As one season ends, another begins. With Top Chef off the air, PYK’s Kevin Arnovitz and Tom Haberstroh have taken a seat at the table of The Bear, the hit TV show on FX. Kevin and Tom explain why they love the scripted series about a family restaurant in Chicago and unpack the unconventional Season 3 premiere. Plus, a discussion about musical choices and which character is the true star of the show. If you’d like to catch up, all episodes of The Bear (Seasons 1-3) can be found on Hulu. PYK will ...
Jul 02, 2024•59 min
Tom Colicchio is Top Chef’s ranking authority, a lifer who has been with the show since its inception. Less than a week after Season 21’s finale riled some longtime fans of the show, Colicchio visits with Tom and Kevin to discuss what went wrong with the finale edit. He explains the various roles of producers, editors and professionals who create a season of Top Chef, shares his candid thoughts about Quickfires, and explores how this season’s cheftestants measured up to previous fields. 👇Hear t...
Jun 25, 2024•11 min
The Top Chef judges table shocked audiences with a surprise verdict in the finale. Tom H. sounds off against the decision, as he and Kevin debate what the outcome says about what the show values most in a Top Chef contestant. Also, an interview with chefs Dan Jacobs, Savannah Miller and Danny Garcia about how this season changed their lives. Subscribe to the new PYK Substack! https://www.packyourknives.com/ Rate PYK 5 Stars on Apple or Spotify Follow PYK on Twitter: @packknives & Instagram: ...
Jun 24, 2024•1 hr 29 min
There are inspired challenges in magical destinations on the eve of the finale that bring out the best in our aspirational cheftestants. With the title of Top Chef only two cooks away, they reach deep into their imaginations and execute the meals of their lives! This week aboard a cruise ship in Curacao was decidedly … not that episode. Tom and Kevin break down what went wrong in an elimination challenge where only two of eight dishes were successful, and look ahead at who might be able to pull ...
Jun 17, 2024•1 hr 1 min
From the very outset of Season 21, Michelle Wallace distinguished herself as one of the most authentic chefs to grace the Top Chef kitchen. Not only does she bake the best biscuits in the business, she can execute an elevated homey dish of stuffed lobster pasta with charred corn sauce and crispy chorizo. Two Elimination wins. An additional four top finishes. (The only thing Michelle can’t abide is “chaos cooking”). Michelle stops by to chat about her Top Chef journey, what is and isn’t a sandwic...
Jun 11, 2024•15 min
The five remaining cheftestants compete for only four tickets on a cruise ship to Curacao for the Season 21 finale in an elimination challenge that asks the to prepare a plate that express their maturation as chefs during their time in Wisconsin. But first, it’s the beloved Blind Taste Test Quickfire, with one of the chefs blowing away the competition (is daily tongue-scraping the secret weapon?). Finally, we have a blockbuster late-season trade between Team Tom and Team Kevin! Subscribe to the ...
Jun 10, 2024•1 hr 3 min
Tom Colicchio does work in the Top Chef kitchen, where the wok is king in the Quickfire challenge. Coming off her Last Chance Kitchen run, Laura re-enters the main competition and makes dessert for an elimination challenge that demands imagination. Tom H. feels that desserts are a market inefficiency that more cheftestants should opt for. Kevin shares how You Can Count on Me explains Michelle’s allergy to blue-sky Top Chef challenges without specific parameters. Subscribe to the new PYK Substack...
Jun 03, 2024•50 min
With her sharp analysis, Mina Kimes can break down any NFL pass coverages or team-building strategy — and Top Chef field. She joins Tom and Kevin to discuss how Season 21 stands up to previous Top Chef seasons, to grouse about Soo’s controversial elimination at the fish boil, and to size up the remaining six contestants in the competition. 👇Hear the full episode right now on the Pack Your Knives Substack👇 Subscribe to the new PYK Substack! https://www.packyourknives.com/ Rate PYK 5 Stars on Ap...
May 28, 2024•14 min
No chef has built confidence and momentum in recent weeks like Savannah Miller. She bagged a Quickfire win with canned corn beef (!), only to slice her hand open while filleting her fish for the Fish Boil. Though it looked like she prepared the worst of the six plates, she was spared elimination. Kevin was on hand in Milwaukee for the Fish Boil, and tasted three of the six fish boil dishes. He shares his impressions of the production, Soo’s beurre blanc, and Miguel’s winning boil. Tom argues tha...
May 27, 2024•1 hr 5 min
For weeks, the judges have been threatening to send home not one — but two chefs — if circumstances demand it. This week, they did just that when they sent a quarter of the remaining field packing in a challenge that highlights the indigenous cuisine of the Northern Plains. Tom and Kevin note that Kristen is bored stiff by Manny’s generally successful (but tiresome) formula in the kitchen, and celebrate Savannah and Dan for a master class on how to endear yourself to the judges by “embracing the...
