New Top Chef!

On Wednesday another Top Chef was crowned and this time it wasn’t because someone choked on the finial service of the series. This season of Top Chef was an all star version that brought back chefs from previous seasons that got close but didn’t win the title. I really enjoyed it since I was already familiar with all of the contestants and I knew what they had done in their previous seasons. I felt like a couple of them didn’t deserve to be all stars and most of them went out early so I feel justified. There were some shockers though, when Dale, Jennifer, and Casey all packed their knives early in the season, I was pretty disappointed. Those three are very talented and really should have gone a lot further in the show.

The finials came down to the best two chefs for the season. I wasn’t expecting much out of Mike Isabella this season due to what he showed in his previous season, but he had really improved and was carrying the momentum into the finale. While Richard Blais was strong in his season and continued to be strong in the all star season. I was cheering for Richard from the start, not just because he is a local boy, but because I felt like he was the best chef in the cast. He should have won his original season but choked on the final challenge and let the title slip out of his hands. I knew he was determined to win and it showed with his creative and innovative dishes throughout the season.

It was a tight finial service and based on the editing and comments from the judges, it was a very close competition. The judges were served two beautiful meals and it did seem close, at least from my vantage point on my couch. After judges table, the winner was announced, it was Richard Blais! Finally, he has the title and of course the biggest prize amount given out in the history of the show. I was sitting on the edge of my seat and was as nervous as Richard appeared to be. I am glad that Richard didn’t choke and I hope he follows through with his promise of opening the restaurant of his dreams if he won. As good as Flip is, I would really rather have Richard open a fine dinning restaurant in Atlanta so we can taste some of those wonderful dishes he was making on the show.

Contrats Richard!