'Top Chef' pulls a 'Survivor' for finale
Maybe the folks at Top Chef were concerned that people would find out the winner before the end of the show. Who knows? Anyway, for tonight's finale, the cooking all happened a while ago, but the reveal of the winner will happen live in Chicago.
Final three Casey, Dale and Hung get their breakfast, and it comes with the instruction to take an Aspen ski lift to this mountaintop to get the info on their final challenge, which is at the Aspen Mountain Club.
Tom Colicchio tells them their final challenge is to cook "the best meal you've ever cooked in your life." But they will be cooking in the same kitchen and serving together instead of going one at a time as in past seasons.
Hung's three-course plan is Hamachi, a Vietnamese fusion dish with prawns and duck. Casey's is foie gras, giant prawns and pork belly. Dale's is foie gras, lobster and Colorado lamb. They draw knives for sous chef -- Hung gets Rocco DiSpirito (wait, WHAT?), Casey gets Michelle Bernstein and Dale gets Todd English. Yeah, so that's a twist. The sous chefs get to help out for three hours of prep for the first day, but not the second day.
Michelle's not sure about Casey's pork belly course, but she can't tell her that, so she tells the camera instead. She goes on, "I'm a little bit of a minimalist, so every time she adds, I want to subtract."
Todd is also worried that Dale's menu might be too complex, and then they all start to realize that the altitude is wreaking havoc on their menus -- getting a boil is nearly impossible.
Rocco also says he is not totally sure what Hung is doing with everything.
Then all the celebrity chefs start saying nice things about the contestants to the camera as time runs out.
The next day, the chefs are on their own, no celebs, no sous.
Hung creates his own area in the back with camp stoves, and he says when the judges told him his food had no soul, it was like "getting hit by a truck."
Tom visits everyone and then takes them out of the kitchen with one more hour left of prep and tells them they want a fourth course. Dale: "I wanted to punch him in the face." They get help from sous chefs Sara, CJ and Howie. Hung gets Sara, Dale gets CJ and Casey gets Howie.
For the unexpected fourth course, Hung has Sara work up a chocolate cake, Casey gets Howie started on a beef dish and Dale and CJ work on a scallop dish.
At the table are the sous chefs, the judges and Brian Malarkey. They all like all of the first course, except the roe on Casey's dish. For the second course, they adore Dale's extra course and are impressed that he came up with it at the last minute. They're a little worried about the lack of acid in Hung's dish. And for Casey, they best they can come up with is that she is really, really trying -- and she used that same roe again. Eep! On the third course, they love the duck by Hung, and they don't love Dale's gnocchi (a word I never knew until this show) or Casey's porkbelly. Final course, they love Dale's lamb and Casey's sirloin and potatoes and are unsure about Hung's chooclate cake, but only in terms of how it fits with the rest of the dishes -- they love the taste.
Then, judges' table. They say the chefs all rose to the challenge and did a great job. And yet, it's time for the nit-picking. Dale hears about his triumphs (especially the surprise course) and his problems and accepts the criticism. Casey, however, gets crazy defensive, and it's not pretty. Hung hears about how they wanted more acid in the first two dishes -- his third: "three-star Michelin." He's excited, but not as much about the indifferent response to his chocolate cake.
First course, they liked Hung's the best. Second course, they say nothing compared to Dale's scallops. For third, Hung's duck is the favorite. Fourth: "Dale's lamb was fabulous," Gail Simmons says. So, as Survivor host Jeff Probst would say, that's two votes for Dale, two votes for Hung.
Looks like we won't have the first woman winning Top Chef this season. (Though 58 percent of viewers who cared enough to pay to text a vote picked Casey.)
Back at the live show, they really do pull a Survivor and make the judges wear the same clothes -- the chefs are in their jackets, of course. And there is a fake set looking like the club in Aspen.
And the winner is: Hung. Well, hey, he's been telling us he was going to win it from the start. I have to say, I'm not shocked. After Casey's meltdown, it was clear that she was out. And Dale stepped it up at the end, but Hung has been consistently good the entire season. So, go him!
