Top Chef Holiday Special Episode Guide
Past Contestants Meet in Chicago for a Holiday Challenge
Dec 28, 2008 Kimberly Kunaniec
The Top Chef Holiday Special, originally airing in December of 2007, features eight Top Chef veterans returning to celebrate the holidays and compete for a grand prize of $20,000. The episode was set in Chicago, where the fourth season of Top Chef was about to begin filming.
The Contestants
- Tiffani Faison - Tiffani competed in season one and was known for being outspoken and cutthroat in the kitchen.
- Stephen Asprinio - Stephen appeared on season one of Top Chef and was the sommelier of the group. His passions lie in areas outside the kitchen.
- Josie Smith-Malave - Josie is originally from Florida, but currently resides in Brooklyn. She was a fun and spunky competitor on season two.
- Marcel Vigneron - Marcel was the runner up of season two, behind Ilan Hall. Marcel was trained at the Culinary Institute of America and lives in Los Angeles.
- Betty Fraser - Betty was a season two contestant who frequently fought with Marcel. She owns a restaurant and catering company in Los Angeles.
- Sandee Birdsong - Sandee is a Georgia native and executive chef who appeared on Top Chef Miami.
- CJ Jacobsen - This California chef is easy to spot, at 6’8”, and has overcome cancer to get where he is today.
- Tre Wilcox - Tre was one of the popular favorites of season three and he currently works as a private chef.
The Quickfire Challenge
Host Padma Lakshmi and Santa Claus meet the chefs to give them their Quickfire Challenge. Though Santa isn’t saying much, he has a slight accent. Their challenge is to play a game of “Dirty Santa” and cook a dish with the ingredient they end up with. Each chef takes a turn where they can either open a present under the tree, or steal the present that another chef has opened. The gifts range from black truffles and caviar to cheese balls. Santa unveils himself as Chef Eric Ripert of Le Bernadin restaurant in New York.
The chefs are given thirty minutes and access to everything in the Top Chef pantry to make their dishes. CJ is named the winner, for his dish of shrimp with walnuts and apples. His prize is immunity during one of the rounds of the Elimination Challenge.
The Judges
- Padma Lakshmi - Lakshmi not only has written a cookbook, but she is also and actress and has been a model. She has been the Top Chef host since the second season.
- Tom Colicchio - Colicchio has been the head judge of Top Chef for every season as well as both special episodes. He is the chef and owner of the Craft restaurants.
- Gail Simmons - Simmons is one of the show’s regular judges and works as a special project manager for Food & Wine magazine.
- Ted Allen - Frequent guest judge Ted Allen is best known from his work on the hit television series Queer Eye for the Straight Guy as the cooking specialist.
- Eric Ripert - Chef Ripert is the chef and owner of Le Bernadin restaurant in New York City.
- Elizabeth Falkner - Falkner is the pastry chef and owner at Citizen Cake in San Francisco.
- Norman van Aken - This chef, restauranteur, and cookbook author has a hit restaurant called Norman’s in Orlando.
- Alan Wong - This Hawaiian chef and restaurateur is known for his creative take on traditional Hawaiian ingredients.
- Alfred Portale - Portale is from Gotham Bar & Grill in New York City.
The Elimination Challenge
The chefs are each challenged to create a three course meal for a party. After each course, two chefs will be eliminated until the final two are left standing. Those two chefs will be judged on their meal as a whole, so CJ’s immunity will not be helpful for the final decision. The chefs are not told who has been cut until they arrive in the dining room to present the next course.
After the first course, Sandee and Stephen are asked to leave. The remaining chefs describe their second courses to the diners and return to the kitchen to prepare their third courses. When they return, Josie and Betty are eliminated. The third course is split between desserts and savory courses. After the diners taste it, Marcel and CJ are eliminated. Just two chefs are still in the running to win $20,000.
The Twist
After tasting the first dishes, the judges have narrowed the chefs down to Tiffani Faison and Tre Wilcox. In order to choose a winner, they ask for one last course using anything they can find in the kitchen. Tiffani creates a puff pastry and braised veal item in the tradition of a leftover sandwich. Despite his reluctance, Tre chooses to tackle a dessert. He makes crepes filled with raspberries and walnuts, and makes a white chocolate mascarpone sauce. The eliminated chefs all pitch in to help them complete their dishes. Stephen, Sandee, and Josie worked with Tiffani while CJ, Marcel, and Betty joined Tre’s team.
Judge’s Table
While the chefs sit in the stew room, Padma, Tom, Ted, and Gail return to judges table. Unlike a typical episode, they are very complimentary of the chefs and give little critique. Tiffani was declared the winner, and became the first woman to walk away with a big prize. Tre is given a consolation prize of autographed books from the guest judges, but he feels good about losing to Tiffani.
New episodes of Top Chef air on Bravo Wednesday nights at 10 PM. See what the current season of chefs will create next.
Caviar for Dirty Santa
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Presents for the Quickfire Challenge
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Raspberries for crepes
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