Kevin Arnovitz and Tom Haberstroh bring their die-hard fanaticism of the hit TV show Top Chef and combine it with their NBA analytical instincts to draft “fantasy” teams, interview contestants and talk about America’s food and restaurant trends. Follow along weekly as the top cooking competition meets top-shelf analysis.
In Season 23, Chef Sara Bradley replaces Kevin as host to provide insight from the mind of former competitor and current kitchen guru.
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Discover shows related to Pack Your Knives, based on actual content similarities. Explore podcasts with similar topics, themes, and formats, backed by real data.
Track Your Knives, the companion podcast to Pack Your Knives, brings you results of the community's power rankings, fantasy leagues highlights, and data-driven insights. This week, Carly and Kendra discuss how they appreciate the Asheville highlight and Ashleigh Shanti's commentary, plus whether restricting access to ingredients is an advantage. We have a battle at the top of the Power Rankings board & we can't wait to see who comes out on top to secure the dinner at Freight House with Sara Bradley!
As always, enter your scores each week before the episode airs on find-topchef.com and become a subscriber on packyourknives.com to get additional data-driven insights on Top Chef.
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Savor Charlotte Edition Ep 4 - Chayil Johnson
Thursday, May 28, 2026 • Duration 51:42
The fourth segment of a six-part Savor Charlotte series presented by the Charlotte Regional Visitors Authority.
Tom Haberstroh is joined by Chayil Johnson, who you might recognize from his appearance as a guest judge in the season premiere episode of Top Chef Season 23 Carolinas. He’s the executive chef of Community Matters Cafe in Charlotte and a James Beard nominee for Best Chef Southeast.
Chayil has embarked on a unique journey to Top Chef and culinary recognition. The New Orleans native runs the kitchen at Charlotte Rescue Mission’s Community Matters Cafe which is a Charlotte hidden gem that also more importantly functions as a non-profit that helps men and women on their journey to recovery. The dishwashers, the cooks, the servers, the baristas, the hosts – they’re all in recovery. Chayil explains why he left fine dining to take on this mission, and why Charlotte is ready to meet its moment of culinary acclaim.
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S23 Ep 12: Appalachian Celebration
Wednesday, May 27, 2026 • Duration 02:14:56
Look at those stares … Tom and Sara recap an episode that presented a wonderful ode to Asheville, NC., and ended with an all-time crashout. It’s time to get out our rule sheet and make a ruling on what happened. Sara shares some intel about what may have gone down and the words that were said — allegedly.
Tom and Sara try to get to the bottom of the eliminated chefs gripes and propose an alternate theory. Sara shares a story about her gimper’s sour corn. What’s a gimper? She’ll explain, just after she roasts Tom some more about the standings.
With only a couple more episodes left, you need to get your leather britches on and get ready for the home stretch.
Plus, the fourth segment of a six-part Savor Charlotte series presented by the Charlotte Regional Visitors Authority. Tom is joined by Chayil Johnson, who you might recognize from his appearance as a guest judge in the season premiere episode of Top Chef Season 23 Carolinas.
He’s a James Beard nominee for Best Chef Southeast and executive chef of Community Matters Cafe in Charlotte, a Charlotte hidden gem that also functions as a non-profit, helping men and women on their journey to recovery.
Subscribe to the PYK Substack! https://www.packyourknives.com/
Rate PYK 5 Stars on Apple or Spotify, or watch PYK on YouTube!
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Track Your Knives Ep 11
Friday, May 22, 2026 • Duration 46:05
Track Your Knives, the companion podcast to Pack Your Knives, brings you results of the community's power rankings, highlights from fantasy leagues, and data-driven insights and oddities. This week, Carly and Kendra start off by talking about which chef has entered GOAT territory, debating whether duos are truly dangerous, and how uncommon it is to have a Quickfire with a shopping budget. Leaders have emerged in power rankings, and the winner will get a chef-curated meal at Sara Bradley's Freight House. At the end of the show, they reveal next week's bonus question.
As always, enter your scores each week before the episode airs on find-topchef.com and become a subscriber on packyourknives.com to get additional data-driven insights on Top Chef.
Follow us on Instagram: @find_topchef and @carly.sue.bear
Subscribe to the PYK Substack! https://www.packyourknives.com/
Rate PYK 5 Stars on Apple or Spotify, or watch PYK on YouTube!
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S23 Ep 11: Down the Rabbit Hole
Wednesday, May 20, 2026 • Duration 01:14:58
In this recap, Tom tries not to get salty about the elimination, but he gets peppered with shame anyway. Speaking of salt and pepper, Tom and Sara debate the best duo in the culinary world in an episode full of poor pairings.
