S17.E14: Finito!

[FormerMod-a1]

Quote

The final three all stars face off in an epic Italian showdown to cook the meal of their lives in an effort to take home the ultimate title and prize.

Original air date: June 18, 2020

[FormerMod-a1]

I wish I could have eaten all the food!

[buttersister]

Oh, hell yes! Bravo, Melissa!

[Bastet]

YES, YES, YES!!!

Three terrific meals, resulting in agonizing, nitpicking analysis in order to determine a winner.  That is how the finale of an all-stars competition should be, and they lived up to that perfectly.

I was so afraid they were setting us up for a “Bryan learns how to cook with heart” victory that I was even more thrilled than I expected to be when Melissa won.  I think her ability to do Chinese twists on various cuisines is truly astounding.  (And, wow, I knew she’s a badass, but I didn’t realize she had – even before tonight – more wins than anyone in the show’s history.)

Tom just said on WWHL that Melissa's meal was pretty much the best thing they've ever eaten.  And it looked like it.

I don’t like beets, so Bryan’s first course did nothing for me, but I desperately wanted to eat Stephanie’s.  Melissa’s looked great, too.

Second course, everyone’s pasta looked delicious.  I don’t particularly care for traditional lasagna, but Bryan’s looked very inviting.  I was still more interested in the other two, especially Stephanie’s, but I’d have happily devoured all three.

Third course, I wanted to reach through the screen and grab Melissa’s dish.

Dessert, I think Melissa’s tiramisu is one of her best blendings of two cuisines.  And I don’t like coffee, so I’d like to taste it done with tea instead.  The other two looked very good as well.

What a terrific meal!

Tom, Padma, and Gail cooking them dinner was nice.

Stephanie’s reaction to getting first choice of sous chef is “Oh, fuck.”  I love her.  I’ve also always liked her friendship with Kristen, so it was cute to see that call.  I love how Kristen’s reaction was “I fucking knew it” rather than any sort of “OMG, you made it!”.  That’s a best friend.

[Thumper]

When Bryan said lasagna, I was all “kiss of death, “ but his looked great!

Great finale.  Happy for all of them.  Happy for Melissa.

[rhygirl720]

I really loved Padma this whole season.

So happy all of the chefs cooked an awesome meal.

All of the sous chefs did a great job with no drama.

I admit I teared up.

Melissa! is a  rock star.

 

[dgpolo]

I was literally going, I want Bryan to win, no I want Melissa to win, no I want Stephanie to win, repeat.

Happy for the winner, happy for all of them. Wish I could eat those desserts.

There is nothing under the spoiler tag, I somehow made it appear and now can't figure out how to get rid of it, sorry.

Was that a bacon and eggs scarf Leann was wearing at the beginning? Did she crochet it?

1. Spoiler

    

 

[Pilotman]

A nailed innovative style meal beats a nailed classic style meal. As I stated in the Parma thread, I can understand why the innovative won out.

I feel for Bryan though. Comes in second( I think that is where he was placed considering Stephanie's veal being overcooked) for the third time. But as he stated in the post-results interview, he is the only one to be able to get to the finals and come in 2nd consistently. That is an incredible feat. How many chefs have come back and had different results? Angelo has been the show three times and each time he placed lower and lower. Jen Carroll also a 3 timer, etc. I really hope he will have that lasagna on the menu at Volt when they reopen as I will definitely order it.

It was great to see Stephanie's story through this season. She put out the best food in Italy she has done in this competition. I am super happy for her to be able to have this experience being the dominant discussion now vs what she was going through prior to this. She absolutely should be proud of herself.

[Grundoon59]

I am thrilled for Melissa but could have been happy with any of the three winning.  As part of the Bravo marathon today, I rewatched the the family episode and these three chefs were the ones we saw being the most helpful to Lee Anne when her mother took ill - Bryan was literally helping support her mother, Stephanie almost immediately offered up her husband to help and Melissa came over very soon to offer assistance .  It's nice to see good karma paying off for them.

[bosawks]

Stephanie’s pasta always looks so, well, ethereal. I would love to try it.

Have we ever had a season where both Padma and Tom seemed to consistently be in such a good mood?

