Bet On Black: Tristen Epps-Long - Top Chef: Destination Canada

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[00:00:50] Hey, what's up, Fam? Welcome back again to Recap Kickback presents Bet on Black. That's our Recap Kickback.com series where we talk about the black reality TV contestants that stand out. And right now, we are talking about black winners. If you missed our first episode, I am Chappell and I am going to be talking to one of the foremost reality TV experts, especially when it comes to black contestants.

[00:01:17] My co-host, Gia Worthy, about all of this. Gia, the author of Bet on Black, the Substack. Yes! Thank you, Chappelle, for continuing to entertain my whims here for who we want to talk about and when. I remember this time last year, and I know it was pretty much exactly this year because Restaurant Wars just aired on this latest season of Top Chefs.

[00:01:47] So for those that don't, that aren't yet aware from the title of this podcast, we are talking about the latest winner of Top Chefs. The 22nd season, Destination Canada had their second black winner ever in the franchise. Just sit with that for a moment. And it was Tristan Epslong, a well-deserved winner. And so we are going to be talking about his win today.

[00:02:10] But, Chappelle, I'm so excited to talk about it because I feel like this time last year, I was messaging you to watch this season, this season being season 22, because Tristan was really the frontrunner at that part. And then Restaurant Wars happened, and I was a little worried we were going to lose him through a self-elimination here.

[00:02:38] And he stayed and continued doing that shit. He had that shit on, and he became our 22nd winner of the franchise. Yeah. Gia texted me about it. She was very passionate about it, which is on brand for Gia when it comes to these black reality TV contestants. And so I said, I'll check it out. And, yeah, what a great idea. First of all, I used to watch Top Chef way back in the day, but I stopped. You know, after a while, I fell off.

[00:03:03] But this dragged me back in, and I am so excited to dedicate episode two of Bet on Black to the winning season of Tristan Epslong of Top Chef. So, yeah, we got all of that to talk about. But, Gia, for the people who are new here who just showed up because they saw Tristan's name, tell everybody, what is Bet on Black? So, Bet on Black is, it's twofold. Okay. Twofold. Well, really, threefold.

[00:03:29] Because the idea of Bet on Black comes from Sean Rector, who was a contestant on Survivor Marquesas, engineered one of the greatest alliance flips, the first major alliance flip in Survivor history. And his infamous confessional in that episode is to always bet on Black, basically insinuating that, you know, like, we need to support the Black players.

[00:03:59] My chemistry was immediately altered hearing Bet on Black. This is something that Chappelle and I are both very passionate about. So, this turned into me creating a sub stack where I can specifically write about some of my favorite Black players, Black winners, moments in reality TV history. Sometimes pop culture stuff, too.

[00:04:21] But, really, it's a space to honor and continue that legacy of Sean and all of the great Black players that we have had over time. And this turned into us wanting to create a podcast where we can actually really zero in on particular contestants and highlight them and talk about the reasons we love this player so much, what their journey was on the show.

[00:04:50] Right now, we're focusing on some of the winners we've had over 20-plus years of reality, like, competitive reality TV history. But I'm sure we're going to also be covering some of the players that we, you know, that we just love to talk about, regardless of whether their games ended in a win or not. Yeah. Great rundown, Gia. Yeah, we are here to celebrate these people because watching reality TV means that you have to see a lot of these Black contestants not really get a fair shake.

[00:05:20] Not so much that, and don't get me wrong, some of the shows are just not fair for Black people in a lot of ways, especially early on with the lack of diversity and people being othered and even some, like, just downright racism in a lot of ways. And so it's really hard to give the Black people their flowers when the show is editing them to look negative or not really showcasing the good side of them. Our first episode was Bet on Black talking about Vesepia Towery Robinson.

[00:05:48] And she is famously one of the better winners in Survivor history, but she got no love. No love from the show. No love since the show. And we feel like we're going to take it upon ourselves to make sure we give these people their flowers when they sell them. And so today we'll be talking about Tristan. But before we get to that, we have an update on our last Bet on Black episode. Yes, we do. We talked about Vesepia. We talked about Sean Rector.

[00:06:16] And shortly after that, we took a little trip to Atlanta, Georgia, to the Ron Clark Academy watch party. And we came in contact with the Sean Rector. And not only did we talk to him, but he said he listened to our Bet on Black episode. He watched the video with Vesepia. Yes. And we all had a big phone call. It was crazy. It was. I cried.

[00:06:46] You cried. It was a tearful moment. We have a photo. It's out there. We don't own the photo. Sean Rector has a photo of us. We got to get it back from him. We're going to try to acquire the photo. Yeah. But Gia, what was that like? Seeing that we had just dropped that video maybe three weeks prior to going to Atlanta? I mean, I thought going to Atlanta, like before we actually got there and conceptualized this,

[00:07:13] it was like in my wildest dreams, I would have been able to like get to have a sentence or two conversation with Sean Rector. And tell him about how Chappelle and I just did an episode specifically about Vesepia and by proxy his game on Survivor Marquesas because they were very intertwined. And that would be like the best case scenario.

[00:07:42] So that was what I was hoping for going in there. So to not just have a conversation with him, but to hear him say how both of them watched the episode and that they like wanted to meet us and that they loved it and that we were able to tell them how much their games meant to us was beyond my expectation. So I can like feel my eyes getting hot talking about it right now.

[00:08:10] But it actually is like it was beyond anything I could have possibly imagined getting to meet him, but also to even the extra part of like being able to talk to Vesepi on FaceTime, getting to have this conversation with one of my best friends in the podcasting world and Chappelle. And it was like that was all we could talk about the rest of the night. It was like it was a dream come true in every way. Yeah. And that set the precedent that now we talked about somebody on Bet on Black.

[00:08:39] We immediately need to meet them and talk to them because, you know, that was incredible. But it would also be incredible to talk to Tristan Epslong. So if you're out there listening to this, sir, hit us up. OK, because we got questions and we would love to interview these people. I think we could lock in that Vesepia interview now. I think now that we've made the connection, I think we got it. I think not that she knows we're not like totally weirdos or anything like just a healthy amount. A little bit. Just a little bit.

[00:09:07] It's a healthy amount, you know, but like they've met us. I feel like we were we were as chill as one could expect to be in the presence of Sean. I was a few drinks in as well. So maybe maybe we weren't as chill. Yeah, maybe we were as chill as we could have been. But no regrets. No regrets. It was so it was so much fun. It really was. And so I need more. I need more of that. I need more of that to happen.

[00:09:34] And I think our next target here is Tristan's, you know, so let's get into Tristan's season of Top Chef. He's on Top Chef Destination Canada season 22, as Gia was saying, it aired last year. There were 15 contestants. Well, 17 in total, if you include the last last kitchen or last chance kitchen or whatever. But to to me, as Gia already outlined, the story of Tristan is.

[00:10:04] It's it's so touching, right? Like you just talk about how her like she can feel her face getting hot. Don't don't waste your tears now because this season is a ride. And I'm so happy that Gia mentioned it because I would have missed out on what I would consider one of the greatest kind of reality TV arcs someone has ever had. Just because it could have gone so wrong and so many things did. But the kitchen is where Tristan excelled. And I'm so happy that he was able to win this season, Gia.

[00:10:35] Yes, yes. And so before we start, I do want to say that we did discuss ahead of time. We want to dedicate this episode to the memory of Russell Lon, who is Tristan's father. And this is part. So before we go into it, we want to honor Russell's memory as well.

[00:10:55] But we as we are talking about the show, we only see Russell in two episodes, like in video, which is the episode that in the very beginning where Tristan does a video call with his parents. And then in Restaurant Wars, where he passes away, where it's a very devastating episode.

[00:11:20] And it really it's a it's very emotional. But because we are talking about the arc of Tristan as a contestant, we are going to mention his stepdad's passing because that becomes a big story point in the episode. But we do not want to play it up as for dramatics or for the camera or anything like that.

[00:11:47] So we're talking about it in that recognizing that we want to honor his memory, but also tell the story of Tristan on Top Chef. I remember when that episode of Restaurant Wars first came out, Tristan put out this very, very touching statement about his dad, but also mentioned that talking about that, like rewatching that episode basically like had to have him relive that trauma as well.

