Top Chef - S6E14 Liveblogging and Postmortem

First thing's first, congrats to Michael. Not the least bit troubled by that win. He provided some of the most striking and exciting dishes of the competition, and whether or not he rubs you the wrong way, you can't deny the guy's talent. I'm very, very happy for him and happy with the result.

On the flipside, I'm possibly more pissed at the elves than I've ever been tonight. You need to throw twists into the finale? Fine. Add a dish. Have a mystery box. Send Mom in to judge. But don't send one of the people who's fought through 13 episodes into the final gunfight with a knife. Forget fair. It's just cruel. Doesn't matter who got the shaft. It could have been any of them (or none of them). But it's just a lame, lame, lame coda to an incredibly strong season with contestants who deserve -- who have EARNED -- better.

Footnote to the late-developing Bryan as favorite crowd... the breaks went his way. Heck, the mystery box was even centered on a fish that's enormously popular in Maryland. And it seemed as though he executed everything the way he wanted. But he still couldn't overcome a flawed performance by Michael. We'll see what the blogs say, but the guy's food, wonderful as I'm sure it is, has been inspiring more admiration than passion, and I suspect that just didn't cut it when it came time to handing out the title.

I was running way behind everybody else, so I need to do some catching up. I've swept all of the liveblog comments into the postmortem thread, here, so it's all in one place.

Talk amongst yourselves, and I'll jump in either late tonight or tomorrow afternoon.

UPDATE : Forgive the cheesy metaphor, but I can't think of a better way to express it. In a Kevin/Michael/Bryan finale, the TC producers were given the gift of a beautiful, incredibly marbled piece of beef. It's a damn shame they chose to toss it in a pot of boiling water.

UPDATE II : Season postmortem tomorrow!

UPDATE III : Er... um... make that Monday. Got a little tied up today. With apologies...

Comments

[MikeyV48111]

That would be fun!

[Ed F]

Yes, you should do it, and you should use www.coveritlive.com to do the actual liveblogging. Much easier on your host, and it lets you promote comments/see questions/etc more easily. Check it out. Completely free.

[Bart]

Sounds like it would be fun :) But I won't be participating. TV is in one room, computer is in the other. I want to watch the show, not read others' comments ;)

[gilmore]

Will be watching on tape delay as I do every Wednesday as I get home at least one hour after episode airs.

Here are my pre-comments:
1. Damn editors. Stop messing with me.
2. I told you so.
3. HaHa. I get to forward past the Erica commercials.

[Jon Olsen]

Cool. I'm interested (though I usually tweet the shows, so it's like I'm already doing that).

[kit]

I'm in :) I usually don't watch the episode live (hate waiting through commercials), but I would definitely do it if I could hang out with Dom and his commenting crew.

[1000yregg]

sounds great
when you move to AZ- how are you gonna live with a west coast feed?

[babyarm]

No, I watch the show without commercials at about 20 after. This usually lines up perfectly to the last segment.

I imagine many, many people do a similar thing.

[Azdahf]

ERICA!!!!

[timothy]

If you liveblog, I will definitely enjoy reading the posts and comments after I watch the episode, but I won't be able to participate because I am on Hawaii time and only have access to the episode five hours after everyone else.

[Jennings]

Count me in . . . longtime lurker by the way.

[Jennings]

Count me in . . . I'm a long-time lurker in Boston by the way, and your review of Boston-area food have been spot on.

[KinderJ]

BOSTON!

... and yes I would like to do the livebloggery too.

Sorry. Its a twitch. Sorry.

[wolfefan]

For those who may be interested, the Washington Post had an online chat with the Brothers V earlier this afternoon.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/discussion/2009/12/08/DI2009120801553.html?hpid=discussions?hpid=discussions

[Dionysus]

Im ready. Is anyone else here?

[Dionysus]

What the hell? I'm so sick of Finals twists. Christ.

[garik16]

HAHA, They're required to have desserts.

[Bill G]

Not into the finale twists, nor am I into Kevin getting stuck with Ash and Preeti...

[1000yregg]

whoa bryan and jennifer is gonna be tough, and boy, eli and michael. weak sous for kevin.

[suzanne]

Well, Brian really scored on the sous-chefs, didn't he? Michael did well, too, but I'm feeling for Kevin

[Dionysus]

I hate these Finals setup anyway. Drawing knives for the sous chefs? A twist course? REQUIRED dessert?

If Kevin wins this given his new handicaps (Preeti?) He deserves it.

[garik16]

Wow.

Kevin - Ash, Preeti
Brian - Jen, Ashley
Michael - Eli, Jesse.

So Brian has the early edge, and Kevin gets screwed.

[Magi]

Kevin is screwed,and Bryan has the luck of the Irish!

[kit]

Wow, brothers V had good knife draws!

[garik16]

Kevin got shafted in partners. ROFL.

[Jon Olsen]

Game over. In this group, it's my opinion here's NO better knife draw for sous than what Bryan got.

[Dionysus]

Best season in TC history and they make the Finals a mess with their twists. They couldn't give them the best sous chefs they could and let them rock it out?

I hate this.

[gdis]

brian definitely lucked out

[Sunshine]

I'm here. No access to bravo tonight, so I'm relying on y'all to soothe the pain.

[1000yregg]

the voltaggio brothers website went live today (per bryan's twitter)
http://www.voltaggiobrothers.com/

[Jon Olsen]

Basically this is the kind of challenge that is NOT "put them in their best position to win" if it all comes down to a knife draw and a mystery box. Bad hoodoo.

[Lou_NJ]

Kevin was really screwed with the draw - Preeti.

Bryan, on the other hand, got about the best draw possible.

The judges should have assigned a handicap with the draw

[Krazikarl]

Yeah, Kevin's out before he even got started. Really not fair. They should have been allowed to pick their sous chefs, with the knife draw only for pick order only.

[1000yregg]

is Dom here?

[Dionysus]

Is anyone having trouble getting the comments to refresh? It seems like I have to MAKE a comment to get comments to refresh right now.

[kit]

I can't remember them ever airing Kevin seeming demoralized/angry/frustrated, I'm really feeling for him! I still hope he can pull out something amazing...

[KinderJ]

Brutal knife draws. I am a bit agnostic on the whole dessert thing- I get that you tend to see specialists making them, but if you did not prep a dessert going into this final, you deserve what you have coming.

[Bill G]

I guarantee we're going to here some B.S. later about how a chef should make their sous rise to their level. Ridiculous.

Then again, the experienced reality show watcher in me says that Kevin's going to win with all of the focus on this.

[Admonisher]

I'm HATING the knife draw thing. Bad form, especially for the finale.

[Dionysus]

Aw. Thats sweet. Doesn't make up for this shit challenge. Screw you, Bravo.

[kit]

Yah I feel like it's too many constraints for the finale, maybe they were worried with this high of a caliber of final 3 they needed more to up the drama? There was that time with masters when there was some last minute twist that didn't even make the final edit because the masters handled it so well, maybe they figured they needed to twist the screws harder with this crew...

[Jon Olsen]

The thing is, Kevin NEEDS to rise above if he is going to deserve the title.

MOM??

[KinderJ]

Kevin's Mom for the win!

Seriously, what a great person to have in your corner.

[Jon Olsen]

Good! Four courses is BETTER than three, IMO.

[Dionysus]

You are now ADDING a course? Jesus. This is the worst finale setup in TC history - for the BEST cast. Bullshit. Couldn't the take a lesson from the TCM finale?

[suzanne]

OK, anyone that didn't know they were adding a course is dumb ... only 3 courses? I don't think so. As it goes, though, this isn't a bad twist

[1000yregg]

the extra mom inspired course- seems kinda lame

[Jon Olsen]

Tuna. Noodle. Casserole. That's actually beautiful.

Pureed broccoli! They ARE reading this blog, Dom! :-D

[Lou_NJ]

Bryan - the box contains fish and he has Jennifer. I think this is about the least fair challenge ever. If (and I hope he does) Kevin wins it will be the best victory ever.

[Dionysus]

Kevin's dessert sounds awesome

[1000yregg]

i'm loving Kevin's pork belly and then bacon for dessert

[Jon Olsen]

Chicken n' fixin's is getting Kevin's feet under him.

Go Ash! don't forget FLAVOR, baby.

I would take any of these guys. They're showing class, vigor, and mad skills.

This is actually a smooth finale. Remember season one, everybody? These guys are BAD ASS.

[Jon Olsen]

Padma is dining with the moms. Hilarious.

[1000yregg]

I hope Avatar is good.

[KinderJ]

Man, those main courses sound delicious. And I kind of love that Brian hunts for food.

[Dionysus]

Wow. That Alvin and the chipmunks movie looks... bad. Very, very bad.

[KinderJ]

Erica!

[1000yregg]

Bryan Voltaggio's tweet-
"I'm still cooking has it started?"

[Jon Olsen]

Four courses gives them room to make a mistake or balance out getting screwed.

Mama Voltaggio just threatened Colicchio. Priceless.

[1000yregg]

didn't Michael V work at Bazaar with Mike I?

[1000yregg]

course 1- looks like it goes to Kevin

[Dionysus]

Sounds like Kevin wins 1st Course. Nice.

[garik16]

Round 1 Winner: Kevin.

[Jon Olsen]

Ooh. course one coming down to Kevin & Michael? Mama Voltaggio in an exceedingly unenviable position.

WAIT. ONE COURSE? Come on! Those moms are going away Hungry???

Did Bunim/Murray take over production for the finale??

[1000yregg]

course 2- Michael V

[garik16]

Round 2:
Michael - Winner
Kevin - 2nd
Brian - 3rd.

So far, Kevin's probably in the lead.

[Dionysus]

Michael takes Course 2. Unsurprisingly, that addition of the lemon seemed pretty nifty.

[1000yregg]

course 3- ?bryan

[Dionysus]

SHIT. Kevin's out. Undercooked pork. Oh man.

[garik16]

3rd Course:
Brian 1
Michael 2
Kevin a Far third.

[garik16]

If i had to put a bet on it:

Winner:
Brian

2nd Place:
Michael

3rd Place:
Kevin.

[Jon Olsen]

I hate most of these restaurateur judges. You KNOW these guys are gonna be thinking about the bottom line, not the chefly stuff. (I have a strong dislike for Donatella Arpaia)

This is tough, but Kevin is DONE.

If they didn't LOVE the pork belly, he's done. Sheeeeeeit.

[1000yregg]

i had bacon ice cream, bacon chocolate chip cookies, and bacon chocolate bark at DC's vidalia last week

dessert- bryan!

[KinderJ]

Mmmm.... I can't call it. Sounds like it could be anybody's game.

[Jon Olsen]

Thought it was classy for Michael to take the responsibility for overcooking the cake—it would be very easy to blame Eli for overfilling.

[Bill G.]

I'm going Bryan with the win, Kevin 2, and Michael 3 from what we saw.

Then again, it could easily be Elves 1, Contestants 2

[Dionysus]

Hunh. Its only 35 minutes into the show and the cooking/serving is done? Either there's a LOT of judges table or another twist.

[kit]

I think they sent away the moms because they were worried some of the judges may be less than catty with the moms there. But dude, Padma, asking Mama V which dish she preferred??? Props to Gail for telling her that was mean.

[anon man]

Hmmmm. One of the brothers for the win? Tell me elves! I'm thinking Michael based on the edit.

[1000yregg]

based on Bryan's twitter- he didn't know Tom's table comments about his meal.
"Come on Tom like my dish"
"Thank you judges "heavenly" is what I like to hear"

[1000yregg]

Frederick might be the place to be tonight RT@BryanVoltaggio Hey #topchef fans guess who just showed to watch @ city of Frederick party? Mike I + Jesse

[kit]

I'm a bit shocked Kevin messed up the execution of the pork belly. It's PORK and KEVIN.

[Lou_NJ]

Kevin's too confident in his statement. He thinks he executed his dishes seamlessly. The editors always seem to put a statement like that in before they pull the rug out from under.

[Jon Olsen]

Bill G: Spot. On.

Comment of the night. "Elves 1, Contestants 2."

I think I'm going to get that for my next tattoo

[Dionysus]

Here. We. Go.

[KinderJ]

Yeah... Not a Donatella fan. Catch her on Next Iron Chef? OTOH I have never eaten at one of her restraunts either.

[kit]

And why isn't this one of the 1hr15min episodes, instead of just 1hr long? I wanna see more!

[Dionysus]

Michael gets the line of the night.

[1000yregg]

I love the brothers' rivalry

[Jon Olsen]

I stand corrected.

"I just don't want Bryan to be Top Chef."

Michael's may be my favorite comment of the entire season. Maybe the last four seasons. It was perfectly timed for such a serious moment, it was real, and it was hilarious.

[suzanne]

OK, stupid question here -- but does "spot prawn" equal "shrimp," or is spot prawn a specific type of shrimp?

[Bill G.]

While we're waiting...amazing season, and these three are a joy to watch.

In some ways this episode seems like a letdown for me. I wanted just...7 courses each, whatever you want, and we're bringing back Thomas Keller and Joel Roubchon to judge you. Oh yeah, Grant Achatz, Ferran Adria, Heston Blumenthal, etc. etc. are here too!

But I only say that because of how good the season has been. Great all around.

[Dionysus]

Bryan.

Michael.

Kevin.

[Jon Olsen]

Based on these edits, my favorite finalists of all time have both foundered on pork belly dishes: they dinged Blais' in season 4, now Kevin.

[kit]

I'm feeling this void where I'm still waiting to see a more traditional final challenge, where they just cook whatever the heck they want, without so many constraints. This final feels to me like 4 normal season challenged just mushed together.

[1000yregg]

My reservation for Volt's Table 21 this weekend is looking even better right now.

[anon man]

Gail: Tonight, Bryan was the best. Here it comes.

[KinderJ]

Brian for the win? Seems like he made fewer mistakes and had more wins with the judges?

[garik16]

Kevin definitely hasn't won....Toby would not have said "it was just an off night for Kevin all round" if he was the winner.

It has to be Brian.

[anon man]

Gail: "Tonight, Bryan's was better. Here it comes..."

[1000yregg]

Dom- did you catch up?

[Lou_NJ]

It sounds like a Bryan win. Nice underscore to Michael's comment.

I like the viewers still pick Kevin in the Bravo poll.

[Melissa]

At least we can almost guarantee that Kevin will be fan favorite

[1000yregg]

I don't even consider Kevin an underdog- what is he talking about?

[Lou_NJ]

Kevin's won for the classiest exit.

[garik16]

Michael wins!

Also, have they ever done the "You are not top chef" thing before? That was just cruel.

[Bill G]

The elves win!

But again, the quality of the three contestants at the end made that the easiest to watch decision yet.

