It sounded like part of the issue with the pork belly was the actual cooking of the belly. As Kevin had shown all season, simple dishes can win if they're perfectly executed.

As a lot of us have pointed out repeatedly, you need to read the blogs to understand what really happened. This is a shame. Tom C. also realizes this, apparently. From his most recent post, titled (by the website) "Bait-n-Switch: Tom Colicchio explains that the ultimate outcome may not have been as close as you think."

If you’re left scratching your head after the finale, you’ve come to the right blog. I was actually there in Napa in October, at the table eating the food, discussing it there and at the Judges’ Table, and yet based on how the episode was cut, it had me wondering up until the end whether my memory had failed me or not. It hadn’t. I think that what we have here is a classic case of building drama, of not tipping one’s hand, of leading the viewer (or misleading the viewer!) to keep the suspense till the final moment. Allow me to share a bit of what didn’t make the final cut:

I want to start by reiterating something I wrote last week, something that Kevin actually echoed in this week’s episode. This year’s finale put to the test four outstanding young chefs. None is a finer chef than the others. On any given day, any one of the four could have beaten the others; it was just a question of to whom the day would go that particular day.

And later,

So at the end of the day, Kevin won the first course, Bryan won the last, and Michael won the middle two, giving him the ultimate win. The equation is pretty much that simple.

Don’t be fooled by the fact that Kevin thought the day had gone to Bryan, or that Bryan’s venison dish was strong enough to plant a question in the minds of viewers, or even that we ended with Bryan’s winning dessert, leaving a strong last impression. When taking a step back and thinking over the entire meal, while Bryan’s dishes were certainly solid, while his dessert won and he made a strong showing with his venison course, Michael just hit higher notes all along the way throughout the meal. He just did.

You can read the whole post for more details.

I read in an interview with Tom this morning that he felt this was the very best season. (there was a charity "do" at Craftsteak last night) When he goes out to eat, he likes simple- he said he would choose Kevin's food to dine on.

This was definitely the strongest season of the three that I've watched. The three finalists seemed equally likely to win. Jen seemed at the same level. Then there were others - like Eli and Mike Isabella - who seemed about as strong as people who've made the finals in years past. Without eating the food, it is really difficult to judge these things. But my impression is the show has done a great job at recruiting better chefs to participate.

This was definitely the strongest season of the three that I've watched. The three finalists seemed equally likely to win. Jen seemed at the same level. Then there were others - like Eli and Mike Isabella - who seemed about as strong as people who've made the finals in years past. Without eating the food, it is really difficult to judge these things. But my impression is the show has done a great job at recruiting better chefs to participate.

If there was an issue with the show this season, as has been pointed out in the past, there was a significant gap in quality between the upper echelon of chefs you mentioned and the rest, which made the show a bit predictable until the last few weeks.

I actually didn't think the editing was as deceptive in this episode as in the last few before it. I felt that Michael seemed to be pretty comfortably ahead as they talked about the dishes-- as it says above, Michael's successes excited them more than Bryan's did, and if they chose based on who pleased them the most rather than who merely avoided screwing up— which is normally how Kevin won this season, kicking ass on the sensual pleasure of food— then it pointed fairly clearly to a win for him (and I would have ranked him #3 of the finalists before tonight).

Mike V. had the Top Chef pedigree that the show has spent the last few years looking for. His food looks real daring, not just as good eatin' but also as a fashion line for Project Runway. He clearly has the technical expertise, and based on the quality of competition, his food must taste pretty damn good, too. I'm not saying he didn't deserve to win, but he just seemed to have a bearing or an affectation that was probably the image of top chef that the show might have felt was lacking in most of their winners, someone who not only looked like they could bring the house down but could also actually do it. I mean, Stephanie, Hosea, and that annoying guy from season 2, all excellent chefs to be sure, but this is tv, image is important and so is branding, and Mike V. fits the bill for them. Blaise would've done the same if he hadn't petered out in the finals. Bryan V. and Kevin, not so much. Harold probably worked okay for them, but that was season one; Top Chef hadn't established a brand yet, per se. Again, this is all guesswork based on impressions from watching a tv show, but those are some of my thoughts.
I really enjoyed that there was no one this season who seemed to slip into the finals by not being the worst every week. In fact, I was sorry that Jen didn't get included just out of principle.
Top Chef could have an entire episode where all they do is televise a time lapse of the Napa Valley, and I'd even watch the re-runs.
I didn't like the way sous chefs were assigned by draw of the knives. That kind of how-lucky-are-you crap is for the earlier rounds. When you get three excellent chefs in the finals, let 'em choose who they want. I want to see these guys perform at their highest level without being hampered by some role of the die. I don't know, ultimately, that it, had any affect on the outcome, but just that it might have got under my skin.

