Michelle Wallace on her shocking ‘Top Chef’ elimination: ‘I’m a badass’
“I’m feeling okay surprisingly,” said Michelle Wallace in her exit interview at the end of this week’s episode of “Top Chef,” “Lay It All on the Table.” She was sent home after struggling with a challenge where the cheftestants had to serve their food right there on the table instead of on plates. And unfortunately for her, “Last Chance Kitchen” just concluded last week, so there will be no opportunity for her to return to the competition. She finishes season 21 in sixth place.
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Wallace was in trouble from the very beginning of the challenge. She knew she wanted to highlight salmon and beets in a brunch-inspired meal, but that’s all the inspiration she managed to come up with. The irony was that she’s actually good at food served on tables. “Crawfish boil, that’s right up my alley. Grazing table, that’s up my alley too,” she explained. But she actively avoided those ideas because she was afraid of being too “cliche.” And while the other chefs pondered the aesthetics of their tables, she additionally struggled with bringing artistry to her food presentation. Her resulting table had so little food on it you could barely see it. Her flavors didn’t come together either. She wound up in the bottom two with Manny Barella, who has been on the bottom in Elimination Challenges more times this season than any other chef. But despite that, Wallace was eliminated.
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Earlier in the season, Wallace was actually the front-runner to win the competition based on the combined predictions of Gold Derby users, but it goes to show that on “Top Chef,” you really are only as good as your last dish — or in this case, your last table. “This whole thing has been challenging for me personally and career-wise,” she added about the experience. “I hadn’t cooked in this manner in a very long time, and to be able to hang in there to top six, I’m a badass. I’ve loved every moment of laughter, every moment of frustration, and all of it has made me a better person, a better chef. I’ll see y’all in Houston.”
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