I was hoping that one of the contestants would use the plantain quickfire challenge to make mini jibaritos as a tribute to their time in Chicago. Though, I suppose they had little time to explore Borinquen or Papas!

Vital Information wrote:Something that's bugged me this year is that they've been forced to shop at Whole Foods, and for the most part, just do not believe that Whole Foods delievers restaurant quality food--e.g., only fish fillets. I've noticed a couple of digs by the cheftestants at the available raw, but it does seem like they've edited that out.

Yes, Bravo has gone to such extraordinary lengths to protect its "suppliers" on this show, the treatment of Tramonto seems tantamount to throwing him under the bus.

Something that's bugged me this year is that they've been forced to shop at Whole Foods, and for the most part, just do not believe that Whole Foods delievers restaurant quality food--e.g., only fish fillets. I've noticed a couple of digs by the cheftestants at the available raw, but it does seem like they've edited that out.

I didn't pay that much attention to the first 2 seasons of the show, but last season in Miami, the contestants were forced to shop at Fresh Market, similar to Whole Foods this year. I assume this is just another sponsorship deal. Actually, I'd be more concerned about the limited range of ingredients available at these places more than the quality.

As per winning the car, Richard's right on...

I watched his (non)reaction and turning to the s/o said, "yeah...I'd be the same way...I mean *you* could have it if you wanted, but (as a non-driver) I really couldn't give a shit."

I might sit in it and smell it awhile.

Then I'd try to sell it for something more useful.

I also thought Richard's car reaction was about right. I thought he showed gracious appreciation, combined with a bit of appealing taken-abackness, without jumping up and down like an audience member on Oprah. I know if it were me, unless I were driving around an old beater and in desperate need of a new car, I'd be saying to myself: "Oh great, now I owe $5000 to the government."

riddlemay wrote: I know if it were me, unless I were driving around an old beater and in desperate need of a new car, I'd be saying to myself: "Oh great, now I owe $5000 to the government."

And "How the hell do I get this thing back to the mainland?"

Stephanie will be on WGN radio on Saturday Night. She'll be on the Nick Digilio show during the second hour (I think), after 9pm.

His show is also released as a podcast in case people can't listen live.

Stephannie is also doing a live interview tomorrow at 1 through the Chicago Tribune's website.

Yay, Stephanie! The editing really kept me on the edge of my seat. Richard did choke, which was a bit of a surprise, although he has shown some of that sort of problem before. Lisa -- well, it was all about her, wasn't it? Love me, love my food. But Stephanie's ideas and execution were "top." Well done. I look forward to trying her new restaurant.

If it had gone the other way, they would have lost 75% of their audience for next season. I know I never would have watched again.

I'm thrilled

I did fall for the editing a bit, I have to admit. I kept thinking, ok, they just want me to THINK she won, but I was worried. And I agree w/Jaybo, I'm not sure I could've watched again if Lisa had won.

sweetsalty wrote:I And I agree w/Jaybo, I'm not sure I could've watched again if Lisa had won.

I told my husband -- not a fan of the show -- that if Lisa won, there would be a revolution.

Woohoo! Awesome!

jaybo wrote:If it had gone the other way, they would have lost 75% of their audience for next season. I know I never would have watched again.

Absolutely. Maybe even 80%. Lisa would have been the culinary equivalent of Taylor Hicks.

Kudos to the editors of the show who had me screaming and cursing at the Television at the mere thought of Lisa winning it all. You got me. In retrospect, I'll bet that Lisa is only about half as much of a witch as she's been presented on the show. Stephanie has said as much in her interviews; although she's so classy, she'd never say a disparaging word against anyone.

Congrats, Stephanie. You earned it! Way to shatter the glass ceiling. This should make us all feel better about Hillary.

Big contrats to Sephanie.

Our home has been cheering for her all season. We loved Scylla and hope she opens a new restaurant in Chicago.

Darren72 wrote:Big contrats to Sephanie.

Our home has been cheering for her all season. We loved Scylla and hope she opens a new restaurant in Chicago.

Looks like it is in the works, according to an interview she did with Joe Gray in the June 11 edition of the Chicago Tribune.

I was sorry to see Richard not deliver his best, and angry that Lisa was lucky enough to even be in the final, but I am thrilled about the outcome.

Way to go, Stephanie!

=R=

The to-do that the judges - particularly Gail - made over the Gorgon's tom kha soup was laughable. I bet that at least 30% of the participants on this board could make one as good, if not better, as it's about as simple as a soup can possibly get, if one has the required ingredients! I guess Thai food in NYC is as bad as we've all suspected.

BTW, Gail can pack her bosom and go at any time before next season. "It sucked" is not food criticism, and the sooner someone clues her in on that, the better.

sundevilpeg wrote:BTW, Gail can pack her bosom and go at any time before next season. "It sucked" is not food criticism, and the sooner someone clues her in on that, the better.

Awww, c'mon. The sun was up by the time they finished deliberations. It's not fair to expect somebody to maintain perfect poise and be exquisitely eloquent when you've been debating through the entire night after what was probably already a very long day. I mean, criminy, did you see how much Tom's facial hair had grown in just since the start of dinner?

radiator wrote:
Congrats, Stephanie. You earned it! Way to shatter the glass ceiling. This should make us all feel better about Hillary.

Loved Hilary's Urban eatery too.... This being a food board I'm sure that's what you were talking about....

Oh yea! Go Steph!!!!

And here I was all ready to make my "Lisa: The 2006 St. Louis Cardinals of Top Chef" joke.

If it was not just the editing and was as close as they made it seem (two favorite dishes for each of Lisa and Stephanie), I have to think Stephanie (deservedly) got the "body of work" tiebreaker.

