Review: 'Top Chef' - 'Last Supper': Top Chef vs. Iron Chef
The final 3 have to please the tastebuds of three celebrity chefs
Antonia meets Morimoto on last night's "Top Chef."
A few quick thoughts on the next-to-last "Top Chef" of the season coming up just as soon as I make myself throw up...
At first, I'd been assuming there would be another kitchen mishap or something that would extend the finale to next week. Instead, it just turned out they're doing a Top 2 show rather than a Top 3 (which has made this sojourn in the Bahamas, which began with an extra contestant because of the uniform awesomeness of the Ellis Island challenge, feel really long).
After a Quickfire where Blais consistently overthought things and made things easy on Mike, we got an Elimination Challenge that didn't seem like the most fair contest this late in the game. Again, my philosophy is that at this point in the season, you just want to step back and let the chefs cook with minimal constraints, and here Antonia and Richard were both asked to cook in styles where they didn't have a ton of experience, while Mike had to make... fried chicken. Fortunately, Mike was the one who got too cute in this round, giving Richard a clear win, but Antonia was so hamstrung that she likely would have gone home even without the additional "one bite" challenge.
So as we head into the final episode, what did everybody think of both last night's episode and this season as a whole so far?
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Login or create a HitFix account Login SignupEyeball Wit
March 24, 2011 at 9:36AM EST Reply to CommentAgain, it seems like the producers are taking a page from Richard's playbook and overthinking the challenges.
The Last Supper idea played out beautifully in seasons past, but then it seemed like the dishes/chefs provided a comparable degree of difficulty for all the chefs.
The fact that Morimoto needed subtitles (and Wolfgang Puck was right on the borderline) said everything you needed to know about this rather skewed challenge.
(Note also that we had a kitchen fire a couple weeks back, and a rotten fish for Antonia this week. Who's doing the prep work, Elves?)
webdiva Naaaaah, junior flunkies. Elves would be better with the fish, don't you think?
March 26, 2011 at 4:55PM EST
March 24, 2011 at 9:38AM EST Reply to CommentI agree about the challenge - I think Top Chef sometimes get too cute with these challenges. This late in the season, I don't want weird things happening in challenges. The chefs should be asked to make basically the same things, or at least the same guidelines, and then see what they can do. last night was like if it came time to take final exams in college, and the professor passed out vastly different exams to each student.
As for Mike - I didn't like him at all in his original season, but have really found him funny this season. Originally, he was just loud. Now I think he has toned it down just a tad, and I also think that you have seen from him that underneath his loud, arrogant behavior, that he is a nice person, and that he has a lot of respect for his fellow chefs (which to me makes him so much different than someone like Marcel who was just a jerk and thought he was so much better than everyone else).
ryan oneil
March 24, 2011 at 9:40AM EST Reply to CommentMike said, "Michelle Bernstein is one of the country's top women chefs."
He just can't give a full compliment to a female chef, can he?
Susan He is one of the more sexist individuals I have ever encountered on my television.
March 24, 2011 at 3:24PM ESTWillow
March 24, 2011 at 9:47AM EST Reply to CommentWhat amazes is me is how far Richard has fallen in my eyes over this season with his constant discounting of any one else's successes. The editing is baffling - they're not playing it as an underdog versus a favorite. - it's "sexist douche" versus "neurotic douche."
The EC this week was absurd, not only did Mike get the easiest task (cook fried chicken) but based on the editing he had free reign to experiment (an empanada is not a biscuit, but Michelle Bernstein doesn't care), while Morimoto asked Antonia to virtually *recreate* his mother's cooking in a type of cuisine that is centered largely around ingredient quality. And on top of that she had to rely on the show to get her ingredients and they screwed that up for her. It was just annoying.
