Pack Your Knives

Padma, Buddha and the f'ing liver. In a jam-packed episode of Pack Your Knives, Tom and Kevin recap the contentious Season 20 finale, bid farewell to Padma Lakshmi and launch a campaign for her replacement. Also joining the show are Buddha Lo and Sara Bradley taking us behind the scenes on the finale and this World All-Stars season. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Our love for this season continues to grow like mushrooms on cow dung. Tom and Kevin recap the infamous Wall Challenge and the mushroom elimination challenge ahead of next week's finale.While reeling from a cheftestant's elimination, Tom shocks the world with a blockbuster trade offer ahead of the final episode. Will Kevin accept? It could swing the entire fantasy season. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Breaking news: Tom and Kevin went to a Top Chef dinner in Los Angeles at Craft this week!The Pack Your Knives crew not only got to meet Tom Colicchio and Gail Simmons, but also the Restaurant Wars winning team and taste their five-course meal.We recap both the night, the Last Chance Kitchen finale and another banger of an episode of Top Chef as the contestants head off to Paris. Tom H also goes through the archives and researches whether any cheftestant has won four challenges in a row. The answer may surprise you. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

ESPN's Mina Kimes drops by Pack Your Knives for a recap of the Beef Wellington episode. Kevin, Mina and Tom wrap themselves up in the drama, investigate the mystical origins of the Beef Wellington and discuss the double-elimination choices by the judges. Plus, we gawk at a particular chef during a "candid" moment while Kevin offers a scouting report on the Kimpton hotels across the country. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

With Restaurant Wars in the rearview mirror, Tom and Kevin digest the smoked fish and thali challenges of this week's episode and interview Top Chef producer Thi Nguyen. As one of the brains behind the show, Nguyen shares what it's like to work on Top Chef over the years and why they call her the "police" of the competition. She debunks some myths and pulls back the curtain on the impact of Queen Elizabeth's passing on the production. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

It's Restaurant Wars!!! Or is it?Tom and Kevin air their grievances about the unconventional Restaurant Wars episode and wonder what happened behind the scenes.They rank their favorite dishes and designate the roles that we never got to see. Kevin's squad has an up-and-down performance while Tom's team hums along.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

With Restaurant Wars around the corner, Tom and Kevin get their engines rev'd with the incredible Fast X mise en place elimination challenge.Then, Team Haberstroh and Team Arnovitz, each with four cheftestants remaining, fill in the roles of their hypothetical Resturant Wars team.Who's the No. 1 prospect for executive chef? Front of house? Tom and Kevin hash it out and recap LCK. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Kevin and Tom get their hands dirty with the Gaggan Anand episode of Top Chef: World All-Stars and take stock of the competition as we near ever closer to the Restaurant Wars mark.Cheftestant Dale Mackay of Saskatchewan fame joins the show to talk about his rollercoaster ride on Top Chef, daily life as a triathlete in reality-television isolation and the difference of this particular season vs. Top Chef Canada. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

With the most confusing Top Chef episode of the season, Kevin and Tom fight off whiplash and vertigo as they recap the Downton Abbey episode. Tom bids farewell to one of his top picks but discovers a budding crush on another and rants about sandwich toppings. Meanwhile, Kevin does a victory lap on one of his picks who continues to deliver and gets wistful about one of his other cheftestants heading to LCK.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Top Chef heads to the Kent countryside, where a shocking ending sends a cheftestant home. Kevin takes issue with the cheftestant's fate while Tom defends his squad.Then, World All-Stars contestant and Season 16 finalist Sara Bradley of Freight House in Paducah, Kentucky joins the podcast! We discuss her stat-keeping, experiences on the show, favorite Jewish dishes, raw eggs and more. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices