Top Chefs New Winner on Her Last Chance Kitchen Comeback, Hawaii, and That No-Dessert Finale

Plus, Fodor’s digs into her new summer dinner series with #GreenTeam fam, Chefs Oscar Diaz, Brittany Cochran, and Sieger Bayer.

Ed. Note: Spoiler Alert! This interview contains spoilers from Top Chef’s Monday night finale. Reader beware!

The behemoth, wooden door to CanoeHouse swings open, and a tiny, beaming Chef Rhoda Magbitang pops out with a wave, “Come on in!”

Magbitang is Eldest Daughter Energy personified, commanding but with a deep warmth and kindness that radiated into her signature finale dishes–like tortang talong and kaldereta with short rib–which secured her the Top Chef win on Monday night’s episode, “The Final Toast.”

That confidence and spirited attitude bolstered her throughout the competition, making her the fourth chef to fight their way back from Last Chance Kitchen (including finale mentor Joe Flamm, Brooke Williamson, and, notably, current judge Kristen Kish).

“Every day you’re faced with the weight of what this could be. And not just [for] me. The people around me, my cooks, the servers here, like, there’s so many people that are affected by this thing, and even if I didn’t win, it’s still very cool…it’s even cooler to win,” she grins.

Behind the scenes of Magbitang’s triumph are years of hustle, priming her for the intensity and changeable nature of the Top Chef kitchen. Immigrating with her family to the States at 17, and working in the kitchens of culinary titans like Suzanne Goin and José Andrés, she made her way to Kauila-Kona, Hawaii, where she leads the kitchen as executive chef at CanoeHouse.

CanoeHouse feels like a rarity in the world of hotel restaurants–a space that feels breezy and inviting, elevated but with the pressure off, and a menu of memorable, delicious food that must be savored, kinda like a meal at your big sister’s house. Weaving Japanese techniques with Hawaiian flavors, Magbitang’s influences can be felt in dishes like Waygu short rib in an intensely flavored Massaman curry with lime and macadamia nuts or crispy sweet potatoes with seaweed anchovy.

Up next, now that the big secret’s out, Chef’s got a packed schedule. There’s a dinner to plan at the historic James Beard House in New York City, an appearance at the Food & Wine Classic in Aspen, and the day-to-day of running the kitchen at CanoeHouse.

Most chefs would be the proverbial chicken with their head cut off. (Let’s be real, most male chefs would be the proverbial chicken with their head cut off.) But in the dawning of a Friday morning, I ran into Chef, smiling and splayed out on a lounge chair at Mauna Lani’s beachfront. Later, I caught up with her as she and fellow season 23 alums Seiger Bayer, Brittany Cochran, and Oscar Diaz feasted on a spread of Hawaiian-local poke, family-style.

And what better introduction to Hawaii? Magbitang acted as resident tour guide to her Green Team fam (they bonded early in the competition in one of the group challenges) as they prepped for the launch of their collaborative dinner series at Mauna Lani’s Surf Shack. The menu blends their own culinary influences and signature Hawaiian flavors, think an ingenious Spam arancini from Chef Brittany, a smoked Mahi Mahi dip from Chef Rhoda, a build-your-own Kampachi taco from Chef Oscar, and a perfect roast chicken with local pickles from Chef Seiger.

Here, there’s no restaurant wars, no drama. Just the soulful Kona sunset blending coral into blush, and blended, delicious food, best shared with friends. 

This iteration of the Summer Dinner Series at Surf Shack runs through September 7, 2026, at Mauna Lani, Auberge Collection. 

Read on for our interview with Chef Rhoda Magbitang.

Fodor’s Travel: You’ve been giving the other chefs a taste of Hawaii since they’ve been here. Tell us what that’s been like? 

Chef Rhoda Magbitang: For me, it’s so important for them to just have something…have them meet some of the people who grew up here and what’s important to them. I was like, alright guys we’re going to Kawaihae [Marketplace]…in my opinion the best poke, we went to Foodland…I got shrimp chips, I got chicaronens. And it’s cool for them [because] when you’re working, it’s hard to immerse yourself in the culture per se, and like sometimes kitchen culture almost serves as a microcosm of the society of where that kitchen is at. So, it didn’t have to be curated; it just felt like the things that would just naturally happen, [when you’re visiting Hawaii].

Everyone was on you about no dessert in your finale menu–we’re so glad you stuck to your guns and didn’t let that psyche you out.

It just didn’t fit. I did what felt right to me. You know, the thing with the dessert [a meringue dish from episode 9, which was critiqued as soggy and underwhelming], Tom mentioned something, he goes, “you know, usually chefs would like to have a redemption on a dish.” But like for me, I know I can do it. I have my entire life’s work to prove that I can make desserts. I felt like it was more important to highlight the significance of that progression and who I’m trying to honor.

What was your and the chefs’ approach to creating the Surf Shack menu?

I prefaced it to the chefs, I would like for you to create dishes that you’re comfortable doing, and obviously, I had to make sure that they know the premise of what Surf Shack is and how many cooks are working there, and how much they can handle as far as prep…not being overcomplicated. And it has to be executable at the highest level—it’s gotta be good.

With that in mind, I encouraged them to make sure that the dishes spoke to them, and you can look at the dish, and you know like, that’s Oscar’s dish…that’s Brittany’s dish. And they did a really good job incorporating Hawaiian ingredients. We have local pickles that we get from a kelp farm, Oscar’s [bringing] his Mexican flair and using a kazami, wasabi, tomatillo salsa. It’s also a way for our cooks out there to learn from four cool chefs…four perspectives.

Chef Laurence mentioned Top Chef Hawaii in our previous interview. Can we hint at production to make that happen?

I think it could be really cool to [do] Top Chef: Hawaii, and then you could really explore each island. I feel like there’s so much [to explore.] I think that every single island has something super unique to offer. If you go to Oahu and you grew up there, and you have no idea what the Big Island is–you’re like am I still in Hawaii? You know, the culture is different, the way people speak is different, but there is a through line that connects each island. The mana and just the general aloha…what this state represents.

You had just gotten back from Japan the last time I saw you–where do you want to travel next?

I have a list! I want to go to Vietnam, Duyen [Ha, a Top Chef cheftestant] and I were talking about it. She’s, in her words, “down to clown.” I’ve always wanted to revisit places in Europe because it’s different when you’re a broke line cook, and you kind of have to pick one fancy meal. It’s just good to be able to pick a destination based off of a restaurant that you want to go to. But yeah, there’s so many places that I want to go to.

Since you’ve worked at three hotels now (L.A.’s famed Chateau Marmont, The Inn at Mattei’s Tavern, Auberge Collection in Los Olivos, and now Mauna Lani, Auberge Collection), can you share a little White Lotus-esque gossip with us?

Dave Chappelle would come in before I was working there and would order snails, which weren’t even on the menu. So I was walking through and introduced myself, and then when I changed the menu, he started [actually] ordering from it all the time. And then he loved my chicken sandwich so much that he would order it, like, all times at night.

So one time I was walking by the bar and Dave Chapelle was talking to Common and Jerry Seinfeld, and he goes, “Hey, hey Rhoda, I just want to introduce to you my friends.” He was like, “Hey guys, this is Rhoda, she’s my people.” Because his wife is Filipino. And I just thought, this is surreal.