Aaron Grissom

In Boston, 16 aspiring chefs compete for a shot at culinary stardom; the contestants are thrust into hot water with a Sudden Death Quick Fire Challenge; the Elimination Challenge unfolds during the first ever Top Chef Food Festival.

The famous signal “one if by land and two if by sea” plays a role in the ingredients the chefs must use in their Quickfire Challenge to create the ultimate surf and turf dish for guest judge Todd English. Then the chefs break into teams for the Elimination Challenge to serve Boston’s Finest in the police and fire departments. Using surprise ingredients, each team must work together to cook one cohesive dish. Tempers and dishes boil over in the kitchen as the chefs learn how to cook together for the first time. Chef Dante de Magistris guest judges the Elimination Challenge.

In a nod to the Boston Tea Party, the chef'testants brace themselves for another Sudden Death Quickfire Challenge where they must use tea to enhance their dishes for guest judge Ming Tsai. The chef with the worst dish must battle against another chef to stay in the competition. Historic Fenway Park hosts its first ever culinary competition in an Elimination Challenge where the chefs must use ballpark snacks to create a fine dining dish that will be served right on the field. Joining the judges are Baseball Hall of Famer and former Red Sox pitcher Dennis Eckersley, Boston Globe sports columnist Dan Shaughnessy and guest judge Ming Tsai.

The chefs must create the ultimate bar snack for guest judge George Wendt ("Cheers"); the chefs must work in teams to write a create a 3-course Italian menu; actress Emmy Rossum ("Shameless") ruffles the chefs with her gluten-free diet.

“Top Chef” alum Tiffani Faison surprises the chefs with a trip to the countryside as well as a test of endurance. The chefs must trek through a cranberry bog in a race to gather this classic New England ingredient to use as the base for their Quickfire Challenge: creating a unique dish highlighting the cranberry. For their Elimination Challenge, the chefs head to historic Plimouth Plantation and must work together to cook a traditional family-style Thanksgiving feast using only cooking tools, methods and ingredients found in Massachusetts during the 1600s. This will not be an ordinary turkey and stuffing dinner with descendants of Mayflower colonists and the Wampanoag tribe as well as James Beard Award Winner Ken Oringer joining the judges at the table.

In a head-to-head challenge, the chefs cook for guest judge Jamie Bissonnette; the chefs make dishes on a lean military budget at the historic Watertown Arsenal.