Top Chef Finale Thread... *Spoilers*

[bicentennial_baby]

OMG! That twist....sweeeeet! :bounce:

[Ekirh]

1. Heh I find it amusing

We have a thread on fois gas earlier

and what does one of the Chefs end up picking lol.

And the twist was .. . AWESOME!!!

[bicentennial_baby]

2. Ha! I noticed that!

:rofl:

I can't wait to see how this turns out! :bounce:

[Richardo]

3. Casey looks a little in the weeds...

:scared:

[Richardo]

4. I hate this 'live' crap

Who needs it?

Involving the public = always a bad idea. x(

[Ekirh]

5. HEH . . The Chefs only have one weakness. . .

ALTITUDE!!!!!!

[Richardo]

6. I lived in Denver for 10 years

I'm no cook, but that does take a while to get used to. And that's half the elevation of Aspen.

[eyesroll]

15. I had trouble cooking regular old pasta when I visited my sister in Denver.

I would not have chosen to do a baked dessert there...I'm a semi-experienced baker but I've got zero pastry experience in the mountains. Too much could go wrong.

[wakemeupwhenitsover]

7. Who is in it?

Hung, Casey & Dale?

[Richardo]

8. Yes.

And the helpers for the 4th course are Howie, CJ and Sara.

[Ekirh]

9. Dale: I wanted to punch him in the face

HA! For some reason I love when Dale gets his snippets in.

[Richardo]

10. He's a crack up

With CJ, that's a strong team.

[Ekirh]

12. Agreed

I think he won out on the help thing.

So we'll see how it goes though.

[Fox Mulder]

13. I think Hung and Sara are a strong team too.

I always liked Sara.

[wakemeupwhenitsover]

11. Last season only had 2 finalists, but this year has 3?

I wonder why they changed the format.

Anyhoo, Go Dale! Go Casey! Eat worms & die Hung!

[bullwinkle428]

16. Colicchio said they were so impressed with the talent level this season

that they felt it made sense to have 3 finalists this year.

[Ekirh]

14. Whew

Casey is unraveled this episode. . .

Mmmm Hung, I think those cakes at first glanced looked delicious!

EDIT: MALARKEY SIGHTING!!!!

[Richardo]

17. Whoa! Brian's back for the dinner...

Delicious.

[eyesroll]

18. Eeeeeeeew. Coconut FOAM. Eeeew.

:scared:

And (Gail?) called it a bit of "Hung flavor."

Not going there, sir. :scared:

[Richardo]

19. I know!

What is the deal with that? The idea of foamy anything = x(

[wakemeupwhenitsover]

20. So what's the twist?

[Richardo]

22. The sous chefs were professional celebrity chefs

...instead of cast members. They're at the table now

[Ekirh]

21. God I hate to say it

Since I was rooting for her. .

But after dishes 2 and 3. . I think Casey is down for the count.

[Richardo]

23. Me too.

Dale's in the lead coming down the home stretch.

[wakemeupwhenitsover]

24. Okay. Then I'll root for Dale. (I'm easy)

Go Dale! Go Dale!

[Ekirh]

25. That's a Dish you should keep for the rest of your life. .

Dale hit a grandslam with That dish (Number 4 was it?)

[Fox Mulder]

26. I'd like to see Casey win...but...

I think this one is going to Dale.

Anyone else think that?

[Richardo]

27. I hope.

But Hung is too close

[Ekirh]

28. Chef Tom . .

Seems way hung up on Dale's third dish being terrible

So I wouldn't be surprised if Hung wins

but we'll find out soon enough.

[eyesroll]

29. Ugh.

Ugh.

[Ekirh]

30. Well

Once I saw Chef Tom contiously disdain Dale's third dish.. I knew I wouldn't be surprised if Hung won.

[Ekirh]

31. Well that's that. . .

Hung wins. . .

Hope you all enjoyed the season

[Richardo]

33. I did.

[wakemeupwhenitsover]

35. Noooooooooo!

I demand a recount!

[Pithlet]

32. I'm happy Hung won it.

I only caught the last few episodes this season, so that may be why I'm in the minority, but I was rooting for Hung.

[TommyO]

34. Hung was pretty consistent with his cooking throughout the series

but he was also consistently a total ass.

Dale was definitely the comeback kid, and I would take a special trip to eat at one of his restaurants before dining at one of Hung's.

[Pithlet]

40. It seems all three did a great job.

I would have been happy with any of them winning. It was great to see finalists getting along. So refreshing after the horror that was last season. I wish I'd seen the whole thing from the beginning.

[cmkramer]

38. I was rooting for him too

so YAY HUNG!

[qanda]

44. I was rooting for Hung too

And I saw the entire season. Dale may have done well in the last couple of dishes, but he was one of the lesser chefs and I was surprised he made it to the finale. In fact, the only time he won was to get to the finale. Hung was the best overall chef and deserved to win.

[spinbaby]

45. Hung really was the best

And I was really sorry that Tre didn't make it to the finale--he was really good, too. I'd have loved to see Hung and Tre face off.

[qanda]

50. Yes! I would have loved to see Tre make it to the finale

He was an awesome chef. A Tre and Hung face off would have been great.

[PeaceNikki]

46. Another Hung fan here.

I wasn't always, but his enthusiasm was contagious. :)

I also hold a special place in my heart for his immigration story and family heritage - very similar to a close family member.

