Who was eliminated in Top Chef season 22 episode 7? Details explored

Top Chef: Destination Canada season 22 episode 7 aired on Bravo on Thursday, April 24, 2025. Titled You Wanna Pizza Me?, the episode featured the franchise's first-ever pizza party-themed Elimination Challenge.

The challenge tested the chefs' creativity as they tried to create original takes on the traditional dish. With just nine chefs left at the beginning of the episode, Chef Henry Lu was ultimately eliminated from Top Chef for serving an unconventional sushi-style pizza that didn't fit the requirements of the round.

Due to poor execution, Henry Lu, who had previously won the Quickfire Challenge and received a $10,000 reward, ended up at the bottom. After he was unable to get enough flour at Whole Foods, he switched to a rice-based crust, which did not hold together.

He was eliminated because the judges thought his dish did not resemble a pizza; however, they said his flavors demonstrated ambition. Now, Lu will compete for a chance to rejoin Top Chef after being relegated to Last Chance Kitchen.

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Henry Lu's elimination in Top Chef season 22 episode 7

The episode opened with a Quickfire Challenge judged by Top Chef Canada host Eden Grinshpan. The chefs were tasked with creating dishes inspired by common leftover food residues, such as tomato sauce and guacamole. The winner would receive a $10,000 prize, provided by the episode sponsor, Finish.

Henry Lu won the Quickfire Challenge with maple-butter mochi rice balls served in oatmeal broth. Lu was relieved to win following a series of near-misses in earlier episodes, as he declared he "needed this."

The chefs were then tasked to reinvent pizza by "pushing the limits" of flavor. According to host Kristen Kish, unusual varieties, such as sushi and Hawaiian pizza, served as the inspiration for this task. Meanwhile, Wylie Dufresne and Spike Mendelsohn were the two guest chefs who joined the panel of judges for this round.

The bottom three following the round included Paula Endara, Cesar Murillo, and Henry Lu. Lu’s troubles began during the shopping round when he accidentally bought an insufficient amount of flour. He then chose to use crisped sushi rice as the crust for a sushi-style pizza, as he was unable to create regular pizza dough.

His dish, which featured foie gras, hoisin sriracha aioli, herb pesto, and pho-marinated brisket, tried to blend the flavors of Vietnamese pho with a sushi-style presentation. But the crust was unstable and lacking structure. Judge Tom Colicchio criticized the dish by saying,

“It was just a rice dish. It was somewhat tasty, but it was a rice dish with raw beef on top. It was round, that's all you could say for how it approximated pizza.”

Gail Simmons added that it resembled “a tartare with extra herbs,” and Kristen Kish mentioned that Lu “wasn't leaning into the pho flavor” enough.

Despite the ambitious concept, the lack of cohesion in the dish led to Lu’s elimination. Judge Mendelsohn acknowledged the risk, saying it was “a big swing,” but the execution fell short. Further in the episode, Lu admitted,

“I did a pizza challenge with no real pizza. I'm going home because I didn't make what I wanted to make. I was cooking to survive.”

Before exiting, Lu added,

“Top Chef pushed me to my absolute limit, but I won't give up. Just because something's hard doesn't mean I'm going to stop.”

He now has a chance to return through Last Chance Kitchen.

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