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The Best Episodes of Top Chef Season 9

Every episode of Top Chef Season 9 ranked from best to worst. Discover the Best Episodes of Top Chef Season 9!

Binge this in 12h 36m•Peaking at 7.9/10

An American reality competition show in which chefs compete against each other in culinary challenges and are judged by a panel of professional chefs and other notables from the food and wine industry with one

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Episode Rankings

  1. #1 Fan Favorite
    Top Chef Season 9 Episode 1 - Everything's Bigger in Texas
    7.8/10(34 votes)

    #1 - Everything's Bigger in Texas

    S9:E1

    29 chefs gather at the Alamo in San Antonio, Texas, to compete for 16 slots in the 9th season of Top Chef. Tonight they are divided into three groups and must master their challenge to move forward. Some will know their fate immediately and receive a chef coat or be sent home. Others will be on the "bubble" and must compete and be judged again before they know their fates. Yes, it's bigger in Texas, but it's also hotter and harder, too. Group 1 Qualifying Challenge: Prepare a Dish Using One Cut of a Pig Group 2 Qualifying Challenge: Prepare a Dish Using the Same Ingredient

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  2. Top Chef Season 9 Episode 2 - The Heat Is On
    7.3/10(29 votes)

    #2 - The Heat Is On

    S9:E2

    Night two of heats for the coveted contestant spots starts with 10 competitors, 10 ingredients, and only five chef coats left. Once again, those who excel in the challenge get a coat immediately, and those who bomb are sent home. The remaining hopefuls on the "bubble" participate in a cook-off for the last coats against last week's four still waiting for their second chance. Also, tonight the first chefs are awarded an opportunity to get back into the race when they are sent to the sister series Top Chef: Last Chance Kitchen.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  3. Top Chef Season 9 Episode 3 - Quinceanera
    7.3/10(29 votes)

    #3 - Quinceanera

    S9:E3

    The chefs are asked to create a dish using rattlesnakes. Later they cater a girl's quinceañera celebration.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  4. Top Chef Season 9 Episode 4 - Red Hot Chili Cook Off
    7.6/10(31 votes)

    #4 - Red Hot Chili Cook Off

    S9:E4

    The contestants provide food for the local rodeo and its audience.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  5. Top Chef Season 9 Episode 5 - Don't Be Tardy for the Dinner Party
    6.6/10(32 votes)

    #5 - Don't Be Tardy for the Dinner Party

    S9:E5

    The chefs must create a dish using what they can find in a standard survival kit, then they have to shift gears and cater dinner to high society.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  6. Top Chef Season 9 Episode 6 - Higher Steaks
    7.3/10(29 votes)

    #6 - Higher Steaks

    S9:E6

    The contestants prepare steak for some of Texas' most discerning palates, at least beef-wise, the attendees of the Cattle Baron's Ball.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  7. Top Chef Season 9 Episode 7 - Game On
    7.4/10(27 votes)

    #7 - Game On

    S9:E7

    The contestants must cook for an all-star table of chefs whose avocation is hunting.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  8. Top Chef Season 9 Episode 8 - Tribute Dinner
    7.7/10(28 votes)

    #8 - Tribute Dinner

    S9:E8

    The chefs must adapt quickly when their cooking mashes up with social networking and they begin receiving dish notes via Twitter. Later, they will each be able to pay homage to an influential teacher when they are asked to create dishes in the teachers' honor.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  9. Top Chef Season 9 Episode 9 - BBQ Pit Wars
    6.9/10(27 votes)

    #9 - BBQ Pit Wars

    S9:E9

    The chefs combine learning with cooking tonight when they use Nathan Myhrvold's Modernist Cuisine to influence their Quickfire dishes. Next, they team up for a barbecue cook-off where the diners determine the winning team.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  10. Top Chef Season 9 Episode 10 - Restaurant Wars
    7.4/10(29 votes)

