The seven remaining chefs on “Top Chef” season 23 on Bravo will have to cook what they catch when heading out in a fishing boat. Yes, we remain in Greenville, South Carolina, tonight on “Top Chef” 2026, and the chefs will be heading out to the lake. Fish is definitely on the menu tonight on “Top Chef: Carolinas.” Watch it all go down with us during our “Top Chef” 2026 live recap and see who got eliminated on “Top Chef” tonight with us.
Hook, Line & Dinner on ‘Top Chef’
For tonight’s episode, the chefs will be heading out to Green Pond Landing to do some fishing on the lake. Before that takes place, we will see the fan-favorite mise en place Quickfire Challenge, but with a twist! From there, they’ll head out to compete in a Top Chef Fishing Derby, where they’ll create their best dish featuring the fish from the lake to impress the judges for the Elimination Challenge.
The pressure is on, as no one wants to be eliminated this far into the competition. We have $250,000 on the line for the winner of “Top Chef” season 23. Who stays and who goes home on “Top Chef” tonight? Follow along with our Live Recap below!
WARNING: SPOILERS AHEAD: THIS LIVE RECAP WILL BE UPDATED THROUGHOUT THE EPISODE, SO DO NOT KEEP READING IF YOU DO NOT WANT TO READ SPOILERS.
May 11 Live Recap – Week 10
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Week 10 Begins
The chefs are discussing things from last week after the elimination. Rhoda is hoping to give her parents a win on “Top Chef” to distract them from the fact that she is in her 40s and can’t keep a man or give them grandbabies.
The next day arrives, and the chefs have a note from Kristen telling them to meet them at Green Pond Landing, chop chop! They think the “chop chop” is a clue of some kind.
QuickFire Challenge – Part 1
The chefs arrive at Green Pond Landing and meet Kristen, Tom Collichio, and Gail Simmons. For this Quickfire Challenge, it’s going to be the mise en place race, but with a twist. For this challenge, they will split into two teams for a two-part Quickfire. The goal is to reach the finish line first and capture the flag. That will allow their team to cook for an individual win and a $10,000 cash prize
Since Laurence won last week’s challenge, he has an Express Pass to the cook. The others grab knives for teams:
- Blue Team: Anthony, Sherry, and Jonathan
- Red Team: Duyen, Sieger, and Rhoda
The Tasks
Each team will choose a chef to go first. The chefs will start, and when they think they are done with the task, they will call for a check. Tom will come and clear them. If they did it correctly, their team wins that round. The first team to three wins captures the flag. Here are the tasks:
- First Task: The chefs must seed and hull one pint of scuppernong grapes, which are the state fruit of North Carolina. Jonathan and Sieger take on this task. They are battling, but Jonathan wins this one, putting the Blue Team out to an early lead.
- Second Task: They must peel and devein 12 shrimp. Sherry and Duyen take on this task. Duyen gets this one done first and gets a good check from Tom, so she evens it out at 1-1.
- Third Task: For this task, they must crack and pick one ounce of pecans. We have Jonathan and Sieger competing against each other. Sieger gets it done right before Jonathan called for a check. He has one ounce, so a win for Red Team, which now leads 2-1.
- Fourth Task: The chefs will have to shuck and kernel five ears of corn. This one will be Anthony against Rhoda. She gets a quick check, but is she right? She did not have the kernelling done, so she had to continue. Anthony calls for a check, but isn’t done either. Rhoda calls again and is right this time, so the Red Team won 3-1.
Quickfire Challenge – Part 2
For the second part of this challenge on “Top Chef” season 23, the Red Team and Laurence will each have 20 minutes to create any dish they’d like. However, the dish must feature the four ingredients they just worked with in Part 1 (scuppernong grapes, shrimp, pecans, and corn).
The chefs get started on their dishes. Not much time to work on this challenge with only 20 minutes. The time runs out, and time for tasting.
Results: After tasting all of the dishes, the judges announced that their least favorite dishes came from Sieger and Laurence. That means their favorite dishes came from Duyen and Rhoda. The winning dish came from Rhoda, who gets $10,000.
Elimination Challenge on ‘Top Chef: Carolinas’
Green Pond Landing is a top fishing destination. For this challenge, the chefs will be having their very own Top Chef Fishing Derby, as seven boats arrive for them. For the Derby, the chefs will get paired with a professional angler, and the judges will be handing out awards (and advantages) for Biggest Fish, Smallest Fish, and Most Caught.
From there, the chefs will create a fish dish using the fish they caught from the lake. After they are done fishing, they will head back to Greenville, where they’ll have 30 minutes and $100 to shop. The next day, they’ll have 90 minutes to prep at Abyss. The chefs head out with their angler to catch some fish.
The chefs head out to fish, with Laurence struggling on this one. After an hour of fishing, the chefs head back. The results:
- Smallest Fish: Duyen ($5 more for shopping)
- Most Fish: Duyen ($50 more for shopping)
- Biggest Fish: Jonathan (30 extra minutes of cook time)
For the chefs who didn’t catch anything, they will get some fish from their professional angler.
Shopping & Cooking
The chefs now head out to Whole Foods to get their ingredients. Since Duyen had $155 to work with, she had extra money and started buying stuff for the other chefs who couldn’t afford it.
The next day arrives, and the chefs head to the kitchen to cook. They have 90 minutes to get their dishes ready. They have to break down and de-bone the fish, so that’s taking some time.
Jonathan is making a fish taco, but is worried it might be too simple. He has the extra time, too, so even more pressure. The judges have arrived, including actress Danielle Brooks. Duyen is struggling with cooking her fish.
Tasting on ‘Top Chef’
The time runs out, so time for the judges to taste these dishes:
- Duyen – The fish was undercooked for all of the judges. Kristen said the tamaron broth was nice and bright.
- Rhoda – They said it’s a great dish, the mussel comes through. It’s a beautiful, classic, simple dish.
- Sieger – Danielle said the lentils have too much going on. The fish was well-cooked, but missing a bridge to bring it all together. It was a sweet dish.
- Laurence – This was the first dish he ever cooked for his wife. Danielle said she is tearing this up. Tom said there is so much flavor. They said this dish is flawless.
- Anthony – Danielle said great job on the crisp. The sauce was delicious. He balanced the dish well, and that’s because of the fish.
- Sherry – They liked the curry. The fish is nice and juicy, and it’s crispy. It’s a good dish.
- Jonathan – Danielle said it was so good. It was a great fish taco. They loved the acid to cut through the batter. They said it takes confidence to make a simple fish taco after all of the other dishes that came before him on “Top Chef” season 23.
Judges’ Table
Tom has a smile on his face, so he was happy with these dishes tonight. The chefs are back in front of the judges. The judges wanted to talk with Rhoda, Anthony, Laurence, and Jonathan. These four chefs had the judges’ favorite dishes of the day.
After discussing all of these dishes, the judges finally announce the winner. The winner of tonight’s Elimination Challenge is Laurence, bringing his total to four wins on the season.
