top chef

The stage was set for a tumultuous ending for Top Chef Chicago. The top three finalists of Richard Blais, Lisa Fernandes, and Stephanie Izard drew some controversy, namely with Lisa’s selection over Antonia. But in the end, the rock solid Stephanie was named Top Chef. Watch as the winner is announced.

Stephanie’s win was definitely a safe ending to Season Four. Stephanie and Richard both performed well throughout the entire season, but both had their foibles in the finals. Surprisingly, Lisa appeared to have a very good shot at pulling out the win. She was serene during the prep session and wasn’t flustered when she lost her sous chef. The judges liked her dishes while Stephanie and Richard’s menus had their highs and lows. Lisa’s menu was more consistent, but I think her attitude and character shown through the series was her ultimate downfall.

Even though Top Chef is about making great dishes, character of the chef makes a Top Chef. So the even keeled, mostly non-emotional Stephanie is a deserving winner. Congratulations.

First a female (Kristi Yamaguchi) wins Dancing with the Stars. Now Stephanie is the first female Top Chef winner. Is a female winner of Top Chef Junior next?

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The Top Chef top four were whittled down to three in the start of the finals in Puerto Rico. The finals picks up months later with the four top chefs reuniting for the showdown. All I can say is that they were livin’ large during the time off. Most of them picked up a pound or two “honing their culinary skills.”

Anyways, as usual, Stephanie and Richard were the favorites leaving Antonia and Lisa on the cutting block at Judges’ Table. Who was eliminated? None other than -S’s favorite, Antonia, for undercooked beans. Watch as Padma delivers the news.

But more disgustingly, watch as Lisa bags on Stephanie and Richard for not congratulating her on making the finals. Our household has made the stand to drop Top Chef from our television lineup if Lisa wins.

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And then there were four, four finalists for Season 4 of Top Chef. Who are the four going to Puerto Rico? Stephanie, Richard, Antonia, and lastly, Lisa. The controversial but survivalist Spike was ousted in the last competition before the finals.

I got to admit that Spike knew how to play the game. He knew when to shine, and he knew when to duck for cover. He was versatile, running the front of restaurants but also contributing in the kitchen. He can cook but inexperience at his young age might have been a factor.

So other than Lisa, I have no qualms about the final four. Yes, I still think Dale should be in the finals, but all you potential Top Chef contestants out there know this – don’t be an Executive Chef for Restaurant Wars. It just doesn’t pay off. If your team loses, you’re out like Dale and Tre from Season 3. Even if your team wins, the Executive Chef doesn’t necessarily get individual honors. Stephanie won the Restaurant Wars competition even though Antonia was the Executive Chef. Just don’t do it.

Back to the finalists. Stephanie’s probably going to win. She’s the rock of the competition, rarely showing emotion. Wait, here she is getting excited.

Richard could win but has been a little inconsistent of late. Antonia makes “insightful” dishes as described by Judge Gail Simmons. Lisa… I don’t know. But what I do know is seeing the last three Top Chef winners as guest judges emphasized how unmemorable this year’s chefs are. Harold, Ilan, and Hung – now there’s a trio of memorable personalities.

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The return of Restaurant Wars on Top Chef brought about a big loss with the elimination of Dale, the only Asian on the show. As Executive Chef of Mai Buddha, Dale was dismissed for his failure to bring together a team and deliver great dishes. Even though the Asian fusion restaurant had the strongest chefs trained in Asian cuisine, nothing came together.

Personally, I liked Dale’s style bringing kicks to the kitchen, first with his Air Jordan III in the Top Chef promo and always rocking them blue Air Max 1 (?, never got a good look at them). He usually did well in the competitions, but when it came to teamwork and elevating the performance of his teammates, Dale was like MJ in his early days. When Jordan came to Chicago, he dazzled and bewildered with his offensive abilities. Similarly, Dale’s individual creations were tasty and imaginative. But over the years, Michael came to understand that he couldn’t do it alone. The play of his teammates were vital to success and only being an offensive weapon was not good enough. Michael began to trust in his teammates and got them involved. MJ also diversified his own game adding tenacious defense to his unstoppable offense.

