Episode guide
Top Chef: Portland
14 episodes · premiered Mar 30, 2021
Season 18 mixes the standard location-inspired challenges — like a nod to the Oregon Trail — with acknowledgments of the current state of the world, with cheftestants making meals for hundreds of frontline workers.
- Episode 1: First Impressions Apr 1, 2021 · 42m “Top Chef” is back with 15 of the country’s best chefs ready to compete in Portland, Oregon. For their first Quickfire Challenge, the cheftestants are immediately thrown into teams and…
- Episode 2: Trouble Brewing Apr 8, 2021 · 42m The Chefs are in for a rude awakening when they enter the kitchen to find Padma and seven hungry all-star chefs – Amar Santana, Melissa King, Kwame Onwuachi, Dale Talde, Gregory Gourdet…
- Episode 3: Pan African Portland Apr 15, 2021 · 42m The pressure is laid on the chefs in the Quickfire Challenge as they are tasked to make a layered dessert. Carrie Baird joins Padma to pick the winner, who will get their dish turned into…
- Episode 4: Thrown for a Loop Apr 22, 2021 · 42m For the Quickfire Challenge, the chefs must create a dish featuring Campbell’s Soup for Padma and guest judge Dale Talde. Then, the cheftestants get thrown for a loop when they find out…
- Episode 5: Meet You at the Drive-In Apr 29, 2021 · 42m Amar Santana joins Padma for this week’s Quickfire Challenge honoring Mother’s Day and one of Portland’s nicknames “City of Roses.” The chefs are tasked to create a dish featuring roses or…
- Episode 6: Stumptown U.S.A. May 6, 2021 · 42m The chefs are transported into a magical kitchen forest with their prep tables gone and replaced by stumps for this week’s Quickfire Challenge where they must make a dish featuring Tom’s…
- Episode 7: Feeding the Frontlines May 13, 2021 · 42m The winner of the first part of Last Chance Kitchen rejoins the competition just in time for their “second chance” Quickfire Challenge where the Chefs are tasked with redoing a past failed…
- Episode 8: Restaurant Wars May 20, 2021 · 42m With the top eight chefs remaining, it’s time for the perennial favorite - Restaurant Wars. This year, the chefs will serve a seven course tasting menu to the judges and All-Star panel…
- Episode 9: Portland-ia May 27, 2021 · 42m For this week’s Quickfire Challenge, Fred Armisen and Carrie Brownstein from the hit comedy series “Portlandia” task the chefs with creating a dish using hipster ingredients using only old…
- Episode 10: Tournament of Tofu Jun 3, 2021 · 42m Ed Lee enters the kitchen and tells the chefs they will be competing tournament style; the chefs duke it out at the Portland Japanese Gardens, where they must create dishes featuring…
- Episode 11: Blind Ambitions Jun 10, 2021 · 42m This week’s Quickfire Challenge takes inspiration from "Top Chef" France’s infamous Black Box challenge. In teams of two, the chefs each take a turn entering the box where they blindly…
- Episode 12: The Cheesier the Better Jun 17, 2021 · 42m As the final four chefs near the end of their journey in Portland, Padma is joined by Vitaly Paley and Gregory Gourdet to introduce an old school Quickfire Challenge paying homage to the…
- Episode 13: Shellfishly Delicious Jun 24, 2021 · 42m The remaining chefs get an early wake-up call from Padma to go meet guest judge Brooke Williamson and dig for clams for their Quickfire Challenge. In the Elimination Challenge, the chefs…
- Episode 14: The Next Top Chef Is... Jul 1, 2021 · 42m After 13 grueling weeks of competition, the chefs must create the best four-course meal of their lives for their final challenge at Willamette Valley Vineyards. They’ll serve it to an…