'Top Chef: Wisconsin's Alisha Elenz and Kaleena Bliss Recap Their Team Challenge Conflict

Alisha Elenz (L) and Kaleena Bliss (R)

Top Chef is back in the kitchen! Every week, Parade's Mike Bloom interviews the latest chef told to pack their knives and leave Wisconsin.

In this past week's episode of Top Chef: Wisconsin, the "cheftestants" were tasked with creating two dishes centered around contrasts. And nowhere was that seen more than Alisha Elenz and Kaleena Bliss. Both Chicago chefs were ready to stand out after being in the middle up to this point. However, in a challenge based on the architecture of Frank Lloyd Wright, their mismatchings in design and personality failed to bring the room together.

After a preceding day of awkward comments and interactions, it came to a boiling point in the kitchen. Kaleena's cheesecake failed to set properly, and the stress severed any unity the two had, as they engaged in some tense words in their final minutes. Suffice it to say, their dishes did not go over well, with Kaleena's crust being inedibly rock-hard, and Tom Colicchio even saying that Alisha's aguachile was akin to a first-year culinary student attempting a fancy dish. Though it was far from an inspiring day across the cast, it was abundantly clear who had failed the challenge the most. And so, in a Top Chef first, Alisha and Kaleena were brought to the Judges' Table and eliminated right on the spot.

Read on to hear Alisha and Kaleena's thoughts on their time in the game, and check out Last Chance Kitchen to watch Alisha, Kaleena, and other eliminated chefs fight for redemption and a chance to get back into the competition.

Related: Everything You Need to Know About Top Chef Season 21

How did you end up getting onto Top Chef, and what was your preparation to get on, if any?
Alisha Elenz: They reached out to me on Instagram in the last week of casting. I only had a little over a month to prepare, and I was really busy at the time. But any free time I had, I would use to study Wisconsin food culture and traditions. I think I memorized around 40 pastry recipes using note cards to practice. 
Kaleena Bliss: I ended up applying for Top Chef, not really thinking that I would make it on the show. I know it's highly competitive and that so many chefs apply each season. After each callback and interview, I was surprised until they finally confirmed that I would be a contestant. I studied up on all things Milwaukee and Wisconsin, trying to anticipate what could be a potential challenge or Quickfire ingredient. I also made flashcards and memorized dozens of recipes and ratios.

Alisha, you mentioned you didn't go to culinary school and that Joe Flamm was the first chef to take a chance on you. What was it like to cook under him as a guest judge?
Alisha: I actually think cooking for Joe Flamm was the scariest judge for me to cook for in my time there. I really wanted to make him proud, and I felt like he was going to expect more from me for some reason. 

Kaleena, we got to see some of your story on the show, between your relationship with your partner Garrett and how his mother has spiritually become your own. How did it feel to open up about that part of your life on such a national platform?
So much has changed in my life in the past year, from his mom moving in with us and getting diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease to leaving Seattle and moving to Chicago to starting a new job where I oversee multiple outlets. It was nice to give my friends and family a glimpse of what is going on in my life right now. And Garrett has been my rock for just about a decade now. He's helped talk me off a lot of ledges in my career and has been the most supportive of what I want to do in my life. It was also nice to be able to share that.

Alisha, in the cheese challenge, you were excited to be able to represent your coastal Spanish cuisine in a croqueta, only to find out that many of your fellow chefs were doing the same. How tough was that for you?
Alisha: When I was studying for the show, I kind of knew there was going to be a challenge based around cheese. And one of the dishes I really wanted to do was a croqueta. I knew it would be difficult to showcase Spanish food in every challenge, but I felt that it would be a good one to do it. I think all of us were shocked when we realized most of us were doing a croquette or just a fried cheese dish in general. I remember feeling a little defeated by it at first because this was something I knew I could do very well. I would be able to showcase my cooking style/flavors to them for the first time, but then it just got overlooked completely. That's the name of the game, though, and although it was difficult it was also really cool to see everyone else's spin on croquettes, we all approached it so differently. But I don't think we realized the backlash we were going to get from the general public for it. 