[00:12:13] So like it's a sensitive topic and we're going to do the best that we can to pay respects to Tristan and his family. Absolutely. Well said. Yeah, the story of Tristan was already going to be a good story. I mean, he is very much a front runner throughout the season. He doesn't have like he's not the front runner throughout the entire season. But as he gains momentum, Tristan does some really impressive, impressive things in the kitchen,

[00:12:43] all leading to Restaurant Wars, which Top Chef fans will know is kind of like a landmark of any season. And I'm sure we'll talk about that a lot more. But but Gia, when you were watching this season and you were checking out those early episodes, what stood out to you the most about Tristan? So the first few episodes, Tristan kind of gets a quieter start, right?

[00:13:07] We get the video call with his parents, which we obviously figure out later on that that's going to come into play later. But then and we know that, you know, we know he's a talented chef, but the first episode, he's right in the middle. We we get a kind of a brief glimpse into his cooking style and personality, but he's really not the star of the premiere.

[00:13:32] And then when we get into the next two episodes, he is in like the he is in the high placement of the main heat challenges. But we don't but he doesn't win. It's not until episode four where he gets that first win, where we really start to see his momentum billing building throughout the season.

[00:13:54] But even before we start getting Tristan on that winning streak, the thing that really struck me about him is that he wasn't just passionate about cooking food about related to like the Caribbean and African diaspora, which is a big inspiration for how he cooks. Tristan's also a big history nerd. He brings it up all the time and it goes into his cooking.

[00:14:22] Like he talks about black history, black culture and how that inspires the food he makes. There's one episode in particular that's later on the season that we'll talk about a little later on that really struck sticks with me. That really struck me about how he he looks at food, how he loves being black and being a black man cooking black food.

[00:14:48] And that's the type of food that he wants to introduce to the world and also to inspire the next generation of black chefs, because there are going to be people that want to be a black chef. And they're going to be a black chef. And they're going to be a black chef and say, not only is he a black winner of top chef, he is a black winner that is highlighting his black heritage.

[00:15:16] And I think that's the big, uh, the big part of Tristan's arc that really sticks with me. Cause a lot of times when we get winners, not just on top chef, but a lot of these, uh, shows, they, they, they don't talk about culture as much of like how their culture inspires their food, especially not with like black food.

[00:15:36] I would say like, maybe like Eric, uh, um, from top chef Kentucky was really like one of the bigger selling points of like a black chef highlighting black food. That was that close to, uh, winning it like at, as far as here. So it's, it's not quite often we get it. So to have it be a main driving point of Tristan as a character was fantastic to see. Also, Tristan is very competitive.

[00:16:04] Uh, he talks about how, you know, he's an overthinker over analyzer. And, uh, as I was trying to catch up on the season, you know, like I said, Gia recommended it to me. Um, I was catching up and I was like, Hey, this guy's cool. I like Tristan a lot. He's from Houston and I thought he looked familiar. And so I did some Googles and this is actually Tristan's second reality TV show because, um, Tristan was on CB, uh, ABC's season three of a show called the taste.

[00:16:34] And, uh, I have an image of young Tristan, the baby, baby Tristan, as he worked under, uh, one of his mentors, Marcus Samuelson on this show. I believe this is how they met on the taste. And, uh, Tristan came in third place there. So, um, big shout out to him. But yeah, I thought that was so cool. I said, Oh wait, okay. He's back and he's evolved so much.

[00:16:58] He doesn't look like a little baby anymore, obviously, but he also has, uh, sharpened his cooking skills so much that you're right. Gia. Um, he's like in the top three here and there. And like, he's never really in the bottom at first, but once he starts to win, I think that's when you start to see, Oh no, Tristan is going to be, uh, one of the front runners. And I would say Gia that this, this was a tough season of top chef as far as competition wise that final five final four.

[00:17:26] I was like, Oh, Oh, he's going to have to really pull it out to win this. Yes. So full transparency, this is my favorite season of top chef and not just because of Tristan winning. Cause there have been other seasons where I love the winner, but the season itself is a little meh. And, um, but looking at this full cast, it's just like star after star after star.

[00:17:52] If this was any other, like if this was any season, any other season besides this one, um, our final three, um, which is Tristan, Shwey and Bailey. I would have been rooting for Shwey or Bailey, like nobody's business. This just happens to be the season where I'm like, no, no, no. Like I love Shwey and Bailey, but like, I will sell my soul for Tristan to win if I need to.

[00:18:16] So like, it's just, it's that serious that, you know, like, unfortunately they just happened to compete on the season with one of my favorite contestants of all time. So therefore, you know, priorities, but even one of the things that really sticks out to me about this season that I love, not just that the cast is fantastic, but we get a lot of surprise eliminations along the way.

[00:18:41] Um, I don't think, you know, usually with a lot of these shows, we get an idea of who the front runners are and who is in, who is kind of like in the middle and towards the bottom. And that usually the eliminations sort of work their way to work themselves out with the people that are in the top kind of staying up there.

[00:19:05] Um, and like, maybe it was like one or two surprises, uh, coming in front at, at a certain point. This season was very unpredictable with it. Um, a lot of the chefs that started in the top did not stay for very long. Um, we had a lot of shocking, uh, eliminations along the way. I don't, I think that, uh, if people started the premiere episode and picked a final three, it would not be the final three we got. Hell, it might not be the final five that we got either.

[00:19:35] But I feel like everybody does have at least one, like, shining moment on the show, whether it's like a character moment or, uh, um, or like a chef moment. Here. And, uh, everyone here is super nice to each other. Um, and I'm kind of, I, I really like this cast overall. It's just a really great cast.

[00:19:59] Chappelle, did you have any particular standouts that we want to give a shout out to before we get into maybe like the nitty gritty of top chefs in general? Yeah. Yeah. Lana, for sure. Uh, right. Like seeing her come back in the finale, I was very excited to see her. Um, but also, you know, um, Katiana, I think is another person who I, if you talk to me episode one, I'm like, oh yeah, she's going to be here for a while. And then to see her, I think she won both, uh, the first two quick fires back to back or something like that. Like something no one had ever done.

[00:20:28] And so I was like, oh yeah, she's going to be tough to beat. Uh, that was a crazy elimination. Zuber, also somebody who we were able to see come back as a sous chef. I was actually very surprised to see Zuber because he had gone, he had gone out so early, uh, in comparison to everybody else. But Tristan was able to pick him as his sous chef for the final challenge. Uh, so yeah, a lot of standoffs. And then, I mean, I know this is bet on black and we're talking about Tristan, but come on Mossimo. Mossimo. Like we have to talk about Mossimo. We have to talk about Mossimo.

[00:20:58] He was good. He was good TV. He was fun. A little personality higher, but also with some skills. We love that. Yes. And also it's like, he's definitely the antagonist at moments, but it's not like, you know, Chappelle and I have watched Top Chef in its ghetto days. You know, like we, we play ball, we play ball with Top Chef. We were in the trenches seasons one through, I want to say like six, you know? Yeah.

[00:21:23] Like we watched when we were way too young to be watching, like before it was a family show. Um, it was the early seasons of Top Chef and that's when, what we grew up watching. And, uh, you know, that, that was culture back then. But, um, so we, we've seen some real Top Chef villains and Mossimo is definitely not a villain, but he's definitely, you know, not afraid to make a statement and stand out from the competition.

[00:21:50] So super fun character, shocked that he got fifth. Not because I thought he should get lower, but I thought this was going to be, I thought we were building to a Tristan versus Mossimo face off. But like, maybe I would have said either Cesar or Schwe would have made, be like the third person in that final three. So, uh, even though I'm, I very much love this, uh, the, like this cast in the final three that we ended up getting,

[00:22:20] it definitely a surprise, but I like when it's a surprise here. Um, yeah. Lana was also on Pressure Cooker as well. So, um, it was great to see her back, but yeah, everybody in here. I liked that we were able, that the chefs this season for the finale were able to pick anybody from the cast. Cause usually it's like they get to pick from the last three eliminated or what have you.