Between Mike I's attitude towards women (even Bernstein was a great *female* chef, not a great *chef*) and Richard's annoying discounting of Stephanie's talent (yes, he choked. that doesn't mean he was guaranteed a win otherwise and he needs to stop acting like it) I'm rooting for this season to just be over.
webdiva Yeah, the whole product quality and facilities issue has been an ugly on the last few episodes -- and that's part of why I've hated them. I was already pissed about them having to swin for the conch (really: would they have disqualified someone who can't swim?? How unfair would *that* have been?!). In years past, they've simply presented the finalists with a bounty of fresh ingredients and a twisty challenge, then let them cook in decent facilities where all other factors were equal. Now the show runners are just getting idiotic, and it shows. They need a sign hanging in their offices that reads: IT'S THE FOOD, STUPID.
March 26, 2011 at 5:05PM ESTwebdiva And if Mike had said that to Chef Bernstein's face (or, for that matter, to any 'female' chef wsorth her salt), she might well have hacked off his head with a meat cleaver for it and been justified. I've had it with Isabella's attitude: it needs adjusting. BADLY.
March 26, 2011 at 5:27PM ESTChampSkins
March 24, 2011 at 9:49AM EST Reply to CommentA lot of people are going to go on and on about how TC is sexist... but you really hit the nail on the head with this, Alan. Mike has really owned it since he got to the Bahamas. He was doing very well before he got there, but its obvious he practiced a ton before he got to the Bahamas. Richard and Mike are clearly the two best at this point. Is Mike the second best Chef this season? Probably not, but right now he definitely is.
I really want to see Richard win. I know hes been the favorite all season, and I know he is expected to win. But he is definitely one of my all-time favorite TC contestants. His food is really creative and he is simply just a very talented chef. Hopefully he doesn't allow Mike to get in his head too much and he can just do his thing.
I agree to an extent that at this point they should allow them to just cook, but wouldn't Richard destroy everyone in a challenge like that? I am OK with them throwing a couple obstacles out there.
webdiva If all other things were equal and the chefs just cooked AND Blais just destroyed the competition, that would make the point about whose food is really the best, now wouldn't it? And that's what the show is supposed to be about. Throwing in loony obstacles makes it NOT about the food, and that pisses me off. And probably a lot of other folks who watch for the food, too. Bravo needs to remember who the real core audience is for this show: people who love the food.
March 26, 2011 at 5:31PM ESTsfe
March 24, 2011 at 10:16AM EST Reply to CommentWrite a comment...
sfe
March 24, 2011 at 10:21AM EST Reply to CommentI feel that the envelope, which we were reminded about six times during the episode because of some bizarre producing, was the Elves insurance that Blais would make the finals. As it happened, it appeared that Antonia had made the better bite, but had a much worse Last Supper meal which ultimately did her in. I think they just had that extra challenge to ensure that Blais could earn his way into the finals if he had choked on the Last Supper Meal.
nic919 It feels like we saw the same scene at least three times. That was really annoying and it did not built build suspense for the envelope but irritation.
March 24, 2011 at 10:58AM ESTComing into this, I wanted a Richard and Angelo finale because I felt they were the best two out of the candidates in this season, with Jen in as a third, so most of my preferred finalists were out fairly early. At this point, Richard should win over Mike unless he lets his neuroses take over. Mike wasn't even the best chef in his season, he was number 5, and while he may have practiced, I still don't think he has the innate talent that Richard does.
Teebore
March 24, 2011 at 10:56AM EST Reply to CommentI think the Quickfire was clever and All-Star esque, but it would have worked better earlier in the season, when it mattered a bit more.
And while I don't think there truly is a conspiracy afoot, it sure seems like the show really wants Mike to succeed. He gets the easy chef in the EC, and then it seems like anytime anyone started to criticize his dish, the editors would cut away and end with someone saying "but I really liked it". It was...odd.
The fact that the final bite, and second finals spot, came down to a vote, with Wolfgang Puck of all people (at least as edited) as the deciding vote just didn't seem right.
webdiva No it didn't. This whole season has been a huge let-down, compared to the one with the Voltaggios and Jen -- now **there** was some good food porn! But this season? Meh. Phooey. Too many stupid people tricks.
