Who left episode 1 of season 19 of “Top Chef”? First Eliminated Cook Revealed

Excellent chef is back with another stellar group of talented cooks competing to be crowned Season 19 winners, receiving $250,000, a feature in the GASTRONOMY & WINE magazine, and an appearance at the annual GASTRONOMY & WINE Classic in Aspen.

But since only one contestant can win, chefs will be eliminated throughout the competition as they are tasked with creating delicious meals in a series of exciting challenges. For season 19 of well done cooking show 15 chefs from across America compete in Houston, for the very first time.

Episode 1 of the new season, which aired Thursday, March 3, kicked off with a quick team challenge. Cooks were asked to create a dish, with each team member given 10 minutes to contribute to the meal individually.

The team that won the quickfire challenge would be exempt from elimination. However, there was a catch, as the team members were not allowed to talk to each other. Newsweek has all the details on the first challenge of the season, including who left the series in week one.

What happened to Excellent chef Season 19 week 1?

Nobody wants to be the first to leave the competition after having dropped everything to participate in Excellent chef. Still, it had to be someone and after two grueling team challenges, the judges made their decision on who they wanted to eliminate.

First, the cooks battled it out in the first quick challenge of the season, which hosts Padma Lakshmi over a confidence drop. Teams of three chefs had to work in relays to create a coherent dish without communicating.

The brown team of Jackson Kalb, Robert Hernandez and Sarah Welch prepared charcoal roasted eggplant, romesco macadamia and serrano creme fraiche. Meanwhile, the red team – Leia Gaccione, Stephanie Miller and Jae Jung – served the judges an Asian-spiced pork chop, grilled corn salad and tomato puree with fish sauce.

The Green Team—Nick Wallace, Evelyn Garcia, and Damarr Brown—seared New York strip cooked with creamed corn and charred Brussels sprouts. However, the blue team, consisting of Sam Kang, Ashleigh Shanti and Luke Kolpin, failed to show up in time, so they had nothing to present to the judges.

Instead, it was the yellow team – Buddha Lo, Monique Feybesse and Jo Chan – who wowed the judges with their barbecued Thai beef with salsa verde salad, charred scallions and fish sauce butter flour and received elimination immunity.

who was eliminated from Excellent chef Season 19 and which cook was named the winning chef in episode 1?

For the elimination challenge, teams had to create a menu featuring primary cuts of beef. They received $600 to shop at Whole Foods Market and a time limit of 2h30 to cook the meal at The Annie Cafe and Bar.

The teams were judged on the consistency of their three dishes with the cut of beef chosen, as well as on the quality of their collaboration. The yellow team was chosen as the judge’s favorite team, with Robert from San Francisco, California named the winning chef.

Unfortunately, the red team was the judge’s least favorite and Leia from Morristown, NJ, was asked to pack her knives and leave the competition. Coming out first, she said, “Sucks! You know you don’t put your life on hold to enter the most prestigious cooking competition to be eliminated in the first challenge.”

She added: “I made some very rookie mistakes. I wasn’t focused, I didn’t pay attention to the details. It wasn’t my best day and that was me…I’m a fighter, just don’t count me out yet.”

Leia could return to competition if she wins theLast Chance Kitchen, where eliminated chefs have the opportunity to prove themselves and return to competition.

Top Chef Season 19 airs every Thursday on Bravo at 8/7c.