[00:22:44] And so I like that Tristan was able to, to go as far back and pick Zubair who probably is one of the chefs that's most, uh, matched with him for, in terms of, um, like the type of food that they're both passionate about and highlighting their culture. So he's definitely on par with what Tristan was looking for there. Yeah. And a lot of these big, uh, these big chefs, they fell at the hands of people like Tristan, you know?

[00:23:13] Um, again, Shawai as well. Uh, you know, a lot of these people in the final three, uh, they were winning these challenges, you know? Um, they were taking people out of the game. Uh, and you know, we saw Tristan, what was it? Eight challenges in a row. He was in the top, uh, dishes of the... One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, eight. Yes.

[00:23:43] Mm-hmm. And he would have had, he... So I don't... So, side note. Mm-hmm. So I'm looking at the Wikipedia right now, right? Okay. And the pickle challenge, um, he and Cesar were basically told... They were on the losing team, but they were told that they had the best dishes of the day. Mm-hmm.

[00:24:06] Which I felt low-key bad for Massimo here because of, like, winning the challenge and then having them say, yeah, but, like, there were two chefs on the other team that did it better. You know? It's like, damn, that hurts. Mm-hmm. But I think they probably, if the other team had won, would have given it to Cesar only because Cesar did the dessert, like, the pickle ice cream thing. Mm-hmm.

[00:24:29] So I don't know if Tristan would have won with the dish that he had, but he was still very high-placing, like, at least top two, and maybe he would have won in there. So, uh, almost five, five wins, five main heat challenges in a row, which is, uh, crazy for, for any contestant and for the, for the show itself to still be as, um, for the competition to still be as intense as it is.

[00:24:59] Um, even with one of the contestants winning almost five times in a row is still pretty crazy. Yep. Yeah, yeah, no. This was, this was a very competitive season. It was a very fun season to watch. Uh, we definitely saw, you know, some of the stars really break out and have their moments to where it did look like anybody, uh, could win it. Um, but going into Restaurant Wars, I think that is really where the momentum kind of changes and not necessarily for the best.

[00:25:28] You know, it's, it's a very dark episode for the people who have never watched Top Chef before. Uh, Restaurant Wars is like making the merge on Survivor or making the jury on Big Brother. It's like, it's a, it's a massive undertaking that you, you kind of dream on getting, of getting there. But it's also the death nail for so many players in, uh, Top Chef history. I know you have been scarred and, uh, personally attacked by Restaurant Wars in the past. Uh, rest in peace, Trey Wilcox.

[00:25:56] Um, like that was, I think that's the first time I felt true disappointment in life was, uh, for those wondering, Trey Wilcox is not dead. I'm just very sad when he got eliminated. On a Thanksgiving episode, I believe, because I was at my grandparents' house watching his ass get kicked out of Top Chef. And I, I, to this day, do not recover, will not recover. Uh, I refuse.

[00:26:23] But it was, um, and again, for people that aren't really familiar with Restaurant Wars, the big thing about Restaurant Wars, it is like the merge challenge, like mergatory, what have you, for Survivor. But it's also, a lot of these challenges, they, they don't say that it's based on, like, your past performances can, can impact if you stay in the competition or not. But it's kind of implied, obviously.

[00:26:49] Like, if a frontrunner messes up once in a challenge, they probably won't get eliminated right away unless they really messed up more than the other players that were there. Restaurant Wars is the exception. We have seen many frontrunners in the competition be eliminated at Restaurant Wars, um, either because they took an executive position or they were front of the house.

[00:27:13] Those are usually the positions that get, uh, get the boot on there, or because they weren't contributing enough. So it's, uh, it could be really a, a variety of reasons why someone gets kicked out of Restaurant Wars. But, uh, Chappelle, I thought I was safe from Restaurant Wars, uh, getting a very disappointing boot here because, uh, Tristan had immunity this round.

[00:27:39] Um, so this is one of the episodes I actually watched live and I was not prepared for it at all. Um, this is where things take a turn in the tone of the season, but also in Tristan's game. Um, so during the, this episode, um, is, uh, there's two, two teams of four, very standard for Restaurant Wars.

[00:28:06] Tristan is the executive chef and he was on a team with Vinny, Lana, and Massimo. Um, and they were going with his concept of, like, a veggie forward menu here. I really liked the idea. I really loved the concept of it, too, and, like, kind of, like, chat pushing the envelope a little bit on, uh, on, like, some of the concepts for Restaurant Wars. So I really enjoyed it.

[00:28:34] And then, um, about halfway through the episode, Tristan gets a phone call from his mom about, um, his dad, who we've heard him talk about before in the show, um, had a stroke. And overnight from when he gets the call to when Restaurant Wars, uh, is starting, we learn, uh, from Tristan, Tristan through confessional that his, uh, dad passed away overnight.

[00:29:02] But that his family and, uh, his dad himself both wanted him to stay. So that was the reason that Tristan decided to stay in the competition. And because, uh, that was his family's wishes there. So he has his family's blessing to move forward. He actually wins this challenge. Um, his team wins and then he's named the individual winner of the challenge.

[00:29:26] But, um, this is a turning point for Tristan's game because when he entered, he was playing for, like, the grand idea that he is playing to inspire black chefs. Which is also obviously a very noble cause. It's something that Chappelle and I support. It's something that made us want to root for him, uh, before Restaurant Wars.

[00:29:49] But now that, uh, since his dad had passed away, he has changed his perspective on why he is there in the show. It's no longer that he is there because, um, he wants to inspire other black chefs. It's still a part of why he wants to be there.

[00:30:08] But now it's framed that his main focus is to prove that this was the right call for him to stay because he wanted to honor his dad and honor his family by staying in the competition and still putting his best foot forward. So that, that's kind of the overarching arc we get in Restaurant Wars, in the Restaurant Wars episode.

[00:30:32] And it's a, it's a, it's a, it's a lot to process in, uh, a Top Chef episode and like an hour long episode of television. I, it's a very, it was a very heavy episode, very unlike what we normally see in Restaurant Wars or any episode. Yeah. And Tristan is a Top Chef fan. I, I read, uh, an interview with, uh, Vince Mancini where he was talking about how, um, he was really a big fan of Tiffany Derry. Whew, my girl.

[00:31:02] Um, you know, during her season, season seven. And, you know, knowing that he, that means he knows the gravity of what it looks like to go into, to Restaurant Wars. But also he has immunity. And so what happened a lot of time in Top Chef is that when you have immunity in a, in a team challenge, they'll say, okay, you take whatever the hardest thing is because the judges are going to be really critiquing that. Right.

[00:31:26] So a lot of times the person with immunity gets stuck on dessert or, you know, they'll, they'll definitely be the executive chef because they, they have the least to lose. So if something is like disastrous in concept, or if it's dessert, which people just struggle with in Top Chef in general, a lot of them are not, uh, pastry chefs. They can just do dessert. Uh, so for a lot of them, it's easy to say, okay, well, the person with immunity go do this thing because they just have to survive. And that's easy.

[00:31:51] Tristan doesn't not, he doesn't only survive, but he really takes control of the executive chef spot. Uh, we see him kind of getting the, uh, the servers in line when they're screwing up. He's getting Massimo in line when the servers are screwing up. He's really hands-on with what he wants to see as far as like the decor and the flowers. I think the name of their, their, um, restaurant was Flora. So it was this, you know, the very vegetarian, well, vegetable forward look, but also kind of, you know, echoing throughout.

[00:32:20] So this is all Chris, uh, Tristan's idea, but he doesn't only go on to do these harder tasks, but he does outshine all the rest of the people in the competition and win this challenge back to back. So he comes in with immunity and he didn't even need it in the midst of that. He had, he finds out about, you know, his, uh, his father having a stroke and then his father later on passing. And when he finds out about the stroke, he just gets back to work. You know, he looks very broken up about it.

[00:32:47] The other chefs are very respectful and they allow him to have his time, but he doesn't take his foot off the gas at all. By the next day, it's very clear that he's cooking, but his mind is, you know, on a billion things probably at that time. He's grieving and the judges don't know this. They don't know this until after, uh, they already selected him as the winner. And so once he wins, he, you know, he tells them that it was such a tough day and he was trying so hard to be on as the executive chef. You know, you gotta be able to answer these questions.

