michelle Wallace eliminated
The first elimination on Top Chef following the end of Last Chance Kitchen is often the most brutal. There are no more second chances. You are so close to the endgame and yet, still far away. You want to push through to make it to the next round.
Unfortunately for the remaining chefs (including recent returnee Laura), this all proved to be no easy feat over the course of what we saw play out tonight. The quickfire challenge was one about accuracy (trying to match the work of one Tom Colicchio), while the elimination was more about creativity. If you’ve ever had a desire to eat something that was plated directly on a table, then make a beeline for the judges! This challenge was for you.
This is a show that does love to create a certain amount of ambiguity that anyone could be eliminated at any point; a great example of that was watching Danny freak out about the cook on his rice, before eventually pivoting and figuring out some sort of backup plan. The judges ended up praising him immensely.
A solid 99% of our fears from the get-go personally were geared towards Manny, who decided that this was the part of the show where he wanted to make a risotto.
Remember a classic Top Chef rule here: Making risotto = bad almost every time. There is so much precision that has to go into it and getting it at the right consistency is almost impossible. It seems like he nailed the flavors, but the seafood? Mixed reviews.
If there was a potential reprieve for Manny…
It came courtesy of Michelle, who made the curious distinction of only using a tiny percentage of the table. Her food looked delicious but at the same time, it lacked any artistic expression. These two were in the bottom, whereas Laura actually won the table challenge for a beautiful dessert plate that was simply magic.
The elimination
In the end, it was Michelle who was sent out in sixth place. While she may have been disappointed, she also was such an incredible sport on her way out the door. While leaving at this point is brutal, it is so unbelievably cool to make it this far!
What did you think about Top Chef: Wisconsin episode 11?
Do you think that the right chef ended up going home? Go ahead and let us know in the comments! Once you do just that, remember to keep coming back — there are a lot of additional updates coming here soon.