And dammit Malarkey I cant believe I ended up kinda liking you.

[anniebird]

I love Marcus Samuelsson but dude! Take off your damn hat at the dinner table.

Very happy for Melissa and she's the one I thought would win throughout this season but I would have been happy for any of them. 

When do we find out who won fan favorite?

And I had to add - I adored the crying butcher!

 

 

Edited June 19, 2020 by anniebird

[MerBearHou]

Watching WWHL with Tom and Padma is so interesting.  Andy asks some “gotcha” type questions but they’re answering almost all of them.  The Top Chef snobbery over Food Network is coming through quite a bit.

[Bastet]

1 minute ago, bosawks said:

And dammit Malarkey I cant believe I ended up kinda liking you.

He annoys me a lot, but, yeah, I thought he was a great sous chef.  (I think Gregory, who I figure Stephanie would have chosen if he'd been there - and who, incidentally, was, along with Melissa, Tom's pick when asked on WWHL who he'd choose as a sous if he was cooking in the finale - would have been a great one, too.)  He might have served Stephanie well by voicing his concerns about the veal cooking method, but I think on the whole his decision to just put his head down and prep/cook was the right way to go.

Speaking of sous chefs, Melissa is almost as good as just tuning Lee Anne out as she is at blending cuisines.  I got nervous when she seemed to let Lee Anne's input talk her out of remaking the sauce she thought was too sweet.  There was some commentary at the dining table that maybe it was a little sweet, at which point I really got nervous.  It was one of those "just a touch" things that wasn't even unanimous, but every little thing counts in a close competition.

[dbell1]

That was my favorite Top Chef finale ever. I liked all 3 chefs. I didn’t mind the sous  chefs, the diners were raving, there was no drama, judges were tearing up, and everyone supported each other. I don’t eat fish or red meat, but would have happily picked at the food and scarfed up all the desserts. 

We don’t need manufactured drama, we need more shows like this. I now want to buy a pasta attachment for my KitchenAid mixer. At its best, this show makes me want to cook. Bravo indeed. 😎
 

[avecsans]

So happy for Melissa, and I loved that she admitted she did it for herself. Good for her. I like when good things happen to good people. I actually thought that Stephanie might win based on her talking heads during the episode. She seemed very relaxed and happy. I agree with the judges that she has grown the most this season.

I am definitely not a fan of NotGail. She brings nothing to the show. I still miss Ted Allen. How great would it be to have Tom, Padma and Gail make dinner for you? Also, wtf is “world’s greatest female chef?”  How condescending is that?? Who decides, and is there a greatest male chef? 
I will miss Too Chef. Who knows when they will be able to film a new season? Not for a long time, I’m sure.

[MerBearHou]

8 minutes ago, avecsans said:

I am definitely not a fan of NotGail. She brings nothing to the show. I

Ditto here.  I don’t watch “What Would Tom Do” because of her.  

[Fostersmom]

21 minutes ago, MerBearHou said:

Watching WWHL with Tom and Padma is so interesting.  Andy asks some “gotcha” type questions but they’re answering almost all of them.  The Top Chef snobbery over Food Network is coming through quite a bit.

It was apparent when Tom was super quick to all but snap NO when Andy asked him if he'd ever cooked one of Ina's recipes and then called out Guy's show. 

[MerBearHou]

8 minutes ago, Fostersmom said:

It was apparent when Tom was super quick to all but snap NO when Andy asked him if he'd ever cooked one of Ina's recipes and then called out Guy's show. 

Yep, and Tom implied that he could out-cook Bobby Flay on just about anything!  Don’t you mess with Ina, Tom...

[buttersister]

Congratulations, Melissa on winning Fan Favorite, too! And thank you for donating that $10K to charities.

Best finale ever. Legit cook your best meal. Loved when Parma said, “no twists” with the tone of knowing what bullshit those twists are.

 All the finalists‘ journeys were special in their own ways. But Melissa is a super star. Very happy for her. And Stephanie, buona fortuna !

