‘Top Chef: Wisconsin’ Episode 10 recap: Things get heated at a Door County fish boil in South Milwaukee

Warning: Spoilers ahead for "Top Chef" Season 21, Episode 10, which aired May 22, 2024.  

After a surprise double elimination last week, “Top Chef: Wisconsin” has reached its boiling point.

Only six chefs remain, and there are only two more episodes set in Wisconsin before the season jumps ship to conclude aboard the Holland American cruise line.

This week, “Top Chef” highlighted two niche state pastimes: the meat raffle and the Door County fish boil, both curious challenges that left the chefs feeling like a fish out of water — even our local Top Chef competitor, Dan.

How did he (and the rest of the contestants) do? I have the full recap below, but first, here are some of the sites and stars that graced our screens this week.

Milwaukee’s spotlight moments from “Top Chef,” Season 21, Episode 10

What in MKE did we see?: Lincoln Memorial Drive on the east side, the Milwaukee County courthouse, Riverwalk Boat Tours boats on the Milwaukee River, the HUB640 building, the North Point Water Tower on the east side, the Milwaukee skyline from Lake Michigan, the Chase Tower, the Hoan Bridge,Grant Park Beach

Celebrity sightings: Florida chef and restaurateur Art Smith, Florida chef and “Top Chef” Season 13 winner Jeremy Ford, Minnesota chef and “Top Chef” Season 16 contestant Justin Sutherland, Kentucky chef and “Top Chef” seasons 16 and 20 contestant Sara Bradley, Los Angeles chef and “Top Chef” Season 12 winner Mei Lin, Seattle chef and “Top Chef” Season 18 contestant Shota Nakajima, Portland chef and “Top Chef” seasons 12 and 17 contestant Gregory Gourdet, The Old Post Office Restaurant Master Boiler Jeremy “Torch” Klaubauf.

Where was the challenge set? Grant Park Beach in South Milwaukee

How did Dan do? For someone who claims to hate fish boils, pretty darn great! Dan’s Southeast Asian take on the Door County classic was a favorite of the judges, landing him in the top three for the third week in a row.

Best Wisconsin-related quote: “Dan, you seem really excited about this meat raffle.” —Michelle. “Oh, you know, it’s one of those real super Sconnie things.” —Dan.

After Amanda and Laura were both cut from the competition last week, Michelle and Savannah are now the only two women left in the “Top Chef” competition. They grabbed coffee and chatted along the Milwaukee Riverwalk about their confidence levels as the season winds down.

Savannah, fresh off her win in the spectacular Indigenous cuisine Elimination Challenge, has hit her stride, and was feeling more confident than ever. Michelle, who has shown some cracks since her strong start in the competition, admitted her nerves were rattled after narrowly escaping the cut last week.

They both hoped luck would be on their side with their next challenge.

The Quickfire Challenge: The first "Top Chef” meat raffle

“We’ve been partaking in a lot of traditions here in Wisconsin, but there are traditions that we’re still missing,” host Kristen Kish said as the six remaining chefs entered the Top Chef Kitchen this week.

“Maybe it’s one even Dan hasn’t heard of,” judge Gail Simmons added.

I wouldn’t be too sure of that, Gail, because as soon as Kish announced this week’s Quickfire Challenge would be based on the beloved tradition of the meat raffle, a huge smile spread across his face.

“What’s a meat raffle?” Danny asked.

“It’s exactly what it sounds like,” Dan replied.

He’s right. For the uninitiated, a meat raffle is an event held at venues from corner taverns to church basements where participants buy a numbered paddle for about a dollar or so, hoping their number will be called at random. If it is, you're up to pick any type of meat found in the on-site cooler or freezer to take home. Simple as that!

To help with the first-ever “Top Chef” meat raffle, renowned chef Art Smith (or “fancy Santa Claus,” as Michelle described him), came into the kitchen pushing a cart with a bingo cage filled with ping pong balls with each chef’s name on them.

This meat raffle would be a little different. Whoever’s name was pulled first would get first pick of the meat, which ranged in fanciness from canned corned beef to Wagyu beef.

Manny was the first name to be pulled, and he went straight for the Wagyu ribeye. Next in order was Dan (who picked chateaubriand), Michelle (who grabbed ground chicken), Savannah (who chose canned corn beef, a move Danny called “ballsy”), Danny (who went for lamb) and finally Soo (who chose “luncheon meat,” a processed, canned meat you might recognize as Spam).

Manny couldn’t wait to start cooking, as he said he could eat meat for breakfast, lunch and dinner. “I’m surprised I haven’t gotten the gout,” he said, laughing.

