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Top Chef season 22 episode 12 was released on May 29, 2025, and sent a chef back home. It was titled, 'Foraged in Fire,' and saw five remaining contestants present their dishes in Canada the last time; as for their next rounds, they will be flying to Milan, Italy.
However, this Top Chef episode was particularly tragic for Massimo Piedmonte because he was eliminated at the end. He came at the bottom with Bailey, but the latter was safe after the round was over.
As soon as his name was announced by the judges, Massimo's face fell, and he was devastated. Even the other contestants, who have grown close to him after spending weeks in the competition, shed tears over his being sent away.
Another factor that contributed to his sadness was that he is Italian and was looking forward to visiting Italy later in the Top Chef season. He was also the last Canadian left in the mix. Expressing his feelings, he said,
"Oof, that hurts... I've made mistakes, and I've learnt from them. Today, maybe just four other chefs had a better dish than I did. I had a great time. Nothing is tainting this experience. What's next is, I'm gonna hug my children until they're blue in their face. And then, I look forward to serving people every day for the rest of my life."
Tom Colicchio asked Massimo to give him a hug before he exited, and this ended his journey for now on Top Chef.
Top Chef season 22 - What led to Massimo's elimination?
The episode started with the final elimination challenge in the woods, and it all came down to a Quickfire Challenge. The guest judges for this week were Brenda Holder and Chef Tracy Little. The contestants were given various ingredients from the Canadian wilderness and had to create dishes based on the same.
After foraging for ingredients, which was a huge task in itself, the Chefs were allowed to fetch some more from Calgary. The challenge required them to cook outside on an open flame. Massimo had a previous lead, which gave him extra time for the dish.
After the dishes were presented and the judges had analysed the taste of each, Shuai was announced the winner and was also granted $10,000. He had prepared roasted cabbage with rosehip-glazed pork belly and sour cabbage broth.
On the chopping block were Massimo and Bailey, and the former was let go. Even though the judges loved his meal during the taste test, others were just better this time, as the chef himself remarked in his confessional.
Tom Colicchio had said,
"I like what Massimo did here because he took one ingredient, mustard, and really focused on that, and I think he did it really well."
Top Chef judge Kristen Kish was given the responsibility to announce the elimination, and she was visibly holding herself back from crying. Even though he was going home, Massimo exited positively.
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Top Chef season 22 airs new episodes weekly on Thursdays at 9 PM Eastern Time on Bravo. The next day, they can be streamed online via Peacock.
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