Let's get into this week's challenge. Alisha, you mentioned that you and Kaleena hadn't worked together or even next to each other before you partnered up. So, what led the two of you to come together?
Kaleena: It was as simple as us standing next to each other when Kristen told us to pick partners. We both kinda looked at each other and decided. I was intrigued by Alisha because she is from Chicago, and actually managed one of the outsourced outlets in my current hotel. It's just such a small world. I wanted to get to know her better.
Alisha: I honestly have the worst case of imposter syndrome, so I was already feeling like the weakest link there. But as soon as they told us to pair up, Kaleena looked at me right away and asked me if I wanted to team up. I was shocked but also humbled by it. I knew she was a strong competitor and was excited to work with her, even though it would be the first time. 

It was clear from the beginning that the two of you weren't syncing together. What do you think was the biggest difference that led to this lack of harmony?
Alisha: I think people saw the worst of what happened that day. We had a really great time collaborating together and working through our dishes. We both felt very inspired by the challenge and were just excited to get in the kitchen. It doesn't look that way when you watch it, and people have even commented on our energy as a whole. We were just starting to get to know each other and were incredibly stressed.
Kaleena: I think it was a lot of things. We actually worked really well together. When we conceptualized and came up with our ideas, despite how they looked on the show, we were both really excited and inspired. In Madison, we stayed up in Alisha's room that night and talked about our ideas and the challenge as a whole, and we just bonded as chefs and humans. But I do also think that in the kitchen, we work differently. If I'm moving fast, it's because I know that I need to. Going into the challenge, I think we had a clear vision, but neither of us executed it quite the way we had discussed before. That and the overall stress of the competition, it's easier than people watching at home think to kinda lose your cool for a second.
Alisha: I think what it came down to that day was we were under a lot of pressure, and things weren't going as we planned. I think her response was to zero in and focus on what she was doing to avoid any further mistakes, and my response was to try to get back on the same page so we could fix it together. I remember just wanting her to know I was there to help because we win together or we lose together. I don't think either way is necessarily wrong. It's just how we approach conflict, and it's probably a result of coming from different kitchen backgrounds. 

Related: Top Chef: Wisconsin's Dan Jacobs Reveals Life-Changing Diagnosis

You decided not to tell any of the other chefs about your duality so you wouldn't lose your focus and confidence in the idea. How do you look back on that, especially considering the judges' critiques?
Kaleena: I don't feel that it was necessarily keeping it from anyone, as it was that we were just really inspired and wanted our idea to be untarnished. When you get these challenges, it's so easy to be influenced by everyone else's ideas and opinions. Alisha and I were both susceptible to that, and we wanted to try to maintain focus. It didn't work out in our favor, but that's Top Chef. Sometimes, it just doesn't go the way you planned.
Alisha: I don't regret not talking about it. We had made that decision together, and it wasn't to slight anyone. We just didn't want to get in our own heads with comparing our idea to theirs. I remember when everyone was sharing their ideas of duality, I tried to zone out because I didn't want to get psyched out or distracted by thinking they had a better approach.

Clearly, the kitchen was a stressful situation for you both. Talk me through how the tension built throughout the day.
Alisha: Again, we really didn't have tension throughout the day. We had a great morning together, and we went over our plan one last time. Things didn't start to break down until about an hour in. Tensions really started to build then because the communication was completely lost. I was trying to slow down for a second to get our thoughts together and stop the train from going off the tracks, but Kaleena was trying to push through and wasn't in a place to slow down and talk it through. We were both frustrated by the other's approach, and I think deep down, we knew it was going to be the end for us. Unfortunately, there's a certain point in the competition where there's no going back.
Kaleena: The cook was very stressful for us both. I was having complications with my dish, which had me quite stressed and running around. To be fair, if I could do this challenge again, I would have nixed my idea and did something less time-consuming. I would have had more time to work as a team with Alisha. But woulda, coulda, shoulda, right? We didn't see eye to eye on our dishes conceptually once the cook started. But you also have to factor in that we just work and think differently, and that's ok. My dish ended up with a couple of big technical errors, as did Alisha's, and we both nearly ran out of time plating. They didn't show me jumping from my dish to hers at the end, helping her finish plating to the last second, which I wish they would have. It showed us stressed but assisting each other til the end regardless. We both made errors in different ways and let each other down at the end of the day. 

