We are down to six chefs on “Top Chef” season 23 on Bravo, and it looks like they’ll be heading down a rabbit hole tonight. We have the final night in Greenville, South Carolina, tonight on “Top Chef” 2026, and the chefs will be cooking up some rabbit for mystery diners. 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.
Down the Rabbit Hole on ‘Top Chef’
For tonight’s episode, the chefs will be heading out to Unity Park, where they’ll be joined by members of the Try Guys. They will then be tested by “Top Chef” superfans for the Quickfire Challenge. Then, the Elimination Challenge has them creating elevated fine dining dishes featuring rabbit. It will be Michelin-style dining, as there will be mystery diners in the restaurant scoring their dishes, and based on those scores, a winner will be chosen.
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 18 Live Recap – Week 11
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Week 11 Begins
We start the night with Jonathan having a video chat with his wife and kids. He is missing them, but knows he is on a mission to win this season.
Quickfire Challenge
The chefs then head out to Unity Park to meet Kristen Kish for the Quickfire Challenge. She is joined by Keith Habersberger and Rachel Cole of the Try Guys.
For this Quickfire Challenge, they are going to try something different. For this challenge, the chefs will have to create a dish with elements voted on by the fans. Those results will come periodically throughout the challenge, so they have to be ready for anything.
The first element voted on by fans was either peaches, boiled peanuts, or pawpaw. They voted for peaches, so they’ll create a dish featuring peaches. However, more curveballs are coming. They have $50 to go buy ingredients for their dish, but have to keep in mind that other elements will be added by the fans.
Shopping & Cooking
The chefs take some pedicabs over to the grocery store. They are all struggling with the $50 budget, but also not sure of what route to take, as they don’t know what else the fans will throw at them.
The chefs get back and find out their next element. The fans voted on how long they would have to make this dish: 15 minutes, 20 minutes, or 30 minutes. They voted for 30 minutes, so being generous again. The winner of this challenge wins $10,000.
About halfway through cooking, the chefs find out about the final element. The fans voted on these three options: turn your dish into a sandwich, take over the station to your right, or add a foma element to their dish.
The fans voted on taking over the station to your right, so now the chefs are cooking completely different dishes. They can cook whatever they want, but they have to use the ingredients at that station. So, they can cook what that other chef was planning or something completely different.
Tasting & Results
The chefs improvise on these dishes, and the time runs out. It’s time for the judges to taste all of these dishes. After tasting all of the dishes, here are some results:
- Least Favorite Dishes – Jonathan, whose sardines were overpowering in a peach-forward dish, and Anthony, whose bread and peaches were thick, making it so hard to get everything in one cohesive bite, and Sherry, whose peaches and tomatoes were big, and there was a bitter element to it.
- Favorite Dishes – Laurence, as it had incredible textures and the pop of vinegar was delicious, and Rhoda, it was a well-composed and thoughtful dish, and Sieger, as they loved the size of it and the dill.
Results: The winning dish goes to Rhoda, who says she will be sharing it with Sherry, who is not happy with the fans. She jokes they did her dirty!
Elimination Challenge on ‘Top Chef’
For this challenge, the chefs have to create elevated fine dining dishes featuring rabbit. They have to create these dishes for the judges, but also for a dining room of 24 guests. Mixed within those guests are VIP guests, like a Michelin-star guest. These anonymous guests will be scoring the dishes, so the chef with the highest score will be the winner of this challenge. Then, the judges will determine who will be sent home. They have three hours to prep before service.
They go shopping at Whole Foods, where they have a $400 budget. For winning the Quickfire, Laurence gets a $500 budget. Sherry is upset about the challenge, and Jonathan is trying to lighten the mood, but she isn’t having it. The shopping wraps up, and time to get back to cooking.
Cooking & Prep Time
Laurence has never cooked rabbit, so he is worried about tonight. The next day, Sherry is still upset. She tries to practice some gratitude to make it easier.
The chefs head to Top Soil to get started on their dishes. They have full rabbits to work through, which is why they get three hours to prep. Tom Colicchio and Chef Niki Nakayama arrive to check out how the chefs are doing. For Sherry, she said she is making like a jerk rabbit, which Tom said jerk isn’t normally for braising. This sets Sherry off again, as she is upset.
The time is winding down, and the judges have arrived. We have the diners in place, along with the mystery diners.
Tasting on ‘Top Chef’ Season 23
The time runs out, so the chefs start serving their dishes:
- Sieger – They said he did a phenomenal job. They loved the cauliflower-hazelnut combination. This was memorable in terms of being a rabbit dish.
- Sherry – They said the braised jerk rabbit had the perfect amount of spice. It’s a great balance of textures. It’s not dry, has a ton of flavor, and it’s juicy. Tom said it’s really flavorful.
- Laurence – They said the overall seasoning was very good. The ratio of the meat to the skin was a lot. Tom said it’s tasty, but it’s not that interesting.
- Jonathan – They said they are two very different dishes, and they would have been happy if he had chosen one of them. Nice elements from both of them, but it leans salty. Tom said the best part is the sauce.
- Anthony – Tom said it was a dish for rabbits. Gail said it felt so far apart and strangely plated. It felt disjointed. The rabbit was dry.
- Rhoda – They said it was less tender than they imagined. Tom said it’s a rustic dish. He liked it because she used all the parts.
Judges’ Table
The dishes have been tasted, and the chefs are back in front of the judges. Tom said overall, they had some tasty dishes.
- Favorite Dishes – Sherry and Sieger had the judges’ favorite dishes, and one of them had the mystery diners’ favorite dish. It was a rough night for her, but she pulled it through, and the winning dish from the diners and the judges was from Sherry! She will now get an advantage in the next challenge.
- Least Favorite Dishes – The least favorite dishes of the day belong to Anthony and Jonathan, and one of them will be going home tonight. The judges discuss the dishes and are not happy with either of them.
Results: Things got intense with the judges, but in the end, it was Anthony with the least favorite dish, and he was eliminated tonight on “Top Chef” season 23.
BravoWhat do you think of tonight’s results?
