‘Top Chef: Wisconsin’ Episode 3 recap: The contestants get cheesy at a festival in Oconomowoc

Warning: Spoilers ahead for "Top Chef" Season 21, Episode 3, which aired April 3, 2024.

Well ... that didn’t take long! We knew cheese would come into play in a big way when “Top Chef” first announced it was coming to Wisconsin, and in Episode 3 ("Take it Cheesy"), the contestants didn’t just highlight the state’s most famous export, they also provided the food for an entire cheese festival.

It was hot, it was grueling, it was ... almost as much as a festival for croquettes as it was for cheese. And I was there! I share my behind-the-scenes secrets as a cheese festival guest in a separate story, but, for now, here’s a recap of the full episode, plus a breakdown of the sites, celebs and soundbites that put Wisconsin in the spotlight.

Milwaukee’s spotlight moments from “Top Chef,” Season 21, Episode 3

What in MKE did we see?: The Milwaukee Public Market, the pink Cracking Art bird statues across from the Milwaukee Public Market, the Milwaukee Art Museum, the Milwaukee River, Wisconsin Avenue downtown, the Milwaukee Riverwalk, Henry Maier Festival Park, Wisconsin State Fair Park, Whole Foods, the U.S. Bank building, the Northwestern Mutual building, the under-construction Couture apartments building, The Cupola Barn in Oconomowoc 

Celebrity sightings: Celebrity chef Carla Hall; chef Dane Baldwin of The Diplomat; actor Clea DuVall; Andy Hatch, co-owner and head cheesemaker of the Uplands Cheese Company; Pam Hodgson, Master Cheesemaker for Sartori Cheese

Where was the challenge set? The Cupola Barn, Oconomowoc

How did Dan Jacobs do? Really great! Despite a spill in the Top Chef Kitchen during prep time, his gnocchi dish landed him in the top three for the first time.

Best Wisconsin-related quote: “Nothing screams ‘Wisconsin’ like a buffet of cheese.” — Kristen Kish

The chefs were reeling from last week’s elimination, where Valentine was asked to pack his knives and go after a rough showing at the Historic Miller Caves. It wasn’t a particularly strong showing for most of the chefs, and saying goodbye to fellow contestants will only get harder as the season goes on.

Later, Rasika and Danny took a jog around downtown Milwaukee and chatted on the Riverwalk about Rasika’s big win last week. That’s a feeling even a runner’s high can’t top, but she didn’t want to dwell on it too long. There's still plenty of competition ahead.

Dan prepared in a different way; after sharing last week that he has Kennedy’s Disease, he was shown strapping on leg braces, which he uses for support during those long days of maneuvering around the kitchen. He said a weight had been lifted since sharing his diagnosis with his fellow chefs, whom he’d have to lean on for support in the competition.

“I’m not gonna run around the kitchen like the rest of these young bucks,” he said.

The Quickfire Challenge: Pick a door, any door

At the Quickfire Challenge, host Kristen Kish introduced the contestants to the week’s guest judges. The first was Carla Hall, a two-time “Top Chef” contestant, cookbook author and former co-host on ABC’s “The Chew.” The second was Clea DuVall, an actor, director and “Top Chef” superfan.

Behind them was a large wall with miniature doors installed all over. That left everyone scratching their heads a bit, until Kish explained that there’s a picturesque peninsula three hours north called Door County.

Door County is known for its cherry production, and while those cherries would be the star of each dish, a mystery lay behind those doors. Each contestant chose a door to find an unexpected ingredient that would be paired with the Door County cherry variety of their choosing.

The mystery ingredients were doozies: cipollini onions, bamboo shoots, mustard, marshmallows, chicken livers, black garlic, ginseng and more. Speaking of, a “Wisconsin food fact” that popped up on screen informed viewers that Wisconsin is the No. 1 producer of ginseng in the country.

Dan got kimchi as an ingredient, which he’s used to cooking with at his Asian restaurant DanDan, but was worried about how it would pair with sweet cherries.

On the other hand, Charly was disappointed that his mystery ingredient, chocolate, paired too naturally with cherries. “It’s too easy,” he said, remarking that he would have to think outside the box to present a creative dish.

The kitchen looked like a slaughterhouse with cherry juice splashed across every surface, and the task of pitting all those cherries? Well, excuse the pun, but it was literally the pits. And it ate up a lot of time in those precious 30 minutes they had to prepare their dishes.

After time was up, the least favorite dishes were Charly, whose charred golden beets just didn’t work with the chocolate cherry demi he whipped up; Kenny, whose toasted marshmallows with rum and cherry sauce with sugar spring roll paper felt disjointed; and Alisha, whose charred cabbage was undercooked, which even a tasty cherry serrano reduction couldn’t elevate.

The three favorites were Savannah, who made a chicken liver mousse with a Panzanella salad dressed with Bing cherry vinaigrette; Rasika, who impressed with balanced tart cherry onions with charred pepper relish; and Kévin, who made a beef tenderloin with poêle of cherries and black garlic.

But only one chef could win, and it was Rasika — for the second time in a row. That $5,000 cash prize ought to feel extra good knowing she also has immunity in the Elimination Challenge this week. She’s won $15,000 in cash so far.

The Elimination Challenge reveal: The big cheese festival

"There’s something Wisconsinites can’t live without,” Kish said after the Quickfire Challenge.

“Cheese!” Hall shouted.

To announce the challenge theme, "Top Chef" brought in two of the Wisconsinites who might know cheese the best: Andy Hatch, head cheesemaker at Uplands Cheese in Dodgeville, and Pam Hodgson of Sartori Cheese in Plymouth, one of only two women in the country to have the title of Master Cheesemaker.

