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S22.E14: Finito

ProudMary

By ProudMary
in Top Chef

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Bastet

Bastet

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(edited)

For all their talk at JT, there was no chance anyone other than Tristen won -- it was all fantastic food, but not one of his dishes had a single technical misstep (Blais didn't like the dessert - who cares - and Kristen wasn't sure, but she was damn impressed; nothing went wrong, it came down to personal taste), while one of Bailey's did and two of Shuai's did.  And his menu was the best progression and was him on a plate throughout.  He met every aspect of the challenge beautifully.  Great job by everyone - I wanted all the food - and especially him.  I love how Gregory immediately connected to what he's doing by showing Afro-Caribbean food belongs at fine dining tables.  It's a victory for more than just Tristen and I love that.

"It's just jiggly enough -- like me."  Shuai's self-deprecating comments have made me laugh all season.

Tristen's mom's reaction when he called to say he won also made me smile.

Edited by Bastet
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buttersister

buttersister

I'm happy for all of them, but never had a second of doubt all episode.

i even  started liking Bailey, which I did not see coming. Yusho was a great restaurant. But I had to laugh just a little when she got dinged for cooking a Sara dish. 

Hope that the cash he won and the exposure helps Shuai's two places--sounds like they need it. It was moving to hear him talk about being inspired as a chef again.

But happy for Tristen, who sacrificed a lot for this moment. Hope he's able to make the most of his well-deserved win.

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Tess23

Tess23

This episode gave me all the feels that have been missing the past few seasons (except for World All Stars). I would have been happy if any of the three won. Bailey has really grown on me this season - she's such a quirky little soul. Of course, the insufferable Sara is the inspiration of her downfall dish - ugh. 

Really great cooking across the board. It's been a fun season.

  • Like 15
Daisychain

Daisychain

4 minutes ago, rlc said:

Happy for Tristen, and it was a well-deserved win, but surprisingly I found myself routing for Bailey this episode.

I did feel like she was having a come-from-behind story!  I really enjoyed this finale.  At the end I was thinking, "why is no one crying?" And then there were tears.  Very happy for Tristen, he really hung in there.

The moment when Tom did airplane-arms out of the kitchen was the most whimsical I've seen him in many years of watching this show!

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Daisychain

Daisychain

2 hours ago, catrice2 said:

Greg  is one chef whose food I would like to taste and I am glad he was there to see Tristen win. 

My son lives in Portland OR, I am in Chicago.  Periodically we try to get into Kann, no success yet.  Forch for when I am in Portland, the food truck scene is epic.  I have had such great food and experiences with that.  One time we were having BBQ early on a Sunday, and this little kid from the next table decided he didn't have enough room for his coloring books and he just moved over to our picnic table, was warmly welcomed!  His parents were closely supervising :-)

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bravofan27

bravofan27

I was kind of hoping for an upset, but it would have been weird if Tristen didn't win since he has been nailing every challenge after Restaurant Wars, and maybe even before that. He understands fine dining and he's really intelligent, so he can replicate any dish using ingredients that are less utilized and make it work perfectly and give the judges something they haven't had before but is still familiar to them.

Shuai's soup with one big dumpling was strange. Not sure what he was thinking there. 

Some of Bailey's food looked weird to me.

  • Like 4
marybennet

marybennet

(edited)

What a hard task it must have been for Tristen to keep going (let alone do well) after his father’s death.  I can’t even pretend:  that’s not you crying; it’s me crying. 

So impressed by all three, and I liked all three. It really was (to use somebody’s word) a banger of a season. 
 


 

 

Edited by marybennet
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PhoneCop

PhoneCop

I’ll admit it—I was thrown off by the recent uptick in Shuai’s edit and thought he might take it. But I’ve been in Tristen’s corner since Week 3 or so, and if this wasn’t the Tristen/Katianna/César finale I hoped for back then, I’m happy with the three we got. I feel like both Shuai* and Bailey’s arcs consisted of them stumbling hard, then rediscovering their mojo and blossoming from there, only to be beaten by Tristen, who embraced his all along.

*So many people on the internet render his name as “Schuai” that it’s almost my headcanon spelling now. Pronounced skwhy.

Blais and his tryhard hair were given minimal time, so yeah, happy ending all around. 

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LennieBriscoe

LennieBriscoe

7 hours ago, bravofan27 said:

I was kind of hoping for an upset, but it would have been weird if Tristen didn't win since he has been nailing every challenge after Restaurant Wars, and maybe even before that. He understands fine dining and he's really intelligent, so he can replicate any dish using ingredients that are less utilized and make it work perfectly and give the judges something they haven't had before but is still familiar to them.

Shuai's soup with one big dumpling was strange. Not sure what he was thinking there. 

Some of Bailey's food looked weird to me.

100% concur.

I predicted Shuai, but it was eminently clear with each of the four dishes that Tristen was the consistent best. The way Tom marveled at his "risotto"! 

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susannot

susannot

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(edited)

An incredible season and well-deserved win by Tristen.  When insufferable Blais huffed "I don't want an effervescent dessert"  I yelled at my TV "Shut up Blais! " Why was he even there?  Fortunately he was counter balanced by Greg Gourdet who got what Tristen was about.