March 26, 2011 at 5:57PM ESTbummer
March 24, 2011 at 11:06AM EST Reply to CommentI am baffled by this version of the season I'm reading here. Mike in no way out-cooked Antonia this season, nor has Richard at any point seemed like the dominant favorite.
We're constantly TOLD that Richard is the favorite (by Richard), but beyond that, I just haven't seen it. I thought Antonia had the strongest season going into the break, and admittedly, she has flagged since they arrived to the Bahamas. But if the season had continued where it left off, I would have been very shocked to see anyone but her win, and so now I'm quite disheartened to see this shift in momentum (though I will give credit to Mike if he worked hard during the break and wrestled that momentum back).
However, I am not even going to watch the final episode. I found this season to be the best ever, but not because of the two douche-nozzles left to duke it out for the title. I thought the competition all season was wonderful, and that contestants like Antonia, Dale, and Carla, and their approach to their craft and the competition, far outweighed the unpleasantness of these chest thumping jerks we are left with.
I also believe the outcome would have been different had the final challenge been something that allowed all chefs to use their skills equally, and if fresh ingredients were not an issue for one chef but not the others.
I certainly don't remember Richard's season the way he does. Yes, he was good, but I Stephanie earned her win, and there wasn't any question of that at the time. Richard needs serious therapy.
Susan Yes yes yes!! And Yes yes yes to Willow, above. I completely agree that this idea of Richard as a clear favorite has no support from his performance this season. Despite his constant reminders of his winning statistics last night, he won very few challenges this season, and spent most of the first half of the season squarely in the middle. Antonia and Dale dominated this season, not Richard.
March 24, 2011 at 3:39PM ESTDid anyone read Tom's dig in last week's blog? He rightly pointed out the disconnect between Richard's "everything I do is terrible" and his sullen insistence that he really should have won every single challenge, as he's so much better than everyone else.
And while Mike has certainly improved and used his time off wisely, that doesn't make him any less of an ass. Part of me doesn't even want to watch next week, and I'll be spending most of my time trying to decide who I want to fail more.
nic919 But Richard did dominate his Top Chef season and was the clear favourite to win that one. And up until the Voltaggio brothers, there was not a contestant who was as strong throughout their season. I think he is just being hard on himself for not winning that season because he ended up in the bottom only once and had won many challenges and quickfires but was not able to put out a final dish that was as good as he had done earlier. I watched that season at the time it first aired and there was an expectation for Richard to win, and the fact that he choked in the finale was the part that gets him the most. I don't think he questions that Stephanie won, because she was the better chef for that final task. However, it was also obvious that he did not cook at his top level for the final, which is why he is so intent on redemption. The editors are definitely making him look even more neurotic this time, and I do take Tom's dig with a grain of salt because as a judge of Top Chef, he has an interest in making it look like the winners of Top Chef are not fluke decisions. I do agree that Richard has not been as strong for All Stars as he was for his first season, but choosing between him and Mike will be easy for me, since I don't think Mike was even in the top five in his own season and his behaviour has been sexist and just overall annoying
March 25, 2011 at 8:33AM EST
March 26, 2011 at 3:22PM ESTI think he is just super hard on himself...yes, in his head he feels he should win all the time, but he is plagued with self doubt. I don't think that makes him an ass. I actually hope he wins and I have been pulling for him all season.
I would have liked to see Jen or Angelo in the finale. But you can't deny that Mike has been on one hell of a roll...starting after he "borrowed" Richard's Chicken Oyster idea...LOL.
March 24, 2011 at 11:24AM EST Reply to CommentAs I see it the only fair way to handle the envelope was to have the remaining 2 chefs have to cook the others last supper.
That would have leveled the playing field and made things a bit more even.
How you could even compare fried chicken to my moms Japanese cooking is absolutely absurd.
And the fact that the degree of difficulty and the extreme unevenness in the two dishes didn't seem to matter to the judges seems completely unfair.
