Thursday, October 4, 2007

Top Chef: Finale

By Teresa Gubbins , April Powell

Staffers April Powell and Teresa Gubbins play "Ebert and Roper" on the finale of Wednesday night's Top Chef series, in which the remaining three contestants were told to cook their best meal. The Bravo series stars Dallas chefs Casey Thompson of Shinsei and Tre Wilcox of Abacus (who was eliminated in Episode 9).

The winning meal prepared by Hung Huynh had raw hamachi, shrimp, duck, and chocolate cake.

- - - -

TG: Yaaaaaayyyyy Hung!!!!!!!

AP: I'm thinking you feel quite vindicated.

TG: Or just excited. It IS fun to have the person you root for win. Poor Casey.

AP: She really just crumbled; it was almost embarrassing to watch. But I was proud that Dale gave us no embarrassing personal information in the final.

TG: There was the gross-out, though, when Ted Allen said in that creepy voice, "Dale, you're a bad boy."

AP: You got the feeling he and Dale may have a Rocky Mountain fling.

TG: I got vertigo when the three finalists were on the ski lift.

AP: Those were the swankiest ski lifts I've ever seen. All I've ever been on is the foot-dangle bench.

TG: Our new State Fair monorail pales in comparison.

AP: I kept getting distracted by Padma's Barbara Mandrell dress. I thought she was going to whip out an accordion at some point. I don't know if she gets to pick her own clothes, but for an attractive woman, she has worn some ugly outfits this season. That early-80s prom dress took the cake.

TG: Her whole deal is so strange. Their getting celebrity chefs as assistants was cool, except when Casey's partner chef kept defending her.

AP: Yeah -- that "girls gotta stick together" thing. Why would it be "so cool" for there to be a woman top chef? What? Women have been boxed out of the cooking arena?

TG: No, they just aren't allowed to win awards. Could you get OFF your feminist soapbox for a change. (kidding)

AP: I just think it's kind of stupid to make it an "I'm doing this for all womankind" kind of thing. So now that she lost it, has she let all of womankind down?

TG: I think that's supposed to bolster your appeal as a winner...

AP: Should I boycott her restaurant because she kept my sex from Top Chef parity?

TG: Yeah. Quit going to Shinsei every weekend, enough already. I do like that the final challenge was just "make us a great meal". When they announced their menus, I thought Dale had it in the bag. His menu seemed most generically pleasing. The cliche would have been to bypass Hung, who was technically proficient, for someone who had "heart". I was glad they didn't fall into that rut.

AP: In the end, I'd rather eat well-cooked food than flawed food with "heart," whatever that is.

TG: The other weird thing was the lighting at the end. It looked like they were in the rec room of a Holiday Inn. And why the strange nostril close-ups of Dale?

AP: Yeah, I told Mike that it was a pretty depressing "grand finale." Sort of like a bunch of people mobbing in a conference room with some cheap-ass confetti. It's hard to be dramatic when you're dressed like a Mandrell.

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• Media > Television > Locals on reality TV

Comments

Donna Chen Verified

I agree that after the last episode, Hung was the deserving winner. However, didn't you feel horrible for Casey for that last "live" announcement part when she already knew that she lost but she had to stand there through all the "suspense"?

9 months, 2 weeks ago ( Link to this comment | Suggest removal )

Teresa Gubbins Staff

donna, yes totally - she even made self-deprecating little jokes, which i thought showed a lot of composure. (altho maybe it was "relaxing" on some level, to know for sure?) did you see that she kept winning the call-in vote they showed during the commercials; not that it's any indication of anything other than "people with cellphones who don't mind wasting $1 on a dumb vote", but it was a reminder that these shows are really about TV personality and not necessarily about talent

9 months, 2 weeks ago ( Link to this comment | Suggest removal )

kirk Anonymous

Czar: You may want to check out what chefs are creating these days. Pork belly has been one of THE things on restaurant menus for a couple of years, along with pork and veal cheek.

9 months, 2 weeks ago ( Link to this comment | Suggest removal )

Donna Chen Verified

Especially when she pairs that thing with red cowgirl boots.

9 months, 2 weeks ago ( Link to this comment | Suggest removal )