Top Chef Masters: Finale RECAP Guts and Glory

Top Chef

By MisRed | Friday, September 28, 2012 | 12:29 pm | 17 Comments
Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
Posted in: Recaps, Top Chef

I can say one thing for Chris.. he’s got guts.  Literally.

And then there were 2. We are finally here at the Finale of Top Chef Masters. I can’t believe I won’t be stalking pictures of Curtis Stone anymore… well, at least until next season.

Tomorrow I can stop sucking in my gut

The Chefs enter the kitchen, where Curtis joins them after a few moments with his “fluffer.” Curtis offers his congratulations to Chris and Kerry- the final two.

Last Chefs Standing

He reminds them, as if they were unaware, that there can only be one winner. (thanks for clarifying) One of them will win $100k for the charity of their choice and the title of Top Chef Master. The loser will take home… well, nothing except knowing that they just wasted 10 weeks of their time.

There is no Quick Fire because, eh, what’s the point so we move straight into the Elimination Challenge. Our two finalists will have to bare your soul on a plate. Each must “write” 4 letters then translate them into 4 courses.

The four letters are 1) A love letter 2) An apology 3) A thank you and lastly 4) A letter to yourself.

Hmmm, “a letter to yourself.” Let me try it. Dear Me, How are you? You are fine. You have good hair and are funny, but you have to stop eating Oreos and tasing the neighborhood kids. Have a good day. Love, Me. PS Your husband is a saint. Hey! I think he added that last part.

Curtis tells Chris and Kerry they will be serving their dishes to some of the best Culinary Critics in the country. But not to worry, they will have an extra set of hands. Plural, so I guess Missy isn’t one of them. Enter two guys we don’t know!

Right-hand Manfred (aka Manny)

Chris’s help is Manfred, who is his chef de cuisine at Incanto. Manfred has been by Chris’s side for 6 years. Chris was like “Hey… who is running the restaurant?”

Nick Liberato

Kerry’s help is Nick Liberato. He is an old friend of Kerry’s. He’s been by his side for big events, and they work well together pulling things together at the last minute- making them happen “on the fly.” Sounds disorganized.

Chris thinks this is a powerful, personal challenge. The only way he can beat Kerry is by cooking from the heart. Or by calling two dudes with a tire iron.

Kerry is troubled, slightly, by this challenge. He can be reserved and it will be a challenge to translate his feelings into these dishes.

Ok, you create a diversion- tell everyone he used to be a stripper

Pages: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
MisRed
About

Misred is an East Coast Gal and a jack of all trades.  Project Manager, Trained Chef, Amateur Writer, Professional Mocker, Devoted Wife and Mother of Furry Kids (dogs, not werewolves).  I spend my time doing all of the above, as well as making the necessary preparations for my eventual and eternal damnation in the fiery pits of hell.  I take comfort in knowing I'll have friends there... like Satan.

Check out my blog www.meabritapitandanitwit.wordpress.com

17 Comments

  1. 1
    timgunnssister timgunnssister
    Posted September 28, 2012 at 2:05 pm

    YAY! And may I say YAYAYAYAYAYAY!

  2. 2
    roger
    Posted September 28, 2012 at 2:19 pm

    too bad the final wasn’t to cook for the posche fashion show. YEAH for chris, he seemed to me a very helpful competitor all season~i thought the problems with art were all on art. the TC MASTERS have another nice-guy winner to join bayleaf, mary sue, and floyd cardozo. marcus samuelson, not so nice but obviously a great chef. yeah takashi for fan favorite. an enjoyable season; thanks for the excellent recaps.

  3. 3
    sagittariuskim sagittariuskim
    Posted September 28, 2012 at 4:47 pm

    YAY Chris! And Yay Takashi.

    I watched Watch What Happens Live afterwards. And Andy revealed that Fan Favorite was a tie between Takashi and Lorena at the beginning of the show and asked who would win. And Daddy Tom asked if it was sponsored by Taco Bell.

  4. 4
    mmmbuttery
    Posted September 28, 2012 at 6:54 pm

    Mmmany thanks MisRed!!

    And mmmucho congrats to Cosentino – a truly lovely human being inside and out (seriously – he and his food are scrumptious!!)

    mmm

  5. 5
    Val Detinha
    Posted September 28, 2012 at 8:04 pm

    @sagittariuskim Really? Too funny LOL! I can’t imagine who was voting for Lorena!

    Thank you for the recaps, MisRed! Loved all the food porn! J-Mo would have a field day!, like you had with Stone! ;) I’m so glad Chris won!

  6. 6
    AliceinPopLand
    Posted September 28, 2012 at 10:29 pm

    How smug did Kerry look in the Whine Room? Just me?

  7. 7
    vallegirl vallegirl
    Posted September 28, 2012 at 11:23 pm

    I feared Kerry would win, even though I came around to liking him. I think it was easy to paint him in a sullen light because he seems introverted and didn’t have a natural ally on the show, but he also seemed to hang with the original gang of four (Chris, Patricia, Thierry and Takashi) as their unofficial fifth.

    The TC franchise tends to want to reward the risky chefs, and are willing to allow some minor imperfections from someone like Chris. Although if John Curtas’ dumbassery gets cut out it seemed a lot closer. Regardless I’m happy Chris and his funny little butcher’s apron won. He seems like such a lovely person.

    And now that’s two winners in a row (Paul Qui on original recipe TC and Chris) who were just so damn likeable that they reminded me why this is my favorite reality show.