The judges definitely weighted the dessert lower.

[Jon Olsen]

Woah.

[1000yregg]

RTBryanVoltaggio
"Hey DC goodies - RJ Cooper of Vidalia came out to support"

is there a reunion show?

[Bart]

Meh.

As I said in the preview post:

"This year, I'd be happy with either a Kevin or Bryan victory, which probably means that Mike is going to win."

As soon as I saw Mike standing in the middle, between Bryan and Kevin, I knew he was the winner.

He certainly deserves his win, and I give him full kudos, but the episode as a whole left me feeling empty.

So, final thought?

Meh.

[1000yregg]

RTBryanVoltaggio
"Congrats lil bro ... @mvoltaggio nicely done"

[Bart]

To amend my previous comment, which I realize now can be misconstrued - I am not disappointed with Michael winning. Let me make that clear - again, I feel he is very, very deserving as Top Chef.

I felt that the episode was unusually downcast. This is supposed to be a happy moment, yet the last 20 minutes, everybody was moping. Come on, Magic Elves. Give us some joy.

[karenology]

Bill G: Yeah, me and my friends were thinking the same thing. No way could this finale live up to some of the heights of the earlier episodes, unless they brought back Keller and Robuchon, and maybe everyone from Top Chef Masters to judge.

Also, why was this episode only an hour long? Did it seem rushed to anyone else?

[Micah]

@Bart: yup

[Anne]

Dom, you mean with the sous chefs?

The thing that bugged me so much about the mystery box and the surprise first course is it didn't allow for anyone to tell a story, to express themselves, to show us the artistry Dom was talking about across three or four courses. It was like two or even three TC challenges and an entree, and that didn't feel like a finale to me. With these chefs, I wanted to see them just let loose. I mean, sure, require a dessert, and sure do a surprise first course, but it was too much.

[Skillet Doux]

Anne... oh, I'm plenty annoyed by that, too. But to me the greater sin is creating a situation where one of them can be completely kneecapped coming out of the gate. With the others, at least it's an even playing field. If you've fought to get this far, you at least deserve to have the same shot at success that everybody else has.

[kit]

I'm guessing that the "late-developing Bryan as the favorite" theme arose under the assumption that this final would be more like the finals in previous seasons - less constrained and more favorable to Bryan's planning approach. I think it's telling that his best dish, which the judges seemed to universally love, was the 3rd course - the one with no constraints.

[Skillet Doux]

"I'm guessing that the "late-developing Bryan as the favorite" theme arose under the assumption that this final would be more like the finals in previous seasons - less constrained and more favorable to Bryan's planning approach. I think it's telling that his best dish, which the judges seemed to universally love, was the 3rd course - the one with no constraints."

And yet, according to Tom's blog, Michael's 3rd was still better.

My point wasn't that Bryan doesn't do his best with time to plan. I agree. My point was that even with that time, he still doesn't seem to hit the same peaks and inspire the same reactions that Michael and Kevin do when they're on... or at the very least, he hasn't since very, very early in the season when he showed a style he hasn't really shown since.

[Stacy M]

Huh... I'm left with the impression that the judge's table discussion was edited with a chain saw. It really sounded like they were gearing up to give Bryan the title, and the announcement caught me very much off guard.

[mar]

Looks like all the blogs are up on the Bravo site... and Tom's blog makes it sound like Michael was a pretty strong favorite all along. Apparently they agreed his squab was just slightly better than Bryan's venison, though I thought they had said the venison was the best dish of the night. Damn elves! And in some Q&A's, it sounds like all three contestants thought Bryan had won! My husband called it at the last minute - he said the judges were making every excuse for Michael's flawed dessert but not giving the same breaks to the others for their errors.

It wasn't a joyful episode for sure, as others have said. Too many twists, just let them cook, for pete's sake! The chefs weren't allowed to get into any sort of flow with their meals, with all the constraints placed on them. And the sous chef draw was just wrong.

In the end, having three great chefs at the end made the suspense more bearable to me. I had my favorite, but I wasn't about to be angry if (when) he didn't win. I'm not all riled up like S5, or scared like S4.

Wonderful season, too bad the end didn't live up to what it could have been. Thanks Dom for another great one here!

[Skillet Doux]

"Apparently they agreed his squab was just slightly better than Bryan's venison, though I thought they had said the venison was the best dish of the night."

They said it was Bryan's best dish of the night... but it went by very quickly and was easy to miss :-)

[Jim D.]

What a letdown. Just a horrible job. They get the best top three they could possibly hope for, and they *still* insist on throwing in stupid gimmicks. I guess the judges harping about too much 'restraint' makes sense, because the editors of this show certainly don't know the meaning of the word.

This night should have been the producers crowning glory, but they completely screwed the pooch. I hate to write this, but [i]Top Chef[/i] has jumped the shark for me.

[Anne]

Sorry, I'm being incredibly dense, but, if not the sous chef selection ...which situation where one can be handicapped out of the gate?

[Micah]

"And yet, according to Tom's blog, Michael's 3rd was still better."

"and Tom's blog makes it sound like Michael was a pretty strong favorite all along"

Gail and Toby's blogs make it sound much less clear, though. Both of them seemed to like Bryan's 3rd course better than Michael's.

[babyarm]

The big loser tonight was Hosea. That contest was basically designed so they would never have that large of an injustice foisted upon this series.

That being said that's 3 seasons in a row that the consensus favorite of this site has not won. Maybe it's a jinx.

[Skillet Doux]

I'm sorry, Anne, maybe I'm not being clear.

Yes, the random sous chef selection is what I meant when I was talking about handicapping somebody right out of the gate.

In that other comment, I was just trying to say that I absolutely agree, all of that other stuff is irritating, too.

[kit]

Micah says: "Gail and Toby's blogs make it sound much less clear, though. Both of them seemed to like Bryan's 3rd course better than Michael's."

It's just more fuel for the theory that the only opinion that really matters is Tom's! I wonder how much the underseasoning did Bryan in. If he had seasoned correctly (let's be honest, to Tom's liking, since Toby found the seasoning on at least the 1st course just fine), would Michael still pull out the win?

Even their rundowns on the dishes are pretty divergent, and I think Toby says Padma wanted to crown Bryan the winner. So yah, sounds close.

As for the sous-chef lottery, I know it's annoying, but I feel like every year there's a sous-chef lottery, was there something about this year that was worse? Maybe because they brought back the eliminees from the early part of the season as well, and not just the last 6 eliminated (or last 3, when they used to get celebrity sous)?

But seriously, we need a real finale now, without all the over-twisting shenanigans.

[rab01]

This final continued the streak of the final meal not being as entertaining as the penultimate episode.

The way theyhabdled the sous-chefs was so stupid and unnecessary. If they had just restricted it to the last 6 knifed chefs, the spread in skill levels would have been smaller, we'd have known the sous chefs better, and they'd have gotten their obligatory Robin drama. Instead, we get Preeti. Sigh.

[Shelly]

I liked the idea of them all cooking out of a box like that, maybe for a regular season challenge. But here, where the difference wasn't so much on the conceptualization of the dishes but the fact that Michael knew the mushrooms and Kevin didn't, that seemed inappropriate at this last leg of the game. Between that and the sous chefs, I knew Kevin had lost. It was not an even playing field.

I'm not surprised by Michael winning. He made some good food. He's very passionate about it. He deserves his own restaurant, and I hope he gets it now.

[Skillet Doux]

"As for the sous-chef lottery, I know it's annoying, but I feel like every year there's a sous-chef lottery, was there something about this year that was worse?"

I realize you went on to answer your own question, but there's a difference between the short straw being April Bloomfield and the short straw being Preeti Mistry.

[.jokerr]

Bryan's food is very restrained. I honestly don't know whether you can say Bryan's food at its best doesn't hit as high or low a note as the other two, with hints of "not good enough". It's a matter of taste--how much do you prefer distinctive and flavorful food versus something more subtle? How much would you prefer crimson and deep chocolate brown, versus a shimmering pastel? They are inherently so different that everything comes down to your individual taste.

Although I must say, the goat cheese dessert at VOLT was extremely distinctive in flavor. Like licking a subtly sweet and creamy goat feet--which could be good or bad, depending on how much you dig goat's feet~!

[Anne]

Ah, I see. Sorry, Dom, the stupidity of the finale made me thick!

[rab01]

The stupidity of the knife draw shouldn't blot out all the other mistakes the producers made. (Though the finale did lose all of its joy as soon as the eager anticipation left Kevin's face.)

1) You know what? Chopped isn't a very good show and there was no particular reason for Top Chef to steal Chopped's gimick for this final meal.

2) Bad judges make for an unpleasant meal to watch. Admittedly, the finale couldn't have surpassed Roubuchon or Boulud or Keller but did it have to be such a huge drop-off?

3) We didn't get a real chance to see the chefs pick out ingredients and then plan a meal.

4) They didn't show us enough of the discussion to allow us to understand the reason for the decision.

5) Did anyone get a sense of what made any of the dishes interesting? I sure as hell couldn't tell from what the diners said.

I expect to be disappointed and slightly bored by the finals but this one was surprisingly bad.

[Allison]

Did not catch the show until repeat at midnight. Not entirely surprised with Michael's win ... while I was rootng for Kevin, I could not argue with anyone (unlike some past performances).

So, how do they top this next year???

[Skillet Doux]

"Bryan's food is very restrained. I honestly don't know whether you can say Bryan's food at its best doesn't hit as high or low a note as the other two, with hints of "not good enough"."

You're right. I can't. And I'm not. I'm saying that the judges weren't reacting as strongly to his dishes. They'd taste some of Kevin's or Michael's highlights and start falling over themselves with effusive praise. With Bryan, it seemed like they were often reluctantly admitting that his work was the most sound. I'm not tasting his food. But I know those moments of food awe. And it didn't take a mindreader to see that Bryan wasn't inspiring them... or hadn't in quite some time.

[mncharm]

Although the final always seems to be a bit of a letdown for whatever reason, I'm not as upset as many seem to be with this one. Interestingly, I missed the first 15 minutes -- so didn't know that Preeti was involved at all or that the sous chefs were determined by knife draw. Without that, sure, I thought Bryan had a nice get with between Jen and the seafood, but it sure didn't seem like Kevin was horribly handicapped with Ash.

As for the "downbeat" vibe of the show...yeah, it was, but I get the sense that that is what the contestants were feeling. What a let down in must be once it's over -- for weeks/months you've been going virtually non-stop, fighting exhaustion, running on adrenaline: and then in one second, it's all over. You have to be seeing that finish line coming up and there is probably some disappointment that you're getting close, no matter whether you're the winner or the loser. There's a lot of glory in running the race.

I thought Michael was exceptionally eloquent in his winning remarks. His emotions remind me of a line from my favorite movie of all time, Chariots of Fire:

"One of these days, you're going to win, Aubrey -- and you'll find it isn't so easy."

So in the end, yeah, maybe not the best episode of the season -- but a fine ending, in my mind, to a great season. (Again, though, I didn't see the first fifteen minutes...would I have been more upset if I had? Very possible.)

[Will Allen]

I wrote a comment in the final rankings thread, just prior to watching tonight, and said that in a match this close, pure, dumb, luck could play a huge role. Unfortunately, the producers saw that as a feature, and then decided to deliberately magnify the role of luck, moreso than in previous season finales. Really, really, unfortunte. Really.

Michael is a deserving winner, but what was most bitter for me was to see a chef choose venison (which is a protein I'd like to see more of on this show, along with, say, elk or bison), have the dish praised, otherwise receive a positive edit, and then lose to the guy who overbaked his desert course.

As far as Kevin's performance, it is hard to evaluate. Who knows how much the first day sous chef affected things? He did seem to play it a little safe by choosing pork belly, but that choice may have been affected by the talent of his sous chefs, which, especially on day one, was clearly on a lower rung than the help Michael and Bryan were provided. Also, if a chef has never worked with that mushroom before, then the chance of making an error with it increases quite a bit, which is why I really dislike having such constraints placed on the chefs in a finale. How much better would it have been if the chefs had simply been given access to the Farmer's Market once again?

All in all, a little bit of a comedown, given the previous quality of the season.

[Esther]

I think this is the first time that my fiancé had to tell me to stop shouting at the TV so he could watch the show. I was beyond-words furious at the sous chef draw. All I can say is that Lee Anne had better have an incredibly good explanation, because that was . . . ridiculous.

(Plus, what with the moms and the drawn-out judging suspense, we saw relatively little of this amazing food. Dammit, Top Chef, you came so close to perfect this season.)

[Independent George]

I agree with the emerging consensus on the gimmicks cheapening a fantastic season, but for now, I want to focus on the positives.

1. Very classy & graceful behavior from Michael.
2. Moms. If you're going to have a gimmick, have a gimmick supporting the contestants. Put them in a position to win.
3. I understand the comments about preferring chefs at the final table, but let's be honest - for these chefs, it's probably to their benefit to have the restaurateurs there. Again - I love it when the producers put the chefs in a position to win.
4. I actually liked the mystery box; it's a nice little controlled experiment, and the ingredients were well within the reach of the contestants. They had six total hours to prepare, plus an entire night to plan; nothing unfair about that.
5. Toby Young was on his best behavior tonight. I actually found him rather insightful.
6. We knew going into the finale that the winner totally deserved the prize, no matter who it was. Michael earned it.

I'll kvetch with everyone tomorrow, but for now, I'll sleep satisfied with the episode.

[Will Allen]

RabO1, I pretty much agree with your remarks, especially regarding "Chopped". After the knife draw fiasco, when I saw that Top Chef was ripping off a markedly inferior show's gimmick, I was primed for more disappointment, and, as it turned out, for good reason.

[Will Allen]

George, the most redeeming thing about the finale for me was that Michael displayed a fine sense of humour, which makes it a lot easier to appreciate his obvious talent and work ethic.

[jonathan]

I echo everyone else here who found the finale disappointing after such a great season. I suggest that those who feel that way head over to the Bravo site and express that disappointment on the comments section of Tom's blog. It's apparent that he does take the time to read the comments posted there and it can't hurt to hopefully give him some ammo if he wants to try and change the format next year. From his blog this time it seems he'd much rather have a true tasting meal of five courses and served individually rather than all chef's courses at one.

So, to Tom's blog! CHARGE!!!!!

[timothy]

Yeah. I agree with the consensus about the ridiculousness of not just letting them cook. That said, I am satisfied with the outcome. Michael is a creative innovator. He is what Marcel wanted to be but didn't have the technique for. Bryan is a great chef from what I can tell on Tv. He plays it more safe and was not rewarded for that, but who is to say that was a bad plan. He is what Hosea wanted to be but did not have the technique for. And Kevin is Kevin: no one who watched the season can have anything but respect for him. He will do fine.

