Top Chef All-Stars Episode 12: Judges are spineless

by Teresa Gubbins, Shannon Sutlief

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Five chef contestants will go to Barbados.

Episode 12 of Top Chef All-Stars, the Bravo series featuring former Top Chef contestants including Dallas chef Tiffany Derry, was the final one in New York that was supposed to decide which contestants would proceed to the exotic location in the finale.

But instead of making a decision, the lily-livered judges including guest judge Dan Barber said they couldn't pick one of the five remaining chef-testants to go home. So they sent no one home. Lame.

For the Quickfire challenge, the contestants created a dish using packaged foods from the snack counter on a ferry headed to Ellis Island. Carla won for her salad of cut-up oranges soaked in carrot juice.

For the Elimination challenge, the contestants had to make something that addressed their heritage. Family members appeared to help them sift through their ancestry, then stuck around for the meal. Antonia won for her risotto topped with braised veal.

PegNews staffers TG and Shannon consider their geneology:

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TG: Wow. Those judges are WEAK. Weak weak weak.

SS: Totally lame. I'm disappointed they wasted the extra 15 minutes to reveal they didn't make a decision.

TG: 15 minutes they stretched so they could get in an extra 15 minutes of COMMERCIALS. I wondered why they cut to commercial before Carla's dish. Didn't realize then they were stretccchhhing. Their not eliminating someone is an F.U. to the audience.

SS: I was all ready to be surprised by the elimination and find out about the finale. It feels like it's just another episode now. But I feared they might do that after one of the family members asked if all five could go.

TG: Usually when the family members show up, I am annoyed, but this one at least had some context.

SS: I'm usually annoyed by the manufactured drama, but this time it was the manufactured non-drama.

TG: I can't tell if the show was boring because they wedged in an extra 15 minutes of nothingness, or if the show was boring because all of the final people are dull.

SS: I thought it was dull because they kept cutting to all the family members doing the wink wink nudge nudge I liked the dish but not as much as my relative's. Yeah, yeah, you support your family. Yay.

TG: Yeah same thing over and over. I miss Angelo, Dale, and Fabio immensely. Tonight, only one "good line," when Padma pretended to send Richard home and he said, "Why would you do that to me? You know I'm crazy."

SS: That fake-out was so lame.

TG: It's what they're doing on American Idol. Pretending to send them home and then at the last minute, no you're still on. Cheap. Top Chef has not in prior seasons been cheap. We must protest loudly and nip it in the bud.

SS: So, yay for Tiffany for making Tom like okra!

TG: Didn't know he didn't like okra.

SS: Me neither. And Antonia made a risotto they liked.

TG: They always say she's "confident".

SS: I almost snarfed when Carla's husband said something about her food having love.

TG: Big ad for match.com. How long before she's doing promos for them?

SS: Totally. Great free advertising.

TG: I liked that Richard's hair fell. When he came out to serve his dish, his Gumby hair was drooping in front. But then by judging time, it was back up.

SS: It was looking a little Flock of Seagulls.

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