Life After Top Chef

A frazzled Richard conducts a nerve-racking menu-tasting for his picky partners and critiques construction of The Spence. Fabio meets a beverage maker in hopes of striking it rich with his own martini drink line before an overbooked charity dinner leaves his high-profile diners asking, "Where's the duck?"Spike and Jen wrap up their road trip with a lesson in oyster farming. Then, it's back to D.C., where Spike scouts his new bistro location and serves up a tasting only to have his parents derail his every decision. Meanwhile, Jen decides to launch a pop-up restaurant to woo investors and get her career back on track.

With only a week left until its opening, Spike and his family scramble to get Good Stuff Crystal City ready for the public.   Jen puts her pop-up restaurant on hold to travel to L.A. and help Fabio cater an extravagant charity dinner, but when their sous-chef is two hours late delivering their dishes, the diners get restless and Fabio is infuriated. Richard forces his chefs through a gauntlet of cooking tests to find their skills tragically lacking, prompting him to second-guess his cuisine, instincts, and career.

Fabio and Jacopo try to make a splash in the beverage business with a VIP tasting of their new martini line. Richard's perfectionism rears its hypercritical head when he challenges his chefs with a demanding mock service.   Spike goes on the warpath when he discovers the new Good Stuff griddles are incorrectly installed and his mother is to blame. Overbooked and understaffed, Jen struggles to impress investors with the launch of her pop-up restaurant. But with an ambitious six-course menu and unfamiliar kitchen, did the "Concrete Blonde" bite off more than she could chew?

In the season finale, it's the opening day of The Spence and Richard is more on edge than ever as he battles a packed house, his rookie staff, and a broken smoker. Can he live up to the diners' lofty expectations, or will his dream restaurant go up in smoke?   Meanwhile, Spike and his family make a mad dash to open the doors on Good Stuff Crystal City only to discover that none of their staff knows how to cook their signature burgers. Fabio feels his paternal instincts kick into overdrive as he celebrates with his life coach's family.   Jen treats her mother with a family trip to the salon. It's Top Chef déjà vu as the four former cheftestants are summoned one last time to battle it out in a Quickfire-style cook-off for First Lady Michelle Obama.