"Best line of the night" — Top Chef fans react to guest judge David Zilber calling Mimi's dish "elevated hospital food"

Season 22 of Top Chef premiered on March 13, 2025. With $250,000 on the line, 15 chefs took on the challenge of impressing the judges with their culinary skills. However, one contestant fell short and ended her journey in the first episode itself. Mimi's dish failed to meet the judges' expectations and earned negative reviews. While tasting her dish, guest judge David Zilber criticized it, saying:

"This was a poor attempt. It's gone wrong. Beige, muddy."

As the other judges chimed in, David continued:

"It tasted like elevated hospital food."

For the elimination challenge, the participants had to select one of the five regions of Canada and create a dish that best represented its produce. Although the participants were divided into teams of three, each cooking with ingredients specific to a region, the judges would review the dishes as independent meals.

Mimi was teamed up with César and Katianna to cook for the Central region of Canada. She presented the judges with a grilled pork loin, a potato purée with corn beurre monte and a peach relish. Despite her efforts, her dish failed to impress the judges, ultimately leading to her elimination.

Many Top Chef fans took to X to comment on David's comparison of Mimi's dish to "hospital food."

"NOT calling Mimi’s food elevated hospital food. Best line of the night. LMFAO," a fan wrote.

"He said her food tasted like “elevated hospital food”" another fan commented.

"Bro, they said Mimi’s dish tasted like hospital food," a netizen tweeted.

One comment from Top Chef fans referred to the review as the "most savage reply" among many others.

""Elevated hospital food" might be the most savage critique I have ever heard in 22 seasons of Top Chef...Absolutely LOVE," a user reacted.

"Not elevated hospital food. Damn!" a person commented.

"Not this man calling Mimi's dish "elevated hospital food"," another fan wrote.

"WOW, like minimal critique. I think they just wanted Mimi to not be there. She was odd….just sayin," one user posted.

Other Top Chef fans were critical of her skills, calling her out for not timing her dish correctly.

"Mimi has 30 minutes left and she's not cooked her pork," a person reacted.

"Mimi is weird….and she’s serving raw pork!" another netizen commented.

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"I did not enjoy anything on Mimi's plate" — Top Chef judge Kristen Kish reviews contestant's performance

As soon as the challenge started, Mimi struggled to get accustomed to the kitchen and could not figure out where the amenities were. At one point, she realized she had left her potatoes boiling for longer than needed and admitted they would be "so gummy."

The Top Chef contestant, however, lost track of time looking after the potatoes. With 30 minutes left until service, Mimi realized that she had yet to cook her pork. She could only give the pork a "15-minute brine" before cooking and presenting them to the judges.

While David disapproved of the elements in Mimi's recipe, another guest judge confessed that the potatoes reminded her of the "powdered boxed potatoes." Gail Simmons stated the pork loin was "completely dry and overcooked", whereas Kristen said:

"Something clearly went wrong. I did not enjoy anything on Mimi's plate."

Top Chef judge Tom Colicchio mentioned that nothing tasted good because it wasn't cooked correctly.

After the judges tasted all dishes, they announced their verdict, asking Mimi to pack her knives and leave. While Mimi said she was disappointed with her performance, Tom told her to put her best foot forward at Last Chance Kitchen. While speaking to the cameras, the evictee expressed that the "most disappointing part" was not being able to give a "good representation" of herself.

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Top Chef season 22 airs new episodes every Thursday at 9 pm ET exclusively on Bravo.