[akr]

Melissa's Hong Kong milk tea tiramisu recipe is up on the Food & Wine website: https://www.foodandwine.com/recipes/hong-kong-milk-tea-tiramisu

(Edit: part of this article: https://www.foodandwine.com/chefs/melissa-king-top-chef-season-17-winner-profile)

Edited June 19, 2020 by akr

[heckkitty]

I saw that coming as soon as Italian Chef dude started crying. I’m not mad though; I love Melissa & her food looks so interesting. My number one thing to try would probably have been Bryan’s dessert though; I’m a sucker for dark chocolate. Or anyone’s pasta. Because pasta. 

[xtwheeler]

15 minutes ago, MerBearHou said:

Yep, and Tom implied that he could out-cook Bobby Flay on just about anything!  Don’t you mess with Ina, Tom...

Ina keeps pre-made (homemade, of course, with the good... everything) daiquiris in the freezer that she just pops in the blender with booze. She's a goddamn national treasure. 

This was an incredible season. So little bullshit, so much amazing food. I enjoyed just about every second. 

Congratulations, Melissa! Congratulations to Bryan & Stephanie, too. Everybody won something--Bryan seemed to find peace & Stephanie regained her confidence, and essentially found herself again. They can all be proud of themselves as chefs and as people. 

[Souris]

I would have been happy with any of the three winning, but Melissa was my top pick, so I'm super thrilled. She is so creative. Tiramisu is one of my favorite things in the world, and I'm an absolute sucker for tea to an unhealthy degree, so I desperately wanted to devour that tea-ramisu of hers. (Thank you akr for linking the recipe!) To be honest, I want to devour all of those desserts. Sticky toffee pudding is amazing, and to paraphrase Gail, "I care about nothing except dark chocolate."

All the food looked amazing. Except for Bryan's beets, because beets taste like nothing except pure dirt to me, regardless of how wonderfully they're prepared. The pastas especially sounded fabulous.

I feel bad for Bryan to be runner up yet again. And he even got runner up on Fan Favorite too! That has to be wearing.

Sorry, Kristen,, but I want to be BFFs with Stephanie. I think she may have gotten the most out of the season of anyone. So happy for her that it put her in a better place after her grief and sadness, and built her confidence. Gail got so emotional over Stephanie's brother, twice, that I wonder if she's lost a brother, too.

Still sad Gregory wasn’t in the finale. But what a GREAT season! And a great finale.

I was text-watching with two friends, and one remarked that she had never in her life seen anybody as happy as that Italian butcher. He was so fab! I loved him. And then he got so emotional over Melissa's tiramisu. Seemed like such a lovely man. (And his shirt had little cows on it! It was the episode of fun clothing, what with that and LeeAnne's bacon-and-eggs scarf.)

[AntManBee]

It was probably the first finale I would be happy with anybody winning.  At the end, I really thought Bryan might take it, but Stephanie laid in on the self confidence story-line and thought.... ohh she learned from Malarkey and might pull this through (and I also love an underdog)!  But Melissa was a favorite all season and showed herself to be a thoughtful and worthy Top Chef.  That black bean dish was beautiful.  

 

As someone unabashedly hoping for a Stephanie shock win, I thought about this:   If Gregory was available, and Stephanie picked him, Bryan still selects Kevin, and Melissa is left with Malarkey.  Given her steadiness, I still think she wins with Malarkey's suggestions just as much as Lee Ann's.

 

Watching Watch What Happens makes it clear that Tom and Padma didn't see Stephanie as much of a contender.

[AntManBee]

52 minutes ago, heckkitty said:

I saw that coming as soon as Italian Chef dude started crying.

"Carne!" chef Dario Cecchini had such a terrible meal on Top Chef Kentucky, I am glad to see him enjoy what this show can be at it's best.

 

[Vermicious Knid]

Did seem like this season went on forever to anyone else? Congrats to all the finalists, but my favorite ended up being Stephanie. I'd eat Melissa's food, but would rather hang out with Steph.

Checked and the Aspen Food & Wine festival got cancelled for this year. Will Melissa get a different prize to make up for it, or have to wait for 2021?

[becauseIsaidso]

I scared the cat right outta my lap (have the claw marks to prove it) when I jumped up yelling "YES!!!"