I had the pleasure of having dinner tonight at Eno in Midtown Atlanta where Eli took a few minutes to stop by our table and chat on a what was a somewhat slow middle of the week night for the kitchen. His three way presentation of a wonderful Berkshire ( a bit of slow braised belly, a house made sausage, some woderfully flavorful loin served with a sweet reduction over turnip greens) and was a real treat.

His recollection was that Michael Voltaggio was consistently one of the strongest cooks throughout the competition and he felt that that the editing of the program somehow failed to capture this. He said that he wasn't surprised at all by Michael's victory as he had really performed extremely well throughout the taping of the program.

I offered that I thought Michael had saved his best dishes for the finale. Eli politely disagreed saying that he believed that Michael had done exceptional work throughout the pre-finale tapings that were done.

I pulled hard for Kevin Gillespie to win. His commitment to our mutual southern roots made him, by far, my favorite chef on the show. His "mom" dish clearly blew the judges away in the finale. Its sad that his choice dis and dessert didn't do the same.

On another note, a friend gave me a gift certificate to Kevin's Woodfire Grill for the holiday and I have found it quite difficult to get a mid-week reservation there.

If the show continues its focus on Atlanta chefs, I'd love to see them recruit Chef Linton Hopkins of Restaurant Eugene and Holman and Finch for the show. He is truly an exceptional talent.

A brief not-at-all-food related note.

I just caught the wrap-up episode and one question nagged at me:

What's the difference between two contestants pinning down a third and forcibly trying to shave his head and two contestants dragging a third out of the house and throwing her into the pool?

Aside from the fact that one got a contestant kicked off and the other was a passing moment of 'frivolity' in a season-ending montage?

gastro gnome wrote:A brief not-at-all-food related note.

I just caught the wrap-up episode and one question nagged at me:

What's the difference between two contestants pinning down a third and forcibly trying to shave his head and two contestants dragging a third out of the house and throwing her into the pool?

Aside from the fact that one got a contestant kicked off and the other was a passing moment of 'frivolity' in a season-ending montage?

How the person it was happening to reacted to it.

SSDD

headcase wrote:

gastro gnome wrote:A brief not-at-all-food related note.

I just caught the wrap-up episode and one question nagged at me:

What's the difference between two contestants pinning down a third and forcibly trying to shave his head and two contestants dragging a third out of the house and throwing her into the pool?

Aside from the fact that one got a contestant kicked off and the other was a passing moment of 'frivolity' in a season-ending montage?

How the person it was happening to reacted to it.

True. Plus the context; one was a malicious gang-up against an "enemy" of sorts, the other was two friends horsing around with a third friend.

Don't get me wrong, I had the same "wow, this reminds me of the Marcel-head-shaving incident" thought when I saw Jennifer being tossed in the pool too.

Khaopaat wrote:

headcase wrote:

gastro gnome wrote:A brief not-at-all-food related note.

I just caught the wrap-up episode and one question nagged at me:

What's the difference between two contestants pinning down a third and forcibly trying to shave his head and two contestants dragging a third out of the house and throwing her into the pool?

Aside from the fact that one got a contestant kicked off and the other was a passing moment of 'frivolity' in a season-ending montage?

How the person it was happening to reacted to it.

True. Plus the context; one was a malicious gang-up against an "enemy" of sorts, the other was two friends horsing around with a third friend.

Don't get me wrong, I had the same "wow, this reminds me of the Marcel-head-shaving incident" thought when I saw Jennifer being tossed in the pool too.

No doubt context played a big part, and that is probably why it didn't remind me of the Marcel incident; there was no real context since it was just a throw away clip on a wrap up show. Also it was something I've done 100 times to various people with no malice intended, something I couldn't say about holding someone down and shaving their head.

SSDD

Clothes dry much faster than one's hair grows back.

Matt wrote:Clothes dry much faster than one's hair grows back.

Except that they never actually shaved Marcel's head. Cliff just pinned him down while Ilan was filiming it and waited for Elia or Sam to come in and shave it off.

They actually did throw Jen in the pool.

Anyway, I don't think that Mattin and Mike I necessarily should have been kicked off. Apparently there was a "if you harm another contestant" clause that the Top Chef lawyers and producers decided was sufficient to disqualify Cliff based on his actions. Tom wanted to send everyone home, but only Cliff manhandled Marcel.

I just think it's odd, given the previous disqualification, that a similar scenario was caught on film years later and that it was thrown out in yuk-fest medley style at season's end.