[00:33:16] You gotta be able to manage everybody. And nobody wants to see you moping around, you know, it's a TV show. They probably are looking for you to be a little bit chipper. And he probably felt that pressure to do that as well. Um, but I mean, there's not a dry eye in the house G it's such a, such a touching moment. I was devastated watching this and I already knew it was coming. Yeah. And his, uh, at one point that I also wanted to touch on that you already mentioned that his team was really supportive of him the whole way.

[00:33:42] Um, this, this cast in general was very supportive of one of one another throughout the season. But I think this is really the episode that, uh, a lot of them come together, um, especially to support Tristan. Um, but also, yeah, you're right that this is, there's a lot of pressure going into restaurant wars already. Even if you don't have immunity, or even if you do have immunity, you don't want to, you don't want to fuck up restaurant wars, right?

[00:34:09] Like that's just, that's the, that's not the episode to, to turn it off. And, um, but there, you know, there is a level of like, you are in the competition. You are a part of, uh, this, um, experience and that you have to remain focused. And even if the judges themselves weren't saying, you know, suck it up and cook. Yeah. That's probably part of what Tristan is feeling in this moment.

[00:34:36] And I can't imagine being in that same position or to be like having to choose between going home and like basically just, uh, getting the step in the stating news and then having to go back to work right afterwards. Mm-hmm. Yeah. Yeah. And, um, it, again, it really does color the way the season is going, right? It's such a fun season moving into that.

[00:35:00] And in that episode, it's such a dark cloud, but seeing Tristan persevere and win that challenge, it reinvigorates the season in a way, right? It's still very sad, but you feel like you're a lot more invested in his story as he goes on to continue doing well in the competition. Um, I, again, I was reading, you know, reading up on different articles before we did this. And he's talking about how being a student of top chef is really beneficial to him. Like somebody who has watched all the seasons of the show, he knows what not to do.

[00:35:30] He knows what mistakes are, uh, are, you know, like common, what people do to screw up. Um, and it's very clear with the way Tristan presents his dishes and the things that he does, um, that he's leaving himself room to not make those errors. Uh, I believe it's in the, one of the final two episodes by the time they make it to Italy. Um, he's like, I'm cooking monkfish or maybe I'm cooking cod. I think I'm going to cook them both and I'm going to cook them both.

[00:35:58] And whichever one turns out better, that's the one I'm going to use. If you are OG top chef fan, you know, monkfish has been the death of plenty of people on top chef. And so he wasn't trusting that. All right, this is going to come out. Perfect. Let me cook the cod too. Turns out he got the monkfish just right. And he was able to use it. But a lot of people, so many people, I mean, if you look at season 23 of top chef, so many people, they come in without backup plans. Yeah.

[00:36:24] So people coming out backup plans and they end up not being able to serve things on their plate and they miss out on, you know, they, they don't have anything to pivot to. And Tristan did not leave himself in that position quite often. Uh, so it was very fun watching somebody who clearly knew not only how to cook, but also how top chef worked. And it was clear that he was going to be the winner of this very early on to me. Yeah.

[00:36:46] Um, I think one of the things that I think is very overlooked in the top chef world is that top chef is in fact something that you can study for. And a lot of, a lot of our winners, especially in the more recent seasons have gone on record to essentially say like they have, they studied for the show in some way, some form, whether it was, uh, knowing what dishes not to cook.

[00:37:12] Or knowing kind of like what in their wheelhouse, what's the best ingredients to bring versus what you need to have there. What are the things that the judges like to see? What are the things that have been overdone? Um, so it's, uh, what are the like pros and cons of the choices you make during restaurant wars? So it is, it is like a test.

[00:37:32] It's not, um, uh, one of the things that I, I try to really stress about top chef in general is that this is not like the regular world of cooking. Like you being an early boot on top chef does not, it's not an indicator for like your, your talent, uh, as a chef in the outside world. Right? Like this is not, this is not the, uh, the day to day experience of a chef here.

[00:37:58] This is very much a competition where you need skills as a chef too. So the best chefs, the ones that are invested in the top chef cinematic universe, no kind of like the do's and don'ts of the trade and know what to look out for and what to avoid. So, uh, it doesn't, doesn't mean a guaranteed win, but it definitely helps.

[00:38:20] And I think someone like Tristan, also a student of Marcus Samuelson, as you previously mentioned, and he, Marcus Samuelson is one of my favorite of the, uh, celebrity chefs, the, the chefs that we get in the, uh, food network universe here.

[00:38:36] So, uh, I, I was very happy to see a Marcus Samuelson mention as well, but also see like that type of enthusiasm and that type of love for, uh, like food that represents his heritage really shine through with Tristan as well. But he almost made like the top chef work for him as opposed to like make him work around what top chef was giving him. Um, which I loved, I love to see. Yeah, no, that's a, such a good point.

[00:39:05] Uh, because a lot of the challenges are, we have decided that you have to make this dish and you have to make it, you know, in this type of way. And a lot of these foods are things we've seen on top chef has been 22 seasons, right? We know the types of things that you're going to see on this show, you know, the type of challenges are going to have. And so if you can figure out, okay, these are the types of things they're going to ask me. How do I put my own spin on this specific thing? We saw it time and time again.

[00:39:31] And one of the big moments is, uh, in Italy, they're asked to make risotto and they cut to Tristan and he's like, I don't love, I don't want to make risotto on top chef. It's, it's one of those things that will kill you. Risotto will murder you on hell's kitchen. Okay. Like that, that has taken out so many people on hell's kitchen. Right. Which, and you would think every time you watch hell's kitchen, you say, how can you not make a risotto? A Wellington? Like we should know the menu by now. The menu has not changed in 27 years. It has not changed.

[00:40:01] But Tristan has an ability to look at the risotto and say, all right, how do I make this something that I could speak to? And he goes and he makes a West African version of this. So in his mind, he's like, oh yeah, this is a spin on what you're going to ask me for. But you already know what they're going to ask you for. I am not a chef, but if you ask me to write down the 15 most used ingredients on top chef, I, for any given, I got you. And even though, and it changes, it changes throughout, right?

[00:40:30] For the first 10 seasons or whatever, they wasn't, the first five or six seasons, they were barely just starting to use like the dry ice and the gas. Yeah. You know, like all that kind of stuff. The molecular, whatever it is. The molecular gastronomy. Yeah. Then that takes off toward the middle and then everybody's using it. Now we're like, do we, do we might make ice cream here and there, you know? Now we get a lot of, uh, agua chilies and, um, and, uh, what, twills. We get a lot of twills. Exactly.

[00:41:01] And so by knowing these things, you're able to prepare. And it did seem like Tristan was very prepared to do this. Yes. And again, this is why we celebrate, uh, Tristan on Bet on Black because Top Chef is a cooking competition, but it's also a competition. And there is nothing wrong with studying up on the mistakes of the people of the past so that you can excel in the future. Very good, very good, very good. Very good? Vizu Steuer ist sehr gut. Das sagen ganz viele. Cool, wer sagt das?

[00:41:29] Stiftung Warentest, Computerbild, Focus Money, Chip, Finanztip, such dir was aus. Mega, aber das ist doch bestimmt kompliziert. Nö. Einfach Foto von der Lohnsteuerbescheinigung machen und fertig. Klingt sehr gut. Ist sehr gut. Hol dir dein Geld zurück. Mit Vizu Steuer. Iconic Vibes zum besten Preis. Wow geht mit Euphoria in die dritte Staffel. Ein paar Jahre nach der Highschool wusste ich nicht, ob das Leben so war, wie ich es wollte. Streame ab dem 13. April parallel zum US-Start.

[00:41:58] Wöchentlich eine neue Folge. Das Problem ist, wenn du einen Pakt mit dem Teufel schließt, gibt es kein Zurück mehr. Freu dich außerdem auf weitere Highlights wie House of the Dragon und Wicked. Alles ab nur 2,98 Euro im Monat. Streaming war noch nie so wow. Mm-hmm. I'm so happy you talked about the risotto because that was one of the things that I had listed as like my highlights of Tristan.