[Danny]

What a terrible finale. The judges constantly say that their feelings about the food is the only criteria used and that the producers have no input. What do they do? They bring in the mothers. Obviously, if the finalists had been, say, Ron, Jen and Robin it seems highly unlikely that they would have brought their mothers on the show. It was all about the V brothers. Let's see their mother fret about them both being competitors. What did that add? Did anyone find it entertaining or enlightening? What was the point of having them there for the first course? Were the producers hoping that the Vs' mother would pick one son's course as better than the other? Did they expect Kevin's mother to say that the Vs' food was better than her son's or did they want the moms to get into a fight? Give me a break.

As others have pointed out......ripping off Chopped???? Really??????

All season long I've wished that I could taste the food. For the finale, I really didn't have that longing. It looked like a nice meal but nothing that sent me over the moon as I was expecting.

Oddly enough, I had an exotic bacon on Sunday (part of a bacon flight!) that had been incorrectly cooked. There was a part where you literally could not break it apart with your teeth or a knife. It was like a board. From the look of things and the large uneaten portion left on one of the plates at the end of the course, Kevin's pork belly veered in that direction.

Let's be thankful for all of the past episodes this season. I'll try to forget that they stuck Kevin with Preeti.

[Bart]

After thinking about it all night, I'm still disappointed with the finale.

I think it's because I was spoiled by the Top Chef Master's Finale, where we could really get behind the food. Remember, their challenge was to cook the meal of their lives - the food they grew up with for the first course, their first signature dish, their current signature dish, and where they're headed in the future.

The big twist was them getting their own sous chefs.

Call me boring, but I think that challenge (with some slight, slight, SLIGHT modifications) would be a perfect final challenge for EVERY season of Top Chef.

The knife draw was pathetic, but I won't blame Preeti for Kevin's loss - no one should. If anything, Kevin, as a potential Top Chef, could have (and probably should have) managed her better.

And some mentioned that the downcast mood was probably attributed to the mood of the contestants... which is a fair point. But, come on, it was like Padma had said, "Michael, you have terminal Top Chef-itis and you're going to die in 30 minutes. Plus you're highly contagious and we're all going to die alongside you. Thanks. Jerk." rather than "Michael, you are Top Chef."

It was just a bummer, man. This is supposed to be a celebration. I may not have been rooting for the guy, but he definitely deserves the win, and he deserves the happiness.

[anon man]

Dom, I think you're over-reacting on the sous chef thing. Yes, Jen would be better than Preeti, but where you really want someone to chop stuff and follow instructions, the creative skill set that Jen or Eli brings doesn't matter as much. In fact it was Eli, the almost finalist, got called out for ruining Michael's dessert. I was actually thinking that this was a pretty twist free final. They had a night to think about the mystery box and there weren't any real shockers in there (except maybe the mushrooms), the mothers were a nice touch but just had one dish and left and there was none of the "sous chef isn't coming" crap or "I know there is only 5 minutes left, but we need another course" from past seasons.

As for the food and blogs, well I think its clear that Tom liked Michael across the board. Gail apparently didn't care for the garnishes on Michael's squab. But, even if that one is debatable, its clear that the first had Bryan running last and the second one was a close second. So, all and all a good win.

[rab01]

"Yes, Jen would be better than Preeti, but where you really want someone to chop stuff and follow instructions, the creative skill set that Jen or Eli brings doesn't matter as much."

Yes, creativity doesn't matter as much in a sous (though Howie's creativity really helped Casey in her finale) but, on skills alone, Preeti was the worst cook this season while Jen and Eli were two of the 3 strongest remaining cooks and were extensively trained as sous-chefs. Remember, Preeti's lack of skills was the reason Kevin did not even perform during the first QF. Jen was Eric Rippert's executive sous chef; Eli was Richard Blais' sous-chef. The only one I can think of on par with those two would have been Mike I who had been a sous chef for one of the Volts.

As Kevin himself said, his reaction to getting Preeti was more of a problem than her actual performance so yes he deserved to lose but this version of sous-chef assignment still sucked.

[Andrew]

I was glad to see Michael win. I think he's been the target of a villain edit for most of the second half. (I stopped counting after hearing him say "I cook Kevin's food on my day off" 17 times.)

I hated the sous chef gimmick because I think the bad draw put Kevin off his game. More because of Preeti than because of Ash. (Although he lacked confidence and vision, Ash always seemed like he would be a decent technician when given direction. A classic sous, in other words.) I will always wonder if Kevin might have performed better with a different draw, which is a shame.

On the other hand, I didn't mind the mystery box. Yeah, it was a ripoff of a lame show, but I like that they required the chefs to make at least one course from the same ingredients. The styles are totally different, but you get to see what they can do when working with the same building blocks. And they had plenty of time to plan and prepare for that course. I don't think it was an unfair twist.

[Skillet Doux]

Well, when it comes to the sous chefs, first off, you can't assume that they're just there to chop. What they're there for is to help out however the chef deems appropriate, and in seasons past we've seen that delegation range from simple prep to complex prep to minor suggestions to outright conceptual design. The fact is, with a good draw, whether or not you choose to use them, you have more tools at your disposal. It's an inherently unbalanced setup, potentially highly so.

Whether or not it affected Kevin, and whether any effect it had was more a function of his sous' performance or his reaction thereto is unknown. But it's also irrelevant. We can't be certain whether or not it unfairly hurt Kevin. But we can be certain that it absolutely could severely handicap someone or, conversely, give an enormous boost to somebody else.

Of course, that will always be the case to some degree. Take any three sous chefs, and there's going to be a range of abilities. But it's one thing to have three highly-accomplished chefs, like the Ripert/Barber/Bloomfield finale, or a situation where the chefs select from a pool of more recently eliminated contestants, thereby raising the bar on their skills and offering the chefs some chance to avoid any anchors. But making it totally random and opening it up to the entire field runs the risk that you either saddle somebody with a couple of lousy cooks, or turn one of the finalists into a dream team. It's magnifying the potential for a major, major imbalance.

[kit]

Re: the mystery box course

I totally get what Andrew is saying about using this course to bring out a contrast in styles between the chefs. However, based on what happened with Kevin's matsutake, and the assumption that it's not wacky for Kevin not to have experience handling this ingredient, I do wish they had picked some less obscure/exotic/unusual ingredients for the box. I remember loving the simplicity of the Season 3 chicken/onion/potato challenge. All the ingredients were something everyone should have experience with, and it's about putting your personal stamp on some basic ingredients.

I do wish the elves' response to such a high caliber of contestants was not to turn up the trickery to 11. It's hard to feel satisfied with this nonsense when the finale of TCM was so freakin amazing, and without challenge shenanigans!

[Will Allen]

Again, it cannot be known to us to what degree the knife draw played in the outcome. However, the notion that Kevin could have or should have managed his sous chef better is off-base, I think. A huge part of the art of managing human beings is hiring the right human beings to begin with. The chance that Kevin would have hired Preeti are rather slim, and improving the performance of people whose skills and approach are below what is needed is not something that can be done in the course of a few hours, while they are performing critical roles.

[Dave_P]

Yeah, not happy at all. Way to go, Bravo, for almost ruining the best season of TC ever. Almost, I say, because any of the three chefs deserved to win, but the random sous draw was so horribly unfair (potentially, and in reality it turned out), it just killed the whole competition for me. For someone like Kevin to actually point out how useless Preeti was as prep monkey... and I don't think it's 100% coincidence that the one dish he did on the fly on day 2 alone was a winner.

On any other season, I wouldn't mind a twist this stupid quite so much, but to ruin this particular season has left a bitter taste in my mouth. I may in fact be done w/TC, except for Masters 2. I mean, it's not like they're going to top this cast anyway.

Having said all that, congratulations to Michael for his solid and quite deserving win. I just wished he could've won it on fairer terms. And really, congratulations to all three finalists.

Hypothetical: Michael doesn't screw up his dessert, Kevin nails his pork belly. Same result? Kevin in 2nd? What did Bryan screw up the worst?

Oh yeah, Donatella annoys the hell out of me too.

Thanks to Dom for all your insights through the years and providing this space for us to share our thoughts. Figures the first few sentences I read this morning exactly echoes my thoughts. :)

--
Dave

[babyarm]

The sous thing is out of control. It seemed to rattle Kevin more than the others by a wide margin, but I think many are getting sucked into the edit job that Bravo is giving this. They knew lots of people would be very upset with the result and edited it to give people an excuse and many of you and (Dom to an extreme degree) are taking the bait and running the line out.

Kevin was never, ever, ever going to win that challenge with Jesus Christ himself as sous chef. The only thing he produced of any value above the other contestants was chicken skin. Every single other element all night was lacking compared to another element of the other chefs. This was a Blaisian meltdown, and it was fairly easy to see coming.

He was rattled by the challenge, the Chopped box, and the pastry and just let it out as anger towards the Sous.

Mike stuck his neck out just far enough to win even with a dry cake. That's to be applauded. It seemed Bryan was going the safe route in case Mike hung himself and he didn't.

I do think the finale being setup like this was also predictable. They bemoaned in blogs and interviews how hard it was to judge such a wide open contest last year. The fact that they were going to be restrained at least on a few dishes was telegraphed if not downright laid out at their feet. And it likely made things for them much, much easier.

Good season, not great, good. Great blog as always. Just maybe next time go in the tank for the guy you like. There seems to be an early season clairvoyance for the losers, but something makes Dom's winners radioactive.

[Will Allen]

Actually, the judges raved about Kevin's squash puree, and then commented that it was a shame that it was with a tough mushroom. One judge said that the squash was so good that he didn't care about the mushroom.

[TxGriff]

I want to start out by saying that I said I would be happy with any of the finalists winning, and I am happy- Michael deserved it, and he is undeniably talented. In fact, you could argue that he is the contestant who could have done the most with the money, since he was the only one of the three finalists without a restaurant yet. So, congrats Michael!

That being said...I just really didn't care for this episode. This season has been so wonderful, why did they choose to through so many gimmicks in at the last minute? Sure, have a mystery box- but use more common ingredients. I don't mind putting everyone on the same playing field and seeing what they can do, but this is the FINALE, they have already gone through multiple challenges where they've had to adapt and think on their feet. At this point in the competition, give them something basic and really let their creativity come through (think of the chicken, onion and potato challenge- you could have used those ingredients and still showcased your creativity and skill. In fact, I would argue you have to be more creative with those ingredients because they are so mundane). It sure seemed like everyone loved Kevin's second course other than that mushroom...

I don't anything to add about the sous chef ordeal. That was ridiculous.

I know that this finale could have gone any number of ways, I just feel like it was set up so the chefs couldn't shine. Why waste the talents of three such incredibly talented chefs, the strongest group to date in the finales, and limit their potential with silly gimmicks? Really, really disappointing.

[Esther]

Normally I love Lee Anne, but after today's blog . . . wow.

I thought it was great the way we handled the sous-chef situation this time around. The producers had asked me, "Is it fair if Chef No.1 pulls knives with two contestants who had been eliminated early in the game vs. Chef No. 2 who may pull Jen and Eli as sous chefs?" First, I am sad I never got to torch the knife block in the parking lot. Secondly, (here it is again) this is Top Chef. I explained that part of being a Top Chef is managing your staff and training your cooks. In real life, not all of the cooks on your staff are all-stars so you have to work with you got.

[gilmore]

Kit you nailed it on the weird combo of ingredients, including the apparently hard to deal with and not very common matsutake mushroom. This is not chopped and I had forgotten about the great simplicity of the chicken potato onion challenge.

To me, the sous chef business is political correctness run amok. We can't bring back the last 6 chefs and have a knife draw to see which finalist picks which chef, because someone (Robin) will be picked last. Bringing them all back and picking randomly truly sucked even if it did not impact the outcome. We will never know. I loved it when in prior seasons masters donned the apron and became the sous chefs. I am not and would not become tired of that format.

[Dave_P]

Just to clarify, I am *not* blaming Kevin's loss on Preeti (or Ash), and I only noted how stressed Kevin must have been about the situation to point something out about his day 1 sous. My real point is that there should be no opportunity for crap like this to happen in the first place. Give them actual choices (knives could be for pick order), or only bring back the last 6 eliminated, or present 3 accomplished chefs as guest sous chefs. Don't throw in a potential landmine in the freakin' finals! It's a stupid, stupid gimmick regardless of the actual impact it had on the contest.

Still, having now read all the blogs, it's pretty clear that Kevin just had an off day, and Michael fully deserved the win. Tom really makes it clear that the editing made it seem closer that it ended up (though why did the debating drag on so long then?). He also reminded me how cool all the finals contestants were (including Jen) when he points out how Michael warned Kevin about his sauce at one point. The professionalism and the spirit of comradarie between the finalists have really made this season special, all the more bitter the final "twist" was for me to swallow.

Hypothetical 2: what's the likely pairing if the chefs have their choices of sous? Kevin wanted Jen & Eli, Michael wanted Mike I & Eli, Bryan would likely want Mike I & Jen or Eli. How would a Kevin-Jen, Mike-Mike & Bryan-Eli (for both nights) final look? Or Kevin-Eli, Mike-Mike & Bryan-Jen? A bit more interesting than what we ended up with, no?

Oh, btw, I would've used the crab & matsutake to make a broth for the rockfish. Tom says you have to slice the matsutake thin, which is certainly one preparation, but in Japan, they often throw the whole thing onto a charcoal grill and eat it like a steak. Too bad I can't ever afford to do that--stuff is *expensive*!

--
Dave

[Skillet Doux]

"The sous thing is out of control. It seemed to rattle Kevin more than the others by a wide margin, but I think many are getting sucked into the edit job that Bravo is giving this. They knew lots of people would be very upset with the result and edited it to give people an excuse and many of you and (Dom to an extreme degree) are taking the bait and running the line out."

Now hold on, babyarm, what makes you think my annoyance with the sous selection (and to a lesser degree the overall finale structure, though I'll get to that later) had anything at all to do with Kevin losing? I haven't drawn any connection between the two because I have no way of knowing if there is any. I'd be no less annoyed if Kevin had won. I'd be no less annoyed if Michael had drawn Preeti and Ash and lost. If you think my annoyance is because I somehow blame Kevin's loss on the setup, you're dead wrong. And what you suggest is especially puzzling, since I've been one of Michael's biggest boosters since day one in the face of criticisms of his personality and popular opinion that he was the lesser of the two brothers.

You're right, I'm pissed. But you're dead wrong about the reasons why. I share your feeling that Kevin simply bombed. But that doesn't mean that I'm any less annoyed at a structure that can immediately put one of the finalists at a serious disadvantage.

