Spoiler Alert ….. And the Top Chef winner is…..

As I stated in my previous post, I like watching shows about food and last night the suspense of what I consider the best season of Top Chef came to a finale with Richard Blais being named Top Chef. What made this season great was that the show’s producers brought back an All-Star cast of chefs from previous seasons.

In past seasons there was a weeding out process in which you needed a couple of shows to figure out who you were going to root for, but not this go around you already knew who you liked and who you hated.

In the beginning I had Richard Blais, Dale Talde, and Angelo Sosa as my top tier favorites to win - Mike Isabella was somewhere bottom middle. I just thought my top three were better technical chefs, However Mike did step up his game this go around than on his previous season (I have dined at Zaytinya's when Mike Isabella was the Head Chef - Food was okay not my favorite).

To decide the winner they both had to create a four course tasting menu

Restaurant Tongue & Cheek

Richard Blais’ sous chefs were Spike Mendelsohn, Antonia Lofaso, and Angelo Sosa

Menu-
Raw Oyster with Lemon Horseradish Ice Cream and Salsa Verde Raw Hamachi with Fried Veal Sweetbreads, Asian Pear, Pickled Radish and Garlic Mayonnaise

Pork Belly with a Black Cod Cutlet, Bone Marrow, Beets, Brussels Sprouts, and Kumquat

Beef Short Rib with Mushrooms, Red Cabbage Marmalade, and Celery Root Horseradish Puree

Cornbread with Foie Gras Ice Cream and Whipped Mango

Restaurant Iz

Mike Isabella’s sous chefs were Carla Hall, Jamie Lauren, and Tiffani Faison

Menu-

Spiced beets with Mozzarella, Chocolate, and Truffle Vinaigrette

Halibut with Kumquats Marmalade, Cauliflower Puree, and Pancetta Crumbs

Braised Pork Shoulder with Pepperoni Sauce, Roasted Cabbage, and Turnips

Rosemary Caramel Custard with Pine Nuts, Citrus, Cherry and Apple

In the end Richard Blais’ experience in the finals before helped him because he understood the pressure, it also did not hurt that his Sous Chefs were very strong compared to Mike Isabella’s Sous Chefs. As Mike said the number one seed pulled through for the win.

One of my favorite moments from this season is when Marcel was on the rooftop straight downing Bombay from the bottle and his thug life side came out as he talked trash to Dale Talde. My biggest disappointment from this season was not getting my classic Rage scene from Dale (which the rooftop scene would have been the perfect moment).

However, respect to all the chefs on the show, this was the best season of Top Chef and Congrats to Richard Blais the All-Star Top Chef.