[00:42:24] Some of the other highlights that I, that kind of like sold me on Tristan as like a chef after my own heart. In one of the earliest challenges they had to make dishes inspired by like, they had to make a savory dish based on a deconstructed version of a Canadian dessert. Mm-hmm. Tristan got the thing that he was least excited about, which is a figgy duff. Um, it, it looks like a fruitcake. Yeah. I understand.

[00:42:53] I understand the hesitation, Tristan. Yeah. And he had a Guyanese pepper pot with it. I believe he won. This is one of the challenges he won. Mm-hmm. Yes. Yes. I usually, I usually hate the episodes where we don't get quick fires because I love a little mini challenge, right? I do too.

[00:43:21] This is one of my favorite episodes in Top Chef history. We learn a lot about foraging, about native culture in Canada, which I found really exciting. But also, this starts as a tricky spot for Tristan because, uh, as he says, uh, you know, black people don't go in the woods. Like, what are we- Not in the mountains. Yeah. Not in the mountains. It's crazy. In the mountains. Be for real. Be for real here. Right.

[00:43:48] Um, so he struggles for like the majority of the day trying to figure out what he is going to make. And guess what? History comes in and helps Tristan here because he remembers that the, I believe it is the Tayano people, um, I apologize if I said that wrong, in Jamaica. Um, I read about this as well. Um, in America, they were called the Maroons and they, um, would escape slavery and go hide in the woods and in the mountains.

[00:44:16] And that, that is where jerk chicken was created in Jamaica. So that was, that was a really great pivot for him. So he makes a, uh, a native jerk chicken with the forged ingredients, um, from Quarry Lake and Canmore, which I thought was amazing. I was very excited for that one. He didn't win that challenge, but it was still a fantastic dish. It was very close. Very close. Um, Shwai. But Shwai just came.

[00:44:46] Shwai was on a roll at the very end as well. So I was a little scared. I thought Shwai had it. I did. I was rooting for Tristan, but make no mistake. Shwai was cooking. You thought it was an elaborate prank that I made you watch this. Yeah, look, I, like I said, I, I went in, at least I knew, but there were definitely moments where I was like, well, damn, what's Shwai gonna do to mess up? Spoiler alert. He doesn't really mess up. And, uh, I really, and the problem is Shwai is so likable too.

[00:45:12] I'm like, I want to root against you so hard, but like, he's just a guy. He's just a little guy. I'm like, damn it. Damn it. I love him. So, but we love Tristan too. So it, uh, again, and it speaks to how great of a cast it was here. Um, especially, I feel like, especially as we dwindle down to the contestants, we're really getting the perspectives of people like Massimo, like Shwai.

[00:45:41] We learn a lot about Bailey, who is our, uh, Last Chance Kitchen winner for the first finale. Um, and Bailey was originally second eliminated and makes it all the way to the final three. Um, I, I loved Bailey. I loved getting to know her personality after her return from Last Chance Kitchen. Um, and then Cesar, who is just the sweetest man that like has ever graced the Top Chef Kitchen, I believe.

[00:46:10] Um, and is the one that made the pickle ice cream later on. So there was just a lot of great contestants, really like a great opportunity to like learn about their perspectives. It was just a strong showing overall, but like, I think that speaks to just how much of a strong contender that Tristan was because all these strong chefs and we still have Tristan as the front runners like that.

[00:46:36] I feel like it really speaks to just how great of a chef he was or is, but was on the show. Yeah. And I believe his story is that his mom was in the military and she got stationed in Japan. And so when he went over there, he's like, I can't, I couldn't, I couldn't understand anything that they were saying on TV, except for the, except for the food channels. Those are the only things that like I can understand. And so it really helped him kind of get into the world cultures and the different foods and he's well-traveled, right?

[00:47:05] So we see a lot of him telling stories about all the places that he's been, all the different techniques he's picked up here and there. So it's so fun watching him talk about food as well. Cause he's so worldly. You just feel like you're learning. And Tristan's a fun guy too. I mean, I think, I think I counted two, at least two cartwheels done. There were some cartwheels in celebration of his wedding. I did like the cartwheels. Yeah, he's good. He's good for some cartwheels.

[00:47:31] And then I do want to talk about that last, the final elimination challenge. We had our final three chefs and they were supposed to cook the best four course progressive meal of their lives. They did get to have a sous chef as well. Tristan ended up choosing Zuber, as we already mentioned. And then he comes up with this four course meal that the judges barely had any comments about them. And like, I'm talking about, I mean, very little negatives in these four.

[00:48:00] Cause I think in the first course, the monk fish, they said it looks over, it looks undercooked or overcooked, but it's not. Yeah. Yeah. And he's like, exactly. He was going for like a scallopy texture or whatever. Cause they said they at first glance, they thought it was, but when they tasted it, it was perfect. Not our Tristan. Yeah. Not our Tristan. He had the pollo Durango with the shrimp toast, the oxtail milanese, which I love me some oxtails. So I was happy about that.

[00:48:28] And then the tropical root vegetable cake at the end. I'm talking about the comments that we're getting was like hats off, no words. It's, uh, you know, you could tell when Tom Colicchio is really enjoying somebody. Cause he's just like, you can always tell when Tom is excited about the food. Tom was pulling for Tristan. You can't tell me. You can tell when Tom, Tom has a favorite, you know, or like where he's like, he, he was down with Tristan. Um, Richard blaze, Richard blaze.

[00:48:57] You were going to say, I knew you were going to say Richard blaze. I remember that he, he tried to get some points again. I'm Richard blaze. Cause I never forget ever. It's on site. You and that mohawk. Yeah. You and that toupee. It is on site. But he said he, the, the tropical root vegetable cake with chutney was, uh, where he lost him. And Tom Colicchio said, fix yourself. All right. Right. Like get it together. Clean that up a little bit.

[00:49:25] I think Richard said something like, I mean, it's interesting, but is it delicious? So that's not a critique. That's not a critique. That's not a critique. Stop it. Stop it. Sure. Sure. Stop it. Stop it. Cause we, cause I remember you on the show, Richard. Okay. You and all your damn foams. Um, every other thing was a foam. Yeah. That you and your liquid nitrogen. Your emulsion blender, your damn jellies and shit. We remember those days, Richard.

[00:49:54] Stephanie Izard outsold. Um, so yeah, I, I guess I think all of those chefs did such a good job. Bailey, Schwe, Tristan to the point where I think after the first course, Tom gets up and he goes and congratulates them right there. He's like, y'all are killing it. This is crazy. Like he couldn't even sit in his seat. They loved this cast. They truly like, they are, they are not crying this season. Like they are, they were last season with like having to send people home. Right.

[00:50:24] Like this was just. Like Christian, it's your job. You know Cesar was going here. Please stop. Yeah. And it, and it may, it may Tristan feel so, um, so proud that he was basically doing black food, uh, in a way where people had to acknowledge it. He talks about how it's not looked at as serious cuisine. A lot of times, uh, the Afro, Afro Caribbean food that he was making the West African food that he's making a lot of the Southern cooking styles they were using. He's like, that's not often looked at as fine dining.

[00:50:53] And it was his goal to make sure that that came across in his meal, uh, and, and, and in this time on top chef. And I think he did it. I think he did it. It was perfect. Love the art. Love the wind. Uh, the food looks amazing. He's in Houston. I'm trying to figure out a way that I can get some of this food. He doesn't. Cause he doesn't run a restaurant. He runs a catering service is what I'm like. Like Tristan, just get a brick and mortar because I, I will fly down to,

[00:51:23] to go to Tristan's restaurant. Like do not play with me here, but also, uh, Chappelle, I think we just need to go to like one of the food and wine magazine, uh, festivals that they have and then find Tristan there. Look, you speak in my language. You speak in my language. Cause I, I need that. I need that. Gotta have that. Gotta have that. Um, yeah. Hates to see me coming. Oh, one day.

