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Top Chef S18 Power Rankings (Top 14)

Apr 8, 2021 by PowerRankings101

I liked this premiere, despite the rest of the episode slightly changing my perspective about these contestants. Some chefs continue to impress, some chefs continue to be doubtful, and some chefs really surprised me in one way or the other. Here are my rankings having FINISHED the episode.

14. Jamie Tran- I still think Jamie is pretty weak, and the problem is, I think she knows it too. The thing is, she brings lots of bold flavors to the table, they just didn’t have a nice marriage in relation to one another. She was the only one (next to Roscoe, who went home), who was at the bottom of both challenges. She’s my next boot if I had to predict one.

13. Avishar Barua- Avishar wasn’t as good as I thought. It’s really hard to make the flavors he was doing bland. It’s all about spice, and it was bland. I think Avishar may be in danger going forward.

12. Byron Gomez- I continue to say Byron who? He just isn’t getting much screen time at all. Which is a shame considering he’s been shown to cook with lots of cool stuff like liquid nitrogen (as seen in the promos). Maybe he’s been saved for later where he’ll truly emerge as a contender.

11. Chris Viaud- Chris didn’t get the best compliments on his dish, and his quickfire wasn’t anything special either (despite being the one to cook with “butter” which is virtually impossible to elevate). I like Chris, but I don’t think he’s standing out as much as I had hoped.

10. Brittany Anderson- What happened with Brittany is exactly as I predicted. She was great with the team, but didn’t stand out much on her own. Granted, she had the most unusual bird to cook, so I can’t give her too much flack.

9. Dawn Burrell- Dawn drops in the rankings a substantial amount. She has a fighting spirit, which I really appreciate, but I don’t think she’s totally in her groove yet. I do think the quickfire was more of Jamie’s mistake than hers, but the elimination challenge is where she really fell. The good news is, other past season chefs like Richard Blais acknowledge that this happens to everyone, and everyone forgets to plate something. The good news is, Dawn’s food was good even without the stew (even if it was the main component). I’m glad they spared her from landing in the bottom, which I think attests to Dawn’s ability as a chef. This was a “free pass.” The thing is, if Dawn has another timing mistake and loses track of time while plating, there won’t be any more free passes.

8. Sasha Grumman- Like Dawn, Sasha drops in the rankings. Sasha actually placed near the bottom, which isn’t great, BUT she at least acknowledged that her polenta wasn’t up to par. A good chef can admit when something isn’t good, and Sasha immediately knew the polenta was wrong. The problem is, Sasha didn’t take it off the dish. Next time, I think Sasha would take that polenta off the dish, and if she learns from those mistakes and does that, she’ll be fine. This seemed like a big slip up, but Sasha is the type of chef that can bounce back I think. She’s still my pre-season winner pick, and I’ll stand by it (despite being much more hesitant now).

7. Kiki Louya- Kiki is good, but didn’t necessarily stand out on her elimination challenge dish. She has proved she’s a good team player, however, so I have no worry for her going forward.

6. Gabe Erales- Gabe was a surprise! He did a very good job with his duck dish, only paling in comparison to Shota’s duck. I still don’t know a ton about Gabe as a person to put him any higher, but his dish definitely impressed.

5. Gabriel Pascuzzi- I know I gave lots of flack to Gabriel after that quickfire, but I really think he is proving that he knows his stuff. He’s an accomplished chef, and it shows. I still can’t get past his attitude, which I truly think will hold him back. There’s no denying he’s repping his home town really well with this dish.

4. Maria Mazon- Maria represented herself well on a plate. Sure, she may not have been at the top for her dish, but I think she’s getting a good enough amount of screen time and is proving that she knows Mexican cuisine extremely well. It’ll be interesting to see how she does when she isn’t allowed to stay in her lane and she has to branch out to other cuisines.

3. Nelson German- Whenever the judges can find a personality within a dish, and they say that the dish tells a story, I think that’s a huge accomplishment. Nelson is cooking from the heart, and I think he’ll only get better the more he finds his voice in this competition. He’s got one of the strongest openings of anyone, and I can’t wait to see him excel.

2. Shota Nakajima- Shota impressed me the most of any contestant this episode. He had a rough quickfire but really redeemed himself when it was time to shine. He is emerging as one of my early favorites, really molding that duck dish to absolute perfection. The thing is, it’s a technique he knows very well. But then again, who said you had to go outside the box when the box is so perfectly assembled? I love Shota’s spirit and energy, and I think he’ll be a frontrunner contrary to whatever the hell I said after his quickfire.

1. Sara Hauman- Okay fine, I put Sara at one. Last ranking, I said that she seemed a tad too self-deprecating and not confident enough. But now, I think I’ve learned that it’s just her personality and that’s who she is as a person. And honestly, it comes across as super humble, and I think it makes me want to root for Sara a lot more than I initially had. She has the confidence, she just doesn’t flaunt it. The dish looked great (even if I probably would’ve given it to Shota), but between this win and the quickfire win, there’s nobody else worthy of that top spot.

With Sasha and Dawn dropping in the rankings, I think newer front runners like Sara, Shota, and even Gabriel emerge. I do think Nelson and Maria (while slightly quieter) have been doing a great job consistently across both challenges. As to who goes home, there’s only one person remaining who was on the bottom for both quickfire and elimination. It’s a fairly easy assumption.

PREDICTIONS:

Going Home- Jamie Tran

#casting

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Top Chef S18 Power Rankings (Top 14)

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