Sara explains all the ins-and-outs of rabbit cooking while they both wonder who the mystery judges were and why they were presented that way. Sara and Tom discuss whether the customer is always right on a show like Top Chef. Did one of the chefs skate this week?
As the show crosses over state lines again to Asheville, NC, Sara and Tom preview the home stretch of the season and peg the favorites as it all winds down. Next week, the snake episode finally is here.
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Track Your Knives Ep 10
Friday, May 15, 2026 • Duration 48:21
In this week's Track Your Knives, Carly and Kendra rave about a return to the previous pace of a Top Chef episode. Carly gives a history lesson on mise en place relays before they get into the nitty gritty of power rankings. What happened to players' scores? We see a new entrant into the Top Ten! And then in their review of Fantasy Leagues, we lament Tom's draft while lauding Sara's. As always, listen for shout-outs to high performers!
As always, enter your scores each week before the episode airs on find-topchef.com and become a subscriber on packyourknives.com to get additional data-driven insights on Top Chef.
Follow us on Instagram: @find_topchef and @carly.sue.bear
Subscribe to the PYK Substack! https://www.packyourknives.com/
Rate PYK 5 Stars on Apple or Spotify, or watch PYK on YouTube!
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S23 Ep 10: Hook, Line and Dinner
Wednesday, May 13, 2026 • Duration 01:26:33
In one of the best episodes of the season, we got a mise en place race AND boats. Mise en place and boats. THAT’S WHAT TOP CHEF DOES.
Tom and Sara take some time to bid farewell to a beloved chef and give some flowers to a fan favorite. Tom and Sara has out the proper pronunciation of pecan, and Sara reveals a personally devastating story about a salamander.
If you love cooking tips, you’re going to love this PYK recap. After listening to this pod, Sara will have you microwaving an artichoke tonight.
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Track Your Knives Ep 9
Friday, May 8, 2026 • Duration 35:37
This week’s Track Your Knives discusses our go to dinner party dishes and how we felt about the Quickfire into Elimination challenge sequence. Carly took a swing in the power rankings that unfortunately didn’t pay off, while two-thirds of power rankers correctly ranked the winner and eliminated chef in their top 3 and bottom 3 rankings. We then chat about the top fantasy league teams by chef count and call out the top teams - how’d you do?
As always, enter your scores each week before the episode airs on find-topchef.com and become a subscriber on packyourknives.com to get additional data-driven insights on Top Chef.
Follow us on Instagram: @find_topchef and @carly.sue.bear
Subscribe to the PYK Substack! https://www.packyourknives.com/
Rate PYK 5 Stars on Apple or Spotify, or watch PYK on YouTube!
Follow PYK on Twitter: @packknives & Instagram: @packyourknives
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Savor Charlotte Edition Ep 3 - Brittany Cochran
Thursday, May 7, 2026 • Duration 51:24
The third segment of a six-part Savor Charlotte series presented by the Charlotte Regional Visitors Authority.
Tom Haberstroh is joined by Charlotte’s own Brittany Cochran who competed on Top Chef Season 23 Carolinas. She’s the executive chef of Stagioni in Myers Park in Charlotte and the only Charlotte “hometown” contestant this season.
Brittany shares what it was like to be the Queen City representative and how she wanted to break stereotypes that she faced in the restaurant biz. She also reveals what it was like to hear head judge Tom Colicchio and Charlotte legend Greg Collier give her flowers on the show and what really went down on the Southern Sides episode. For the Charlotte diners out there, Brittany also pulls back the curtain on the ghost named Blanche that still haunts her restaurant.
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S23 Ep 9: The Ultimate Dinner Party
Wednesday, May 6, 2026 • Duration 02:09:51
After debating the crown of condiments, Tom and Sara break down the show’s first episode in Greenville, SC and explain how Last Chance Kitchen production goes down. Though they are facing each other in fantasy, they are both Team Mayo (particularly Duke’s Mayonnaise). With the LCK winner back in the competition, Tom and Sara wonders if the right chef was eliminated. When it comes to draft etiquette, Tom and Sara have very different strategies.
Plus, the third segment of a six-part Savor Charlotte series presented by the Charlotte Regional Visitors Authority. Tom is joined by Top Chef Carolinas contestant Brittany Cochran, who is the Executive Chef at Stagioni. She shares what it was like to make her TV debut on Top Chef and the mental challenge it demands. She also reveals the stereotypes of being a female chef, her winding road to Top Chef and the ghost that haunts her Stagioni kitchen.
Subscribe to the PYK Substack! https://www.packyourknives.com/
Rate PYK 5 Stars on Apple or Spotify, or watch PYK on YouTube!
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