The 11 remaining chefs on “Top Chef” season 23 will be dehydrating with tonight’s new challenge on “Top Chef” tonight. The chefs will be tasked with creating dishes that feature dehydrated components. With the humidity in North Carolina, can these chefs on “Top Chef Carolinas” make it work? 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.
Cut & Dry on ‘Top Chef’
For tonight’s episode, we will have a new guest judge enter the kitchen: comedian Fortune Feimster. She will be taking part in the Quickfire Challenge, which has the chefs creating improvised dishes. They’ll be tasked with some keywords and then have to make a dish that they think represents those words.
From there, the Elimination Challenge has them needing to dehydrate their ingredients for their main dish. 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.
April 6 Live Recap – Week 5
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Week 5 Begins
The week starts with Jennifer and Rhoda talking. Jennifer is still having shoulder issues. She said the stress and tension from the competition all seemed to be going to her shoulder. She is hoping it goes away in the next couple of weeks.
Quickfire Challenge on ‘Top Chef’
The chefs come into the kitchen, and Justin surprises Kristen, as he is wearing jeans and no short shorts! Kristen is then joined by guest judge and comedian Fortune Feimster. For this challenge, the chefs will be doing some improv cooking. They will be tasked with creating dishes based on whatever the judges want them to do.
The judges bring out three kids to help with the challenge. They ask them questions, and their answers help give the keywords for this challenge. The chefs have to create a dish with the keywords of Christmas, Colorado, and puffified. The words are for however the chefs want to interpret them, but the best dish wins $10,000. They have 30 minutes to create the dish.
The chefs get started on the challenge. Jennifer’s shoulder is killing her, so she steps out for this challenge. She wants to rest it for the Elimination Challenge.
They are trying to work on their dishes to make the kids happy. About halfway through, the kids decide to add another ingredient to the mix. They choose corn nuts, which the chefs have to work into their dishes. The time runs out, and all the chefs get their dishes plated.
Tasting & Results
Time for the judges to taste all of the dishes for this challenge on “Top Chef” season 23. After tasting all of the dishes, here are the results:
- Least Favorite Dishes: Rhoda, who made a dish with lamb. Fortune said that as soon as she said lamb, she lost those three kids. Oscar, who they described his dish as just yuck. Kristen said it ate greasy, and it soaked in a lot of that oil. Sherry, as the kids didn’t like the grits. Fortune said it tasted sweet, so it threw the balance off a bit.
- Favorite Dishes: Brandon, they loved the ice cream. Sieger, they loved the peppermint and tiny popcorns. They said it looked like Christmas and ate like Christmas. Jonathan’s pizza. They really liked the ham on it.
Results – The overall favorite dish is Brandon’s ice cream dish, so he wins the challenge and the $10,000.
Elimination Challenge on ‘Top Chef’
North Carolina is home to the largest outdoor center in the region. For this challenge, they have to create an elevated dish featuring dehydrated components. The dish doesn’t have to be made up of all dehydrated ingredients, but must feature them.
Since the dehydration is a long process, the chefs will have 75 minutes to get what they want to use from the pantry and get the dehydration process started. They will then head to the whitewater center for some fun rafting. The next day, they will head back there and have 90 minutes to finish their dishes.
The chefs get started on things. Brandon, who does some dehydration in his restaurant, is going to do a dessert because fruit is easier to dehydrate. Jonathan, his brother, was going to do a dessert, but knowing Brandon would kick his butt, so has to pivot to something else.
These chefs are working on the dehydration aspect, as most haven’t done it. Jennifer is struggling with her shoulder. The chefs put their final touches on the dehydrated products, put them in the machines for the night, and then head to do some whitewater rafting.
Cooking Time
After spending a night relaxing with some ziplining and rock climbing, the chefs head back to the kitchen to work on their dishes. They have 90 minutes to complete these dishes.
The chefs are checking out their dehydrated products. Brandon is making a pavlova in the dehydrator, but he knows the humidity wouldn’t work in his favor. The pavlova is still too moist, so he needs to pivot.
Work continues on these dishes. Sherry is trying to remember that less is more and not second-guess herself. The judges have arrived, and the time is running out, as the chefs put the finishing touches on these dishes!
Tasting & Results on ‘Top Chef’ Season 23
The dishes are complete, and time for the judges to taste them:
- Anthony, Justin, and Brandon: For Anthony, they said it was very well-executed. The sauce on his salmon was the star. For Justin, the sauce was delicious, but others felt it was a lot. Tom said there was too much going on with the plate. Gail said Brandon was trying to show off a little bit. They said he executed it well, but not sure if the flavor profile goes together.
- Sherry, Laurence, and Jonathan: For Sherry, they said it’s good. The fish is cooked beautifully. For Laurence, the salad is overdressed. The glass made no sense to the salad. For Jonathan, it would’ve read great on the menu if it had been cooked properly.
- Oscar has overcooked his meat, so he is living his biggest fear right now.
- Rhoda, Sieger, and Oscar: When the plates arrive, Rhoda’s monkfish is raw and not cooked properly, so the judges don’t even want to taste it. For Rhoda, the texture of the fish is off. It’s leeching water. It’s a good chip. For Sieger, it’s very beautiful, but it tasted like you were eating a bunch of raw vegetables. He went a little too far with the dehydration. For Oscar, he nailed the dehydration part, but he overcooked the lamb.
- Jennifer and Duyen: For Jennifer, her dip was good and flavorful. The execution is good. For Duyen, every single component of the dish was really good. This was a fantastic dish.
Judges’ Table
The chefs are back in front of the judges. They have discussed the dishes and results coming soon:
- Favorite Dishes: These dishes came from Anthony, Sherry, and Duyen. While the judges seemed to love all of these dishes, the winning dish belonged to Anthony, who wins immunity for next week’s challenge.
- Least Favorite Dishes: For this challenge, the least favorite dishes came from Laurence, Rhoda, and Oscar.
The judges give their feedback on all the dishes. They will then make a decision, as they ask the chefs to step away. However, they ask Jennifer to stay behind.
They ask Jennifer how she is doing. They tell her she has the option to leave the competition, but will be welcomed back whenever she chooses. The judges don’t want her to be in pain or to make it worse, but the decision is hers. However, she can’t miss another Quickfire Challenge. They give her some time to think it over.
Results: Jennifer decides to stay. If she does sit out any part of the competition moving forward, she will be asked to leave. They show her talking with the other chefs about the decision, and they all offer to help her to keep her in the competition, which is so nice to see.
From there, the judges have made their decision on the other chefs on “Top Chef” season 23. The chef eliminated tonight is Rhoda, which is so shocking! She started so strong, winning the first two Elimination Challenges. Now she is headed to “Last Chance Kitchen” for a shot at staying in the competition.
BravoWhat did you think of the results on tonight’s episode?