That’s where Dale fell a little short. In Wedding Wars, Dale did everything instead of finding ways of getting the team involved. While he sought input from fellow chefs, Lisa and Spike, in Restaurant Wars, Dale couldn’t get a team effort going. Everyone’s individual agenda overruled the success of the team. In the end, there was no cohesive menu complemented by Dale’s signature taste and style.

The format of the finals for this season changed a little with the inclusion of the top four chefs. Previously, it was the top three chefs. With five chefs remaining, I have issues with Lisa and/or Spike making the finals along with Richard, Stephanie, Antonia, and the now eliminated Dale. Richard and Stephanie belong in the finals. I picked Dale to be there. Antonia’s been solid in competitions dealing with fundamentals but her high end stuff has been kinda weak. Lisa is too angry and recalcitrant to make the finals an enjoyable event. Spike? He more weaseled his way this far on the show, not really standing out. Yep, Top Chef Chicago is becoming more and more unmemorable.

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The playa hatin’ goes on on Top Chef. This year’s chefs pretty much hate each other. Only Stephanie and Antonia seem level headed, but they’re also pretty boring. Richard is just quirky.

This week, Andrew, the guy who swears a ton, was sent home doing a healthy, faux sushi roll for Chicago cops. The bottom three of Andrew, Spike, and Lisa went at each other while Dale racked up another win. I thought Top Chef would have needed security to escort Andrew out but he admittedly went quietly.

Head Judge Tom Colicchio was The Master of the show, putting these contending chefs in their places with some poignant but accurate comments. When the bottom three each went ballistic defending their dishes, Tom’s retorts shut them up faster than a biotch slap upside the head. Tom rocked and was the highlight of this hour.

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The perennial favorite Top Chef challenge, Restaurant Wars, got a change up this season, converting to Wedding Wars. Top Chef teams catered wedding dishes according to the tastes of the bride and groom, but for the groom’s team, Wedding Wars broke down into flat out war.

The team of Dale, Lisa, Nikki, and Spike never gelled and was easily the losing team. The current Chefs admitted to watching previous seasons of Top Chef, but Nikki must have missed Restaurant Wars from Season 3. That’s the one where Tre, the Executive Chef for the team, was eliminated for not acting like the Executive Chef. Even with her Italian food expertise, Nikki didn’t guide the team to victory preparing Italian dishes for the groom. You know Head Judge Tom Colicchio ain’t down with Executive Chefs not stepping up.

The groom’s team was an eclectic crew, and I need to get video footage as they stood at Judges’ table. Their body language was a telltale sign. Dale went ballistic for right or wrong, Lisa was her bitter angry self, Spike didn’t help the mix, and Nikki simply went along for the ride.

Although I must say this episode was probably my favorite of this season. The Quick Fire and Wedding Wars were interesting challenges. More time was spent showing the personalities of the chefs although none of them are still fan favorites. In fact, I think most of the chefs really dislike each other more than other seasons.

The show’s producers must realize this lack of fan support as well. How else can you explain the recent “What is Padma Wearing?” addition to the Top Chef website? How does this improve the culinary aspect of the show?

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The pride of Los Banos, Ryan Scott, was sent packing from Top Chef, eliminated for bringing California flair to a Chicago Bears tailgate party. His non-traditional tailgate dishes didn’t wow the judges, but he did seem to be a fan favorite after working the crowds with his metrosexual charm.

But in the land of da Bears, tough defense, and Rex Grossman as QB, flair got no place. While Ryan’s been shaky throughout the season, I thought he might be making a turnaround after a pretty good showing in Episode 4 Film Food and doing well in Episode 5’s Quick Fire challenge. I thought Nikki was going to go after she ran out of food for the judges and seemed to not make an effort with her sausage and peppers dish.

This episode was a little amusing but still the overall season is pretty boring. I don’t know if this year’s chefs are keeping themselves reserved or if they’re all ultra competitive, not wanting to show any flaws. But there’s not much to engage the viewers. Even continual winner Stephanie isn’t exciting to watch. Though she keeps winning or being in the top, there’s nothing there making me root for her.