    #10 - Restaurant Wars

    S9:E10

    The still-standing chefs sharpen their knives for the time-honored fan-favorite "Restaurant Wars" test. The all-encompassing culinary challenge tasks them to create an eatery, from its signage and logos to its menus and meals. The chefs prepare their dishes as quick as they can but the servers are having problems understanding where they need to go.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  11. Top Chef Season 9 Episode 11 - Fit For an Evil Queen
    7.9/10(28 votes)

    #11 - Fit For an Evil Queen

    S9:E11

    The Quickfire is on the move, except it's the ingredients that are moving—by train. Next, the chefs must access the darkness inside of them when they are asked to create "evil" on a plate.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  12. Top Chef Season 9 Episode 12 - Block Party
    7.6/10(29 votes)

    #12 - Block Party

    S9:E12

    The chefs race against time to finish prep work for a meal. Later, they serve up cuisine at a food-drive block party. Guest judge: Cat Cora.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  13. Top Chef Season 9 Episode 13 - Bike, Borrow & Steal
    7.4/10(29 votes)

    #13 - Bike, Borrow & Steal

    S9:E13

    In this week’s Quickfire, Pee-wee Herman stops by and the chefs are tasked to create his favorite breakfast dish – pancakes! But this isn’t any old pancake. The Chefs are challenged to be as creative as possible when making their batter, toppings and presentation. In "Pee-wee’s Big Adventure,” Pee-wee learned a lot about searching the streets and asking for help. For the elimination challenge, the chefs are set loose in downtown San Antonio with a bike and $100, where they must find their ingredients and create a dish for Pee-wee’s dinner party. Pee-wee Herman joins Gail Simmons, head judge Tom Colicchio, and host Padma Lakshmi at judges’ table.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  14. Top Chef Season 9 Episode 14 - Mentors
    6.9/10(26 votes)

    #14 - Mentors

    S9:E14

    In this week’s Quickfire, the chefs must use their sense of touch, smell and taste to navigate through the pantry to gather ingredients for a dish while blindfolded. In a twist, the winning chef from Top Chef: Last Chance Kitchen will re-enter the competition and join the remaining four chefs in the elimination challenge, where the chefs must create a delicious dish that will impress their mentors. Host Padma Lakshmi, along with Hugh Acheson, Gail Simmons and head judge Tom Colicchio will determine which final four chefs will advance to the finale.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  15. Top Chef Season 9 Episode 15 - Culinary Games
    6.5/10(29 votes)

    #15 - Culinary Games

    S9:E15

    The final 4 chefs arrive in Whistler, British Columbia, for a Top Chef twist on the Olympic games. From cooking on the world’s fastest gondola to a biathlon that requires marksman like precision to get the best ingredients, the chefs will need to have the concentration of a true culinary Olympian to advance to the next round in Vancouver.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  16. Top Chef Season 9 Episode 16 - Fire and Ice
    7.1/10(28 votes)

    #16 - Fire and Ice

    S9:E16

    Asian Masters lend a hand in a tag-team-style Quickfire. The final 3 chefs must create a dish and cocktail that fuses the concept of fire and ice into one cohesive dish, a culinary testament of their journey from blazing Texas heat to blistering Vancouver cold.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  17. Top Chef Season 9 Episode 17 - Finale
    7.3/10(23 votes)

    #17 - Finale

    S9:E17

    For the final challenge, each chef will take over a restaurant in Vancouver where they will have the chance to design a four-course meal for the judges and unbeknownst to them, friends and family.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  18. Top Chef Season 9 Episode 18 - Reunion
    6.8/10(21 votes)

    #18 - Reunion

    S9:E18

    No description available

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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Season 9 Ratings Summary

"Everything's Bigger in Texas" is the best rated episode of "Top Chef" season 9. It scored 7.8/10 based on 34 votes. Directed by Unknown and written by Unknown, it aired on 11/2/2011. This episode is rated 0.5 points higher than the second-best, "The Heat Is On".