[timothy]

I am not really bothered by the way the finale was set up in terms of competition. It could have been better, but yes, this is Top Chef and the game is to perform wl under pressure. I am bothered on a much more selfish level. It just wasn't very good television. The twists and creative turns that would have come fro
these chefs' minds is more compelling to me as drama than the twists and creative turns that come out of the producers' minds.

[Julie]

I agree with the many who are disappointed with the finale. As I've stated before I am not a foodie and I enjoy the dynamics and drama. I was so excited for the finale but was annoyed almost from the beginning. Kevin did seem to be off his game from the get-go. I too, kept thinking about Blais and knew it would be another melt-down.

I agree with whomever blogged (sorry I can't remember who) that disliked the mom's being there. As the proud owner of two boys myself, I immediately put myself in Mrs. V's position and I immediately felt awkward. No matter the results, she was going to be disappointed in some way. Either both her boys lose or one of them does. Which is worse? I was so relieved when Padma told the mom's to leave after the first course. I could not imagine having to sit at that table and listen to people critique my kids to pieces. At the end, when Michael is hugging his mom and won't let go, you can see on her face she's thinking "ok, I need to hug your brother now, he needs me more". I just felt it was awkward and unnecessary drama especially after such a fabulous season.

[tennischef]

Although the mystery box concept might appear as a rip-off from another show, in reality, most professional chefs have done their share of them. For example, it is standard procedure during the job interview process to do at least one mystery box, usually more. It's also required at most culinary schools for advancing from one level of course work to another. The general idea is that no ingredient is beyond technique; you may not know exactly what the food item is, but your training should allow you to make an educated quess as to how it might best be prepared. With all due respect to Kevin's immense talent, the mushroom(s) should not have throw him off, he simply used the wrong technique. Having said that, I have been involved in numerous mystery boxes, both as a chef and as a judge and I can say from experience, it is nerve racking and can make even the best chef (see above) make bad decisions.

Frankly, I'm surprised the mystery box has not been a part of the show from the very first season; I'm glad to see it included and hope it becomes a regular feature.

[babyarm]

Come on Dom, you've been one of the biggest Kevin cheerleaders the whole season. The Volt comparison stuff was drawn under the light of the Robin/mike/mike drama during that part of the season where MikeV struggled a tad, and was a relative comparison of the volts merits and not vis-a-vis Kevin.

The other thing I think you are overlooking is they had one sous for each day. The "2 of 20" thing was some seriously stinky bait set out to catch lots of people. How much prep could have reasonably be counted on 24 hours in advance? Preeti was gone the second and more critical day when most of the prep was actually conducted.

It is absurd, or at least downright disingenuous to say he is owed some level of abalienation over this. If as has been noted before that sometimes people win on points or on style. Kevin had at best one 2nd place dish with his first course. The rest were utter failures and not even in the discussion for a 2nd.

Not even being able to hand pick two chefs would have been enough to overcome that. Yeah, the randomness of the draw was unnecessary and didn't help, but really the chopped box + forced pastry was what sunk him and surely somebody has to see that.

And if you want to compare sous-fiascoes. The Blais bait and switch was a much worse transgression. At least these guys knew exactly what they were to expect out of them and could plan on that.

[Will Allen]

Well, I'm going to be rude here, but sometimes rudeness is warranted. If Le Anne wrote that paragraph with sincerity, she is very ignorant. Is being disingenuous worse? I tend to think so, in that ignorace can usually be alleviated with some fairly straightforward action, whereas the latter characteristic is often very deep-seated, and hard to change. I'll be charitable, and choose to think that she just doesn't know much.

[TxGriff]

babyarm- I think you are completely missing the point of the sous chef thing. The point isn't that Kevin, or any of the chefs, got one of the "lesser" contestants. The point is that it shouldn't have happened at this point in the competition in the first place. This is the finale- why not let the chefs have the tools so they can shine? Sure, some help is better than none, but by openining the pool up to people who didn't even last for one episode, some people inherintly are going to be at a disadvantage. Not only are their techniques in question, but they weren't around long enough to present a style. At least if the last 6 were brought back, you had an understanding of who all of those chefs were and could work with their strengths/weaknesses. And yes, this is a TV competition and it's Top Chef, etc etc etc, but this has been an amazing season and we had such amazing finalists, why not really let them SHINE in the finale. It didn't matter who got what sous chef- the structure was inherently uneven.

And I really think it's been unfair to say that Dom has been one of Kevin's biggest "cheerleaders", somehow insinuating that he hasn't been completely dedicated to the food all season. He has also been a huge Mike V. cheerleader. Have we not been reading the same blog all season?

Lastly, Kevin didn't have "one second place dish at best". He had the BEST first dish, absolutely no question about it from the judges. His second dish was strong other than the mushroom. Gail and Tom each said they liked his dessert dish as well, it just wasn't as refined as the other two. The only dish where he really missed the mark was his third course. I'm not saying that Kevin didn't have a bad night, or that Michael didn't deserve to win, or that any of them could have win given slightly different circumstances. But I think you are being kind of irrational in your opinions of the reactions to this episode.

[Skillet Doux]

"Come on Dom, you've been one of the biggest Kevin cheerleaders the whole season. The Volt comparison stuff was drawn under the light of the Robin/mike/mike drama during that part of the season where MikeV struggled a tad, and was a relative comparison of the volts merits and not vis-a-vis Kevin."

No, you come on. What you're suggesting is that the only reason that somebody who has long been annoyed at finale twists could possibly be so pissed about such a random application of help is because I'm crying in my cereal bowl over a guy losing who I liked only very narrowly better than the guy who actually did win. At one point, I considered making Kevin and Michael 1A and 1B. And if Mike had shown those incredible flashes with more consistency, I might've put him first. That's how close I considered them. Believe it or not, your choice.

"It is absurd, or at least downright disingenuous to say he is owed some level of abalienation over this. If as has been noted before that sometimes people win on points or on style. Kevin had at best one 2nd place dish with his first course. The rest were utter failures and not even in the discussion for a 2nd."

When did I suggest this? Where? Show me. You're chastising me for making arguments THAT I HAVE NOT MADE. If you feel my annoyance with the sous selection is overblown, fine, but don't project an argument upon me just so you can refute it.

"And if you want to compare sous-fiascoes. The Blais bait and switch was a much worse transgression. At least these guys knew exactly what they were to expect out of them and could plan on that."

That annoyed me too, and I commented on it at the time. I'm not sure that I consider it worse, because at least in that case, everybody was conferred the SAME disadvantage.

But that's a side note. Bottom line, if you think I'm more annoyed than I should be about how what could and should have been the best matchup of culinary skill we've seen in the finale was turned into a three ring circus, fine. But don't tell me I only feel that way for reasons that I don't, please. It's insulting and, candidly, you don't know what the hell you're talking about.

[Skillet Doux]

Babyarm:

I wrote this on LTH Forum, my favorite food site, back on November 1st, in response to posts to the effect that Kevin was the clear favorite:

"Kevin's been more consistently awesome, as is evidenced by all of the wins, but I don't know that his peaks have been any higher than either of the Voltaggios'. Kevin's deconstructed mole, Bryan's guacamole macaroon, Mike V's dishes for Restaurant Wars... all three of those guys have reduced Tom to babbling awe. If you only took the best 2-3 dishes from each of them (which is, in theory, what the finale should produce), could you really still say that Kevin is such a heavy favorite? I agree that he's the least likely to exit early, given that he's been so consistently great. But if they all make it to the finale, and if they all bring their A game, I think it's much more of a toss-up than you seem to suggest."

And the link:

http://www.lthforum.com/bb/viewtopic.php?f=18&t=25228&st=0&sk=t&sd=a&start=240

Please stop ascribing opinions to me that I do not hold.

[Joanna]

Siiiiigh. Not sure where to start. I am certainly not upset that Michael won; it sounds like he rightfully earned it, and he performed well all season, and my favorite (Kevin) seems to have had a bad night by any standard. But I wanted to see each chef make a full cohesive meal – I wanted to see their food at its best – and that's just not what happened.

Regarding the sous chefs, I'm not sure what I could say that hasn't already been said here. There was just way too much luck and randomness involved for my liking. Given his draw, Kevin was probably pretty happy there were no clams in that box!

And speaking of the mystery box - I don't care where the idea came from, and I think it would make for a great challenge earlier in a TC season. (In fact, I'm pretty sure that Top Chef had its own mystery box challenge long before Chopped. I have vague memories of snails and Kraft singles, maybe from season 2?) But I can't figure out why this concept was thrown into the finale. If they wanted to give the chefs similar starting points, they could have gone with less obscure ingredients. Kevin's mushroom failure here didn’t seem to be from lack of knowledge about how to cook mushrooms in general - the method he used would have been great with other mushrooms, like a simply roasted portobello. He just wasn't familiar with the specific type of mushroom in the box, and it put him at a disadvantage.

On her blog, Lee Ann says, "Anyone who thinks that those ingredients don't go well together should try watching Chopped and just be happy I didn't put string cheese into the box." Uh, I *have* tried watching Chopped, and I haven't been able to get into it because I've discovered that I really don't care if chefs can do interesting things with string cheese! That's why I'm watching Top Chef instead.

I also didn't like the fact that the format essentially limited the chefs to one no-limitations course each. Gail made a comment at judges' table that Kevin's pork belly didn't feel like a complete dish, and she wished there was something else on the plate, even just another piece of pork. I can't help but wonder if the problem is that he planned that dish to be part of a larger meal – and the same is probably true of Mike and Bryan – and it just didn't stand on its own very well.

The main lesson I'm getting from this is not to make pork belly in a Top Chef finale! So far it's been the downfall of three chefs: Casey, Richard, and Kevin. It's too bad, because when pork belly is good it is soooooooooooo good.

[Lon]

Submitting this without reading all the comments since there's already 166 by this morning. Must be some kind of record.

Add me to the group who loathed the sous chef twist this episode. And the person who okayed it ought to be fired.

I can imagine someone sitting in a production meeting and saying, "well, we're paying to bring all these people back for a reunion episode, so let's make another 'high stakes' twist by having the remaining chefs draw knives."

That said I think Kevin was doomed anyway. There was a quick clip in the preview Wednesday night that leads me to believe he began having some issues with the TC process at some point. I think he had lost his desire to win for the finale and it cost him. His food obviously depends on taste for effectiveness rather than looks or fancy technique, and giving him the two sous chefs who had the most problems with taste was a doubly cruel blow.

[babyarm]

The single biggest nit that's been picked so far is the sous thing which was mentioned in the start of this so I was compelled to focus on that as not nearly the game changer as people are leading on to.

Kevin was dead to rights when he opened the box and found no mammals in it. Couple that with the forced pastry and he was doubly cooked. Now in a happy perfect world they'd be able to do 4 courses with no restrictions, but this fails to make compelling television.

They needed to inject a bit of drama with the random draw, and some suspense with the chopped box.

I think the finals were drawn up this way for a few reasons, and at the top of it was to make the judging easier. They had to invent ways to keep Lisa from winning two seasons ago, and last year was just too hard to do the apples/oranges thing of yes/no pastry. Secondary was to be more of a final exam rather than a show-and-tell.

So they close down the openness of the finals and make a clearcut winner easier to discern forensically. They did no favors by editing JT to make it appear Bryan won by failing to laud the squab dish with any praise, but this is par for them at this point.

So the main contention is that the finals were too constrained to allow all the contestants a fair shot. Yes, perhaps. But they again all "had the same disadvantage" there. The only variable was the sous thing and I'm saying that that discrepancy in talent was so minor as to not possibly have changed the outcome.

This finale was meant to test the chef's range, not their signature dish. To me that's superior to 4 and 5, and on par perhaps with 3. If I want to watch someone creating a signature dish under no constraints there's plenty of outlets for that now.

[Skillet Doux]

Babyarm...

Now THAT'S a good discussion, that I intend to get into tomorrow with the season postmortem.

[gilmore]

As to the pork belly - Kevin felt his was good - http://www.bravotv.com/top-chef/blogs/burning-questions/kevin-gillespie-personal-disappointment?page=0%2C0
(from the hard to find burning questions on the horrid Bravo! site)

----the main course was based on showing a different texture of pork belly than you often have. Mostly belly is braised (soft) or crispy and I wanted to accentuate its texture if roasted whole, similar to a pork rib. -----

I wonder if he had explained his intention if they would have looked at the dish any differently (not that it would have changed the outcome)?

[Will Allen]

Yes, Kevin, who has won with vegetarian meals, and maybe fish (I can't remember), was doomed the moment the mystery box was opened, and it contained no mammals.

Most the people in this thread have openly stated that they don't know at all whether the knife draw was a game changer. Please stop inventing fictions.

[TxGriff]

Why was Kevin at a disadvantage because there were no mammals (I'm assuming you mean pork)? Did he not win the vegetarian challenge?

This actually has nothing to do with any chef in particular. The problem was the format of the finals. It didn't matter who got whom for a sous chef or who didn't know how to work with the products in the mystery box or whatever- WHY do all of that in the finals? We have seen those gimmicks in verying degrees all seasons. Let them shine!

[twelden]

"Now in a happy perfect world they'd be able to do 4 courses with no restrictions, but this fails to make compelling television."

As proved by the TCM final, this isn't necessarily true. I for one found the the TCM final to be the best TC episode, across both series and all seasons, ever. While the TCM contestnats were given restricted themes for each course, the themes were meant to be inspirational, rather than confining. The result was three chefs telling compelling stories about, and making superb, food. As someone noted above, a slight twist on this would have made for a more interesting (not to mention equitable) final.

[rab01]

Since the 3d season, there have always been twists in the finale. (S3 - extra course, S4 - no sous chef, S5 - assigning Louisiana ingredients). A good twist is one that forces them to be creative on the fly (e.g., the extra course); a meh twist is one that interferes with making good food but affects them equally (e.g., S4); a bad twist is one that affects the cooks disproportionately (e.g., S5). I'd say this one was bad but not as bad as Hosea getting to assign himself the easiest ingredient because he found a good luck piece inside a cake.

Based on the blogs, Kevin had a bad day (actually, a bad several days) and just wasn't on his game for the entire finals. I don't think the twists affected the end result. I think the twists prevented us from getting to see better food and from seeing the chefs compete on an even playing field. As a viewer, that matters to me more than who gets the title.

Based on Lee Anne's blog, I'm no longer upset that she's leaving; actually, I'm glad. It sounds like the elves asked her the right questions and she answered badly. I think she's lost perspective after so many crazy twists and turns. Yes, her ingredients were more usable than those on Chopped but the proper question is -- "What would be the best ingredients to allow the side-by-side comparison we want?" Yes, a real chef has to manage underlings but the real question was what the producers asked her -- is it fair? If she had thought back to her season, she should have asked herself -- "Would the result have been the same if Tiffani had me and Stephen as sous chefs while Harold had Ken and Candice?