But Michelle let her nerves get to her. The jerk chicken nuggets she’d planned were not coming together, and with time working against her, she had to rush to messily fry up the nuggets — which turned out more like patties.

In fact, the one she served Kish wasn’t fully cooked inside. “That’s why I’m not eating it,” she said.

That would land Michelle in the bottom, along with Manny’s Wagyu ribeye aguachile, Danny’s za’atar spiced lamb rack with Jimmy Nardello harissa relish and Dan’s Sichuan chateaubriand noodle dumpling.

It turned out the two cheapest meats produced the best dishes, with Soo’s luncheon meat dosirak with marinated egg and Savannah’s crispy corned beef and beet salad as the top two in the Quickfire.

Savannah’s dish was the biggest hit, with Tom saying he appreciated the acid used to cut through the fat while still allowing the corned beef flavor to come through.

She nabbed $10,000 in Quickfire quick cash and has now won $18,000 total.

Could her hot streak extend to the Elimination Challenge?

The Elimination Challenge Reveal: The fanciest-ever fish boil

“All right, chefs, who’s ready to set this competition on fire?” Kish asked the contestants.

Manny slowly raised his hand with a big smile as pitmaster Michelle mouthed “barbecue?” in a moment of wishful thinking.

Without revealing the challenge theme, Kish told the contestants to change into comfy clothes and head out back, where they were met with half a dozen “Top Chef” all-stars from seasons past.

"I’m guessing that a lot of you have heard of a fish fry and a crab boil,” said Kish, “But have you ever heard of a fish boil?”

She turned her attention directly to Dan, who was already grimacing.

“Dan, do you like fish boils?” she asked.

“No,” he answered, unenthusiastically.

Dan’s first restaurant jobs were in Door County, the quaint peninsula north of Green Bay that’s known for its storied fish boil tradition.

“Fish boiling goes against everything I’ve ever been taught as a chef,” Dan said. “You don’t boil fish, you poach fish.”

To be fair, the fish boil is more about the experience than the flavor of the food. If you aren’t familiar with the Door County fish boil, I have a full explainer of everything you need to know about it, from its history to the restaurants that serve it right.

One of those restaurants is the village of Ephraim’s Old Post Office Restaurant, represented well on “Top Chef” by its boil master, Jeremy “Torch” Klaubauf, who was present and within earshot of Dan’s less-than-favorable fish boil criticisms.

“You just insulted him,” Danny said.

“I guess I did...” Dan said, as he buried his face in his arm.

Torch went on to demonstrate the typical fish boil setup, with pieces of local whitefish, baby red potatoes and small Spanish onions boiling away in about 25 gallons of water and three cups of salt.

At the end of the cook, Torch treated the chefs to the main draw of the fish boil: the can of kerosene that’s tossed on the fire, causing it to shoot up in a giant fireball into the air.

Cue the oohs, ahhs, and a lot of nervous laughter from the chefs.

This week's Elimination Challenge was for the chefs to put their own spin on the classic Door County fish boil, with whitefish at the center and two sides to support it.

They’d be serving their fish boil at Grant Park Beach in South Milwaukee to 100 guests, plus the visiting all-stars, chef Smith and the main judges.

But, of course, there was a twist: Instead of shopping at Whole Foods for ingredients themselves, the contestants would need to partner with one of the all-stars, who would have $500 and 30 minutes to do all the shopping for them. And the chefs wouldn’t know what ingredients they’d have to work with until it was time to cook the next day.

After pairing up, the chefs and all-stars had five minutes to discuss the vision and flavor profile of the fish boil dishes they’d create, then it was the all-stars' turn to shop.

A small note here: As the all-stars “drove from Grant Park Beach to Whole Foods,” I had to pause and laugh at some B-roll footage that was wholly unfamiliar to me. The producers had spliced in footage of a fleet of BMWs driving around Madison — not Milwaukee — in this segment. Not a big deal if you aren't from around here, but when you’re pausing the episode to make note of the city’s landmarks, you cringe a little bit.

The Elimination Challenge: A fish boil at Grant Park Beach

The next morning, the chefs pulled up to Grant Park Beach, looking absolutely stunning on a late-September day.

There on the sand were six chef stations and the all-stars waiting to reveal each chef’s ingredients.

The contestants had nothing to sweat. The all-stars, for the most part, nailed the ingredients all under budget. (With Sutherland having enough money left over to splurge on a bath bomb for Danny. Aww ... how thoughtful!)

The chefs had cooked outside in the elements before, under the hot summer sun at the Episode 3 cheese festival and on the field of the Milwaukee Brewers’ American Family Field on Episode 7, but they said, however beautiful it was, cooking on the beach was the most taxing challenge of the season.