Kaleena, things got to a boiling point where you say Alisha is stressing you out as you attempt to fix the issues with your cheesecake. How difficult was it to navigate between the mounting stress from you and your partner not being on the same wavelength while also trying to make your dish work?
Kaleena: I was stressed about timing for my own dish as well as hers. I needed to focus on plating mine, but I also had to jump in at the last few minutes and help Alisha finish. There's nothing like knowing your dish isn't coming out right in real life, but especially in the Top Chef kitchen. I was also frustrated and upset with myself, but I didn't have time to process any of that until after the cook, when I just broke down and started crying. We're human, it happens. It's much more stressful to struggle in a Top Chef challenge than in your kitchen. No stress can compare to that feeling. Even when you mess up in your own kitchen, you still feel a sense of control and that you can fix the situation. It's not like that in the Top Chef kitchen.

Alisha, when things were boiling over, you said one of you had to step back. How did you negotiate the stress of the situation while also trying to finish the challenge?
Alisha: I've been in leadership in my career longer than I haven't been, so I think sometimes I just naturally jump into that role because it's second nature. It makes it difficult in the Top Chef world because we are all leaders in our own kitchens. But one of my biggest mottos to my cooks would be, "Don't cook angry." Sometimes, it's hard not to get stressed in the kitchen. It's a hard job, but we do it because we love it. So, in those moments of pure pressure, I try to remind myself of that. Sometimes, you need to slow down to speed up; otherwise, you will keep making mistakes from which you can't come back. I knew she was having a hard time, and I honestly just had this feeling of wanting to be there for her to make it better in any way I could. 

What was your reaction to being called to Judges' Table alongside Danny and Rasika? Did it throw you for a loop when you were immediately eliminated?
Alisha: I mean, I knew before we even went to present our dishes that we were most likely going to be eliminated. I wasn't happy with my dish at all, and I knew I completely screwed up. But it was too late at that point. I was embarrassed and just wanted it to be over. Dominique Crenn is a chef I have looked up to my entire career, so having to face her in that elimination was probably the most devastating thing for me. I remember Rasika getting nervous when she got called up with us, and Kaleena and I both knew right away that they were calling the top and bottom. We never even questioned it. We just wanted it to be over with. 
Kaleena: I knew it was coming. There was no way either of us were coming back from our errors with our dishes. It was expected, but it still crushed me. Literally one of the worst days I've ever had in my career as a chef.

Finally, I know you both are currently based out of Chicago. What's your relationship now after working and getting eliminated together?
Alisha: We have grown so close since being back in Chicago. We talk often and have even gone out to dinner together. People think, when they watch 30 minutes of a bad day we had, that it means we must hate each other. But if anything, I think that experience brought us closer. Sometimes, we have bad days in the kitchen, and sometimes, we have words with each other in those moments. But we are trained not to take it personally. Every day is a new day and a new opportunity to be better. 
Kaleena: Alisha and I have become close since that challenge. We trauma bonded for sure. No one else can ever relate to how we felt in that moment and during that cook. At the end of the day, we're chefs. Things got a little stressful, and it showed. But that doesn't mean that we're not mature enough to come out of it on the other side and say, "Hey, we both messed up. I'm sorry." Which is exactly what we did. We've hung out since then and reminisced about that challenge. But Alisha is such a cool human and such an incredibly talented chef. We don't have time to dwell on the past. It's about supporting each other and lifting each other up. We're in a good place and I really admire her accomplishments and appreciate her friendship. 

Next, check out our interview with Valentine Howell Jr., who was eliminated in Top Chef: Wisconsin Episode 2.