Episode
Top Chef: London Calling
Overview
To celebrate the 20th season, "Top Chef" returns for an international showdown in London; sixteen competitors, including previous winners and finalists, face off in the fiercest showdown the culinary series has seen.
Details
- Series
- Top Chef
- Season
- Season 20
- Episode
- Episode 1
- Air date
- 2023-03-09
- Runtime
- 55 min
Episode context
London Calling is Episode 1 in World All-Stars of Top Chef. It aired on 2023-03-09. The runtime is 55 min.
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More episodes from this season
Episode 3: Cheeky Pints and Pub Bites
In lieu of a Quickfire, Tom and Gail surprise the chefs with an old-fashioned pub crawl around central London; in teams of two, the chefs are tasked with re-creating and elevating a classic pub dish; two chefs will pack their knives.
Episode 4: Spurred Lines
The chefs are tasked with creating a beloved English classic: the biscuit; the chefs head to Tottenham Hotspur Stadium for a football-themed team challenge; the teams that succeed are safe while the rest are relegated and must compete again.
Episode 5: Holiday Vacation
In this week’s extra-sweet Quickfire, the chefs are tasked with creating a celebratory dish featuring honey and mead in order to win over Padma and guest judge Adam Handling. Then, the chefs escape the city and head to the Kent countryside. The cheftestants create a festive family meal featuring their favorite holiday dishes for judges Padma, Tom and Gail, along with Top Chef Mexico judge Martha Ortiz.
Episode 6: Top Chef Is No Picnic
The chefs take a trip to Highclere Castle for the Elimination Challenge, where they must work together to create and serve an elevated picnic basket.
Episode 7: Hands Off
The chefs learn Gaggan Anand is the guest judge; they must create a dish inspired by an emoji and are tasked with creating a plate with a message that's visually stunning and can be eaten without utensils.
Episode 8: Street Food Fight
Guest judge Judy Joo surprises the chefs by challenging them to create delicious street food-inspired dishes; the chefs must get inspiration from the new "Fast X" movie for the largest and fastest mise en place race.
Episode 9: Restaurant Wars
It’s Restaurant Wars, and this season, the perennial favorite is back with a twist! The chefs split into two teams of four and are tasked with creating a restaurant concept and tasting menu. To add to the pressure, they must debut their restaurants at three Michelin-starred Core by Clare Smyth, and the judges will have a full view of the kitchen. Unbeknown to the chefs, Jimi Famurewa, the Chief Restaurant Critic for the Evening Standard, is seated in the dining room and later joins Padma, Tom and Gail at the judges’ table.
Episode 10: Thali Time
There’s nothing like preserved fish in the morning, which is exactly what the chefs have to cook with for this week's Quickfire Challenge. The chefs enjoy a night off as famed chef Asma Khan treats the cheftestants and Padma to an Indian thali dinner. For the Elimination Challenge, they must use six different flavor profiles to create their own Thali platter to impress a panel of chefs from India and judges Padma, Tom and Gail.
Episode 11: Battle of the Wellingtons
Coming into the final stretch before the finale. It’s full steam ahead as the remaining six chefs are tasked with creating a steamed dish for their Quickfire Challenge. In one of the hardest Elimination Challenges yet, the chefs are put in teams of two and must create not one, not two, but three different Wellingtons to serve 20 diners, along with Padma, Tom and Gail. The two chefs from the losing team will pack their knives.
Episode 12: Goodbye, London!
As the journey in London comes to a wrap, the final four chefs welcome back the winner of Last Chance Kitchen. For this week’s Quickfire, the chefs are joined by guest judge Sam Bompas, who challenges them to create a dish featuring jellies and molds. For their final Elimination Challenge in England, they’re tasked with creating trompe-l’œil dishes, where the plates must literally fool the eye and taste like something completely different than what they look like. Who will make it to the finals in Paris, and who will bid adieu?