Top Chef season 21 episode 3: Who went home tonight?

Top Chef season 21 aired episode 3, titled Take It Cheesy, on Wednesday, April 3, 2024. Fans saw the contestants competing in another round of challenges to ensure that they were one step closer to the prize in this episode. However, for one of the chefestents, the competition was over.

As per the synopsis of the episode,

"The chefs must make a dish featuring Door County cherries and a mystery ingredient; for the Elimination Challenge, the chefs put on a Cheese Festival where each chef will be responsible for creating a dish featuring one of 13 different cheeses."

As part of the elimination challenge, the contestants cooked with different types of cheeses, which were assigned by drawing knives. They prepared dishes for over 100 guests as part of a cheese festival. The chefs with the least impressive dishes were Kenny, Manny, and Kevin. Ultimately, Kenny had to pack up his knives and leave.

Top Chef season 21 will return next week with another episode on Bravo on Wednesday.

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The Top Chef season 21 contestants cooked with cheese in latest episode

After competing in a quickfire challenge, the contestants in Top Chef season 21 whipped up dishes for the elimination challenge. Kristin Kish informed the chefs that there was something the people in Wisconsin couldn't "live without," which was cheese. She was joined by top cheesemakers Andy Hatch and Pam Hodgson, keeping with the episode's cheesy theme.

They informed the cast that they had to cook with cheese for 100 people as part of a cheese festival. The season 21 contestants were assigned a type of cheese by drawing knives.

Rasika had to cook with Dunbarton blue cheese, Manny got cheddar curds; Kaleena's cheese was Merlot Ballavitano; and Savannah had Oaxaca. Dan had to use Sancho Cruz, while Alisha cooked with aged brick, and Kevin picked triple cream brie. Charly used Canela, Michelle had Pleasant Ridge Reserve, and Amanda used Mount Rachlette.

Kenny had to cook with glacier gorgonzola; Laura got gouda reserve 1000+ days, while Danny received 15-year-old cheddar. The Top Chef season 21 contestants rushed to gather their ingredients before they could begin cooking.

The majority of the contestants prepared croquettes as part of the challenge. Chefs were all over the place during the night of the preparation, and Dan and Laura got into a bit of an argument. Laura spilled some of her contents on the floor after she slipped. This was followed by Dan slipping into the mess and dropping some of his gnocchi. He expressed his anger towards Laura and told her she wasn't the only one in the kitchen.

"Having Kennedy's disease, I fall enough on my own, I don't need anyone else's help. The other chefs don't have to worry about the physicality of what we're doing in the same way I do. I don't want to lose out because I got hurt," Dan told the cameras.

The following morning, the Top Chef season 21 chefs had to finish their dishes at the outdoor cheese festival. Several chefs struggled with the high temperatures, but they persisted.

After the challenge, the top three chefs were Michelle, who made a coconut curry collard green saag with Pleasant Ridge Reserve Potato Fritters, Kaleena who made bellavitano mac and cheese with merlot mushrooms and bread crumbs, and Dan, who cooked Sancho Cruz manchego potato dumplings, cheese foam, and olive tapenade. Michelle's dish put her on top, and she won the elimination challenge.

The bottom three contestants were Kenny with his crab rangoon salad with gorgonzola creme fraiche crema, luxardo cherry relish, and rice paper chip, Kevin with his brie croquette with mornay, ham, and truffle; and Manny with his potato croquette with gravy and cheese curds.

Ultimately, the contestant who was sent home in Top Chef season 21 episode 3 was Kenny Nguyen. The cooking competition show will return next week with another episode on Bravo.