Top Chef season 22 episode 12 recap: Contestants cook with the ingredients from the forest and Massimo goes home

Top Chef season 22, also known as Top Chef: Destination Canada, released episode 12 on May 29, 2025, on Bravo. It documented contestants incorporating the true Canada in their dishes. They were asked to source ingredients from the wilderness around them, with a few supplements to choose from Whole Foods.

Following the terms of the challenge, the remaining five contestants cooked with the most off-beat ingredients, such as ants, dandelion, and thistle root. Not only did they have to incorporate ingredients from the forest into their dishes, but they also had to cook outdoors, in the wild.

Massimo prepared a trout using mustard seeds and wildflowers. He was at the bottom with Bailey, but the latter made it out because she experimented with rickier ingredients like thistle root purée, and made an amazing dish. Massimo was sent home because of his use of safer ingredients.

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What happened in Top Chef season 22 episode 12?

For the latest challenge in this episode of Top Chef season 22, the contenders had to take a walk in the forest and find ingredients native to Calgary to incorporate in their dish. Then, they had to cook on open flames, out in the forest .

To their assistance were Brenda Holder, the proprietor of these trails, and Tracy Little, a local chef.

"The forest around you is a pharmacy, a food store, a clothing store," said Brenda.

When Shuai and César took some ants, the latter said that he experienced adrenaline rush during the task. He also took some mushrooms and made a trompo and pibil broth with roasted pineapple. He used the ants as a topping on his dish for an added crunch.

Shuai prepared a broth with black spruce and poplar, and kept charred cabbage and rose-hip glazed pork on the sides, which also incorporated ants. Massimo made a grilled trout with mustard seeds and wildflowers. Tristen opted for a pork jerk with plaintain-miso syrup, parsnip, and coal-roasted roots. Bailey made cowpeas, lamb spiedino skewers with grilled dandelion salad, and thistle root purée.

The guest judges on this Top Chef episode included Brenda Holder, Tracy Little, Indigenous Herbalist, Matricia Bauer, Chef Scott Iserhoff, Nicole Gomes, and Paul Rogalski. They praised what the contestants had collectively made. Nicole said that all the dishes together felt like a collab dinner, while Brenda got emotional, saying that she was "touched" by the fact that the chefs honored her land through their own cultures.

The judges liked how César's dish looked, with Tom Colicchio stating:

"On any other day, he wins."

The judges also dug the layered appearance of Bailey's dish. However, they thought her cowpeas were a little undercooked. Massimo's dish was also commended for its appearance, but his use of mustard, compared to the risky ingredients used by his counterparts, was considered too safe.

After the Top Chef judges tasted Tristen's dish, Tom said that he was sure nobody else's recipe would be better than his. He was wrong because Shuai's dish also garnered praise, and Tom said it made him want to go back to the kitchen to cook. Kristen complimented the use of charred cabbage, and it was Shuai who ultimately bagged the win.

The judges decided to send Massimo home because, while he didn't do anything wrong, his ingredients were considered safer than the feats Bailey took on. Before announcing his elimination, Kristen said that all of their dishes were "worthy of winning."

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For more updates on Top Chef season 22, fans can follow the show's official Instagram account, @bravotopchef.