[twelden]

I second both Will Allen's and TxGriff's responses to the "Kevin was doomed by no mammal" statement. According to Tom's blog, other than the mushroom, "the broth was beautifully done and the rest of the dish was very good." This doesn't sound like Kevin was "doomed" at all. Rather, it sounds like he was tripped up by an unnecessarily restrictive gimmick.

[Anne]

>For someone like Kevin to actually point out how useless Preeti was as prep monkey..

This is quite the point. He's been a gentlemen to the end, and for him to complain, he must have been very stressed out and she must have been very bad.

On the flip side, I really liked it when Michael praised Jessie.

[anon man]

I'm sorry, but even if you have no pastry experience, once you are in the finals, go get some. Sam did that in season 2, and while he didn't win, he showed some sense about him. Kevin should have known he very well would have to make some sort of dessert and should have been prepared for it. Just sayin.'

And Dom, on the sous chefs with the "more recent contestants", I think that causes a problem this season. Robyn was not well-loved or respected, whereas Hector and Mattin were. Plus, even really early departures like Eve and Jessie (of Baltimore), are fairly well regarded chefs, even if poor chefstestants. Preeti may have been the weakest on skill and experience (as you pointed out when she revealed she started cooking after 9/11). I just think brining back all the contestants reduced the chance of Robyn coming back.

Apparently cost and editing concerns made them restrain the chefs to a 3+1 menu. I think mystery box would have been ok, with maybe an "all or all but one" restriction, or maybe you must make a dessert OR use the mystery box as a course. Something like that to even up the supposed inequities here.

[jh]

Since the contestants are always suspecting a gimmick at play, wouldn't a great gimmick be no gimmick at all? That way, they just jump every time the door opens, and it would all be for nought. You still get the psychological trauma and the fretting, but they still get to cook their food. You could have Padma walk in every hour just for the fun of it.

[rab01]

As for the particular mushroom used, I'd love it if Dom could weigh in on how rare/difficult it is to use that one (seeing as how he's an Iron Chef mushroom winner and all ;-) ). But really, if Lee Anne is right that Kevin didn't taste his mushroom and try to fix it, there isn't much to say in his defense (assuming that there were enough mushrooms in the basket that he could experiment with one of them).

Another reason to dog Lee Anne for this finale, both Kevin and Mike complained that some of the ingredients in the basket weren't very fresh. If this were a real restaurant, they'd have thrown those ingredients away and composed a different dish out of what was left ... I mean hey, if real chefs have to deal with mediocre underlings, then real chefs get to ditch bad ingredients too.

[TxGriff]

anon man- Those are valid points, but Kevin didn't say "Aw crap, a dessert, didn't see that one coming". He just said he's not known for pastry. That doesn't mean he didn't prepair for it or bring in a few ideas. In fact, the inspiritaion for his dish (Tom said that it was based off of Elvis Presley- chocolate, banana, bacon) sounded like it's something he thought about and wanted to make. There's nothing wrong with noting, however, that you are not strong in pastry.

Also, sure, Robyn might not be as strong as a chef as Hector or some of the earlier contestants. But at least you had a better uderstanding of Robyn's style and her strengths/weaknesses than some of the chefs who went home before 3 or 4 episodes. To me, it's a bigger handicap to not know much about the chef in terms of technique, style and skill rather than have an understanding of someone's technique and play to their strengths. Plus, if the producer's brought everyone back to avoid "Robin drama" or whatever, she was still a candidate to be a sous chef, so that doesn't eliminate the problem.

[twelden]

"You could have Padma walk in every hour just for the fun of it."

Like Leslie Neilseon during the landing scene in "Airplane!" - "I just want you to know, we're all counting on you."

[Will Allen]

Again, the most important management skill a chef exercises is in the hiring process. Le Anne's remarks are inane.

[gilmore]

TxGriff - maybe there were two knives with "Hector" on it, and none with "Robin". Problem solved.

[twelden]

"Another reason to dog Lee Anne for this finale, both Kevin and Mike complained that some of the ingredients in the basket weren't very fresh."

rab01, this is an interesting point because, in Lee Anne's penultimate blog, she noted that, after the faux farmer's market from "Final part 1", they packed up all the left over food to use in the final, which struck me as a bit odd at the time. But I figured if the finals were the next day (and the contestants got to choose which ingridents they used), it wouldn't be a problem. But, if my understanding of the logistics are correct, it turns out there was an extra day built in, and in the case of the "basket" the ingredients were chosen for the chefs, who were then left with a situation in which some ingredients may have been sitting around for a few days before being used and therefore not particularly fresh. I don't think it impacted the result at all since all three faced the same problem, but its just another example of why such gimmicks in the final are so frustrating.

[kit]

Lon says: "Add me to the group who loathed the sous chef twist this episode. And the person who okayed it ought to be fired."

Just based on reading her blog, it seems Lee Anne was the one who silenced any concerns (from the producers!) about the sous-drawing injecting a bit too much variability into the finale. I guess she can't be fired since she's leaving of her own accord, to get back behind the stove no less! I hope she's blessed with many Preeti's in her new venture, without a go-to sous like Eli or Jen C, so that she may show off her stellar managing skills. ;)

babyarm says: "They did no favors by editing JT to make it appear Bryan won by failing to laud the squab dish with any praise, but this is par for them at this point."

The editing trickery drives me crazy in general, but to be fair, it does seem this one time the editors actually were more faithful to the impression that JT's gave. The finalists for the most part seemed to agree that based on their experience at JT's, they thought Bryan had won. So leaving that impression with the viewers is actually sorta accurate. The elves weren't messing with our heads?! Shocking I know!!

[Will Allen]

Oh, I think testing a chef's ability to use a wide degree of ingrediants is fine, so if Kevin just had less knowledge with that mushroom, and as a result used the wrong technique, that's legitimate. I'd just prefer chefs not being restricted .

I thought I posted this, but it seemed to get swallowed up. Does anyone else root for the product? I really wanted Bryan to win, because he used venison in a dish that was praised, and I'd like to see more proteins like this on Top Chef.

[Jon Olsen]

babyarm did you eat at oste e coc's house last night?

[KarenF]

Anon Man: I just think brining back all the contestants ...

That's probably the finale for Top Chef: Cannibal. Brined former contestants.

[Andrew]

I question those who have suggested that matsutake mushrooms are an 'obscure' ingredient. I think that's baloney. In my experience, they are a very common ingredient in Asian (and especially Japanese) cuisine.

I love Kevin and I love his food, but it struck me as a bit odd that he had no experience with matsutake. (I could be wrong, but I think he expressed something to that effect after the mystery box ingredients were revealed.)

I don't think the mushroom was an unfair ingredient at all.

[Cheryl]

Ok..why all the angst about dessert? In other years, desserts have been required. Season 4 had to do a dessert. Any chef competing on this show should have a couple of dessert recipes at the ready, whether for a quickfire, restaurant wars or finals.
Anyway, I would have been happy with any of them winning. I just think it's unfortunate that they just don't turn them loose to cook the best meal of their lives without all these curveballs and last minute requirements.

[Luray]

Like most people have said- I'm good with Michael winning. He is very talented and last night we got to see a different side of him with jokes and a little laughter. I have been wondering the last few weeks if some of his confessional comments were meant to be tongue in cheek. Last week they showed him joking with the guests and he seemed more likable. The comments people were bothered by may have been said in more of a joking manner and we know the editors like to make more drama than there is.

I was frustrated with the sous thing as well. For me it was painful to watch Preeti cutting the vegetables when they showed her- she was so slow and they still looked uneven. She obviously has some talent or she wouldn't have been on the show, but for a finale, it would have been nice to give them an advantage, not a potential hazard.

That being said, I don't think anyone can blame her for Kevin's not winning. His heart didn't seem as into it as before they left for their break. I haven't read his Bravo blog yet, so not sure if he touched on that. And as has happened before, sometimes a chef has a bad night and this one was his.

I was okay with the box- it didn't bother me as much as others, but I missed seeing them choosing their food items and seeing what choices there were and what they didn't take.

And as always, I would love to see more of judges table and hear more of their discussion.

[rab01]

"why all the angst about dessert?"

Personally, I had no problem with it. I think that those who have expressed reservations are really objecting to the chefs having only one course that was totally their own without constraints.

By the way, Kevin let slip an interesting bit of support for the judges who dinged his first course as somewhat insubstantial. In his Q&A, he called it an "amuse," not an appetizer.

[Dave_P]

"I question those who have suggested that matsutake mushrooms are an 'obscure' ingredient. I think that's baloney. In my experience, they are a very common ingredient in Asian (and especially Japanese) cuisine."

It's not that common since the high-grade stuff is very expensive. Not truffle-expensive, but well over $100/lb. Of course you can get lower grade stuff from other countries (I hear there's a bit of controversy in Japan over selling Korean matsutake relabelled as Japanese--whether you can tell the difference depends on whom you're asking) for cheaper, but really, it's not at all "common" in Asia or other places. I'd say about as rare as morrels in the US.

Just did some quick googling--seems you can get "fresh" matsutake (Canadian or US varieties) for around $30-50/lb. Still nothing to sneeze at. I know the price is prohibitive enough for my own reluctance at ever having used the stuff (same for truffles), though occasionally, I'll eat the stuff when I'm in Asia.

And again, this is why I would've made a broth. Safe way to get all the flavors out of an ingredient that you're not familiar with. That and the crab would've made an intense broth/sauce that would've been paired well w/the fish and the remaining ingredients. Hmm... then, maybe use the mushroom & crabmeat as some sort of stuffing for the fish...

--
Dave

[Joanna]

Andrew, I see your point that matsutake mushrooms are not necessarily obscure, and if they were introduced in an earlier challenge I wouldn't have given them a second thought. The difference in my mind is that in every other challenge, while I'm sure the chefs all want to win, all they really need to do is not be the worst. If the mystery box challenge had been a standalone elimination challenge, I doubt Kevin's dish would have gotten him eliminated, because it seems like every other component of it was very well liked by the judges.

But in the finale, you either win, or you're done. Second-best (or second-worst) isn't good enough anymore, and I just wish that all the twists had been incorporated in a way that set the chefs up for doing their best. I would have been much happier if the box contained basic, standard ingredients (like the chicken/onion/potato combination that's been mentioned already) where there would be absolutely no question that every chef can do something unique and amazing. Kevin probably should have known how to handle the matsutakes, but the finale isn't the time to find that out.

[babyarm]

Bottom line Kevin failed to get out of his comfort zone enough in prep for this (See:Stephan). I think he thought he could go to Napa with his self-cured pork belly and bacon dessert, pair that with something red on a bone and survive any twist. Oops.

If this is the format they choose to use going forward for regular Top Chef I'm 100% fine with it. It showcases chefs with good range which I had begun to doubt for awhile now if Kevin had.

The challenge was:

1-Amuse(ish) portion based on a theme with no restrictions
2-Smallish first plate with major restrictions
3-Largeish main plate with zero restrictions
4-Dessert with no restrictions

There were no cost restrictions and only one of these had to tell some sort of story with it. If they choose to go this way and have the Masters present a multi-course unrestrained menu I'm fine with that. There needs to be a line in the sand between the two.

[kit]

That's an interesting take that babyarm raises, that this finale was less "no-holds-barred, signature meal" and more "final exam". One take is that either approach is valid for a finale, and which you prefer is more a matter of personal preference. For me, I enjoy watching the former more, which seems to line up better with Dom's Trinity of Chefdom, than the latter, which seems more aligned with determining who's a better gameplayer.

I mentioned this while the episode was airing, but it really felt like a regular season challenge, but on steroids - basically a bunch of regular season challenges mushed together. As "evidence," I scrounged up some comparable challenges from earlier seasons:

1st course: reinvent a childhood classic challenge, like S2E3 EC
2nd course: mystery box challenge, similar to S2E1 EC
3rd course: an introductory "make your signature dish" challenge, like S1E1 EC
4th course: make dessert, because we know you hate to, like S4E7 QF

Ok ok, 3rd & 4th courses are pretty generic challenge-wise, and completely in line with finales in prior seasons, but once you mush them with TWO regular season doppelgangers (1st and 2nd courses), I personally lose that finale feel. Oh well!

[Independent George]

I think my favorite Finale setup was S4 - draw knives to pick your sous chefs, each of whom has a 'box' of proteins to work into the challenge. Dessert required (which I am totally in favor of - and which every chef should be prepared for anyway).

The twists then were that (1) the sous chefs were all famous chefs who hand-picked the ingredients in the box, and (2) the sous chefs were taken away without warning on Day 2.

If I recall correctly, the consensus here was that #1 was just plain awesome, and #2 was absolutely ridiculous. Yes, it's true that there's always some stupid twist in the finale, but it's equally true that the regulars here always hate it.

[babyarm]

Well it should be noted that they had a full 24 hours to conceptualize and then work on 3 of the 4 courses. That's something that only happens on 4 or 5 of the ECs during the season.

[twelden]

babyarm, I'm not sure where the hostility toward Kevin is coming from. I think even Kevin's most ardent supporters on this blog have acknowledged that, even setting aside all of the finale gimmicks, Kevin had an off ("Blaisian"?) night. But to say "I think he thought he could go to Napa with his self-cured pork belly and bacon dessert, pair that with something red on a bone and survive any twist. Oops." paints Kevin as somehow arrogant and cavalier, two traits he never seemed to demonstrate during the season. Plus, it misstates the facts. The one dish Kevin triumphed with last night was the impromptu 1st course, which was neither pork belly, bacon ice cream nor "red on the bone."

[Bart]

"if you think I'm more annoyed than I should be about how what could and should have been the best matchup of culinary skill we've seen in the finale was turned into a three ring circus, fine."

No way. I totally agree. These finales should be far more straightforward. Let the chefs cook. Let their skills speak for themselves. That's it. No more tricks. That's their reward for making it this far into the season.

Also: I loved, loved, loved the fact that they implemented a Hosea rule in there: "you MUST make a dessert."

Lastly - Dom, can you please close out the errant bold tag? It's making my HTML innards twitch ;)

[TxGriff]

I think that all of the final three chefs have proved that they are adaptable and have range- that's how they got to the finales in the first place. That's how they won a combined 12 of 13 elimination challenges. To say that there are doubts about any of their abilities is unfounded. So, I absolutely don't have a problem testing their range. But why so many twists at the end? What does that prove?

