Top Chef

Seventeen chefs converge in Los Angeles for a shot at culinary stardom; first, the chefs face off in a quick-fire challenge, then they make dishes for a group of food critics and reporters to survive the first elimination round.

The chefs open pop-up restaurants that reflect their respective neighborhoods; guest judge Ludo Lefebvre joins the others for Mexican, Persian, Korean, and vegan cuisine and picks the dish that best reflects Los Angeles' mosaic of cultures.

In Santa Barbara, Calif., the chefs pick up fresh sea urchin to use in their first sudden-death, quick-fire challenge; in the elimination challenge, the chefs serve up surf and turf to a table of celebrated chefs and judges.

Palm Springs, Cal., is the destination for culinary competition. Here, the chefs use solar-powered stoves in the desert, then prepare dishes on a famed golf course. Appearing: John Besh and Mary Sue Milliken.

In Palm Springs, model Chrissy Teigen entices the contestants to make their best "date" dishes; the chefs cater a wedding for 25 gay couples in an elimination challenge.

The chefs continue their California road trip and head south to San Diego where they cook-up the best high-end fish taco for renowned Mexican Chef Javier Plascencia. Things get extra spicy when another Sudden Death Quickfire threatens to send one of the chefs packing. Then Padma Lakshmi, Tom Colicchio, Richard Blais and Emeril Lagasse offer a toast with a twist to the remaining chefs with their own hand-crafted microbrews. For the Elimination Challenge at Blais' Juniper and Ivy, the chefs must serve up a mouthwatering dish to complement their ale.

The Chefs arrive back in Los Angeles to celebrate the 10th anniversary of Top Chef. First they compete in a Quickfire limiting them to 10 ingredients they all must share. In the Elimination Challenge, the Chefs must transport themselves back in time and create a dish that tells the story of who they were 10 years ago. Top Chef alums Michael Voltaggio, Antonia Lofaso and Mei Lin Hua join Nancy Silverton and the rest of the judges to decide which Chef should be eliminated from the competition.

The chefs strive to create the most visually appealing ``food porn'' using only snack food; the chefs cook for a black-tie event called Beefsteak during which the diners eat with their hands; diners include Colin Hanks, Max Silvestri and Matt Selman.

The iconic Restaurant Wars is back and bigger than ever. For the first time in Top Chef history, the chefs are opening their restaurants for both lunch and dinner services. No one is safe as each chef must run front of house or act as the executive chef in one of the services. The pressure is on as two services means twice the drama.

After a busy day prepping and conducting a full lunch service, the Chefs must clean up and do it all over again for dinner. Never before have the Chefs taken on such a huge challenge, and the judges are looking at everything from concept and food, to service and consistency, so no one is safe in the most daunting Restaurant War to date.

The chefs land in the Bay Area and prepare fresh dishes for rapper MC Hammer. Later, they cook from important and influential international food eras. Foodie Jonathan Waxman makes an appearance.

A showdown includes woks when the chefs visit San Francisco's Chinatown. Later, they must create a fast-casual restaurant concept. Foodies Martin Yan and Adam Fleischman make appearances.

In San Francisco, the five remaining Chefs face the ultimate Sudden Death Quickfire cooking for Top Chef Master Traci Des Jardins. Then, in the elimination challenge, the Chefs cook where Top Chef first began, at Hubert Keller's legendary restaurant Fleur de Lys, and are tasked to prepare a Fleur-inspired dish for the incomparable Keller, the judges and San Francisco culinary elite.

The chefs land in Las Vegas and participate in a high-stakes challenge of cards and cuisine. Later, they must conjure culinary magic for illusionist David Copperfield.

It all comes down to this final faceoff. The last two chefs must make the meal of their lives with help from their culinary mentors and fallen comrades to impress a room full of judges and important diners including Emeril Lagasse, Dominique Crenn, Jonathan Beno, Hubert Keller, Charlie Palmer, Jean-Georges Vongerichten and the Chefs' families.