Owen
March 24, 2011 at 11:55AM EST Reply to CommentFor everyone saying that Mike doesn't deserve to be there or was only the 5th best in his season, is it that implausible that someone went onto a show like Top Chef, was challenged and grew as a chef as a result. I came in to this season hoping Richard Blais would win this season but I'm tired of his excuses and falling back on how much he has won in the past.
The one on one final isn't nessacery but given thats how they decided to do it, I think the challenges were appropriate for the second to last episode. These were in many ways the hardest quickfire and elimination challenges the show has ever had. To be the Top Chef All-star you should be able to tackle those challenges.
Maura
March 24, 2011 at 12:29PM EST Reply to CommentI don't like Mike, but I give him credit for stepping up his game in these last several episodes...and I almost want to see him win just to see Blais's swollen, entitled head explode. But I was really disappointed in the lack of a level playing field in this challenge--it leaves a bad aftertaste on what had overall been an entertaining season. Also, this stretch in the Bahamas has been so endless that I'm kind of eager for the season to be over already.
Joseph
March 24, 2011 at 12:39PM EST Reply to CommentI think the season is interesting, as usually on Top Chef the episodes get better as the season progresses and the contestants with no shot at winning get eliminated, leaving the cream of the crop. With All-Stars however it has gotten less interesting (for me at least), and I miss the kitchen full of great talent. I also agree they have drawn out the finale to the extent I don't really care who wins anymore, and the gimmicky challenges and twists have become annoying. Plus the show misses Bourdain desperately.
Kenna
March 24, 2011 at 1:15PM EST Reply to CommentMike Isabella may have made it to the finale, but are they really going to award him the Top Chef title? http://foodiegossip.blogspot.com/2011/03/top-chef-all-stars-one-chef-down-two.html
He cheats in half the challenges.
albatross
March 24, 2011 at 2:01PM EST Reply to CommentAm I confused, or did it appear as if they pulled a fast one in having Mike beat Antonia? It seemed as if Wolfgang Puck said that he liked Antonia's bite better and he was the tie-breaking vote, so how did Mike win? I assume it was a quirk of the editing, but it was a bit jarring.
March 24, 2011 at 2:32PM EST Reply to CommentDid you intentionally ditch the word "penultimate"? Ignore the trolls.
A.P.
March 24, 2011 at 2:59PM EST Reply to CommentAfter Mike and Antonia were sent back into the kitchen to make the 'one-bite', I think Antonia said out of exasperation, "all we've been doing is quickfires!" Or something along those lines at least. I felt like that summed up these Bahamian episodes really well; the challenges aren't challenges, they're just extended quickfires that end in elimination.
I agree with those who think that the top 3, or top 5 actually, don't actually represent who the best chefs are in this season. Unfortunately reality television is for entertainment rather than accurately representing talent. I've grown to accept that :p. Watching reality TV is like Skinner's pigeonfeed experiment. The seemingly random assignment of rewards/challenge-wins to the good contestants (rather than the most-talented guys winning all the time) only make me want to tune in more, due to the suspense. Although, being a human and not a pigeon, I have often tuned-out from shows that use this technique too often and make the choices of winners TOO random.
That said, I don't especially care who wins the title at this point; Marcel could come back into the game in a wild twist to take home the prize, and I wouldn't care. But I do care who loses, I NEED Mike to lose.
I really wanted Antonia to beat out Mike in that 1-bite elimination/quickfire and become a finalist. I'm not surprised that she was eliminated, but oh man it would have been great to see Mike get sent home for serving raw beef after his long winning streak.
MikeK
March 24, 2011 at 3:41PM EST Reply to CommentThough an interesting, albeit a bit uneven episode, I feel the top two chefs (in the finale portion of the show anyway) made it to final showdown. Once again, they have a gimmicky Qf, and I'm fine with that as long as the prize is just money. However, I felt awarding the winner (Mike) the power to assign who gets which final meal was too big an advantage to hand out based on a rather frivolous Qf.