No doubt that Kevin was not as mentally prepared in the end, and his performance suffered- Bryan and Michael seemed much more composed. But I don't think it's fair to say that Kevin, or anybody else, just sat there twiddling their thumbs and thought "I've got this in the bag". I'm sure the pressure of winning $125,000, cooking for a panel of people who could finance a future project for you, dealing with the last minute twists, overcoming emotional and physical fatigue, the distraction of their mothers showing up, the anxiety of failing on national television, and a whole variety of other things were playing on their minds and distracting them. Is it not reasonable to say that perhaps none of the chefs underestimated the challenge, but perhaps underestimated how the pressure at the end would affect them?

One more thing, re: matsutake mushrooms . Sure, all of the chefs should probably know how to handle them. But why NOW, why not earlier in the show when everyone's basic technique is being assessed? As someone else mentioned, Kevin didn't handle the mushrooms properly, alright. But the rest of his dish was well-received, whereas earlier competitors might have made the same mistake with the mushrooms but not put together an otherwise balanced dish. My point is that the finalists have already proved they have a wide variety of skills covered, it is always my hope that they are just allowed to really let loose and cook at the end. Clearly, we know that if Kevin was planning his dish, he would not have used those mushrooms. This is largely just my opinion of course, I just wish the format had been different for such a great group of finalists.

[Ramodres]

Kevin does not blame Preeti for his lack of focus. He claims he was projecting his frustrations on her due to the breakup of his marriage shortly before the finale. A post finale interview with Kevin is linked below.

http://blogs.creativeloafing.com/omnivore/2009/12/10/a-conversation-with-kevin-gillespie-top-chef-finalist/

[jse91]

Getting in the game a little late, but . . .

I was very disappointed. The sous thing was ridiculous and stupid, but that ground is well trod.

I have never really like Lee Anne. I thought she was passive aggressive during her season and she never really impressed me as much as she impressed herself. But she seemed better than competent in her crew position. But her blog today is absurd. She seems to have been "out of there" before this final episode. It has been mentioned in more than one place that the mystery box contained less than fresh ingredients. I am guessing she just didn't give a crap any more. And what the hell did Kevin do to her this season? She hasn't passed up on opportunity to criticism him, including an incredulous claim that she is sure he didn't taste his mystery box dish.

I can't imagine how frustrating it must have been to get Preeti. I mean visions of the relay race dancing in your head. But Kevin shows himself classy once again in Burning Questions:

Bravotv.com: You were harsher maybe than we've ever seen you about Preeti. What was
your reaction to working with her?
I think that if I projected any negativity on her or about her then it was simply me coping with my own level of personal disappointment.

I haven't liked Mike V much, but he can cook. Once Kevin left I was rooting for Bryan. But I have to give props to Mike - since the win he has been very gracious.

While I might be annoyed about the number of stupid gimmicks last night, I am glad that all three are very talented chefs. Even when am particularly disgusted I can remember "At least Hosea didn't win!"

Thanks Dom for all your hard work!

[JJH2]

Ramodres: Thanks for posting that link to the Kevin interview (although it doesn't say anything in that interview about the breakup of his marriage). Don't you just totally feel for the guy? It makes me want to give him a big hug, and I agree completely about the classless way they sent him away from judge's table before they announced the winner. He seems like such a genuinely nice guy.

[rab01]

Ramodres -- that was the first I heard about Kevin and his wife. Sorry to hear it. Kevin's attitude, demeanor and comments make a lot more sense now.

[Ramodres]

Oops...The bit about the breakup of Kevin's marriage prior to the finale is in this interview:

http://blogs.ajc.com/food-and-more/2009/12/10/q-and-a-with-kevin-gillespie-of-top-chef/

[NowieFish]

Hey Ramodres, where are you getting "break up of marriage" from in that interview?

[jse91]

You know I hadn't thought too much about the fact that they announced Kevin's name first until I read that interview. I remember thinking last night that is was a little odd and assuming that it was because they wanted to emphasize the brothers thing, but it hadn't occured to me how much it might effect Kevin [or presumably anyone who was in that position when it had never been done before]. It is a real shame.

I hadn't heard anything about Kevin's breakup. I lost part of last night show due to dvr problems, was it mentioned there? I have a hard time imagining that.

[kit]

Thanks for the link Ramodres, great interview! I know someone mentioned this already, but Kevin points it out as well, that one of the key differences between early & late season eliminees is just knowing who you're dealing:

"[I]t was a huge handicap, because she left so early I never got to know her. She knew nothing about me. And it was very challenging to put any kind of workload on someone who you have no relationship with."

As for Lee Anne, I can't tell if it's just frustration on my part at the design of this final, but between her latest blog post and the fact that she's decided to leave, I also get the sense her heart just isn't in Top Chef any more - and it shows in the final product on the screen. But overall, I do get the sense that she (and Tom) have had an overall positive influence on this franchise, and I can understand at some point wanting to move onto the next big project in your life.

[babyarm]

Yeah. I think it's always been nice not being clear-cut who the 3rd place was unless they conceded like Blais. I don't think Kevin would have conceded if given the opportunity. Would it really have been that hard to edit the show to keep him in the room till the end? Is it not good to see him congratulate the winner in the moment?

I agree that was not one of their finer ideas and he's right to be upset about that.

[Neil]

I'd like to just diverge a little bit from the previous comments about the setup of the finale, and give proper praise to Mike V. He not only seemed to really impress the judges, but also really seemed to grow by the end of the competition. Throughout, he never played it safe, exhibited a dynamic range in styles, and as he said at judges' table, put himself on every plate. Here's a interview with E! I just read:

http://www.eonline.com/uberblog/marc_malkin/b157367_top_chefs_michael_voltaggio_winning.html

He talks about how he adjusted as the competition went on, even learning from Kevin's simplicity. Additionally, I think it's really apparent that he was given the real short end of the stick edit wise this season. He was nothing short of gracious, even humorous when he won,and as evidenced by what some of the other competitors have said about him as well as the rest of that interview, he really does seem like an enjoyable, sarcastic guy to be around. Congrats to Mike V., and although the finale did have some kinks, to an overall great season where the final three were likely better than any of the past contestants (Hung and Marcel even worked under Mike V. after both of them were on top chef, and Ilan worked under Bryan at Charlie Palmer's Aureole).

[Neil]

Also from the interview, a part I really appreciated and part that made me really warm up to MikeV's win:

"Are you as, um, self-confident as you appeared on the show?
Confident? Yes. Arrogant? Not as much as maybe I was perceived to be. I'm actually a pretty humble person in the kitchen. I think that's how I was able to learn and grow as much as I have. I will put myself in situations where I am learning from people. I don't care if it's the dishwasher. You can learn from anybody in the kitchen."

[Will Allen]

I love the fact that Kevin is standing by his choice of how to cook the brisket and pork belly. The frustrating thing for me is not being able to taste them, and thus draw my own conclusions. I agree with Kevin, in particular, that the tenderness (mushiness?) of a brisket can be an overrated virtue, and that a firmer (tougher?) texture can be enjoyable, although brisket for 150 in five hours still seems daunting.

[Bart]

From the link that ramrodes provided (the first one), this quote really stuck out to me:

"No, that was a total shock, and frankly…I’m trying not to be bitter about it. I don’t want to bad mouth “Top Chef” by any means, they’ve given me an opportunity that I never would have had before. But it was really frustrating because one of the best parts about making it to the finals is that you don’t have to get sent home, you don’t lose, you either win or you don’t. And to have to deal with that, I feel like they stole something from me. I feel very much cheated, and it hurts me. I was embarrassed, and in many ways I felt disrespected. It hurt."

Damn. Poor Kevin :(

[Bart]

Er, Ramodres* not whatever I typed. Sorry. (and sorry if this is a double post unto itself!)

[jh]

I don't know why people keep thinking that Blais finished 3rd. Though in his own words Blais said he "choked", Ted Allen (a judge at the time) said that Lisa was third.

I have to admit that when I first looked at the menu for the Woodfire Grill (before this season started), I wasn't blown away. I thought everything looked good but not particularly exciting. However, I'm definitely going to try to go to it over the upcoming holidays, and taste simple food with complex flavors, Southern style.

They need to do a Top Chef in Atlanta. It now has its fair share of fabulous restaurants with its own distinctive regional flair.

[jse91]

Is Atlanta the most frequently represented city over all the season?

[gilmore]

All of the New York City chefs go on chopped!!!

Kevin's face, when they called his name, followed by "you are NOT Top Chef" was sad to watch. I would be bitter and embarrassed too.

[Esther]

Yes, it's true that there's always some stupid twist in the finale, but it's equally true that the regulars here always hate it.

Just speaking for myself, I usually hate the stupid twists because . . . they're stupid. If I'm watching Olympic figure skating, I don't want to watch the skaters face off with bricks strapped to their shoes. If I'm watching a fencing match, I don't want to see how well they cope if the strips are suddenly five feet shorter. I watch because I want to see world-class skill in action, doing its best, creating something beautiful. The fact that a dish was created despite last-minute disadvantages doesn't make it a more delicious dish or a more interesting process.

That said, I recognize that that's true because I'm actually interested in food. I suppose I understand that for viewers who don't care as much about actual culinary skill, the twists help to add drama and human interest. Or something.

[rab01]

"I don't know why people keep thinking that Blais finished 3rd. Though in his own words Blais said he "choked", Ted Allen (a judge at the time) said that Lisa was third."

I think he only said that on this Board; he didn't say it in his blog post. Lisa talked as if she came in second both on the show and in her interviews afterwards so that's the impression that sticks for most people.

[TxGriff]

I was thinking back on the season, and I'm not sure why there's a sentiment that Kevin can only cook red meat. Here were his dishes that I can think of (off the top of my head, sure I'm missing some) that did not include red meat and he either won the challenge or was in the top:

Arctic char w/ salsa verde (first EC- won), 9-ingredient salad w/ egg and asparagus (quickfire- top), deconstructed chicken mole (EC- won), warm bean and tomato salad w/ creamed corn (quickfire- top), smoked kale with mushrooms (vegetarian EC- won), sockeye salmon with compressed vegetables (EC- top), beet and carrot salad (well ok, he didn't win, but the judges sure fawned over it...for that matter lets add the pumpkin polenta to the list).

Anyways, just wanted to point out that while Kevin loves pork, he clearly knows how to cook more than just red meat.

I want to add that I agree with the comments about how gracious Mike V. has appeared since his win. I think he got a really unfortunate edit, and he realized it. It was interesting to hear him say how everyone, including him, thought Bryan was going to win, but it came down to flavor in the end. I'm very happy for him, and I'm excited to see what he will be able to do with the exposure and opportunity to maybe go out on his own.

[dc]

Who would have made the worst sous chef?

I think Robin wouldn't be that bad, since they know her capabilities and personality so well, with so much focus on it. Prior history, in RW she made a hit desert, with Mike V input, she solid middle with MikeI in home party. She works hard in the kitchen not limited to nonstop talking.

Eli can be solid or suicidal/fratricidal. Like when he oversalted Ashley's gnocchi in her elimination. And his failed chocolate, popcorn, peanut soup.

Ron could have been bad, since he seemed to only be able to work at his pace. Not good in pressure cooker, all-in situation.

Clearly Jen Z, Queen of Seitan would have been bad, and the only one I consider an unacceptable unfair handicap.

I'm ok with sous chef 'twist'... standard Project Runway fare. The random made it higher stakes drama... but the sous where only suppose to follow instructions competently, with the finalists making all the EC decisions. I also thought Kevin less flashy food style, even keel personality should mean less sensitivity to skillset and personality of sous anyway.

What I did not like was how the magic box worked out... the idea itself was OK, but the ingredients where too obscure, too unfair at this stage if someone was familiar -- a la cactus challenge won by Mike I default, being the only one to prior work with cactus. To make it less unfair, for each category, I would have a list of 5 ingredients, the finalists eliminate 3, and ingredient is picked randomly from those non-eliminated. I believe Iron Chef does something like that for theme ingredient.

[rab01]

"Who would have made the worst sous chef?"

Honestly, I think it was Preeti. Based on what Dom could discern of her background and what she showed during her run, she appeared to be the worst trained and least technically skilled. That doesn't mean she's a bad cook or was the worst chef there but if you needed someone to shuck oysters or dice vegetables, she seemed to be the worst choice.

[danny]

After reading several comments....sorry to be the continual Robin defender but I don't think any of them would've minded having picked her. During restaurant wars no one complained about her ability to prep food. She seemed to be just fine at it. On the other hand, Preeti was incompetent. It's not apples and oranges. It's apples and handlebars.

[òste e còc]

MV: Michael demonstrated a broad and deservedly rewarded knowledge of cooking techniques, creativity and compositions.

KG: If the purpose of the final elimination challenge were to woo the 50,000 other chefs in the country who have tattoos of pigs (and whose swine spectrum is limited to the belly) at a fantasy role-playing BBQ picnic, then Kevin nailed it. He should have “refinement” tattooed on this other arm as well as a fundamental cake batter recipe. There are plenty of other ingredients left in the world/supermarket for dessert applications before one had to resort to bacon.

BV: Cooking fish sous-vide is a waste of both plastic and fish (a chef from Cuisine Solutions even told me) and demonstrates not being able to cook a fish on one’s own or observe/control its cooking progression. Bryan knows how to fundamentally cook a fish, baste it, touch it, turn it around in the pan and he should have used such an attentive, human approach to manipulating a delicate protein such as fish. Cooking in a pan with proper control of heat can provide firm edges and doneness and variations in heat; basting provides caramelization and flavor. It’s like manually rearing a child rather than sitting it in front of the television. If a restaurant touts the virtues of using ingredients from traditional, rustic agrarian methods or noble natural sources, they should be treated in such a manner.

MB: Working from the same ingredients is a better way of measuring the contestant’s capabilities against each others’. Every other competition, sport or otherwise has the same course or limits, why shouldn’t this one.

A mystery box provided identical ingredients for the finale of the French 2006 Top Chef flavored "Plus Près de Étoiles" (Closer to the Stars). The svelte 4-episode French version followed 7 of the country's highest rated apprentices as they compete, without flabby saddlebag drama, for a 6 month internship in judge Joël Robuchon's restaurants. Cameras focused on technique and horsepower rather than producer prodded squabbles and horse shit. 3 final candidates had to create as well as write a methodical savory and sweet recipe with artisan products and were coached by starred stove heavyweights: 4th Generation chef Marc Haeberlin, Bruce Willisish Thierry Marx and creepy Raider of the Lost Arkish Marc Veyrat. Their mystery box included guinea hen, cepes, new potatoes, onions and an herb as well as another box for dessert.

