I was at the 'Top Chef' taping of Restaurant Wars at Milwaukee’s Discovery World. Here's a peek behind the scenes

Warning: Spoilers ahead for "Top Chef" Season 21, Episode 8, which aired May 8, 2024. 

When the “Top Chef” taping invite came through my inbox from NBCUniversal, I scoured the list of vague challenge theme titles: cheese festival (fun!), supper club (love it!), Quickfire Challenge (exciting!). But there was one in particular I was looking for: Restaurant Wars. It’s the golden ticket “Top Chef” challenge for a guest diner, and when I saw it on the list, I canceled my plans for the day and RSVPed an emphatic “ABSOLUTELY.”

At Restaurant Wars, two teams of “Top Chef” contestants create two fully operational restaurants within 24 hours, serving multi-course menus to lucky guests for one night only.

How often do you get the chance to dine at a restaurant with dishes created by some of the country’s most talented chefs (with no bill at the end)? Is the food really as good as it looks on TV? How true-to-life could the dining experience be if the space didn’t exist 24 hours prior? Could the chefs transform a conference room at the back of Discovery World into a world-class restaurant?

On Friday, September 8, I found out.

You can find my full recap of “Top Chef: Wisconsin” Episode 8 here, but for a taste of my experience that night at Restaurant Wars, read on.

There was a lot of waiting ... for almost everyone but me

The 75 dining guests were told to arrive at Discovery World at 3 p.m. We were emailed a QR code to use for complimentary parking in the underground parking garage, then checked in at a station to receive our reservation time slots. (We also slapped privacy stickers onto our phones’ camera lenses so we couldn’t record videos or photos of anything on set).

I would be dining with Madison writers Lindsay Christians, Samara Kalk Derby and Tamira Madsen, who I got to know a little as we waited in our holding area in the Discovery World Promenade.

But we didn’t wait long ... we were told ahead of time to set aside four to five hours for the day, but my Restaurant Wars experience was by far the quickest of all four “Top Chef” tapings I attended. Roughly 30 minutes after arriving, we were told our party was ready to be seated.

We were led outside (miraculously, the day had gone from chilly and dreary to beautiful and sunny just as we were being seated) and walked around to Discovery World’s Pavilion space. Just outside, there were multiple tents set up, the makeshift kitchens for both restaurants. I tried to sneak a peek at who was inside, but I couldn’t quite make out the chefs who were still cooking away in the competition.

Our reservation was at Dos by Deul, and we met “Top Chef: Wisconsin” cheftestant Laura at the host stand, who was acting as front-of-house manager for the night.

On the episode, the judges were put off by the amount of time it took for their dishes to arrive to their table at both restaurants, stretching their dining time into the night (outside, it went from summer blue skies to nighttime darkness by the end of the episode). But as one of the first parties seated, my experience was super speedy — about what you’d expect at any restaurant. We finished our meals by around 5 p.m. and had time for a post-meal cocktail next door at Harbor House.

My dinner at Dos by Deul: the food, the service, the style

After having a shot at trying all 13 of the chefs’ dishes when I attended Episode 3’s cheese festival, I was a little bummed when I learned I’d only get to dine at one of the two restaurants that day (especially since I now know Milwaukee chef Dan Jacobs had the winning dish of the week on the other side of the partition). I had a little FOMO moment peeping into opposing restaurant Channel next door, but that feeling didn't last long.

I found Dos by Deul’s decor to be a little sparse, but ethereal: an accent wall painted with a teal-green gradient, crisp white tablecloths, forest green napkins, minimalist (but very pretty) flower arrangements on each table (with planted microphones in each to capture our dish critiques). There was a glass wall at the front that showcased Discovery World’s lush green lawn and Lake Michigan in the background, so I think the design was meant to show off the natural beauty outside.

Laura welcomed us to our table and was absolutely lovely the entire time (I now feel awful for pegging her the season’s new villain during the Supper Club episode). She welcomed us with a refreshing green agua fresca and explained the restaurant’s concept.