For the remaining chefs, here are some inspirational words from Chicago legend, Michael Jordan.

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Episode 5, The Elements, of Top Chef finally brought some heat to the tepid series although a little awkwardly. The competitions were okay, and all you got to know is that half of the lesbian couple, Zoi, was eliminated. The heated fun came after Zoi was told to pack her knives as tension boiled over in the “stew” room.

And I say awkward since it seems like the show’s producers added this segment just to add conflict and controversy. To me, it didn’t really fit the natural flow since the show was over for all intents and purposes. But still it was fun to watch…

Here we go!

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While I am a fan of BravoTV’s Top Chef reality cooking show, this season has been somewhat unmemorable for me. Season 4 is supposed to present the most talented competitors to date, and maybe that’s a related issue? After four episodes (I missed the Zoo Food episode), I can’t really remember the contestants. But I can describe them.

There’s the guy with funky hair, the guy that swears a lot, the other cocky guy who always wears a hat. There’s the lesbian couple, and oh yeah, Dale who I remember since he wears mad kicks. The bald guy was sent packing in Episode 3 Block Party. The Hispanic guy just got the boot. There’s the pasta girl and the hobbit guy, and of course Los Banos’ finest. There’s -S’s favorite and Middle America who keeps winning all the challenges.

Maybe after only four episodes, their personalities haven’t been showcased enough? Maybe since they’re all supposed to be talented, standing out is tougher? Whatever the reason, I can’t really relate or back any of the competitors. They’re just so unmemorable.

Where’s the Harold or Lee Anne? Or CJ or Dale? Where’s Hung or crying Dave? Where’s snooty Stephen?

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Top Chef Season 4 premiered this week with no effen flava left on the show. Sixteen chefs are going up in 24 challenges and after the first challenge, the flava’s all gone with Nimma packing up her knives. You’ve heard the phrase “variety is the spice of life” but the cast of Season 4 looks, well, blanched.

The third season of Top Chef featured a little more racial diversity with its crew. There was the winner Hung, brother man Tre, so-close-to-the-finals Sara, and the younger Sara N. Season 4 counters with Nimma, Filipino Dale, Manuel, and a ton of effen swearing, you motherfathers! No $h*t, I’m not counting the Grecian Spike.

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However, there is a some lifestyle diversity in the Windy City. Jennifer and Zoi are an outed Lesbian couple both in the competition, Mark is from New Zealand and represents all the Hobbit chefs of the world, and Erik is the laid back bad ass who would like to open up a “shack on a beach in Hawaii and cook in flip flops and aloha shirts. Andrew is the Marshall Mathers of the crew, cussing and swearing and bringing more white man hip hop than Justin Timberlake. Richard is the culinary scientist and of course, there’s Los Banos’ own, Ryan, who doesn’t know what chicken picatta is (well, neither do I but I’m not vying for the title of Top Chef).

Over the course of the season, I’m sure personalities and fan favorites will emerge, making the Wonder Bread complexion a little less noticeable. Based solely on their bios, I’m going with Dale. Check out his kicks in his bio’s pic – Dale’s rocking the classic fire red Jordan III. Now that’s a way to pay homage to Chicago’s own legendary Airness, Michael Jordan.

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While I haven’t seen the premiere episode of Top Chef, Season 4 Chicago, I understand chef Ryan Scott is from the FAT area, specifically Los Banos. Here’s a Fresno Bee article about Ryan Scott on Top Chef.

That’s pretty good if you’ve ever been to Los Banos. I always remember Los Banos as the town that you have to drive through to get to the Gilroy Outlets and the Bay Area. Seriously, the main highway goes through the center of Los Banos where many visitors make pit stops. Here’s a popular pit stop that I snapped a picture of in 2006.

Hope Ryan does well representing the FAT land.

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Season 4 of Top Chef starts today, March 12 on Bravo TV. Sixteen cooks chefs cook their finest in Chicago this season.

Where’s that Tivo when you need it?

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