JT: Toby is a waste of glasses and human organs. His desperate one-liner verdicts conjure a constipated 7th rate Patrick Stewartish judge on a deadline and Bravo’s editing seems to highlight Tom’s casual mockery thereof. For that and his Savory Cities interview, I endorse Tom's ethos more than ever.

Padma restores my faith in the comfort of a woman’s warm, bloated cleavage.

[SorchaRei]

I was rooting for Kevin and I thought Bryan had a good chance to win, but I completely get why Michael won -- and good for him, too.

I totally agree that the knife draw was horribly unfair. It introduced a ridiculous amount of randomness into something that needed only a little. Kevin would have been better off having me as his sous than having Preeti. I am not a chef, but I have honed my knife skills and I can produce perfect pieces of pretty much any vegetable, a lot faster and with less supervision than she did. It's easy to forget that the first people dropped were not of the high caliber we have come to associate with "TC 6". Draw numbers and pick your chefs in order. Or limit the draw to the last six people eliminated, or even the last eight. Do SOMETHING to prevent the situation where two chefs got the last two to be eliminated and the other got one middling chef and one bottom feeder.

I will love Michael forever for his initial answer to the question of why he should be the winner. I have a little brother, and he'd have said the same thing, in the same way. But what I love even more is his "real" answer.

I wish Kevin hadn't had the issues he had with the sous chef knife draw. And I especially wish that he hadn't had any execution issues, but I'm not unhappy about the outcome. Michael is a fine chef, and the way he acted in this finale suggests to me (along with some of his post-show interviews) that he's learned something about eing more open-minded.

It's all good. Except that stupid knife-draw.

[SorchaRei]

Mind you, I meant to say that I don't think Preeti lost it for him. I think his response to that had more to do with it -- he had some talking head pieces where he said he was mad and it was distracting him.

[Will Allen]

I must say that oec's sentiments are pretty close to mine. I was disappointed that Kevin chose pork belly for a course. I think back to the refined, and winning, approach he took with a pork shoulder, and think it is a shame that, if he insisted on using pork, that he chose the belly. Again, I was rooting for Bryan because of his choice of venison, and I know Kevin's southern tradition incorporates wild game. It would have been nice to see his approach to it.

Having said that about Bryan, the remarks that oec made about Bryan's approach to fish are very worthwhile. Maybe I'm too much of a traditionalist, but sous-vide just kind of leaves me cold generally.

Unfortunately, I think a lot of otherwise good chefs in the U.S. are weak with deserts, and it may reflect that so many customers view desert as an afterthought, even in fine dining establishments.

I agree that there are realy problems with the Top Chef production approach, for those of us who prefer more emphasis on the food. I don't pretend to have any expertise, however, in how to sell 30 second spots.

[timothy]

I think much of my consternation regarding the knife draw has to do with what that must have felt like to Kevin. You work your tail off to reach a final event. You imagine all sorts of scenarios and you plan for them, and as you enter the event you feel ready to do your best. Then before the event really gets underway, something happens beyond your control. Perhaps this is a strained analogy, but it makes me think of that long ago Olympics when Mary Decker was tripped by Zola Budd. I remember watching Decker just howl in disbelief after she was knocked out of the race. In this analogy, it is the producers, not Preeti, who tripped Kevin. Yes, he was not knocked out of the race and he should have dealt with it. But I find his anger at the situation easy to relate to.

[kit]

In case anyone's interested, Michael V, along with liquid nitrogen, was on Conan last night:

http://www.hulu.com/watch/114566/the-tonight-show-with-conan-obrien-michael-voltaggio-part-1

http://www.hulu.com/watch/114564/the-tonight-show-with-conan-obrien-michael-voltaggio-part-2

[Cheryl]

Interesting..even the people at the viewing party at Bryan's restaurant thought Bryan was the winner: http://www.baltimoresun.com/entertainment/tv/bal-topchef-frederick-1210,0,623405.story

[TxGriff]

I moreso see the sous chef situation as a mental challenge rather than an actual physical handicap. Kevin was clearly thrown off by pulling his sous chefs, and it may or may not have affected his game. This is not to say that Preeti herself did anything wrong. However, would you feel more confident with Jen at your side or with Preeti, who couldn't even open a clam in the first episode? And I know, I know, this is Top Chef and they should be mentally prepared to handle any challenge and these kinds of things shouldn't affect them, but I don't think any of us could truly empathize with how the finalists feel. With all of the stress they are going through, why saddle someone with a sous chef who they're not even sure can execute basic techniques? It's easy to sit here and say that they should be completely confident in their abilities and be able to manage any situation, but truly, I'm sure it's quite different when you're almost at the end and feel like there is another obstacle you have to overcome. Anyways, just my two cents.

I did watch Conan last night- it's funny to see how small Michael looks compared to Conan, I suppose we are used to seeing him around Tom and Kevin ;-).

[TxGriff]

Oh, and one more comment about sous chefs (sorry!). Someone mentioned that Jessi didn't fare much better than Preeti in the competition. I don't think, technically speaking, they were on the same level. Remember that Jessi was able to dissemble the prawns with great speed, and her dishes weren't necessarily lacking technical merit or vision, she just made mistakes in execution. I'm sure with a strong chef watching over her and guiding her, she's a capabable chef. Preeti and many of the other chefs who went home before we got to know their styles could the be same, I'm not sure. But I think there is a difference between not having a grasp on basic techniques (chucking clams, pasta salad, overcuring tuna, etc.) and not being able to fully execute when under pressure.

[rab01]

"I moreso see the sous chef situation as a mental challenge rather than an actual physical handicap."

Yeah, it was clearly a mental challenge that he admitted he should've overcome but it REALLY WAS a physical challenge too.

What if instead of each knife having a name, one of them was blank? - meaning that if you drew that knife, you would only get a sous for the second day but not the first. Wouldn't that be a disadvantage? Can someone still win without help on the first day? Sure. But would it be easier to have a competent second set of hands? Sure. Can't we all agree that including a blank knife would've been a stupid luck-factor? From her performance in the opening QF and the finalists' lack of knowledge of her style, I don't think that getting Preeti's name was much better than pulling a blank knife.

[Osuprof]

A long-time lurker impelled to make his first comment.

As much as I like Kevin and wanted him to win, his loss is his own fault. It is hard to see how the sous chef assignments hurt him or helped Michael or Brian.

The childhhod memory dish and the mystery box were not the greatest ideas, but they actually benefitted Kevin. He did the best first dish, and was close to Michael with the mystery box. Even if he did know how to cook a matsutake mushroom properly, Michael produced a superior dish.

If having to produce a dessert was a surprise to Kevin, and I do not think it was, he would have been a fool. All the competitors were prepared to produce a dessert, and Kevin's dessert simply was not as good as the others.

Finally, the third course, the one with no constraints, was Kevin's weakest dish, at least in comparison with the other chefs. That tells me that he might be the weakest of the chefs, overall.

To the extent the results do not match what has gone on before, it may be that, actually, Kevin is better than the other Chefs in reacting on the fly, but that, when each Chef has more freedom to do whatever he wants to do, Kevin's simpler approach suffers. I am not sure the Kevin had a Blaisian performance. He suffered, mostly, because the dishes he chose to make, even if executed better, were not as good as Michael's dishes executed well.

In the final analysis, Michael's approach to food is at the aspiration of a restaurant of the highest level. Kevin's approach to food is such that, even if he succeeds, it is not at that level. He knows that, and it was a topic of discussion in the Bocuse D'Or episode. When the artificial constraints of Top Chef were lifted a bit, as with the third course, he suffered from that.

[Cheryl]

Blais' blog is up: http://www.bravotv.com/top-chef/blogs/richard-blais/the-only-thing

[TxGriff]

Hi Asuprof,

I don't think anyone is blaming Kevin's performance on his choice of sous chefs (at least, most of us aren't). Kevin executed the menu he wanted to execute, and it was not as good as Bryan's or Michael's. The discussion at hand re: the sous chefs is whether or not it was a funamentally sound system that allowed the chefs to begin on an even playing field, and I have not heard an argument to make me that it was. But you're right, Kevin did not lose because of Preeti, nor did Michael win because of Eli.

As for your comments about the relative levels of cooking, I suppose that depends on each person's individual tastes. I don't think anyone would argue that Michael's style of food is more inclined toward fine dining and is handled with more finesse and creativity than Kevin's food. But, it's not like Kevin is just putting out steak and potatoes. His food is more rustic, but with subtle touches of refinement, and a mastery of execution (this is obviously not pertaining to his menu in the finale, in which case he had an off night). Furthermore, if your argument is that Michael operates better without the restrictions of the challenge, then why did he produce the best dish in the course with the most restrictions (the mystery box)? I don't think Kevin's problem was necessarily that he needs the restrictions of the competition to win, although I think his style of cooking is certainly more suited towards the competition because it is not as inherently risky at Michael's or Bryan's food. Of course, if you are simply going for wow factor, which is probably what the judges were looking for in the finale, it would be hard to argue that Michael isn't the chef most capable of producing those results.

Anyways, I think it's impossible to say that one chef operates on a "higher" level than another. It's just a matter of which type of cuisine you prefer. As Michael said, food is interpretive- one style doesn't have to be inherently better than another.

[Shelly]

I wonder if Kevin had already lost mentally going in, considering the state of his personal life. His dishes in both parts of the finale were simply weaker than normal, and that shows a lack of focus. Not surprising.

But don't pretend that the sous chef choice didn't affect this. The other two were given boosts by drawing competent help. He was given a blow by choosing someone who was less than no help - she was obviously a strain because he was worrying about her the whole time. Should he have risen above it? Sure. But he shouldn't have had to by having this incompetent put into the mix.

It's as if one constraint wasn't enough for this finale; they had to create multiple ones with the knife draw, the box, the mothers. It's apparently all Lee Anne's idea. I guess she thought doing all this would be going out with a bang. Instead, it created a mess.

I'd really have liked to see a truly even contest, them just cooking with the best ingredients, even with a surprise course. I'm pretty sure Kevin still would have lost, but it would have been a fairer fight.

[Krazikarl]

Finally, the third course, the one with no constraints, was Kevin's weakest dish, at least in comparison with the other chefs. That tells me that he might be the weakest of the chefs, overall.

I think that a more likely explanation given the rest of the season is that the Brothers V spent almost all the time before the finale thinking of and working on dishes for the finale. Kevin probably spent far less time preparing for the finale due to his marriage falling apart right before the taping. That had to really throw off his preparation.

[TxGriff]

What I meant to say is that Kevin didn't lose because of the actual work that Preeti did, but I am not convinced that the knife draw didn't affect him for more mentally the either one of the brothers. I have not heard a single argument to refute that. To think that wouldn't affect your mentality at all going into the kitchen is absurd.

Also, and I think others have mentioned this, Kevin was already off of his game due to complications with his personal life. So, I don't think the lack of restrictions in the third course meant that his dish wish inherently inferior than the brothers' more creative dishes. I think Kevin did not execute on the exception level which we have seen throghout the show, and since his style is more simple, the mistakes are more evident. Although, Kevin has been in several interviews stating that he would not have changed his pork dish, so maybe it truly just came down to personal preference:

"The judges were pretty critical of your pork dish. Would you have changed anything in retrospect?

Kevin: No, I wouldn't. I have a lot of feelings about that dish and get a little fired up about it. I could have served it with a piece of roasted pork. But that would have detracted from what I was trying to do, which was to give you multiple textures of something in a single package. For me, the flaw of that dish was not in execution. It came from the fact that I chose to deal with something in a way that was foreign to [the judges]. Let me tell you, there's plenty of people who line up at [our restaurant] to eat that pork belly every single night. I didn't think there was anything wrong with that dish."

[Will Allen]

I've handicapped a helluva lot more athletic competitions than culinary competitions, espcially since this was my third of the latter, but I think a lesson I've learned from the former applies here; it is a real error to think you "know" which competitor will win, based on a tiny sample size. Michael is an obviously deserving winner, but if you truly think you "know" that result would still prevail, after a few variables are changed (ingrediants in the mystery box, the chefs pulling different knives, different judges, different events in the competitors lives, hell, even a different location for the match) you haven't tried very often to make money by predicting outcomes of competitions. There is a reason why professional gamblers desperately seek every scrap of information, generally unknown to the public, prior to a match; because they know every scrap potentially gives them an edge.

[TxGriff]

Wow, lots of typos in that last post...I need to use the preview button before I post :(

[Osuprof]

My point about the level of cuisine is not that Kevin is turning out steak and potatoes. It is, however, more of an ingredient-focused cuisine than Michael, or even Bryan turns out. Ironically, Kevin's approach is pretty similar to what Craft does (but without the Southern twist). But, in the pecking order of restaurants, most people would not place Craft on the highest level, and they would place other places in NY, like Jean-Georges, at that higher level. That is not to say that everyone would rather eat meals at Jean-Georges, rather than Craft. It is to say that the two restaurants do not operate on the same plane. In addition, like diving, it seems as though the evaluation, here, involves both execution and level of difficulty. In Bocuse D'Or, Kevin won because, despite a lower level of difficulty, he had a higher level of execution than did Michael or Bryan. In the finals, even if Kevin had executed his dishes better, Michael's food was more complex, involved more technique--it had a higher level of difficulty. It was more like what you would expect in a restaurant of the level of Jean-Georges, whereas Kevin's food was more like what you would expect at a place like Craft. (Reminds me of Todd English's comment about one of Hung's dishes in his final challenge--3 star Michelin. Hung took this, correctly, as the ultimate compliment.) So, if Michael and Kevin execute at the same level, Michael wins. If Kevin executes better than Michael does, Kevin can win. This is why Michael made so many derogatory comments about Kevin's food in some earlier episodes.

My point is that, given that Michael executed his dishes very well, it was unlikely that Kevin would have won even if he had executed his dishes flawlessly. And, the dishes over which he had more control, the dessert and the third course, were the courses over which the contestants had the most control. To that degree, excuse the expression, Kevin's loss was baked into the cake.

[gilmore]

Interesting quote from Collichio (after saying that this season was by far the best ever:
----No, no, if you had asked me that last season I would have said worst season ever. The four finalists this year would have won any other season before. Jen, Kevin, Michael, Bryan, any of them would have won last season, possibly the season before. Last season's winner probably would be sixth in this group. -----

http://www.popeater.com/2009/12/10/tom-colicchio-top-chef-interview-john-legend/

[kit]

Re: Tom's "Worst Season Ever"

Woah! What a quote. Do you think he's really referring to the caliber of the entire season or, um, just who ended up the winner? Either way, Dude, seriously, season 2? Is even Tom pretending that season never happened? Maybe he's just referring to the food that came out of the challenges last season, and less so the contestants themselves, because there was that whole midseason lull of incredibly safe dishes that drove him (and many of us) insane, so I could see how that could leave him feeling like it wasn't a good season...