[00:51:52] It's on our list. It's on our bed. It's a write-off, right? That's a little black research. I think we need like a bed on black, like road trip lists. One of which being the food and wine festival. Yeah. We gotta go see. Oh, what were you gonna say? I guess we gotta go see all the top chef alums that we love so much. Tiffany Derry, Carla Hall, you know, like I got, I got a list. Yeah. I need to fight Richard blaze now. We got to, gotta slap him. Cause how dare you? It's Kristen John is on the line.

[00:52:22] And that guy, that be, uh, Nina Compton in New Orleans. Right. Cause what is wrong with you? Cause why? Sir, you should have quit. I'm sorry. Like, what are you doing? What are you doing beating Nina Compton? Like that was something you could just do. Right. How dare you? How dare you? But I've still mad about that too. Yeah. Listen, please don't get me started talking about top chef New Orleans. Uh, so yeah.

[00:52:49] Is there anything else you wanted to highlight about, uh, Tristan and this win? I mean, his highlight reel speaks for itself. Yes. So we do have a highlight reel for, um, but we also have a quiz on Tristan that I will be giving you in a moment, but we just want to, want to close out some of, uh, Tristan's best wins of like, he, he has the quick fire wins, main heat wins.

[00:53:19] He has six in total, including the finale, uh, making eight in total here. I would say like one of, one of my favorite people to watch cook in top chef in general and to have him win on top of that, it, cause my favorites never win. Right. Like that's when that happened was a long time ago.

[00:53:42] So the, uh, I, I was very excited about, about this season, these characters. It was great to see. I was very happy to see it. Um, and Tristan, I mean like his record speaks for himself. Um, for those of you that are interested, top chef stats.com has stats on every top chef season and it's absolutely amazing. And that's where I got a lot of my information for this podcast when talking about kind of

[00:54:11] the history of top chef in general, but it's so funny cause they have like these little big floating heads to talk about like all the different chefs. So this is the one for, for this past season, Destination Canada. They are updating as the Carolinas, as it comes out and they have one for every season and just like the overall stats in there. So it's really cool. Um, Chappelle, do we want to do our top three moments of Tristan or do we want to just go

[00:54:41] right into the, let's do our top three moments. Uh, well, obviously number one is restaurant awards, right? Like that whole entire thing is perfect to me. Uh, I did really enjoy the foraging, um, conference challenge that he doesn't win, but it's the way that again, the man is ultra prepared. So he doesn't know what he's going to do the entire episode. So he's really trying to figure out a way to connect, uh, his style of cooking to these foraged ingredients.

[00:55:09] And it's, he says it's at 3 AM the next morning when he realizes what he's going to do. Yeah. And he just comes out and smashes it out of the park. Uh, I love that so much. And then, um, I did like the Jollof rice that he did and the risotto challenge in, uh, in Italy. That was, that was a good one. But also that pizza challenge he won that, that was very interesting to me too. We had, we got spiked back after a million years.

[00:55:40] Like that was crazy. But it was like, where did you come from, sir? Been hiding out, been hiding out. Uh, but yeah, uh, it was that Lama Jun pizza with lamb, anchovy ranch and pickled grapes. I was like, that sounds crazy. But then he won and I said, oh, that must've tasted amazing. I really want to try that now because like, how is this the winning pizza? I don't know. It sounds like foolishness. It sounds like something you just like made up.

[00:56:08] Like you put a bunch of like random ingredients in and spit something out, but sounds like it was good. So I would say my top three, I mean, restaurant wars is up there. I think like the finale, I think his win, like when he announces his win and the confessional we get after his win is the top moment for me because it brings us back to restaurant wars

[00:56:35] and has that perspective of the sacrifice I made to be here. And the sacrifice my parents made for me to be here was worth it. So I think that was the top moment for me. Oh, and that moment we, and right when he calls his mom, I think that's the part where that's a stab in the heart. That was, I cried. Well, when he started crying, I cried, but then when he called his mom, I thought I was calming down. And then I started crying again. Yeah.

[00:57:04] That's one of the, that's one of the ones. Yeah. So that, that maybe the phone call, like that's like, um, I really liked him and Bailey as a team on the pair challenge that they won together. They're both immune this episode. So, because Bailey came back from restaurant wars, I mean, came back from last chance kitchen and Tristan won the previous, um, immunity challenge, but I thought that they worked really well together.

[00:57:33] I love octopus. So the fact that an octopus was the winning, uh, dish, like, let me try that. Um, I also just like, honestly, I liked when he insulted whatever they had to make, and he still won the challenge anyway, like the figgy duff, the pickles, like anything he wasn't a fan of, he excelled at. And I admire that about him. Yeah. Yeah. Um, crazy run, crazy run.

[00:58:01] He had, I think that, yeah, I think that you have the stat sheet. Uh, thank you, uh, to top chef stats, two quick fire wins, six main heat wins, eight comp wins in total, the highest of the season. Yep. Yep. It's great. It's a crazy run. And, Chappelle, are you ready to be, uh, to be quizzed on the story of Tristan? Yes. Let's do it. Okay.

[00:58:28] So this, this quiz, the last time we did this, it was very simple, right? It was Sean or Vesepia. You had to, you were given a statement. You had to figure if they'd applied to, uh, Sean or Vesepia. This one is a little different. I'm calling it the world according to twist to Tristan. Okay. The world according to Tristan. And it, I have 12 questions all relating to Tristan in some way.

[00:58:58] And you just have to do your best to answer them. Okay. And you get a point for every answer you get correct. Some of them have more than one answer. Are you ready? Okay. All right. I'm so nervous. I'm really bad at these things. It's okay. Okay. Some of these, I, so my, I rewatched this just for this podcast. So I, I, my rewatch ended maybe like two weeks ago. So there were a couple things I was taking notes while I was watching. Cause I forgot. Okay. Especially the earlier episodes here. Okay.

[00:59:28] I have not rewatched this in a long time. I know. So this is, this will be a Trist day. All right. Ready? Okay. Yes. Okay. Question one. And remember, this is called the world according to Tristan. So it will relate to Tristan in some way. Okay. Number one. In the very first quick fire challenge, Tristan was placed on the green team with his two car mates. Name them.

[01:00:00] Um, was he in the car with Vinny? Uh, I don't know why Vinny stands out and Katiana. I don't know. Just guess it. It was, it was not Vinny or Katiana. It was, uh, Shway and Mossimo. Oh, that's a good group. Yeah. Right. I know that was like, damn. Okay. Okay. There. So for the first main heat challenge. This is question number two.

[01:00:28] He, Tristan had to face off against his quick fire teammates who won, who lost, and who was in the middle for this round? Um, this is tough. Oh, so it was Shway, Mossimo and, uh, Tristan. Okay. Um, Shway, Shway wins, Tristan second, and then Mossimo loses this. You are correct.

[01:00:58] Yes. Okay. We're back. We're back. We're back in the green. Woo. Okay. That's nervous. I knew Tristan didn't win that way, but I was like, was it Mossimo day? I don't think so. No, because remember he forgot an ingredient. He forgot like the curry or something, or he didn't have time for it. And then they said it probably was better without the curry. Right. Right. Right. Yeah. Yeah. Tristan made the cod. Yeah. I remember. Had you asked me what meal he made? Oh yeah. That was the cod and the snow crab.

[01:01:28] I remember that. Yep. Yep. Cause I, I'm like, damn it. We are going to lose a black chef. Little did. Little did. I know, but we didn't eat that damn curry. Yes. That's how we knew Tom was a real one. He said, eh, it's fine. It's fine. What was the name? And some of these we have already talked about in the episode, uh, in this episode, just so you know. What was the name of the dessert Tristan had to deconstruct in the savory challenge in episode four?

[01:01:57] Oh, the figgy duff, right? Yep. Figgy duff. That stuff looks disgusting. Uh, I'm sure like, it looked like the Canadians even kind of are like a mixed on it. That doesn't look like any way he loves it. I, I can't imagine that it looks like their version of a fruitcake. Like I, I can't imagine Canadians are vouching in the, like sticking their neck out in the name of the figgy duff. Cause it just, it looks dry and sad. Yeah. Yeah.

[01:02:26] He just used it as an excuse to make something else from the Caribbean. That pepper pot looks so good. He was told there was all spice in it and said, I can work with this. So let me just do the rest. Thank you. All right. Ready? Question four. Who was Tristan's partner for the double elimination challenge? Oh man. Um, this is tough. What was the, what was the challenge? We just talked about it.