I was biased in favor of Melissa from the start, so throughout the season I had to suffer with my self-inflicted sense of imminent sabotage/unjust PYKAGing, which made it all the more suspenseful. Then along came the surprise of Stephanie and I really didn't' know what to think, except that when the show started last night, I could have accepted Stephanie, but would have wondered how Melissa's clear advantage (in my eyes) could have been overlooked. Then came the crying butcher and that said it all to me. Especially with all the references to honoring the ingredients, soul, cook your food.

I was grateful for the lack of sous drama and the clear regard all three finalists had for each other.

I have never been a fan of  All-Star seasons (TC or PR, they have both pretty much sucked before now) but I think I'll rewatch this entire season as soon as I can.

And hope they can find a way to do a new season with covid in mind. The logistics would be mind-boggling, but if my favorite restaurant can reopen deliciously and within quidelines, I don't see why a controlled atmosphere wouldn't work for TC.

[Yeah No]

I was pulling for Bryan, but like a lot of us I would have been happy with any of them winning and I'm thrilled for Melissa.  Her food seemed next level to all of them and that is truly a great accomplishment on an "All Stars" season.  I understood how that Italian butcher could be reduced to tears by a dish - I cried eating Eric Ripert's food and that's no small accomplishment because no one else including Jean George, Daniel Boulud or Bouley or (insert famous chef here) could get that reaction from me.  Food can go beyond words to touch parts of your soul like nothing else can.  And if she can do that, she deserves to be Top Chef.

Poor Bryan, though.  Just his luck that this season included a "rock star" like Melissa.  LOL  I feel for him.  I did love the way Padma and Tom honored him on WWHL, though.  I do hope he comes back for another go-round, though, just because I love to have him on my TV screen.

One nitpick, and maybe it's just another example of someone not thinking about it, but when Melissa said on WWHL that she was giving all of her fan favorite money to charity, I was kind of hoping she would say that some of it would go toward helping restaurant employees affected by the pandemic.  I won't judge her for that omission though, because I don't know what she might do in the future.

Edited June 19, 2020 by Yeah No

[wlk68]

Still a wee bit disappointed that my boy Bryan didn't win but honestly I loved all of them and it definitely went to the most deserving chef. Melissa just rocked it. Outside of the salad fiasco at camp, she has been solid all season long. I've lost track of how many QFs and ECs she won but it has to be a record. 

Poor Bryan. A bridesmaid yet again. And no fan favorite for him either, after being in the lead right up until the end! *sigh*

But as he said, he made it to the final round three times and no one has ever done that. 

In the first course, I wanted to reach through the tv for Stephanie's crispy shrimp thing. 

In the second course, Bryan's lasagna looked amazing. Rich and meaty. 

There really wasn't much in the third course that spoke to me but I wanted ALL of the desserts in the fourth course.     

Happy to see Malarkey just put aside his ego and just be whatever Stephanie needed. He was kinda awesome. 

All in all, a very satisfying finale. I'm sorry to see it end. I wish we could just watch these three cook forever.   

Edited June 19, 2020 by wlk68

[AttackTurtle]

8 hours ago, MerBearHou said:

Yep, and Tom implied that he could out-cook Bobby Flay on just about anything!  Don’t you mess with Ina, Tom...

Amen.  I love Tom, but I have never made a bad Ina recipe.   I also recall hearing the likes of Anthony Bourdain admit that Ina is genuinely respected.  I couldn’t care less about Bobby Flay.

There was zero suspense after Melissa made the butcher cry with her tiramisu.   No way was she losing after that occurred.

Padma looked absolutely stunning on WWHL.

I do not understand why “Not Gail” was included at judges table.   It was completely unnecessary.

Poor Stephanie’s emotions are still so raw from her brother’s death.  I would have been a mess listening to her.

[jmcd44]

8 hours ago, avecsans said:

I am definitely not a fan of NotGail. She brings nothing to the show. I still miss Ted Allen. How great would it be to have Tom, Padma and Gail make dinner for you? Also, wtf is “world’s greatest female chef?”  How condescending is that?? Who decides, and is there a greatest male chef? 