May 20, 2024•1 hr 3 min
Few chefs have demonstrated the talent to execute risk in the Top Chef kitchen like Rasika Venkatesa. Her pretzel-barley cake with honey mustard sabayon and her daal quenelle have been highlights of the season, during which she emerged as a fan favorite. Rasika stops by Pack Your Knives to talk about her desire to reinvent cooking from Tamil Nadu, which she recently visited on a months-long food tour. She recounts her trip, which included convincing village fishermen to take her back to their ho...
May 14, 2024•15 min
As Wimbledon is to the pro tennis calendar, and the Masters is to the PGA, Restaurant Wars is to Top Chef. It’s the signature event of the season, after which things start to get really serious as the field of chefs is whittled down on the last stretch to the finale. Tom and Kevin react to this season’s 5-on-4 imbalance (boo!) and the new twist with two judges tables so that both restaurants have to shine early and late (yay!). They also dive into the controversy that erupted over Danny’s winnin...
May 13, 2024•58 min
The great thing about chatting with Top Chef finalist Amar Santana is that you get a completely unvarnished take on everything. He stops by Pack Your Knives to tell Tom and Kevin who really had the best dish of the last week’s elimination challenge, why toilet paper should replace napkins at your next reservation, and the saltiest confrontation he’s ever had with a customer at one of his restaurants. 👇Hear the full episode right now on the Pack Your Knives Substack👇 Subscribe to the new PYK Su...
May 07, 2024•15 min
Maybe you’ve seen the Arrested Development episode in which Tobias tells Lindsay that people who entertain open relationships are delusional to believe that the arrangement could work …. “But it might work for us.” This is the theory of mind of any Top Chef contestant who believes that even though seven cheftestants have been eliminated after preparing risotto, somehow he’ll be the one who will impress the judges and be named the winner of the challenge. Enter this week’s delusional chef … Exit ...
May 06, 2024•1 hr 2 min
Top Chef superfans are likely familiar with the brilliant work of Vince Mancini. For the better part of the last decade, the always-funny Top Chef Power Rankings have been a staple of the culinary competition’s coverage. On this episode, Mancini of The #Content Report, By Vince Mancini Substack joins Tom Haberstroh to digest all things Season 21: Wisconsin. We take stock in the competition so far; evaluate the stylings of Kristen Kish vs. Padma Lakshmi; the stunning elimination of Episode 5; the...
Apr 30, 2024•14 min
After weeks of more restrictive team challenges and hyper-specific assignments, the chefs get a chance to stretch their legs in an open-ended elimination challenge whose directive was … Chaos! fter all the chaos settled, two of the leading chefs found themselves on the chopping block with the threat that both might be sent packing. Laura has emerged as a passive villain, while Savannah continues to build confidence, and Manny underwhelms after his strong start of the season, which seems like eon...
Apr 29, 2024•1 hr 3 min
Tom and Kevin discuss how much team competition is too much team competition on Top Chef, as the chefs again split up into two teams to come up with a progressive, 5-course meal befitting of a vintage supper club. The producers inject an edgy dose of conflict into the show when the the teams are restricted to just over $20 per diner, and chefs jockey over assignments. One chef emerges as an unwitting villain on the Green Team, while the Purple Team endures the Great Pineapple Shortage of Season ...
Apr 22, 2024•1 hr 4 min
Buddha dropped by to dish with Tom and Kevin about his time on set, who actually served the best dish of the week, getting to watch Kristen Kish at work in her rookie season, and whom he’d name White House chef should he ever occupy the Oval Office. 👇Hear the full episode right now on the Pack Your Knives Substack👇 Subscribe to the new PYK Substack! https://www.packyourknives.com/ Rate PYK 5 Stars on Apple or Spotify Follow PYK on Twitter: @packknives & Instagram: @packyourknives COUNT THE...
Apr 16, 2024•14 min
For all Tom and Kevin know, Wisconsin native Frank Lloyd Wright’s career might have been fueled by Pop-Tarts and Spaghetti O’s. But some of the architectural luminary’s best work can be found just a couple of blocks from where the Top Chef 21 chefs scavenge the aisle of the Whole Foods for their ingredients. This week, those chefs were asked to pay homage to Wright in a team challenge that stumped more than a few of them. The upside is some heightened tension in the kitchen and some incisive ana...