She told us two of the chefs on her team were Mexican and two were Asian, so they wanted to blend their heritages together. But aside from that tidbit, we had no idea who else made up the Dos by Deul team that night (I’ve had fun piecing together who was on each team as I've watched the season go on).

On our printed menus placed at each seat, there were two dish choices for all three courses. As a table of four, we decided two of us would order one option and two would order the other so we could try each dish.

Collectively, the dishes were stunning to look at. The plating was gorgeous and the dishes were vibrant with pops of green that felt at home with the restaurant’s decor.

Dinner started out strong with Laura's beef tartare — the spicy-sweet gochujang with cilantro green goddess sauce gave it life, but I agreed with the judges that the rice cracker it was served with wasn’t necessary.

I was in love with Soo’s second course: chewy Korean rice cakes with a mossy green salsa verde, crunchy pepitas and Chinese sausage. I would order it again and again on any menu.

And while I did really enjoy the individual components of Manny’s poached shrimp with jicama kimchi and miso butter sauce, the rich sauce felt incongruent with the bright flavors in the rest of the dish. His beef tenderloin, however, might have been the best dish of the night — our table was clamoring over that mole negro and the beef’s tender cook.

Sadly, Kaleena’s Dungeness crab dish faded into the background, as did the team’s pork tenderloin a la talla — I remember wanting so much more from my final dish of the night.

Laura returned to our table a couple times throughout our meal, checking in to make sure everything was going well and explaining some of the components of each dish. She also shared she had opened a restaurant back home in San Francisco just a few weeks before “Top Chef” had begun filming. She was attentive, personable and warm at each visit.

It was just like dining at any other restaurant ... for the most part

For most of the meal, I’d forgotten I was dining at a fake restaurant with cameras all around me. We checked in like normal, ordered like normal from our fabulous Bartolotta Restaurants servers, and ate as we normally would, stopped every so often by a producer asking us to repeat a comment we’d made on a dish.

But one thing stood out to me: It was absolutely silent in the room. Aside from light table chatter (we were mindful to talk at a respectful volume), there was no ambiance. Of course, background music wouldn’t be possible to pipe in while cameras were rolling, but that pin-drop-quiet dining room felt so eerie and sterile.

Tables were all set fairly far apart and the room felt pretty empty as we dined, too. I missed the bustle of most of my favorite restaurants, but this is showbiz, baby, and extra clatter would make for terrible TV.

At the end of the meal, we were given a restaurant check presenter, but instead of a check, there was a comment card inside. I was designated to write our thoughts on each dish and Dos by Deul as a whole (oh, I wish I had a copy!). When I was done writing, it was time to leave.

On my way out, I felt so bad for the folks still waiting to be seated for dinner. After our smooth and speedy experience, and now knowing that the service at both restaurants slipped as the night went on, I felt lucky to be in and out so quickly.

Where I spotted myself in the episode

When I say I was one of the first guests seated, I mean it. About halfway through the episode, Laura told the servers that the first guests were coming, the team counted down, Kaleena announced Dos by Deul was open and ... sure enough, there I was!

You can catch me as one of the first diners to walk into the restaurant from outside and in the background as Laura explains Dos by Deul’s concept to a table of diners.

But my one shining moment — truly a star-turning scene caught on camera — was a close-up shot of me absolutely stuffing my face with Laura’s beef tartare dish spooned atop a too-big-for-my-mouth rice cracker.

Thank you, editors, for showcasing my beautifully elegant table manners to the world.

How to watch 'Top Chef: Wisconsin': TV channel, streaming

Viewers can watch live on Bravo on Wednesday nights at 8 p.m. or stream the next day on Peacock, BravoTV.com or the Bravo app.

Rachel Bernhard joined the Journal Sentinel as dining critic in June 2023. She’s been busy exploring the Milwaukee area food scene to share her favorite finds with readers along the way. Like all Journal Sentinel reporters, she buys all meals, accepts no gifts and is independent of all establishments she covers.

This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: A peek behind the scenes at the "Top Chef: Wisconsin" Restaurant Wars