I could not agree with all of this anymore. There is zero need for NotGail (although I loved her dress). And I was texting a friend saying "Best FEMALE chef? Why not chef?" 

I would love to have the judges cook for me. I love Tom in so many ways and him in the beanie just made it all the better. I didn't like him shading Guy though. He is a great philanthropist & does so much for charity. You never hear a bad story about him.  

7 hours ago, AntManBee said:

"Carne!" chef Dario Cecchini had such a terrible meal on Top Chef Kentucky, I am glad to see him enjoy what this show can be at it's best.

I do not remember that episode and now I need to go rewatch, because I was so charmed by him from the second I saw him in his suit to his crying. I also would be licking plates so thank you for representing me Dario. 

I was so happy Melissa won. I agree all the chefs were great and I like a show with no drama where people actually respect and admire each other (is this show really on Bravo?). Stephanie is sarcastic and low-key funny and I was so happy to watch her get more confident as the season went on. And I can't help it, but I ended up liking Malarkey. What is happening in 2020??

Edited June 19, 2020 by jmcd44
I had to defend Guy.

[Corgi-ears]

My god, I would have eaten Melissa's tiramisu so hard, and then probably cried in a way that would have made Dario the Butcher go, "Dude, take it down a notch."

8 hours ago, akr said:

Melissa's Hong Kong milk tea tiramisu recipe is up on the Food & Wine website: https://www.foodandwine.com/recipes/hong-kong-milk-tea-tiramisu

We got a shot of Melissa making the second batch of the tiramisu with milk powder, and it's  interesting to see the recipe confirm this. I wondered how she got hold of the powder in Italy, but I'm guessing she must have brought (been allowed to bring) some along. At dinner, Hunter Lewis, the Food and Wine editor, commented that her tiramisu need a layer of bitterness; Tom agreed and said something to the effect that Melissa should have "brewed the tea for longer." I'm glad he didn't find out or realize that she used a powder; he might have been a snob about it -- and undeservedly so, since HK milk tea pretty much tastes of all sweetened milk, no tea.

[dleighg]

8 hours ago, akr said:

Melissa's Hong Kong milk tea tiramisu recipe is up on the Food & Wine website: https://www.foodandwine.com/recipes/hong-kong-milk-tea-tiramisu

 

ooh I have to try that! My husband and I were in Hong Kong last summer and I loved HK Milk Tea!

 

7 hours ago, Souris said:

I feel bad for Bryan to be runner up yet again. And he even got runner up on Fan Favorite too! That has to be wearing.

 

I was rooting for Bryan also but Melissa earned it.

And I kind of cracked up that Bryan did beets. That man does love beets! And other root veggies. A couple weeks ago I mentioned here that I had roasted carrots with coffee dirt at VOLT-- and I even made that myself about a week ago, with a recipe from Michael V for.... coffee cardamon dirt! Another laugh when that's what he used in his dessert!

[LennieBriscoe]

Wow, couldn't have predicted that one!

Bwahahahaha!! I crack myself up.

No, seriously? Crying Italian Butcher was the deciding factor. 

I love Italian food, and I love Chinese food, but Melissa's combos didn't interest me. But that's just my basic palate. I can still appreciate her immense creativity.

Plus, I didn't see any cohesiveness to Stephanie's sequence. Sticky toffee pudding? Really?

I'd rather have eaten Bryan's four courses. 

But overall, throughout the season, Melissa showed her worthiness of being Top Chef. 

 

[dleighg]

25 minutes ago, LennieBriscoe said:

I'd rather have eaten Bryan's four courses. 

Me too; particularly his dessert. And I happen to hate those trendy shishito peppers.

 

[Pilotman]

8 hours ago, akr said:

Melissa's Hong Kong milk tea tiramisu recipe is up on the Food & Wine website: https://www.foodandwine.com/recipes/hong-kong-milk-tea-tiramisu

(Edit: part of this article: https://www.foodandwine.com/chefs/melissa-king-top-chef-season-17-winner-profile)

Whipped cream on the top layer? Nope nope nope nope!