Next week: Reunion!
(Photo courtesy of Bravo)
Comments
Yay, Hung! I only tuned in for the last few episodes, but I liked his style. Cocky, but backs it up. And makes for good TV. :)
Posted by: Mary | October 4, 2007 8:13 AM
I must say I was partial to Casey (potential woman winner). However, first intuition was for Hung. Congratulations Hung on your confidence and skill.
Posted by: Lena Harley | October 4, 2007 11:38 AM
I can't stand it that such an incredibly [deleted] jerk won this challenge. Personality SHOULD have something to do with this all - and heck - Marcel would've been a better winner than Hung. I'm disappointed that attitude and the ability to earn/give respect in the kitchen is not apparently taken into account. I thought Casey was going to win - I thought better of the judges' overall sense of things than to have picked Hung. He's not going to survive the long-haul due entirely to the kind of person he is. He can cook -but so can the rest of them. Might sound strange - but it IS about more than what a dish tastes like. I would never, ever work with an [deleted] like Hung. He's going to hurt the industry. I hope better for the 4th season. Love Chef Tom - think Padama is probably the snottiest person on the face of the earth... can't wait to see season 4 and if any judges are reading: please, take the chef's persona into account. I wouldn't want Hung to cook for me. This is tv you know - gotta sell-out to some extent ;)
Posted by: Layne | October 5, 2007 12:14 PM
Hey - this show is called Top Chef! Not, top personality or friendliest chef in the kitchen! Hung won because he can cook (like they all can) but he was very consistent and isn't that what you want when you go out to a restaurant?
Posted by: Nikolas Yem | October 5, 2007 3:24 PM
To Layne:
Are you racist of something ?
This is a cooking contest if we all forget, not a beauty contest Layne.
Posted by: Padma | October 5, 2007 8:21 PM
First off, the comment above is absolutely right: Casey and Hung's cooking skills were clearly the strongest throughout the competition. I was just so pleased that both made it to the finale, as they both entirely deserved to.
However, I was also really gratified by the fact that this season's chefs were just the "nicest," as a whole. Sure, Howie and Joey had some fights in the beginning (which I didn't particularly like...), but there was no real "villain" like Stephen or Marcel to fuel fans' hate. Instead, fans actually liked the show for the excitement of the challenges rather than the drama!
The one who I felt fit the role of Stephen/Marcel the best, for obvious reasons, was Hung. Yet unlike his two predecessors, Hung was really only ambitious, but never actually nasty to anyone - did any Hung-haters notice that?
Generally, I have a very low tolerance for arrogance; yet I still love Hung and am glad that (since Casey had a bad round) he won! His main personality flaw was that he wasn't a team player; but then, he certainly seemed to show the "American spirit" of the driven immigrant, didn't he? I love that his ambition seemed not to stem from pure selfish arrogance, but more from a desire to make his family proud!
Posted by: Ruthie | October 6, 2007 7:50 PM
Hung is a great chef. Casey is a great chef. Casey cannot get a new dish right every time the first time, but Hung might be able to pull that off. Their styles are very different, and both delight the pallette if I can trust my TV screen and the judges faces.
Hung won the competition, putting out nearly flawless delicious dishes. just barely beating Casey. I'd love to eat at any restaurant where either were Head Chef. It's that simple.
Personalitiy does matter, but in the kitchen, not the dining room. Restaurants are team efforts. I would never want to work in a restaurant run by Rocco, because it's more about him than the wonderful food he could put out. Neither Hung nor Casey suffer from this trait. They will be leaders in the kitchen, and hopefully beyond. Congrats to Hung for his deserved win. Casey's adventurous dishes are inspiring, and that's my personal preference.
Posted by: septimius severus | October 6, 2007 11:18 PM
Now, now, no need to accuse anyone of being racist here.
Thanks
Posted by: sarahkk | October 8, 2007 7:29 AM