Top Chef: Pan African Portland

April 16, 2021 6:34 PM - Season 18, Episode 3

The pressure is laid on the chefs in the Quickfire Challenge as they are tasked to make a layered dessert. Carrie Baird joins Padma to pick the winner. Gregory Gourdet and Kwame Onwuachi take the chefs on a tour of restaurants in Portland that feature food from the African diaspora. For the Elimination Challenge, the chefs must make dishes inspired by their tour for the judging and dining panel, as well as the restaurant's owners.
posted by Emmy Rae (5 comments total)

I don't know how they can do this episode without saying "We specifically want to thank Chef Eric Adjepong for focusing our attention on this type of food." because they were NOT talking about it before he showed up and shined his light on the African diaspora! I've seen all the seasons and I remember!

I wanted to eat ALL those dishes. I'm excited to see Dawn killing it.
posted by Emmy Rae at 8:28 PM on April 16, 2021 [5 favorites]

I get why they didn't send Kiki home, but man it sounds like she missed on the fufu. That's gotta be a bummer too, when you know you can do better than what you put out.
posted by Carillon at 12:50 AM on April 17, 2021

I think Kiki's peanut stew is what saved her, rather than the bad fufu. But Brittany's dish - Pickled Mackerel with Allspice Fritter, Red Stew Coconut Sauce & Charred Cucumber - sounds unappetising. Her vision to mix her German heritage with the challenge of using African influences was a terrible mis-step, which she later realised and tried to temper it down with coconut milk - and that turned out to make things worse, not better. This competition is merciless on chefs who struggle outside their comfort zones.

I admit I laughed at Richard Blais's comment about Gabriel's dish being too white. It was clearly not in Gabriel's wheelhouse, and although that was also the case with Brittany, at least Gabriel's dish had a thought-out idea behind it.

I was delighted for Dawn, but the chef who's food is really exciting me is Maria.
posted by essexjan at 11:08 AM on April 17, 2021 [1 favorite]

Delighted for Avishar, my fave, and absolutely going to pick up that Talenti flavor whenever it rolls out.

I loved that they invited the chefs from the restaurants they visited (they probably always do that, I do not remember from past seasons), just wish we could have seen more of their reactions.
posted by everybody had matching towels at 1:14 PM on April 19, 2021 [1 favorite]

As a born and raised Ohioan who loves the chocolate - peanut butter combo, I'm definitely looking for that gelato.
posted by kathrynm at 4:56 PM on April 19, 2021