Edited by susannot
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Rai

Rai

Yeah, really, of all the people to complain about an "effervescent dessert," Mr. Liquid Nitrogen needs to can it. I guess Gregory and Blais are like a Top Chef yin and yang, but man, every time I catch any of Top Chef season 8, I think, "Here's the last time we're going to enjoy Richard Blais on Top Chef!"

Anyway, a wholly predictable outcome that was wholly earned, and I still teared up. WTH. But the fact that Tristen held in his emotions except for the end of Restaurant Wars and here -- man, the impact. And his food sounded fantastic, of course. All three menus did! Tom has never gone to the kitchen to encourage them before! He really has no poker face, so it's nice when he's genuinely excited about the cheftestants.

Overall, this was an enjoyable season in that comfortable old shoes way Top Chef has become. I would like the chefs to get more precise criticism at times, and I would like Kristen to show more of the personality she gets to show on the Dish with Kish, but I'll be back for another season when it's ready. Can't wait to see Massimo surface on Food Network in Guy's Grand Hotel or whatever weird concept they'll throw at us next. Until then, Tristen made a strong journey from Chopped champion to Top Chef, and maybe he can round it out at the Bocuse d'Or, or maybe he can just become the celebrated chef he clearly deserves to be. Congratulations, dude!

  • Like 10
heatherchandler

heatherchandler

2 hours ago, susannot said:

An incredible season and well-deserved win by Tristen.  When insufferable Blais huffed "I don't want an effervescent dessert"  I yelled at my TV "Shut up Blais! " Why was he even there?  Fortunately he was counter balanced by Greg Gourdet who got what Tristen was about.

Oh I love Blais, I know he’s not the most popular.  His hair was stupid though.

  • Like 11
The Solution

The Solution

Yet another episode this season where I would have been ecstatic to eat some of everything. A well-deserved win for Tristen, who is one of my favorite cheftestants of all time (and I have been here since episode one season one).

12 hours ago, buttersister said:

i even  started liking Bailey, which I did not see coming.

Who knew? Permit me a little sexism and allow me to comment on how beautiful she looked at the night-before dinner. She cleans up nice!

Blais' new haircut? Well, at least he doesn't have to go to the trouble of telling people he's a douchebag anymore. Now if we could just get him to actually stop doing it...

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ILuvShibaInus

ILuvShibaInus

9 hours ago, PhoneCop said:

I’ll admit it—I was thrown off by the recent uptick in Shuai’s edit and thought he might take it. But I’ve been in Tristen’s corner since Week 3 or so, and if this wasn’t the Tristen/Katianna/César finale I hoped for back then, I’m happy with the three we got. I feel like both Shuai* and Bailey’s arcs consisted of them stumbling hard, then rediscovering their mojo and blossoming from there, only to be beaten by Tristen, who embraced his all along.

*So many people on the internet render his name as “Schuai” that it’s almost my headcanon spelling now. Pronounced skwhy.

Blais and his tryhard hair were given minimal time, so yeah, happy ending all around. 

The editing this season made it clear that it was Tristan or Shaui who would win. Bailey was an also ran. She made it to the finale because someone made (twice) a slightly worse dish in the judges’ minds. She was quirky but this did not translate into dominating with win after win like the other two. This was Tristan’s to lose almost from the get go. 

  • Like 2
meep.meep

meep.meep

Hurray for Tristen!  I think if they had given it to one of the others, the restaurant owner would have gone postal on Tom, Kristin, and Gail.  He loooooved everything that Tristen put out.

Funny that they seated Blais and Gregory as far as possible from each other.  Does Blais have some blackmail on someone to explain why he keeps getting asked back?  Substitute Buddha instead - he's won twice after all.

  • Like 13
carrps

carrps

11 hours ago, bravofan27 said:

Shuai's soup with one big dumpling was strange. Not sure what he was thinking there. 

It wasn't a soup with a dumpling. It was a soup dumpling. He didn't have enough soup in his dumpling.

11 hours ago, bravofan27 said:

Some of Bailey's food looked weird to me.

Yes, that was her plan. 😉

Based on the judges comments, it looked to us that Bailey came in second to Tristan. She had fewer dings than Shuai. But they don't name a second or third place, so it really doesn't matter.

4 minutes ago, meep.meep said:

Substitute Buddha instead - he's won twice after all.

Nah, Buddha gets on my nerves too.

 

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Daisychain

Daisychain

Milan looked beautiful and the architecture looked insane.  I've only been to the train station.  Many years ago, my daughter and I were there -- I wanted to try to see the Last Supper, but we had bought this really unbalanced duffel bag that was impossible to lug around.  So we got onto the train down to Florence, on a Friday - when people are heading home for the weekend.  

Despite having consecutive seat numbers, we were as far away from each other in one row as you could get.  So all the other people got up and hustled us into 2 seats across from each other, sharing the same table.  We promptly passed out, and when we woke up, we had 2 of each snack from the rolling cart lined up for us.  

It makes me love the Italians and the Milan-Florence train to this day.