The traditionalist in me is screaming. Tiramisu should never use whipped cream! Both layers should be the mascarpone cream. But never having Hong Kong Milk tea, maybe having two layers of mascarpone with the milk tea in it would have disrupted the balance of the dish. It's still an interesting dish that I would love to make and try myself and obviously the judges and guest chefs loved it. But having whipped cream as one of the layers just seems to cheapen it... I don't know.

[Rambler]

I have been rooting for Stephanie this whole season because I always root for the underdog (never had an underdog last this long before) however, for the finale, I switched over to Team Melissa. I just felt that she has been so dominant this season that for her not to win would have felt like such a letdown. I would still have been happy if Stephanie had won.

I absolutely did not want Bryan to win. I like him, but he has just been on Top Chef too many times after his first season, judging and whatnot. I have always had this funny feeling in the back of my mind that Richard Blais and Brooke Williamson were handed their titles as rewards for their judging appearances on Top Chef after their seasons. At least now I can feel a tiny bit better about the other two winning since maybe the fix wasn't in after all.

So congratulations to Melissa, you made the year a little less sucky for me.

[susannot]

I have to re-watch.  Did Melissa bake her own ladyfingers for the tiramisu?

[Ellee]

To my surprise I was all smiles, no sadness for the two remaining chefs.  I’ll have to root for everybody more often. 
 

 

[seltzer3]

8 hours ago, AntManBee said:

"Carne!" chef Dario Cecchini had such a terrible meal on Top Chef Kentucky, I am glad to see him enjoy what this show can be at it's best.

 

The Carne judge was such an interesting guy and did such a heel turn.  He entertained and freaked me out in Kentucky.  Dude just set Carne over and over, while sharpening his knives like a serial killer. 

Also loved how he just downs the plates, and shows off the empty plates to everyone.

Liked all 3, and happy for Melissa's win.  Was actually surprised Stephanie did a lot better in the finale, when I was looking at her dishes.  I was worried her's wasn't very cohesive (The greek phyllo shrimp dish, Italian veal dish, British toffee cake).

There was some weird editing.  Like when the judges first tried Melissa's dish, they were talking about how it was overly sweet and the sauce was overpowering.  Then at judges table, they said nothing but positive things about it.  So made me immediately realize that Melissa was definitely going to win.

Or when there was foreshadowing about Steph's veal dish going to fail, because the veal was going to be too dry.  So then there was redemption of Steph fixing the veal, only for it to be panned because it was disjointed and a mess.  Huh?

[Fostersmom]

I've been rooting for Melissa all season long, so I was so happy for her. She was the strongest all season long, so it would have been a travesty IMO if she hadn't won. Even before her dessert made the butcher cry, the reviews she's received from guest judges have been just above and beyond. How many times was she told her dish was Michelin star worthy by Michelin star chefs? That certainly doesn't happen every season. It will been so interesting to see where Melissa goes from here. 

Stephanie's surge at the end was really interesting to watch. You could literally see where she basically flipped a switch on the way she approached her cooking. I wish her all the best.

I've never been a huge Bryan fan, I thought Michael was a better chef from the start. All season long, I've felt his dishes just came off as tired and dated. Imagine my surprise when he said last night that he gives his dishes a modern twist when he was talking about the Italian critique that his food was soulless. He might have been giving them a modern twist 10, 15, 20 years ago, but compared to what his brother and chefs like Melissa are doing, his cooking isn't modern anymore. 

[Fukui San]

Not much to say but awesome finale with great food.  Three clear visions of their culinary points of view. Any of these would have won many previous finales.

[Mellowyellow]

Melissa's menu was the one I would have ordered given a choice between all the menus. It was incredibly creative but not gimmicky.

This was the best top 3 ever and it was so nice to watch a finale and be super excited but not anxious about who would win.

Melissa is such a cool, calm and upbeat person. There is something so positive about her attitude (and not in a fake, trite way) that makes me feel happy whenever I watch her talking heads.

I did feel for Bryan. I think he put a lot of pressure on himself to win. I felt for him I really did.

Stephanie was awesome and I'm so thrilled she got to have this Top Chef experience after what happened in her previous season. I hope she's on her way to healing. There was a lot of pain evident whenever she mentioned her brother. 