They carted out a table filled with Wisconsin cheese in 13 varieties, and the contestants drew knives to learn which they’d be working with.

“Nothing screams ‘Wisconsin’ like a buffet of cheese,” Kish quipped.

At last week’s challenge, the contestants cooked for a table of 10, but this week, they’d have to plan for a few more guests. Ninety more, in fact, at the first-ever “Top Chef” cheese festival, where Kish, Hall, Tom Colicchio and Gail Simmons would be joined by Milwaukee chef and James Beard Award winner Dane Baldwin of The Diplomat to judge each chef’s dish.

Dan explained that festival culture is huge in Milwaukee, citing Summerfest, Festa Italiana, Mexican Fiesta and German Fest, among others. “Yet somehow we’ve missed a cheese fest, so thanks, ‘Top Chef,’ for making that happen," he said.

He drew Door Artisan Cheese Company’s Sancho Cruz Mexican-style manchego, made in Door County’s Egg Harbor. He would use it to create a foamy cheese sauce in a gnocchi dish served with olive tapenade.

Michelle drew Uplands Cheese’s Pleasant Ridge Reserve, which Kish noted is the most awarded cheese in American history. She planned to use it in her spin on the classic Indian dish saag paneer, served with collard greens to incorporate her Southern roots.

And she didn't plan to be stingy with those greens. While grocery shopping, she was grabbing armfuls of the stuff.

“I hope the good people of Milwaukee ain’t trying to cook collard greens tonight because I cleared Whole Foods of all their collard greens,” she said.

While Dan and Michelle were branching out, five of the 13 contestants planned to make some form of a croquette, a fried dish that could be easy to prepare for a crowd of 100 diners, but also one that could get lost in the crowd.

“It suddenly turned into ‘Top Chef’ croquette fest and I’m happy to not be a part of it,” said Rasika, who would make a paniyaram dumpling with braised chicken korma, hazelnuts, cashews and Dunbarton Blue Cheese.

The Elimination Challenge: Cheese, bees and croquettes galore 

The Elimination Challenge took place at the Cupola Barn, an event space in Oconomowoc that the chefs fawned over as they pulled up to prep their workspaces.

“It’s cute as hell!” said Charly.

It is! The bright red barn and surrounding cornfield made a bucolic backdrop in the Wisconsin countryside. But while the setting was ideal, the conditions were not: The temperature reached nearly 100 degrees that day and lots of feisty bees were buzzing around the chefs’ workstations, which were not tented under the blazing sun.

The chefs had prepped as much of their dishes as they could in the Top Chef kitchen the night before (which included a scary moment where Dan slipped on some spilled liquid and took a fall, losing some of his gnocchi), but the next day, the heat was working against them.

The breading on Kévin’s brie croquettes was not sticking, so he opted for a thicker double breading to help it hold together in the fryer. But it was looking thick and overpowering of the cheese. Sweating it out in more ways than one, he campaigned hard to the guests, asking for their votes as he served.

He’d need all the help he could get. “I really want to say something positive about it, but it’s not coming to me,” Baldwin said of his dish during the judges’ deliberation.

Manny struggled with his croquette, as well. His potatoes did not firm up enough overnight, making for soft croquettes that began falling apart as the day went on. Plus, the judges weren’t at all happy that his cheese curds were just placed on top and not incorporated into the croquettes.

Kenny had issues for other reasons. The fresh crab Rangoon-inspired salad should have tasted like a cool relief on the hot day, but he didn’t plan his ingredients correctly. Serving all those guests, he eventually ran out of relish and the gorgonzola got lost in the wetness of the salad.

It’s something the guests noticed, including a number of Wisconsin cheesemakers who were present at the festival. When you’re cooking for cheesemakers, you better make their product shine.

Who won immunity on “Top Chef: Wisconsin” Episode 3? 

The top and bottom three dishes were decided by the guests’ votes, who scored each dish from one to 10.

At the top were Kaleena, whose Sartori Merlot BellaVitano cheese shone in an elevated mac and cheese dish with wine-soaked mushrooms; Michelle, who made the judges rave with her collard greens saag paneer; and Dan, who got a huge pop from the local crowd and impressed the judges with the lightness of his foamy cheese sauce — a welcome change from the legion of fried cheese served that day.

But the winner of the cheese festival was ultimately Michelle, who was giddy to receive her first win.

“Winning this challenge has definitely been added to my affirmations. Michelle, you are a winner, you deserve to be here cooking amongst all these amazing chefs,” she said to herself.

But at the bottom were Kenny, Manny and Kévin, the three least favorite dishes from both the guests and the judges.

Who was sent home on ‘Top Chef: Wisconsin’ Episode 3? 

Kenny’s crab Rangoon salad was not enough to keep him in the competition, with the judges pointing out its “wet, mushy” texture and how easily the gorgonzola got lost in the dish.

“I did forget we were at a cheese festival when I tried your dish,” Baldwin said.

Kish asked Kenny to pack his knives and go.

He would head to Last Chance Kitchen, where he’d go head-to-head with the surprise 16th contestant, Soo Ahn, a Chicago chef who eliminated Valentine from the competition last week. The winner of Last Chance Kitchen will join the competition later in the season.

But the remaining contestants are leaving next week, too. Well, leaving Milwaukee, that is. They’re headed to Madison, where they’ll create two dishes inspired by famed Wisconsin architect Frank Lloyd Wright’s creations.

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: Wisconsin’ Episode 3 recap: Contestants get cheesy