Heartwarming / Top Chef

• When Hosea and Radhika's food in season 5 goes bad due to a fridge being open, the entire cast jumps in to help however they can to make sure that they do well. It's such an experience to watch them all work together to make sure that two of their competitors have a dish to serve.

• A Season 13 challenge involved the chefs catering for the mass wedding of 25 same sex couples, including guest judge Art Smith renewing his vows, Richard from Season 5 and Sandee from Season 3, with Padma ordained that day to perform the ceremony.

• The Season 14 finale pit Brooke against Shirley with the latter designing her entire menu to her favorite food memories with her loved ones, dedicating her dishes to her family. (E.g., courses called "Let me take you to Lijiang", "When I was 8", "Dear Baba (Father)", etc.) Shirley did this before she realized that her mother and sister were among the guest diners. After dinner, her mother—who barely spoke English—hugged and whispered, "Beautiful Shirley. I am happy, Shirley. I am proud." Though Brooke wound up winning the final, Shirley was moved to tears by this emotional win.

• What was the first thing Season 19 winner Buddha did with his $250k prize money? Pay for his pug's eye surgery.