It seems like it has to do with the fact that they genuinely did not like Marcel (for good reason after seeing him on that show that ran earlier thas year). One was playful, one was malicious (although understandable).
I've also been watching the last few episodes recently. The Bocus episode was interesting, especially the advice given. I'm not sure if it is just editing, but the older brother definitely comes off better in those episodes. There seems to be a maturity there that, if somebody was looking to invest in place, would be impressive. Even in losing the finale, he probably helped his business and career substantially.

gastro gnome wrote:

Matt wrote:Clothes dry much faster than one's hair grows back.

Except that they never actually shaved Marcel's head. Cliff just pinned him down while Ilan was filiming it and waited for Elia or Sam to come in and shave it off.

They actually did throw Jen in the pool.

Anyway, I don't think that Mattin and Mike I necessarily should have been kicked off. Apparently there was a "if you harm another contestant" clause that the Top Chef lawyers and producers decided was sufficient to disqualify Cliff based on his actions. Tom wanted to send everyone home, but only Cliff manhandled Marcel.

I just think it's odd, given the previous disqualification, that a similar scenario was caught on film years later and that it was thrown out in yuk-fest medley style at season's end.

gg,

When you look at the footage, the difference between these 2 incidents seems abundantly clear. Lumping them together would be an instance of blindly adhering to some arbitrary policy without any judgment or context being applied to it at all. Marcel's incident was pratically an assault. Jen's incident was accompanied by laughter, most importantly, from Jen herself.

=R=

gastro gnome wrote:

Matt wrote:Clothes dry much faster than one's hair grows back.

Except that they never actually shaved Marcel's head. Cliff just pinned him down while Ilan was filiming it and waited for Elia or Sam to come in and shave it off.

They actually did throw Jen in the pool.

Good clarification, and one I was not aware of; I did not see any season prior to 4.

From Toqueland: Kevin has postponed his entry in the Bocuse d'Or for a year.

I was making a routine visit to the Bocuse d'Or USA website and noticed that while there are still a dozen candidates listed there, Kevin Gillespie, the recent Top Chef finalist who won his berth in the US finals on the show, has disappeared from the list while Jim Burke, executive chef/owner of James restaurant in Philadelphia--who was not on the original roster--has been added. I've confirmed with a rep for the Bocuse d'Or USA that GIllespie is out, but am awaiting further details.

To be honest -- although I have no idea what the circumstances are yet -- I don't find this to be terribly shocking news as I always wondered how Gillespie, who basically had to earn his spot to avoid elimination in another contest, was going to find the time and motivation to properly compete at this event. If he dropped out to make room for a more Bocuse-passionate candidate, it might have actually been a noble gesture, as strange as that may sound.

Update (1:03 pm/Jan 22) - A rep for the Bocuse d'Or USA committee says that Gillespie withdrew due to a conflict with Bravo. (Obviously Bravo airs Top Chef, on which Gillespie won the spot, but the rep says it's a matter of a time conflict. No further comment/information was offered.)

Update #2 (1:20pm) Gillespie's spokesperson Melissa Libby just got in touch to give me the story from Gillespie. "You are one-hundred-percent correct in your suspicion," she said of my theory for the withdrawl (above). "He didn't have time to prepare, and didn't want to let the country down. He felt like there was somebody else who deserved that spot. He's a perfectionist and didn't feel like he could do his best with everything going on." Libby says that Gillespie wrote to the committee, who were gracious, and even offered to let him defer his place until 2013 [by which she meant the 2013 competition in Lyon, the US trials for which would be in 2012]. So will he take them up on the offer, or defer again? "Absolutely [he'll compete in 2012]!" said Libby. "He wants to do this. It's a huge goal of his. But he didn't want to go in unprepared."

- Andrew

Probably widely known at this point but just to put a bow on it, Top Chef Vegas won the Emmy award for Best Reality Competition program, beating out (among others) The Amazing Race, which had won the award every single year since the category's inception in 2003. Here are some details from Reality Blurred:

Andy Dehnart @ Reality Blurred wrote:The seemingly impossible happened during the Emmys last night: Top Chef Las Vegas won the Emmy for best reality competition show, finally dethroning seven-time winner The Amazing Race, which has won every year since the category was created in 2003.

Executive producer Dan Cutforth, who is one of Magical Elves’ two principles, accepted the award, saying “we never expected it.” Host Padma Lakshmi, who was the most animated of all of the show’s cast and crew on stage, said “I’ll say!” and then stood in front of Gail Simmons. Cutforth also said that his producing partner, Jane Lipsitz, has attended previously but skipped out this year. Their shows have been nominated all the way back to 2004 when Last Comic Standing was nominated. Ironically, they ended up beating the show they created, Project Runway, which has since changed hands to other producers.

It certainly was a great season, especially compared to the current lackluster Washington D.C. season. In any case it was nice to see a food oriented program actually win this award.

=R=