Sand was everywhere, from inside their shoes to blowing on their prep stations. The wind was howling off the lake. The chefs had to haul wood to stoke their own fires to keep the water boiling. The elements were making a typical cook decidedly more difficult.

It may have been the elements that got to Savannah, who suffered a deep cut to her hand as she was prepping. With a medic’s help, she managed to stop the bleeding, but the accident seriously shook her focus as she cooked.

The pressure only heightened as a horde of hungry guests arrived to the beach — including me! I was a guest at the fish boil. You can spot me making a comment about a dish in the episode, but in case you missed it, read my full behind-the-scenes story about the episode taping.

The chefs served their dishes one by one, with Torch back in action at the beach, helping with each of the six separate boilovers.

The fish boils were off to a hot start with Danny’s dish, a sofrito boil with salsa verde, carrot slaw and a French bean and bonito salad. The judges loved the flavor of Danny’s brined fish, but it was his “absolutely stunning” carrot slaw that got the most raves.

“This salad is good enough to steal,” Smith said.

Savannah, however, didn’t have the same luck. She was able to serve the judges, but left immediately after to go to urgent care for her wound.

That could’ve contributed to her lackluster dish, with the fish overcooked and a disintegrating tofu salad that had too much going on.

Soo struggled, too, with a disconnected trio of pineapple curry fish boil, twice-cooked potatoes and mushy corn miso slaw.

Where Soo had too many ideas in one dish, Manny had too few. The flavor of his Mexican boil was very good, the judges said, but serving it with guacamole and Mexican white rice with corn and chipotle lime butter lacked creativity.

“This wasn’t a 'Top Chef' plate,” Sutherland noted.

But Michelle’s dish was worthy of a Top Chef. The judges adored the bold flavor of her Cajun boil with charred corn and kale salad, and they thought cooking the baby potatoes with sausage was a smart idea to help impart flavor.

“All the components told one story of what she wanted to do, which we didn’t get with some of the other chefs,” Simmons said.

Dan’s dish got high praise, too. Inspired by Southeast Asian flavors, he created a red curry boil, coconut slaw with peanuts, and fingerlings with duck fat and shiro dashi.

The curry broth served with the fish was incredibly flavorful, the judges said, and they all loved the peanutty slaw for its crunch.

“Did you change your mind about the fish boil yet?” judge Tom Colicchio asked as Dan served his dish.

“You know, man, I think I did,” Dan replied. “If you can impart flavor to it, that’s what it is.”

But when the judges left his station, he was a little more honest with the guest diners.

“This was crazy. This was no joke,” he said.

Who won ‘Top Chef: Wisconsin’ Episode 10?

Later in the Top Chef kitchen, the contestants were visibly exhausted.

“Everybody looks like they just got beat up by the beach,” Michelle said.

“Everything hurts,” Danny said. (I need to know whether he used Sutherland’s bath bomb gift to soothe his aches later that night!)

Before they went to the judges' table, they were joined by Savannah, fresh out of urgent care with a hand full of stitches. But her wound was the least of her concerns: knowing she served a less-than-impressive dish had shaken her confidence.

Her fears turned out to be correct. Savannah did not serve one of the top three dishes of the night. Instead, that honor went to Michelle, Danny and Dan.

“There’s no way!” said Dan, shocked at the result. “I thought for sure I was on the bottom. I’ve never disrespected a piece of fish like that.”

And although he received raves about his shredded whitefish in the curry broth, it wasn’t enough to secure the win.

Instead, it was Danny’s dish that claimed the top prize this week. The judges applauded the way he brined his fish before cooking and said they were dreaming about the carrot slaw he created.

“Every single person at the table had you as the favorite dish,” Colicchio said.

Who was sent home on ‘Top Chef: Wisconsin’ Episode 10?

The least-favorite dishes were just as clear: Savannah, Soo and Manny.

Savannah’s potatoes were overwhelmed by the sauce and her pear-tofu salad was a mess, Manny’s dish was nice but it lacked creativity, and Soo’s dish was so incongruous it felt like a potluck.

It seemed like Soo misunderstood the fish boil challenge, Colicchio noted, before Kish asked him to pack his knives and go.

“I just didn’t have my A-game today,” he said. “It’s disappointing, but I gave it my all and I’m proud of that. And now this roster of talented chefs is waiting for me at 'Last Chance Kitchen.'”

Soo will head back to "Last Chance Kitchen," where he started his journey on “Top Chef” after the second episode. In the finale, he’ll cook against Amanda and Laura, but only one chef will win their way back into the competition next week, when the chefs will cook a recipe created by Colicchio before an Elimination Challenge inspired by a food trend where food is served directly on a tabletop.

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.

This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: ‘Top Chef’ Episode 10 recap: Things get heated at a fish boil