[qanda]

51. His immigration story is inspiring.

I would love to see the rest of his family cook. Maybe that will be the next Bravo reality show (whispering because I really don't want to give them any ideas). LOL

[TommyO]

36. Anthony Bourdain's blog isn't live yet - ARGH!!!!

[Ekirh]

37. HA!

So I'm not the only one awaiting to hear his words on this episode!

[Writer]

39. Padma is preg-o!

[Tektonik]

41. Glad to hear Hung won, especially after the travesty of last year's season

Ilan's one-mindedness in cooking is only matched by Howie's prowess of pork. :puke:

[judaspriestess]

42. I'm glad Hung won

although I would have liked to see Casey win too. Dale is a hoot but he never won any challenges and ultimately cost him, great personality.

Congrats Hung :)

[TommyO]

43. Quick correction, Dale did win last week's challenge

He even commented that it was his first.

[judaspriestess]

60. yes, that is what I meant

I thought that is what I had typed.

[pinniped]

47. Over on the Bravo board, some losers just can't take it.

I'm never watching this rigged show again!

I'm never eating at his restaurant! (they probably couldn't afford it anyways)

He dropped this, he dropped that!

His resume doesn't mean anything!

No one wants to work with him!
----


It was pretty cool, he came in at the bottom of the fan voting but showed everyone what's up.

[Richardo]

49. This is why I like Top Chef and even Project Runway - no judging by the public

The judging is done by knowledgable professionals who consider the quality of the product, the skill involved in putting it together, etc.

They can have the little phone popularity polls, but really who cares what the public thinks? Opening up the voting to the general public is always a bad idea - starting with the All-Star voting in Major League Baseball.(Sound like Bush, don't I?) :)

[Ekirh]

52. I'll Admit I wasn't rooting for Hung. . .

But he put out good food, he seemed consistent in the final round.... and that seeme to give him the victory

My pick was Casey, but she faltered badly, there's no two ways about it.

With that being said, Dale kicked ass as well, and was hurt by this bad third dish . . . but man did they all harp heavy praise on that fourth dish. Dale should be proud of his showing (And his unofficial second place status).

[MissMillie]

48. I'm heart-broken

Yes, Hung has talent, but how many times did he totally mess up and was completely incapable of recognizing it? ("That's your opinion.")

His arrogance is going to get in the way of him making great food. I don't think he thinks there's anything more for him to learn--and that is obviously not the case.

[Eurobabe]

65. I miss Harold's professionalness and humbleness from Season 1

He was the best so far, IMHO.

[Rabrrrrrr]

53. Just watched it. Hung certainly deserved it as a chef; as a human being, though, he doesn't.

He wasn't as much of an arrogant fuckwit ass in this last episode, though, as he was before.

Still; what a fucking dick.

I'm sad he won; but I have to admit that over the course of the whole season, he was consistently the best.

[LynneSin]

54. When one of his entrees is something even I could back - that doesn't make him a top chef

I could not make any of the items that Dale created but surely I could have baked a damn chocolate cake.

At least with Dale's one bad item it showed signs of creativity but failed. Hung copped out with the cake

[LynneSin]

55. He baked a damn cake and they made Hung top chef?

that cake was the equivelent of the damn cucumber/salmon mousse crap he did for the boat catering job. It was a lame filler food that had little thought.

Hung and Dale each had 3 really great dishes and basically divided up the rounds 2-2. Dale should have won. Sure he had one really bad dish but at least he went out on a ledge and tried something unique. And Dale's 4th dish (the last minute one) was actually one of the dishes that won a round.

Sure, it was nice to have some dessert for the competition but the chocolate cake was pretty lame and showed that Hung had no inititive with last minute requests.

Dale was robbed

[MissMillie]

56. yep. (n/t)

.

[Eurobabe]

57. I thought Dale was going to win

Dale and Casey were both more professional than Hung. But after all, it's just a TV show, right?

On to Season 4!!

[Ekirh]

59. Hmmm

Anybody got any ideas for challenges for season four?


Call me simple.... but I want pizza damn it! Possibly a vegetarian challenge as well!

[Ekirh]

58. I thought Dale's

Second dish was the last second one.. cause he said he and C.J Collaborated on that one (Well his words was 50/50)

The fourth dished was planned ahead... but got raved reviews

I forgot which dish of Hung's it was.. but he did get a "three Michilin Star' comment for one of them

I thought Dale had it won until Chef Tom started harping over his third dish over and over and over again..

Hung did have a good night though . . . and in the end it gave him the victory

The story for me will still be how badly Casey unraveled...

[MissMillie]

61. "three Michilin Star" dish was Hung's duck

they loved it.

[judaspriestess]

62. Yes, Casey was the one to beat - thats too bad she unraveled like that

Hung had nothing on Marcel from last year as far as being a jerk but Marcel was clearly robbed in the end. Ilan was at that point a one dimensional chef.

I give Hung credit for baking a cake as Rocco DiSpirito said I am glad someone made dessert. Also for the altitude adjustments and problems they were having Hung still baked a good moist cake.

[Eurobabe]

64. Hung's Duck dish was highly rated

I will admit though that Hung is an improvement over Elian (?) from last season, he was way too inexperienced to win that challenge, at least compared to season 1 winner Harold.

Yeah, Casey just choked, it was a damn shame, I was hoping she would win. She was professional and had the makings of Top Chef. Oh well.

[GOPisEvil]

63. Hung's worst was much better than Dale's worst. End of discussion.