'Top Chef' Week 9: Asheville's Ashleigh Shanti delivers Lowcountry flavors; still standing

ASHEVILLE - Ashleigh Shanti channeled food, history and home to pull through the ninth week of “Top Chef.”

On April 28, seven chefs remained on the reality cooking competition, which airs at 8 p.m. Thursdays on Bravo.

In the episode titled “Freedmen’s Town,” the Asheville chef pulled inspiration from her family to make a downhome dish in the elimination challenge.

“I think that every chef — every person even — has that dish that warms their soul and makes them feel at home or makes them feel this sense of place,” said Shanti, owner of the pop-up, Good Hot Fish.

First, they competed for immunity in a quickfire challenge in which the chefs were instructed to make a monochromatic vegetarian dish using a randomly selected color. Shanti was designated yellow and presented a curried vegetable puree with marinated curry vegetables. The dish was in the judges’ bottom two.

“You brought those yellow hues and tones to life. The flavor didn’t match that visual,” host/judge Padma Lakshmi said.

More: Seafood shacks to 'Top Chef': Asheville's Ashleigh Shanti's ambitious culinary journey

In the elimination challenge, the chefs visited Bethel Baptist Church in Freedmen’s Town, a historic area in Houston where the season was filmed.

The outdoor cooking event required the chefs to prepare tastings for 100 guests for a fundraiser at the Bethel Baptist Church. It was an event honoring the Freedmen’s Town and the Juneteenth holiday.

The instruction was to prepare food that spoke to the chefs’ souls.

Shanti went into the challenge confident, stating that she felt good and proud about her dish and believed the guests would feel the same.

It was also a time of reflection for the chefs.

“I always say, ‘food is community,’ and when I think of what a ‘Top Chef’ is, absolutely it’s technique, it’s flavor and it’s also being able to connect with your community,” Shanti said. “While we are all different, food brings us all together, and that’s why chefs have to start seeing themselves as community leaders.”

Shanti prepared Lowcountry crab rice and oyster gravy, which she said was inspired by her father who’s from the Lowcountry region in South Carolina, as well as her South Appalachian mother.

“I didn’t know how meaningful that was,” Shanti said. “Preserving our foodways; ensuring those things don’t die.”

There was a mix of feedback as some guests were heard praising the dish but the judges had their own critiques.

“I think it was two things that she loves and she put them together and really didn’t need to,” said head judge Tom Colicchio. “You’re gilding the lily there.”

The gravy was said to be so delicious one of the judges wanted to take a vat home. However, there was a conversation about wanting more texture of crispy crab and less gravy on top.

Yet, it was enough to keep Shanti safe.

Luke Kolpin, of Seattle, was eliminated. Shanti will advance to the 10th week of the competition, airing May 5.

For more details, visit bravotv.com/top-chef. Follow Ashleigh Shanti on Instagram at @foodordeath_ and @goodhotfish.

Tiana Kennell is the food and dining reporter for the Asheville Citizen Times, part of the USA Today Network. Email her at tkennell@citizentimes.com or follow her on Twitter/Instagram @PrincessOfPage. Please help support this type of journalism with a subscription to the Citizen Times.

This article originally appeared on Asheville Citizen Times: 'Top Chef': Asheville's Ashleigh Shanti cooks from the soul in week 9