So if we could lose Blais and Buddha (I have more tolerance for Buddha), who would we like to judge?  Melissa King obvs comes to mind, but we don't see her on the show much.  Stephanie I love.  Now that I'm writing this, more ladies from latter seasons.  

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Bastet

Bastet

(edited)
4 hours ago, dleighg said:

But there wasn't any explanation of how the sous chefs were offered or chosen.

From the way Kristen said it, it seems they had simply been asked - during the time off between regular episodes and the trip to Milan - who they wanted.  That's the easiest way to do it, so you just fly those individuals over.

4 hours ago, carrps said:

Did Cesar leave Milan after he was eliminated last week? It seems mean if he was. But if he was there this week, I can't imagine they'd have spent the money to fly him back and forth.

I assume he stayed, as that's how it has happened in the past in similar situations.

Edited by Bastet
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jpgr

jpgr

Oh how I wept when Tristen finally let it all out. I absolutely cannot fathom how he maintained his composure between Restaurant Wars and the finale. Not just at the loss of his dad, but the inability to go home to be with his mom and other family.

To echo a few other thoughts here:

Who knew I would grow to really like Bailey?

Tom's airplane arms out of the kitchen was so charming and fun.

I need to visit Milan! I've only been to the airport.

A really great end to an enjoyable season.

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caitmcg

caitmcg

58 minutes ago, Bastet said:
3 hours ago, carrps said:

Did Cesar leave Milan after he was eliminated last week? It seems mean if he was. But if he was there this week, I can't imagine they'd have spent the money to fly him back and forth.

I assume he stayed, as that's how it has happened in the past in similar situations.

And of course, in reality it was probably only a couple of days between Cesar being eliminated and the finale dinner being cooked.

28 minutes ago, jpgr said:

Oh how I wept when Tristen finally let it all out. I absolutely cannot fathom how he maintained his composure between Restaurant Wars and the finale. Not just at the loss of his dad, but the inability to go home to be with his mom and other family.

I thought it was touching that, after encouraging him to stay on, his mother and family delayed the funeral until he returned from Canada for the couple of weeks between that and jetting off to Milan for the finale.

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dleighg

dleighg

They didn't really highlight it in the showing, but didn't Lana sort of screw up the cook of the fish? (I know that Bailey said not to undercook it, and I also know that they felt that the dish didn't feel "Bailey").

So it's probably fair that they didn't pin it on Lana.

It seemed like Bailey got back into her "impostor syndrome" for that dish, which is unfortunate.

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Daisychain

Daisychain

On 6/13/2025 at 1:43 AM, PhoneCop said:

Blais and his tryhard hair were given minimal time, so yeah, happy ending all around. 

My son and I were simulcasting (sp?) an old episode - Richard had at least for sometime a very nice, wavy haircut.  I don't know when if before that changed for the gelled spikes.  Each to their own however, if someome told me my hair is white and I should dye it, I would consider and discard the idea.

I do like Richard, he's been around this whole showtime.  I just think his honest and thoughtful comments are better than sometimes things that sound like sound bites.  Or maybe sometimes the judges don't have time to say something nuanced.  I like learning from the show more than bon mots. 

  • Like 4
bravofan27

bravofan27

Richard has been sporting that extra long (high) spikey hair for a long time. Hey, he has hair, many men his age don't. He can play as much as he wants. LOL.

I read an article saying that Tristen is making African food  a new part of "New American" that makes a lot of sense. I personally LOVE injera. I would love to see it on more menus. 

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30 Helens

30 Helens

On 6/13/2025 at 6:44 PM, dleighg said:

They didn't really highlight it in the showing, but didn't Lana sort of screw up the cook of the fish? (I know that Bailey said not to undercook it, and I also know that they felt that the dish didn't feel "Bailey").

So it's probably fair that they didn't pin it on Lana.

It was Bailey’s decision to have Lana cook the fish, so that was all on her. Even Lana said she would never let someone else cook her protein, and she was right.

On 6/13/2025 at 10:55 AM, dleighg said:

His deconstructed-reconstructed oxtail was a brilliant move.

I take it you’re referring to Blais’s hair?

  • LOL 12
Daisychain

Daisychain

(edited)
On 6/15/2025 at 7:42 PM, bravofan27 said:

I read an article saying that Tristen is making African food  a new part of "New American" that makes a lot of sense. I personally LOVE injera. I would love to see it on more menus. 

The best thing about this show is learning about new ingredients and cuisines.  There are so many dishes that come up that I don't know about, and would love to taste.  The first few seasons may have been a little familiar, it feels like there are a lot of chefs doing things I've never tasted.  The one exception is Ethiopian!  We used to live on 18th street in WDC, many years ago, and the Ethiopian food was such a treat.

Edited by Daisychain
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bravofan27

bravofan27

5 hours ago, dleighg said:

I'm still waiting to find out what his injera shrimp toasts were. It looks like he made little "tacos" with the shrimp paste inside and then toasted them in a fry pan on each side, but we didn't really get a close-up.

Tristen instructed Zubair to cook them like grilled cheese. There is a copycat recipe here:

https://www.relaxedrecipes.com/all-bakers-dishes/pollo-"dorengo"

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