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Inching closer to the finale, Top Chef season 22 episode 13 was released on June 5, 2025. It witnessed the remaining four chefs, namely, Bailey Sullivan, Tristen Epps, Cesar Murillo, and Shuai Wang heading to Milan for the last elimination round.
After this round, the remaining three chefs would head to the finals, keeping them only a step away from the title and the $250,000 prize money. For the Top Chef Quickfire, the four contestants had to make risotto.
"Not risotto! I thought that I could manifest it out of this competition and completely avoid it," said Tristen.
Olympic and Paralympic stars graced the episode as Michelin Chef Andrea Apnea and Top Chef: World All-Stars alum Ali Ghzawi joined the judges' table. After the Quickfire challenge, the contestants had to compete in three rounds of cooking, with each task's winner being sent to the finals. Cesar couldn't make it to the next stage because he didn't garner enough votes in the three rounds, and thus, he was sent home.
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What happened on Top Chef season 22 episode 13?
For the Top Chef Quickfire challenge, the contestants had to cook up a risotto. The chef to win the challenge was to be awarded a $15,000 cash prize. Many of the contenders opted to make a risotto out of rice because they feared it wouldn't come out well, and a fusion risotto would do the work.
But judge Tom Colicchio criticized this, explaining that risotto came from the word "riso" which meant rice, so he expected them to incorporate the primary ingredient. Tristen won the Quickfire challenge with his West Africa-inspired risotto, served with charred tomatoes and buttered greens.
It was then time for three rounds of head-to-head tournaments. The rules said that the winner of every round would be moved to the finals, until two chefs faced off against each other, and one would be eliminated.
Round 1 of Top Chef presented a polenta challenge, where the winner would not only get a seat in the finale but would also win a prize from Delta airlines. In the second round, they had to cook a beet-based dish. For the third round, two chefs had to make a dish around gorgonzola cheese. All three rounds highlighted the ingredients that are widely used in North-Italian cuisine.
Shuai scored five votes in round one with his five-spice roast duck on creamy polenta. Bailey scored two votes, while Cesar and Tristen both got one vote each. With that, Shuai advanced to the finals.
In round 2, where they had to make a beet-based dish, Tristen pocketed the highest number of votes. He made glazed beets with a smoked beet puree, beet pikliz, and pork belly. He earned six votes, where Bailey got zero votes and Cesar received three. With that, Tristen secured a place in the finals.
In round 3, Bailey and Cesar went head-to-head. Bailey's crispy polenta gratinata with a bruleed gorgonzola won over Cesar's butternut squash casserole with gorgonzola and a sage pesto. She was sent to the finals alongside Shuai and Tristen, while Cesar was sent home.
"I'm just telling myself over and over about how proud I am of me. I got to go to Europe for the first time, I got to see myself grow as a person, grow as a chef," Cesar said before leaving.
For more information on Top Chef season 22, fans of the show can follow its official Instagram page, @bravotopchef.
