The Solution

Wow! I was so happy to see Maria get the win finally! Every single thing Team Kokoson put out I wanted to eat then and there, but still it was nice to see Maria get the win. Even after she was stressing about getting the restaurant set, she did say that almost out of thin air everything did come together. I was also really surprised to see Sara get the PYKAG. Dawn's dishes looked amazing as always, so I knew it wouldn't be her, but I thought Gabe and Chris's gaffes were each worse than Sara's. Hopefully Sara comes back from LCK. Quote of the series: "This dish is like a Grateful Dead concert - it needs more acid." Tom Colicchio for the win.

Heinz 57 just means that I have numerous ethnicities in my background. 😊

This is what I wanted to post but didn't want to offend other delicate flowers.

And I want to go on the record saying that I'm fine with Gabriel, but that I'm SO tired of the big deal that others are trying to make of it since I love Maria, Dawn and Jamie as well. It is what it is.

Hung was awesome too! He could have been part of a trifecta of awesomeness! (Maybe I should go to the track this weekend.)

Marcel and Spike are two of my all-time favorite cheftestants. I like to think they would have been buds if they'd been on the same season.

I still love all these contestestants and their comaraderie. Especially Dawn and Maria.

Sasha deserved to win this one and she did. Being a Heinz 57, in this case I prefer to see something Jews could eat vs the other and Sasha definitely prevailed rather than Avishar, but not by a whole lot. I think this is the most talented Top Chef cast by far, even over the fancy pants casts of previous winners.

This episode felt a little rushed to me. Maybe it's just that I'm bored in general and would have liked to see more of the background and preparation this week. I seriously don't dislike any of the contestants this season and that's a new sensation for me. That being said, Maria's goodbye to Gabriel was one of my favorite moments this season. It showed both her spiciness and her tenderness and it really seemed liked Gabriel is fond of her as well. Best wishes to Nelson.

I am both Italian American and Latino and I didn't see anything wrong with it, especially in the context in which Maria said it. She was clearly joking, and many of us with these backgrounds realize that we are all underdogs in America. Gabriel didn't seem horribly upset about it either. (Yes, it would have been different if a WASP had made the comment due to their still-privileged status in America.) I tend to see the complaining about Maria as a means of denigrating her. Sorry. I tried not to comment on this, but I think I have a viewpoint and am not liking what people are saying about Maria.

The right person won again. LCK and Top Chef in general are just not Kiki's venue.

I heard a lot of Spanish this week (I don't need the subtitles) and was hoping that Maria would win since she got so much air time. Glad she got some positive feedback since her food really does seem to be good. My Middle-Eastern parts loved the rose quickfire challenge. Dawn is a badass being confident in her popcorn. Jamie grew on me, but she was the right one to go.

I knew she was gone as soon as she said she was making chicken wings. ]

Mine's all Progresso (and Rao's now) so that would have been hard. Again, I'm impressed with the whole group and am loving all of them. I'll have to re-watch before issuing snark. SO much I would have loved to eat tonight.

I was just going to say that it's shallow and sexist, but Brittanny looked lovely tonight! Again, both dishes looked great and I'm happy to see Kiki get another shot (even though I'm sad to see Sasha's road come to an end). This is some group of contestants this season!

Gabriel (Tom Colicchio's former employee) was the one dinged for the "white" flavors. He did not appear in the bottom three and the dish looked good; it just wasn't terribly representative of West African cuisine.

I was actually pretty intrigued by that one. I think it was the Pinot Noir he said was in it.

We even know about buckeyes up here in Cle'eland!

After the quickfire, all the food in this episode looked absolutely delicious. I'm a Heinz-57 (Italian/Lebanese/Latino/ethnic Jewish with a lot of African American influence), so I enjoyed hearing both arroz con leche and bacalao mentioned in this episode. I need to spend more time with African cuisine because it looks like all my favorite foods. (I wonder if my lactose-intolerant ass can make arroz con soy leche because I miss it.) I loved that Blais was the one who said "this dish is too white." There's hope for him yet. Jamie has ceased to bother me - I think it's just awkwardness and producer machinations. Avishar's dessert looked amazing and I'm not a big sweets guy. I believe this is one of the most talented groups of chefs we've ever seen and the judges are making the right calls on the winners and losers, which must be difficult. Still love the camaraderie amongst this group.

I'm really liking this group of chefs. They seem to like each other pretty well too. Loved Maria and Nelson realizing they were speaking Spanish and feeling comfortable. I can relate. I thought it was awesome that Dawn could stand up to Gabriel and do it without a dramatic scene. Her food always looks good to me. (Not that Gabriel's doesn't). I'm already annoyed by Jamie's sound effects. Just put your hair in a pompadour like Blais if you need the attention that badly.

At the end, both dishes looked really good, but I would seriously order Roscoe's dish in a restaurant. Spent part of my childhood in Savannah, so the boiled peanuts get me every time.

I still remind Joe and Mika that they are donald trump's prostitutes every morning that I can stand to watch more than 5 minutes of this show. Robin Meade must love them!

I shouldn't watch this when I'm stoned. I swear I've seen it before. Not the first time this has happened.

Dorinda needs electroshock more than she needs a "life coach."

Granted, I haven't seen this show since the 90s, but when exactly did it become so abysmal? On what planet is this show funny? Hasn't Kate McKinnon been on this show since 1983? I know she's sixty if she's a day.