[TxGriff]

I totally agree that Michael's peaks are higher than Kevin's in terms of complexity and difficulty. If they are both operating at 100%, Michael's food is going to be more intricate, more fine dining. I guess my point is that it doesn't make his food inherently better because appreciation is entirely dependent upon the perceptions and preferences of those eating the food. I know that is what you were referencing with your Craft vs. Jean-Georges analogy, but my point is that Kevin still could have won against Michael's peaks if his food simply tasted better. Sometimes despite all the degrees of complexity and intricacies and various techniques used, one's overall enjoyment of a dish comes down to "this simply tasted the best to me, and it's what I would want to eat again". This also varies on who is judging the food, what they value in terms of food, and the perception of what constitutes winning a title such as "Top Chef" (in other words, if the "best" meal is defined by execution, flavor, complexity, etc). So, even if the judges appreciated the complexity of Michael's food more and thought it was executed at a higher level than Kevin's, if Kevin has created a meal that simply tasted better and was more satisfying, I don't think there would be a clear answer about who would win. So, I'm not arguing that Kevin's food is on the same level (conceptually) as Michael's. My point is that if both chefs operate at their best, the proclamation that one style would inherently be considered the clear winner over the other is largely dependent upon who is making those judgements. I do think that, with this panel of people and the skill levels of both chefs, Michael would have won even if Kevin was operating at his best, simply because the judges were looking for that extra level of refinement in the finale. It's difficult to say for sure though, and I suppose we will never know. I hope that clarifies what I meant.

[kit]

The interview Gilmore posted is particularly apt for Osuprof's analogy comparing Kevin and Mike to Craft and Jean Georges respectively:

Question: Between the finalists, whose food would you most like to eat?

Tom: Interesting question. They're all very good. I find when I go out to eat I like simple stuff ... I think Kevin's food.

[Krazikarl]

I dont think that I buy the theory that complexity is necessarily going to be that heavily weighted in the final decision, especially with Tom as the most important voice on the judging panel.

But in any case, I think that you have to differentiate between complexity of flavors and complexity of technique. While there is no doubt that Michael uses more complex techniques, its not nearly as clear cut in terms of the flavors. Kevin's dishes were repeatedly and consistently praised for having great complexity of flavors despite relatively simple appearances. So characterizing his flavors as that much less complex than others might be a mistake (hard to say though without having tasted the foods).

Because of this, I dont necessarily think that Kevin's food is all that much easier to make. Getting good and complex flavors out of few ingredients is a very difficult thing to do I would think (I'm no chef myself).

In the end it might very well come down to personal preferences, and with Tom's voice being so strong I really have a hard time believing that things are biased that much against Kevin's style.

[twelden]

Osuprof, your diving analogy is interesting. As Krazikarl noted, however, when it comes to food, "complexity" is about more than just visible technique; it is also about flavor. Thus, we don't really know how "complex" Kevin's food is since we did not taste it, though there were comments throughout the season that his flavors were very varied and complex. In the final, for example, Tom raved about one of Kevin's dishes (can't remember which one now because its been a couple of days), stating that every time he took another bite, he tasted new flavors that built on what had come before. That sounds fairly complex.

It’s also worth noting that Mike V. has backed off comments he made about Kevin's food being "simple". In one of the threads here, someone previously linked an online discussion with Mike and Bryan in which Mike V acknowledged that he made his comments re: Kevin's food being "simple" based on how it looked (I guess the contestants rarely get to taste each other's food) and that once he had a chance to taste it, he realized the complexity of flavors Kevin's food possesses.

In the end, I don't think we can say with certainty that, if both Michael and Kevin brought their "A" game, Michael would win because, though Michael's food might be visually or technically more advanced, Kevin's flavors might (and note I said might) be more complex, or simply more appealling, allowing Kevin to prevail. Alas, it doesn't seem as if we got Kevin's "A" game since he has admitted being (understandably) distracted due to his personal life.

[twelden]

One more thought: the "Craft" v. "Jean-Georges" comparison seems a little unfair. Not all so-called "fine dining" experiences are built on complexity arising from technique. Le Bernadin, for example, delivers such an experience using the best ingredients and layered, complex flavors, but with a minimalist bent. So, there is no one way to describe a "3 star Michelin" experience. And is it so far-fetched to think that Kevin, who outlasted Eric Ripert's hand picked executive chef and prized Top Chef recruit, might one day acheive with his new Southern cuisine what Ripert has with seafood? (Disclaimer: I am not comparing Kevin to Eric Ripert or Kevin's restaraunt to Le Bernadin. I'm simply noting that saying "Kevin is Craft" seems to underestimate his ability and potential.)

[Scott Lin]

I know I've come late to the party of complaining about this episode. Like others, I'm annoyed at this episode. It seems like Tom went away from letting them cook their food like he was so proud about in previous seasons and decided to just throw a real curve ball. That's fine. I think the box challenge is definitely legit. I think because I feel that a top chef should definitely be all encompassing. Kevin, not knowing how to handle a mushroom (and a dessert as well), are definitely legit reasons to not be top chef. Just a disclaimer, I'm a huge Kevin fan.

But why throw the sous chef curve ball in there?

I was worried all week long actually about how they would solve the Robin situation since she was among the last three to be eliminated. I was hoping for either last seasons chefs, or professional ones. It's true that not every kitchen would have perfect sous chefs, but you know, you chose them. you hired them, or at least you've worked with them. Throwing Kevin into a lion's den without knowing what to expect and than worrying about and becoming angry with your sous chef is HUMAN NATURE. Tom, the brothers, anybody would've taken a hit from a sous chef that did 3 of the 22 preparation work (numbers might not be correct). On top of that Kevin had to continuously check on Preeti, BS. The biggest factor I felt would've been to the challenge would be Kevin not being able to prepare all the ingredients he might have wanted to. However, I felt that it was SOMEWHAT fair to allow two sous chefs because I think that way you have more of a chance to get at least someone who is good. The luck of the draw didn't end up in Kevin. Furthermore, what bothered me was how it wasn't talked about in Judge's table. Let us the viewer know how much it actually affected the dish.

Now comes my biggest annoyance. They eliminated Kevin right off the bat. That was the cruelest part of all. Thinking back, wasn't every season just announcing the winner? I'm not really sure. But this season in particular, brutal. Send someone home first and then announcing and glorifying the others but not Kevin who has been a competitor all this time? I honestly could not put how disappointed I am in Bravo into words. Even if he put out a bad meal, he already knew, but why would you end his run without any respect?

[Duffy]

Booting Kevin off might appear brutal, given previous shows where just the winner is named -- but after the brouhaha that continues to this day over whether Richard Blais was 2d or 3rd, perhaps Bravo decided to make it clear this year. Why was it any tougher on Kevin to be told he was in 3rd place than it was on Jen to be told she was 4th?

Also, does anyone else think that bringing the moms in was an underhanded trick? Wasn't it just to see if some sparks might fly? Or to introduce another emotionally loaded component totally unrelated to food and cooking??

[SorchaRei]

I think they brought the moms just so they could ask Mom V which first course she liked better. She was classy about it.

[Hiemdal]

Le Bernardin's food is known for looking simple but it requires alot of technique to fuse the flavors so perfectly. You can really taste the clarity of the subtle flavors. Additionally, each dish normally composes quite a bit of components where each requires different preparation. Remember how much difficulties the contestants tried to reproduce Eric's dishes. Even Stefan who achieved the replication of the flavor could not recreate the light texture.

I have eaten at Craft, Le Bernardin, and Jean George quite a few times. I agree with the analogy drawn about the style. Strangely when Tom was in Gramercy Tavern, his food seems to be more complex than his food in Craft. I remember loving Gramercy Tavern but was surprised by Craft. I would always rank taste being the most important. But since all 3 places serves really tasty food. I think the tie breaker would be what is considered more unusual and stimulating. From my personal experience, there are less places that can produce well execute complex food like Le Bernardin than the simplier food like Craft. The reason might be it is harder to make so many ingredients exist in harmony. Also, when executed improperly, a recipe with more complexity will taste worse than the one with less since more components will be out of balance.

[preferred nomenclature]

òste e còc,
I agree with your assessment with the sous-vide craze. (Did I miss something, is this the new scallop?) At the mention of sous-vide my mind veers off with visions of seal-a-meals and potato clocks.
It's petty bold to snark Toby's one liners and then follow up with the thing about "Padma's... bloated cleavage" Is there a word less sensual than one generally used to describe corpses, beached whales, egos.... but, what do I know, I'm just a woman with amuse bouche two ways

[SorchaRei]

Bocuse d'Or USA contestants announced, so Kevin can check out his competition: http://www.bocusedorusa.org/team.html

[dc]

Watched it again. I think the judges just expect more packed in each dish in this final, given it is the final, given extra prep time, 2 days, for 1 table, and extra set of hands to help. So Kevin overall did get dinged for less components, but not necessarily less complexity, because he delivers complexity in flavor. In the last 2 dishes, the brothers packed many components into 1 dish, whereas Kevin did not. If Kevin could do it gain, I'm sure he would be doing things 2 or 3 ways, as Tom's suggestion for his pork belly main, and be right up there in the running.

As has been trend all season, Kevin did best in the 'mom' dish where they where under QF type of restriction. Bryan, of no QF wins did worst, as all season. Bryan needs time to plan and strategize, which feeds into his more conservative style, while the other 2 can create on the fly, more on instinct. When the challenge was less time restricted, the brothers where able to create more elaborate, more components, especially in the desert. With Kevin, there was the hanging question, this is your final, where did your time go?

How would our 3 finalists do in TCM? I think they would all hold their own, and have a legit shot at the win. Like the "Masters", Kevin has mastered his style of cuisine and elevated it -- and he's only 26 yo! Bryan as well. They would fit right in TC Masters. Michael would still stand out, he is one of a kind, who has mastered a encyclopedic range of cuisines, and creates novel, never before seen, wow dishes.

Congrats Michael!

[kit]

Thanks for the link Sorcharei! I noticed it says the Bocuse D'Or US final is the first weekend in February. Between the Top Chef finale, the events in his personal life, and the fact he's probably still running his restaurant, I do hope Kevin has been able to create whatever space in his life he desires for preparing for it. Good luck to him!

[gilmore]

I wonder who Kevin's Commis will be. Bryan or Michael V.? Someone who has been involved before?

I hope he wins. I am sure he will be misunderestimated. His intelligence and time to prepare should let him shine.

[kit]

Another question regarding that Popeater interview with Tom:

Question: What would Bravo do to you if you ever gave spoilers for 'Top Chef'?

Tom: I could be fined up to a million dollars and be sent to jail. Cooking in prison is not what I want to do.

Ok fines I get, but jail? Was he just kidding, or is there some part of the criminal code about messing with reality shows?

[Kyle]

Didn't get to watch the finale until last night so I'm a little late with my opinions. And I want to get right out in front of the fact that I am an unabashed Kevin fan (I'm a born and raised southerner living in New England and everything he prepared and served always made me a little homesick).

That being said, I echo the disappointment in the finale, but my problems were in the following order:

1. Kevin being told he was third and asked to leave before the winner was announced. It was an obvious ploy by the producers to make the final a family ordeal and it was disrepectful to Kevin (and any other contestant in that position) as it implies that he wasn't worthy enough to stand until the end. It implies it was a culmination of a Mike vs. Bryan season long battle and that Kevin was just an afterthought. If it had been a Jen/Mike V/Kevin final with no brotherly angle, I'm pretty sure that they would not have told the third place chef to leave the room.

2. I was left with the overall impression that no one cooked a very good meal. The comments from the judges/diners that we were shown really tended to focus on the negative aspects of the dishes rather than the positives. And yes, of course, there were positive comments about aspects of everyone's food, but I wish that they had edited it such that everyone did really well and it was hard to chose a winner rather than everyone was kind of mediocre and we chose the best of the mediocre. Of the 12 dishes that were made, only four left a lasting positive impression for me (Kevin/ appetizer, Mike/mystery box, Brian/venison, Brian/desert). Apparently Mike's squab was better than the venison, but I didn't get that impression from the show. I guess my overall feeling was that I didn't really want to try most of the food that was plated and that is a disappointing way to end a season with such high caliber chefs. Was I the only one that felt this way???

3. The sous chef thing, nothing new to add.

[Shelly]

Commis have to be under the age of 22.

[SorchaRei]

Kevin being told he was third and asked to leave before the winner was announced. It was an obvious ploy by the producers to make the final a family ordeal and it was disrepectful to Kevin (and any other contestant in that position) as it implies that he wasn't worthy enough to stand until the end.

There's been on-going controversy about Season 4. Lisa goes around telling people she was a clear second place finisher, but Ted Allen (one of the judges) has posted in more than one place that this simply is not true. However, there is no way to shut her down, when no clear hierarchy was exposed in the broadcast version of the show.

It sucks to be Kevin, but I frankly think it's better for the show overall to do it this way.

[òste e còc]

Preferred Nomenclature:
I had already used "swollen" to sensually describe Gail's bosom last week.

[jse91]

SorchaRei -

I doubt that the reason Kevin was dismissed had anything to do with Season 4 and Lisa. In fact, I think the producers like that kind of controversy - keeps people talking. I just think they like the dramatic element of it coming down to two brothers more. That is why it is disrespectful to Keven. If one of the brothers V. had not made it to the final, I don't think they would have identified third place.

[Mer Z]

My issue is not with eliminating the third place contestant, but with how they told Kevin. They make it seem like he won, which is a little cruel and embarrassing. Why couldn't Padma say, "I'm sorry, but...Kevin you are NOT Top Chef?"

Accomplishes any goal they need to.

[SorchaRei]

Yes, I agree that they way they told Kevin was bad. However, I am still glad that they told him. Not that Kevin would run around insisting that he was second in a way that thoroughly dismissed the other non-winner, but who knows when they might have another Lisa in the finals?

[Duffy]

There is this possibility, too, given the argument posted that packing Kevin off was just a Bravo ploy to dramatize the brother against brother element, that Kevin was 2nd and Bryan 3rd. It is just not clear that the judges ranked them at all, other than to select the winner.

All Padma said was that Kevin was not the winner. I know, we assume from other comments by the judges that if Bryan wasn't the winner, he had to be 2nd -- but given that JT was hours and hours and we only saw a selected few minutes, all of this could just be the elve's take.

[suzanne]

Anyone watch tonight to see who was fan favorite? Yeah, me neither.

I did manage to check the Bravo site -- no word there. Anyone know who won? I'm thinking Kevin, with Jen or Brian as other strong possibilities.