[01:02:54] It was the pear challenge and they had to make food for like a hundred people. Oh, um, yeah. Cause all the, the, the pears, he made the pear dessert, right? It was, it was, no, that's the pickle thing. That's the pickle thing. Nope. This wasn't the pickle thing. Okay. God dang it. Who won that? Was it Cesar? No, it was the pickle thing. No, it was the pear challenge. Two pears. Pear as in two people competing together. Okay.

[01:03:23] I'm thinking pear, the fruit. Okay. I'm slow. Uh, this was, damn. I, that is crazy. I, I hear pickle. I'm seeing the green fruit. Um, this is Bailey. Bailey was his partner. Yes. Yeah. Cause it's the octopus. It's the octopus. You mentioned the octopus. Cause it, my thought was I can't eat octopus as you know, as you've witnessed. Um, shellfish is not exactly. She does not agree with me. When we went to Philly this year, we met, uh, Dr. Amanda, or I guess last year.

[01:03:53] Um, and first thing I said, cause Amanda and I love oysters was that we should go get oysters. And Chappelle had to ruin the thought process by saying I'm allergic to shellfish. I mean, I almost died when we were in New Orleans. I don't know if you forgot. I can't remember that. That was, that was an experience. But I mean, we still had fun even if we didn't go get oysters. So it was fine. And almost dying in New Orleans was worth it. So both things are true. It was, it was. Yeah. Two things can be true.

[01:04:24] Yeah. Okay. All right. Ready? Pickles, pears. Oh, yeah. Yeah. There was a lot. So yes. Bailey was his partner for this challenge. Okay. Cool. That was tough. That was tough. It shouldn't have been that hard. You had just said it. I'm just like completely. I should have said duo instead of pair. No. It worked. It worked. All right. Ready? Tristan was not the only black chef present on finale night.

[01:04:53] Which black top chef alum was a guest judge at final service? Oh, who was the judge at final service? I thought you were going to ask if Lana was there. I was going to be like, yeah, Lana came in as a sous chef. Who was the guest judge? It was at the table of judges. So there was one black top chef alum. Yes. No, I remember this. This was, because she talked about how she was, when she was on the show.

[01:05:21] Who was it? The final challenge? It was the finale. The finale dinner. Okay. There was one black top chef alumni that was the guest judge at the dinner. And Tristan talked to them too. So like there was a bonding moment there.

[01:05:48] But it was a black top chef alum that was there and they were the guest judge. No, I remember this. They were one of the guest judges. And I think they were at the judges table when they announced the winner, I believe. Yes. And I remember this because he was talking about how Tristan used the oxtail. Yes. And he used the marrow, the bone marrow. You're picturing this person right now. The problem is the name is on the tip of my tongue. Yep. It's.

[01:06:18] In fairness to you, I think this chef premiered when, like after you stopped watching. Yeah, but I can see him because he had the hair. In your hiatus. This was when top chef started getting serious. Yeah. He had the hair and the glasses. I can't think of his name, but I know exactly who you're talking about. Gregory Gordeaux. Gordeaux. Gordeaux. Yeah. I would have never got that. I'm looking at him though. I can see him because I remember him being at the table thinking him and Tom got Tristan's back.

[01:06:52] And Gregory was in the final two of top chef Boston. One of my other favorite seasons of all time and fifth on top chef all-stars season 17. The good all-star season. Yes. Wow. See, now I gotta go do my research. Yep. It was a good. Top chef Boston's a good one. I highly recommend. Okay. Great. Gregory Gordeaux. I'm about to write that down. Gregory Gordeaux. Ready? Yeah. Yeah.

[01:07:21] In the meat and berries challenge, which berries did Tristan have to pair with his flat iron steak? I remember that steak. I remember that steak. But which berries? I don't know. What we got? Gooseberries. Gooseberries. Yes. I forgot all audits.

[01:07:51] If you had told me that this challenge was a thing before my rewatch, I'd be like, that didn't happen that season. That didn't happen. I completely forgot this season was a thing. Or I completely forgot that challenge was a thing this season. Well, it's so Canadian. Some of these challenges, right? So it's like, okay. Okay, cool. For a billion dollars, I would have never got that right. I would have got Gregory Gordeaux before I got that. Yeah. There were some doozies in that challenge for the berries that you could pick. I didn't hear.

[01:08:21] I had no idea some of these existed. Yeah. Ready? Yes. One accomplishment Tristan did not achieve this season was a full episode win, meaning he won both the quick fire and main heat challenge in a single episode. One chef did achieve this feat in this season. Who was it? Who won both in the same episode?

[01:08:50] Hmm. My gut is saying Katiana because she was doing so well, but I don't think it's her. I think she won those two quick fires or those quick to do two quick fires back to back. And I don't think that's the same. It's a quick fire and then the main heat challenge. Right. I'm struggling with this one because my gut was like, go with Katiana because she was so good at the beginning.

[01:09:19] But I don't think that's the winner. I don't think that's the winner. Is it Massimo? It is not Massimo. It is Katiana. Oh, okay. It is? God damn it! So Katiana won the, let me pull up my Wikipedia thing again. That's crazy. I knew it. She won episode three.

[01:09:47] The, um, she won the quick fire and the, this was the cold dish. Remember they had like, they had to serve it on the, on the ice and she had to use licorice knob. I'm so mad that I talked myself out of it. I was like, cause she, I really thought honestly, like episode, by episode three, I thought there's no way they're going to catch Katiana. I just thought like, there's no way. I really feel like, oh, this is, this is her time. This is her season. Yeah. And I was enjoying the run.

[01:10:17] I really was. I was not, I was not upset about a Katiana blowout win. You know, I, I was shocked that that did not happen. Yeah. Crazy that I knew Tristan was going to win and I still was kind of like, but how are they going to Katiana and Schwai? I was concerned about them the whole season. Yeah. They were a problem for a bit and we still enjoyed them, but they were a problem. Yeah. I was shocked. I was shocked. Cesar was not in the finale after he came back, but yeah, that was a rough run. All right.

[01:10:47] On that note, right. We're still on the full episode wins, right? Oh God. Okay. There is a black chef that is tied with season five, Stefan Richter for the most full episode wins in a single season with three. Name that black chef. Oh, three full, full episode wins.

[01:11:15] Three full episode wins in a single season. There's one black chef that is tied with Stefan. So they're both, they both are, they both are the title holder holders for a full episode wins. You're going to laugh, but I'm going to say Gregory Gordeaux. Will you laugh when I tell you that is the correct answer? Yeah. I'll give you that. It is in fact Gregory Gordeaux.

[01:11:42] I just found out who he was and I'm like, yeah, that guy sounds like a winner. He did. He, he, his run on top chef Boston was amazing. He had a really good run in all stars as well, but Boston was like, he was that guy. He was that guy. That's crazy. All right. Gregory Gordeaux. Wow. Yeah. Gregory Gordeaux. Gotta, gotta brush up on it, on your, uh, your history, your top chef history.

[01:12:12] I'm gonna get into it. I am. All right. As this season's winner, Tristan took home the season's grand prize of 250,000 plus 40,000 that he won from his challenge wins. I don't know if they actually combined it. If they're like, you have the 250,000 now you're good. But either way, um, who won the second highest amount of money that season? Uh, I guess why I feel like he was in the top a lot.

[01:12:40] It is, it is why with $30,000. Yeah. Okay. That makes sense to me. Yeah. He won a lot. He won a lot of money challenges. Yeah. And I think he won, he won 15 in the, uh, in the, in the last challenge, that little tournament they did. Yeah. Cause, uh, you know, cause I think round one was if you make polenta and you win, you are the, you win 15 K and then everybody else has to keep competing. Uh, and Shuaai, uh, knocked them out of the park with that polenta.

[01:13:11] His food looked good too. Shuaai is another one where I'm like, we need to get to one of them festivals so I can eat his food. I really, I feel like Shuaai would do well at like a festival. But like a food festival that he seems like a fun lad. Yes. I would definitely, I do want to meet Shuaai one day. Shuaai, let us interview you. Even though we're talking about how happy we were that you didn't win this season, but it's not cause of you, you know? Yeah. All right. I have three more questions for you.

