Spoiler alert for those who havent watched Sunday’s Season 4 finale of Food Network’s “Tournament of Champions.”
After weeks of going up against talented chefs across the country, a chef who hails from metro Detroit was crowned the ultimate winner of this years “Tournament of Champions.” Mei Lin, a Dearborn native whos now based in Los Angeles, took home the top prize: a cool $100,000 on the network’s 2023 highest-rated (and highly competitive) show.
Lin called the competition “challenging but invigorating” in a Monday news release, and said it was the “toughest arena” she has ever competed in.
Participants on “Tournament of Champions,” hosted by celebrity chef Guy Fieri, compete in a bracket-style competition with other chefs, showcasing their culinary skills. The competition started out with 32 chefs, divided into East and West divisions.
“It took every ounce of grit for me to succeed. Going up against friends and colleagues whom I have so much respect and admiration for, was especially rewarding and gratifying,” Lin said in a news release. “It was a true honor to have been a part of it all and I look forward to defending my title next season.”
The competition is intense and the pressure is always on because the chefs compete using random ingredients, styles and tools, selected by a giant slot machine called the “randomizer.” Each dish is judged by culinary experts in blind tastings.
In the finals, Lin, a West chef who was a No. 3 seed in her region, competed against East chef Maneet Chauhan, a No. 2 seed and the “Tournament of Champions” winner from Season 2.
For the final dish, the chefs had to use lamb as the protein and prepare two different dishes, at six plates per dish, in 60 minutes. Lins dishes of lamb loin tartare and pomegranate glazed lamb chops won over the judges and earned her the cash prize win and championship belt.
With all its culinary battles this season, “Tournament of Champions” is also a ratings hit. Food Network said the show reached nearly 10.5 million viewers and has been the highest-rated series on the network to date in 2023.
“Viewers devoured this year’s tournament as it was filled with edge-of-your-seat action as the competition rookies delivered more intense and unpredictable battles resulting in a rollercoaster of upsets,” said Betsy Ayala, head of content for the Food Network, in a news release.
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Season 2. Season 2 began on March 7, 2021. Judges for the season included Marcus Samuelsson, Nancy Silverton, Rocco DiSpirito, Jonathan Waxman, Traci Des Jardins, Scott Conant, Alex Guarnaschelli, Cat Cora, Giada De Laurentiis and Ming Tsai. The Season 2 champion is Maneet Chauhan.
In the finals, Lin, a West chef who was a No. 3 seed in her region, competed against East chef Maneet Chauhan, a No. 2 seed and the “Tournament of Champions” winner from Season 2.
Lin called the competition “challenging but invigorating” in a Monday news release, and said it was the “toughest arena” she has ever competed in.
After weeks of going up against talented chefs across the country, a chef who hails from metro Detroit was crowned the ultimate winner of this years “Tournament of Champions.” Mei Lin, a Dearborn native whos now based in Los Angeles, took home the top prize: a cool $100,000 on the network’s 2023 highest-rated (and highly competitive) show.
The competition is intense and the pressure is always on because the chefs compete using random ingredients, styles and tools, selected by a giant slot machine called the “randomizer.” Each dish is judged by culinary experts in blind tastings.
With all its culinary battles this season, “Tournament of Champions” is also a ratings hit. Food Network said the show reached nearly 10.5 million viewers and has been the highest-rated series on the network to date in 2023.
“I called her 12 hours before we went on set to shoot TOC II, and I said, Listen, we’ve got restaurants that are going out of business. We got chefs that have restaurants that are going out of business. We have chefs that are friends with restaurants that are hurting. I said, We need to do something and recognize all these restaurants. … And so we came up with the idea of having the chefs play on behalf of a restaurant when they did their competition.”
Guy himself took to Twitter to congratulate Maneet, writing, “THE CHAMP IS HERE! Big congrats to our #TournamentofChampions season 2 CHAMPION @ManeetChauhan!! Ya crushed every step of the way through the tournament!”
Guy told the Chicago Tribune that he pitched the charitable idea to Food Network President Courtney White in an effort to help restaurants that have been hit hard by the coronavirus pandemic.
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Guy Fieri is probably best known for his hit cooking series Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives. But lately hes been spicing things up with another show called Tournament of Champions on Food Network. In this culinary competition hosted by Guy, 16 celebrity chefs face off in a bracket-style battle where a “randomizer” wheel determines the ingredients, tools, type of dish, and even the total cooking time allotted to the participants. All this to say, once that wheel starts spinning, the pressure is on and the stakes are high—as in $25,000-prize-high!
SNEAK PEEK: Tournament of Champions | The First Battle of Episode 2 | Shirley Chung vs. Joe Sasto
FAQ
Who won Season 2 of Tournament of Champions on Food Network?
Who won the Tournament of Champions Season 3?
Who won 2024 Tournament of Champions?
Who won tournament of Champions season 2?
(Warning: Spoilers below!) Tournament of Champions season 2 finally has a winner —it’s Chef Maneet Chauhan! Maneet defeated Brooke, the winner of the West Coast bracket, in an epic finale challenge where the two had to cook with liquid nitrogen, using langoustine as the protein and fresh wasabi as the produce.
How many chefs can win tournament of Champions season 2?
Only one chef can raise the Tournament of Champions Season 2 winner belt. With five chefs remaining at the beginning of this Food Network episode, only one chef would stand alone at the end of the event. Did the randomizer influence the final outcome, did Guy Fieri add another dubious twist, or did a cooking mistake make the difference?
Could Jet Tila be crowned tournament of Champions season 2 winner?
With a final score of 92 to 91, Jet Tila beat Antonia LoFaso. This outcome does add to the possibility that a man could be crowned Tournament of Champions Season 2 winner. But, many more battles stand between the chefs and the big prize. Before the Tournament of Champions Season 2 winner is crowned, can the semifinals bring an upset?
Who is season 2 champion?
The Season 2 champion is Maneet Chauhan . Note: In their first quarterfinal match, Tila and Lofaso tied with 93 and with identical distributions of scores, so they competed again with a new set of randomizer ingredients. Season 3 began on February 27, 2022.