Apr 15, 2024•1 hr 1 min
This week's PYK Premium guest is Carly Levitz, the delightful queen of Top Chef data science. Carly joins the show to talk about her (recent) obsession with Top Chef and how she watches every episode through the lens of a data nerd (we say this with utmost affection). Kevin and Tom ask her some burning questions about the value of immunity, the Top Chef GOAT debate and regional evolution in Top Chef history. The Seattleite shares her all-time favorite cooking hacks from Top Chef and gives us her...
Apr 08, 2024•14 min
Tom & Kevin aren’t huge fans of hidden doors or cheese croquettes, but they love getting to the bottom of a good mystery -- like who’s to blame over the slippery floor this week in the Top Chef kitchen. This week’s Cheese Elimination Challenge didn’t produce any instant classics. One nice “nice fried ball” — as Gail Simmons artfully called the procession of croquettes — after another. Though the episode didn’t produce any or memorable dishes, it did what an early episode is supposed to do: B...
Apr 04, 2024•53 min
In the annals of Top Chef lore, Joe Flamm is a legend. He clawed his way back through Last Chance Kitchen to win Season 15 with his combination of rustic Adriatic fare and technical savvy. If you find yourself anywhere in the vicinity of Chicago, treat yourself to the Croatian goodness that is Rose Mary in Fulton Market. Joe joins Tom and Kevin to chat about his experience sitting at the judges’ table in Episode 2. How good was Laura’s hops-infused rice pudding and Rasika’s pretzel-barley cake? ...
Apr 01, 2024•13 min
It’s a Pack Your Knives’ tradition like no other: The annual Top Chef fantasy draft. Team Tom has deployed its scouting and data analytics departments to scour the field of cheftestants for the sure bets and hidden gems. Since Kevin got a glimpse of the field of remaining chefs at a mid-season challenge, Pack Your Knives’ Chef’s Table founding members aggregated their draft boards and chose on Team Kevin’s behalf. As always, producer Anthony Mayes is at the podium for the proceedings. Subscribe ...
Mar 29, 2024•1 hr
Brew City wastes no time throwing its first beer-focused challenge at the Season 21 field. Nobody seems excited about cooking with hops in the Quickfire challenge, but the chefs who go sweet win favor with guest judge, Top Chef champion, and Friend of PYK, Joe Flamm. The chefs then split into teams to prepare a progressive dinner in the historic Miller Caves of dishes inspired by salty bar snacks — which Tom and Kevin rank. The team with more fine-dining, tweezer-head chefs struggles against the...
Mar 28, 2024•54 min
The Kristen Kish Era of Top Chef has arrived! Top Chef Season 21 is here, and Tom and Kevin like the new look. This 'inverted' premiere episode has immunity up for grabs in the Elimination Challenge at the beginning, while a Quickfire cook-off has the loser packing their knives. Tom digs the 5-chef divisional battles, each with their own judges' table. Kevin believes that soup is a 'high-floor, low-ceiling' challenge, while a stuffed pasta challenge is designed to kick a chef's ass. Tom and Kevi...
Mar 21, 2024•1 hr 1 min
Pack Your Knives is back. And better than ever. On the Season 21 preview, we discuss the new host, new rules and bring in PYK’s Wisconsin correspondent and Milwaukee-native C.J. Krawczyk to give the scouting report on the host city. Tom and Kevin also offer their 3 cheftestants to watch as we launch a new chapter in PYK. Subscribe to the new PYK Substack: https://www.packyourknives.com/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices...
Mar 18, 2024•50 min
Pack Your Knives has big news for the upcoming season… Find out more at https://www.packyourknives.com/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Mar 16, 2024•5 min
Padma, Buddha and the f'ing liver. In a jam-packed episode of Pack Your Knives, Tom and Kevin recap the contentious Season 20 finale, bid farewell to Padma Lakshmi and launch a campaign for her replacement. Also joining the show are Buddha Lo and Sara Bradley taking us behind the scenes on the finale and this World All-Stars season. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Jun 09, 2023•1 hr 40 min
Our love for this season continues to grow like mushrooms on cow dung. Tom and Kevin recap the infamous Wall Challenge and the mushroom elimination challenge ahead of next week's finale. While reeling from a cheftestant's elimination, Tom shocks the world with a blockbuster trade offer ahead of the final episode. Will Kevin accept? It could swing the entire fantasy season. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices...
Jun 02, 2023•1 hr 23 min
Breaking news: Tom and Kevin went to a Top Chef dinner in Los Angeles at Craft this week! The Pack Your Knives crew not only got to meet Tom Colicchio and Gail Simmons, but also the Restaurant Wars winning team and taste their five-course meal. We recap both the night, the Last Chance Kitchen finale and another banger of an episode of Top Chef as the contestants head off to Paris. Tom H also goes through the archives and researches whether any cheftestant has won four challenges in a row. The an...
May 26, 2023•1 hr 24 min