[01:13:41] How many times was Tristan in the bottom during the season? Quickfire and Main Heats both included. Ooh. Um, I'll go with two. You are so close. I will count it. It is three. Damn it. Okay. Two quick fires, I believe. And one. Oh wait, no, actually. Wait, where was it? Yeah.

[01:14:07] Two quick fires and one, uh, main challenge. Okay. Yeah. So really not a lot. And the one, the main challenge doesn't count for that one where he basically won, right? Like him and, um, Cesar. It was the one where, no, it was, he was in the bottom for, um, the one. I didn't count that one. Um, cause the Wikipedia actually listed it as like high. He was high placing cause they basically would have won. Right. Yeah.

[01:14:36] If your team didn't suck. But, um, for the, um, it was the, the stunt challenge where. Oh, nobody really was. I'm sorry. It wasn't the stunt challenge. It was the, uh, where was it? Uh, it was the, it was him, Vinny and Lana. I believe that were in the bottom. That was a rough week for me too.

[01:15:04] Um, it was. Is that the week Vinny went home? Dear God. It was. Yeah. That was the week Vinny went home. I'm a Vinny apologist. They had to make conditions inspired by the, uh, by the four seasons. I'm a Vinny apologist. He can do no wrong in my eyes. I don't care. Freaky Mike Bloom. I love him so much. I called him evil Mike Bloom for a large portion of the season. Um, and then I was just like, damn it.

[01:15:34] I'd like him too. Like there, he can't even be a villain to me. I'm sorry. Sorry. Evil Mike Bloom. You're not evil anymore. I love him so much. I love him so much. And he was also, when he said I'm a broke ass bitch. I was like, yeah, this is, this is unfortunate. My type of people. My type of people. This is for me. Protect this man. Protect this man at all costs. He's invited to the cookout. Maybe. Well, we'll bring him a plate. He can cook at the cookout. He can cook and then leave. He can work. And then leave. Yeah, you can work. He can work at the cookout.

[01:16:03] We need to put more people to work at the cookout. That's really what we need to start doing. We do. We want to invite you, but you can bring a plate. I feel like we need to have an episode where it's just like our cookout picks. Like who's working and who's invited. Right. Well, the black folks are invited, but like, where can we put you to work at if you want to come? Who are our black folks that are invited and then who is invited as a guest and who is working and who's not allowed? These people, these non-blacks cannot come to the cookout without a job. They have to work. Without a job.

[01:16:33] You need an assignment. You need to earn your keep. You cannot just be here vibing. Sorry. Listen, we are also in the era of light skins are in trouble because of Clay Thompson. And you know what? Them y'all folks. We may need to review some people as well. Look, you bring them to the table. Okay. I think I'm in the clear right now. I think honestly, I, you know, like, I hope this podcast saves me from having to be put under review, but I can't confirm. And honest, I don't think it's my place to say it at this time.

[01:17:02] Like they talked and ruined it for all of us. This podcast is proof that you've done the work. Okay. I'm trying, but like, if I need to be put under review again, because of the actions of Clay Thompson, I wasn't willing to do that for Megan. Yes. I will say that. Yeah. That's a, that's what, that's a new running joke. I'm like, why folks can't come to the cookout, but they can work. Yeah. I like it. I like it. You can work. Yeah. Put on an apron. Put yourself to work, Vinny. We'd love to see you. You have a task. Yeah. All right. Ready?

[01:17:32] Yes. When it was announced that the final four would be going to Italy. Tristan said he wanted to make it there and cook what nation's cuisine? Oh, probably something black. You are right. Yeah. Which nation? He did West African food at some point in Italy. Other direction. Oh, no. East African food.

[01:18:02] Other direction of Africa. East African food. I don't know. What's the answer? It is Ethiopia. Oh, okay. And the reason for that is that Ethiopia was briefly colonized by Italy during World War II for a few years. Of course he knew that. Yes. Yes. And then final question. Okay. Tristan is tied with three other chefs for most quick fire wins this season with two.

[01:18:29] Name the three chefs that shared this accolade. Team wins are included. For quick fires. Quick fire wins. Um, I, I, I want to kind of want to go with Shwai again. Um, cause he wins so much. Um, Shwai is one of them. Okay. Okay. All right. Go Shwai. Um, and you said quick fires. See, I think I already, I already blew it with the Katiana earlier.

[01:18:58] I don't know if I want to risk it on, on her again. Um, yeah, let's go with Katiana again. Katiana is another one. What? All right. And then finally, I'm just going to go with Massimo for the vibes. I love your thought process, but it was not Massimo. It was Cesar of our last one, but you got 10, right? So it's pretty good.

[01:19:28] Okay. All right. Yes. Okay. It's a good one. It's a good showing, especially cause some of these are very random. Yeah. It's okay. We did it. Yes, we did it. We made it through. You got, you got an A minus, but you got an A, you know? Yeah. It's there. Not my best work, but you know, I, I, I'll be the first to admit that I did take my, my foot off the gas a little bit on my top chef knowledge, but now that Tristan is one and I'm really rooting for Anthony this season, uh, uh, the Carolinas.

[01:19:58] I'm probably going to go back and get brushed up on a lot of things. And now you know who Gregory Gardeau is. Gotta go watch that season for sure. Gotta go watch. Yes. We'll talk later, but we are now at the end of our bed on black experience here talking about Tristan. Yes. So Gia brainstorm really quickly. I know you gotta go, but how many, what, what's next on bed on black? What are you thinking? Do we go back to survivor? Do we do big brother? Do we do something out the wazoo?

[01:20:26] You know, in between planning for this episode and next one, we got a new black winner that I texted you about immediately as soon as I heard, because I was so behind on this show. I was, and I was not expecting this person to win. I think we, because it's so current, we have to talk about RJ winning extracted the whole the team RJ winning extracted. I think I love that show. I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I,

[01:20:56] stopped watching after Sandra's elimination, kind of lost interest a little bit. And some of the teams were not my cup of tea, but I rewatched it when I learned who won and was very impressed by the season. So I think, I think it makes sense that we talk about, uh, team RJ, but also a little bit of team roman as well, because that was our final two. And, um, they've both been sharing some very nice sentiments about each other on the, on

[01:21:24] social media so well i think we need to talk about uh team rj specifically but also bring up some of team roman into the fold as well okay yeah and then uh i have uh been in contact with team rj uh in the past because i did cover this season on rhap and so maybe we might take a different look at extracted uh maybe we can maybe get rj on or something like that yeah let's see

[01:21:51] what we can do but yeah this was a fun uh journey into bet on black and i i employ the listeners to hey let us know let us know what other black contestant you want to hear us talk about it because even if we haven't watched it we can go watch it i don't care if there's a black winner and i haven't seen it i'll go check it out yeah i have a job like that's where i do all my best tv watching so exactly listen yeah i'm knocking them out right now so yeah do that let us know what you want to hear us talk about and gia let everyone know where they can follow you in the meantime

[01:22:21] yes you can follow me on twitter instagram tiktok and blue sky at classically gia and you can follow me on uh substack for bet on black where we will be continuing to talk about blackness in pop culture yeah and um gia's substack is amazing um it's going to be one of our uh anchoring uh articles of literature that we use here for this podcast uh but yeah catch me and gia uh as we wrap up our

[01:22:51] coverage of abbott elementary uh if you're watching this 16 years from now then just know we we talked about abbott but uh we should have that coverage coming out uh we're a little behind on it but uh you know just tune in for the journey subscribe to the podcast recap kickback.com slash subscribe or um youtube.com slash at recap kickback and if you want some extra bonus coverage of black icon maury fourth and i have recorded our podcast about the michael jackson biopic michael

[01:23:18] and uh yeah i went and i showed my ass and i wore my uh michael jacket and everybody needed to know that i was in there a full stand and maury and i had such a fun time talking about that and that should be your podcast uh feed soon and on our youtube page as well so check all that out and catch us all next time and remember always bet on black peace