Something changed and I’m now seeing ads on Instagram. I knew it was too good to last forever.
This was long but if it’s still not enough, I also added some more Restaurant Wars stats to 🔪 topchefstats.com so check those out too!
In Season 9 (Texas) each team made 6 dishes for 100 diners with an $11,500 budget for food and decor.
That’s the exact same budget Season 13 (California) teams had for 10 dishes across back-to-back lunch and dinner services.
I still think S13 had the toughest Restaurant Wars.
Video description: Carl Dooley says “I don’t know how many forks we should order! Like I don’t know just get a lot of em!”
I’m excited to see what budget and criteria they give the teams this season.
For Season 1 (San Francisco), each team made 3 dishes. They served 30 diners with a $1,000 budget for food and decor.
It also gave us that famous Dave quote.
Video description: Dave says “I’m not your bitch, bitch.”
Will they serve on different days? Unlikely, but it’s happened twice (Texas and Charleston). Did that affect winning? No trend yet.
In Texas, winner Half Bushel served second and in Charleston, winner Latitude served first.
Also #TeamBev forever.
Video description: Beverly excitedly celebrates with clapping and small jumps
Who will get to serve the judges first?
I’ve shared this stat before, but is it beneficial to serve the judges first in Restaurant Wars? The data says YES.
Of the 15 teams who served the judges first, 10 ended up winning.
Will the chefs choose their teams (rather than a knife pull)? Most likely. Only four seasons didn’t have the chefs choose.
Is it beneficial to choose your team first? The data says NO. Of the 11 teams who got to choose first, only 3 ended up winning.
Aside: Seattle was also the only season where the teams had mismatched team counts. Kristen’s team had 4 chefs while Sheldon’s had 3.
It didn’t end up being an advantage, though. “I would prefer one of the dish washers in place of Josie.”
Video description: Kristen turns away from Josie and gives a frustrated hand wave
This season has the teams working toward two chef’s visions based on a winning pitch.
Two seasons have previously done this (NY and Seattle). In both, the visionary chef of the losing team went home: Radhika and Kristen.
Following that trend, Kevin or Gregory could go home. 😱
The first elimination challenge is a good predictor of the finale winner, but so is Restaurant Wars.
Six Top Chef winners won their season’s first elimination challenge and six won their season’s Restaurant Wars.