I'm with everyone else, glad that Stephanie won, and was riled up by the editing to make you believe that Lisa could have won.

It's a shame that Richard couldn't have put out a better effort in the final. It seemed like he was trying some cool things in the prep time, but most of them didn't make it to the plate. Maybe if they could have served more courses the oysters with Tabasco "ice cream" could have hit the table, it probably would have been a nice looking presentation.

Congratulations to Stephanie on a well deserved win.

The way I scored it at home:

Stephanie won the first course
Lisa won the second course
Stephanie won the third course
Richard won the fourth course in a close one over Lisa (even though I thought he should have been dinged for making those banana scallops for a THIRD time)

So while I thought they were trying to set you up to think that Lisa had a chance, I was pretty confident that Stephanie would take it. That's also based on two key comments during the judging.

First, Ted put out a question along the lines of "what did you like better and how much better did you like it?" That's the key. It seemed like Stephanie's lamb was a killer dish (based on both taste and creativity) and it won by a larger margin than Lisa's soup in course 2. Second, at the end Tom said that one of the criteria for who won was "which menu would you like to eat again". It seemed to me that as a whole Stephanie's menu was better. I have a feeling that Lisa's beef course was a bit of a disaster, and probably a lower low point than Stephanie's dessert.

jesteinf wrote:Congratulations to Stephanie on a well deserved win.
First, Ted put out a question along the lines of "what did you like better and how much better did you like it?" That's the key.

I thought this was key, too. Stephanie seems to have won based on the overall meal, as was only right.

I found this finale somewhat anticlimactic compared to others, but more fair. I liked it that they brought in star power but then had the contestants work alone the last day. With the first and second seasons, I thought the presence of all the previously eliminated "helpers" was distracting and may have messed up the results. (Tiffani especially got a disadvantage with Dave and Stephen, who were drunk and acted like complete douchebags.)

I did feel sad for Richard, but it always seems like someone "loses" the finale by not having as good a day. As Hung said last season, the finalists are all winners in the sense of being in a better position that before the show.

I am so happy that our Stephanie won. But is it just me, or was the celebration pretty anticlimactic? If I remember correctly, last year they announced the winner live, and family members were in the audience. This year, it was just the champagne with the other contestants.

Edited to correct the spelling of champagne. I've been spending too much time time at UIUC, it seems....

They wanted to try something new for the Season 3 finale, so they decided to make the announcement live from Chicago. The filming for Season 4 had just begun, so the crew and talent were all in place. If it was deemed a success, I'm sure they would have done something similar this season.

However, it added nothing to the Season 3 finale. Season 5 is still in pre-production, and doing a live shoot markedly increases costs. Plus, why leave the remaining chefs in limbo for so long? The waiting must have been agonizing for Hung and Dale (Casey had to know she was out of the running.).

The cons outweigh the pros, so they shot the finale in a similar manner as the first two seasons.

Here's an interesting tidbit - the winner of the first Elimination Challenge has now won the title of Top Chef in three of the four seasons (Harold, Ilan and now Stephanie). The one who didn't (Hung) finished second to Tre.

I'm really glad Stephanie won, but I have to wonder if Richard would have had more of a shot had he not committed suicide by confessing to choking. Take a hypothetical situation in which there is no way to decide which chef's food is better overall. One of the chefs falls apart at the seams, crying mea culpa mea maxima culpa. The other chef projects quiet poise. Isn't that enough, in itself, to determine who the real Top Chef is? Is a chef who has what it takes to run a top kitchen going to tell you he can't handle the stress? Who would put someone like that in charge of anything? I think if Richard had managed to hold himself together, Stephanie might still have won, but it would have been a closer call.

riddlemay wrote:I'm really glad Stephanie won, but I have to wonder if Richard would have had more of a shot had he not committed suicide by confessing to choking.

I don't particularly think so. I think he did choke. Most of the things he was working on during the day-before prep didn't even show up on his menu. He was scattered and all over the place.

I'm no fan of Lisa, but you have to admit that she had more composure and focus. She seems to have matured a little during the break, although the whole "congratulations would be nice" thing was a sign that there's more room to grow.

germuska wrote:I think he did choke. Most of the things he was working on during the day-before prep didn't even show up on his menu. He was scattered and all over the place.

On reflection, I'm sure you're right, but Tom really did seem taken aback by Richard's admission. We may know that Richard was scattered, but based simply on the food that Richard produced for the table, apparently Tom didn't know. I have to believe that Tom felt Richard's food was good enough to be competitive and that a prostrate admission of failure by Richard was unwarranted, else why the WTF look on Tom's face?

riddlemay wrote:

germuska wrote:I think he did choke. Most of the things he was working on during the day-before prep didn't even show up on his menu. He was scattered and all over the place.

On reflection, I'm sure you're right, but Tom really did seem taken aback by Richard's admission. We may know that Richard was scattered, but based simply on the food that Richard produced for the table, apparently Tom didn't know. I have to believe that Tom felt Richard's food was good enough to be competitive and that a prostrate admission of failure by Richard was unwarranted, else why the WTF look on Tom's face?

Actually, Tom did think that Richard choked. He said so on his blog:

Richard had the most experience, the most imagination, and by far the most technical proficiency. He had consistently wowed us during the season, and frankly, this was his competition to lose. So what happened? In short, he choked.

Yes, but that blog is based on after-the-fact knowledge on Tom's part. He has had lots of time to examine the footage since that evening. In the moment, all he had to go on was the food on his plate.

That WTF look on his face in response to Richard's mea culpa was extreme--at least in my perception. Am I the only one who saw it that way?