    But I’m so glad for Chris

  8. 8
    bubblesballentine
    Posted September 29, 2012 at 8:54 am

    Congrats to Chris, he really earned it! And another big yay for takashi!

    Lorena who?

  9. 9
    chaosbutterfly
    Posted September 29, 2012 at 9:38 pm

    Yayy!!
    I was scared because of the way that the critics were talking about the food, but I’m glad that the right person won.
    Also, if I get married, I hope my husband will like me as much as Chris likes his wife. He was seriously cute, going on about how awesome his wife was and then tearing up at the table about how he isn’t at home enough.
    Kerry says that he likes his wife, but he gets side-eye from me for continuously mentioning showgirls and that crack about thinking Curtis’ suite was Dita von Teese’s. And frankly, I think his lack of emotion in this challenge was weird. This was supposed to be a personal challenge, and you can tell that he conceived his dishes and then tried to force them into the context of the challenge. If he had won, I would have had to smash everything I own.

    Also super happy that Takashi won fan favorite.
    Maybe Taco Bell threatened all their employees to make them vote for Lorena for fan favorite.
    I refuse to believe that people could like her as much as they like the adorable Takashi-san.

    And thank you for the recaps, MisRed!
    It was especially awesome to get your insights and knowledge as a person who understands chef-y things.
    Revolution should be pretty interesting. *moseys over*

  10. 10
    zerocool
    Posted September 30, 2012 at 11:56 am

    It did seem that Kerry was just phoning it in – he even said that he picked four courses and figured out how they could fit in the challenge. Happy that Chris won.

  11. 11
    John Curtas
    Posted October 1, 2012 at 11:58 am

    I love Francis Lam, but watching him strain to be poetic over a plebian breakfast plate was painful.
    .
    Yes, I said “breakfast plate.” This was Top Chef Masters fer chrissakes, and your finale dish should show more skill and creativity than sausage and frickin’ eggs. (Your “perfectly cooked fried eggs for 24 people” analogy will have every fry cook in the land laughing with disdain.)
    .
    . And for what it’s worth, I’ll put my food chops up against a glorified fry cook like Bourdain anyday….but I do LOVE his show….and admire him for leaping to his wife’s defense when I called her out for her defamatory comments about Las Vegas. As a human being though, he’s a putz.
    .
    (BTW: Chris deserved to win, as his dishes were the strongest overall, but sausage, eggs and oysters….COME ON ALREADY! ;-} )

    .
    And finally, thanks for the post. Very entertaining. It’s always fun to start a passionate debate with articulate, civilized people…unlike glorified fry cooks.

  12. 12
    MisRed MisRed
    Posted October 1, 2012 at 5:00 pm

    Mr. Curtas, I appreciate that you took the time to read my stupid little recap and made a comment.

    Yes, any fry cook can cook an egg, but not the egg I saw. Have you cooked in a restaurant kitchen? I have. I also graduated first in my class from Culinary School. I, by no means, imply that I am in, remotely, the same league as these chefs or even as your average fry cooks, but I know that cooking and egg properly is not as simple as you make it sound. (An egg is much less forgiving than a hunk of steak.)
    With all due respect, you are, obviously, a respected critic, but if you think all eggs are the same, you are wrong.
    And it wasn’t Jimmy Dean brown-n-serve sausage- it was handmade sausage. That in itself is hugely difficult to do in 6 hours.

    I can’t walk into any diner and get that dish and for you to imply that you can is laughable.
    Love,
    MisRed xo

  13. 13
    Al Mancini
    Posted October 4, 2012 at 6:14 pm

    MisRed-

    As someone who has struggled to write three books with John, I can tell you his response is typical. He has a one-track mind when it comes to food. If it isn’t haute cuisine, he isn’t interested. (He also pretend to like obscure Asian food, but that’s just to impress our other co-author, Max Jacobson.) I’ve heard world-class chefs say that cooking a perfect egg is one of the most difficult challenges in cooking. But unless you add caviar to it a la Joel Robuchon, John isn’t impressed!

  14. 14
    MisRed MisRed
    Posted October 5, 2012 at 7:28 am

    Al- Oh wow. I’ve only been exposed to him for a short period of time… you must be a saint. I don’t understand how someone who is so close-minded about food is a food critic!!

    Well the old saying is true, I guess: those who can’t do- teach. and those who can’t teach- criticize.

    Thank you for your comment!!
    xox,
    MisRed

  15. 15
    chaosbutterfly
    Posted October 6, 2012 at 10:52 pm

    I’m so happy that I randomly decided to check the comments on this.
    The shade of it all.

  16. 16
    vallegirl vallegirl
    Posted October 6, 2012 at 10:56 pm

    And I’m glad I rejoined to enjoy a good LaTRICE Royale reference.

    And to see that MisRed’s avatar is the divine Endora. Perfect.

  17. 17
    sagittariuskim sagittariuskim
    Posted October 7, 2012 at 1:11 am

    Why do so many people equate simple with easy? Things that are simple are the easiest things to mess up. And I rather have a simple plate of eggs than a plate of pretentiousness. Sometimes simple is best. There’s a reason that all the dishes considered classics are simple.

Post a Comment

Your email is never published nor shared. Required fields are marked *

*
*

You may use these HTML tags and attributes: <a href="" title=""> <abbr title=""> <acronym title=""> <b> <blockquote cite=""> <cite> <code> <del datetime=""> <em> <i> <q cite=""> <strike> <strong>

Human Verification: In order to verify that you are a human and not a spam bot, please enter the answer into the following box below based on the instructions contained in the graphic.