[hula-la]

We have an very popular restaurant where I live, called Kissa Tanto, that is a fusion of Japanese and Italian. I haven't eaten there yet, as I can't get in. Melissa's menus sounded absolutely fabulous. Thank you @akr for posting the recipe for the tiramisu. I have some milk tea at home that I was going to use for another recipe, so I know what I'm going to make next weekend to celebrate the end of the school year!

Thanks to everyone who posted about WWHL. Living in Canada, we dont' get the US Bravo channel coincidentally watch Top Chef on Food Network Canada, so I rely on all of you to let me know what happens. This was a wonderful ending to a wonderful season. I wish all cheftestants the best with restaurants being able to open again sometime. There was so much talent amongst all the chefs, and it was bittersweet to watch, knowing that they aren't going home to share it with customers right now.

[CrazyInAlabama]

I loved every second of the finale.   I would have loved to try any of their dishes.    

Congratulations to Melissa, and also to Bryan and Stephanie.   It must be terribly hard to come in second and third, and they were still happy for Melissa. 

[Steph Sometimes]

Can Bravo auction off a lunch date with Stephanie and Kristen? I love them. And I will be using the word love a lot in this post.

Like many of you, I loved all three and was thrilled when Kevin was eliminated. Melissa was amazing and cool all season long and am so glad she won.  And she grew up in the San Gabriel Valley like me!

Malarkey was so...nice and helpful with Stephanie. Loved that. 

And just because I loved all three, I was hoping Bryan or Stephanie would take Fan Favorite to share the wealth. 

Speaking of the Bridesmaid Voltaggio, I had a feeling he wouldn't win, but I love him too. Loved him on his first season, loved him here. And speaking of his first season, I remember someone linking this little video so I thought I'd share it here. Just a little goofy thing with a little goofy appearance. 

 

 

[carrps]

30 minutes ago, Steph Sometimes said:

Can Bravo auction off a lunch date with Stephanie and Kristen? I love them. And I will be using the word love a lot in this post.

Like many of you, I loved all three and was thrilled when Kevin was eliminated. Melissa was amazing and cool all season long and am so glad she won.  And she grew up in the San Gabriel Valley like me!

Malarkey was so...nice and helpful with Stephanie. Loved that. 

And just because I loved all three, I was hoping Bryan or Stephanie would take Fan Favorite to share the wealth. 

Speaking of the Bridesmaid Voltaggio, I had a feeling he wouldn't win, but I love him too. Loved him on his first season, loved him here. And speaking of his first season, I remember someone linking this little video so I thought I'd share it here. Just a little goofy thing with a little goofy appearance. 

 

 

Loved that vid! Thanks!!!

[worleybird]

I kept thinking the crying Italian butcher was the one-time host of Sabado Gigante. (Don Francisco)

[rhygirl720]

Watching Tom on WWH he put Melissa in the top 15% of all winners which would be like top 3 ever. It sounds as if this competition was hers to lose and with her unflappable Zen mindset, she wasn't going to beat herself. Tom also said Melissa final dinner was his favorite ever. She really is just a Rockstar! This was my most favorite season ever!

[jackjill89]

Bryan's elusive Top Chef victory is like Michelle Kwan never winning an Olympic gold medal. Amazing at what they do, but someone comes in when it counts and does it a wee bit better for that circumstance.

Like a poster said above, Bryan is consistently great. He's come this/close three times. That is quite a feat. Other people have come back and done worse. It really does go to show how talented he is. 

Stephanie showed so much growth this season. I'm thrilled for her. She did a fantastic job and seems like a great person. 

Melissa has been a powerhouse and my early fave to win. I'm so happy she won because her food is so creative, but accessible. She is so chill and confident. Love her. 

This was my fave season ever. No huge douches. Just a little annoying... Malarkey. But while obnoxious, Malarkey is harmless and quite genial. I'm disappointed Kevin looked so bad. He was a fave coming in, but faded fast for me. I'm glad he didn't make the finale.

This finale was a celebration of great food. I honestly would have been good with any of them winning. This is how the show should be.