It seems like the producers knew going in that the EC was probably unfair to whoever got Morimoto (and then compounded by rotten Hamachi? What gives?) so they came up with the one-bite twist as an equalizer. If not for the twist, it seemed pretty clear Antonia was going home, but the one-bite challenge gave her another shot on even footing (seemed like they judged only on that final bite, not the meal as a whole). I guess that ultimately made the EC a little more fair...
So the vote comes down to Wolfgang Puck, and as we go to break, he basically says he would remember Antonia's flavor the next morning, but felt Mike's dish was more technically impressive/refined. I guess it came down to which quality he values more, and it was Mike's.
At least next week, they're finally going to get out of their way and just let them cook. It looks like Restaurant Challenge 2.0 though so I worry that the sous chefs might be a factor... hope not.
webdiva Good question, mikek. Technique, schmecknique -- I thought that last bite was supposed to be about which one tasted better and was in *that* way more impressive ... and it looked like Puck was leaning Antonia's way on that. We didn't get to see the rest of the deliberations, so I don't know how they decided that Mike got it. Which is very annoying: it makes their decision look unjustified on the merits. And yes, perhaps the magical elves are to blame for editing too much of that out in the final cut.
March 26, 2011 at 5:53PM ESTHannah Lee
March 24, 2011 at 7:47PM EST Reply to CommentWhile Top Chef has never been perfect (a rewatch of S2 will demonstrate that) I feel like this season wasted so much potential.
What could have been a really fascinating season, fill with strong chefs, food porn and killer fatigue breakdowns, instead became like watching the chefs on a contrived amusement park ride, and ultimately made me less likely to want to tune into the next season. The ridiculous contrivances/inconsistencies were annoying during the regular part of the season: too many team challenges, too many "Top Caterer" challenges, too many decorating challenges, and wacked judging where one episode a contestant is faulted for helping out other chefs, and the next faulted for not being a team player, and where chefs who did nothing got to stay to try to cook again.
But what's gone on in the Bahamas episodes is beyond annoying and just stupid. I wanted to see the chefs cooking their hearts out within the limations of real challenges, but on a level playing field. When some chefs get faulty equipment and rotten food, and others sail through without production-caused issues, how is that fair, or interesting television. Not to mention the judging that proports to be "all about the food", but really isn't. (Or if it really is, the MElves have done a horrible job with the editing.) And the design of this episode pretty much guaranteed one chef would be hamstrung in ways the 2 others weren't, so it undermines any bragging rights the title "Top Chef" might convey.
I'm just sad that the two competitive reality shows that I've really enjoyed (Top Chef and The Amazing Race) seem to have gone 'round the bed with poorly designed segments that unfairly penalized some players, while giving others a smooth ride, and surpressing any real drama that could inherently come out. So, the shows come off not just as irritatingly injust and non-sensical, they've also become boring television.
Caleb
March 24, 2011 at 11:52PM EST Reply to CommentI don't want to break Alan's rule about discussing detail of the preview for the next episode, but did anyone who watched it think they made the winner clear when they showed which direction Padma was looking as she announced the victor?
March 26, 2011 at 3:30PM ESTwebdiva
March 26, 2011 at 5:43PM EST Reply to CommentI went into watching this season thinking that blais was *my* favorite but not that there was *A* favorite as such, because of the unpredictability of the challenges and the chefs' ability/inability to handle the pressure of competition. Blais was my favorite not because I like him as a person but because I respect his craftsmanship and inventiveness in the kitchen, his occasional playfulness with ingredients. But honestly, I wish he'd just get past his neuroses and COOK for the sake of cooking and making something wonderful. Just once, I've love to see Richard enjoying the process of making his dish, of executing it well, smiling and being genuinely happy with the result, regardless of what anyone else thinks. I'm beginning to think he's incapable of being happy with his work, which leads me to wonder why he does it. Tt's not like it's easy, and it does require significant talent in addition to dedication and determination. but if you don't love what you do, it shows. Where's the love, Rich?? Show some and chillax, already.