Top Chef – Finale Part 1

So after a scheduling break last week due to the holidays, “Top Chef: Las Vegas” was back last night.

Thoughts about the first part of the Napa themed finale after the jump…

So here we are…the four most rewarded and proven cheftestants from this season all meeting in Napa Valley to battle it out!  I got to tell you, I really liked this episode because it was ANYONE’s to truly win or lose.  These four (Jen, Mike and Bryan V., Kevin) have been so strong and showed time and time again that they were head and shoulders above everyone else.  No dark horses or people just slipping through that had you scratching your head why they were still there.  This was a battle of the titans my friends.

Okay, I am exaggerating to make my point, but I felt real satisfied watching this episode and had genuine nerves for these chefs at Judge’s Table and even had a small leak in my eye when at the elimination.

Let’s get to the bullets:

1. Cooking on a train…interesting.  I was actually surprised to see how big that kitchen car was.  Yes the space was cramped, but it wasn’t like the airplane challenge from a while back.
2. It was great to see Michael Chiarello as the judge for this episode.  I really enjoyed him on “Top Chef Masters” and I think having that experience really gave him an appreciation of what these chefs were being asked to do.  The producers have done a great job lining up judges and matching them to the challenges this season.
3. Quickfire celebrating the grape.  Nice touch and interesting ingredient to me.  I was actually thinking that I’d love to see “Iron Chef” do an episode with the grape.  That table was full of some great looking fruit. I had no idea there were so many colors and types of grapes.
4. Mike V. deserved this win (and that pains me to say it).  The use of the entire grape plant with the leaf wrap, stem as skewer for a grape kabob, everything showed a “true” celebration of the ingredient and was head and shoulders above what the other chefs plated. We even got a SMILE out of Mike after this one, which was a complete surprise in itself.
5. Bryan KNEW that Concord grapes are not native to Napa and still used them.  Michael’s reaction to that plate was just brilliant to me… “Concord Grapes?”  You knew right there he wasn’t gettin’ that car.
6. YEAH BACON – Bryan worked it into his QF dish. POOR BACON – it overwhelmed the grape.
7. Another Elimination Challenge based around catering a party.  Now this is a staple in the contestant arsenal on “Top Chef”and has been used over the last few season just prior to the final challenge, but as an idea it’s really getting played out, especially this season as they have used it sooo much.  I did like that they had to make two dishes, one veggie and one protein AND do it with only local ingredients.
8. All the chefs seemed to handle the challenge well, there was no drama in the day.  These four are pros and as Jen said, I think everyone just wanted the others to do their best but still want to kick each others asses.
9. Not going to dig to deep into the dishes except to say that Kevin got some love, if not vindication, for his veggie dish!  It was a simple as simple could be and it was LAUDED!!  Even Tom said that some of your “fellow” contestants may look at this and say how simple but that his dish KILLED!  (cut immediately to reaction shot of Mike V. – classic and it made me laugh out loud).
10. Congrats to Bryan.  I had a feeling after Judges Table it would be him given the comments about the other cheftestant’s dishes.  Good for him.  He’s growing on me as the show winds down, staring to show some life / personality.
11. The final cut was really nerve racking for me…I really felt the tension.  When Jen was asked to go, the look on her face just killed me.  You could tell she was crushed.  Her line at the very end about just wishing she could have cooked better, man that killed me.  She was so UP and then so DOWN this season, but there was no question that she could cook.
12. So now it’s the brothers V and Kevin.  This should be a TERRIFIC finish to a solid season.

And as always, read Tom’s blog for more insight…a quick read this week but good stuff as always.

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