| Host/Executive Producer | |
| Guy Fieri | |
| Play-by-Play Announcers | |
| Simon Majumdar Justin Warner | |
| Judges | |
| see below | |
| Broadcast | |
 | |
Tournament of Champions (ToC) is a reality food-themed competition series where 16-32 of the nation's most celebrated chefs face off[1].
Premise[]
During the seven-part tournament, the chefs' skills will be pushed to the limit, as they go head-to-head in a single elimination bracket-style competition, where a randomizer machine determines the protein, produce, equipment, cooking style and time for each of the cook-offs. The pressure is on and emotions are high throughout this unpredictable tournament, as the elite chefs enter this blind tasting competition not knowing who their opponents will be, or what cooking challenges they will face. The intensity increases in each sudden-death round of the tournament as the coveted spots decrease from 16 to eight in the second round, then to four, until there are only two chefs in the final round.
Judges[]
| Judge | Episode(s) |
|---|---|
| Giada De Laurentiis | 1, 4 |
| Marcus Samuelsson | 1, 3, 4, 6, 7. |
| Rocco DiSpirito | 1, 5, 6 |
| Tracy Des Jardins | 2, 5 |
| Jonathan Waxman | 2, 4 |
| Nancy Silverton | 2, 3, 6, 7 |
| Scott Conant | 3, 5 |
| Ming Tsai | 7 |
Play Ins[]
The 8th seed for both the East Coast and West Coast was decided by two preliminary rounds. Each Play In comprised 4 chefs who battled it out in two head-to-head match-ups followed by a grand final.
Tied Game[]
For the first time in TOC there was a tie. In the match-up between Jet Tila and Antonia Lofaso both chefs scored 93 and the order of tie breakers (taste, game play, plating) was equal too. They went head-to-head again in the final episode for the right to compete in the last 4; Jet won by 1 point.
Spoiler Alert of a Spoiler Alert[]
In a Guy's Grocery Games at Home episode which was aired before the ToC finale, it seemed that Guy gave away ddd one of the finalists of ToC. Don't be surprised to see a Spice Queen in the final 2. Update: Yes, Maneet made it to the final.
Continuity Issues[]
- In episode 3 Antonia Lafaso was credited with 23 culinary competitions won. In a later episode this was downgraded to 16.
- Views of the randomizer are clearly stock footage and not from the actual game play as the positions of the wheels change from shot to shot.
Chef Comparisons[]
Prior to each head-to-head cook off, the show provides some statistics on the competing chefs:
| Chef | Coast | Seed | Years as an Executive Chef | Culinery Competitions Won | Restaurants Opened | Awards Won | TOC 2021 Highest Score | TOC 2021 Wins (.5 indicates a tie) |
| Aaron May | West | 6 | 15 | 6 | 6 | 12 | 84 | 0 |
| Amanda Freitag | East | 1 | 15 | 4 | 2 | 4 | 87 | 0 |
| Antonia Lofaso | West | 2 | 15 | 23 (from episode 3, a later episode showed 16) | 4 | 1 | 93 | 1.5 |
| Bobby Marcotte | East | N/A | 15 | 5 | 4 | 27 | 74 | 0 |
| Brian Malarkey | West | 7 | 20 | 9 | 45 | 28 | 85 | 0 |
| Brooke Williamson | West | 1 | 20 | 18 | 9 | 10 | 92 | 3 |
| Bryan Voltaggio | East | 6 | 14 | 6 | 9 | 3 | 80 | 0 |
| Cat Cora | West | 4 | 28 | 22 | 18 | 50+ | 90 | 0 |
| Chris Cosentino | West | N/A | 19 | 21 | 5 | 4 | 84 | 0 |
| Chris Oh | West | N/A | 9 | 7 | 6 | 12 | 82 | 1 |
| Christian Petroni | East | 3 | 12 | 9 | 5 | 3 | 83 | 1 |
| Cliff Crooks | East | N/A | 17 | 3 | 20 | 4 | 85 | 0 |
| Darnell Ferguson | East | 4 | 8 | 19 | 5 | 3 | 89 | 2 |
| Elizabeth Falkner | East | N/A | 17 | 10 | 5 | 11 | 80 | 1 |
| Jet Tila | West | 3 | 13 | 7 | 6 | 11 | 93 | 2.5 |
| Madison Cowan | East | 7 | 17 | 8 | 6 | 2 | 76 | 0 |
| Maneet Chauhan | East | 2 | 19 | 7 | 7 | 25 | 93 | 4 |
| Marc Murphy | East | 5 | 27 | 6 | 5 | 4 | 82 | 0 |
| Michael Voltaggio | West | 5 | 12 | 6 | 6 | 3 | 95 | 1 |
| Nyesha Arrington | West | 8 | 11 | 7 | 2 | 5 | 88 | 2 |
| Phillip Frankland Lee | West | N/A | 9 | 12 | 11 | 9 | 77 | 0 |
| Tiffani Faison | East | 8 | 14 | 12 | 7 | 16 | 90 | 3 |
Note: The number of culinary competitions won increases with each victory in ToC.
Play-by-Play Commentators[]
As the competition calls for a blind taste test, the chefs aren't permitted to describe their own dishes.
Simon Majumdar presides over the left kitchen, and Justin Warner the right, to make notes about the way the chefs are preparing their meals, including the techniques used, ingredients, spices, etc. They then present the plates to the judges while the chefs wait in their green rooms and watch the judging via a TV feed.
| Simon Majumdar | Result | Justin Warner | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| Chris Cosentino | L | Nyesha Arrington | W |
| Phillip Frankland Lee | L | Chris Oh | W |
| Chris Oh | L | Nyesha Arrington | W |
| Tiffani Faison | W | Cliff Crooks | L |
| Elizabeth Falkner | W | Bobby Marcotte | L |
| Elizabeth Falkner | L | Tiffani Faison | W |
| Antonia Lofaso | W | Brian Malarkey | L |
| Darnell Ferguson | W | Marc Murphy | L |
| Brooke Williamson | W | Nyesha Arrington | L |
| Cat Cora | L | Michael Voltaggio | W |
| Jet Tila | W | Aaron May | L |
| Amanda Freitag | L | Tiffani Faisson | W |
| Christian Petroni | W | Bryan Voltaggio | L |
| Maneet Chauhan | W | Madison Cowan | L |
| Brooke Williamson | W | Michael Voltaggio | L |
| Darnell Ferguson | W | Tiffani Faison | L |
| Maneet Chauhan | W | Christian Petroni | L |
| Antonia Lofaso | T | Jet Tila | T |
| Antonia Lofaso | L | Jet Tila | W |
| Maneet Chauhan | W | Darnell Ferguson | L |
| Brooke Williamson | W | Jet Tila | L |
| Brooke Williamson | L | Maneet Chauhan | W |
Simon 13.5 vs. Justin 8.5
*Not part of the game, just an interesting statistic.