After “a battle of a lifetime” and “one of the greatest cooks I’ve ever seen in my life,” as Guy Fieri said, Food Network’s Tournament of Champions: All-Star Christmas has its first-ever winning team, TOC’s first male winner, and the highest score in TOC history.
“I need water. I’m about to pass out,” Michael Voltaggio said after the final cook.
The effort was worth it, as Michael and Bryan Voltaggio won the $100,000 with a score of 98, beating every other score in seven seasons of TOC.
While Bryan recently beat his brother, he has never won a cooking competition, being a perpetual runner-up, all the way back to Top Chef season 6 in 2009, when Michael beat Bryan in the finale. Bryan called this win—alongside his brother, of course—a nice “bookend” to that first loss.
The Voltaggio brothers received $100,000 cash, and $50,000, who they’re giving to chef Sonny Sweetman, who has a rare untreatable cancer.
Bryan and Michael Voltaggio (Photo by Food Network)
The finale gave us four chefs who’d never made it to Tournament of Champions’ finale before: Ashley Holt, Jet Tila, Bryan Voltaggio, and Michael Voltaggio. Then again, any of the eight semifinalists would have made that true.
Also a first: every team had at least one male chef on a competition that’s never before awarded a male chef the prize. Blind judging really does equalize the playing field.
Jet Tila made it to the finale for the first time in his TOC career, but along with his partner, Ashley Holt, couldn’t match the Voltaggio brothers. But they did get prizes!
Elf Hunter—acting as stiff as an elf who hung around with the original St. Nick 1,700 years ago, i.e. is dead—returned to give gifts to Ashely and Jet for their high score in the previous round.
They each received a cruise for two and $10,000 each for their charities:
Later, they each got another $15,000 for their charities as their prize for being runners-up.
Judging the finale: Cat Cora, Lorena Garcia, Nancy Silverton, and Jacques Torres, which I guess is an impressive panel but also all people we’ve seen regularly now so okay.
Jet and Ashley vs. Kevin and Dale
Jet Tila and Ashley Holt, one of the Tournament of Champions: All-Star Christmas teams (Photo by Anders Krusberg/Food Network)
- Festive fun: This is Jet’s fifth time in the TOC quarterfinals, and Ashley’s third time competing ever.
- The Randomizer’s gifts: prime rib roast, guava, cookie press, red (as the style), and marzipan pigs
- Holiday surprise: “Mark my words: pig crumble is going to be the dessert of 2026,” Nancy Silverton, and then surprised me even more: “You heard it first in Flavortown.” Wait, is Tournament of Champions in Flavortown? Is Flavortown wherever Guy Fieri is? Or does she think she’s on Guy’s Grocery Games?
- Judging:
- 85: Kevin’s tteokbokki prime rib ragu (43) and Dale’s guava-beet halo-halo (42), no cookie press
- 86: Jet’s char siu prime rib and dumpling (41) and Ashley’s guava tart (45)
- Winners: Jet and Ashley, by one point—a point that Ashley’s dessert made up because Jet’s prime rib was two points behind. Jet’s lower score surprised me because the judges said they couldn’t find the use of the cookie press in Kevin’s dish.
- Consolation prize: Guy Fieri invited Dale and Kevin to TOC VII, so we’ll see them in March (it already filmed).
Michael and Bryan vs. Tobias and Marcel
Tobias Dorzon and Marcel Vigneron on Tournament of Champions All-Star Christmas season 1
(Photo by Anders Krusberg/Food Network)
- Festive family fun: Michael: “We love each other.” Bryan: “We do.” Michael: “We do.” Bryan: “We do love each other.” Michael: “Sometimes.”
- The Randomizer’s gifts: leg of lamb, blonde chocolate, a rosette iron, green, and eggnog
- Holiday surprise: Guy Fieri’s eggnog reference is Chevy Chase with the moose antler mug, which it turns out you can buy, which turns out to be something I never knew I needed until right now.
- Judging:
- 79: Tobias’s braised lamb with eggnog grits (39) and Marcel’s eggnog ice cream (40). The judges noted things were missing on savory (green, rosette iron) and sweet (rosette iron), and both were too simple versus previous dishes.
- 95: Bryan’s lamb meatballs with green curry and eggnog rosette (48) and Michael’s pistachio eggnog air cake (47). Nancy said both dishes “checked every box so well,” and called it “genius.”
- Winners: Michael and Bryan, easily. “We don’t want to hit a foul ball, we want to hit a home run,” Michael said, and it turned out they were playing against a t-ball team. Marcel and Tobias just whiffed at the randomizer and creativity. Tobias was complimentary, saying observing the brothers was “like watching a masterclass.”
- Consolation prize: Tobias and Marcel are also going to TOC VII
Jet and Ashley vs. Michael and Bryan
- Festive fun: “I’m playing for Bryan now,” Michael said. 🥹 That means rejecting the person his mother calls the “third Voltaggio,” Jet Tila, who’s known them for more than 15 years.
- The Randomizer’s gifts: pork rib roast, red currants, smoking gun, black tie, and nice—delivered by Elf Hunter. Inside their gift: an advent calendar with individually wrapped advent calendars
- Holiday surprise: “I’m surprised you know where any of the Asian ingredients are,” Guy said to Jet. SHADE. But true.
- Judging:
- 98: Bryan’s pork with smoked mushroom cigar (49) and Michael’s smoked chocolate ganache tart (49). Cat said the team was “extremely talented and on point with everything.”
- 88: Jet’s pork chop in Thai mole (46) and Ashley’s smoked Eton mess (42). The judges loved the dishes but dinged them for not being black tie, but obviously also nowhere near the Voltaggios’ dishes, either.
- Winners: Michael and Bryan, at long last. And alas, Jet Tila will have to wait another season to win.
- Consolation prize: $15,000 each for Jet and Ashley’s charities, so they each are giving $25,000.
“God bless us all, everyone,” Justin Warner said, the perfect Tiny Tim, after his final cook presentation. Tiffani Faison started with cue cards that had a lovely holiday message for the TOC family, and added a pleasant touch of warmth to a very competitive and thrilling finale.
After six episodes of Tournament of Champions: All-Star Christmas, I’m all-in for another season next fall, as it’s effectively a second season of TOC every year.
The holiday decorations, the lights, and teams are delightful, but it’s far more competitive than the joviality of Beat Bobby Flay: Holiday Throwdown—and that’s okay, as this is TOC, the reigning TV food competition.
Tournament of Champions: All-Star Christmas season 1 recaps
